Third person pov

This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be. Things had been going surprisingly well despite all that had happened. The media had calmed down somewhat. Not by much, but enough. The kids were laughing and talking while they set up their dorms, and Bakugo was even able to separate from Lillian for more than two seconds to go grab something out of the other room. Progress wasn't always linear, Aizawa had come to learn. But progress was progress nonetheless. Things had been decent, which was of course why something had to come along and fuck it all up. 

"Dad?" Lillian fidgeted, looking up at him with wide eyes. Bakugo was behind her, his brows drawn together as he scrolled through his phone in search of some sign this was a lie. Aizawa knew the feeling. He'd been searching for some way to undo this all. A number he could contact and a website he could go to. Neito had unhelpfully suggested he contact a lawyer, which had seemed dumb at first, but Aizawa was beginning to genuinely consider it a valid option. 

"Turn on the news." Aizawa breathed out, eyes flickering to his daughter's. She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, turning to Shoto. The teen got the message even though he was busy playing Temple run. He grabbed the remote without looking up, pointing it haphazardly at the TV and jamming the on button a few times until the screen flickered to life. Hitoshi snorted, shoveling some popcorn in his mouth. Now, this... this was the entertainment he signed up for. One day in the dorms and things were already going to shit. Could he ask for anything more?

"-shocking, I know! I didn't see it coming either." The reporters laughed with one another. Displayed behind them was a chart. The top ten hero rankings chart. "We all thought Hawks would be forced into the position of Number One when All Might fell. Endeavor, fortunately, isn't with us anymore-- but to think, Eraserhead jumped the rankings overnight! I guess Kamino really sold it for people."

Aizawa's lips parted in wordless surprise. This was real. This was actually happening to him right now. Somehow, his little debut on TV saving his daughter and taking down All For One had... boosted him. He hadn't even been aware he had a ranking. If he did, it was so low that even he didn't know what the number was. But then he'd gotten all that publicity. So rather than Hawks taking up the mantle of Number One, now Shota found himself sitting atop a pedestal he never wanted to be on. He'd amassed a fanbase the size of an army just overnight. He didn't know what to think about that, or how to feel.

Lillian stared. The screen beamed back. There was a sinking feeling that formed in her gut. Pride mingled with dread in the very pits of her stomach, and she didn't know how to feel. There were a thousand things she could do and say. A part of her, for some reason, thought crying was the best option. Maybe hugging her dad and apologizing since this was partially her fault. She hadn't asked to get kidnapped or anything, but he wouldn't have been there if not for her. 

"Holy shit." Lillian blurted out instead of doing or saying any of the things her mind was screaming at her to. Shota didn't even have it in him to scold her. 

"You're shitting me!" Bakugo barked out, a familiar grin forming on his face. Hitoshi was looking off to the side and trying his damndest not to laugh. It was still pretty obvious he was, but at least he was making an attempt. Unlike Neito, who was openly wheezing at the television. Why were these brats in his living room, anyway? Aizawa sure hadn't invited them. But Lillian looked so content with them here... whatever; that was the least of his worries now. He'd gone from being an underground hero-- unseen, unheard, and unknown-- to being Number One. In practically a day. This was bad. 

"You're the number one hero!" Neito wheezed out. Aizawa narrowed his eyes. He was getting a bit too comfortable there. But he also wasn't Shota's student, so he couldn't be given detention. The undead blonde needed to count his blessings. "I can't believe it. Lillian, your dad made himself Number One when he saved you."

Lillian gawked, looking between Neito, the screen, and her father. Her dad looked floored in the worst way possible, his brows drawn together and his lips pressed into a thin line that seemed to convey his absolute frustration. Lillian wasn't sure if she should laugh or not. This was sort of amazing. Not in a good way. Or was it in a good way? She didn't know. Her dad didn't seem very happy with the new development. Lillian had to wonder how Hawks felt. He'd conveyed before that he really didn't care about the rankings or climbing them. That the pressure that came with it made him wish he had a more subtle quirk so he could operate underground. If anything, he'd be happy with the situation. 

"I... I have to call Nezu." Aizawa blinked, shaking his head. This was probably the principal's fault anyway. Even if it wasn't, the dog-bear-mouse creature could surely fix this. He was a super genius, after all. Aizawa didn't even really know how to rankings worked. He'd stayed out of that side of the hero world, even going so far as to run from reporters and leave crime scenes early to avoid his picture circulating and his face from being published. He liked to keep his name out of things. This sort of ruined things.

However, Lillian was saved. He didn't regret doing that. She was safe and standing before him in one, healthy piece. Her mental state at the moment was questionable, but that could be said for all of Shota's students. Even with how the rankings had turned out, he'd save her several more times over if it meant she'd be okay. He'd always save his students, and especially his daughter. Taking out the villain that beat down All Might on live television in such a bold way had clearly drawn more than a little unwanted attention. Not to mention the literal mob that had assembled and followed him into battle. That could attribute to the rankings too.

"Well, this could be a good thing." Shoto mused, glancing up from his phone to shoot a look at his teacher. Aizawa scowled, continuing to scroll through his contacts. What had he named Nezu again? He couldn't tell if he was "Nuisance" or "Small Menace". 

"Literally how?" Neito looked like he was having trouble breathing which was sort of dumb considering the teen didn't actually need to breathe to survive anymore. "Mr. Aizawa is the most anti-social guy we know. He hates the media and attention."

"That's the point." Shoto shrugged, turning back to his temple run. How could he continue to play without looking directly at the screen? What a terrifying skill. "After All Might, crime is going to go up, right? They don't know enough about him to feel comfortable going out and committing crime. All they've seen is him on live television with glowing red eyes taking down a villain even All Might couldn't handle." 

Aizawa paused in his scrolling through his contacts, looking up. They all stared at the half-and-half teen. 

"You know what?" Hitoshi grinned wide and creepy. It reminded Lillian oddly of Mihoko. "He's right. We can use that."

"How?" Aizawa frowned, glancing between them all. The grins he got back weren't much of an answer, or a comfort. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Toshinori swallowed thickly as he was led down the dimly lit hallway. The air felt heavy around him, and unnaturally cold. Maybe that was just his nerves, or maybe it was because they were underground. He didn't know. He didn't bother to ask, either. He was too nervous to ask. He knew they'd tell him it was just himself. He knew his body was turning against him in this moment, sending shivers down his spine and causing his eyes to dart around as though searching for danger. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. If he tried to speak, would anything come out?

"Here." Tsukauchi stopped in front of a heavy metal door that had two armed guards standing in front of it. The sight of their automated rifles made All Might's heartrate quicken just a little. He knew what he'd seen on that battlefield. Izuku Midoriya had turned against his peers and against the heroes. He just... he couldn't just stop caring about the freckled boy. He'd become like a son to him over their time together. That didn't just go away, even with everything that had happened. A part of Toshinori felt guilty about that. He should be madder-- more vengeful, perhaps. He just... wasn't.

"I..." Toshinori trailed off. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to go in. He'd been the one to ask for this meeting, in fact. Something just stopped him. He was afraid, he realized dimly. He was scared to go through that door. He didn't know what he was going to see or hear. Toshinori almost wanted it to stay that way. Sometimes, staying in the dark was better and more comforting than stepping into the light was. Toshinori just wasn't sure that was an option. This was his successor. Izuku still had his quirk. Toshinori... didn't know how to feel about that. Nighteye had been right to be angry with him. 

"You don't have to do this, you know." Tsukauchi told him. The bags under his eyes highlighted how tired the detective was. "You're technically not the Number One Hero anymore, in the government's eyes. You have no obligation to-"

"No." All Might shook his head, taking a deep breath. He wasn't being pushed into this by anyone but himself. There was a gnawing curiosity eating away at him. It felt sick, ut he wanted to know where he'd gone wrong and what had driven Izuku to do what he did. Could the boy be reformed? Was he too far gone? Just what had happened to him that made things so bad and damaged him so much that he felt he had no choice but to turn over to the villainous side? The boy Toshinori had saved from that slime villain that day was determined. He wanted to be a hero.

Had he ruined that when he shot him down?

Shaking out his hands, he nodded to stoic guards by the door. They gave brisk nods back, one of them pulling out a keycard and swiping it into the door. Toshinori felt his mouth go dry as the many locks in the door undid themselves. The other guard pulled out a key-- and extra safety measure to keep Izuku in, and intruders out. Tsukauchi and Toshinori both stepped back as he inserted it into the subtle hole that had opened up when the card was swiped, turning it clockwise three times before there was a click. The door popped open.

"Holler if you need anything." One of the guards said in a politely professional tone. "He hasn't given us any issues so far, however. You should be fine. Though, nobody has been able to get him to talk so far."

"Thank you." Toshinori said, his voice impossibly small. Reaching out with a hesitant hand, he grabbed the door's handle. It was freezing. He wondered if Izuku was cold in there. Was he being fed properly? If he stopped working out, could One For All end up hurting his body? He wondered, almost, if he should mention it to someone. That Izuku's quirk made it so that he would die if he didn't maintain his body in a certain state. If he told them that, would they even listen? Would they care? The public was against Izuku Midoriya right now. They hated him. Thought it hurt, Toshinori couldn't blame them.

Izuku sat in a chair on the other side of a large shield of bulletproof, quirk resistant glass. His room had the bare minimum. A bed bolted to the ground without any sheets on it, to prevent any suicide attempts. The pillowcase and blanket provided were made out of a material that most strength quirks would struggle to tear. Izuku had bands on his wrists that suppressed One For All anyway. There was a small toilet in the corner and a sink, which had a cup next to it. The toothbrush had a rubber handle, not to be sharpened into a weapon, and the toothpaste didn't have a real cap. Everything had been toned down to ensure he, under no circumstances, could hurt himself or anyone else.

The freckled boy looked up when Toshinori came in. His eyes didn't light up like they used to when they'd meet. They stayed a dull green, void of any life or emotion. It was so unnatural that Toshinori had to hold back a flinch. He didn't break eye-contact despite the overwhelming urge to. He didn't recognize the boy he was staring at. The boy in a dull grey jumpsuit with his hair cut down and his face free of a smile. Izuku always smiled. Who was this? Where had his successor gone?

Had he ever been there to begin with?

"My boy..." Toshinori trailed off, his voice quiet. It seemed loud in the room, with how silent and soundproofed it was. Izuku didn't have any reaction to the old nickname. He just sat there, his arms crossed over his chest and his entire body slumped. He watched All Might like a lion might watch a bear. Cautious, ready to pounce, and expecting the worst. He didn't hold any fear in his gaze. There wasn't anything there except for a ferocity to combat whatever Toshinori had come to throw at him.

Toshinori struggled to find words. Izuku cocked his head. He hadn't expected All Might to visit. He didn't know why he hadn't thought he would. It made sense. His heart ached at the sight of the man he'd let down. He hadn't wanted this. Not really. He hadn't joined the villains because he hated heroes or because he wanted to take them down. He'd join because... he didn't know. He wasn't sure why he'd joined. All he knew was that he'd had nothing. No purpose in life or drive. They'd given him one, even if it was nefarious. Izuku wasn't sure whether or not he regretted it now.

"They said you aren't talking." Toshinori took a seat. His chair was bolted down to the floor, too. There wasn't a single precaution they hadn't taken. But Izuku was just a boy. This lock-up felt so... so extreme. Or maybe Izuku just looked unnatural sitting in it. "I can understand that, my boy. I just... I came to apologize. I'm not sure where I went wrong and let you down. Maybe it was the first day we met, or maybe it was sometime during your training. I... Either way, I'm sorry. I've very sorry, my boy."

Izuku's entire body went tense when he spotted the tears dripping down Toshinori's face. The freckled teen was struck by the realization that he'd hurt this man. More than any death could. Emotionally, he'd managed to wreck All Might. He should've felt proud of such a feat. Instead, all he felt was... numb. He felt empty. Like he hadn't accomplished anything. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he hadn't. He hadn't done shit. All he'd done was cause unnecessary grief. He'd allowed himself to be used as a pawn to hurt others. The world hadn't changed or progressed because of his actions. Society hadn't shifted monumentally in any way that was positive. If anyone should be apologizing, it was Izuku.

There were a lot of things that had driven Izuku up to the point of becoming a villain. It would be easy to blame it on Katsuki, or on All Might. Katsuki bullied him relentlessly and told him he could never be a hero. That only made him more determined. It was All Might telling him that he could never be a hero without a quirk that made the green-haired boy think that maybe, just maybe, Kacchan had been right. He was too weak to save anyone. To do anything, or be anything in this life. That he wasn't enough. 

He knew that hadn't been what started it all thought. It wasn't Katsuki or All Might. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but this had all sparked in him the moment his mother apologized to him. Though he'd been young, he could remember his entire world view shifting. His mother was his everything. She was his best friend, his caretaker, the one person he would do anything for. She had always been there for him and supported him. Held him up and told him he could be a hero no matter what. But then he didn't have a quirk, and instead of telling him it would be okay and that they'd find a way, she cried and hugged him. She apologized, because she didn't think he could do it. That broke him.

Now, he was being given the chance to do something right. One For All was teeming beneath his skin, aching to be let out. Not be used, but to be given away. It knew its vessel was no longer worthy. Izuku could've turned it around, but he'd passed an invisible line. There was no coming back from it. One For All was meant to do good. It couldn't be utilized in here. Izuku had made countless mistakes up until this point. He could see it hanging in front of him-- the chance to do something right. For himself, and for society. It wouldn't fix what he'd already done, but it was something he could do. When he thought about worthy vessels for his quirk, several names came up. Plenty of his ex-classmates could do the quirk justice. He went over each of them in his mind. Then, he realized something that made him smile.

"Chad." He laughed. Toshinori startled, blinking at the boy as he laughed. Izuku grinned at him, eyes suddenly alight with a new fire. "Get me Chad."