Catharsis (Various!BNHA x Esper!Reader)

Ch 4: Bright Side

        "I won't be seeing you for the next few years..."

Still seconds passed, before you only hummed in acknowledgement to All Might's declaration, understanding of his circumstance. The silence was quick to encompass the peaceful atmosphere shared only to the two of you afterwards—the spirits long forgotten, even as they still gawk at the state of the number one hero whenever he appears.

A week has already passed, and the Symbol of Peace arrived within his usual time and day to visit you, however...

"It's alright. You keep growing weaker and it's getting faster," You sympathized; your monotonous tone not justifying your hidden concern.

His state was getting worse; he gets thinner within each visit. You're afraid that one day, you'll see a skeleton in his place.

Honestly, you saw this coming. His condition wasn't getting any better; that much you could tell and admit. All Might needs to be hospitalized, and you're not talking only about a few days. If he wants to live longer, he should follow through his doctor's demands.

But he's a good hero; that's why he's not good to himself.

To think that it was him who often reminds you to take care of yourself, instead of the other way around.

The only reason why he now submits to his needed hospitalization was because he wants to live long enough to take down his nemesis.

The man who started everything.

"I'll be receiving treatment abroad; specifically, in America. You won't hear from me for a long time, but for now, I want to give you this."

The blonde hero then handed you a medium-sized cardboard box—nothing labelled outside to indicate its contents.

"Preferably, I would have given you a phone, but we can't risk having our calls recorded or your location being possibly tracked." He explained himself, as you gingerly accepted his very much appreciated gift.

"What's this?" You examined the light object, gently shaking it to somehow give you a hint of what's inside—sounded like papers, you thought.

"It's a parting gift," He simply answered, but the look you gave him afterwards showed that you were pertaining to the box's contents; not what it's meant to be. The hero cleared his throat, before expounding—his tone serious. "Articles and information, connected to you, collected from All For One's former base. They were found two years after... the incident. I managed to sneak them out before the police investigation. I think you might be interested in them."

He sounded so grim.

His voice was constricted, yet fluent.

As if the whole spiel was practiced.

You didn't question how he managed to escape with such evidence from the authorities nor how he found the base beforehand, you only remained focused on his words' contents; your eyes widening at the revelation. Almost instantly, your hands tore the box open from its clean taping.

And indeed, All Might was (partially) true to his words.

Cut out articles of different people—majority were women, you realized, as you dug in further; from little girls to old ladies; only a few mentions of men. The dates were interesting, with the oldest article reaching to the year when quirks were first discovered, and the latest being twenty-seven years ago. Each article was insignificant, as if only found in tabloids, and they're not even the main stories— perhaps they're just there to occupy space within the newspaper. Nevertheless, they were highly regarded, as they're all collected here in this box.