-x- All Might's POV -x-

"All Might... I have to tell you something," Tsukauchi admitted, a frown present on his face.

I smiled. "Yeah?" I noticed the look on his face and matched it. "Hey, is there something wrong?"

"It's Midoriya...," he hesitated, my eyes widening as he spoke, "He..."

"Wait-is he hurt? Is there something wrong?" I interrupted him, rushing through my words.

He shook his head, then paused. "Well, yes... A bit. But that's not the point, All Might," he gave me a sympathetic look, "He was fighting with the villains."

I felt my heart drop as soon as he uttered the words. "W-what?" I croaked. "I uh... Must've misheard you. What'd you say?"

"All Might, I'm sorry, but I'm not lying. We have the full story from a student named Shoto Todoroki, as well as Eraserhead and a few of his comrades," he explained softly.

My throat became dry. "No... No..." What have you done, young Midoriya?

I furrowed my brows, and attempted to calm myself. "What... What exactly happened?"

"Well," he began, "I was told in the full report that it initially began in a small group of students. Shoto Todoroki, Ochako Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui, Mezo Shoji, and Fumikage Tokoyami. And... Of course, Katsuki Bakugou..."

My frown deepened. With both Bakugou and Midoriya, morale would be at an all time low... And I wasn't even sure if I could handle it any longer...

Tsukauchi continued, "I was told that Shoji and Tokoyami were down for the count before the battle really started... And Todoroki tells me how Midoriya was with them the whole time, that was until Bakugou was captured... All of the sudden, he turned around and began to fight them. Todoroki took it upon himself to battle Midoriya, sending Tsuyu and Uraraka to get help while he held the boy off."

"And... When did this all start?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

He frowned. "I was told it was when he was first captured at the mall. Shoto Todoroki tells of how Midoriya was explaining the fact that he protested at first, but decided to join them afterwards," he paused, thinking for a moment, "But... Most of the students also believe that, somehow, it wasn't Midoriya. They say that he was acting... Off. And Todoroki insisted that it might have to do with his glowing eyes somehow," he concluded.

Off? Of course he was off... He was acting like a villain...

"What do you mean by 'glowing eyes'?" I questioned, curious.

He shrugged. "Actually, after Todoroki mentioned it, some of the students pointed out that his eyes radiated light when he felt a strong emotion of some sort..." It looked like he remembered something. "And even weirder, we were told that a boy, Kota Izumi, that Izuku fought a villain in order to save him. Which, of course, doesn't make any sense given the circumstances."

I felt a mixture of emotions coursing through me. Disappointment. Anger. Sadness. Confusion.

"I... I'd like to speak with him, if that's okay," I requested.

Tsukauchi nodded. "I can probably arrange that for you. Though, I might not be able to get you much time."

"That's fine," I clenched my fist, "I'd just like to talk with the boy."

---

Bracing myself, I quickly transformed into my muscle form, scanning a card to enter the building.

My shoes clacked against the floors as I wandered into the large establishment, where I was told Midoriya was being held. The halls seemed endless as I walked through them, as I couldn't believe the scale of what Midoriya had done.

Eventually, after a while of walking, I came to a small room, where I once again scanned a card to gain access. I gripped tightly on the door handle, pulling it open when a small buzzing noise was sounded.

Behind me, the door slammed shut automatically, and I peered into the room. Slumped in the corner of a glass cage was Midoriya, looking quite defeated.

"So, Midoriya," I announced myself, walking up to the glass.

The boy looked up, meeting my face with a wild look. His hair hung over his glowing eyes as they scanned me up and down. That's what they meant.

"Oh, hey All Might!" he laughed, grinning from ear to ear as if nothing were wrong. "Long time no see!"

I could hear the anger dripping in my voice. "Quiet, and stop fooling around." I thrusted a chair backwards, plunking myself down. "Why have you done this?"

He giggled. "Oh, yeah, that." An evil smile spread across his face, his eyes narrowed. "Because it was fun," he answered simply.

"Fun?" I gritted my teeth as I spoke, "You fought your classmates and betrayed us because it was fun?"

He shrugged. "Well, not completely. You see, the League showed me that I didn't need to be an idiotic hero like you," he taunted, "I could just be a villain!"

I stared at his nonchalant smile, anger bubbling up inside me. "Midoriya, I trusted you."

"Whoops!" He threw his hands up, laughing as he did so. "Guess you made a pretty big mistake there, huh?" He gave me an exaggerated frown. "Look, nothing personal, All Might. I just hate heroes, especially you!" He erupted into a fit of giggles. "Guess that's personal, huh?"

"Just like that?" I asked, aghast.

He snapped his fingers. "Just like that," he paused, "Well, not really. Took a bit of convincing, I won't lie. But they had me believing them in no time!"

I growled, upset that he could be convinced so easily.

Midoriya's eyes lit up. "And you know one of the best parts! I met that one guy you hate so much-All For One!" My eyes widened in horror. No. He nodded, as if he could read my thoughts.

I stared down into my hands, not knowing what to think. But then I remembered something Tsukauchi told me.

My gaze shifted to meet his face. "If you were so against us, why did you help that boy, Kota?"

"Because," he raised his eyebrows in a mocking way, "I was still trying to make sure people thought I was a good person. I couldn't give myself up that easily, All Might!"

I should've known, I scolded myself for believing it could be anything else, If they realized that Kota was hurt while Midoriya was there, they would become suspicious... The boy was just a backup plan...

I couldn't help but frown, which Midoriya almost immediately noticed.

"Aww, is poor All Might sad?" He pulled his smile down with his fingers, forcing his lip to quiver.

"Quiet!" I barked, enraged. "I thought you could've been a true hero. But I guess I was wrong."

"I guess," he laughed.

I sat up, sighing, and turned away. His laughs became more violent.

Spinning around, I began to speak, "Would you be qu-" My eyes widened. He wasn't laughing anymore. He was coughing-choking up blood.

"Midoriya?" I addressed him, concerned. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, tears forming in them, and I called out for help. "Hello? He's hurt!"

As soon as the words spilled out, a medical team rushed in, setting up some equipment. I just stared as they worked, lifting him up on a stretcher. They began to bark out orders to each other, but the sounds fell on deaf ears. Even though I was angry, I would never wish for the boy to be injured.

In mere moments, another few people rushed in, one of them ushering me out. "No, wait, is he okay?" I called as I was pushed away, standing on the sidelines as they wheeled him off.

One of the doctors came out a bit later than the others, stopping on his way out to speak to me. "The boy should be fine, All Might," he explained, "We're just taking him to the nearby hospital. We have one here, but they're close enough and have much better equipment."

---

I watched the rise and fall of the boy's chest as he slept, the beeping of his heart monitor flowing through my eardrums.

As I stared into space, I contemplated my feelings. I was immensely disappointed in the boy, yet I didn't want him to be hurt.

Though, eventually I scolded myself for my sympathetic thoughts. He was a villain-I'd have to think of him like one.

Taking in a deep breath, I gazed for a few more seconds at the boy, turning around a few moments after. Reaching for the door handle, I sighed, wishing that things could've been different."

Then, I heard a cough. "All Might?" Midoriya's voice croaked.

I spun around immediately, face to face with his dulled eyes. It was then I noticed the state he was in. Sunken cheekbones, pale skin, messy hair, all bad signs.

"Hey, hey, Midoriya," I soothed, mentally cursing at myself for my kindness.

"Where am I?" he questioned, his eyes widening afterwards. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was more sputtering cough, blood spewing onto his sheets.

I frowned, knowing that I should call a doctor. But... I felt something nagging at me, telling me to stay with the boy.

"It's... All right, Midoriya," I lied.

His eyes welled up with tears. "All Might, I'm sorry. I promise-it wasn't me. I-"

Without a moment's notice, his tears stopped, the only remnants being the stain on his cheeks. A green light replaced the dull look in his eyes, a fleeting look over horror crossing Midoriya's face. Soon enough, the look was replaced with a mocking one, his eyes narrowing in a smug way as a grin stretched across his cheeks.

"Ignore that," he brushed his previous comment aside, "I probably shouldn't keep up that facade any longer. But, ya know, it's pretty fun to watch your hopes shrivel up and die." A giggle escaped his throat with his last words.

I clenched my fist. I can't believe I fell for it again.

"What game are you playing, Midoriya?" I asked through gritted teeth.

He chuckled, "Well, not much of one any more." He gestured to the equipment around him. "But, hey. That doesn't exactly mean I couldn't mess with you." A devilish grin spread across his face, replaced quickly by a saddened one. "Please, All Might... I promise, I didn't mean it!"

He erupted into a fit of laughter, my anger bubbling up inside me. Though, his laughs soon reverted to coughs as they did before, and he rolled his eyes as he wiped the blood away.

"That right there, though, is annoying. I don't even know why it's happening," he furrowed his brows, "I really didn't get hit that hard."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Why should I care?"

A hurt look flickered in his eyes, but it faded as quickly as it came. "Yeah, that's fair. Though," he grinned smugly, "It's not like you can really hurt me or anything. That wouldn't be very heroic, would it?"

My grip tightened, nails digging into my flesh. As to avoid an aggressive confrontation, I took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut as I thought. He's right-I can't do anything. But... I'd like some more answers...

"Midoriya," I began my question, "Did you really want to be a hero?"
He looked at me with a bewildered face, as if I had asked the stupidest question known to man. "Well, duh," he replied bluntly, "I'm quite ashamed of my previous aspirations, though."

"Then... Why were you so easily convinced?" I asked, sounding desperate.

Fury was present in his eyes as they narrowed, a growl escaping his lips. "Why?" he lashed out, "WHY?" He paused for a moment, his glowing eyes filling with tears. "I was always the quirkless loser. Do you even know how much Ka-... Bakugou bullied me?" He snapped, visibly upset. "Do you know what it felt like to be thought of as useless, that you didn't think you could do anything.

I watched as tears fell down his cheeks, but he kept his angry disposition. His voice became almost like a whisper. "To have people constantly telling you to kill yourself..." I could practically feel the lump present in his throat. "Your own mother telling you 'sorry' instead of saying she believed in you? To listen to your hero tell you that you couldn't be anything without a quirk." Rather than looking enraged, his face became sullen. Though, he shot daggers at me with the last remark.

Furrowing my brows, I stared at him confused. "Yes but... We've gotten past that, haven't we?"

"I never forgot," he barked, "Just ignored it. Or, I tried." He looked sadly at his hands as he clenched them in his lap. He sent himself into another coughing fit as tears rolled more frantically down his cheeks. As he spoke, he raised his voice, almost the the point of yelling.

Wiping off his tears, he continued. "But the thoughts kept coming back. And I didn't enjoy having to think to myself every day, 'Do I deserve this?' or 'Should I even be alive?'"

My throat became dry as he continued. I almost felt as if I didn't have the right to speak.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Then... Then the League came along." He looked up at me. "I... I really didn't want to join them at first... But they kept talking." As he talked, he bit his lips, almost as if he were disappointed. His eyes began to fade once again, a dull color replacing the once luminescent green. "I was faced with a choice. And you know what All Might?" he hissed, his eyes piercing into the very center of my soul as he faced me. "I don't regret my decision one bit."

---

OG NOTES:

Oh no, what's going on with Deku!?

Find out next time in Brainwashed - A Villain Deku Fanfic!

^i refuse to post the rest of the og notes it hurts me physically and mentally