Chapter 8: Chapter VIII: My Ambition
*DINGDINGDINGDING.*
Sasuke scanned the window next to the door. Through it there was a silhouette of a crowd of people all huddled up. His brow narrowed, 'Another class? And what are they just standing there like that for? I couldn't even hear them.'
"What the heck?!" Uraraka jolted back as she opened the door to a crowd of people just staring at them.
Mineta gripped his backpack straps, "What are they crowding the exit for?"
Bakugo passed him, "They're scoping out the competition, retard. They want to see the gang who came through the villain's ambush." Bakugo stood face to face with the crowd and glared, "It's pointless to try, so why don't ya fuck off you goddamn extras."
"Don't call people you just met Extras!" Iida shouts.
A purple mess of hair poked the swarm of people, "I came to see what you kids were made of, true, but I didn't think you'd be this arrogant. Are all kids enrolled at the Department of Heroics this way?"
Bakugo lifted his head and looked down at him with a snarl, "Huuuh?"
The purple-haired boy emerged from the herd. Scratching the back of his head with baggy sleep-deprived eyes, "I'm a bit disillusioned… So that's it, huh? A lot of kids end up in the General education or other departments because they failed the heroics one. Did you know that? Based on the results of the sports festival, some kids can be put under review and end up in the Heroics Department... And the reverse is also possible."
Midoriya tensed up. The boy's monologue led up to a 'Declaration of War' (which Sasuke listened to with moderate interest) but his attention was directed more towards Midoriya who he stared at almost the whole time. After the crowd dispersed, Sasuke rose from his seat and approached Midoriya who was looking off into the distance. He tapped his shoulder, "Midoriya, I need to talk to you about something in private."
Midoriya's wide eyes observed Sasuke as if questioning what he wanted to talk about, "Uh... Alright."
Sasuke escorted Midoriya to somewhere with no peering eyes. He looked directly into Midoriya's eyes, "Midoriya, your quirk that has only awakened recently... You got it around the same time I started seeing you with All-Might..." Midoriya gulps and stiffens up, "And you even use the same names for the same attacks, like Delaware Smash."
Sasuke gets closer to Midoriya and peers his eyes while Midoriya fidgets and looks back and forth, "Did you... Somehow get the same quirk as All-Might?"
"N-no! Of course not! How can anyone get someone else's quirk?! As far as I know, you're born with it or you have nothing!" Midoriya waves his hands around rapidly.
Sasuke squints his eyes, "You'd be... Wrong..." Sasuke looked away for a minute and one side of his mouth tensed. "There's more than one way to get a quirk, I'd believe that yours just happened to come late in your life just like mine, but yours is too on the nose to be a coincidence. I'm not stupid, Midoriya."
"Of-Of course you're not, Sasuke! But It's just..." Midoriya grabbed the back of his head, opening his mouth before closing it again over and over, "But... You see... I just—"
"It's ok, young Midoriya. I had a feeling that it couldn't be hidden from young Sasuke much longer."
The owner of the voice was All-Might. His huge frame ambled closer to them from down the hallway. Sasuke had a slight glare, "So it's true."
"Yes, although it's not in the way that you must be imagining it, All-For-One isn't directly involved in young Midoriya having my quirk."
Sasuke's expression eases up, "Well in that case, then what's going on exactly?"
Everyone turned their heads to the sounds of voices passing by down the hall, "Before I tell you, we should go somewhere more private. Come with me."
The two students followed All-Might to the break room as the students' eyes burned into their backs. Once in the room, Sasuke locks the door behind them and they all sit down with All-Might sitting parallel to them. The room was eerie with its unusual ambiance. Midoriya looked around frantically, 'Jeez this atmosphere!'
All-Might and Sasuke made strong eye contact. "Before we start, I need to clarify something; you must keep this a secret. If this gets out then it'll be disastrous for our society."
Sasuke nods, "Of course. There's no reason to ever put the number one hero in danger..." Sasuke thought back to when All-Might had saved him from All-For-One, 'I do owe you in a way for me being alive...'
All-Might does a small bow, "Thank you, Young Sasuke. Now then, In return…" Steam came off of All-Might, and in a puff of smoke, he became a scrawny bony man. A far cry from the hero he's used to. "I should satisfy your curiosity about everything,"
Sasuke finally lost his composure and his eyes went wide, "... Huh?"
Midoriya looked at Sasuke and then began writing in his notebook, 'A Flustered Sasuke! This is a rare sight!'
"I've met you before..."
All-Might rubbed the back of his head, "Yes, thanks for the Onigiri once again, ha. This is my skinny form as a result of my fight five years ago," he pulled up his shirt and revealed what looked like a huge crater stretching from his shoulder to his hip with a caved in spot in the middle. Sasuke winced. "My stomach was destroyed and after wasting away from surgery, my heroics are limited to only three hours a day for now."
Sasuke tilted his head, "'For now'?"
He nods, "Yes, that's what I was getting to next. One-For-All is the name of my quirk and it's passed down from one user to another through ingestion of the previous user's DNA. The power gets stronger and accumulates more strength for the next user. Hence the 'One-for-All.' As you know, I've given mine to young Midoriya, so my powers will slowly fade away as he grows."
Midoriya averted his gaze to the window with low eyes and Sasuke stared at him, "So Midoriya truly was quirkless after all..." he turned his gaze back towards All-Might, "Earlier you said that All-For-One Isn't directly involved. So that means he is involved in some way?"
"... Yes... Midoriya, I haven't even told you this part yet, so pay attention," All-Might leans forward as his arms find rest on his thighs, "One-For-All is a quirk that originally derives from All-For-One. As you know Sasuke, it robs others of their quirks and makes them their own."
Sasuke's fist instinctively clenched, "And can give quirks back out to people."
He nodded and his gaze turned to the ground, "Yes, It all started during the dawn of the phenomenon when society hadn't yet adapted to the shift. There was a time when the norm for what it meant to be human crumbled away. That's all it took. All laws lost meaning and the advancements of civilization came to a halt."
Midoriya raised a finger to chime in, "As some famous guy said: 'Had the phenomenon never occurred, then humankind might well have been enjoying interstellar travel by now.'"
"Yes, and during that age of upheaval rose a figure who promptly gathered the people together. You already know who this is," All-Might's gaze turned towards Sasuke.
Sasuke glared at the ground and the sound of a clenched fist could be heard, "Yeah... He steals quirks... Then uses his manipulation and nice words to get people under his control... Giving them false gifts in the form of quirks... Spreading his disgusting influence and despicable corruption further, controlling people like a repulsive parasite!" The memories of what he saw his parents go through flashed through his mind, all the phone calls, collections, and odd jobs they were forced to do, all ultimately leading up to their deaths. By the end, his teeth were grinding and he was glaring at an enemy far away outside of his current reach.
Midoriya froze with wide eyes, 'I don't think I've ever seen him so mad about something in my life... Is this how he always felt even in Middle School? Just what happened to him?'
The eyes of All-Might fixed on Sasuke. His hands wrapped together, 'He must be thinking of them,' he thought. "You seem to already know this very well. Do you know why he does this in your experience?"
Sasuke took a deep breath while still looking down. "I can't think of any reason besides sadistic pleasure or more control… So, how does any of that tie back to One-For-All?"
All-Might sighed, 'Not even he knows more about his intention than me despite experiencing it firsthand…' "As I said, he can grant quirks. Either trust was placed in those granted quirks, or they were used to make them submit to his yoke... Although the bodies of many of those whom he granted quirks couldn't handle the strain, and many of them became virtual dolls like Nomu."
Sasuke's hand rested on his stomach as the words hung on him. All-Might looked at his hand movement, "Their minds usually break rather quickly though, within weeks. On the other hand, some had quirks that mutated and blended together. He had a frail small little brother that harbored a strong sense of justice. His brother's actions panged his heart and he opposed him. In response, he forced a quirk upon him that stockpiled power. Whether out of kindness for his brother or to bend him to his will, we still don't know."
Sasuke made a "tch" sound not surprised that he'd do something so horrible to his brother. He imagined that he'd probably only do something bad to his brother if he for example killed his whole family and made him relive it thousands of times.
All-Might continued, "Although no one around him ever suspected that he had a quirk of his own, the erstwhile quirk that could only grant itself to another!" His arms spread out to his sides, "And so the quirk that could stockpile power, and the quirk that could pass itself on, merged together! That is the origin of One-For-All!"
Sasuke's hand found its way under his chin, "So for him to still be alive he must be in possession of some kind of life-extending quirk"
All-Might nodded, "Correct. He's a symbol of evil that will live on indefinitely. The gap between him and his brother showed there was no chance of beating him at the time, but the brother who lost decided to entrust his power to the next generation. Even if he couldn't defeat him then, his power would accumulate little by little and someday be able to stop his evil once and for all... I was the successor to finally defeat him, but he's still alive somewhere. He likely has some connection to those villains from USJ."
Sasuke nodded, "Without a doubt, I recognize the man with the dark mist as being associated with him... I've seen him before when I was a child."
All-Might's head stuck up, "That's great to know," his head turned more towards Midoriya, "One-For-All is the power handed down from generation to generation to defeat All-For-One. And you too might have to confront that man... That great evil in a showdown."
Midoriya tensed up and his mouth shook up as he clenched his knees, "I... I'll do my best! Whatever you task me with, I'll answer your call All-Might. As long as you're with me, I can do anything... I can feel it, I know it's true!"
Sasuke side-eyed Midoriya and smirked. "That's great and all... Almost like it's a destiny of some kind," he briefly closed his eyes and lost the smile, "But I'm going to have to sever that fate. The one who will take care of All-For-One once and for all, is me. He's plagued me my entire life and has done nothing but cause suffering. His greatest mistake was failing to kill me." he looked down at his hand, "I'll keep getting stronger, keep evolving the quirk that I WAS BORN with. And then one day... I'll strike him down once and for all." he clenched his fist, "Now that is MY destiny, my ambition. And nothing will get in the way of that."
He stared at him with unwavering eyes and Midoriya sweated with a nervous smile, "Uh... Yeah of course you can have him!"
"Young Sasuke, do you really believe you could defeat All-For-One on you're own? He hasn't survived so long by mere chance."
He closed his eyes, "I'm aware. I'm not dumb enough to think I can beat him right now. This is why I'm going to have to get a lot more powerful, and I know I'll reach that power someday. Through whatever means I need."
All-Might's head lowered a little at that last statement, "Well... Young Sasuke, no one can quell the unfaltering ambitions of a young man, so I won't tell you to drop it but don't do anything illegal, we have certain parameters in place to make sure you stay safe. It would be unfortunate for a young man to die so young, don't you think?" he waved his hand.
"As long as my vengeance is achieved then..." Images flashed through his mind of Ashido and all her butting in. He crossed his arms, "Well then it doesn't matter much."
All-Might's eyes narrowed as his thoughts raced, 'This poor boy... Since the first day, I saw him... That firey rage in his eyes has hardly dulled, they're still almost as sharp as ever... But there was a hint of hesitation...' he closes his eyes, 'Maybe I'll have to leave this to his fellow peers. They could probably get through to him much better than me... Being a teacher is hard,' "Alright, well then you two. I have business to attend to."
All-Might in a puff of smoke went from his skinny lanky form to his more muscular one, "Have a great day you two. And make sure not to slack on your Sports Festival training!"
Silence befell the room and Midoriya slowly stood up and began to saunter away. "Midoriya."
Midoriya jumped, "Yes?"
'What do you think... Of training together a little bit?'
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