The Emperor's Dragon II

Passing The Torch

Toshinori watched the Provisional License Exam with a growing degree of pride. Inasa was doing very well. He'd formed an alliance with students from Ketsubutsu, Seiai and UA and had managed to knock out several rivals before clearing the first event. Inasa hadn't done anything spectacular but that was okay. He had proven he was capable. On the screens, Toshinori could see the way the Seiai ladies were looking at him. They knew he hadn't gone all out.

And in forming an alliance... That was best. He was showing that he had no intention of standing alone.

Yagi sighed under his breath. If only Katsuki had learned that lesson. The blond had stormed away from his class group, and had been promptly taken out. Unfortunately, Eijiro had gone with him which just reinforced his earlier assessment of the two.

Katsuki still had to come to terms with what it would actually mean to be a quirkless hero. He wouldn't ever be Number One but that wouldn't mean the work he did wasn't important. But... to someone like Katsuki, the change in mindset had to hurt. Toshinori could acknowledge that. With Explosion, there was a very good chance he could have been Number One... if he got there before Inasa did but now...

He sighed again. And Eijiro was still trying to comfort Katsuki. It was honourable in a way, because the red head wouldn't let Katsuki be alone but it was beginning to stunt his own growth. He too would be a quirkless hero but Toshinori thought that Eijiro had a better idea of what that would mean. He hadn't expected to be Number One and he had a more pure view of what a hero was. He wanted to help people and... That made all the difference.

Toshinori took a mental note to suggest that Eijiro was not in Katsuki's class next year, assuming neither teen withdrew. It would give Eijiro space to grow his abilities, without always having to defer to Katsuki and maybe it would make Katsuki appreciate he could still be a hero? That was going to be a difficult question and Yagi knew Hound Dog was doing his best but also knew this was not a situation that had any precedent.

The Number One Hero ignored the curious stares he was getting. There were a lot of rumours going around about a lot of subjects at the moment. As the Number One Hero, Toshinori heard some, but he knew he didn't hear them all but one of the things people were talking about was the media event tonight. With the Provisional License Exam being today, and Inasa having good control over One For All, there was no point in delaying his retirement any further. He was going to announce it tonight.

That was all he would be announcing. He wasn't going to suggest he had a successor or anything like that. Those who were here today, might one day look back and realise but others would have no idea.

There was a short break between the first and second rounds and Toshinori shifted as he waited for the second round to start. He looked at the results and smiled slightly. From what he'd seen in the first round, and the times that people passed the first round, he could tell that the decision to invite other schools to study at UA was the right one. There was evidence of several alliances in the results. That was good. The heroes no longer had the luxury of being separate.

Not with the villains who were out there.

He was slightly surprised that so far, nothing had happened but... It appeared that Tomura was laying low with Izuku. Though there was information coming out of the underworld that they weren't being passive. They had, or at least, Izuku had been seen taking out one of the remaining Yakuza clans.

And Tomura... well, no one had heard from him, and that was worrying. All Might could imagine what the young man was doing. They'd be mourning All For One's capture but... He had expected at least some attacks by now but there had been nothing.

As far as they could tell, Izuku hadn't even gone after that vigilante again... Though he had seen his friend and given her a healing quirk.

What were they thinking? The two of them were showing a degree of patience he didn't think they had. Which was concerning. It meant they were planning. That was going to be bad.