Chapter Text
All Might finds the kid in the centre of the destruction.
The base has been all but obliterated long before he arrived on the scene, bodies (hopefully unconscious) strewn across the landscape as if they were nought but leaves in the wind. One of them is All for One, All Might is dazed to notice. His chest rises and falls, his eyes are open, but he does not even register the presence of his sworn enemy, doesn’t recognise the one who currently holds One for All is right before him. It’s as if he’s there in body but not in mind, as if his soul has departed his body for grandeur pastures. And, beside him, is the kid.
He's young, perhaps only just of an age to be running the UA entrance exam with thick curls of black hair (curls that All Might doesn’t fail to notice matches quite well against All for One’s own hair) and eyes equally as dark. Dried blood stains his cheeks, looking to have dripped from his tear ducts, curving around the wide protrusion that is his nose. The kid looks up at All Might, forearms resting on his bent knees, thighs half pulled up to his chest and feet firmly planted on the ground before him.
“He’s a villain,” the kid says in lieu of a greeting, meeting All Might’s gaze without hesitation (without recognition). “I knew he was into some sketchy stuff but… he was dad before all that. He kept it all away from me, but I could sense it, I guess.” He shrugs, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of choice but All Might cannot find the words. All for One’s child. All for One’s child who is the only one conscious in the aftermath of this unholy destruction, who has blood smeared across his face and dripping from a wound by his elbow but who is certainly still conscious. “He was never around for long.”
“Are you injured, my boy?” All Might asks, squatting down to the child’s level but painfully aware that he is still that much bigger than the teenager, even like this. The teenager who is either in shock or… no, he has to be in shock, there’s no other reason for the vagueness to his eyes, the carefully blanked expression.
“I just woke up today, you know?” the boy says, tilting his head back to look at the sky, exhaling in one long, low breath. “Just, everything clicked into place, and I knew what needed to be done.” All of a sudden, the kid’s eyes go sharp, finding All Might’s and yeah, he can certainly see the family resemblance there now, the sheer intensity in the kid’s eyes burns bright, an inferno where there’d once been a matchstick fire.
“What did you do?” He probably shouldn’t ask it, should wait for the professionals. But the moment he’d gotten a lock on All for One’s location (after years of tearing through bases, years of pulling and plucking at the great web he’d weaved to get to the bottom of it all), All Might had raced out and demanded no one follow him until he gave the signal. The emergency button is still there at the very edge of his suit’s sleeve, one on each arm. He could call in the professionals, could call in the trauma response team full of people who knew what they were doing. But… All Might knows All for One. The people who would respond, they would have no idea about the context of the boy’s situation. They wouldn’t know, would vilify him for what he has done. Though it certainly seems like no one is dead.
And All Might know he should be checking the bodies, knows he should be ensuring the safety of everyone near by but if this boy (if this boy did what All Might is concluding he did) isn’t stable… it could end poorly for everyone involved.
“He’s in an illusion,” the boy says, voice perfectly calm and level as he gesturing to the vegetable-like All for One, who continues to gaze gormlessly into space. “He can’t come out of it unless I let up… maybe not even then.” An illusion.
All these years, chasing down every lead, working and grinding and pushing himself to be the absolutely best— and this kid beats him to the punch?
“You have done something incredible,” All Might says, watching the boy blink, head cocking to a side like a baby bird who has only just registered something interesting is before him. “But now, I need you to let me help you. I am here to help you.” No response to the catch phrase but, then again if this truly is All for One’s child, All Might doubts the monster allowed his kid to watch any animations. Nevermind watch All Might’s American Adventure as every other child in the nation probably has.
“All right,” the kid muses, arms falling to his sides so that he can rest his palms on the ground, so that his legs can stretch out before him. He’s not wearing any shoes, All Might notices and— yes, those are most certainly sweatpants. The boy has fought (has defeated) All for One in what might very well be his pyjamas. “You got a medic? Never did get the hang of healing jutsus.” The last part is mumbled beneath his breath, as if tagged on as an afterthought and All Might sets it aside for later consideration.
“Are you happy for me to carry you, my boy?”
“Huh? Yeah, sure.” With a slight shake of his head, with a quick swipe at the crusted blood on his cheek, the boy finally comes back to himself, a wide grin cracking his lips. It is not an expression All Might would have ever predicted All for One capable of, but the boy carries it effortlessly. It’s a good smile, one others would find reassuring. All Might knows for it’s the same one he practised in the mirror when he was a teenager. “And it’s Uchiha Shisui—” The kid (Uchiha Shisui) hums once, looking around at the aftermath of whatever fight he’d had like he’s only just clicking onto the fact he’s been sitting in a literal war zone. “So, how much trouble am I gonna be in for all of this?”
If All Might has his way, the boy will be in no trouble at all. If anything, he’ll be pinning a medal to Uchiha Shisui’s pyjama top within the hour.
“Do not worry, young Uchiha. All for One has been a scourge on society for far too long. I shall ensure there is no punishment for your actions.”
All Might gathers the teenager up in his arms and, after a quick check to ensure there are no further injuries other than his wounded elbow and cut feet, he lays the boy across one shoulder. It is with great pleasure that he wraps All for One up in every last inch of capture tape he has on his person. The beast doesn’t react once to his presence, more vegetable than man.
This is not how he had expected his day to go.