Leo Simon
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All For Myself Chapter 22
🕑 Added 2023-06-10 14:51:31 +0000 UTCHearing Izuku scream his lungs out I couldn't help but be impressed by the lung strength he was showing. I was hovering above the two of them and masking my presence with 'See Me Not' as All Might's true form revealed itself. Izuku is someone I've had my eye on for a while now, he is the ideal type of person that I need in my organisation, someone who is smart, hardworking and brave, a truly rare gem of a human being. Yet All Might decided that he wasn't able to become a Hero despite not even knowing the boy; he simply heard the word Quirkless and assumed that the green haired boy had no chance of being a Hero.
It's genuinely surprising to me that despite being the Symbol of Peace, despite being probably the most influential person on the planet and despite being Quirkless once himself... he's done absolutely nothing to help the Quirkless whatsoever. I mean he must have been in Izuku's shoes himself at one point or another so how can he just completely crush his dreams like that? Pure hypocrasy at it's finest.
I put my back against a wall and slid down slowly into a sitting position as Izuku finally finished screaming. I had to watch in distaste as Izuku downright called Toshinori an imposter as he described the image which this hollow man has been preserving throughout his whole career, it was honestly disturbing to think that All Might has built such a massively awesome image of himself that as soon as they see the real him the people don't even recognise him.
Toshinori Yagi is truly a pathetic man, he refuses to accept a life where he's anything less than the Symbol of Peace, he clings to his title hopelessly like a dying king that won't allow his son to succeed him. Even if it costs him his health he'll keep up his facade of greatness and that will be his downfall. He's more or less the only one who's holding up this society. It's sole pillar that's full of cracks. As soon as I knock him down and steal 'One For All' it'll be check mate... well I won't be the one stealing it but close enough.
The blonde man heard Izuku call him an imposter and his frown seemed to deepen as he spoke." I assure you that I am All Migh- bleugh." He began speaking but was cut off when he suddenly spat out a mouth full of blood.
In response Izuku once again screamed out in disbelief." Impossible!"
In response Toshinori gave a quick comparison." You know how guys are always sucking in their guts and trying to look buff down by the pool? Yeah I'm like that." Fairly accurate comparison in my opinion, your both attention whores.
Something in Izuku seemed to break at that as he stiffened up and his face cringed unpleasantly." No... this can't be real. All Might is a giant of a man who saves the day with a smile on his face. He defeats all obstacles in his way and saves everyone with a fearless smile." He honestly looked like he was having a mid-life crisis, and considering that he practically based his whole life around this one man who turned out to be fraud it's more than a little understandable.
In response Toshinori looked down and sighed tiredly before speaking." There's plenty of fear behind that smile." He sat on the hard floor with his back pressed against the rails on the edge of the building." I'm counting on you to keep your mouth shut, don't go talking about this online or telling your friends." Well he doesn't have any but go on.
After a moment he takes his shirt and Izuku gasps and flinches away at the sight of his mangled stomach. Honestly even I couldn't help but give the slightest of flinches, the anime honestly couldn't do any justice to how disgusting the sight was, the horrible purple red and yellow skin which seemed to blend together in the form of fleshy cracks which spread across his left side and the crater which was located where the wound hit made for a truly disturbing sight. That has to hurt all the time, how does he do any Hero work like that- how does he live like that?
It seemed that Izuku shared my sentiments since he grimaced as the blonde man explained." Pretty gross right? I got this in a fight five years back. My respiratory system was basically destroyed and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out and it can't be fixed. Right now I can only do Hero work for maybe two and a half hours, the rest of the time I look like this."
I blinked a little at that. Wasn't it supposed to be three hours? Did I remember that bit incorrectly or-
Wait did I lower his time limit in our fight at Hosu? I did go pretty hard on him and it was shown that serious fights do lower the amount of time he can use his power but still that was after he'd already passed 'One For All' off. I allowed an evil grin to appear on my face at that knowledge. This makes my job far easier.
Toshinori looked up from the ground and into Izuku's eyes after a moment." I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling right? I'm the Symbol of Peace. People everywhere have to think that I'm never afraid. But honestly? I smile to hide the fear inside. It's just a brave face that I put on when the pressure is high. This job isn't easy."
Turning on 'Empath' I glanced at Izuku to gauge his reaction and was surprised by what I saw. Izuku seemed to be both extremely disappointed and sad along with both traces of disgust, anger and some hatred. It was strange considering that he usually suppressed all those negative emotions that he feels towards others but now he feels far less... restrained towards his own feeling. That's good.
All Might's next words seemed to hit home though." Pro Heroes are constantly risking their lives, I can't honestly say that you can become a Hero without a power of your own. So no I honestly don't think that it's possible to become a Hero without a Quirk."
His words made a flare of rage and hatred swell in my chest and quite frankly it took everything that I had not to pounce and him and try to rip 'One For All' from his body even if I knew that I wouldn't succeed but I restrained myself and grit my teeth as I continued to monitor Izuku's emotions.
The results were... honestly disappointing. Instead of feeling betrayed or angry or hateful towards the man who turned out to be a fake he just felt a massive wave of sadness, shame and depression as he just muttered something quietly.
Toshinori didn't give Izuku a second look as he walked to the door of the building they'd landed on and before walking away he told Izuku." If you want to help people then there are plenty of other ways to do it. You could become a police officer. They get crap because Heroes capture most of the villains but it's a fine profession. It's not bad to have a dream young man, but please try to keep it realistic understand?"
At those words Izuku did actually build up a spark of anger but it was quickly extinguished under the weight of depression he was feeling.
The door closed behind the hollow man and Izuku was left there to gape in both disbelief and sadness.
But whilst Izuku wouldn't be getting 'One For All' that didn't matter. He'd be just fine in my hands.
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Izuku stood on the rooftop of a building with his mouth hanging open from horror as a result of his dreams being completely crushed and for a few minutes the realisation of what just occured hit him and he fell to his knees with despair as tears quickly built up in his eyes and leaked down his cheeks.
'Not all men are born equal' that is a phrase which he firmly believes in, even though it's wrong you can't deny that there's truth to those words. Humans will always find ways to look down on others, be it race, gender or Quirks humans enjoy looking down on others that's the sad truth of this world. And the Quirkless are some of the 'Others' in this society.
He always wanted to become a Hero, there's no denying that without a power of his own he wouldn't be the best, but he wanted to become a Hero anyway. Just to prove the world that a powerless nobody like him can do something great, that he wasn't useless.
Only for his idol, the man who he'd always looked up to to utterly smash his dreams into pieces, as much as losing his best friend and the words of his piers all hurt him they were just nobodies. To hear those words from the man he looked up to the most well... it was obviously a lot worst.
He was so caught up in his own self pity that he didn't seem to notice the suited figure that loomed over him." It's disappointing isn't it?"
Hearing a familiar voice Izuku stopped sobbing and turned his head upwards with teary eyes and was met with the sight of his only friend.
Izuku wondered why he was dressed like that and how he managed to appear out of thin air." Ryu you heard-"
"I asked if you were disappointed. They say never to meet your heroes so this must be a massive hit for your worldview."
Izuku was surprised in his bluntness but after a moment just looked down and said." I'm sorry Ryu, you were wrong. I can't- I can't become a Hero." He spoke as more tears seemed to gush out of his eyes.
Ryu was silent for a moment and then just said." What makes you think that I was talking about being a Pro Hero?"
Izuku stopped crying for a moment and looked up at Ryu so that he could explain. Ryu smiled at him as he spoke." A Hero isn't a profession, a Hero isn't someone who obeys bureaucracy and a Hero isn't defined by a person's Quirk. A Hero is simply being the best person that you can be and helping others around you. Izuku, just because some blonde oaf said that you can't be a Hero doesn't mean that you can't be a Hero."
At his words Izuku felt himself be slowly lifted up from his knees against his will, it mildly freaked him out as Ryu then looked at him apologetically." And I suppose that I have some explaining to do. You see I'm not actually Quirkless." As those words left his mouth Ryu's face seemed to morph slightly, his nose changed shape, his red eyes seemed slightly brighter and Izuku's eyes widened in fear as he realised who was in front of him.
"You- you your the Quirk stealer!!" Izuku yelled in fear as he realised that a SS rated villain was standing right in front of him and did his best to try and wriggle out of whatever telekinesis he was under. Ryu was a villain!
In response Ryu merely rolled his eyes." Oh please that's such a bad name, just call me Ryoto, kay?"
Izuku suddenly became acutely aware of just how dangerous Ryu- no Ryoto was and he knew that he had to leave.
He's heard the stories of what he's done, how apparently he steals the Quirks of others and alters their memories so that they believe that they were Quirkless their whole lives, how he takes the Quirks of children just for fun and how he terrorises heroes just so that he can see them squirm. And the idea of being under his thumb made Izuku genuinely terrified.
Ryoto narrowed his eyes and simply stated." If your thinking that I'm going to do something horrible to you then don't bother, unlike what the media might be saying the truth is that I'm only a villain because that's what this society labeled me as, me and my group just go against the grain, simple as that."
Despite his calm explanation Izuku didn't buy into anything that he said and instead continued to try and escape the grasps of Japan's most wanted man.
Ryoto saw what he was trying to do and frowned." Oh will you just listen to me and stop struggling. You're not getting anywhere."
Izuku then turned his fearful eyes onto Ryoto and after seeing what his struggling friend was feeling the white haired man stated." Your afraid of me."
Izuku then stopped struggling and glared at Ryoto." Of course I am, I'm in the hands of an insane maniac who attacked innocent people!"
Ryoto merely raised an eyebrow at that." Are you sure that's what I did? Or is that just what you heard on the media. It's not like my group killed any innocents is it?"
At that Izuku... actually stopped to think. He doesn't remember there being any reports of casualties about when those two attacks took place. Sure there was property damage and some injured Heroes... but no fatalities on either side. A bit strange for a terrorist attack.
Seeing that Izuku stopped struggling Ryoto placed him on the ground and let go of his telekinetic hold on the boy before he began to speak to Izuku." Izuku your a smart boy, when I organised an attack on Hosu and Kamino do you really think that the point was just destruction? To be evil? To hurt people? My group is one that seeks to create a new society, when I spoke to the world that's what I meant. You too know what it is to feel discrimination, wouldn't it be nice if the world treated you better? If other people like you didn't have to grow up being ashamed of who they are? I want to change all of that, to annihilate the status quo."
Izuku found himself listening intently to Ryoto when he really should have just been running and realised what Ryoto wanted with wide eyes full of shock." You want me to join you."
Ryoto seemed to smile at that." I do."
Izuku was... not sure what to do. He believed that Ryoto's words held truth but at the same time he just didn't know if he could do it, if he could go against what he's known his whole life, what would this mean for him in the long term? What would his mother think? What would he need to do if he did join?
His mouth moved for him and he asked." What would I need to do if I did join?"
Ryoto answered." That's up to you. Like I said we're idealists not monsters, I am willing to go far to achieve my dreams but I have my morals and you have yours. As for what you'd need to do for the group well... first I'd have to give you a Quirk."
Now that got a reaction out of Izuku.
His eyes bulged out of their sockets." You could give me a Quirk?!" He knew that apparently he had the ability to give another person a Quirk but he didn't think that he'd just offer a Quirk to him like that.
Ryoto smirked at that." Of course. If you want one that is." He merely opened his palms which revealed themselves to have holes in, Izuku could only guess that those are what he steals Quirks out of.
Izuku thought very carefully about what to do and asked." Can I leave if I want to?"
Ryoto answered him almost immediately." Yes. Of course if you become one of my most trusted members then I can't just let you leave like I could if you were new but... by that point I have a feeling that you'll want to stay."
Izuku wasn't sure about what to do now. It was a very attractive offer, a Quirk, a place to belong and a way to get himself up off the floor made him feel like he should do it.
He looked uo at Ryoto who had his hand out stretched and asked." Can I have some time to think about it?"
Ryoto just nodded as he retracted his hand." Of course." He then pulled out a card from his sleeve and threw it at Izuku who caught it on his lap and looked at the card to see a phone number on it." Give me a call when you decide."
Izuku looked up to thank him but instead he was met with nothing but thin air and a phone number on a business card.
