Tokyo Central Park.
Seiki.
"What's the original Quirk of One For All's first user?"
"Quirk B-Bestowal..."
"What does the Quirk Quirk Bestowal do?"
"It lets you g-g-give Quirks to someone else..."
*
"What's the original Quirk of One For All's second user?"
"G-Gearshift..."
*
"Gearshift, Fa Jin, Danger Sense, Blackwhip, Smokescreen, and Float... as well as Power Stock, the Quirk All For One originally gave his brother. All of them coming together to form All Might's Quirk, One For All..." Seiki mutters... completely baffled.
"Okay, but like... the fuck happened to those Quirks? He might have a Danger Sense, but he definitely can't fly, nor does he use any of the others as far as anyone's aware."
Not to mention that...
"Just how did Quirk Bestowal become One For All?"
Because, despite how much the information that he's gotten out of All For One, both the man and the Quirk, has managed to shake Seiki to his core... it all still fit together. It made some sort of twisted sense. All Quirks were sentient, and the boogeyman's been around so long that his Quirk eventually gained sentience that was outside of the norm. And with so many Quirks inside of it, it makes a bit of morbid sense that the Quirk Thief's Quirk can act out in so many different ways.
Not to mention that his Quirk, that Save & Load, was... alive.
Which was just, wow.
He still wasn't sure what to do with that though.
But...
How did All Might end up with... just super strength?
And not just super strength, but super strength so far outside the norm that it doesn't even make a bit of sense when you stop to think about it. Because even if Quirks break the rules of the world... that rule-breaking takes energy. So how does One For All function a seemingly endless amount where every other strength Quirk not only falls short in power, but in endurance too?
*
"Name every function of the Quirk Power Stock."
"It s-stockpiles power... it h-has access t-t-to..."
*
"Name every function of the Quirk Quirk Bestowal."
"It l-l-let's you g-g-give Quirks away... aaaaand it c-c-can't b-b-be taakennnn..."
*
"Hmm... I don't think I'm going to get a clear answer on that," Seiki muttered, frowning. "All For One has never held One For All, or Quirk Bestowal, so he doesn't know how it works. Maybe All Might himself knows... but I doubt it. And he's the only user of One For All still alive..."
*
"Who is All Might loyal to?"
"The p-people..."
"Elaborate."
"All M-Might... t-t-takes no s-s-sideeeesssss..."
*
"He really is the Symbol of Peace, huh," Seiki mumbled to himself.
Seiki bit his lip.
Despite knowing of All Might, of Japan's public Titan, nearly his entire life... Seiki Yamazaki has yet to meet the Titan that cannot best him face to face.
Not even in false time.
But now that he knows of the feud of All Might and All For One, now that he knows that All Might holds the Quirk with the sole purpose of defeating Japan's hidden Titan...
He can't find a good reason to put off their meeting any longer.
"Maybe... maybe I should finally meet him..."
*
*
*
Earlier That Day.
All Might.
"Ohmygod it's All Might!!!"
"He saved the day! Just like he always does..."
"Thank you All Might!"
"HAHAHA! AND NOW I'M OFF!"
Then Toshinori leaps away from the scene... landing on a rooftop a couple blocks away. Letting out a burst of air pressure to lightly land on the concrete without so much as making a sound.
"I... I think that's enough for today," he mumbles, grimacing in pain. His hand going to his stomach... no, to where his stomach used to be.
Then going to the alleyway between buildings, he steps of the ledge... and drops. Activating One For All at the last second to let out another burst of pressure, landing quietly on the ground below.
Then he digs into his suit's pockets— and yes, he has pockets! Pulling out two tiny squares of black and brown... that rapidly expand into a jacket and pants. "Support really outdid themselves with this one," he mutters with a fond smile. Then he quickly slips them over his baggy costume, becoming Toshinori Yagi.
And then Toshinori decides to spend a little downtime for himself.
Walking towards a small diner a few blocks from his house.
*
When Toshinori enters, he immediately notices a small commotion at the front. A heteromorphic man in construction clothes, digging through his wallet. A few bills already laid out on the counter. And that nervous, pitying yet uncomfortable look that the cashier was giving him. A simply morose situation all around.
"How much are you short, young man?" Toshinori asks unprompted.
"U-Uh, just a few thousand yen..."
"Here," Toshinori says, handing the man a 10,000 yen bill.
"T-Thanks!"
"You're welcome," Toshinori says... and despite the weariness he exhibits in every step, his body all but screaming at him to give up... he simply smiles. Happy to help.
"What can I get for you sir?" the cashier asks him.
"Just a medium vanilla shake, please." Toshinori says. Because after his battle with All For One... he's been unable to enjoy solid foods. He could still eat them, from time to time, but if he wanted to continue being the Symbol of Peace... he couldn't afford to have those minor bits of leisure.
Not anymore.
And now he sits alone, sipping from his shake.
Slowly withering away while he carries all of Japan, as he carries the world, on his back.
RING! The door rings, and another young man enters.
Toshinori pays only a little attention as someone else enters the shop... but he becomes much more alert as the young man, with black hair and a purple tint, approaches him. Not even ordering any food. Then he sits right across from Toshinori Yagi... and Toshinori tenses at the look in the boy's eyes. Red and blue, both of them staring straight at him. As if they know just who he really is.
And then they swirl.
And then he watches as the boy's lip wobbles, as tears spill.
"H-How... how can you b-be so... k-kind?"
*
*
*
The First Timeline.
Seiki. Age 4.
"Are you ready to be a hero, Seiki?" Yuki Takisawa, the kind lady who was going to be his personal hero trainer, asked him.
"Yeah!"
"Are you ready to be just like All Might?"
And to that, Seiki blanks. "H-Huh?"
"Seiki, you're Quirk... it's incredible. Truly incredible. You can undo any mistake you make with just a thought. And because of that, you can never mess up," Yuki explained to him... which, after thinking about it a bit, yeah. That made sense.
"And you know who else doesn't mess up?"
"Um, who?" he asked.
"All Might."
Seiki blinks.
"That's... that's r-right," Seiki mumbles, his eyes glistening. "I... I can be just like All Might?"
"Yes. We'll help you be just like All Might."
"U-Um, t-thank you, Miss Takisawa," he mumbled, looking down at his feet. Both embarrassed and overwhelmed.
"Oh Seiki, I'm going to help you be the best hero you can be," Yuki Takisawa told him. "You can be a bit more informal than that. Call me... Yuki-nee."
*
Toshinori.
"T-They... they told me I could be like y-y-you," the young man stuttered, no longer able to meet his eyes.
*
Seiki. Age 4.
"Eww... is this reading? I wanna be a hero, why do I gotta read?!"
"You'll know after you read it. C'mon, little hero. This is your first mission."
And as he reads... his face pales.
"T-T-This..."
"Yes," Yuki-nee said solemnly. "This is a list of people that died yesterday. Including where, and how they died."
"Wuh... why..."
"Do you still have your save at yesterday morning?"
"Uh, y-y-yes!"
"Then you have your first mission," Yuki-nee told him, her hand resting on his shoulder. "Do to something not even All Might can. To save people after they've died. Are you ready, Seiki?"
"Y-Yes... I, I um, I'm ready."
"Then go back in time."
*
Toshinori.
"T-They told me that... that I c-could be the n-next you. T-That I could be better."
*
Seiki. Age 6.
"So what have we learned so far?"
"U-Um... what it means to be a hero! How to be a good hero! H-How, uh, to make sure I look like a good hero...? Oh! And English, maths and science stuff."
"Yes, Seiki. Very good. Anything else?"
"How to use my Quirk effectively!" Seiki beamed. Since after his first mission... he went out of his way to live every day twice. To use his Quirk to find out the locations of all the big bad villain accidents in Hokkaido, his hometown, and then hand that info back to the HPSC.
Something that he did completely unprompted.
Just like All Might would.
"Yup! Now, you need to learn to defend yourself. Because even if you have all the time in the world, you are far from invincible."
*
Yuki-nee.
Watching from the sidelines, Yuki watches as Seiki Yamazaki, her current assignment, expertly dodges his combat trainer's attacks one after another. And while Yuki herself was an exceptional agent, and was more than capable of teaching Seiki hand-to-hand combat herself... it would clash with her role. Integrating herself with project Rewind was going to be a long process, relying on playing the role of a kind, caring mentor figure, as well as Seiki's frequent exposure to the effects of her Quirk.
Then a sharp punch to the jaw sends Seiki flying across the room.
"H-H-Huu... it, it h-h-huurts..."
"C'mon! Go back in time already! The pain will vanish, and you'll have the upper hand. Don't let me beat you now!" the nameless trainer, not Yuki, says.
"I can't, I can't, I can't—"
"Do you even want to be a hero?"
Seiki doesn't answer, and looks over to her... and she simply mouths the words, "I believe in you." Playing her part expertly.
"Do you think All Might would let this stop him?"
LOADS.
*
Narumi.
"M-Mooooommmyyy..."
Narumi's eyes snap awake as she hears her son crying next to her, his head peeking over the side of the bed. His hands lightly pushing against her.
"Oh, Sei-chan, come here. Mommy's gotchu," she mumbled, sitting up and wrapping her arms around her little boy, only to bring him under the covers with her.
"We can hide under the covers, okay? No one else can get us while we're under here," she said softly. "Perfectly safe from all those naughty villains."
And then she felt Seiki tense up against her, only to turn around in their hug, burying his head into her chest as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. Still quietly sniffling.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Narumi asked, because despite having a time-traveler for a son... she still struggled to understand how he lived through time. Anyone would, really. And having not been with the HPSC for the last two days, this was the most reasonably explanation that she could've come up with.
"U-Um, y-y-yeah..." Seiki mumbled... lying to his mom for the very first time. "T-T-Thanks, m-mom..."
Because part of him knew that, if his mom knew just what he was going through, then his mom might not let him be a hero.
And he was going to be a hero no matter what.
"It's no problem, sweetie. Mommy will always be here for you, whenever you need her."
Just like All Might.
*
Yuki-nee.
Watching from the sidelines, Yuki watches as Seiki Yamazaki, her current assignment, expertly dodges his combat trainer's attacks one after another. And while Yuki herself was an exceptional agent, and was more than capable of teaching Seiki hand-to-hand combat herself... it would clash with her role. Integrating herself with project Rewind was going to be a long process, relying on playing the role of a kind, caring mentor figure, as well as Seiki's frequent exposure to the effects of her Quirk.
But...
Maybe it would've been fine for her to teach him.
Because even when falling back on his Quirk, the trainer never landed a single hit.
*
Seiki. Age 6.
*And All Might saves the day yet again!* the TV blares. *12 separate villain attacks stopped today, and the sun still has yet to set! I feel like that has to be a new record, right?* Seiki watches as the TV zooms in on All Might's blazing smile. A smile that never waivers, that never falters. Because All Might wouldn't let anything stop him from being a hero... so neither will Seiki Yamazaki.
"I'll be the next you... Yuki-nee said so. Just you wait."
*
Toshinori.
"T-Then... they introduced me to a few different info-type Quirks. T-Telling me that my Quirk wasn't all that different. That, after going back in t-t-time... all I bring with me is information. The ultimate info-gathering Quirk.
"S-So... when they torture an informant for info, only for me to go back before it happened with their c-confessions...
"In the eyes of the law, it n-n-never happened.
"I simply u-u-used my Quirk to gather information.
"The same thing applied... for when I h-h-had to extract information myself.
"The same thing applied for everything that happens in false time."
*
Yuki-nee.
"M-Mom... mom said I can't be a hero!"
"What?" Yuki-nee says, now aptly paying attention to her ward... whose eyes have just stopped swirling. Which meant that, when Seiki meets back up with his mom in just a few hours...
"She s-saw w-what I d-did with her Quirk, and, and—"
"How did she see you? Her Quirk lets her see into your past, but those timelines in which we... increase your training, they don't exist."
"M-Mom said she sees my suh, subjective past?"
And then Yuki-nee sees an opportunity.
An opportunity to increase her influence over her current assignment.
"Well I guess that's that," Yuki-nee said sadly. Acting out her part as Seiki's face falls. "But... if you really want to be a hero, then the HPSC can find a way to separate—"
"NO! I, I'm n-n-not leaving mom!"
Yuki-nee just barely manages to not show her displeasure on her face... because despite the constant exposure of her Quirk, Seiki still loves his mom more than he loves her.
A fact that infuriates her constantly.
"Hmm... but she can only see 24 hours into your past, isn't that right?"
"U-Uh, y-yeah?"
"Then before you see your mother again, you must simply do less... intensive training. And hide what you must learn in the time before that."
"B-But I... I d-don't wanna lie to mom..."
To which Yuki-nee just sighs.
"Well, you can't have it both ways. The choice is yours...
"And you still want to be like All Might, don't you?"
*
Toshinori.
"I... I asked them if I could meet you, you know," he mumbled, letting out a dry chuckle. "In hindsight, it was pretty obvious why they didn't let us meet. B-But... when they told me that you were just too busy, and they'd try asking you later... only to be told no and no again and again... I started to think that... that I wasn't g-g-good enough.
"A-And I, I c-couldn't bring myself to m-meet you on my own. E-Even if I knew, that with my Quirk, I could d-do it. Because, y-y-you... you d-don't have any public ties to anyone or anything. Which is admirable, b-but after what the HSPC drilled into me, it just... made me think the worst. I... I t-t-t-thought that..." he trailed off.
*
Yuki-nee.
"How was it?"
"It... was necessary," Seiki said... emotionlessly.
"It was your first kill, Seiki. It's fine for you to feel a bit more than that," Yuki said, sounding genuinely worried... and in a way, she was. This level of detachment to murder was a bit too much for her too stomach.
"But I've killed before... dozens of times..."
"Yes, but that was in false time," Yuki reminds him. Because to her, to the HPSC, everything Seiki experiences in those discard timelines of his... simply does not exist.
A consensus that was reached, not using science, or logic... but simple necessity.
Because they could not fathom the idea that Seiki Yamazaki was leaving behind countless versions of the world in his wake, or even worse, spawning countless versions of the world into existence. No... he was either a precog of the highest caliber— an idea they were forced to discard, given that Seiki can offload Quirk exhaustion in these abandoned timelines of his— or that when Seiki went back in time, it just meant...
That they no longer existed.
And that the timeline that Seiki lives the furthest in is simply the only real one.
"I can't tell the difference."
And then Yuki opens her mouth, about to ask about his double-dipping habit. How it's been a few weeks since Hokkaido's local underground precog hero, Know-How, has brought information about the upcoming villain fights to the HPSC... but she refrains. Because even if Seiki Yamazaki was slowly losing that spark, that heroic drive that he started with...
He was becoming easier to control.
Easier to mold.
Becoming a hero that could be loyal to Japan...
Forever.
*
Toshinori.
"But... no, y-you're simply just that kind. N-Not for glory or fame... but for peace itself.
"And, I k-know it isn't fair, b-but I can't help but think it.
"When mom started b-b-being sad...
"When I... when I s-stopped wanting to be a hero...
"W-W-Where were you d-d-dammit?!"
Toshinori felt his heart tighten.
A pain far greater than his missing stomach racing through his chest.
"Then I thought that... y-you wouldn't save me... because you were just like H-Hawks, j-just like all the heroes I m-met... you'd be j-just another part of them.
"Then I... then I had to go all t-the way back," he said quietly. "I lost all t-those years with mom. In an instant, I was completely unrecognizable as a person. And even though I could tell that such a revelation hurt her, she... she still loves me far more than I deserve."
"I'm sorry."
The boy freezes. His hands shaking. "Y-You, you can't—"
"I should've been there. I should have saved you. There are countless people that call out to me, that die saying those exact words... and no matter how illogical, it hurts. But saving those I can is what it means to be a hero. So even if I couldn't have known, I am sorry. And I've long since vowed I to save everyone that I possibly could.
"That's why I became the Symbol of Peace.
"And that includes you. What's your name, young man?"
"It's... it's Seiki Y-Yamazaki."
"Then tell me, Yamazaki Shonen. Just how can I help you, my boy? And I will do whatever I possibly can to make it right, because even if I wasn't there when you needed me most...
"I am here now."
*
*
*