Chapter 5: Tomura Shigaraki 2

Tomura walked into the pitch-black hallway that his Master had come through earlier. He tripped over a small crack, almost falling down before he regained his footing.

All for One gave off a small chuckle, he stopped to look at the hair that streamed across a hand on the young villain's face. "I apologise Tomura, I did not stop to consider that you could not see. The lighting should be installed here soon."

"It's alright Master, my eyes just haven't adjusted yet. I'm sorry for delaying you," Tomura said, not wanting to disappoint All for One.

All for One turned around, he continued to walk down the seemingly unending path.

"Master, may I ask why you wanted to speak with me?" Tomura asked, still holding one hand along the wall.

"Everything I wish to tell you will be said in time. There is no need to rush things Tomura," All for One told him. "You seem to have been troubled lately. Part of me calling you today is because of that, the other reason I will explain to you once we arrive."

Tomura's eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, he caught up to All for One. "I'm perfectly fine, I'm not a kid anymore," Tomura said.

"Tomura," All for One said chillingly, he stopped once more. "Do not lie to me ever again. Your emotions are unbalanced. Need I only look at you, and the entire picture appears in front of me."

All for One's presence towered over Tomura, making the young man afraid of the repercussions. Moments passed yet nothing happened. Tomura never understood what his Master thought underneath the mask, but his love and respect for the man in the suit were greater than anyone in the world. All for One took him in ever since he was a child. Giving him food, shelter, and a place he could call home. Tomura considered the man his own father.

Silence stood over between them, it was interrupted by All for One taking a step towards a door that had appeared in front of them.

"Follow me," All for One said.

They stepped through the door that had opened by itself. The place revealed a small room, resembling an office. It had been refurbished everywhere, a large desk was spaced out in the middle. The man gestured Tomura to sit down at one of the seats.

All for One walked over to a large leather chair and sat down. He put his elbows on the table, crossing his hands together. "You disagree with the decision I made with Giran earlier."

Tomura stood in silence, his hand had grabbed the top of the chair, but his body froze.

"I don't disagree with your deci–" Tomura said, before being interrupted.

"Sit, before you speak," All for One ordered.

Tomura sat down quickly, he was afraid. "Yes Master," he said in a small, hushed breath.

"Do you believe I made a mistake in wanting to recruit the boy?" All for One repeated.

"No, it's just that…" Tomura stopped, he did not want to show his envy.

"Just what?" All for One asked. He grew impatient with the young man.

Tomura nervously readjusted the hand that blocked his face. There was no chance of getting out of the question. Tomura thought quickly, he chose the best option available. "Isn't he just a kid? Seems like a waste of time and effort into making someone join. He might possibly not even be a villain."

All for One looked at him, knowing it was likely not the real answer Tomura had in his mind. Yet the response All for One received was not bad either.

"Funny you should mention that. When I brought you in, where you not just a little boy?" All for One pointed out. "Some of the recruits that have joined or will be soon, are of his age as well."

Tomura sat in silence. There was no arguing with the man he feared and respected.

"You are right about the last part though," he said. All for One changed his hand posture. "However, that doesn't mean it's not impossible. Even if the boy is not a villain, ideologies can be changed."

Tomura felt a slight relief, his answer had barely passed as legitimate. He moved his head up, scratching his neck from anxiety.

"The other reason I called you here for, is that you'll be taking over the operations and leading them once we are ready," All for One said.

This surprised Tomura. He never expected his Master to put such a heavy responsibility on him. He felt compelled to earn All for One's trust.

"I have high hopes in you. Hopefully, this will prove to be a useful teaching experience," All for One told him.

A smile touched Tomura's lips. "Of course, Master."

Izuku continued walking the streets on a Sunday night, attempting to find any quirk that intrigued him. Two days had passed since he met Muscular, and during that time he had not found anyone that excited him as much then.

"Ouch," Izuku whispered. He looked at his bandaged right hand he had accidentally cut the night before. The wound still stung, and he could see that it re-opened. A small red stain appeared in the middle of his palm.

Izuku walked passed several passersby before feeling a large rumble in his stomach. He had been preoccupied with searching for villains, that his mind had forgotten to eat the entire day.

"Guess now wouldn't be a bad time to take a break," Izuku said quietly. He took out his wallet, two one-thousand-yen bills sat inside. He looked around and spotted a fast food restaurant.

Izuku frowned. "No real option here."

He opened the door, revealing a run-down place. Izuku walked over to the ordering station, but no employees were in sight. Izuku could tell that they did not get many customers.

"Oh sorry," shouted out a voice in the back of the store. A fat burly man stepped out, greeting Izuku. He placed his hands on the counter. "What can I get you?"

Izuku looked at the signs above him. "I'll get combo number six." He passed over the two bills to the man.

"Pick any drink you want from the fridge," the man pointed out, returning Izuku his change.

Izuku looked at his hand, he had been short-handed. "Sure," Izuku said. "No wonder this place is shutting down," he thought to himself. Izuku walked over to the fridge, at the corner of his eyes, something caught his attention.

The only customer in the restaurant besides Izuku stared at him profusely. Izuku felt uncomfortable but disregarded it. He walked back to the counter for his food.

"Sorry for making you wait. Here you go, a double patty with fries," the large man said with enthusiasm.

"Thanks," Izuku muttered, grabbing the plastic tray. He was not going to bother arguing with what happened earlier.

Izuku turned around and walked over to a table in front of him that was the furthest away from the other customer. He placed the tray down and sat facing the street window. He grabbed his bag, taking out the notebook he had been writing in while observing quirks.

The other person continued staring at Izuku intensely, for minutes even at a time. Izuku tried not to pay attention but his curiosity got the best of him. He looked up and made eye contact with a girl that looked around his age.

Izuku quickly looked down, his face flustered. "Oh god," Izuku thought. He shifted his eyes nervously, looking at his notes. "Why has she been staring at me for so long?" Izuku was not certain if he had been found out once more from his outings. "Better to just keep to myself and leave soon."

He was interrupted by the chair in front of him moving. Izuku was preoccupied in his thoughts and did not realize in time that the girl he had looked at earlier, sat down right in front of him.

"What the hell?!" Izuku shouted inside his mind. The girl's sudden appearance startled him even more. "Who is she?"

"Hello there cutie," the girl said, resting her chin on her hand.

"W… w… wh-wha… what?" Izuku said in surprise. He did not know how to handle the greeting that appeared to smash his face wide open. He was not used to talking directly to girls.

The girl laughed, smiling at him. "Just saying hi. Jeez you are super cute." She looked at Izuku's bandaged arm. Izuku noticed and quickly moved his hand underneath the table.

"Awww," she cried out, puffing her face. "I just wanted to look at it."

Izuku was confused. The girl was beyond his comprehension. "Uhm, why?" It was the only response he could think of. He knew he had to choose his words carefully.

"Because I like blood silly!" the girl said with an amused tone. "And I like you."

"I... I-I… Thanks?" Izuku responded. He did his best not to look at the girl directly.

"You're so adorable when you look away," the girl teased him. "I'm Toga Himiko but you can call me Toga if you want."

"Why is she so friendly with me? Does she really like me that much…" Izuku pondered.

"What's your name?" Toga asked spontaneously.

Izuku knew better not to give out his name this time, but he felt something pointing at his leg, slowly rising up. Izuku gulped down his throat, realizing what she was doing.

"Izuku," he said quietly. The knife underneath the table still continued to move towards his inner left thigh. "Midoriya." Izuku gave up, knowing it was best not to upset her.

"Izuku… Midoriya," Toga repeated, lifting the knife away from his leg. She smiled, "Can I call you Izu-chan?"

Izuku's face blushed. He put his hands up to cover his face. "Please. Please don't call me by that name," he said nervously.

"Why not Izu… chan?" Toga said, she began to enjoy teasing him more.

Before Izuku could respond back, Toga grabbed his injured arm and started caressing it with her cheek.

"Himiko- I mean Toga… W-what are you doing?" Izuku asked.

Toga then tapped his nose with her right hand. "Boop!"

Izuku sat there in silence, giving up on trying to question her. Toga examined his hand before grabbing something from her cardigan, she then wrote on his notebook. He looked and saw a phone number that she had written down in cursive. Next to it, a heart was drawn, with a smiley face inside.

His eyes flashed before noticing that the mysterious girl stood up and began walking to the exit of the restaurant. Their eyes met once more, as Toga made a phone gesture towards her ear, mouthing off the words, "Call me."

The door closed. Izuku replayed the scenario in his head a thousand times before he finally understood what had happened. He sat in his chair like a deer staring at car headlights.

He was suddenly brought back from a voice that called out to him. "Sir, we are already closing down for tonight," the man said behind the counter glass.

Izuku nodded, he stood up and threw his half-finished burger into the trash. He walked outside, heading back to his house.

"Just what was that?" Izuku asked to himself. "Why did I even let myself get pushed around by her?"

He placed his hand on his forehead. The thought of a girl liking him was something he always wanted, but his interest lay more into whether she had any ulterior motives. "That's just not something someone normal would do. She had a god damn knife," Izuku thought. Yet he could not deny that it made his heart race a little.

"She might know my name… But if I'm careful, I'll avoid walking into her at public places," Izuku said. "Calling her is definitely out of the question." Izuku grabbed his notebook to erase her message but realized quickly that it was not written with a regular pencil.

"Ink? Wait, no… is that blood?"

Izuku sighed, "Yeah, definitely not meeting her again."

Izuku maintained a steady pace. He thought about all of the close encounters that he had come across after deciding to observe villains. Izuku tried his best to be quiet and cautious, but at some point, there could come a time when he would have to defend himself.

"Best option right now would be getting a knife, but the problem is that I am not familiar with using it properly," Izuku muttered. "Let alone the difficulty in getting a proper one."

Izuku crossed a small road and entered a shortcut that passed in between a small community of houses.

"Ho. I'm impressed with how well you articulate your thoughts when it comes to hurting others." Izuku heard a deep voice address him. A tall figure leaned across a tree, Izuku was not able to see the man's face. Izuku formed a defensive stance, but his body was telling him to run.

"No need to get defensive young man," said the man. "I take it you've already grown tired of people surprising you."

Izuku stayed quiet, assessing whether the person in front of him was a threat. "Are you a villain?" Izuku asked with a straight face.

"Indeed, I am, but I have not come here to be your enemy," said the voice. "In fact, I am here to offer you a proposition." The man stepped forward, revealing a giant mask that covered his entire head.

"I am the leader of a specific organisation that centres itself towards giving villains a voice. In fact, you might know one of the members you had met a few days ago. He goes by the codename… what was it? Muscular, yes."

Izuku was interested in what the man in the mask had to say. "And why have you, the leader, decide to confront me alone? That seems a little suspicious."

The man in the suit laughed. "I have to give it to you for not stumbling at what I had said previously. It seems as if you had expected for this to happen." He took one step closer to Izuku. "The reason why I am here is that I am the only one who can offer you to become special. Someone strong, someone who could enact revenge against the world and false heroes who had left him to suffer."

Izuku was not able to understand what the man meant. "What does he mean to make me special? How could I become strong?"

"It seems you do not understand just what I can do young Midoriya," the mask said. Breathing sounds were heard going through tubes exiting the back.

"I am offering you a quirk, a powerful one at that."

Izuku stood in disbelief, he did not know how the man knew he was quirkless. He thought to himself if it was really even possible to be given a quirk artificially. "And what do you want in return?" he asked sternly.

"Amazing, you really are able to comprehend things quickly," the man responded. "I only wish you to join us, however, I do not want to force you. This is your decision to make."

"We are aware of your extraordinary skills when it comes to analysing quirks. Your past has created the mindset of the perfect villain, and I thought it would be a waste to let that go."

Izuku was impressed with how the man knew everything about him. He did not know if it was a quirk that allowed him to read minds, but something was different about the man who had decided to confront him.

"I'm interested," Izuku said. An opportunity had finally jumped into his hands, letting go of it was not an option. Izuku thought of several ideas that would explain the man's quirk, but nothing came to mind.

"In that case, you will need this," the man replied. "There is only one contact here, call it tomorrow exactly at 5 PM and you will be given instructions on where to go." He handed an old phone into Izuku's hand. "I look forward to speaking with you again."

Izuku watched the man exit the shortcut. He never expected this encounter to had happened so fast. Izuku let out a large sigh. "He knew everything, just who was that?"

He looked at the phone that was given to him. It was covered in glitter, with pink embroidery. "Ha, this is just something else," Izuku chuckled. He smiled and looked at the moon, "Isn't this just great?"

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