Tabula Rasa (BakuDeku)

08

The Search For a Successor

"He fucking-What?!"

"Yes. We're not sure how, but Giran and Mr. Compression snuck in and escaped with All For One and the others." Principal Nezu folds his hands, sitting in his oversized chair seemingly unbothered by the news. Like it happens everyday.

Toshinori yanks on his thinning blond hair, "This is bad, this is-this is very, very, very bad. I-what are we even going to do? I'm out of commission, and don't have a successor! Like at all!"

"I'm well aware of that. That's why, starting tomorrow, you'll be scouting possible successors in Class 2-A." Toshinori throws himself onto the couch in Nezu's office, debating whether it would just be better if it could just swallow him hole. Like, now. Please.

"Why Class 2-A?"

Principal Nezu tosses the retired hero a manila folder, which he catches with a surprised grace, "We believe they're the biggest group of heroes who show enough promise to harbor One For All. You don't have to pick someone from that class, remember this whole process is your choice, but it's a good start!"

The blond hums, flipping through the pages, "They're okay, I guess. That Bakugou kid would be ideal if he wasn't such a hot-head."

Nezu laughs, "Well, take your time. This is something that should be done-"

"Carefully and thoughtfully, yeah yeah, I know." Toshinori's bones crack like firecrackers as he stands. He's heard it countless times from different people, it doesn't change a thing, "I'll take a look at this and check them out, I guess." Principal Nezu gives him a big smile and a thumbs up.

"You can do it my friend! Plus Ultra!"

Toshinori forces himself to attend Class 2-A's hero training that afternoon. He doesn't need to go, really, he's seen all the kids in action and has a solid grasp of what they can do, but he pushes the doors open to Gym Gamma anyway.

"Hey, Shōta," he waves, and walks over to his old classmate, "What'cha doin'?" The room is filled with about twenty cement pillars, each assigned to a hot and sweaty student in their hero costumes. The young hero candidates look exhausted, how long have they been at it?

"Perfecting their special abilities," Shōta explains. Toshinori follows his gaze to their #1 student, who's angrily firing away at a block of cement. "There are those who have finally solidified their styles, and those who are already trying to create multiple moves."

Toshinori watches as Young Bakugou exhales, focusing all of his energy into a single point in his hand. For once he actually looks...peaceful. Calm.

"AP Shot!" A beam of red-orange light expands from the center of his hand and penetrates the cement wall with ease, creating a perfectly circular hole in the middle.

"Young Bakugou's doing well, as usual." He confirms aloud. Shōta hums in agreement. Katsuki Bakugou would really be the best option to harbor One For All...but with multiple quirks it can definitely get tricky. Gran Torino told him that he should be patient and wait, and that he'll know his successor when he sees him, but how is Toshinori supposed to know he knows?

A crack echoes in the back of Toshinori's mind, but he pays no attention. Not until he sees something hurtling towards him from up above.

"Hey, look out!" But by the time the warning hits Toshinori's ears, it's too late. A chunk of cement broke off due to Bakugou's AP Shot and is gaining on him quickly. There's no way in hell Toshinori can move fast enough to get out of the way. Not anymore.

There's flash of in the corner of his eye, and a green haired kid appears in mid-air. Toshinori recognizes him as one of the villains apart of the VPR, but other than that, he's a pure stranger to the retired pro. It's a crazy and controversial idea, having an ex-villain as a successor...but what if he-

The kid slams a powerful heel into into the boulder, shattering it to smithereens in one blow. Landing on his toes lighter than a feather, the debris from cement hit the ground behind him.

His quirk is a lot like One For All.

"Blood's a fucking pain to clean up," the kid pants, "So, you're welcome."

Toshinori stops gaping like a goldfish and finds the words to speak, "Impressive."

"Whatever," The greenette shrugs, disappearing in a flash of green. Toshinori turns to Shōta with a satisfied look.

"What's with him?" The blond laughs.

The bored hero gives him a blank look, "He's strange."

"Oh?" Toshinori's interested now, "How so?"

Shōta shrugs, "I dunno. Midoriya's just...off. His loyalty to All For One rivals Shigaraki's." Midoriya. So that's his name.

The blond snorts, "Okay so, the kid's dedicated. A lot of All For One's men are like that, no?" Shōta rolls his eyes, shoving him in the shoulder.

"That's not what I mean. He just seems so...inaccessible. Guarded. I don't really know how to describe it but it's like...something psychological." Shōta squints his beady black eyes, clearly having trouble finding the right words.

Toshinori furrows his eyebrows, "So, he's insane?" Shōta glares at him like thinks the blond joking. (He isn't joking.)

"Not insane. But...Joker-esque." Shōta nods, agreeing with himself, "An unemotional, mentally disconnected, Joker."

"The Joker was insane."

"Not the point," the homeroom teacher's eyebrow twitches in annoyance, "The point is, I think we should keep an eye on him." Toshinori hums, and yanks out the manilla folder from his arm pit. He thumbs past the rest of the students until he reaches the one he wants: Izuku Midoriya.

Name: Izuku Midoriya
Birthday: July 15th
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Height: 166 cm
Hair color: Green
Eye color: Green
Blood Type: O
Parents: Inko Midoriya (Deceased)
Hisashi Midoriya (Deceased)

Toshinori raises a bushy eyebrow, "Both of his folks are dead?" Shōta hums a yes, and reaches over his shoulder to point at the bottom of the page.

"Mom died in a fire accident and his dad was murdered in a convenience store bathroom." Toshinori whistles. That sounds like a lot of childhood trauma.

"No child services?"

Shōta shakes his head, "He ran away the day of his mothers death." The blond nods, and lets himself look over Izuku's page one more time.

Quirk: None.

He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. The kid clearly has a quirk...so why isn't it registered? Unless he's just getting old and made up their entire interaction on the spot. Icy blue eyes shift to the destroyed cement on the floor. No, it definitely happened.

He snaps the manilla folder shut, "Hmm. Okay." And heads towards the exit without another word.

"Toshi..." Shōta yells across the gym, beady eyes staring at him wearily, "You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking."

The retired hero doesn't answer. Instead, he turns on his heel and winks.

Oh, I'm thinking exactly what you're thinking, Shōta.