All Might's Class 1A

Being the Best

"Gran Torino told me about your training today..."

Uh oh.

In Toshinori's experience, no good conversation started with those words coming out of his master's mouth. He jerked his head up from the food and looked at her.

Master wasn't tense. She didn't have the fiery light in her eyes that often proceeded a hard slap meant to bring Toshinori to his senses. The look on her face across the small, red padded restaurant booth at him was far scarier. Those eyes were now bottomless dark pits and the frown lines on her forehead were standing out.

Toshinori had only ever seen that look on his master's face one time: when she had told him and Gran Torino to stay away from her son.

"He said you did well," Master said.

"I did my best," Toshinori said.

"That is the problem," Master said, sighing. "When Gran Torino told me your score on the entrance exam was the highest in U.A. history, I was worried. I had hoped that your power wouldn't be so obvious in everyday class though."

Toshinori opened his mouth to speak then registered the words "highest in U.A." and shut it again in surprise.

The highest in U.A. history? Really?

"If you had any other quirk, I would be telling you to keep going full throttle. Unfortunately, you have One for All," Master said.

"I don't understand," Toshinori said.

"One for All is a very flashy quirk. Hiding that kind of power is not easy. Especially from someone who knows exactly what to look for," Master said.

Toshinori's gut twisted.

She didn't need to say who the someone was. Master had told Toshinori all about the villain All for One before transferring One for All to him. She had wanted to be certain that Toshinori knew the responsibility that came with the power. She had also told him about her encounter with All for One. That encounter, she had barely escaped from with her life. With All for One ruling Japan's criminal underworld like an emperor, staying hidden had required that she remain a middle of the pack hero.

"I see. I need to stay in the middle of the class," Toshinori said.

"What? No. You can still be the best in your class, Toshinori. There is no need for you to drop. Being the best in your class will not be enough to draw his attention. You can be the best in your class. Just make sure that you are not the best hero student in U.A. history," Master said.

"How am I supposed to train without letting my full power out?" Toshinori asked.

Master picked up one of the salt shakers.

"One for All is kind of like this salt. Most of the time, you don't need to use it all of it. The only time I ever had to bring One for All out full force was against him. Bringing it out full force, in fact, could get someone killed," Master explained.

"Kind of a boring analogy, but ok," Toshinori said with a nod.

Master reached across the table and took his hand in hers. She looked him in the eyes and he thought he saw sorrow lurking in the darkness there.

"I know you will have to face All for One eventually. To become the number one hero, you will need to use One for All more then I ever did. But we don't want him to come for you before you are ready. When you face him, it needs to be on your terms when you are fully trained and at the peak of skills. Only then will you have a chance to defeat him," She said.

"Yes, master," Toshinori said.

She had lost so much to the villain. He had forced her to give up her own family. When Toshinori faced All for One, he was going to make All for One feel the same loss and give him an eternity to experience it in a dingy prison cell.

The symbol of peace could not be a student. In order to truly be a symbol, Toshinori knew that he could not appear to be human. He had to pretend that Toshinori Yagi did not exist. When the day of his debut dawned, Toshinori had to come out of nowhere. This, like his muscle form, was just one more thing he had to hide.

"If you are worried about not being able to use your full power well, I could always ask Gran Torino to give you some extra training on the weekends," Master said.

Toshinori gulped.

"No. No. that won't be necessary," he said.

Master laughed and the grim expression on her face cracked.

"I am kidding. You will get more than enough of him during the week."

Toshinori laughed with his master, but only out of duty.

Lessons from that old man were not a laughing matter.

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When I first heard All Might went to U.A. it made me wonder why All Might wasn't well known during his U.A. years. Izuku, one of his biggest fans, knows he went but knows nothing about him as a student or even that Gran Torrino was his homeroom teacher until All might tells him. So my guess is that he did what Nana Shimura or Master told him to do in this chapter. He hid his true strength. Come back next week for the next part: Dodging Attention.