David Shield may only have a few titles under his belt, but every single one of them is a mark of honor.
Formerly All Might's brainy sidekick—brainy, because who else before him managed to create a sturdy costume that could withstand All Might's unparalleled strength?—and now a renowned scientist who has made a name for himself in hero costume and support item invention, all people agree that his greatest driving force is his mind.
All but one.
──────────
"Dave, everyone says you have a big brain." All Might put down a screwdriver he had been toying with—toying as in, its literal meaning, not helping David tinker with the device in front of them. "But, I think you've got an even bigger heart. Not only in a 'kind and generous' way, but also in which heart rules over brain."
"Really?" David barely looked up from a machine structure. He waved a fake gun before its sensor. The immediately responded with a red blip, then twisted its head towards him, following his hand in a sequence of clunky motions. "How did you reach that conclusion? Oh, please pass me those ones."
"I might've rescued the students from a school shooting, but you're the one who has been working day and night to improve their security system," All Might said as he handed David a few jumper wires. "And didn't the money you used for this violence detection research come from your own pocket? The school couldn't have paid you; they had spent all their funds on the students' recovery and the building repair."
"Oh, don't exaggerate it. This fella here is just a small prototype, and developing it isn't that different from creating a support item. It needs a lot of work before we actually can put it into use, though. I just hope I can finish and test the actual device before the school reopens in a couple of weeks."
"I'm not exaggerating, Dave. I mean, as a graduate student, you have lacked proper rest as you are. After you added taking down villains with me and this solo project into the mix..." All Might threw his hands in the air. "I don't know. Who else except you would be willing to spend their nights sleepless to work on a project that didn't benefit them?"
"I just think, wouldn't it be great if both the teachers and students could have lessons without feeling afraid? After that horrible attack, the least they should have is security. We indeed stopped it before it took anyone's life this time, but who knows if we can't—" David cut himself off when he saw All Might wiggling his eyebrows at him. "What? I'm just doing what I can to prevent it from happening again."
"So it has nothing to do with 'a brave, beautiful teacher' who risked herself to shield the students from danger? I saw you—"
"I can't hear you," David mumbled, eyes glued to the machine in front of him as if it would start overheating like the back of his neck if he glanced anywhere else. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't you have any classes to go?"
"Six in the evening? Of course not." All Might snickered at his friend's obvious blush. "You know, your 'building a security system to protect a girl' could win the top grand gesture award for this year."
"Look! There's a— uh... a Kaiju showed up in the southern California. It's approaching the coastline right now. You'd better hurry there!"
All Might's laugh grew louder. David was a genius when his hands were deep in electronical and mechanical parts, but sadly it didn't extend to his ability in lying. What did he think this was, Pacific Rim?
"Don't forget to invite me to your wedding later, Dave! And, I think 'Melissa' will be a lovely name if you both decide to have a daughter—"
"All Might!" David grumbled as he fastened another screw. "I'm doing this for the students too, you know."
"I know, I know. And hey, it's your money and hard work, you can do anything with it. I won't judge." All Might gave him a cheeky grin. "Besides, that's just like you. Doing all this for her."
"What do you mean?"
"The way you fight for the ones you care about... You'll do anything for them, Dave." Solemnity tinged All Might's timbre. "You love fiercely, and it shows. It's all in or nothing with you, no in-between."
──────────
And what his friend said is right. David will do his best for people in need, and he sure will do whatever it takes for the ones he treasures.
If his wife needed support, he would back her up and hold her close. If his daughter saw the worst in herself, he would lift her high and show her that she didn't need a quirk to be amazing. If his friend lost the mightiest bits of his quirk, then... David would restore it. By any means possible.
Even though it meant arranging a ploy to steal back the confiscated quirk amplification device and leaving a black mark on his records. Because if he could save All Might's powers from deteriorating, David couldn't care less about what would happen to himself.
All for you.
David's heart is his greatest driving force. Be it moving forward... or backwards.
──────────
"Deku-kun and his friends risked their lives! They went through so much danger to rescue the hostages! If it was a fake invasion, why did the villains attack us?" Melissa yelled and raised her arm, showing him a deep gash on her arm, red crusted around it. "Why was there a demon that targeted me? How could you offer up your own daughter? Arata-chan had to suffer to save me from him!"
"What...? Melissa, I would never! They weren't supposed to hurt anyone!"
"Then, tell me!" Her shoulders shook, rage seething in her voice. "Why did Arata-chan come back unconscious and bloody and almost beaten to death? Tell me, because I don't know! Was it part of your ploy, Papa!?"
──────────
He just... didn't expect his decision put everything and everyone at stake.
What had been a ploy turned into an actual invasion. What had been a way to restore All Might's quirk brought destruction upon I-Island and its inhabitants. What had been a research assistant—a friend—became a traitor that sold off his device and his daughter's information to the villains.
The ones I had sworn to protect... became the ones I hurt.
I-Expo's guests. The kids. All Might. Melissa.
The daughter he adores and swears to protect with every fiber of his being. The one who still rushed to his side after everything was over and stayed although he didn't deserve it. He almost unknowingly lost her to his misguided ambition.
And... Arata Shirayuki.
All Might's student that came between Melissa and the demonic villain. Arata chose to take the fall for Melissa as the demon's prey, despite the harrowing consequences it presented. Which ultimately landed her in an unpleasant legal situation with the odds against her.
My heart gave birth to this whole mess... What have I done?
Arata is just one of the many people he hurt. There's a lot David has to fix to make things right again. Paying off his restitution charges. Working for the government's research to redeem his endless community service hours. His technical expertise conveniently spares him from jail time, but it will be rough nonetheless.
With all the punishments looming ahead, it would be convenient for him to turn a blind eye to Arata's situation and say there was nothing he could do. Besides, it's not like All Might requests him to repay the favor and help her in return.
Still, am I going to abandon the one who shoved Melissa out of harm's way?
David is not a police officer, a lawyer, a politician, or a pro hero. He's not a beacon of light, a pillar of strength, or even a particularly good man. He's just an intelligent man with a bleeding heart, stranded in a position where no amount of knowledge or compassion can help.
But, David is a father who loves his daughter.
Arata saved Melissa. Now it's his turn to save her.
Time to get to work.
Thinking hard, this is how David formulates the problem in hand based on the normal procedure he knows.
Suppose they have two variables: Arata, who defended herself with all her might, and Ephialtes, who was on the offensive and cornered her.
Given the seed storage's crusty dried sheet of crimson over the seed storage's floor, the knowledge of Ephialtes's Incubus quirk and Arata's Praying Mantis quirk, the senile and old elderly he has become, and their future testimonials regarding the fight, determine if Arata uses more force beyond necessary to stop Ephialtes.
It's too risky and too open to other variables that they might not be able to account for. Then, what if he reframes the problem in a more… unconventional way?
"Officer, I know we are under lockdown," David says to one of the police guards who are in charge of monitoring him. "That being said, can you get me a special permission to contact one person? He's also a scientist and I have to talk to him regarding his, uh... dormant potential research. You can even monitor us the whole time if it's needed."
And when the others are not looking, David silently slips an envelope into the guard's pocket. "Please, it's urgent."
This time, it's all for you, Arata.