Even though Katsuki was screwing up his life without even knowing it, he'd kept his end of the bargain by telling me everything that was going on in his little private study group.

I'd told him I'd help him become the next All Might ; it was time I did something about it.

- Is this where you practice ?

I whistled admiringly, hands in my pockets, strolling lazily.

Uraraka threw a right hook at Mirio, who suddenly crouched down to sweep her off her feet.

On the other side of the field, Katchan and Inaza were exchanging blows at high speed. Katsuki's nose was bleeding and Inaza was gritting his teeth as he struggled to stand on his right leg.

I stopped at the edge of the field next to All Might and followed the fight with feigned interest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him watching me warily.

- I wondered where Katchan was disappearing to all the time : he's actually entitled to private lessons. I'm almost jealous.

I looked up at All Might.

His expression was blank.

- What are you doing here ?

He doesn't even hide how much he dislike me.

I continued my little game, pretending not to see the tension in his shoulders.

- I'd had enough of dormitories : I thought a tour of Yuei wouldn't be too bad to relieve boredom

All Might didn't buy my nonsense for a second :

- So your feet just happened to be walking in the right direction for almost four kilometers during our only training session of the day ?

My eyes were glued to the two duos.

- I could help them from time to time, I said with a nonchalant shrug. Practising with only the four of them will give them bad habits

The irony of my own words was not lost on me, having spent most of my life training with my clones.

I must have had a dozen bad habits that I wasn't capable of noticing myself, but which a real ninja would have had no trouble exploiting to kill me with the help of a nice kunai.

Yet in a world where people were as clumsy and awkward as newborn babies, I was a prodigy.

- I'll pass on the offer

- Don't be like that, sir, I said. It's almost as if you don't like me

He didn't even crack a smile.

- What do you want ?

I couldn't help but feel a tinge of respect spring up that he wasn't jumping into my schemes with both feet.

I straightened up abruptly and turned to face him, deciding to drop the act altogether :

- You know, All for One said something interesting when I confronted him at the Camp.

Arms folded, he didn't react. Praiseworthy.

- He told me about you and him and another woman before you. Nana, I think her name was ?

Jaw clenched, All Might kept his eyes on the fights, but his panicked expression betrayed his emotions.

- He spoke of a power, I continued. Something that could be transferred. He said he thought I had it. He asked if I was your successor.

All Might laughed curtly, his eyebrows raised in disdain, barely sparing me a glance.

- All for One has always been a liar, boy. I didn't think you'd be gullible enough to fall for his snake-like tongue, but obviously I was wrong

His tone irritated me.

- You at least owe me the truth after I got gutted for saving the others

- The only debt I ever owed your family was to your father, and I paid him by saving you from being forced into the army after the infamous video was leaked

I blinked at All Might.

He's not lying.

But dad never mentioned anything about that.

- Why did you owe him ?

- None of your business

I studied this All Might who wasn't really All Might in silence, trying to understand how he could be this calm, thoughtful, sharp man, and still be the giant blonde idiot who couldn't stop smiling.

All Might is a persona, just like Hawks is.

Suddenly it seemed easier to talk to him, knowing that I could appeal to his reason rather than his illogical and naive emotions.

- I know you don't trust me

He didn't deny it.

- And you're right. To tell you the truth, I don't trust myself most of the time too

He glanced at me doubtfully.

- If that's the case, I would strongly advise you to see a doctor

- I also know that you're treading on the last embers of your Quirk and that it's only a matter of time before All Might disappears

- Did All for One mention anything else during your, ah, gossip session ?

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

- No, I figured that out by myself after a bit of digging in the papers and all the stuff that has been written about you over the last ten years. Any hero with half a brain would have noticed that your time frame of activity has dropped drastically

He looked at me strangely.

Then, calmly, he asked :

- What do you want, Shoto ? Do you expect me to give you my Quirk ?

I was so taken aback by the remark that I burst out laughing incredulously, bordering on hysterically.

- I don't want your shitty power

Aside from the horror of having eight personalities coexisting in the jumble of my mind, I had enough trouble keeping myself alive to have my life expectancy drastically reduced in exchange for strands of chakra and black smoke.

All Might narrowed his eyes.

He was surprisingly calm for someone whose secret he spent his life protecting I had just revealed casually.

I wondered if, rather than having a cool personality, All Might wasn't taking it all in stride for he knew that this nameless mess would soon be someone else's problem.

- Are you also going to threaten to reveal that my power is transmissible if I don't do what you want ?

I tilted my head slightly to one side, unravelling All Might's sentence word by word.

'You too'...?

- It's a tempting idea, but I don't think I can get much out of a walking corpse

He sniffed, the shadow of a sardonic smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

- I'd like to know who you intend to choose as your successor

All Might looked at me disinterestedly.

- I don't see how that concerns you.

- It concerns me insofar as All for One is still on the streets and, until proven otherwise, he wants me dead : if you want to retire, fine, but choose someone who won't hesitate to kill him

Judging by his expression, he didn't like the last comment.

- It's one of these four you want to choose as your successor, isn't it ?

- Why are you so worried about who I'll choose ? Can't you beat All for One with your Quirk ?

All Might or the art of deflecting and eluding the conversation.

I choose to indulge him a little.

- I'm no hero, All Might. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it

- You're surprisingly lucid

He sounded genuinely surprised.

A few months ago the remark would have stung me, but since Nagano I'd decided to stop deceiving myself.

- But my father is one : I refuse to see him running around exhausted because your successor can't put an end to things when he needs to

- By 'put an end to things' do you mean 'kill'?

- If you'd killed All for One when you had the opportunity, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

I wasn't more specific about the 'opportunity' I was referring to because I wasn't supposed to know about five years ago.

All Might's disillusioned smile turned bitter. I had clearly struck a nerve.

- Your successor must be competent and decisive, All Might. Because when I'm done with All for One, I don't intend to stick around to watch the resurgence of villains across the country

My plan was simple : I would kill All for One, convince my father that he could leave the future of the country in the hands of All Might's successor, take my father and get the hell out to Italy.

Stage two was the trickiest : if my father had the slightest doubt that the new All Might wasn't up to the job, he'd want to stay on - out of duty - and I refused to see him kill himself for people who had dragged his name through the mud.

- Do you think it will come to that ?

- Any change of power means more chaos

'Political instability is the root of all illnesses,' Teka used to tell me.

That was one of the reasons why she didn't try to run for political office in Italy.

On the other hand, I think she recently talked about running a member of our Familia for presidency...

- Until people have confidence in your successor, the country will be in turmoil...

He seemed to be considering the situation.

But his slowness to understand, the indecision in his eyes, the stillness of his features irritated me.

He was considering the situation, but he didn't understand.

I knew that All Might didn't like me, but it wasn't because I had killed people, not really : All Might didn't like me because he was afraid of who I was and what I might become.

So I decided to play on his fears.

- You know, deep down I kind of understand All for One

All Might looked stunned.

- I beg your pardon ?

I shot him a sideways glance, slightly irritated and more... conniving.

- I mean, all that power... When you've got the possibility of being on top of the world, I can understand why some people would do anything to seize the opportunity. The lure of pure, unadulterated freedom, no strings attached, is like the call of the void. Between you and me, All Might, can you really say you nerver thought about it ?

His eyebrows were so furrowed that wrinkles creased his forehead.

- He killed people

- Yes, of course, it's terrible, but I mean...

I searched for the right words, words that would ring true even to my ears, words that would convince All Might to find a successor capable of taking on All for One and the next one after him.

Because that's the way it always is, isn't it ? As soon as one hero falls, another takes his place. As soon as one villain falls, there's always someone worse to pick up the torch.

- What's the point of all this ?, I asked. I mean, we're born, we live, we die, and in between we spend our time suffering and enduring the undisciplined choices of people who have decided that their existence is more important than ours. To have the power to resist - to dominate - such people... that's freedom, isn't it ?

The words flowed freely from my mouth, pure and unfiltered.

- If I can't do what I want, if I can't live the way I want, then what's the point of me being born different ? Why do I have all these... all these abilities, all these capabilities that other people don't ? If I work from the principle that nothing has meaning, that everything is of equal value, then that means that those who inflict suffering and those who endure it are no more worthy than the other one. It means that suffering injustice doesn't make you a good person or a better person, it only makes you a victim. If a victim chooses to side with the executioners, the world doesn't stop spinning

My thoughts swirled in a refreshingly clear maelstrom of confusion.

I was an excellent liar, but even my brain couldn't slow the pace at which the truth was pouring out of my mouth.

- That would mean that killing and saving are of equal value, that there is no difference between the hand that strikes and the hand that is struck. So why shouldn't I, who was born with this power, be able to do as I please ? Why should I have to abide by a code of values and morals that others have no compunction ignoring ? Freedom... freedom means living my life as I choose. We are all born equal, but some are more equal than others. If others had the power, I know they would either try to subjugate me or destroy me. So why shouldn't I ?

I paused, confused, my eyebrows furrowed, unable to answer my own question.

Then the image of my father flashed through my mind, and I was relieved that I didn't have to answer.

I could continue to ignore my lack of morals, continue to follow the guidelines my father and Hawks had given me without thinking. Their rules were a safety net that kept me from falling into my own ways and consuming myself in my own madness.

I blinked, remembering where I was and who I was talking to, then looked up at All Might.

His eyebrows were two straight lines that shaded his gaze. His mouth was a thin, tight line, stridules parchmenting the tight corners of his lips.

His eyes were dark, polished like mirrors of obsidian. I could see myself reflected in their gaze, my distorted face seeming unnaturally malevolent.

I smiled and saw myself smiling in his eyes.

- I mean, I suppose that's how All for One must think

All Might looked at me with a mixture of apprehension, concern and fear, as if I were about to commit a war crime.

But I had his attention, and although his expression - as if I had already done the worst, as if I was already the worst - made me uncomfortable, I continued.

- Who knows, I said. Maybe one day I'll be the one facing the next All Might

All Might didn't answer.

I sent him a smile with crescent moon eyes, so fake that he should have had no trouble figuring it out.

He had to understand that All for One wouldn't be the last, that there would always be others, more dangerous, more vicious, and that he - we - couldn't afford for the next bearer of One for All to be merciful.

And if I had to hint at my intention to be the next All for One to make him really aware of the threat, well...

So be it.

*

Author's note :

So many stuff I want to say but I won't because I prefer to let those who will read the story a second time enjoy it in a different way.

Anyway, start of a very funny arc in a few chapters.

Hope you all are ready, I've been cooking some nice surprises.

If you want to support me, your nice, awesome, humble author, AND support the story in general AND read way ahead of schedule and see for yourself what I mean by 'nice surprises', then you definitely have to check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you monday for the next update everyone !