Chapter Text
When word gets out to the media that Fumikage and Hawks had been working together since Fumikage found out that he had All For One, the internet goes wild.
Their assumptions are entirely wrong, though. Yes, he and Hawks were cooperating since the day Fumikage discovered exactly what he’d taken at Kamino, but the media believes that this particular date is when Fumikage ‘accidentally’ stole Bakugou’s quirk. Only Aizawa, Bakugou, and Midoriya know just how long ago Fumikage initially found out about the problem and entrusted his mentor with the knowledge.
At any rate, the fact that Fumikage and Hawks worked together to bring down the League of Villains is true. The fact that Hawks deliberately discredited Fumikage and UA as part of the plan is also kind of true. The fact that the two of them fought alongside each other in the raid is undeniably true. So the public is surprised and delighted by this story.
If the media is embellishing any details, Fumikage doesn’t have the energy to correct all of them.
Silver linings: this fall and rise of Fumikage’s reputation and the story surrounding it, how his odd quirk and his status as a mutant potentially contributed to the public’s outcry against him, has kickstarted a rising awareness. All these things that were hidden under the shiny veneer of heroism have come under scrutiny. People are taking a good look at how deep the cracks go, and they are realizing how many things need to be fixed.
Society is, for the first time, reevaluating itself and how it treats its heroes.
So the end result, funnily enough, is that all the time the media and public spent dragging his name through the mud retroactively became part of some narrative where Fumikage had to sacrifice his reputation for the greater good, and the civilians eat this up. It’s a little ironic, but Fumikage will take his wins where he can. He’s just happy that he’s not seen as a potential villain anymore.
In fact, people are talking about him as an incredible hero. Which is very flattering but feels undeserved. Midoriya and Bakugou deserve just as much credit, if not more, as do the others who helped take Shigaraki down. So many people contributed in all kinds of ways to this victory, but somehow the story of Fumikage and Hawks seems to overshadow everything else. It seems rather unfair, Fumikage thinks, to not credit all the other heroes, too.
“We are getting credit, you idiot,” Bakugou tells him from where he’s sitting on the couch in the common room next to Fumikage. He’s mostly recovered from the self-inflicted damage that affected his arms and wrists when he’d pulled out all the stops for his final blow against Shigaraki, but Fumikage can tell he’s still sore by the way Bakugou subtly winces when he peels his mandarin. “All the heroes are getting the recognition they deserve.”
Kirishima grins from the perpendicular couch. “But dude, obviously people are going wild over your story! You used yourself as bait to get to the League! That’s crazy manly.”
“Brownie points for still being a first year student, too,” Uraraka adds from where she’s playing cat’s cradle with Hagakure. Dark Shadow inches towards them, hoping to join.
“Plus the mysterious aura you have, mon ami,” Aoyama says.
“And it probably doesn’t help that you did all of this with Hawks. Who’s literally the most popular hero in Japan,” Ojiro points out. “Best Jeanist’s interview about how he had to fake his own death was pretty dramatic, too.”
“Stupid denim-head,” Bakugou gripes, which is his way of expressing how worried he’d been.
“The point is, everyone thinks you’re cool.” Kaminari throws himself dramatically into the seat next to Kirishima’s. “You even have a fanclub already! Man, I want one, too. I was totally cool in the raid.”
“Not as cool as Ryukyu crushing an entire tunnel to stop villains from escaping,” Jirou says, grinning.
“Unfair!” Kaminari squawks. “She’s a dragon, I can’t compete against that!”
“I’m sure you were very impressive, Kaminari.” Fumikage has no doubts that each and every one of his classmates were crucial to their success. “You all held your own against Nomus that were practically the level of the one Endeavor faced back in Kyushu. That in itself is incredible.”
Shouji laughs from where he’s sitting at Fumikage’s other side. “Says the one who stole Shigaraki’s quirk. The creepiest quirk we’ve had to put up with since USJ, and you pulled it out of him just like that.”
“Oh god that quirk was so creepy,” Ashido says from where she’d been passing by. “I was so happy to see you put it in a Nomu—”
“And then watch that Nomu get totally fried by Todoroki,” Sero adds, draping himself over the back of the couch to try convince Bakugou to give him a slice of his mandarin. “That was totally scorching hot.”
Todoroki glances up from his book with vague concern etched across his face. “Did I burn you back then?”
Sero snorts, then yelps when Bakugou smacks him away. “It’s just a saying, Brodoroki.”
“But I do think it’s quite sweet,” Yaoyorozu comments, passing out tea to her classmates. It smells soothing. “Part of the reason why everybody is so charmed by the story is that it’s about a bond between a mentor and his protege. Even we were moved when we found out he was on your side all along.”
“Oh god yeah,” Hagakure chimes in, offering Dark Shadow a turn. “I was so ready to fight him back at the press conference.”
“I was really glad to learn he didn’t mean any of it,” Asui says, seating herself next to Hagakure. “You seemed to admire him a lot, so it was awful to hear him say such things about you back then.”
Koda nods and signs, I was so disappointed in him until you told us the truth after the raid.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you all earlier,” Fumikage says. He means it. He’d felt bad when he’d seen how offended his classmates had been on his behalf, but secrecy had been paramount until the very moment the raid started.
Iida and Midoriya are helping Satou bring out several different cakes for their belated victory celebration. It’s been a week since the raid, but the aftermath had been a whirlwind, and the class as a whole has finally been able to settle down.
“Honestly, I don’t blame you.” Satou sets down a cheesecake and a black forest cake, then pats Fumikage on the shoulder. “Hawks and Aizawa sensei told you to stay quiet, after all.”
“As sensei often says, it was a rational deception!” Iida proclaims.
Midoriya smiles, meeting Fumikage’s gaze with a knowing look. “It’s okay, Tokoyami. Some secrets need to be told at the right time.”
From beside Fumikage, Bakugou snorts, but there’s no bite to it. At some point, during the last battle, Bakugou had developed a new move at the last second to take a blow for Midoriya—though thankfully Fumikage’s double had taken the damage instead—and it seems to have softened things between the two childhood friends.
In fact, the entire class seems to have grown even closer following the events of the last few weeks. Fumikage had never known he could find more family outside of his parents—who had been equally proud and furious at him after the raid, until the anger melted into relief and they’d thanked Aizawa and Hawks for keeping him safe—but apparently he has. And despite everything that happened ever since their first brush with danger, Fumikage is glad to have met them.
-
“You did well, Tokoyami,” Aizawa says, and Fumikage tries not to show how embarrassingly pleased he is to hear such high praise from their homeroom teacher. “Thank you for not being another problem child. I have too many of those.”
Fumikage thinks of Hawks and stifles a laugh. “Thank you, sensei, for helping me through all this.”
“It’s just part of the job,” says the hero who risked life and limb for them over and over. Fumikage is glad that this is the person he gave Twice’s quirk to. The world needs more of this man, surely.
“It does not make my gratitude any less.”
Aizawa snorts, but it’s soft and fond. There’s still a slight furrow between his brows, though. “We didn’t find the mole, though. I wonder if we never will.”
Fumikage thinks about that for a moment. “Whoever it is, I hope they become a better person.”
“Hard to become better without owning up to what you’ve done,” Aizawa murmurs, and Fumikage can’t help but agree.
-
Fumikage stands on his friend’s balcony in the middle of the night and says, “I know it’s you, Aoyama.”
Aoyama doesn’t bother to deny it. As if he expected this confrontation from the beginning. There’s a hopeless smile on his face as his eyes grow glassy with tears. “How did you know?”
“When I tried taking your quirk, it felt wrong.” Fumikage recalls the moment. Aoyama had been reluctant to participate in the quirk swapping exercises along with his class, but he’d gone along with it. Fumikage remembers the look on Aoyama’s face when his quirk was taken away, and the fleeting glance of despair in his eyes when he’d tried out Uraraka’s quirk. As if he’d realized what it was like to have a quirk that caused him no pain. “As if it was never meant to be yours. And the way you reacted, like you knew what it was like to be quirkless...I guess All For One gave you this quirk.”
Aoyama hangs his head in shame and doesn’t reply.
“Turn yourself in,” Fumikage pleads. “If you don’t, I’ll have to tell Aizawa sensei. Aoyama, this is the best chance I can give you. Please, go turn yourself in.”
“Why are you giving me a chance?” Aoyama asks, tears dripping down his face. “None of this would have happened to you if I hadn’t leaked the location of our camp.”
He’s right. Fumikage should be angry. He should feel betrayed, and he does, he really does, but still. Fumikage is a hero, and he wants to save people, not destroy them. He wants Aoyama to have a second chance,
“You helped us at the last minute.” Fumikage remembers that moment. The blinding light. The fifty-fifty chance. Fumikage could have been the one who was saved by Aoyama that night. “When you saved Bakugou. You tried to be a hero.”
“I’m not a hero,” Aoyama finally gasps out, sobbing into his hands, the admission so heavy he drops to his knees and curls into himself, and Fumikage walks forward. Kneels before Aoyama and places a hand on his shoulder.
“But maybe you could become one,” Fumikage says, and Aoyama cries harder.
-
“So,” Hawks says as they sit on top of a skyscraper and look down at the glittering city below them, “I hear that the Aoyama kid turned himself in as All For One’s mole.”
Fumikage nods. “Yes, earlier today morning.”
Hawks hums. “Smart of him to own up to it. Would’ve been way worse if it all came out later on.”
“I agree,” Fumikage says in a placid tone.
Hawks shoots him a sidelong glance, but he doesn’t say anything. Fumikage is okay with that. He’ll tell Hawks the truth if he’s asked. And if Hawks doesn’t ask, then there’s nothing to say.
“Dabi’s said some interesting things from inside his jail cell,” Hawks comments. Fumikage blinks. This is his first time hearing about this. “Endeavor and I’ve been dealing with it. Turns out that there’s more to the big guy than I thought.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
Hawks shrugs. “Not to me. I think the guy I’ve seen the last few months counts for more than the guy he might’ve been ten years ago.
There must be a long story there, an ugly one, perhaps, but Hawks doesn’t seem too troubled, so Fumikage lets it go. “Speaking of Dabi, Monoma gave his quirk to Todoroki.”
“Oh?“ Hawks grins. “Really?”
“Nobody else we know has a body that could withstand those flames.” Fumikage shudders. Even Todoroki himself admitted that he’d need some training to acclimatize. “I’m glad we took that quirk before it could do much damage.”
“Oh, Dabi’s gonna love this,” Hawks says looking utterly gleeful.
Fumikage can’t help but feel amused. “Dare I ask?”
“I’ll tell you next time.” Hawks kicks his feet and looks up at the full moon above them. “Does he still have Mr. Compress’s quirk?”
“Yes, he’s keeping that one,” Fumikage thinks back to Monoma, who had been surprisingly reluctant to keep it.
I don’t know, it feels like cheating to keep it, Monoma had said.
Fumikage had disagreed. It’s one more weapon in your arsenal to save people, and there’s no such thing as cheating when it comes to saving others.
It hadn’t taken long to persuade Monoma to keep it, after that.
“It’s a fitting quirk for the Phantom Thief,” Hawks says with a grin. “And I sure as hell think giving Eraserhead the Double quirk was the right thing to do. But are you really sure that giving Warp Gate to All Might was the right move?”
Fumikage doesn’t hesitate. “It was. He’d never misuse it, and it is reassuring to know that he has a quirk to fall back on if anything ever happens to him.”
Aizawa had been the one to suggest it. Something about All Might liaising with the police the most and being able to coordinate police-hero joint operations the best. Not to mention that giving the man who couldn’t fight anymore a way to save himself and other people felt like the right thing to do. Aizawa had wanted to see the quirk used for good instead of bad, and Fumikage had agreed.
He’d watched All Might practice using Warp Gate to evacuate civilians and students and thought, once again, about how no quirk is inherently evil. To see that black mist that had once taken Fumikage away now become a safe haven…it gave Fumikage closure he hadn’t known he needed.
He doesn’t regret his choice.
“Mm, well, since the man was basically quirkless after giving One For All away, even if we did give him the Life Force quirk to extend his lifespan.” Hawks hums and drums his fingers against his knees. The knowledge of One For All had been shared with Hawks and Endeavor, and both heroes had been a little stunned by the truth. If it came out to the public, it could even cause an uproar. Probably not as much of an uproar as Fumikage’s experience with All For One, but still.
“Midoriya is thinking about telling the class about One For All,” Fumikage says.
“Risky choice.”
“But it will pay off, I think.” Fumikage remembers his classmates, united as one, facing down the press as they stood by him. “None of them would find fault with him for it.”
Clearly remembering the same thing as Fumikage, Hawks snorts softly. “Yeah, I bet you’re right.”
They sit in silence for a while, until Fumikage thinks about secrets. One more secret he has, one that only his friends and Aizawa and Hawks will know. Something the rest of the world will hopefully never find out.
“I’m not quite enjoying being the secret keeper of All For One,” Fumikage admits. “Are you sure you don’t want it instead?”
Hawks laughs, loud and clear. “No, I don’t. Tsukuyomi, do you know why I told you to keep it?”
“Because it won’t hurt to have a secret weapon?” Fumikage hazards.
“Well, that’s why we didn’t get rid of it.” Hawks leans over and pokes Tokoyami’s chest. “The reason I said you should keep it is because I know you’ll never use it unless there’s no other choice. You’ll never use it and still be an amazing hero anyway. And that’s why it should be you.”
Fumikage inhales shakily. He refuses to cry in front of Hawks a second time. Dark Shadow purrs in his chest, full of pride and gratitude and happiness.
Instead, he turns it around on his mentor. “Hawks…thank you for protecting me. For having my back when I needed you.”
Hawks’s smile softens under the moonlight. “Thank you, Fumikage. For trusting me.”
With the glow of the city below them and the early spring breeze ruffling his feathers, Fumikage thinks Hawks is right. He will never need to use All For One. Not because Fumikage will be strong enough to never need it—though he’ll strive for that every day—but because he has people around him who are strong. People who will save him and the rest of the world. People who love him.
Fumikage will never need to use All For One, because he has Hawks and everybody else.