"BECAUSE—" The street vibrated beneath his booming voice, a powerful, heroic declaration that shook the night. "I AM THE SYMBOL OF PEACE!!!"
Steam hissed around him like a wave of thunderous applause.
Then—
Puff.
The mighty figure deflated instantly. All Might shrank back to his skeletal form, hunching over, coughing violently. "Ah— guh—" he wheezed, wiping the blood from his mouth. "T-too much emotion at once—!"
Despite the shocking deflating and the blood, Midoriya laughed, a wet, shaky breath of immense, freeing relief. All Might exhaled, a small, sheepish, but honest grin finally creeping onto his face.
Even now, even broken, he still radiated that invincible light.
"All Might, can you stop being emotional, please? Let me complete my words first!" Hawks complained, massaging his temples in mild exasperation.
"Ahem, ahem, sorry, Hawks. I couldn't control myself. Please continue."
Hawks let out a tired sigh, then continued, his focus back on the mission. "Since there is a huge chance All For One is the one behind this Villain League, I secretly stuck one of my feathers to the one called Kurogiri. It will act as a GPS. I can sense its location vaguely. I let my sidekick, who has a flying Quirk, follow its location. That's why I came to talk with you. We should capture that Tomura Shigaraki. But if All For One is truly behind him, we will need your power to confront him. I hate to admit it, but even if all the Top Ten Heroes faced All For One, we wouldn't be able to stop him from escaping or defeat him without heavy casualties."
All Might grinned, the adrenaline clearly back. "Nice job, Hawks! Is this why you avoided appearing and followed me secretly? That's a wise move. If they saw you and then later found the feather, they'd link it with you and change their hideout."
Midoriya, on the other hand, was totally immersed in excitedly noting the new function of Hawks' feathers.
"The feathers, besides transmitting vibration, can transmit their location! It's like a GPS locator. This is a strategic tool that can be used to track villains secretly. I wonder if Hawks can receive the vibrations and eavesdrop on the villains from long distances. That will be so cool! I need to ask him."
Hawks and All Might looked at Midoriya in startled alarm.
"Green-haired boy, your analysis is so frightening that I feel I should burn your notebook for fear it gets into the hands of a villain," Hawks deadpanned, half-joking, half-serious.
Midoriya quickly hid his notebook, looking at Hawks warily.
"The vibration transmission function has a distance limit," Hawks explained, needing to clarify. "It's like Wi-Fi signals. Once they get farther from my wings, I can't receive those vibrations in detail. The only thing I can do is sense their location vaguely."
Midoriya turned his back, guarding his notebook, and frantically jotted down the latest piece of information he received. This was an obsessive, compulsive disorder he couldn't stop.
All Might patted Hawks' shoulder, his expression deadly serious. "Hawks, I think we should go visit that black-haired boy and guard him. If he falls into the hands of the Villain League, or let's say All For One… I'm afraid we will be finished!"
"Huh?" Both Hawks and Midoriya looked at All Might in shock, not quite understanding the gravity of his statement.
Hawks crossed his arms over his chest, his golden eyes narrowed in assessment. "Aren't you exaggerating a bit, All Might? Sure, it's a dangerous Quirk… but what we saw hasn't shown anything close to a national-level threat."
He then turned casually toward Midoriya, a flicker of curiosity in his gaze.
"kid. You were closest to him, right? And you're… surprisingly good at analyzing Quirks for someone who's quirkless. Think you can figure out what his ability really is?" The irony wasn't lost on Hawks, but his tone held no mockery, only genuine interest in the facts.
All Might also looked at Midoriya, expectation shining in his tired eyes. He wanted to hear the boy's thoughts, hoping to either confirm or silence a suspicion of his own that felt too dangerous to voice.
Midoriya's heart fluttered violently. Two Top Heroes were waiting for his analysis. He swallowed his excitement, held back the tears of pride threatening to spill, and began speaking with the seriousness of a seasoned detective presenting a case.
"The black-haired boy's Quirk seems linked to that dark substance he emits. I believe he's an Emitter-type."
He raised his hands, unconsciously reenacting the fight.
"He can generate that dark energy from his body. When he defended us, I saw it gather in his right hand first. But from what I observed… it didn't enhance his physical power. He was blown away just like a normal person."
Hawks nodded slowly, his full attention now fixed on the boy.
Midoriya continued, faster now, passion overtaking his nerves.
"A few moments later, the Sludge Villain was completely coated in that black energy, almost like he was poisoned. Then he burst apart into pieces. At first glance, it looked like the boy imploded him… but I think the energy literally severed the connection between the sludge parts."
His pen shook with excitement as he gestured in the air. "If it were used on a human body, the effect could be catastrophic; the parts might be torn into tiny fragments. The Sludge Villain survived only because his body is a fluid mass." Midoriya leaned forward, his voice rising in conviction. "What convinced me is that the Sludge Villain tried to reform himself afterward—but he couldn't. As if something invisible was stopping his pieces from reconnecting." He inhaled deeply. "So if we were to name the Quirk… something like 'Shattering' or 'Severing' would fit."
He finally stopped, panting slightly, his analysis complete.
Hawks stroked his chin, eyebrows raised. "Damn… that actually sounds pretty solid."
But All Might wasn't nodding. He was shaking his head slowly, his gaze distant.
Midoriya stiffened. "A-All Might… did I get something wrong?" he asked timidly, the sudden disapproval hitting him hard.
Hawks eyed All Might sharply. "Pretty sure you're thinking of something else. Spill it, big guy."
All Might looked between the two of them, then lowered his voice, the weight of the moment heavy. "Hawks… if I tell you this, you must keep it secret. The same way you will keep the existence of One For All a secret."
Hawks' expression froze. He stopped fiddling with his feathers, his playful demeanor vanishing. "...All Might. What exactly are you about to say?"
All Might exhaled heavily, the sound ragged. "During the Quirk disappearance incident at morning… I was affected by it."
Midoriya's breath caught in his throat. He remembered the terror. Kacchan losing his Quirk. Mutant-quirk students vanishing like they'd been erased from existence.
All Might continued, his focus absolute. "I saw the cause. I saw the phenomenon itself."
Hawks' eyes widened. "You… saw the source? Then what does that have to do with the boy's Quirk?"
All Might answered without hesitation, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "It was a black light. Fast—almost impossible to follow. Everyone it passed, especially those with Mutation-type Quirks… disappeared." A cold, dreadful silence fell over the street, chilling the drifting sakura petals. All Might clenched his fist until his knuckles cracked. "And that black light… its color… its aura… its presence… was identical to the dark energy surrounding the boy's hands."
Hawks' mouth dropped slightly. "Wait—All Might. Are you implying that boy caused the Quirk disappearance incident? Come on. That doesn't match what we saw." He waved his hand dismissively. "His ability requires direct contact, and it's clearly destructive. If he was the cause, we'd have seen people exploding into pieces, not disappearing and reappearing later."
Midoriya jumped in quickly, defending the logic of the known phenomenon. "Yeah, All Might! The phenomenon felt more like… like The Underground hero Eraser Head's Quirk but massively amplified. It didn't destroy people, it erased the concept of their Quirks temporarily. That's why they reappeared later, when the effect wore off."
Hawks nodded. "Exactly. And the Sludge Villain wasn't 'erased'—he was physically torn apart. Two completely different effects."
All Might's eyes remained troubled. He exhaled long and slow, then looked firmly at Midoriya. "Young man… go home for now. Hawks and I will go check on that black-haired youth personally." He straightened his posture, his thin frame shaking with resolve. "If he is connected to the incident, as I fear… we'll know when we speak to him." He took a step away, his shadow lengthening.
If Adam overheard them, he'd immediately shout, "Wallahi, I'm innocent!"
All Might turned his back to Midoriya; his voice bore the weight of a command. "Sunday, 6:00 a.m. Takoba Municipal Beach Park. Don't be late."
Midoriya watched the two pro heroes' silhouettes recede until they disappeared.