Internships

The train station was abuzz with activity. Partly because it was early on a Monday morning, right in the middle of the rush of morning commuters, but also because everyone's attention was being drawn to the group of Yueii students standing in the middle of the crowd. The easily recognizable uniforms and the faces that had just been displayed on nation television for the sports festival made them easy to pick out.

Thankfully, no one attempted to approach them. Aizawa's presence combined with the commuters' need to get wherever they were going prevented that. Though, that didn't stop a few from shouting out in greeting or to congratulate some of them for their performance in the festival.

"Alright." Aizawa said, loud enough to be heard over the cacophony around them. "You've all got your costumes, and you all know where you're going, so this is where we part ways. Now, I expect you all to be on your best behavior for the next week. You're not just representing yourselves during your internships, but Yueii as well. Anything you do reflects back on the school, so do everyone a favor and make sure we only hear good things."

With that heartwarming farewell, Aizawa turned to walk away, slipping through the crowd and practically vanishing into it as soon as he did.

They all stood there watching where he'd disappeared for a few seconds, when Ashido chose to make the first move.

"Alrighty then! I think my train leaves pretty soon, so I'm gonna get going."

"I'm coming too!" Kirishima said. "I'm on the same train."

"Same here." Jirou added on.

The three of them peeled off from the group, walking away in what was presumably the direction of their train.

"Bye everyone!" Ashido called over her shoulder, waving at them. "Have fun!"

"Bye Ashido!" Ochako called back, along with a few others.

The three of them leaving seemed to be the signal that everyone else needed, as they all began grouping together and heading off towards their own trains, calling out their farewells as they did. It didn't take long for most of the class to disperse, and soon enough it was just Izuku, Ochako, Tsuyu, and Iida left.

"Which train are you taking, Ochako?" Tsuyu asked, glancing down at her ticket.

"I'm not taking one, I've got something better than a train." She responded, reaching up to tap Izuku's arm.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense. That's how you got here to begin with."

Giving a small wave, Tsuyu turned to walk away. "I'm off. Talk to you later."

"Bye Tsu! Have fun with Selkie!"

With Tsuyu gone, disappearing into the crowd, Izuku nudged Ochako's shoulder, before motioning towards their only remaining classmate, who was staring down at his ticket.

She nodded, a determined look in her eyes, before walking towards him.

"Iida." She called, right as he was moving to step away. He stopped, turning to look at her.

"Yes, Uraraka? Did you need something?"

"Be careful at your internships, alright?" She said. "Don't do anything crazy."

Iida stared at her for a moment, before plastering on a smile that even Izuku could tell was faked. "Of course! I'll be alright! You've got nothing to worry about."

Without even saying goodbye, Iida turned and marched away, pushing through the crowd. Izuku noticed the ticket being crushed in his grip.

Ochako sighed, returning to Izuku. "That didn't do anything, did it? He's still going to go after that Stain guy, isn't he?"

Izuku nodded. "Most likely. The sort of anger he's probably feeling isn't something that can be so easily resolved. The only thing we can do is hope that he never gets the chance to meet Stain."

He sighed, before giving Ochako a small smile and extending his hand out to her, his other reaching for the case that held her hero costume. "Shall we get going then?"

"Yep! Let's go!" She said, returning the smile and taking his hand, letting him swing her onto his back. Once she was secure, and he had both of their hero costumes in his grip, he turned and started off towards the exit. The crowd of commuters wisely made way for him.

The situation with Iida was rather unfortunate. Ingenium, his brother, had been attacked and hospitalized, and even though the hero was expected to make a full recovery – it was a close thing, and even though he'll be able to retain full use of his legs, the doctors claimed it would be months, if not longer, before he recovered fully – it didn't seem like Iida could shake the anger he felt. He wanted Stain to pay for hurting his family.

Izuku could certainly understand the feeling. If someone were to hurt his family, he would make them pay, no matter if the damage was permanent or not. He would make them understand the true meaning of pain.

However, despite him understanding why Iida would do what he was no doubt planning on doing, the difference was that Izuku could actually do it. He not only had the means to fight and punish whoever he might target, but also to hide his identity while he did so. Iida had no such means to hide his identity, and even though he was a hero student with a decently powerful quirk, that meant very little when his opponent was Stain. Even Izuku had reason enough to be wary of Stain, though he had much less reason compared to the last time the two of them encountered one another, and he had a number of quirks to negate the risk.

It was a fortunate thing then, that Izuku was planning to dedicate his immediate future towards finding Stain and ending his crusade. He could do nothing to stop Iida, but he could certainly remove the source of his anger from the equation altogether.

Izuku frowned as they emerged back out into the sunlight. He just hoped he could get to Stain faster than Iida.

He gave his head a small shake. There would be time to think about that later. For now he had more important things to do, chief among them being getting Ochako to her internship.

Spreading his wings, he launched the two of them into the air, catching the attention of everyone around them.

---

Nearly an hour of flying later and the two of them were approaching their destination: The city of Koshigaya, on the eastern side of the Saitama prefecture, just north of Tokyo. As soon as Izuku spotted the office of the hero that Ochako had chosen to intern with, he opened his wings to glide gently to the ground. It was a relatively small building, but then the hero wasn't one to take on sidekicks or really work with others much at all. It was only three stories tall, and from what he'd heard, the entire top floor was used as a gym for the hero. The first and second floors were dedicated to all the normal employees that handled the office work.

No sooner had he touched down than he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. An instant later he felt something directly above him with 'Proximity,' something that was rather quickly getting closer.

Izuku's hand darted out, the case that held his costume dropping to the ground, and latched onto someone's ankle even as 'Shock Absorption' cancelled out the impact. Before the attacker could respond, he turned away, bringing them up over his head, and flung them through the air in front of him. They twisted around mid-flight, correcting themself so that they landed on their feet. Izuku was slightly surprised as he saw just who had attacked him, though admittedly it was a bit less surprising considering whose office they were next to. He felt Ochako drop to the ground and back away as he watched the attacker.

Almost as soon as her feet were under her, the attacker launched towards him. Izuku brought his hand up just in time to catch the kick that was aimed at his chest, the impact stinging his palm just a bit, even with 'Shock Absorption.' He pushed her back, sending her flying, where she once again corrected herself in midair to land on her feet.

"That's some impressive reaction time you've got there, kid, and with the strength to match." Miruko said, still crouched where she had slid to a stop, a wide smile on her face. "You seem like a lot of fun. It's too bad you didn't accept the invitation as well."

Izuku wasn't paying her much mind now that he knew she wasn't actually attacking him. It was more likely that she'd just wanted to test either him or Ochako. Instead, he turned away, moving to where Ochako had retreated.

"Have fun dealing with that." He said, reaching up to pat at the top of her head.

"I'm not even really sure what that was." She said, a slightly apprehensive look on her face.

"That was a friendly greeting, as far as I'm concerned." Miruko said, walking towards them. "I wanted to make sure that I didn't make a mistake by inviting you."

She stopped a few feet away, looking at Izuku. "It didn't quite do what I wanted it to, but at least I know what kind of fun you are. With how easily you defended yourself, from a sudden attack from above no less, part of me almost wants to fight you for real, if only to see which one of us would come out on top."

"If we were to fight for real, I would hope that you'd move faster than you just did, because the moment I get my hands on you, the fight would be over."

He directed his attention back to Ochako, holding out her hero costume and giving her head one last pat. "Call me if you need anything."

Turning away from them, he moved to where his own costume had been dropped, retrieving it and creating some distance so he could open his wings to fly away. Even though he couldn't see her anymore, he could practically feel the excitement radiating from Miruko at what he'd said. He smirked, it seemed that she was a bit of an adrenaline junkie as well.

As soon as he was far enough away, he spread his wings and took off once more. As he rose into the air, he could just make out Miruko speaking below him.

"Alright, what do you say we head inside and see what you're made of?"

---

Izuku flapped his wings, cancelling out his momentum as he touched down on his balcony. As soon as he was settled and his wings were folded against his back, he slid open the door, moving into his room.

Once inside, he set his costume case down and set about shedding his uniform. With everything properly stored away in his closet, he moved on to the bathroom, settling himself in front of the mirror.

Leaning on the sink to steady himself, he pulled his tail back, ignoring the odd sensation of the limb shrinking and eventually splitting in two. After a few seconds, he stood back up, wiggling his toes in an attempt to dispel the feeling. Leaning a bit closer to the mirror, he pulled on his shapeshifting quirk, mentally running through the possible changes that would suite his needs.

Starting with the basics, his skin darkened just a bit, taking on the appearance of a healthy tan, his freckles disappeared, and his face lengthened a touch, his jawline firming up and his ears shrinking ever so slightly. His nose widened, as did his mouth, and his eyes spread apart just enough to be noticeable, also taking on a more pronounced slant. His irises went from an emerald green to an almost golden brown. His hair lengthened, his curls straightening out to take on a more spiked appearance, not dissimilar to Kirishima and Bakugou. With a thought, the green bled out of his hair, replaced by a stark pale blue.

Turning his attention towards his torso, his musculature shrank away. Not enough to affect how his clothes would fit, but enough that he would look a little bit different at a glance. The shapeshifting quirk wasn't capable of changing much about the rest of his body anyway, with most of its ability being centered around his head.

He didn't change his height. He merely needed to change his appearance; he didn't want to have to buy knew clothes for this. He was the same height that he was whenever he changed into Oni, and that would work for what he needed.

Looking back up at his face, he turned his head in either direction, inspecting his new appearance. He found that he liked it, even if it was only a temporary thing. This face, especially with his hair color, made him look like he was related to Rei by blood.

With that taken care of, he walked back to his room, moving to his closet once more. The clothes he picked out were close to the outfit he wore as Oni – the pants and boots were actually the same – but with a white button-up instead of red, and no vest. As soon as he was dressed, and his costume was safely stored within 'Hotbar', he left his room, walking out into the living room where Rei was waiting for him. She was staying up a few extra hours for him.

"Ready to go?" She asked, rising up from where she had settled in front of the tv.

"I believe so." Izuku responded, walking up to her. "We'll know soon enough whether or not that's actually the case."

"You'll be fine. You're the strongest, smartest person I know. No matter what happens, I know you'll pull through."

"I certainly hope you're right."

She smiled, bringing a hand up to his head, carding her fingers through his new hair.

"I kinda like the look you chose. Especially the hair. Though I may be a bit biased."

Izuku returned the smile, leaning into the contact a bit.

With today being the start of the internships, that meant that today was the day he'd be paying Gran Torino a visit and hopefully getting a good idea of what sort of man he was. The week that had passed since Yagi's confession that he'd revealed Izuku's quirk had been filled with no small amount of anxiety, and even though nothing had happened yet, he and Rei had still taken steps to ensure that they would be prepared for the possibility.

They'd gone through and overhauled the security in the apartment and in both of their computers. No one approached the building – on the ground or in the air – without being noticed by a few cameras, and if anything about either of their names or the address of their apartment was mentioned anywhere public on the internet, or passed through the Musutafu police department or local hero networks, they would be able to know.

Rei already had her 'panic button' on her phone in case she was ever faced with an emergency, but she also added a similar thing to Izuku's phone. Something he could use to let her know if anything went south. Ochako's phone was similarly altered.

Speaking of Ochako, Izuku and Rei had made the decision to not inform her of what had happened just yet. As anxious as the situation made Izuku – made both of them – the more logical side of him knew that the more time passed with nothing happened, the lower the chances were of anything happening at all. Whether or not anything would actually come to pass, they would tell Ochako later. For now, he didn't want her distracted during her internship.

Beyond that, now that he'd had a week to look at things with a level head, he knew that the situation most likely wasn't as dire as he originally thought.

For starters, as infuriated as it made him to know that Yagi betrayed his trust the way he did, he was confident that, at the very least, his secret hadn't been widely spread. Something as big as his quirk, especially considering the fact that there was an infamous criminal with another instance of it, would've either made it into hero networks that he and Rei have access to or it would've reached his ears as Oni. Since neither had happened, it either hadn't gone much further than Gran Torino, or if it had, it was being kept under tight wraps.

There was also the fact that Yagi had told him at all.

The thing that he and Rei dreaded the most was the government or the Hero Public Safety Commission – assuming his secret made it that far – deciding that the best course of action was to attack and attempt to detain or kill him. That, more than anything else, would have the biggest impact on the life they'd built. But Yagi telling him meant that there either wasn't going to be an attack – or that it hadn't been decided yet – or that if there was, at the very least, he wouldn't be a part of it.

Given his extraordinary increase in power because of his fight with the Noumu, and the other quirks he had at his disposal, Izuku was more than confident in his ability to fight All Might and have a decent chance at winning. However, a fight against All Might and a specially selected team of heroes, who would most likely all be in the top ranks could very well be beyond his abilities.

With All Might not in the picture though, the number of additional heroes that would need to be gathered to pose as much of a threat would be significant, to say nothing of the amount of noise that would be created in doing so.

So, looking at things logically, the chances of anything significant happening, especially any time soon, were fairly low.

All the same, being as prepared as they were helped to put their minds at ease. And he was still planning on meeting Gran Torino. He wanted to know more about the only other person that he knew for sure was aware of his quirk.

Rei's hand trailed through his hair, coming down to rest on the side of his face. His own hand came up to settle on top of it.

"I thought you might like it. I find that I quite enjoy it myself. Maybe I should try to find more occasions in the future to revisit it."

The two of them fell silent, taking a few seconds to simply bask in each other's company. There was no greater relief to any sort of anxiety they might feel than simply being together. Soon enough though, they had to break apart.

"Alright, you should probably get going." Rei said, pulling her hand back. "You don't want to be late."

"Right." He said, nodding.

Turning away, he made his way back towards his room. "Make sure you get some sleep. I'll contact you if anything significant happens."

"I will. Good luck."

Stepping back into his room, he made for the door that led to his balcony, pausing just long enough to grab his mask and store it away with 'Hotbar.' Once he was outside, he didn't waste any time in launching himself into the air. Rising up above the building, he angled himself northwest to head for the small city that Gran Torino evidently lived in.

---

Soon enough, he found himself looking down on the city in question, high enough in the air that he was beginning to have difficultly breathing and that even people with magnification quirks might have difficulty seeing him. Picking out where he thought Gran Torino's home might be, Izuku pulled his wings back, falling through the air as soon as they weren't there to support him. As he fell, he also pulled on 'Ghost', vanishing from view as he felt the peculiar light, airy feeling wash over him.

The wind tore at him as he sliced through the air, likely already falling at terminal velocity. His arms were crossed as he watched the ground grow closer, aiming for the building he'd picked out, or more accurately, the alleyway across the street from it.

Once he felt as though he'd fallen far enough, he activated 'Cushion' and immediately felt himself begin to slow as the air thickened beneath him. It slowed him down significantly by the time he reached the ground, at which point 'Shock Absorption' took over and negated the rest of his momentum without even a twinge of discomfort in his knees.

He held 'Ghost' in place as he stepped towards the entrance to the alleyway, looking across the street at the decrepit building that the address pointed him towards. It was quite worn down, and seemed to be a few years overdue for maintenance, but then, he knew nothing about the hero, or even if this was his actual home, or just the place he'd chosen specifically for this situation.

One way or another, nothing would be achieved by standing around staring at it.

Walking up to the building, he could feel someone inside with 'Proximity' once he got close enough. Instead of going for the front door, he instead went around to the side. Pulling on 'Gecko', Izuku stepped onto the wall of the building, walking up the side once he had his balance.

He moved up until he was level with a second-story window – the person he could feel inside was on the first floor – before crouching down and pulling on a quirk he'd taken to calling 'Window.'

Reaching out, Izuku tapped on the wall right next to the window. When he did, a glowing outline of a rectangle appeared on the surface, roughly the size of a door. Swiping his hand across the glowing shape, the material within it vanished, leaving a gaping hole into the building. He pulled himself inside, deactivating the quirk as soon as he was through, letting the wall return to its previous state.

Remaining in place, he set to work taking in as much information as he could about the building. He was here to gather information before he officially met Gran Torino, and that started with picking up any clues the location had to offer.

It was almost deathly silent. The only thing he could hear was the muffled sound of what was most likely a television. Just from what he saw here, in what looked to be a spare bedroom, the place wasn't abandoned. The air around him was still, but it wasn't stale, as if not many people lived here. The surfaces were somewhat dusty, but not at a level that he would expect from an abandoned building, more akin to someone neglecting to clean as much as they should.

As far as he could see, the inside of the building didn't match the exterior in the slightest. Where from the outside it had looked like it was one strong gust of wind from collapsing, from the inside it looked almost perfectly maintained.

Stepping up to the door that led into the room, Izuku used 'Window' again, not wanting to risk making any noise with a squeaky door. Moving through the hole created by his quirk, into the hallway, he studied his surroundings once more. Finding them to be largely the same as the room he'd just left – if not better – he set off in the direction of a set of stairs he could see.

Upon reaching the ground floor, Izuku finally found the reason he'd come: Gran Torino.

Or at least, he assumed that's who it was. The little old man sitting on a couch watching a show that Izuku didn't recognize looked almost nothing like the most recent picture of the hero that could be found anywhere on the internet, which was over a decade old. The only reason he even thought the man was Torino at all was the fact that he was wearing a costume that exactly matched the picture.

Thankfully, he had a way to know for sure.

[Name: Sorahiko Torino]

[Quirk: Jet. Focus. Elemental/Enhancement/Utility/Transportation]

[Allows the user to expel the air in their lungs through jets in their feet at great speeds.]

Well, it was definitely Gran Torino he was looking at. The only way he knew of that 'Appraisal' could be mistaken was if the target truly believed that they were someone they weren't. So unless this was actually some random person that was extremely dedicated to mimicking the old hero, and happened to have an almost identical quirk, then the grumpy-looking old man munching on a plate of taiyaki was the man he came to see.

"He looks like a senile old man." Tamako commented.

'No.' Izuku responded as he leaned a bit closer to inspect the man, who was completely unaware that there was someone standing a few short feet away from him. 'He might look it, but he isn't.'

On the surface, Tamako was correct, Torino didn't look like much: a short, feeble old man that probably wouldn't even come up to Izuku's waist and who had a cane sitting on the couch next to him. He munched on sweets like they were popcorn and would occasionally grumble something under his breath, likely in response to the show he was watching, too quiet and too incoherent for Izuku to make out.

Izuku could see past all of that though.

For a good part of his life, he'd jumped from risky situation to risky situation, where not being able to read someone to see if they were dangerous or just another helpless victim trying to survive put one at a disadvantage. Something like that could – and nearly did, several times – get one killed.

So, looking past the feeble old man that was long past the prime of his life, past the short stature, cane, and poor diet, Izuku saw an experienced, dangerous former hero. Despite his apparent age, Torino's hands didn't shake, nor were they lacking in dexterity when he reached for his snacks or the remote at his side. His wrinkled skin didn't hang off his bones, nor did he look frail. Instead, Izuku saw hints of a musculature that was no doubt the result of years of hero work. In his eyes, trained on the television in front of him, Izuku saw a sharp intelligence and a dark, critically scanning look that bespoke a clear mind and a wealth of experience in analyzing his surroundings.

When the man jumped off of the couch, forcing Izuku to step to the side when he started walking towards the kitchen with his empty plate, he didn't even reach for the cane that had sat next to him. Izuku saw no stiffness in his movements, nor was he unsteady as he walked. Instead, Izuku saw in his gait and in the way he held himself further evidence of his time as a hero. Even now, in – presumably – his own home, in the daylight, Torino was ready to react at a moment's notice.

Izuku watched as the man stopped in front of the kitchen counter, taking a deep breath before launching himself just high enough to land on top of it. Clearly, his quirk was still fully functional as well. Izuku had no doubt that if Torino's quirk could function at anywhere near the same capacity that it had when he was in his prime, he would make for a potentially dangerous opponent.

Crossing his arms, Izuku continued to watch Torino as he grabbed what looked to be sausages out of the freezer, tossing them on a plate and putting it in the microwave. None of what he was seeing was exactly a surprise – he and Rei had found out that even though Torino hadn't been involved in any public heroics in decades, he had an incredible number of criminal and villain arrests attributed to him by the Yamanashi police precinct, so he was still very much an active hero, despite his age –, but now that he'd seen it all in person, he had a much better idea of what he was looking at.

Checking the time on his phone, Izuku saw that it was nearing the time he was meant to actually meet with the old man.

During the past week, the only time he'd spoken to Yagi was to let him know that he would be meeting Torino on the day that the internships started, at noon.

He'd decided that while he wanted to see Torino in-person, he had no interest in finding out what the old hero's idea of an internship was, nor the official documentation saying that-that's where he would be for the week. As it stood, 'Izuku Etsumi' had no reason to be anywhere near Torino, and the only people that knew he would be there at all ought to be Yagi and Torino himself.

Turning back towards the stairs, Izuku left Torino where he was heating up his plate of sausages. Now that he had a better idea of what he was walking into, it was time to get to the point of his coming here. He made his way back to the spare room he'd come through, using 'Window' get through the door, then again to get back outside. Dropping to the ground, he circled around the building, coming to a stop at the front door.

Taking a breath, he dropped his hold on 'Ghost', reaching a hand up at the same time to knock on the door.

As soon as his fist came into contact with it, it opened, surprising him. It swung inwards with next to no resistance whatsoever.

Izuku stared at it for a moment, before taking a cautious look inside. The sight of Torino lying on the floor with a broken plate and a sizeable red splatter beneath him caught his eye immediately. He felt a spark of concern flash through his mind, before it was vanished when he took a breath and identified the smell that hung in the air, that hadn't been there just a few short minutes ago.

"Is he okay?" Tamako asked, radiating a bit of concern in Izuku's stead.

'He is.' Izuku responded, frowning. 'I know you're still new to interpreting more than sight and sound from the people you're with, but that smell in the air is ketchup. If that were blood on the floor, we'd be able to tell from the smell alone.'

Izuku found it unlikely that this was anything other than Torino attempting to trick him. There wasn't anything anywhere near where he was lying to trip over, and he had already seen that the man wasn't unsteady at all when he moved. And if that weren't enough to go off of, the obscene amount of ketchup splattered across the floor was. Izuku could think of no other reasonable explanation as to why there would be what seemed to be an entire bottle's worth of ketchup on the floor.

Beyond that, Izuku could see the man's back rising and falling beneath his cape, and based on what he was feeling with 'Proximity', the man's muscles were tensed, not limp, as someone in his position would likely be, lying spreadeagle on the floor.

Izuku took a few steps inside, pushing his confusion and curiosity to the back of his mind and instead just staring down at the man with a deadpan expression.

"Old man, I know fully well that you aren't injured, just as I know the reason you extended an invitation to me. If you could please get up so we get this meeting over with, I would appreciate it."

A few seconds passed in silence, interrupted only by the sounds of whatever show Torino had been watching, with Izuku continuing to stare down at the man.

Then, without warning, Torino exploded up off the ground, the jets on his feet propelling him as he bounced around the room.

It seemed that Izuku's earlier assessment of the man was accurate, not only was the Torino nowhere near the feeble old man that his age might suggest, but he was still fully capable of acting as a hero, and then some. He was fast, not fast enough for Izuku to not be able to track his movements, but fast enough that most people Izuku knew of would have difficulty keeping up, including his classmates. He was almost a blur as he launched himself around the room.

Watching the man move the way he was, Izuku felt his heart sink just a bit. He'd come here hoping to see Gran Torino in person and hopefully get a feel for what sort of man he was, and whether or not he would be a threat, whether that be physically or to the secret of Izuku's quirk. And despite the fact that he hadn't discounted the possibility of their meeting leading to conflict, especially after spying on the man, he'd been hoping that it wouldn't. He had no interest in fighting the old hero for no reason.

Sighing in resignation, Izuku paid closer attention to Torino's movements, tracking him through the air, mostly with 'Proximity' and attempting to gauge when he would transition from trying to disorient Izuku with his movements to attacking.

As he watched, the pinball movements continuing long enough for Izuku to start to analyze them, he began to see a slight pattern to them. As the number of movements stretched into the dozens, Izuku noticed that, every once in a while, Torino would speed past almost close enough for his cape to whip at Izuku's face. The direction from which he would do so appeared to be random – from the front, then from his right, passing in front of him, then from the same direction passing behind him this time, back, left, front, left again, on and on – but every time he did, a few movements later, he would pause for the briefest of moments behind Izuku, off to the right and near the ceiling.

Either the man was intending to actually attack from that direction once he felt that Izuku was sufficiently disoriented – which he would have no way to judge, since Izuku had been staring straight ahead since Torino started moving – or he suspected that Izuku was skilled enough to track him and notice the pattern, in which case he would likely attack from a different direction once the pattern was broken. Either way, Izuku would be ready for h-.

There, behind him, off to his left. Torino's launch was directed straight at him instead of angled to pass by him.

Waiting until the last possible second in order to deprive Torino of a chance to redirect mid-flight, Izuku's hand darted out behind him, catching the man by the neck. Before he could do anything to try to break free, Izuku threw him into the wall in front of him, hard enough to leave a dent in the surface. Torino slid to the ground, gasping in a way that told Izuku that the air had been knocked out of him, which meant that he'd be unable to use his quirk for a few seconds.

Staring at the man struggling to take in a breath, Izuku felt his heart sink a bit further. He hadn't wanted to fight Torino. He'd been prepared to, obviously. If it became necessary in order to protect his family, he was prepared to do a number of unspeakable things, but that didn't mean that he didn't wish that he could avoid conflict if such a path were possible. He took no enjoyment from the thought of fighting heroes.

Why did it have to come to something like this?

"I didn't ask to be like this, you know."

Torino managed to suck in a breath, before looking up at Izuku.

"I didn't ask to be born with this quirk, to have it complicate my life, and to have it be so notorious that I can't reveal it to anyone without risking being feared or hated because of it."

His voice was quiet. Calm. He wasn't angry. No, he was past the anger at this point. Now it was the sadness and the exhaustion that made him speak. Sadness and exhaustion at what the very idea of his quirk seemed to bring out of people when they discovered it: the anger, or fear, or hatred. For he truly did not ask for such a quirk. And he wished more than anything else that he could be allowed to exist with it without having to constantly be wary of what might happen to him and his family should its existence ever be discovered.

"I am fully aware of the sort of person I am." He continued. "I know that I'm a monster. A piece of trash with a quirk that may as well rip someone's very soul from them every time it's used. But I try. I try my hardest to deserve something more than the shit hand I've been dealt. I try to help."

"Easy kid." Torino wheezed as he pushed himself up from the floor, cutting Izuku off. "I'm not out to get you or anything. I just wanted to see what sorta reaction you'd have."

Izuku huffed. "You couldn't gauge what kind of person I am from a conversation?"

"Sure I could, in fact I still intend to, but some things are best judged through spontaneous action. Besides, trying to kick the crap outta you gives me a chance to work these old bones, and I will admit that you're pretty good for a brat. Maybe the next generation of heroes ain't gonna be so bad."

"You could try to attack me for as long as you want, you wouldn't be able to land a single hit."

"Hmph. If only I was twenty years younger, then I could teach you a proper lesson for mouthing off to your elders."

"Whatever you say." Izuku said. "Now, I assume this conversation is going to go somewhere meaningful at some point?"

Torino grunted. "Toshi said that you didn't react too well when he told you that I know."

"Does that surprise you? Did he also tell you that he's the first person I've willingly shared my secret with?"

"No, I can't say that really surprises me." Torino said, scratching at his chin. "I don't imagine there are very many people who'd be real happy about a secret like that getting blabbed."

Izuku nodded. "That's the only reason I'm here right now, because I wanted to see what kind of person you are, and whether you were the type to spread the secret further."

"And what would you have done if I were the type?"

Izuku shrugged. "Depends on the situation. At the very least I would be that much more prepared for whatever would come. But I value the safety of my family above all else, and there is very little I wouldn't consider in order to ensure that the life we've built remains undisturbed."

Torino grunted again, and Izuku got the feeling that he understood what Izuku was saying. Then, after a few moments of silence, he spoke up again.

"You know, Toshi can be a bonehead about a great many things, number one hero or not, but you should know that he isn't the type to go about breaking people's trust willy nilly."

"And in this instance?" Izuku asked. "Was there a special reason for it?"

"Fear can do a lot of things to a man, even someone like Toshi." He answered.

They fell into silence once more as Izuku considered Torino's words. He could certainly understand fear clouding someone's judgement, but he couldn't move past the thought that it was Yagi's fear of him that led him to do what he did.

"Has Toshi told you about his quirk and All For One yet?" Torino asked, breaking the silence.

"I know what his quirk is, and he told me that All For One is the villain that injured him a few years ago. But I'm guessing there's a bit more than that?"

Torino nodded. "Quite a bit more, yeah."

He turned to walk over to his couch, rolling his shoulders. "C'mon, you'll probably want to sit down for this, it's a long story."

"I'll stand, if it's all the same to you." Izuku said, following him.

"Suit yourself, but I'm gonna sit. My little welcoming party really did a number on my back."

He jumped up onto the couch, sitting down and taking a moment to get settled, groaning in apparent relief when he found the right spot.

"Now then, starting at the beginning, towards the very beginning of quirks, there were two brothers."

Gran Torino proceeded to walk Izuku through a story that seemed to come straight out of a work of fiction, about the villain All For One and his brother who, through All For One's actions, became the beginning of Yagi's quirk, One For All. He talked about the constant cycle of One For All being passed down to a new successor, said successor facing off against All For One, failing, and the quirk being passed on once more to someone new. According to him, Yagi was the eighth holder of the quirk, and his predecessor, the seventh holder and the person who mentored him, gave her life in an attempt to end All For One.

He ended the story by talking about how Yagi had fought against All For One himself a few years ago, and had thought the villain dead.

"So think about it from his point of view." Torino said upon wrapping the story up. "In the span of a few minutes, he was told that the single greatest villain to ever live, the one that had left him crippled and had taken his mentor from him, wasn't dead, as he believed, but was alive and well and ready to start screwing with stuff again. And on top of that, he learned that there exist other people with the same quirk that caused him so much pain. He wouldn't necessarily be afraid of you, but with everything else churning around in his head, the fear would've overridden his common sense long enough for him to spill everything to me, one of the very few people that knows about what he went through."

Izuku frowned as he considered everything he'd just learned, this story that had been kept hidden from the vast majority of people for so many years. What Torino said made sense. Izuku could imagine how that sort of fear would twist one's mind. He wasn't quite sure if the knowledge he now had was enough for him to forgive Yagi, but it least gave him a better look at things.

"I see." He said. "Thank you for telling me all of that. It's given me a lot to think about."

"No problem kid. Just don't be too harsh on Toshi. He's a bonehead, but his heart's always been in the right spot."

Izuku stood there for a moment longer, before nodding, and turning to make his way towards the door.

"By the way. You don't have to worry about me spilling anything kid, I've held onto Toshi's secrets for this long, I can keep a few more until I finally kick the bucket."

Izuku paused, looking back at him. He thought for a moment, then, "Do you know if he told anyone else?"

"I don't know for sure. The only person I can think of that he might've told would be his old sidekick, Nighteye. The three of us worked pretty closely when Toshi was gunning for All For One last time. And you don't have to worry about him either, in case you were wondering. He might be an uppity brat, but he knows how to keep a secret."

Izuku nodded, continuing towards the door, shutting it once he was through.

This had given him a lot to think about indeed. Not only was Yagi's quirk much more convoluted than he originally thought, but apparently the villain that had orchestrated the USJ attack was intertwined into the whole thing. It was s great deal more than he'd been expecting.

At the very least, he'd achieved what he'd set out to do today. After meeting Gran Torino and conversing with him for as long as he did, Izuku was confident that the old man wasn't the sort of person that would spill his secret. It wasn't ideal that he knew it at all, but Izuku still felt a little better about it.

He still wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to forgive Yagi, given what he now knew. He'd have to put some thought into it.

Thankfully, he had an entire week to mull it over.