Chapter 22 Why am I on Fire? by Yojimbra

Shit.

That was all I could think of.

I didn't bother to ask how they found him. I wasn't a part of the investigation team. All I wanted to know was why. Why now? Why did it have to be now? When Rei was pregnant, and we were expecting a child? Why did it have to be so close to her birthday? Why did it have to be when everything was going so well?

I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw a tantrum. I wanted to tell All Might to do it himself and leave me out of it.

But.

I couldn't.

I might be a petty person, but I wasn't selfish enough to put my own self-interest so far above the needs of others. This was why I hated being in a position of power. This was why I didn't want to be a hero. I wanted nothing more than to just stay home and spend time with my family.

And after this, that was all I was going to do.

How many years of early retirement would "Fighting the most deadly villain in the history of Japan" get me if we won?

Probably not a lot.

"Are you ready for this, my friend?" Despite the sweetness of All Might's words, his tone was anything but sweet. In a word, he was frightening. It felt like there was a storm gathering around him, ready to strike at anything that so much as looked at him.

"Are you?" I asked before my brain could tell my mouth that I needed to be careful with my words.

All Might blinked, the storm clouds vanishing as he smiled before he let out a laugh that nearly shook the whole car. The laugh ebbed and flowed, moving from a chuckle to a whole belly laugh as I somehow managed to find just the right button to relieve all of All might's stress. "No, no, I don't suppose I was Enji. Thank you."

That didn't mean we were turning back.

The drive to Kyoto wasn't a long one. The train would have been shorter, but we needed to be there away from the public eye, which was why we were taking a car. And there was a chance that by the time we got there, All for One might be gone. Or far too protected for us to deal with.

Was it wrong I was hoping he'd be gone already?

"But, this is because of you," All Might leaned further into the large seat we were currently sharing in the back of the car. Mirai glanced back at us with a curious look every so often from the driver seat.

"You know, I'm really starting to hate experiencing the consequences of my own damn actions all the time." I groaned, placing one hand onto my face and trying to imagine that right now, instead of driving to Kyoto at the ass-crack of dawn, I was still in bed with my wife and feeling her cool hands on my face.

All Might laughed again. "I'm sure it's better than life happening regardless of what you do."

I'd rather life just leave me the fuck alone.

"But really, are you sure about this All Might?" I glanced towards him, trying to keep the tone light. "I don't know anything about what he can do at this point."

"From what you said about when we have our rematch in the future, that was him after specifically going for quirks that would allow him to beat me; close to a hundred or so, right? Even if he has had time to prepare, it wouldn't be that much. You should know that the sooner we deal with him, the easier it will be."

I hated that it made sense.

"I know that I know that, but are you sure we're doing this because we're being pragmatic, or because you want revenge for him killing Nana?" Again I spoke without thinking, even if it was a truth that needed to be stated. All Might's frown worried me. "We're going to do this, All Might—" was I telling him that or me? "—but carrying that baggage into the fight won't help us. We are doing this to stop him from hurting more people."

All Might let out a long steady breath and then looked out the window. He held that gaze even as we passed through a tunnel. "I'm not going to lie to you. Part of the reason why I'm so eager for this fight is to avenge my master and all the other users of One for All that came before her. But don't worry, I won't let my emotions get the better of me. And I'll make sure that you get out of this in one piece."

"Well, that totally makes me feel like I'm going to lose a limb or something in this whole ordeal."

All Might roared in laughter at my deadly seriousness.

"Haha, don't worry so much, if you lose an arm we'll talk David into making you a new one." All Might nudged me with an elbow. "We can even ask Rei for a list of features she'd like."

"Did you just make a sex joke?"

"Yep."

"Holy shit I've corrupted All Might."

All Might let out another roaring laughter and slapped his knee. "I thought I was supposed to be the mentor here! I almost have a decade on you, you know."

"Something I frequently forget." I rolled my eyes and took what might be the first breath that didn't come with a feeling of dread all day. "But, what's the plan? I mean, I can provide fire support." The pun was only sometimes intended. "But, I'd be too worried about hitting you, and if I get too close, there's a chance he might try taking my quirk."

All Might sighed and nodded. "I understand your concern, but, I do know how he steals quirks." He reached out and grabbed my head with one hand, his palm resting against my forehead. "To steal a quirk, he needs to touch your head with his left hand, and to give a quirk he needs to touch you with his right hand. I'm fairly certain that when things get heated, you're too hot to touch."

"Is this entire car ride going to be nothing but fire puns?" I asked, swatting away All Might's hand. It felt good to know that I could at least fight back against my quirk being stolen. Even if it wasn't the most well behaved quirk in the world, I'd kind of grown to like it just a bit, and it was better than All for One having it. "Because that might be more punishing than the actual fight."

Mirai, seeing his fate, groaned from the front seat. There was a good chance he was debating on driving us off the road for the greater good.

"Haha! Perhaps!" All Might's laughter lasted for a moment before the laughter stopped, the tunnel ending and giving way to the natural beauty of Japan. The calm before the storm washed over us, and for a moment we said nothing.

Then All Might looked towards me, a smile on his face that I would never forget.

"Enji, I have a plan."