"Regret is a form of punishment itself."

-Nouman Ali Khan

The fight had come to an odd pause like both sides had decided that their next strike would be their last. Tension skyrocketed in an instant, so thick you could cut it with a knife. It seemed like everyone collectively held their breath in that single instant. However, it was bound to not be what they expected. Instead of flinging a new quirk at All Might, or engaging in bare-handed combat, All for One-

Deku felt his instincts scream at him like never before. No, if it was his survival instincts yelling at him, they wouldn't impair his ability to move; it was a feeling of fear. All his limbs felt like they were embedded with lead. His sinuses were filled with burnt rubber. Incomparable nausea engulfed him whole, more so than he had ever felt before. He felt like a raggedy wooden boat adrift at sea, battered and bruised and on the verge of breaking from the waves. It was then that a hand appeared. It somehow got worse.

He instinctively covered his face and head, not even able to fight back, as the human-sized hand wrapped around his torso.

-He stretched his hand out and out, not at All Might, but into the collapsed city.

"...What are you doing?"

The words came from an incomparably muscular figure, bruised and battered in some places, but still an unbelievable threat. Which was why it was weird, weird for All for One to stretch his hand out into the cityscape for no reason at all. His bright blue eyes deepen into a dark cerulean, worried and angry at what All for One could possibly do. There was only one reason that came to mind; All for One was reaching for a civilian. It was the only thing left in the city, after all. But alongside his anger, he was confused. Why would All for One even need a civilian?

It hurt to admit, but he had been on the losing end of this whole confrontation. His condition was better than it could be, seeing as how even now he hadn't found a successor. Well, he had found a potential one, a young boy named Mirio, but he opted to take his time and observe him. There was no rush, after all. Or so he had thought. As it was, he was facing the greatest evil there ever was, and he still hadn't passed down his powers. What if he died here? What if Sensei's legacy died with him? What if...

No, this isn't the time to think about the what-ifs.

The only thing he could do... was to win.

All for One smiled. While this game of theirs, between himself and 'Deku', had gone off course slightly, it was still possible to drive it back to the outcome he wanted. The little brat had unexpectedly lost all bloodlust contained within his little vengeful heart for him. It came as a shock the day he saw it; he truly had not a wisp of bloodlust left. There was still anger and irritation towards him, of course, but it wasn't at the level that needed to happen for murder to occur. Whoever it was that threw his precious little opponent into this state of his, after he had tried so hard for such a long time to make him liable to kill... Well, he'll have a word or two with them.

At the start, he was just a whim, another tool to make All Might miserable, that little annoying brat that followed around that wrench like a baby chick. His power... He'd admit it made him wary, but the sixth holder of that disgusting quirk had already begun to weaken, thanks to the injury he had sustained. Not to say that he hadn't either, but he could use more of his power. But he was getting off-topic. It was true that he was just a whim, at first. However, the moment he saw that bloodlust of his... It was unpolished, and lacking in quantity, but...

Its essence made a shiver go down his spine. Pure, icy disregard for everything, including himself, leaving just a robotic, logical urge to kill.

It reminded him of himself when he had been young, except this fellow's intent was even colder, even more ruthless to himself than his own. There were a few problems here and there because while he was willing to hurt himself, he was more hesitant to hurt and kill other people. Like he said, minor hiccups. Soon, he was killing criminals and sinners with the best of them. He wasn't willing to kill civilians, but time can desensitize even the holiest of characters. He had plenty of that.

And at the end of this road, All for One could be killed.

Oh, he was certain that the current wielder of One for All could do that, but he wanted more than that. He wanted a good challenge, a deadly challenge at the hand of someone similar to himself. (He didn't really feel like giving his life to that little line of cockroaches either.) If he won... Well, it was going to be entertaining regardless. If Deku won, then he had just created the greatest criminal mastermind that had ever existed, surpassing himself. He had considered Shigaraki for a period of time, but his arrival gave him other options. Better options.

His smile grew even wider at the sight of the ice-faced teen within his palm.

He was most certainly feeling fear, an unfortunate unavoidable side-effect for a combatant at his level, but he didn't let it show on his face.

He never showed weakness, in fact. Not once in the days that All for One had known him. There was a small incident where he had let himself become trapped in that Todoroki boy's ice due to that annoying streak of kindness that he had, but he would pound it out of him soon enough, like tempering out a sword's impurities in the fire. He had briefly entertained the thought of punishment, but mere physical torture wasn't likely to separate the boy from his ideals. Regardless, he was getting off track. He had bought the boy over for a reason. Speaking of him...

For some reason, he continued to cover his face, like he didn't want to be seen... Ah! He understood now.

He snapped a finger; the camera and the camera-man exploded instantaneously.

He unleashed the boy from his grasp and sat back to watch the (very amusing, really) show.

"All for One..! How dare you-..."

He stopped his words short at the sight of the boy's actual face. He remembered him - somewhat, he had left quite an impression - although what he remembered was different from what he was seeing now. He was tall and willowy, with a lean yet muscular frame that verged on unhealthy. The contour of his skin was definitely unhealthy, and the circles under his eyes were dark and deep enough that they might as well have been drawn on with a sharpie. His posture wasn't one of youth and energy, but rather cynicism and despondency. The whole thing was setting off alarm bells within his mind, but he just didn't know what it was.

He definitely looked unhealthy, and he was half a mind to demand he was sent to the hospital, but it was deeper than that, somehow.

Something... Something was seriously wrong, even beyond the youth's health.

"...All for One, why did you bring a civilian here? Answer me!"

His answer was an infuriating chuckle.

"He's not a civilian, though?"

His following words made his blood run cold.

"He's a villain. I really must thank you, All Might; if you never said those words to him, he likely would have never joined me. In fact,-"

All Might couldn't hear any words beyond 'He's a villain', he really couldn't. It had been a long, long time since he had heard such sheer desire and wishfulness to be a hero, and although he couldn't have let him go through with it (it would just get the boy killed), he never thought that he... He would become a villain! He turned to look at the boy, the boy All for One claimed to be a villain.

He had to ask.

"Are you... Are you really a villain now? Shounen..?"

The boy looked in his direction, and he was greeted with startlingly red irises. (They used to be green.)

"To think that you would remember me. It seems I left a greater impression on you than I realized. But... Yes. I have been one for a long time."

"...Why? Why would you-"

The green-haired young boy (villain) interrupted him.

"Do you know how quirkless people are treated in modern-day society?"

The unexpected question threw him for a loop, but the boy continued to talk like he didn't expect an answer.

"They're treated like trash, to put it simply. I was... bullied quite frequently. My father divorced my mom because of my quirklessness as well. Regardless of it all, though, I wanted to be a hero. Save people, help them, it was almost like an instinct. I studied and took notes like mad, learning everything I could because 'knowledge is power'. I remember hearing that once and clinging to it. Alongside the fact that U.A. didn't require a person to have a quirk, even if it was nigh-impossible to get in without one, well, it gave me hope."

All Might continued to listen in silence, a look of dread starting to surface in his eyes. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Sometime before I met you, I declared that I was going to enter U.A. Academy to the whole class. That wasn't exactly a good idea. The bullying got much worse in an instant. I had already been having a bad week, so to speak, when I was nearly killed by that Sludge Villain and you rescued me. Hearing that, well... It was impossible to become a hero from the mouth of my greatest idol hit hard. From there, it was a downward spiral of depression that I couldn't get out of. Eventually, All for One found me... You were right with one thing, All Might."

He stared right at him and All Might wanted to flinch. In those eyes, there was no hope, grief, or callous anger, just waiting to get a target to join in its misery. There was just... a muted acceptance that spoke of untold suffering that had even ground away all the anger he had left.

He was numb to it all.

"I could never be a hero."

AN: I wrote this with a splitting headache, so be grateful.

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