Spirit of Self-Sacrifice

After a verbal lashing from his sidekick (and a physical lashing from his mentor), Toshinori somehow convinced them he was both speaking the truth and hadn't actually gone insane.

Well, they were still skeptical on that last point, but at least he got out of being admitted into a psych ward! This unfortunately still left the underlying problem at hand.

"So what should we do now? Toshinori already confirmed [One For All] has been passed on to the girl." Gran Torino asked after giving Toshinori one last smack across the head.

"I assume kindly asking for it back is not an option?" Nezu asked, more in confirmation than an actual inquiry.

"That's right. As far as I'm aware, [One For All] can't be returned to a previous wielder. I'm not sure anyone has tried, but that was the feeling I got when I passed it on." Toshinori said after giving the matter some thought. Despite the strange state he was in when he gave it to the young lady, he was still fully conscious of his choices at that time.

It was very strange indeed. All his choices were his own, but they were influenced, no more like guided by his desire to care for the young lady. It was like she became the center of his world and he would do anything to please her. In hindsight, it was a very scary situation to be in, but he could also tell he wouldn't have done anything that went beyond his own moral code.

It was less mind control and more like emotional manipulation? He still wasn't exactly sure that's what happened, but it was the best they could come up with for now.

"What if we trained the brat to be the next wielder? She's still at a malleable age, right? With enough guidance, she could make for a decent successor. Or at the very least a placeholder until we find a better one." Gran Torino offered after a moment of pondering. Although concerned, he didn't think the situation was as bad as they made it seem.

'It should be a decent solution for now.' Toshinori thought in his head. He didn't feel any malicious intent coming from the girl during their admittedly brief interaction, but he was pretty confident in his ability to judge people. He didn't think the girl was so bad. Of course, that could just be the lingering effect of her quirk talking…

"That could possibly work. If she were to stay at the school, we'd even be able to have her monitored by the heroes on staff without looking too suspicious." Nezu seriously contemplated the idea in his head before offering his reply. She would also be much safer in the school than anywhere else, as he was sure All For One wasn't done with the girl just yet.

It would also allow him time to study the girl up close for an extended period of time. He was very curious about where she came from and what she knew. He wouldn't do anything like experiment on her (at least not without her permission, of course), but she might at least be an interesting conversation partner.

Plus… he also felt a sort of kinship with the girl for some unknown reason. He could think of a few possibilities, but it would require actually speaking with her to confirm any of them.

"I mean no disrespect, but have you all lost your minds? We currently have her captured and restrained. We should spend the rest of this time thinking about another suitable holder instead and force her to transfer it as soon as possible before locking her up somewhere." Nighteye said, with a very obvious frown on his face.

He could not understand where all this talk of raising the girl came from. It was completely illogical. He was sure he could find a suitable successor if given enough time. Worst-case scenario, he would take it himself until they found someone. Practically anyone was better than that girl right now!

"Nighteye! You can't mean that! The girl hasn't even done anything wrong, why should she be imprisoned!?" Perhaps it was a lingering effect of what happened earlier, but Toshinori was appalled at the thought of forcing her or any child to do anything if they had done nothing wrong.

All Might was very confident in his judgment of people and he could tell the girl was just as confused about the situation she was placed in as everyone else. It didn't feel right to treat her as a criminal because of circumstances beyond her control.

"All Might, you have to be reasonable! That kind of power can't be left in the hands of an unknown factor like her, no matter what! We don't even know what she is, let alone her motives for coming here. We still don't even know what exactly she did to you and All For One! She's dangerous and needs to be contained!" Nighteye all but shouted at All Might. Although he tried to keep it hidden, the others were experienced enough to detect the underlying worry, if not a small amount of fear, in his tone.

And he had every right to be afraid.

Their only weapon against All For One was in the hands of a child. Not to mention a child they know absolutely nothing about, except that she came from outside of this world. This is on top of the fact that All Might himself would gradually weaken after passing on his quirk. The world would soon be without its symbol of peace. If they didn't find the new one soon, everything they've worked for all these years would come crumbling down. They had no time to train a new one either, let alone where to look for one! All Might had been in contact with Nezu, the principal of UA, the best hero school in the country, and his alma mater, to look for potential successors but so far they haven't come across anyone even halfway decent for the role.

[A/N: Just in case you're confused about the timeline, this is still about 5 years before canon. So Mirio hasn't gone to UA yet, therefore hasn't gotten on Nighteye's radar.]

Had the perfect opportunity not presented itself today to potentially be rid of All For One, they wouldn't have even started actively searching for the man until a successor had already been chosen, just in case.

"Besides, she might still have the quirk All For One had given her during your confrontation. It's dangerous enough that we don't know what side effects might come of it but at the very least we wouldn't be taking that power away from her as well. That should be more than enough compensation, right?" Nighteye tried one more time to reason with All Might.

That was another big problem they had.

According to All Might, she had been given a copy of [All For One] alongside [One For All]. That the man was even capable of copying his own quirk should have been at the forefront of their discussion, if not for the child. In the future, they could potentially be dealing with multiple [All For One] users, and that was just a nightmare to imagine. They needed a proper symbol of peace now more than ever. They had no time to play the guessing game if the child would be good enough in the future or not. It was much more practical to spend all that time on the true successor!

Toshinori wasn't convinced. Something told him it'd be a big mistake to take the quirk back from the girl. Ignoring the fact that [One For All] requires the wielder to willingly give the quirk away, his instincts were telling him that even that might no longer work for the young lady. He wasn't sure why, but he was positive that even in his hazed state he made the right choice on who to pass the torch to.

If only there was a way to make his partner see reason-

"Wait! Why don't you use your quirk, Nighteye? Look into her future to see what happens should she be allowed to keep [One For All]! That way we'll be able to make the best decision without jumping to conclusions." Toshinori was inwardly kicking himself for forgetting about his partner's quirk. Nighteye would normally avoid looking too far into someone's future as it became hard to give precise dates for when events will occur, plus he was afraid of foreseeing something he couldn't change. All Might had already tried to convince the man that the future couldn't possibly be set in stone like that, but he was just as stubborn as he was in some areas.

"This.." Nighteye seemed hesitant at first, but his face quickly morphed into one of determination a few moments later. He actually came to a very simple conclusion that would also prove whether he could change the future he foresaw.

"Fine, I'll do it." Nighteye said with a voice full of both unwillingness and determination.

If the girl had a future he couldn't agree with, he would put an end to her personally.

The thought of even harming a child made his stomach turn, and he hoped they would attribute the shaking in his hands to his normal nervousness when peering into the far future. This was by no means a simple choice for him, in fact, it could be said to be the most difficult decision of his life, but he could not- Would not allow another monster like All For One to come into existence. Not when he could potentially stop it!

Even if the others didn't agree. Even if they called him a monster. Even if his idol and personal hero turned his back on him, he would do what was necessary for the sake of the world.

In a way, he too embodied the spirit of self-sacrifice.