Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tomura Shigaraki is tired.

While this is not necessarily new, the specific way in which he is tired is. After Sensei hurt his… fuck it, his body is tearing itself apart as he thinks, he can be completely honest with himself. After All For One hurt his family after taking over his body, Tomura is just completely fucking drained. Everything after he first regained control was more akin to a fever dream than anything else. He wasnt sure why he was continuing with this whole thing, especially after he learned that everything he thought he knew about being All For One’s Successor was a fucking lie. Receiving his Quirk was never about being worthy, it was just a scheme to prolong his own life, and the reason Tomura was chosen was because of Sense-All For Ones’s petty ass feud with the users of his brothers Quirk. Hell, the reason Father was such a piece of shit was due to that feud, and Sen-All For One didn't even intend for it to happen! Jokes on him though, his oh so precious brother’s oh so precious Quirk is the reason his body is falling apart, with Deku about to kill both of them for good.

Speaking of Deku, Tomura is able to admit, to himself obviously, that the plan to force One For All onto him to destroy the stolen Quirks as well as damage his body was smart. According to S-All For One, One For All (like that wasn't confusing) kills people who already have Quirks, so only the Quirkless can properly use it. 

Quirkless. Tomaru wonders what being Quirkless feels like. The best comparison he can think of is how full he felt after getting All For One (the Quirk, not the person. Though I guess I did get both. That would be funny as hell if it was happening to anyone else) compared to how he felt just having Decay, and imagining the opposite. Did Deku feel as full as him after getting One For All? Tomura wondered if Deku would feel empty after the embers of One For All are used up, or if that state of not having a Quirk is his default. 

It's funny. UAs rising star, All Might’s Successor, the Ninth-and Last-wielder of One For All feeling totally normal Quirkless. The kid who broke his fingers at the Sports Festival, who broke his arms stopping Muscular, and who kicked the SHIT out of Overhaul if Toga is to be believed (why shouldn't he believe her? She was always honest about what she loved), ending up powerless. All that training, all that effort, all the injuries he sustained, and he can’t be a hero. Everything wasted. 

Suddenly, a memory started playing in his head.

Tomura doesn't know when exactly this is happening, but it must have been after the Summer Camp but before Overhaul, because Magne (I’m so sorry. If I could save you I would) and Kurogiri are there but they aren't in the bar. They are in A bar though; Kurogiri is pouring the drinks. Of course, the only ones who can and indeed are drinking alcohol would be Dabi (Toya Todoroki. That Son of a Bitch-wait Son of a Bastard, he was always defensive about his mom. Can’t believe he didn’t tell us) and Magne. They are watching Twice (before he realized that he was in fact the real him. Looking back, he was so much happier after he found out) and Toga doing some sort of charades thing with Compress (using both arms. However much he enjoyed taking Overhaul’s arms, Compress enjoyed it way more, and Tomura couldn't blame him for it). Kurogiri is also watching, with a seemingly blank look (it isn't blank. Growing up with him gave Tomura the ability to read the mood of the shifting mist. He looks found and proud. He always enjoyed that look from his caregiver. No, he was being honest with himself. Kurogiri was the dad he didn't have). Meanwhile, Spinner is playing some sort of MMO, which Tomura is very interested in. While he is walking over, Spinner suddenly screams.

“FUCK!” he yells. Everyone else only glances at him before continuing with what they were doing. 

“What happened?” Tomura asked. Wow, his voice was scratchier than he remembered.

“My best character with my best gear died!” Spinner responded.

“What's the big deal? Just reload the save.” 

“I can't. This is a permadeath game.” Ah. That explains it. “He was my main. I knew all his mechanics, had all of his best gear, and now he’s gone. I sacrificed so many other characters to keep him alive, and now all that effort went down the drain.” Spinner despondently explains. He then looks at me. “Do you have any idea how much it hurts going though all that effort only for it to end up wasted?”

Memories of the USJ Incident flashed for a moment. “Yeah. It stings.” Tomura finally responded.

Huh. As much as he hates to empathize with the brat, it would suck for the power that caused you so much harm to just vanish. Given just how shitty society is, Deku probably wouldn't be able to become a Pro Quirkless. Despite his hatred for Heroes, not being able to follow your dreams because of societal prejudice sucks. Hell, that's why Toga and Spinner joined, society refusing to let them flourish.

Fuck, he is empathizing with the Hero brat. What would Spinner say? Wait. Spinner likes Deku. Like, they are enemies but Spinner still holds a great deal of respect for Deku. Why? …Oh. It's because Stain declared Deku a True Hero, comparable to All Might. That makes sense. 

… 

Spinner would be sad if Deku couldn't become a Hero. Fuck. Well, there isn’t anything Tomura can do about that. There aren't any other transferable Quirks out there… except All For One can freely give Quirks. Goddamnit, is he really about to give the brat a Quirk solely so that Spinner can be happy?

…

Yes. Yes he is. After the havoc that the two additional quirks caused of Spinner, this is the least Tomura can do. 

(And, if he is even more honest with himself, it's because of Tenko Shimura. Deku pledged to save Tenko, despite Tenko already being long dead. However, Tomura believes that if Deku encountered a young Tenko on the streets after dusting his Family, Deku would help him. Tomura would never want another Tenko to happen)

Well, no time like the present!

All For One: Activated

[Take] [Give] [Active] [Storage]

As Tomura browses the limited number of Quirks that haven't been destroyed, he finds three.

Anti-Strain

Bio Lock

Persona Implant

Huh. Now, Tomura knew that he had those Quirks, but he never gave them much thought. All For One likes to grab any Quirk, and Tomura thought those Quirks to be weak and/or redundant compared to all the other Quirks he had, but in this situation? Oh he can definitely use these.

Tomura wrestled control from All For One to see where Deku-where Midoriya, if he’s doing this then Tomura feels like calling him by his name is appropriate-is. And SHIT! He is about to unleash a Smash that Tomura can just tell is going to kill him.

Perception Acceleration: Activated

As time slows to a crawl, Tomura strains himself to connect with Midoriya before he gets killed. He only has one shot at this and he is not taking any chances.

Almost…

…

GOTCHA!

PersonaImplant:ActivatedSelectPersonaTemplateTemplateConfirmedImplantSuccessfulBioLock:ActivatedSelectFunctionFunctionConfirmed.LockSuccessfulAllForOne:Activated[Take][Give][Active][Storage]SelectQuirkstoGiveEightQuirksselected.InitiatingTransferTransferComplete

There! Once Tomura finishes, he gives control back to All For One. Let him take the brunt of the pain from this. Once Midoriya kills them, that's it. No more ancient feud. No more successors. Tomura only hopes that Midoriya does well with shock.

Cause he’s in for one hell of a surprise!

And with a sky clearing explosion of light, Tomura Shigaraki is no more.

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya is tired.

This may be surprising, considering he just came out of a coma. Coma sounds a bit dramatic, but it's the truth. After destroying Shigaraki and All For One, Izuku basically passed out. After Kacchan and All Might-sensei about giving up One For All, they left Izuku alone with his thoughts. 

…

…

He doesn't have a Quirk anymore. Sure, he has the embers, but those won't last forever. He also lost all of the previous users Quirks. Despite everything he has gone though, he is back to being a Quirkless Deku. He never told Uraraka that the reason he let her call him Deku and why he chose it as his hero name is not because he is “redefining it”, but because hearing that name makes him remember that he is so much less than them. Class 1-A said they don't care that he used to be Quirkless, but that's only because they got preconceived notions of who he is. Izuku knows that if any of them met him before he got One For All, they would have most likely ignored them. Now that he is Quirkless again, they will move on.

Don’t get Izuku wrong, he will still try to be a Hero! They can't take away his Provisional Licence over being Quirkless, that is too blatant discrimination for anyone to get away with. But he will never be a popular or well-known hero, unlike his classmates. Izuku just hopes when his classmates achieve their dream, they don't forget him.As Izuku drifts to sleep, he wonders about how dirty he was when he was brought in, and if the nurses had to clean him. Izuku thinks that they didn't, because there is no other reason for his neck to be so itchy.

Chapter Text

Ugh, my head. 

That is the first thought that pops into Izuku's head during this dream. Because it has to be a dream. He is in the mindscape with all the other Vestiges, who are also asleep. The Vestiges have never been able to sleep before, so it has to be some sort of dream. 

(The Vestiges also all died killing All For One, and he lost One For All. He can’t talk to them anymore.)

Oh look, Daigoro is waking up! 

“Hey Daigoro!” Izuku said. He will take any opportunity to talk with them again, even if it is his own imagination. Daigoro startles upon hearing his voice.

“Kid? What are you doing here?” he asked. What? Izuku is confused. Why would his own dream ask him that? “This isn't a dream kid.” How did he… oh right, the Vestiges can hear his thoughts. 

…

…

Wait.

“What do you mean this isn't a dream?!” Izuku exclaims. This startles the rest of the Vestiges back to consciousness. They all look at each other confused and scared.

En is the one to speak up. “I think he means just that. As far as we can tell, we are in your mindscape. We have never lied to you, and I don't think even your subconscious would pull this cruel of a trick. We are all still with you.”

Izuku thinks of the implications of that. If all of the Vestiges are with him, then he still has One For All. If he still has One For All…That means he failed. Was everything he witnessed just a hallucination? Instead of lying in a hospital bed, was he lying broken on the ground, having failed? God, he's pathetic. He was supposed to be the Ninth, All Might’s Successor, and yet he failed to kill All For One.

“Nah, the old bastard is dead. That last Smash of yours disintegrated his body, mind, and Quirk completely.”

Oh. The Vestiges are trying to comfort him as he is dying. That's sweet of them, even if he doesn't deserve it. Izuku looks up at the Vestiges in order to thank them, but they all look startled. He wonders which one of them said that.

“None of them. That was me.”

The voice came from behind him, and he recognised it. Izuku turns around, hoping that he was wrong, but he wasn't.  Because standing there, glowing a pale blue…

was Tomura Shigaraki.

Oh no. Oh no no no. No no no nonononono. He can't be here! Why is he here?

“Ghn”

He can’t be here wait he can if he can take the Vestiges then hecaninfiltrate…

“Hn. Hn hn. He he he”

OhgodIamsuchafailureIcan’tdoanythingrightifheisalivethanAllForOneisaliveandIamdyingbrokenonthegroundandI-

“AH HA HA. HA HA HA HA HA!”

Izuku's thoughts are broken by Shigaraki’s loud laugh. Now that he is actually looking at Shigaraki, he looks different. His hair has gone back to the pale blue of his early days as a villain, and he is wearing his outfit from after Kamino, minus the hands. As the laugh peters out, Shigaraki looks at Izuku.

“Sorry, sorry. Hearing your brain work so fast yet be so wrong is just hilarious.” He said with a smirk on his face and a glint in his eye. “As much as I enjoyed that, I gotta correct you on a misconception. Right now, you are asleep in the hospital, recovering after you killed myself and All For One. Congratulations Hero, you won.”

“But I sacrificed One For All to beat you, and the Vestiges are here.” Izuku said back, confused. What the heck is going on?

“True true, but you are making a false assumption. You are assuming that you have One For All at the moment. You don’t.” Shigaraki scratches his neck. “Well, I guess you have the embers, which BTW I Bio Locked to never decrease, you're welcome. Ignoring that, you don't have the Quirk One For All. You have the Quirks Gearshift, Fa Jin, Danger Sense, Blackwhip, Smokescreen, and Float. The Vestiges are attached to those Quirks, not One For All, hence why they are here.” Shigaraki then jolted, as if remembering something. “Oh, no need to worry about the side effects of that, Anti-Strain took care of that.” He added.

“What the hell are you on about!?” Kudo exclaimed. Izuku was with him, this didn't make any sense. 

“Do I need to explain everything? Well, a good Villain always has a monologue.” Shigaraki starts to pace while gesturing with his hands. “First things first, as proven by the fact I was able to take Danger Sense from you, the past holders Quirks are not actually a part of One For All. Amusingly, it's more akin to All For One’s Quirk, a Quirk that can hold other Quirks. Right before Deku killed my body, you all” he gestures to the Vestiges “decided to rest before you all got obliterated. That was enough time for me to shove all six of you back into Deku while none of you were resisting. The reason your body and mind haven't gone to shit yet is due to Anti-Stain.” A sadistic grin grew on his face. “Dearest Sensei was as sentimental as he was petty, so when he found a Quirk even kind of similar to his late brothers, a Quirk that's useless without other Quirks, he snagged it and never let it go. It's called Anti-Strain, and it switches off all negative side effects to having multiple Quirks. And now it's yours as well.”

Izuku's head was spinning. A Quirk that negates the drawback of multiple Quirks? That… okay that was reasonable given everything else, but the fact that Shigaraki gave that Quirk to him, to negate the drawback of giving all the Vestige Quirks back? That made absolutely no sense. Shigaraki himself showed no signs of stopping his monologue.

“Finally, the embers. Oh, you're going to love this one. Bio Lock is incredibly powerful yet highly limited. What it does is lock a function of biology, preventing that function from carrying itself out. It can stop blood from clotting, prevent your brain from producing certain chemicals, even stop lactic acid production leading to basically infinite stamina.” Shigaraki then smirked. “And since Quirks are biological, it can affect them too. What I did to the embers was lock the ability to slowly decrease in power over time. So congrats, you can use your Full Cowling as much as you want, even up to 100%, till the day you die!” 

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck? Based on everything Shigaraki is saying, he was … helping Izuku? Why the hell is he doing this? This is Shigaraki, he must have some kind of twist he is waiting to reveal. Suddenly, Yoichi spoke up. “Then how am I here?” he asked. This startled Izuku. Yeah, that doesn't make sense. Yoichi’s Quirk was One For All, so if Izuku doesn't have it, how is Yoichi here? At that question, Shigaraki’s grin grew feral.

“Oh, I have been waiting for that question! The answer is, of course, a Quirk! This one is called Persona Implant, and it allows me to implant a personality into someone’s head! To prevent mental dissonance, any details such as memories and personality that the target thinks the personality has are subsumed. I made the assumption that Yoichi showed all of his memories to everyone, and you all had a good grasp on his personality, as quite frankly you all had nothing better to do.” Shigaraki points at Yoichi. “That is not the Vestige of Yoichi Shigaraki, it is a recreation that has the personality and memories of him. He is Yoichi Shigaraki in every way that actually matters.” His smile turned into a slight frown. “Speaking of mattering, Quirk Transfer not being in this mix means you can’t pass on anything. No successor, no ‘Tenth’. I wasn't exaggerating when I said you can use the power till the day you die. All this power is yours, and when you die, so do they.” He smirks again. “Going back to a thought you had earlier, I do have a twist up my sleeve! Here's a hint. Persona Implant can only work once per person. That's why that half-Vestige of All Might isn’t here.” 

Izuku looked around. Shigaraki was correct, All Might’s Vestige wasn't there. He must not have noticed given how he thought this was a dream, then a nightmare, then whatever the hell is going on now. Regardless, Shigaraki's ‘hint’ wasn't very helpful. Sure, Izuku was glad to know more about that Quirk, but how was Shigaraki’s weirdo plan related to the fact he can only implant one-

Izuku’s thoughts slammed to a halt as he realized. He slowly turned to face Shigaraki with a mounting dread. If he can only implant one persona, and he implanted Yoichi, then..

“What the hell are you?”

Shigaraki grins. “Challenge Cleared! As a Reward, here is your answer!” He starts walking towards Izuku. “I am a Vestige." What “That means that you, Izuku Midoriya,” Oh No “are the new wielder of Decay!” Shigaraki exclaimed as he put one finger on Izuku’s chest. Izuku’s mind seized up, and could only force himself to ask one question.

“Why?”

Shigaraki huffed. “Something I always hated in my games is when the BBEG does one good thing, dies, and all of a sudden they are redeemed. Redemption Equals Death.” Shigaraki glares at the Vestiges. “You all tried to pull that. Going ‘our purpose is complete’ and fading away without having to deal with the consequences of your actions. I take specific issue with you two.” He pointed at Izuku and one of the Vestiges. Izuku turned to see which one he was pointing to, and it was Nana. “Starting with you, brat.” Izuku turned back to Shigaraki. “You have a pension for the Heroic Sacrifice, but I don't think you've ever thought of the consequences of such actions. I know your little Hero brain goes ‘It's fine to break my body to help one person’, but I don't think you've considered that if you break yourself too much, you can't help anyone. So, you thought sacrificing your ability to be a Hero in order to stop one Villain was a good idea? No, I am taking that choice away from you, and forcing you to keep going.” 

When Shigaraki first appeared in his head, Izuku didn’t know what to think. What he definitely wasn't expecting was a philosophy lecture from the self-proclaimed Symbol of Fear. “As for you.” He said, voice dripping with venom as he glared at Nana. She flinched at his tone. “Oh, I hate you specifically. You are the reason why Father was such a piece of shit, so it's your fault they all died.” 

Nana was hunched forward, arms around herself and tears in her eyes. “But. All For One.” She said in a quiet voice.

“Oh, you do not get to use that as an excuse. You were still a Hero. Do you want to know what Father thought Heroes were? To quote him directly, they're people who hurt their own families... only to help complete strangers.” With fury in both his eyes and his voice, Shigaraki continued ranting. “You still would have died one day, Father would still resent you, he would still abuse me for wanting to be a Hero, he would still force me outside, and he still would have crumbled. All For One had nothing to do with that. And once you learned what your son did because you abandoned him, you're just going to die? No. No, you don’t get to do that. You are going to live, forced to accept the consequences. That goes for all of you. You made your choices, now live with them.” With that, Nana curled into herself.

“Te-Tenko-”

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.”

The sheer anger that Shigaraki exuded was comparable to how mad he was during the USJ incident. “That. Is. Not. My. Name. I am not Tenko Shimura. After all, Tenko Shimura wasn't raised by Kurogiri. Tenko Shimura didn't play games with Spinner. Tenko Shimura didn't help Compress take Overhaul’s arms, didn't talk shit about Endeavor with Dabi, didn't listen to Toga talk about her crushes. Tenko Shimura certainly didn’t go to rescue Giran, and from that got to watch as Twice discovered that he was real. No, that was me. That was Tomura Shigaraki. As for Tenko Shimura, he died as a child, on the street, turned to dust like the rest of his family.” Shigaraki looked Izuku in the eyes. “Your quest to ‘save Tenko Shimura’ was pointless. He is long dead. So now, you have to atone for your failure. The next time a kid is wandering the streets, Quirk out of control and desperately wanting for someone to help him, you, Izuku Midoriya, will be the hand that reaches out.”

Izuku noticed the mindscape slowly starting to shrink. Shigaraki seemed to notice it too. “Ah, it looks like you're waking up. I need to wrap this up.” He smiled, but not in the menacing way Izuku is used to. It looks almost… soft. “You beat the Final Boss, so now it's time for the Post-Game. I got two Main Quests for you. Number One; take their power,” he points at the Vestiges “my power,” at himself “your power,” and at Izuku “and become a True Hero. Number Two. Live your life to the Fullest.” As Shigaraki slowly faded, he said one last thing. “And always remember the reason you can is because I let you.”

Izuku wakes up.

…

…

He isn't tired anymore.