Power Without a Quirk

43.Heroic Counsel

"What happened to everyone... I hope they're all okay..."

I open my eyes and find myself in an unfamiliar room. It was empty, except for a few chairs, fancy ones at that, and there were people sitting in them, and another two standing at a wall with their backs to me. It didn't take much for me to know where I was... I was within OFA, having a conversation with the previous holders of the quirk.

"Sorry to suddenly put this on you while everything is still going on," said the man in the middle. The first, the brother of AFO.

"This is fate," said the fourth.

"Well, more of a timing thing really," said the fifth, Banjo.

"It seems like we'll have quite a bit of time to talk," continued the first. "Previously, we've been unable to interact and converse like this except for times when the current wielder of OFA was mentally shaken. In the last four months, my power, the power of OFA, has been growing exponentially, and with that increase in power, it was able to copy the profiles of it's wielders. And over time, we have come to be able to communicate with one another as well."

I tried to tell them that I understood, but the words wouldn't come out, and looking down, I saw that my body was mostly made of smoke, with the same likely being true for my mouth as well. No, this wouldn't do, I know I'd need to talk with them. I cleared my mind and focused solely on that. And then...

"Wt deed yu meen..." Crap, that sucked, but I guess it'd have to do. "Aboot haveeng to tack?"

The fourth stood up and walked over to me. "I will do the talking. My name is Shinomori Hagake, and I am the fourth use of OFA. And in the previous fight, my quirk manifested itself finally."

"Vight! Danga cents!"

"You scared me there."

"Swwy..."

"Anyways, I was alerted to be alert to your alertness manifesting."

What a way with words.

"Mister Shinomori was a weirdo hermit who lived in the woods cuz' he was so irritable when it came to society," Banjo told me as he got up and tried to put his arm around Shinomori but failed multiple times as the other man avoided him each time.

"It was a turbulent time. I wasn't the weirdo, everyone else was." Banjo Began trying harder as he began using his quirk as well. "Are you aware... of my age and cause of death?"

"Yoo wre 40... cuz ov deff wss..." Honestly, I didn't know. All Might had scribble out that part of the journal, though I don't know why.

"It was old age."

Old age!!! At 40!!!

"I didn't understand why either, but after discussing among ourselves, we believe we have discovered the reason, the final push being thanks to your teacher, Yagi. Simply put, OFA is no longer something that can be wielded by a normal person. Other than Yagi, I held the quirk for the longest amount of time, for 18 years. That final year, the quirk broke my body." As he said those words, he gestured towards his forehead, where there were crack like markings. "At first, I thought it was disease, or a weak constitution, but Yagi confirmed my suspicions. OFA slowly burns through the life force of it's wielder."

"Eiffe fours... fats sherrible, vut, vit a moment, vut abo al met?"

"That's the thing," said the first. "Yagi himself believed it had something to do with a limit that we are born with, though most of us died while fighting and therefore couldn't easily compare it to anything. Which led Shinomori to compare himself to Yagi, wondering if there was something different about him." I could think of only one thing. And that was that All Might was born quirkless. "I can see it on your face, I'm sure you've come to realize it. The reason why Yagi is still alive. It is like everyone is born with a cup, and those born with a quirk have had said cup filled. But a quirkless person's cup is empty. And because of that, OFA conformed and fitted itself to fill that cup, becoming the person's true quirk in a sense. And because of this, and with quirkless becoming less and less common every generation, the candidates for this quirk are becoming less common."

"I vee, vut, at na al, iv vit?"

"You're right, now it's time for the main topic," said the 6th user, and the predecessor of All Might, Nana Shimura. "Are you able to kill Shigaraki for me?"

"True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done. No moral man can have peace of mind if he leaves undone what he knows he should have done." - John Wayne