All Might's Class 1A

Secrets and Plots

"I am not sure how much of this you are aware of, but Nana was investigating the accidents at U.A." Gran Torrino said.

They were both sitting in the restaurant with plates of food in front of them, the waitress safely out of earshot.

Toshinori picked at his food, his usually healthy appetite strangely absent.

"She thought they might be connected to All for One and she was right," Gran Torrino continued. "That bomb Enji dealt with wasn't from the Support Course. Closer inspection showed it to be from the arsenal of the villian Boomtown. His quirk is to make bombs out of whatever he touches, though, which is useless for infiltrating U.A. to actually place explosives. Then there is the villain you fought, Wraith. He is registered as being quirkless."

Toshinori frowned down at his plate.

"Which means All for One probably gave him his quirk," Toshinori said.

Gran Torrino grunted.

"Yeah. He won't talk to the police or heroes about how he got the quirk. Seems more afraid of whoever gave it to him then whatever we could do to him," Gran Torrino said. "All the evidence points right back to All for One and to a possible mole in U.A. working for him."

He took a bite of his own food and shook his head.

"Nana was looking for the mole. My guess is the mole got suspicious of the hero sniffing around U.A. and reported her back to All for One. All for One would have recognized Nana the second the mole spoke up. There is no telling how long All for One knew. He probably chose to wait until the Sport's festival because he knew she would be at home to watch you and that most heroes would be distracted that day," Gran Torrino said.

"Do you have any idea who the mole might be?" Toshinori asked.

Gran Torrino shook his head.

"Nana and I went through both staff and student files. From the principal all the way down to the janitor. Nothing seemed suspicious. We checked financial information and no one has more money then they should either," Gran Torrino said.

"I see," Toshinori said.

He took a bite of his own food and chewed, hardly tasting any of it.

I am going to find that mole and when I do, I am going to_ Toshinori thought.

"I am telling you all this because I think you deserve to know. If I catch you trying to find the mole, then I will kick you from here to Hosu and back. Nana looked into this because she was trying to keep you safe. I won't let you dig into the same thing and get killed," Gran Torrino said, as if guessing what Toshinori was thinking.

Toshinori swallowed his food and plastered on his most convincing smile.

"Yes, Sir," he said.

Gran Torrino nodded and turned back to his food.

Toshinori walked home that night with his belly full and his mind racing. Gran Torrino hadn't said he couldn't investigate the mole, just that there would be consequences if he did. 

Toshinori pulled a face. Not that using that excuse would keep the old man from kicking him to Hosu and back anyway, but still....

Toshinori's feet suddenly left the ground. He found his arms unable to move. Not even his mouth could open. He was borne to the right into a clump of bushes by invisible force.

If I let go of your mouth, you have to promise me you won't scream, a familiar voice said in his mind.

Toshinori blinked and suddenly found that he was looking at Ishi and Yamada standing in the clump of bushes.

Yamada waved and grinned, but didn't say anything.

You are keeping him from talking aren't you, Toshinori thought.

You know Yamada.  If I let him talk, he would be shouting loudly enough for all Japan to hear him.

"What am I doing here?" Toshinori asked aloud.

"Secret mission," Ishi informed him.

"Secret mission?" Toshinori asked.

"It is Shota's birthday tomorrow. We are going to the mall to get him a present," Ishi said.

"Oh," Toshinori said blankly.

That explained Yamada's presence at least.

"How did you know it was his birthday tomorrow?" Toshinori asked.

Ishi tapped his head.

"Telepathy. I heard him wondering in class today if he should pretend he had some kind of birthday event to attend and then just stay home and sleep the entire day instead," Ishi said.

"That does sound like Shota," Toshinori admitted and then he blinked. "Wait. I thought you had to concentrate to use your telepathy?"

Ishi looked a little sheepish at that.

"I was bored. Sometimes I practice my telepathy in class when it gets boring," he said.

Yamada waved his arms to get their attention then gestured to his mouth.

"I will let you talk when we get to the mall. Being silent for five minutes won't kill you," Ishi said.

The look on Yamada's face told Toshinori that Yamada didn't agree with that thought.

A few minutes later they were at the mall, browsing through the stores and Yamada was back to speaking again and was now talking even more to make up for lost time.

"What do you think about getting him that shirt. I think it is cool," Yamada said holding up a black shirt with the words, "You are my hero" in white lettering.

Toshinori choked, "Yamada. You might not_" Toshinori began.

"That isn't going to send the message you are thinking it will," Ishi said bluntly.

"Yeah," Toshinori agreed.

Yamada shrugged and put the t-shirt back and promptly picked up another one. This one was a dark blue with a gray striped kitten on it instead of words.

"What about this?" Yamada asked.

"I don't know," Toshinori said. "I am not sure Shota is a cat person."

"But everyone loves kittens," Yamada insisted.

Toshinori turned to Ishi for help, but Ishi just shrugged.

"I think that shirt is fine," Ishi said.

Toshinori just looked at Ishi in surprise. Yamada whooped and danced off to the register with the shirt in hand. Ishi followed at a much more sedate pace.

Toshinori looked around. He had to find something that Shota would actually like. Ishi and Yamada were crazy to think that Shota was going to like that shirt. He spotted something in the clearance section and grinned.

He picked it up. The color was a bit unfortunate, but he couldn't imagine a better gift for Shota.

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I decided that we needed a bit of levity after all the sadness surrounding Nana's death. Hence Operation Birthday shopping. Next week is Christmas, so I there will not be a post next Monday. There will certainly be one the week after, though, and the name for it is "Surprise."