No Regrets || Lying Hero Deku AU

Chapter 2

Even when Midoriya settled down, no one spoke for a very long time.

It was...Strange. They wouldn't say that they hated their previous leader, but him showing up after all those years seemed unreal. They had turned into something so different from before, from their leader's ideals, and for him to be back...For him to become their leader again...It wasn't exactly a thrilling thought, to say the least.

And to announce himself so suddenly, and in Midoriya's dreams...And his ominous and threatening message was enough to increase their concerns ten fold, if not more.

"M-Master...!" Midoriya stuttered out in shock as he stepped back, processing what he was seeing.

Indeed, it was All for One in all his glory: or whatever there was left of his glory, at least.

Midoriya could just barely see half his face, the eyeless smile he knew all too well immediately frightening him, just like it had back then. The rest of him was covered in what looked like dark fog, weighing heavily around him and coating Deku in it as well. Deku shuddered at the sensation as he continued to watch All for One intently, processing the situation.

Suddenly, he felt like a little boy, the still young teenager he was when he first joined the League.

And that boy was utterly terrified of the half-human being in front of him, no matter how many times he saw him and heard his uncanny sounding voice.

"Indeed, young Izuku. I would've said it's a pleasure to see you, but I wish it would've been under better circumstances. However...I can not ignore your treachery."

"T-treachery...?" Deku stuttered out, confused and even more terrified.

"What has become of the League I had done so much to nurture? It had become nothing but the smallest nuisance to the society I had wished to destroy. Isn't this what the League was made for? To destroy it? And yet, you have strayed from your goal...I thought you knew better."

"M-Master...I don't understand...! It's over! We couldn't do it! N-now, we just-we just-!"
"You just what, successor? Give up? I cannot let that happen. No, after all those years I have spent, I know you haven't just gave up. It's something else isn't it?"

Midoriya didn't understand what he was saying, but that wasn't what mattered. He had to get out. All for One wasn't one to be seen seeping with malice, and yet, Midoriya could've sworn he felt a certain aura coming from him that made him shudder. It added onto the weight of the fog, or maybe, the fog itself was somewhat his aura...

Midoriya didn't know, and he couldn't think straight enough to understand it. All he knew was that he was terrified. Utterly terrified and weak in front of the eyeless and yet glaring man before him. However, he knew one thing for certain...

"All for one wasn't pleased." Midoriya spoke in a whisper, repeating his thoughts he had at that moment.

He took a shaky breath as he shifted on the spot, feeling uncomfortable, however not because of the way he curled into a ball on the couch, his neck aching. No, it was because he...At that moment, he felt afraid of being alive.

Because as long as he was alive, All for One could kill him.

What none of them understood though, was how...

"How did he communicate with you in the first place?"

It was Dabi who asked the question, frowning slightly in confusion. It could be a quirk, but then, how would All for One be able to use it while still being in prison? He was supposed to be monitored, so there was no way he should've been able to do so without being found out, and yet, somehow, Midoriya felt like it wasn't the case. Something strange was going on, and he couldn't understand what to do.