Running Solo

Chapter 31 - USJ Part 1

-Izuku's Perspective-

"You've been slacking, young Midoriya."

"I'm sorry, Sensei." I said, trying not to show the fear and anxiety that was flooding my body.

"I sent you to U.A. to gather intel on All Might, but I have heard very little about him since you started."

"I know, Sensei. All Might rushes off very quickly after class ends and he's never on campus when he's not teaching. His secretary, Yagi Toshinori, is always there instead to pass along any important information or questions. I've tried talking with Yagi-san to set up a meeting with All Might, but Yagi-san claimed that All Might didn't have time for a meeting and would try his best to answer any questions that I posed through him." I said, being sure to only tell him the truth. That stupid lie detector quirk he'd gained from Tsukauchi Nari a few weeks ago had been making it a lot harder to give believable excuses. "How would you like me to proceed, Sensei?"

There was a tense pause as All For One considered his next action and my next order.

"If we can't get to All Might alone, we'll have to be able to handle him when he's not alone." All For One mused aloud. "I want a schedule and a full analysis on your teachers, their quirks, and their capabilities."

"Yes, Sensei."

"And Izuku, my boy?" All For One continued.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"Don't leave anything out. You wouldn't want me to have to bring in your mother, would you?" All For One questioned, a gruesome smile pulling at his otherwise featureless face. I felt myself pale and was quick to respond.

"N-no, Sensei." I rushed, hoping that he would excuse the stutter.

"Good." All For One said with a chuckle. I grit my teeth and forced my expression to remain passive. "Kurogiri told me that you two have dinner with your neighbours tonight. You shouldn't be late. You may leave now." All For One said with a dismissive wave of his hand. I nodded and left the room quickly.

I heaved a sigh of relief as soon as I felt far enough away from that cursed concrete room. Kurogiri was quick to open a warp gate back to the apartment as soon as I texted him.

"Thanks." I sighed as I tiredly pulled off my shoes and swapped them out for my slippers.

"I take it it did not go well?" Kurogiri asked quietly as he popped his head out of the kitchen. I only groaned in response as I plopped face first onto the couch.

"That bad, huh?" Kurogiri asked as I heard him move closer to the couch. He sat down on the edge of one of the cushions, careful not to squish my legs. I grunted an affirmation without removing my face from its place buried in the cushion as I tried to become one with the couch cushion. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Kurogiri asked as he set a gentle hand on the back of my calf and his temporarily human fingers rubbed small circles and patterns into the skin there through the fabric of my pants.

I only thought about it for a second before nodding and turning around. I slowly pulled my feet out from behind Kurogiri and set them onto the carpeted floor. Kurogiri moved his hand from the back of my calf to my knee once I had settled.

"He's upset that I haven't given him anything new on All Might. He wants me to get him a schedule and to give him detailed analyses on all of my teachers."

"Well that's not too bad. You already have a lot on most of your teachers. You just have to translate your notes out of code. That shouldn't take you too long."

"Yeah..." I agreed quietly, watching Kurogiri's tanned thumb brush back and forth across my knee.

"What else?" Kurogiri asked, knowing that there was more.