The moment Shigaraki Tomura and Himiko Toga walked through the front gate of Kanzaki Academy hand in hand, they caused quite a stir.
"Hey, hey… no way. I'm not seeing things, right? Toga actually came to school with that transfer student?"
"And she's the one taking the initiative too? Damn, I'm so jealous—no, wait, that's not the point. That transfer student is way too shameless! He just transferred in and already stole our Toga-chan? This is unforgivable! We need to condemn him!"
"Mm… I was ready to join you, but the more I look at them, the more I feel like they actually match. I mean… the transfer student's ridiculously handsome, and he's strong too. If Toga-chan's with him, that doesn't seem completely unacceptable?"
"Whose side are you even on?!"
…
The students at this school were, for the most part, the children of wealthy families, politicians, and business elites.
People like them usually grew up wanting for nothing.
And when you had everything, boredom became a real problem.
Naturally, that meant they needed something to entertain themselves with.
Like gossip.
Especially interesting gossip.
And this time, the people at the center of the rumor mill just so happened to be two of Kanzaki Academy's biggest celebrities.
There was no way the students wouldn't pay attention.
Himiko Toga, of course, needed no introduction.
With her looks alone, she had long since become one of the school's most talked-about figures.
Not just in the middle school division.
Not just in the high school division.
Even among the teachers, there were more than a few who seemed a little too eager to 'look after students.'
If you combined all those admirers together, they could probably circle the academy several times.
Shigaraki's fame, however, came from an entirely different direction.
If Toga was famous because she was beautiful, then Shigaraki was famous because he was… abnormal.
As a 'commoner' who had entered Kanzaki Academy through special channels, he had naturally been quietly excluded at first.
After all, in the eyes of those young heirs and heiresses, they were the future elite.
The children of businessmen, politicians, and powerful figures.
People destined to stand at the top of society.
And Shigaraki?
In their minds, he was nothing more than a civilian.
A nobody.
Someone fundamentally unqualified to stand on the same stage as them.
So Shigaraki had taken a day to teach them a lesson.
Thoroughly.
No matter what they challenged him with—academics, debate, practical skill, or outright combat—he crushed them all with overwhelming first-place results.
It had only taken a single day.
One day was enough to leave the entire academy stunned.
And after that, no one dared provoke him anymore.
After all, they weren't masochists.
Still, while the experience had been humiliating, it had also forced them to admit one thing:
Shigaraki belonged here.
They didn't have to like it.
But they had no choice except to accept it.
Because they couldn't outtalk him.
Couldn't outthink him.
Couldn't beat him.
What exactly were they supposed to do?
They were helpless too.
So when news suddenly spread that this famously aloof transfer student—who had always kept to himself and never bothered forming close relationships—had somehow become friends with Himiko Toga…
Of course the entire academy was shocked.
After all, ever since arriving, Shigaraki had always walked alone.
No one had been able to get close to him.
He attended classes according to his mood.
Spoke to people only when he felt like it.
And now this same cold, solitary transfer student was walking through the school gates hand in hand with the school's beauty queen?
That was more than enough to make everyone's imagination run wild.
Of course, gossip was gossip.
Class was class.
No matter how wealthy or well-connected these students were, no matter how likely it was that many of them would one day grow into the country's future elites…
At this moment, they were still just students.
And a student's main job was, at least in theory, to study.
…
Meanwhile—
at the N City Police Station—
the place received a rather unusual visitor that very day.
A man whose whole presence felt out of sync with everyone around him stepped through the front doors like he had walked straight out of an American superhero comic.
He smiled brightly at the officers working inside and asked in a loud, friendly voice,
"Hello! I'm looking for Officer Tsukauchi Naomasa. Would you mind letting him know I'm here?"
"…A-All Might?!"
The police staff on duty nearly jumped.
Why was he here?
Quite a few of them already knew that All Might had come to N City the night before to assist in apprehending a criminal.
That part wasn't unusual.
As the Symbol of Peace, All Might often traveled all over the country helping local authorities handle major incidents.
That was normal.
But what wasn't normal was this:
All Might usually left the moment his assistance was no longer needed.
He rarely lingered in one city after the job was done.
And yet not only was he still in N City—
he had come directly to the police station.
That alone was enough to make people curious.
Still, curiosity was one thing.
Questioning All Might directly was another.
So although everyone was inwardly full of confusion, the officer who received him remained extremely polite. He quickly invited him inside and informed him that someone had already gone to notify Tsukauchi.
No one asked any unnecessary questions.
No one suspected him of anything.
No one worried he might cause trouble.
That was the kind of trust All Might inspired just by showing up.
His power was part of it.
His charisma was part of it.
But more than anything else, it was because he was All Might.
The Symbol of Peace.
And people believed in him.
…
In the meeting room—
"It's been a while, All Might."
The man speaking wore a standard suit and looked like an unremarkable young office worker.
His name was Naomasa Tsukauchi.
And he was one of All Might's close friends.
He adjusted his glasses and looked at the hero with mild curiosity.
"What brings you here all of a sudden?"
"Need my help with something?"
"A little," All Might said with a grin. "There's something I'm curious about, and I'd like to ask you to investigate it for me."
He scratched the back of his head.
"It wasn't really the kind of thing I could explain over the phone, so I figured I'd come in person."
Then, as naturally as breathing, his body deflated.
His broad shoulders shrank.
His muscles withered.
In an instant, the towering, overwhelming Symbol of Peace vanished, replaced by a gaunt, hollow-eyed man whose frame looked almost skeletal.
This was All Might's true state.
Years earlier, during a direct battle with the hidden mastermind of the superhuman dawn era—All For One—he had managed to defeat his enemy.
But victory had come at an enormous cost.
It had been a miserable, half-ruined triumph.
His body had been torn open.
Half of his respiratory system had been destroyed.
His entire stomach had been removed.
After multiple surgeries, he could now maintain his hero form only once per day, and only for around three hours at a time.
Whenever he dropped that form, he returned to this: thin, hollow-eyed, and painfully frail.
Of course, because All For One had only been defeated—not killed—and because the Symbol of Peace could never afford to appear weak without risking social instability, the truth about All Might's condition was known by only a tiny handful of people.
Naomasa Tsukauchi was one of them.
Which was why All Might didn't mind showing him this side of himself.
Tsukauchi, for his part, took in the sight without reacting.
He had long since gotten used to it.
Instead, he folded his hands on the table and asked calmly,
"So."
"What exactly do you want me to investigate?"
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios