"Ugh… it hurts..."
Midoriya woke up in pain, clutching his forehead. All Might and Togata Mirio had completely destroyed him in battle. He had been beaten unconscious, and now, waking up, his whole body ached horribly. But when he looked around and saw Amajiki, he immediately understood.
"I got rescued, huh…"
Midoriya was in one of the rooms inside the "League of Villains" hideout. If he had to guess, All For One had been the one to bring him back. Ignoring the searing pain in his body, Midoriya got out of bed and headed toward the bar. He needed to figure out what was going on.
"Midoriya-kun, you're awake!"
As soon as they arrived at the bar, Toga Himiko excitedly rushed over. Midoriya casually pushed her aside to avoid being blocked and looked around—everyone from the League of Villains was there, and Dabi even shrugged at him with an innocent expression.
"My head hurts… Can someone fill me in on what happened after?"
Holding his still-dizzy forehead, Midoriya tried to recall. The last thing he remembered was being knocked out by All Might and Togata Mirio working together. He had no idea what happened after that. The first thing he needed to do now was to figure out the results of the mission.
"Boss, that man saved you, and the target was successfully eliminated."
"Oh?"
Dabi was the first to speak, and it was obvious that "that man" referred to All For One. Midoriya wasn't surprised by that, but the fact that the mission was actually a success caught him off guard.
According to the original plan, Kurogiri was supposed to act as both the contact and the main "portal." If the mission had been completed, Kurogiri should have reported to Midoriya. However, after All Might and Togata Mirio recovered their strength, Midoriya had already given the retreat order. The fact that there was no prior report should mean that the target was still alive, right?
"What exactly happened?"
Before Midoriya could finish asking, Dabi, being surprisingly considerate, answered right away:
"The target was taken out by Shigaraki Tomura, but he got caught by the heroes."
"What!?"
Midoriya was stunned. Wasn't Shigaraki Tomura not even part of this mission? In fact, he was never really considered a member of the "new" League of Villains. He only followed All For One's orders.
"Apparently, it was that man's command. He sent Shigaraki Tomura to take care of the target for you. But well… the guy ended up getting caught by the heroes."
The "Magician" chimed in to explain further. Midoriya Izuku immediately fell into deep thought. What was All For One trying to do?!
If that man truly wanted to help him, it wouldn't have been hard for him to just take out the target himself and leave. But why send Shigaraki Tomura instead? And now, the guy had ended up getting captured by the heroes.
Midoriya couldn't figure it out, and honestly, he didn't feel like thinking too much about it. He decided to just go ask the man himself.
Kurogiri's portal opened, and Midoriya Izuku stepped into All For One's office. As always, the man was seated in his chair, watching the TV with that eyeless face.
"Midoriya-kun, you're here. What do you need?"
"All For One…"
Seeing that the man had clearly been expecting him, Midoriya paused for a moment before asking directly:
"What are you up to this time? Why did you send Shigaraki Tomura to eliminate the target, and why did you just leave him there?"
"Why, to help you, of course. After all, All Might and Togata Mirio were both there. Even if I wanted to save you, it wouldn't have been easy."
"That…"
Midoriya was at a loss for words. He had to admit that this time, he had been careless and got caught. If that man hadn't stepped in, he would probably already be sitting in a high-security prison, waiting for trial.
"Then what does this have to do with Shigaraki Tomura?"
Midoriya still didn't get it. All For One did indeed manage to rescue him, but sending Shigaraki Tomura to kill the target and letting him get caught were two completely different things.
"It has everything to do with it. The only way to make All Might give up on capturing you was for Tomura to be the distraction."
"What!?"
Midoriya Izuku was shocked. All For One simply smiled. Everything was going exactly as he had planned.
—
Meanwhile, the League of Villains losing a member had caused a huge stir. Reporters swarmed in like flies drawn to meat, and once it was confirmed that "Shigaraki Tomura" had been captured by All Might, the news spread all over the internet.
A lot of people knew about Shigaraki Tomura. He was the one who led the League of Villains' attack on U.A. High School, which was the first time the group's name had entered the public eye.
Now that "Shigaraki Tomura" had been caught by All Might, the general public was buzzing with discussions. But most of the comments leaned in favor of the heroes.
"That villain, Shigaraki Tomura… I remember he invaded U.A. before. Wasn't his goal to kill All Might?"
"That's right, he used to be the leader of the 'League of Villains,' right? But his goals were completely different from the current 'League of Villains.'"
"The current 'League of Villains' is led by 'Steel Wire Death God.' Someone with a different ideology like him was probably abandoned, right?"
.........
This was the general opinion on the internet. After all, the old 'League of Villains' had a reputation no different from other villain groups—just another bunch of criminals operating in the shadows. But ever since Midoriya Izuku took over, his actions had completely severed the organization from its past reputation.
With so many people discussing it, most believed that this guy, Shigaraki Tomura, had been abandoned due to ideological differences. Otherwise, why was he the only one caught while the rest of the 'League of Villains' remained free?
Although no one could say for sure if this was true, it seemed like a reasonable conclusion. But on the other hand, things weren't that simple…
After Shigaraki Tomura was captured by All Might, he was personally handed over to Detective Tsukauchi, with strict instructions to treat him well.
After dealing with the complicated aftermath of the operation, All Might didn't even return to U.A. High School. Instead, he frequently visited the police station's private prison to see Shigaraki Tomura, trying to talk some sense into him.
But no matter how much All Might spoke over the past few days, Shigaraki Tomura just stared at him coldly, refusing to say a word. The things All For One had drilled into his head over the years weren't something that could be undone in just a day or two.
After yet another failed attempt to persuade his teacher's grandson, All Might left the police station feeling troubled. But before he could go, Detective Tsukauchi stopped him.
"All Might... I have some bad news. Orders have come down from above—they want us to transfer Shigaraki Tomura to 'Quirk Prison.'"
"......"
All Might fell silent. He knew this was the proper procedure. Tsukauchi had already gone to great lengths to keep Shigaraki Tomura here, but…
"No, not this time. I can't back down!"
All Might's eyes burned with anger. He knew this was part of All For One's scheme against him, but this time, he couldn't let it happen.
His teacher, the one who gave her life to protect him, had left behind only one blood relative in this world. No matter what, All Might had to protect Shigaraki Tomura… no, Shimura Tenko!
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