Chapter 4 Uncle

Chapter 4

Uncle

Izuku recognized the tattoo on All For One's arm by a mile away. It was almost unreal that the mark was there; the one he had wanted since childhood but was told by his mother he couldn't get a tattoo until he had left the house and went to college and such.

On his arm was a grey skull, fit with two black crossbones but at the top of both crossbones were two flames. One was a calm, gentle blue flame, which was rather small compared to the ferocious, raging red flame that was large, and could engulf the grey skull easily. The skull also had a mask that covered its teeth, and it looked like a metallic one that was similar to what might be worn by a pro hero or a villain.

Izuku had tears rolling down his eyes as he took off his own mask, which was shaped just like the one on the skull since that was his inspiration for the mask. "Uncle Begita," he said before falling to his knees as he stared at the famous villain, who lightly smiled and was internally crying since he had no eyes, which was evident by the sniffling.

"Young Izu," All For One replied, using the nickname he had given Izuku a long, long time ago, which made Izuku start crying harder before suddenly yelling and years of sadness came out as he fell to his knees and hugged his own stomach, feeling slightly sick, as he remembered the promised days. The days where there was someone who believed in him.

The days he was free...

Flashback

"Izuku, guess who's here!" Izuku's mother, Inko, who was still rather skinny at the time but was noticeably gaining some weight based off of her chubby stomach, called out as she welcomed in Begita or All For One, who at the time was still in his prime.

A seven year old Izuku came running out, knowing the cheerful tone in his mother's voice as the one where his favorite and only uncle came to visit. "Uncle Begita!" Izuku said as he ran and hugged All For One who went by the alias of Begita at the time.

"Young Izu! How are you my favorite nephew?" Begita asked as hugged Izuku back.

"I'm doing good," Izuku replied, but even All For One knew the lie as soon as he heard it.

"Bakugo is still bullying you? Why don't you tell someone?" The infamous villain asked, Inko biting her lip, as she knew this was something that was going on.

"Cause I believe Kacchan will change," Izuku said, showing his heroic spirit, which made All For One smiled.

"You're such a kindhearted hero. I bet you'll be the number one hero one day!" Begita said while smiling, which made Izuku smile back and hug him. Inko smiled too, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Now, why don't we go get you some ice cream?"

"Ice cream?!" Izuku questioned before getting all giddy. "Yes yes yes!"

"Well then come on! Let's go!" All For One said as he stood up. To an outsider, it would look like All For One/Begita was Izuku's father, but the reality was he wasn't.

The two then went out for ice cream in the next town over, which was where they always went for ice cream. As they waited at a table for their ice cream, since the shop was filled with a lot of customers due to the popularity of the local ice cream store, Begita noticed Izuku writing something in a notebook.

"What are you writing Izuku?" He asked as he looked at the notebook from across the table.

"I'm writing my hero notes!" Izuku said before closing the book and showing All For One the front cover of it, which said 'Hero Notes for my Future! Vol 3'. "I've been taking notes of heroes!" Izuku gave the notebook to All For One, and the villain went through the book, having doubts at first before being surprised at how amazingly accurate these notes were, minus the many spelling errors that riddled the books.

"Young Izu… These are amazing!" Begita said, before giving Izuku the book back. "You would make a brilliant support hero if you studied villains and gave the information to heroes so they could take down the villains. Hell, you would make a brilliant spy as well! Or a detective!"

"Thank you uncle!" Izuku said with a smile, feeling free and amazing. "I'll become the greatest hero ever! I promise!"

"Don't promise something, unless you know you can keep it," Begita said, which made Izuku confused. "You're so young right now, but there are still millions of heroes out there, and that's a lot of competition. Plus, there are many definitions of hero. So don't promise me that. Just promise me that you'll try once for the UA Entrance Exam when you're of age. And then go for the back up options." Begita smiled. "I believe in you Izuku, no matter which way you go."

Izuku, his eyes watering, nodded, before wiping his tears away, thinking that not even his amazing uncle believed in him, before realizing he was just trying to make sure Izuku didn't make a promise he couldn't keep, though it was one he was going to keep. "Thank you Uncle Begita," Izuku said.

"It's no problem, Young Izu," Begita said, before their ice cream came, and they both smiled as they began to eat their ice cream.

That was a bright day, and it was during a bright time.

Present

"Mom said you were killed in a shootout, before a villain ended up using a Quirk and burning your body along with several of your friends' down so all that was left was ashes," Izuku said. "But… what actually happened?"

"All Might… he bashed my face in. It did nearly kill me, but with the help of the Doctor and my many Quirks, I managed to live, if only barely," All For One answered.

"But… Why fake your death from us?" Izuku asked.

"If they knew you two had ties to the most dangerous and oldest villain known to the world, do you think you would actually be able to become a hero?" All For One asked.

"...no…" Izuku looked down, realizing that All For One did want Izuku to become a hero. Even if it meant they'd be on the opposite sides of the battlefield. "But… I don't understand. Why did you want me to be a hero despite the fact you're a villain?"

"You reminded me of my younger brother," All For One replied. "He was a hero at heart, just like you. I couldn't bring myself to say no. But I knew you wouldn't become a hero. But that doesn't mean I didn't want that to change, or for you to give up completely. Society needs an awakening, that even the Quirkless can do something if they put their minds to it. You were the one I saw leading it."

Izuku's eyes widened. "How did you recognize me? Was it a Quirk?"

"I didn't at first, I just thought you were really intelligent. But then when you came over here, a Quirk that allows me to sense my surroundings since I am blind showed me your figure, and I saw that it was you. Mainly because of your hair, I assumed you were my nephew, even if we weren't related by blood," All For One explained. "Your reactions confirmed everything. That, and you listed some things that I recognized from your first hero notebook, besides Gran Torino and Nighteye's sidekick."

"So… Do you really want to give me a Quirk now?" Izuku asked.

"I'm currently second guessing this decision, but it would be great to see what you can accomplish with it," All For One said. "But, it doesn't seem right for a person to lead a Quirkless uprising while they have a Quirk, right?"

"That is true…" Izuku said, realizing how weird that would be.

"But still, that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on you," All For One said. "We can always work around the whole 'Quirkless' thing. They make support gear for a reason, ya know."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Wait, what're you saying?" Izuku asked.

"I'm saying that instead of giving you a Quirk, we give you the ultimate armor, and with said armor, it'll be like you have multiple Quirks, when really you don't! I believe this is possible, since the Black Market is capable of many things," All For One explained, revealing the plan to Izuku. "And, you would get into UA perfectly fine. That is one way, which would be the Hero Course way."

"Oh right, they have multiple courses in UA," Izuku remembered. "The Hero Course which is very hard to get into, the General Studies or Gen Ed Course for basic education and where those who failed the Hero Course Exam go if they have space, the Business Course for making exceptionally great marketers which helps major businesses, and the Support Course, where they make support gear for the Hero Course students as well as gear for Pro Heroes once they graduate and get into the support industry…"

"Precisely. In fact, you would get top marks on the Gen Ed exam since you study so hard, and are intelligent in most fields. Remember your 3rd grade math quiz which was said to be 5th grade level?"

"Yes, it was actually a bit difficult at the time but I managed to get top marks," Izuku said. "Kac-... Katsuki beat me up thinking I cheated…"

All For One took note of how Izuku didn't call Bakugo by the nickname Izuku had given him, but he proceeded with this discussion. "I also believe you would be a great Support Course student do to the fact you could observe the Hero Course students, and then help the Support Students come up with gear that would help the Hero Course Students."

"But… there is a secret meaning for all of them, correct?" Izuku asked.

"Of course! You're a villain now and apart of the League of Villains!" All For One smiled. "For starters, if you got into the Hero Course, you would help us with the Quirks they have, and if All Might does teach at UA like I believe, we could formulate a time to take him down with the schedule. If he isn't there though, we could always kidnap one or two students.

"If you got into Gen Ed, you could eventually transfer into the Hero Course by showing how hard you train and by how strong Quirkless people are as well if they try to break past their limits. Plus Ultra, am I right?" Izuku chuckled a bit because they were talking about UA. "And if you entered the Support Course, you'd still observe the students and provide them with good gear, but you'd try and transfer to the Hero Course still, and show that Quirkless people can be Heroes, but by using their minds and by making gear to help them with what they can't do since they don't have a Quirk." All For One smiled. "A brilliant plan, right?"

"It is," Izuku agreed. "I like it a lot! It should work too! I mean, who would expect a Quirkless person to be a spy?"

"A lot of people," All For One, popping Izuku's bubble. "But, it's not like it'd matter, unless you're a Hero Course student… that being said…" All For One grew serious as he looked at Izuku, and Izuku looked back at him. "Which course are you going to join?"

Izuku looked down, thinking for a good hot minute. There was so much pressure on each decision. But even Izuku knew there was only one good option, mainly because one was too risky and the other would be sooooo boring. He looked up at All For One.

"I think Support might be the best way to go," Izuku said. All For One nodded.

"Very well," All For One said. "However, I have two rules for you if that's what you decide to do."

"Yes?" Izuku asked.

"No telling anyone you're Quirkless, until the Sports Festival, and no telling anyone about your past since Bakugo might go to UA."

It had crossed Izuku's mind that Bakugo would go to UA, because he was going to UA. There was no question about it. He aced the mock exam, and it only made sense he would go where the Number One went. "Okay, I'll do that," Izuku said, before putting his mask back on. "May I go back to my crew?"

"Very well," All For One said. "Kurogiri."

"Yes sir," Kurogiri said as he opened a portal, before Izuku realized Kurogiri heard everything.

"Don't worry about Kurogiri, he won't tell anyone. He listens to my orders, so he won't tell anyone about what happened in here unless I tell him to," All For One said. "You may go Izuku. And… is Inko doing okay?"

Izuku looked at All For One as he stood outside the Warp Gate. "She's doing good… but she's gained a lot more weight. But she's still healthy. And she did divorce my father too, if that's what you're wondering since I know you liked my mom." Izuku stepped through the portal, and Kurogiri closed it.

All For One sadly smiled. "Oh, how I wished I had my head like I did so long ago… I wouldn't mind being his step-father."

"All the more reason for us to find you a suitable Quirk to fix your injury," Kurogiri told All For One. "But I think I found the answer."

"Really?" All For One asked.

"Yes. In the form of a Yakuza Gang known as the Shie Hassaikai. They could help us with fixing your head and restoring you so you're in your prime."

"...we shall talk to them, and see if this plan could work," All For One told Kurogiri, who nodded and disappeared. All For One turned back to his monitors, and picked up a photo frame he always had sitting on his desk, of him, Inko, and a eight-year Izuku, all of them smiling and looking carefree.

He leaned back, knowing what the photo looked like by heart despite the fact he couldn't see it himself. "I miss those days…" He said to himself. "I really wish that All Might didn't find me back then… maybe I could've retired like I wanted too." He put the photo back before sighing. "Let's hope I can be fixed."