Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Ryuma POV – 8 years ago.
"It's over." I said, feeling my body lose its tension as I stared at All For One's corpse, her head shattered. I slowly approached All Might as my body protested.
All For One was a monster. But it's over... one less monster in this world.
"Yes... it's over... finally." All Might said slowly before coughing up blood everywhere. Even with my muscles torn, I took a step forward and grabbed All Might before he fell.
"You know, I shouldn't be doing this. I'm retired." I grumbled as I helped All Might to his feet, clutching the wound on his chest in pain. I scanned the wound and used Haki to trace its location.
His stomach had almost completely disappeared, a large part of his left lung was gone, and whatever All For One had hit him with was getting infected, almost as if it was slowly devouring All Might's wound and spreading.
I could see All Might slowly coating his wounds with Haki, just to stop the corrosive Quirk from spreading further. And that was only his most lethal injury. Bruises, broken bones, torn muscles, and more covered his entire body.
All For One had focused entirely on All Might with a feverish hatred.
"I know... thanks... for the help, Ryuma." All Might said haltingly. I sighed.
"You need a doctor, All Might, urgently. There are a couple who can fully heal you, so hang in there." I grunted as I helped him walk.
"D-don't worry, I-I'm still holding on, my old friend." All Might laughed painfully.
"Good, because help is on its way." I grunted as I watched the others frantically approach. All Might laughed as blood dripped from his body. "I suppose even after this, you'll still be the Symbol of Peace?" I said, more as a statement than a question.
"Of course." All Might said, even weakly, his words were so full of determination that it made me smile slightly.
"Damn hard-headed idiot." I muttered through gritted teeth. All Might smiled and tried to laugh before coughing slightly.
"Oof... this really hurts." All Might complained.
"You're missing your entire stomach and a lung, of course it hurts." I said dryly, and All Might chuckled slightly once more.
"Yeah... it's a horrible sight," All Might said, almost amused. I sighed. "You know... maybe I'll take a break," All Might said, and I looked at him in surprise.
"You? Rest?" "Did that word even exist in your vocabulary?" I asked incredulously. All Might trembled with amusement before groaning in pain once more.
"Of course, I was thinking of taking a week or two off," All Might said with a broad smile.
"That doesn't even count as a vacation." I snorted dryly. All Might kept smiling at me, and I sighed. "I guess you'll be spending it with your... family, right? " I hummed. All Might's face softened completely. Even covered in wounds and nearly on the brink of death, the smile he wore when he thought of his family was so full of peace and love that it was incredible.
"Yes... with my wife, my beloved Inko, and my little Izuku," All Might said tenderly. I nodded.
"Alright, go back to your family and get some rest, you earned it... Toshinori." I said simply. All Might tried to chuckle, but only staggered once more. At that moment, the others finally arrived.
"All Might!!" Gran Torino and Nighteye shouted worriedly as they approached. More people came behind them to help All Might. They grabbed All Might and placed him on a stretcher. I could see several people coming toward me, but I raised my hand.
"First." I said simply as I slowly sat down on some rubble. None of the first responders tried to protest, though they seemed hesitant for a few moments before fully attending to All Might.
Sigh and grip Shusui tightly.
Family… I was about to turn 82 and had never thought about a family. I wasn't a relationship man. I wasn't a traditional man in the slightest. I wasn't a man who could sit at home and do nothing. No.
From the moment I was born, my life has always revolved around my sword and facing formidable adversaries. It was the life I chose and decided to live. And after more than 60 years of this, I can honestly say that I am completely satisfied with my life. I wouldn't change a thing. But for the first time, I felt…
…terribly tired.
Settling down had never been an idea that crossed my mind. I spent my youth and much of my adulthood traveling the world, and when I was awarded the stupid title of National Hunter, I could only travel throughout Japan and the allied nations that granted me access to their country.
But I never had a house, a place to call home.
And for the first time… I found myself wanting both. Family and Home.
I smiled, almost amused. Too late for my old ass to crave both; it was impossible no matter how I looked at it.
…
…
…or not…
I knew it was impossible for me to have a normal family, so sperm donation was the only obvious option left to comply with the stupid birth control law from decades ago. I had completed it over 60 years ago; I just had to supply a certain amount to the sperm bank and that was it.
That meant that… it's almost a certainty that there's someone there who shares my blood… maybe…
I snorted again, this time more contemptuously, and looked up at the sky.
Hope for an elderly person? Why not? I had nothing to lose and nothing better to do.
Yes… I could try that.
------------------
I wiped Shusui's blood before putting it back in its sheath, ignored the building collapsing behind me, and ignored the woman's scream; after all, I had done that myself.
I held up the paper in my hand, covered in a list of names. I grimaced.
The sperm donation was supposed to be secret and closed, meaning that my name, my photo and any form of contact should not appear anywhere on the donation, only that I had fulfilled my quota and a basic description of my body, hereditary conditions and my quirks.
I thought that way they would go completely unnoticed. My quirk wasn't strong. In fact, it was classified as an E-rank quirk, one of the lowest ranks.
After all, 'Enhanced Sense of Smell' wasn't impressive at all on paper; it was simply the ability to possess an extremely keen sense of smell.
What almost no one knew was just how sharp my sense of smell really was.
I am more than capable of identifying subtle smells and tracking their location with terrifying accuracy over enormous distances, kilometers away if I really put my mind to it. But it was more than that.
It's so acute that I can perceive my surroundings with just my sense of smell. I can sense the intentions of others, their feelings, and even some of their thoughts; I can perceive their aura and presence, and even their strength level, simply by their scent.
But most importantly, my sense of smell was capable of detecting and even predicting several movements in the future. I could smell the enemy's movements or pauses and exploit every opening and movement, reacting at a terrifying level. It was even stronger than most of the Observation Haki users capable of seeing the future that I encountered.
So yeah… my quirk was simple, but taken to a really scary extreme.
Something that very few people knew.
Of course, the old sperm bank owner who had just been crushed by her own mansion wasn't one of them. But she did know who I was. She recognized me. More than 60 years ago, the old woman had been running a clandestine sperm bank, selling donor sperm.
She kept the samples that arrived long enough to conduct an in-depth investigation of the men, and any that were worthwhile, he sold at an exorbitant price, especially to people from other countries.
Just as I expected, mine didn't sell at all. After all, I was just a nobody. I didn't even have a family, which was rare for a man. I owned nothing. My grades in school were mediocre, and I didn't even have a college degree. Everything was below average, especially my quirk. It was obvious no one would want those kinds of traits for their kids.
So, on one hand, I worked spectacularly, but that just meant my samples were stored away for years… until I became famous enough.
The owner seemed to have a moment of clarity, recognizing me from when I was much younger and deciding to take advantage of the situation. One had to acknowledge her preparation, as she kept a large number of records that she shouldn't have, even for 'useless' samples.
So my samples went from being worthless to being diamonds in the rough. And the woman took full advantage of that.
I almost snorted at my past self. I was terrible at managing money back then. I had the government grant, but somehow I always ended up wasting it. So I needed money quite often, and the clinic I'd chosen paid really well, so I didn't even think twice.
At this time, I would have preferred to go to one of the cheaper clinics. The average single woman couldn't afford to 'choose' the sample she wanted to use to get pregnant.
That's why there were 'cheap' clinics; it wasn't that they were terrible or the service was bad, but everything was random. No sample had a name, traits, or anything; everything was completely random, and that's why it had a low, standardized price. That would have been better.
Luckily, the old woman kept a record of all her sales and the names of those who bought my samples. It wasn't as long as I expected. I thought she'd squeeze even more out of it, but not really.
Now… let's see what we have here.
----------------------
I almost growled as I crossed the name off the list. I wasn't going anywhere near that woman or that family, not even for miles around. If I could have killed them all without any repercussions, I would have, but I wasn't in the mood to put up with the government right now.
A lot of wasted space and air.
What a waste of money! I saw the exorbitant amount they paid for my sample, but the moment they realized the 'result' was 'useless,' they decided to get rid of it. Completely ridiculous.
But putting that aside, I had finally found her, someone who had my blood in her veins. The only one who had worked out.
He had followed up and searched for all the names he had taken from the old woman, but so far, all the other buyers had failed at insemination. Oh… technology had advanced by leaps and bounds for in-vitro fertilization since it was truly a necessity for society.
But even so, there was still a biological impediment to guaranteeing the result. I had supplied several dozen sample vials to the clinic, and all of them were sold illegally. I didn't know if it had been a blessing that all but one of them had failed.
Look in front of me and look at the sign.
Cake Shop Iori.
Iori Miyamura was the name she used now. The woman who was supposed to be my daughter owned a pastry shop. She supposedly had a quirk that helped her with that—really interesting.
I was about to go in when I froze for a few seconds, my nose twitching violently, and I let my sense of smell guide me over the aroma of the bakery. I ignored the shop entrance, jumped over one of the walls, squeezed around the sides, and made my way to the back of the shop/house and into the yard.
Did I find a girl there? No, a boy with slightly shoulder-length hair.
The boy was dancing. Dancing with a seven-handled wooden ceremonial sword adorned with bells, clumsily carved and far too large for his body. I stopped to watch him curiously. His movements were mesmerizing.
He moved so delicately, yet with such firm steps that he drew all eyes to him. His body moved with such skill and elegance, as if he had performed the same movements hundreds of thousands of times.
A Kagura. A ritual ceremonial dance.
I'd never seen that specific dance before, and it was really strange that kids these days were interested in something so traditional. I mean, there were still shrine priests who performed traditional dances, but only if their family was involved with a Shinto shrine.
For a child who had grown up in a pastry shop? It was strange.
I looked closely at the child once more. Weak. He was ridiculously weak. Not that it mattered, but… I had never felt anyone as weak in my life as the child dancing in front of me; even my sense of smell could barely detect that he was almost as strong as a baby, or even weaker.
But even so… he was definitely my grandson, his smell didn't lie.
A grandson. For the first time, I truly began to feel my age. Even fighting All For One and feeling my body not move completely the way I wanted was less shocking than this.
I almost sighed. I stood up, still on the roof of the house, and started to turn around. The child could wait; the woman who was supposed to be my daughter came first.
"Are you leaving already?" the boy asked, stopping me abruptly. My eyes widened slightly. Was he... talking to me? Curiously, I turned around. And there he was, the boy staring at me, slightly covered in sweat, holding the ceremonial sword.
I smiled slightly. Oh… had he seen me by chance? Curious. I watched as the boy put his small hand in one of his pockets and took out his phone. I could see him dial a number and put the phone to his ear.
"Hello, police? There's a senile old man inside my house, could you send a—" the boy said without even hesitating, my eyes widened. I took a step forward and snatched the phone from him —huh?
My hand gasped for air as the boy was a few steps away from me. I simply raised an eyebrow and hung up.
"You're fast, old man," the boy said, sounding genuinely curious. I could see his eyes sparkling with childlike curiosity, as if I were the most interesting thing he'd seen in months.
"And you too, kid." I said playfully, starting to walk while glancing around at him. That kid just dodged me. He wasn't even surprised when I moved so fast; he simply took a few steps back, and I didn't even notice.
This child was full of surprises.
"Tell me, kid... do you know how to fight?" I asked curiously.
"So what if I do it?" the boy asked casually. I hummed, and took Shusui off my waist.
"Do you want to train?" I asked as I lifted Shusui. The boy stared at me before dropping the wooden sword and starting to run toward the house. I almost sighed in disappointment. I got ready to leave when I heard the boy's footsteps approaching.
I saw him carry a katana, a real katana, almost as tall as the boy himself. The boy drew his sword, and my eyes truly widened. It really was a real sword. The blade's edge was real and very well-maintained.
My eyes widened even more when I could identify the sword.
"Wado Ichimonji." I said in surprise as I stared at the sword. A Meito. A Great Grade Meito in the hands of a 10-year-old?
"A gift from my mother," the boy said with a warm smile. "She doesn't know anything about swords, but she bought me the best sword she could find, and by chance, she got Wado Ichimonji. It's... my most prized possession." The boy said almost cheerfully. I looked at him incredulously.
He… had gotten a Meito like that? Ridiculous, I burst out laughing at the boy's incredible luck.
"I hope you know how to use it, kid." I said playfully as I grabbed Shusui. I wasn't planning on drawing it against a kid.
"I hope so too, old man," the boy said arrogantly, drawing Wado Ichimonji and tossing the scabbard aside. He gripped the sword with his small hands. I almost wanted to laugh at the sight. A child less than five feet tall, wielding a katana over a meter long, was a funny sight.
"Show me what you can do," I said, amused. The kid just stared at me. I stood there, my guard down, laughing, waiting for him to move—uh?
The scent hit me immediately when all my other senses failed. I felt my entire body prickle with goosebumps and let my instincts take over. Wado Ichimonji passed right by my neck. My eyes widened.
I couldn't sense him. I couldn't sense the child at all. If my sense of smell hadn't picked up the slightest scent of the child, Wado Ichimonji would have struck me in the neck without a second thought. How... how does he do it?
"What's your quirk, kid?" I asked more cautiously.
"Food enrichment," the boy said without hesitation. I almost tripped over myself. A food quirk? Like his mother? Before I could think any further, the boy moved again.
This time I was able to follow his movements now that I was more prepared. Presence, aura, feelings, everything else, were missing from the child; I couldn't sense any of them at all. He almost seemed like a damned plant, so empty was he.
If it weren't for his personal scent, which was almost impossible to erase, I wouldn't have been able to follow him with my sense of smell.
I lifted Shusui and received Wado Ichimonji's blow. I felt my arm tremble slightly. Strong! The kid was strong for his age! And damn fast.
I adjusted my strength and speed to match his and began to absorb his blows. My eyes widened as I watched his fighting style.
He was elegant, damn beautiful to watch—the precision, the fluidity, the way he moved, how he linked each blow; he was practically dancing while we fought. His movements reminded me of a radiant, sunny, and furious sun; I could see the sun's superimposed image on the child, which made me shudder with emotion.
And I was able to recognize it.
The same Kagura that had been dancing a few minutes ago, now used as a sword style, a really effective and deadly sword style, I stopped counting the blows to my vital points after the tenth time he tried to cut my neck or stab my heart.
I could see the wide, almost deranged smile on his face, filled with amusement. I let my own smile grow even wider. Somehow, the boy's speed increased, and I increased mine. Finally, I drew Shusui and began clashing my sword against his.
He was a child, yes, but he wasn't weak in the slightest. The skill he was displaying with his sword was better than almost anyone I'd ever seen. Only a handful were better than him, but the boy was a damned ten years old; he still had time to grow. Plenty of time.
And he deserved to be treated with the same respect as any other swordsman.
I kept clashing my sword against the boy at a dizzying speed for a normal person, but he seemed terribly comfortable at this pace. His movements changed completely when I switched sword styles.
If the first Kagura could be described as a sun, the next one was like water, and then it changed again. Water, wind, thunder, and more, movement after movement. At this point, I was in complete shock.
Who the hell taught this kid to fight? This… was absolutely insane. The kid had a wide grin on his face and didn't seem tired in the slightest. He lifted Wado Ichimonji above his head, and I could see the moment Armament Haki enveloped his sword.
My body shook slightly before my body moved on its own, I coated Shusui in Haki and received the blow that shook the entire ground, I could see the cut that followed past behind me and created a slight indentation on the ground.
Monster, the boy was a damn monster, he was not weak at all.
I smiled broadly.
"Tell me, kid... what's your name?" I asked curiously.
"Izumi, Izumi Miyamura," the boy said with a huge, satisfied grin. "And yours, old man?"
Izumi Miyamura. I didn't know him at all, but that fight told me everything I needed to know. The raw emotion of a fight seemed to show on his face. The enormous childlike curiosity he had displayed, the amount of talent and strength he had used at only 10 years old.
I could feel my chest warm slightly from the excitement and something else.
I wanted to see what he was capable of. How far he would go, and I wanted to be there with him. To witness all his progress by his side. And I would.
I guess it was time I got a house. Luckily, I had a large amount of money in my bank account, the very generous sum I earned as a national hunter and the money the old lady at the sperm bank so generously donated to me.
"Mine?" I asked playfully. "I'm Ryuma Shimotsuki, and I'm your grandfather," I said with a broad smile. For the first time, I'd found someone I could call family, and I was completely content.