Aftermath

Thousands showed up for the funeral of the Symbol of Peace. Tsukauchi stood stoically next to Sir Nighteye as Gran Torino stood at the podium to give the eulogy.

"I've known All Might since before he was the symbol of peace. Back then, he was just a kid with a dream. We thought he was crazy, thinking that he could decrease crime just by being visible, by being a symbol, but I guess he was just crazy enough to pull it off. All Might dedicated his life to protecting people, and now he's dedicated his death too. The villains were after him , make no mistake, but All Might did his darndest to make sure that none of those kids were hurt and he succeeded. This is his legacy: that wherever All Might was, people were safe. He made the world safer just by being there and by being himself. He'll be missed, that's for sure, and the world won't be the same without him, but if I know anything about All Might, I know that he wouldn't want us to lose hope. He'd want us to keep going, keep fighting, and keep protecting those in need. Thank you, All Might, and Goodbye."

Gran Torino went to stand back by Tsukauchi, wiping his eyes surreptitiously. The three walked over to the casket along with several other heroes, taking up their places as Pallbearers. They had managed to keep the existence of All Might's skeletal form out of the media, so the casket was much larger than it probably needed to be. Tsukauchi had caught a glimpse before they'd closed it. Toshinori had looked so small, dwarfed by his own casket, by his own legacy.

He thought people were supposed to look peaceful in death, but all Tsukauchi could think of was the agony and despair that his friend had felt in his final moments as Mastermind slid a dagger between his ribs. Mastermind, who Tsukauchi was supposed to have caught. If he had just been a little faster on that first raid, or realized that the villain existed sooner, or managed to track him down before he started showing his face, then maybe, just maybe, his friend would still be beside him, laughing until he coughed up blood, rather than lying in a box that really was too big for him.

They lowered him into the ground and Tsukauchi couldn't take it anymore. He tried not to run, but walked quickly away from the graveside, not stopping until he reached the relative privacy of the bathroom. He burst into tears and didn't even try to hold them back as he thought of his friend, not All Might, not the symbol of peace, but his friend murdered in cold blood because he couldn't do his job as a fucking cop and catch the guy!

He buried his head in his hands and collapsed onto the dirty cement floor, not even caring that he'll have to dry clean his suit after this. He'd been sobbing for a few minutes when he felt arms around him and looked up. He could barely see Gran Torino through his tears, but the old pro was kneeling beside him, whispering to him to breathe and that everything was going to be alright.

"It's not your fault, Tsukauchi. There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it."

"I-I could have!" Tsukauchi sobbed, "I could have caught him! I could have ignored the stupid hostage situation and put the bastard in tartarus so he couldn't fucking hurt anyone else! I could have.."

"Stop that!" Gran Torino hit him on the head with his cane, "If you'd ignored the hostage situation, there'd be a lot more people dead and there was still a chance Toshinori would be dead. Mastermind knew his weaknesses. He knew about his injury. He knew about his time limit. No matter what anyone did, Mastermind was always going to kill Toshinori eventually. And the guilt for that rests solely on the bastard that held the knife, not on me or you or anyone else . Do you hear me?"

"But…"

"No! Gran Torino's right." The two looked up to see that Sir Nighteye had joined them, "If we were to assign blame on your criteria, I would be just as guilty as you. I was the one who told him to go to UA and find a successor. If I hadn't have pushed him like that, he would never have been there and those villains would never have come! But if we lose ourselves in blame, we will be paralyzed with doubt and fear and than we will never be able to catch the man who killed our friend. And I won't let that happen."

The other two looked at him in shock, surprised by the feriosity of his declaration. Sir Nighteye had tears streaming silently down his face now and his hands were clenched at his sides. Suddenly, Gran Torino reached forward and pulled Nighteye down onto the floor, wrapping his arms around him.

"It'll be alright… even if he's not here...it has to be alright..."

The three didn't know how long they stayed there, sobbing on the floor and holding onto each other for dear life, but by the time they left, the crowds had already dispersed, the news crews were gone, and the gravediggers were already filling the hole with dirt. They each went their separate ways and Gran Torino waved to the others as they left before turning to face the grave one last time.

"We'll catch the guy that did this Toshinori." He whispered. "We have to."

"So, I need to be completely honest with you." Nedzu sat solemnly at the head of the table. The staff of UA had gathered together for a meeting on how to move forward after All Might's death. Thirteen was wrapped in bandages and Aizawa still had a thick piece of gauze taped under his eye, both physical reminders of what had happened. At least the media wasn't blaming them for All Might's death. If anything, they were being praised for how well they protected the students against a hoard of unbeatable villains.

"The league of villains only came to UA because All Might was here." Nedzu continued, "He was the ultimate goal and his presence put the students in danger, and for that I am truly sorry."

"Why did you think it was a good idea for him to teach here anyway? He didn't even have teaching credentials and…" Aizawa huffed angrily, "Those villains put our students through hell. They had to learn too early that not every villain can be beat. They had to watch the symbol of peace die. That's not something we can erase from their minds, it's something that will stay with them forever. And it only happened because All Might was here."

"At the time, I believed the students could learn something from him. He was also unwilling to step down as the symbol of peace, so a teaching job gave him an excuse to step out of the spotlight for a time and respect his time limit. But the main reason I invited him to teach at UA was because of his quirk."

Nedzu looked around the table at the confused faces of his staff and took a deep breath before continuing, "All Might's quirk was unique in many senses of the word. It was called One for All and had an aspect that allowed it to be physically transferred to another person." Nedzu ignored the shocked looks and whispers, "He came to UA to find a suitable successor for his quirk. I thought I could point him to some of our students that have been doing well and he could groom them to become the next symbol of peace."

"So…" Midnight spoke up, "Are you telling us that one of our students has All Might's quirk now?"

Nezu looked up at her, "No. That's just the thing. He had spent the year so far looking at several students, but had not yet made a decision at the time of his death. I normally wouldn't have dreamed of telling you this secret, but it doesn't matter anymore. All Might was not able to pass it on and his quirk died when he did."

"So why are you telling us," Aizawa asked, "If he didn't pass it on, it's a moot point and we don't need to know."

Nedzu sighed, "I wish it were that simple. You see, One for All has a... a brother quirk, of sorts, called All for One. The villain with this quirk can steal the quirks of others, which he has used to give himself a supernaturally long lifespan. We believe he died in a confrontation with All Might several years ago, but his body was never recovered and there is a possibility, however slight, that he survived. Until now, the only people strong enough to keep All for One in check have been the holders of One for All."

There was a pause as everyone digested Nedzu's words and their implications. When it finally sunk in, the teachers stared at the principal in horror.

"Now that One for All is gone," Nedzu whispered, "I do not know if there is anyone alive strong enough to defeat All for One."

"Will he come after the students?" Mic asked quickly.

"I don't know." Nedzu replied. "With All Might gone, he shouldn't have any reason to, but there is always the possibility that he does not know that All Might never passed on his quirk and he will look for the successor among our student body."

"How will we protect the students?" Snipe asked.

Nedzu stared off into the distance, "I don't know," he said softly, "I don't know."