25Chapter 1: Prologue
The city was abuzz as everyone rapidly discussed All Might's sudden retirement. It had come as a shock to everyone when All Might had called for a press conference and then announced his retirement. Some were unfazed, knowing that All Might couldn't carry on forever; he had to retire someday. Others were scared that crime rates would increase in the absence of the symbol of peace while others argued that Japan had more heroes now to combat the growing number of villains.
Amongst all the buzz, people failed to notice a tall, thin man limping by the side of the street.
To Yagi, the events of the past few days had flashed by. He was injured and so was Torino. Sure, he had defeated All for One, but it had come at a huge price. When he woke up from surgery, he had been determined to return to hero work, afraid that his week-long absence would have plunged Japan into villainy. He had argued with Nighteye due to his persistence to continue hero work and his friend had left him.
Ultimately, it was Nedzu who convinced him to retire. The principal had shown how his absence had not affected Japan negatively; how life had still gone on without issue, "It's better for you to announce your retirement now and come back if required than die because of your injuries to some villain." Nedzu had told Yagi. The gaping hole in his chest had horrified him, and had done its part in pressuring All Might to retire... but, what now?
Yagi's entire life was built around training to be a symbol of peace, the scourge of villains. Defeating All for One had taken a chunk out of him; both mentally and physically, but even though the symbol of evil was dead, Yagi had thought he'd continue to live out his days by fighting other villains, trying to protect people. But now his sudden retirement had left him broken and empty. He did not know what to do. He didn't have any friends. Mirai wouldn't talk to him. Nedzu, Torino, and Chiyo were his teachers, and the only person he knew, Tsukauchi, was busy cleaning up his mess.
The remarks on his retirement did not ease Yagi's mind. Desperate to clear his mind, Yagi ducked down into one of the side-streets to get away from people. He tried to think about something else but the events kept replaying in his head. Realizing that he didn't have anything else to remember other than being All Might, Yagi decided to concentrate on his surroundings instead.
The option seemed to work better.
Yagi was a bit surprised that he could recognize the streets but thought that he must have passed over them while he was All Might. However, after a while, he realized that was not the case. He seemed to remember every nook and cranny of the neighborhood. Yagi suddenly had a sinking feeling, "There's no way..." he thought to himself as he started to walk quicker, "It can't be. It looked much better when I was younger. There's no way it could get this bad." Yagi panicked.
But as he made one last turn, he stopped directly in front of a huge, run-down complex: his old orphanage. Yagi looked up at the sign with disbelief, refusing to believe it was the same place, but it was. "I don't understand..." Yagi angrily clenched and unclenched his hands, "I always made sure to send money back here."
A furious Yagi ran up to the orphanage and started banging on the door, determined to get an answer.
The door opened, revealing a short, and irritated old man, "What the hell do you want?" The man asked aggressively, "It's nearly midnight!"
"I have been out so late?" Yagi thought to himself. But the time was the least of Yagi's concerns, "Why is this place so run-down!?" Yagi demanded.
The man looked at the tall, lanky man in front of him with annoyance, "Are you insane? This is why you're banging on the door? You're gonna wake up all the kids, you damn crazy person."
"Just answer the question," Yagi insisted.
Where the hell are we supposed to get the money, you idiot!"
"You should have tons of money!" Yagi exclaimed.
The man snorted, "Only if it grows on trees," the man said sarcastically.
"All Might must send a lot of money."
The man looked at Yagi indecorously, "As if heroes like him care about all these orphans. All they care about is media and money. I bet even that retirement thing was just a PR stunt." The man rambled, "Now get out of here you hobo," The man shouted, eyeing Yagi's loose shirt and dirty pants. He slammed the door strongly, pushing Yagi to the ground.
Yagi knew he should feel a bit insulted at having his retirement being called a PR stunt, but he didn't seem to care. Instead, he was angry at how so much of his money had been stolen by the corrupt organizations he had trusted. Considering the owner's words, he had never gotten even a scent of that money.
Yagi stood up and dusted off his pants, before starting to walk towards his house to sleep. No longer was his mind fixated on his retirement and what he would do next. He had now resolved to first help his old orphanage and then he would have Tsukauchi investigate where the hell his money had gone.
For the first time in a long time, Yagi was fixated on what he would do, and not what All Might would.
A/N: I expect the fic to have regular updates till at least the end of February. After that scheduling might affect updates.