The world had fallen into chaos after the battle in Jaku City. Secrets were spilled and Hisashi came clean about All For One, ratting out All Might with One For All as well. All he asked in exchange for his confession and full cooperation, was to take care of his home and his family. The house for troubled children and teens was to be supported by government funds and his son, who lay unconscious in the hospital ever since the battle, was to be forgiven for the way he lashed out in Jaku City.
There were a lot of factors that had to be taken into account, things that played out in Izuku's favour, so no charges were pressed for now. The Hero Commission had decided he would get a chance to become a hero on a few conditions. One, Izuku was to return the quirks of the heroes and civilians he stole during his rage at Jaku, and secondly, he was to be monitored at all times. UA would be taking full responsibility for his actions as long as he remained a student there, which caused the necessary ruckus among the public.
The doctor was arrested and brought to Tartarus with All For One after his trial and all information regarding the Nomu experimentation was destroyed. But the villains weren't the only ones taking a hit from this fiasco. No, because for the first time in years, All Might's popularity ratings dropped. The whole country had seen him trying to murder a child who'd lost control over their quirk. That and his actions at UA had come to light during Hisashi's statement, causing the public to go wild.
Nobody wanted to believe it at first, but with confirming statements from both Eraserhead and Nezu, there wasn't much room for debate. Yeah, it had been a hectic week... Aizawa was tired, but he wasn't allowed to sleep just yet. Not before he saw him.
"You ready?" Yamada asked as the black ray of sunshine walked into the hallway where he was waiting.
"No" Aizawa answered honestly.
To be frank, he would never be ready to face him. To see him alive and breathing after what happened... It was like a dream come true. Something so unbelievable, it had to be too good to be true. There had to be side effects, things they weren't seeing, things that would affect his health or his surroundings. There had to be... And yet they found nothing. Of course the condition he was found in wasn't great, but he was fine now. Healthy and in good condition, as if nothing had changed in all those years he was gone.
Yamada gave his friend a reassuring smile, patting him on the back before guiding him into the hospital room. Aizawa stopped breathing for a moment as he saw the blue haired kid stand in front of the window, staring out at the sky as birds flew by. Once he heard the door close, his head whipped around to face his visitors, a gasp escaping his mouth.
"Oh my God! It's really you!"
Aizawa was at a loss of words... There he was, just the way he remembered him...
"O-Oboro..." Aizawa breathed, feeling involuntary tears well up in his eyes.
"Shouta! Hizashi!" the boy exclaimed, happily running over to them. Aizawa couldn't react to the hug the boy gave him. Couldn't comprehend the height difference between them, let alone the age gap they now had. God... Shirakumo was still 17 years old, he hadn't aged at all...
"Look at you guys! All grown up!" the blue haired boy smiled.
"The nurses told me you're pro heroes now, right? I bet you've got awesome stories, right? Come on, tell me!"
He dragged them towards the hospital bed, bouncing a little as he sat down, looking up at them expectantly.
"You... Do you remember what happened to you?" Aizawa asked, quickly wiping away some stray tears. Yamada was having his own struggles keeping in the waterworks, but he wasn't having as much luck as Shota had.
"About the accident during our work studies?" Oboro asked, frowning.
"Yeah, I remember... I pretty much died, didn't I?"
He forced a smile, trying to shrug it off like it was no big deal but Aizawa could see right through that façade. He'd never been a good liar...
"Your body was altered" Aizawa continued, hearing Yamada burst out into tears beside him.
"Yeah, so I've been told" Shirakumo sighed, falling down onto the bed, knowing this wasn't gonna be a fun conversation like he'd hoped.
"The police came to ask me about it, but I told them I don't remember"
"I read your file" Aizawa nodded. He knew what the police had asked, what his answers were, but he wanted to hear it for himself.
"Ah, should've known. You're as thorough as ever, aren't you Sho?" Oboro asked, grinning up at his friend.
"So why did you lie to them?" Shouta asked, making Yamada freeze up.
"W-What? What are you saying, Shouta?"
"No need to worry Zashi, Sho is right like always" Oboro sighed, sitting up again.
"It's true, I lied to the police. I didn't want them to ask questions about my time under All For One, I didn't want to talk about it. Guess a part of me is still loyal to the villain who used me... So please, just... Please don't ask me about it. He already told the police everything anyway, so you don't even need my statement to lock him up"
"We're not here for a statement, Oboro. We're here because you're our friend" Aizawa breathed, sitting down on the bed next to him.
"I know that you big dummy! That's why I'm telling you this!" Oboro laughed, signing Yamada to sit down too.
"Villain life sucked ass, I tell you! But working at the home was kinda fun, in its own way... All the kids there have their own aspirations, you know? A lot of them want to be heroes! It was fun watching them train, made me feel kinda nostalgic... Man, I wished I'd become a hero with you guys"
Yamada couldn't take it anymore and pulled the teen into a crushing hug, crying his eyes out. Shirakumo laughed, but soon started crying too, Aizawa quickly following their example. It took a while before all of them calmed down. After that they started sharing stories like Oboro asked for, talking about the last year of high school and their first few years as pro heroes. Shirakumo honestly couldn't believe Nemuri of all people turned out to be a teacher at UA, joking about how inappropriate her hero costume was even now.
"So how's Izuku doing? Nobody here wants to tell me about it" Oboro asked.
"I bet he's really shaken up, right? Going on a rampage isn't like him at all! He's a good kid, really!"
"I know, I'm his homeroom teacher" Aizawa told him as Yamada bit his lip.
"Midoriya still hasn't woken up" the blonde sighed.
"We don't know what's wrong with him, but the little listener isn't reacting to anything"
"He's in a coma..?" Shirakumo asked quietly.
"Oh God... Inko must be freaking out! Have you called her? Do you know how she's doing? She gets worried easily and-"
"Mrs Midoriya is fine, Oboro" Aizawa interrupted him.
"It's not your job to take care of them anymore"
"I know that" Shirakumo frowned, looking down at his hands. That didn't mean his old mannerisms weren't still embedded in his being... He lived with them for years! They can't expect him to disregard the bonds he build during that time just because he was back to his old self!
"You know, we talked to Nezu and when Midoriya gives you your quirk back, you're welcome to join the second year of the hero course again starting next year, if you want to" Aizawa said.
"You'd be in Midoriya's class and Nemuri would be your homeroom teacher"
"Still can't see Nemuri teaching" Oboro snorted before smiling.
"But yeah, I'd like that... Man, getting back in the hero course after all this time is gonna be weird... But at least you guys will be there too!"
"Of course! You can always come to us with whatever, you know that" Yamada told him.
"So do you know when you're being released from the hospital? We'll need to celebrate!"
"Hmm, they just need to make sure there are no side effects on my body, but I feel fine so I'm sure they're just stretching it out for as long as they can" Oboro sighed.
"It's not like I've got a place to go home to, you know? My parents moved abroad after I died so it'll be a while before I get to see them again"
"Have you gotten the chance to call them?" Aizawa asked.
"No, but there is no rush, really. I mean, I don't even know what to tell them... Surprise, I'm still alive! Don't think mom would be able to laugh that one off" Oboro shrugged.
"You could come live with us for a while, right Sho?" Yamada said, looking over at his husband for confirmation.
"Us? You guys live together?" Oboro asked, a little surprised.
"Ah, uhm, yeah, there is still something we haven't told you yet" Aizawa mumbled, subconsciously fidgeting with his wedding ring.
"Sho and I are married!" Yamada happily exclaimed, making Shirakumo gasp.
"No way!"
"Yes way!"
"That's amazing! I didn't know you guys liked each other?! Tell me who asked who! I wanna know everything!"
And so Yamada started rambling about their first date and how they got together, embarrassing Aizawa to no end. Ah well, at least Shirakumo was having a good time and in the end, that's all that really mattered that day.
...
Izuku's eyes shot open, instantly wide awake. He didn't know how long he'd been wandering within All For One, talking to the ghost of his father, walking between the rows upon rows of quirks that resided within him. Some taken by force, others willing sacrifices or offers. It didn't really matter, seeing as most of the people here had already passed on in the world of the living. Like the woman where his dad stole the telekinesis quirk from, the only one he had officially registered.
She'd been in a car crash and was in a coma with no hope of waking up. A distant relative of his mother, even, so the resemblance wasn't a coincidence. His dad had taken her quirk before her parents pulled the plug. Not like she'd use it anymore, it would've been a waste if he hadn't passed it on to his son. And just like her story, there were so many tales hiding behind the wisps and silhouettes of those who mindlessly inhabited All For One.
But right now he wasn't within his quirk anymore. He was wide awake, laying in what he could only assume was a hospital bed. Hm, they probably didn't put him in just any hospital after his outburst at Jaku City... With one swoop of his detection quirk, he could already sense two guards outside his room. He also noticed he wasn't able to reach as far as he normally could, drawing his eyes down to his wrist.
Quirk erasure cuffs.
Huh, they really thought that was gonna stop him? Izuku sat up, glancing around the room before removing the sticky pads that monitored his heartbeat. Unlike most patients who just woke up from a coma, he didn't feel weak or dizzy or disoriented. No, it was like he just woke up from a nap, ready to take on the world once more. He'll have to get out of here first though, but that'll probably take a while. He was sure the police was gonna get involved, as well as the Hero Commission, yet all he wanted to do was see his family again, make sure they were alright.
He glanced over at the window, barricaded with reinforced steel bars to prevent any escape. They must've brought him to a facility that specializes in treating villains... That or a mental hospital. Neither of those options made him feel better about his predicament. But first things first, these cuffs were really annoying! After hacking into them with one of his quirks, they came off easily. Hah! That's what they get by trying to use high tech stuff on him!
Izuku put them on his bedside table before swinging his feet over the edge of the bed and getting up. The room in itself was pretty plain and boring, but he was sure there were hidden cameras somewhere around. What really surprised him was the fact nobody had come in to check on him yet. He expected people to rush in when he woke up, or at least notice when he uncuffed himself, or maybe an alarm would sound or something. But instead there was nothing. Just peace and quiet...
Not that Izuku was complaining! No, if anything, this was actually quite nice. He wondered if the door was locked... Maybe he could tell one of the guards that he was awake? That would speed things up, right? To his surprise, the door was open, but when he stepped through it, he found an exact replica of the room he was just in, the quirk erasure cuffs still laying on the nightstand. Ah, so that was the catch, a dimensional warping quirk that made the rooms loop.
A pretty interesting quirk, if it wasn't for the fact it was keeping Izuku contained within its walls. Hm, he wondered if he would be able to break it..? Would an escape through the window be possible? How had the quirk been implemented? Was it tied to the walls of the room itself? The door? Maybe another object he needed to find and destroy? Or could it only be lifted from the outside? Izuku had started mumbling, finding this new challenge pretty exciting~
A/N next chapter is the last chapter!!