Disclaimer: This has been inspired by Quirkless Unbound by Shadowhuntress and Zyla_SweetBean on Archive Of Our Own. I strongly recommend you read that before reading this. Some scenes and dialogue will be the same, but will take place mainly from OC's perspective. This is to answer the What If..? question: "What if Maddie and Tenko were childhood friends?" A few minor plot points will also be changed. MHA belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

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Maddie, Izuku, and Nezu were all greeted by the sight of Yagi pacing in the principal's office, appearing quite agitated. Inko sat on one of the couches in the room, stiff as a board, just as jittery and concerned. Their gazes snapped to the door when it opened, eyes lighting up when they landed on the two children. Inko shot up at the sight of her son. Maddie didn't miss the way that Izuku tried to huddle in on himself.

There was a beat before both adults shot forward and tried their best to encase the two in giant bear hugs. "Izuku!" Yagi exclaimed. "You're okay!"

"Don't you dare scare us like that again, Izuku Midoriya!" Inko cried, tears already falling down her face. "What on earth were you thinking?!"

Izuku just stood frozen among the onslaught until he allowed himself to slump into his mother's embrace. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry." Soon, they were both crying together. Maddie and Yagi stood off to the side, the young girl nearly moved to tears herself, though she did her best to hide it.

"This is all so lovely," Nezu commented, moving towards his desk. "Truly, it is. But I believe, young Midoriya, young Madeleine, that Yagi has some things he would like to discuss with the both of you. And since Inko is Izuku's mother, she has a right to know as well." He pulled a standard china set out of a cupboard. "I have some tea that I would love to share."

Maddie politely declined the offering of tea (she wasn't used to drinking it) and sat down on one of the couches next to Yagi. Izuku and Inko sat in the one opposite. She did, however, nibble on the cookies that were provided. Once everyone had their tea, it was Nezu who decided to launch them into the issue at hand. "Now, Izuku," he acknowledged, the boy's head perking up at the mention, "I believe it would be a grim understatement to say that you've been put through a lot. You and your mother."

The room went silent then, no one daring to move an inch. Nezu seemed unperturbed by this. "While I have no complete timeline of events," he stated, "I can make accurate enough assumptions that the reason why you ran is because of who owned you before you arrived at the facility. This is only based on what Yagi has told me and the security footage of that facility."

Izuku looked surprised. "You have that?" he asked.

"My dear boy, I have the record of every individual in that horrific place," Nezu explained, folding his paws on his desk. "I've even frequented the online dating site Ms. Usotsuki, the director, often uses. Currently, I have her believing she is in a budding but compassionate romance with Mr. LoveMuffinTop8:7D. I'm waiting for the day when I break her heart."

Maddie raised an eyebrow in respect, Yagi doubling over in laughter, coughing up blood as he did so. Even Izuku stared at him wide-eyed. Inko did her best to contain her snicker, but everyone heard it. She didn't seem to mind.

"That all being said," Nezu continued, getting everyone back on track, "I still have no idea who bought you at that auction after you were picked up by Quirkless traffickers, nor do I know the nature of their abuse." Inko slipped her hand into her son's, squeezing tightly. "I will not force you to go into any detail, for your sake." The principal's declaration seemed to put Izuku at ease.

"Oh yeah, that," Maddie piped up, the principal patiently turning his attention to her. "This is going to sound weird, but I was able to get Izuku to confirm it for me." She looked fervently between Yagi, Nezu, and Inko, hoping that she was wrong. "Apparently, the one who bought him is called All For One."

The tension in the room increased to astronomical levels. Yagi sat frozen like a statue, looking as if his soul had left his body. Nezu's smile had completely disappeared, appearing more intimidating than he did earlier. "How do you know of that name?" the principal asked, his tone having lost its comforting edge.

Maddie knew enough about reading a room to know that a switch had been flipped. "Spent some time in the criminal underground while I was on the streets. People kept talking about him like he was the fucking Boogeyman or something."

"That's not possible," Yagi breathed. He looked as though his skeletal frame would rattle apart at any minute. "All For One is dead."

"No, he's not." This came from Izuku, everyone directing their focus on him. "He was gravely injured, but he survived."

Inko's gaze darted between Yagi and her son, clearly confused. "What are you talking about?" she questioned. "Who's All For One?"

Yagi leaned forward then, resting his face in his hands. "A powerful villain who has the ability to give and take Quirks." Inko's eyes widened at this, dreading the implications of this. Yagi continued. "Six years ago, he and I fought each other in what I believed to be our last battle." He lifted his shirt, revealing an ugly knot of scar tissue that took up most of his abdomen. Inko covered her mouth at the sight of it. Izuku stared wide-eyed in shock. Even Maddie couldn't hold in her grimace. "It's thanks to him that I no longer have a stomach," the man explained.

"Wait," Izuku breathed, things clicking together in his head. "That must mean that you're... you're..."

Nezu glanced over to Yagi. "It seems you've led us right into what you wanted to discuss, Yagi." Without any hesitation, the blond stood up, his form beginning to inflate. To Maddie's ever-growing bewilderment, the sickly, skeletal man who was sitting next to her grew into a towering, muscular behemoth, a pearly white smile nearly blinding her. "Or, should I say, All Might," Nezu concluded.

Yagi, no, All Might, flexed his arms in a familiar pose. "Have no fear! For I am here!" All that Maddie could get out was incoherent blubbering. "Wh-Wha...? You... This whole time...?" Izuku's eyes seemed as though they would pop out of their sockets, his mother holding a similar expression beside him. "A-All Might?" he stuttered eloquently, still in shock. "B-B-But how?"

In a puff of smoke, All Might disappeared, Yagi standing in his place, coughing up a fountain of blood. Nezu handed him a napkin to wipe up his chin. "Because of this injury, I'm only able to maintain that form for a few hours a day." He met all the dumbfounded gazes from the display, minus Nezu, and emulated the same smile he had done earlier. "I am indeed All Might. Most know me by my alter ego, but my civilian name is Yagi Toshinori."

After a moment, Izuku seemed to recover from his initial shock. "You saved me again," he said. "You... you didn't abandon me. You're the first person in forever who hasn't looked down on me."

"Of course, my boy," Yagi said, his eyes softening. "I would never abandon you." He turned towards Maddie. "Either of you." The girl felt heat creep up into her cheeks. This only served to make her feel more embarrassed.

Guilt took over Izuku's demeanor. "Even though I ran? Even though I said all that horrible stuff to you? I... I-I don't get it..." Tears formed in his eyes again, fat and thick. Yagi inclined his head, showing his sincerity. "There's nothing you can say or do that would make me stop caring about you, Young Midoriya." Inko smiled gratefully to him at this, realizing how selfless and unconditional Yagi was being.

She didn't want to be the one to ruin this tender moment, but there was more information to share. "Th-That's not all," Maddie stammered, finally finding her voice. "All For One, he says that he's Izuku's father."

"What?!" Inko cried while Yagi hacked up another globule of blood. A small pile of soiled napkins began to form on the coffee table. Inko, in the meantime, turned to her son. "Is this true?" To her horror, Izuku nodded. "He...he took a DNA sample to test it and it matched." He squeezed his mother's hand tighter and leaned in closer to her. "I don't want to believe it, but..."

"He's not the type of person to lie about something like that," Maddie finished. She crossed her legs and her arms, her eyes hooded. "Sometimes, the things that villains use to hurt you the most is the truth." No one argued with her on that. Izuku, after gathering his nerve, turned to his mother. "Do you remember anything about my dad, Mom?" he asked.

Inko's brow scrunched down in thought. "I... couldn't tell you for sure, Izuku," she answered honestly. "The morning after you were conceived, he left, saying that he would send me his paychecks from work. He had kept true to his word up until..." She trailed off there, everyone knowing what she was referring to. Izuku squeezed her hand again, this time in support. Inko beamed at the comfort, showing her gratitude for her son.

"That would make sense, at the very least," Yagi said. He looked up to fix Izuku in his strong, blue stare. "This doesn't change anything," he told the boy. "As far as I am concerned, you are more than your blood. Father or not, you are better than that man will ever be. I don't and will never regret choosing to help you."

"R-Really?" Izuku inquired tentatively, tears still in his eyes. "Even though I'm...?"

"Yes," Yagi said firmly, solidly. "There's nothing in this world that would make me think otherwise." Izuku was soon preoccupied with trying to dispel the new wave of tears that had welled up. Yagi rubbed the back of his neck. "Although," he added, "I suppose the only thing I don't understand is why you weren't able to tell me earlier."

"I'm assuming that he didn't think it was relevant since he didn't know that you were All Might," Maddie supplied. "But even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to say it outright." Yagi's eyes narrowed at her, prompting her to continue. Maddie scratched absentmindedly at her cheek. "All For One used a Quirk on Izuku to force him to say the things that he wanted to hear. I'd assume, after he found out that Izuku was his son." The boy in question seemed to shrink in on himself. "Therefore, Izuku wouldn't have been able to call him by his real name or his villain name directly. And I'm willing to bet that this is a Quirk only he can remove. If he'd want to, that is." Her disgruntled tone and slouched form made it clear she knew he wouldn't.

Yagi directed his haunted eyes towards Izuku again. "Is that who you meant by 'Daddy' back at the facility?" At Izuku's despondent nod, Inko pulled her son into a tight embrace, muttering tearful assurances and apologies to him. Yagi lowered his head into his hands again, solemn and bleak. "Of course he would," he muttered darkly, on the brink of murderous. "I shouldn't be surprised. That monster's cruelty knows no bounds." His shoulders sagged then, defeated. "I'm so sorry, my boy." His voice was wobbly, as if he was about to cry. "Perhaps, if I had managed to kill him, you wouldn't be suffering like this right now."

"No, it's okay," Izuku mumbled from his mother's arms. "You showed me that a powerful villain like him can still be beaten. You gave me hope again." Yagi seemed to sag even more from the words, shoulders shaking minutely. Maddie gave him a comforting pat on the back. They all sat in this bittersweet silence for several moments.

"This is... quite troublesome," Nezu piped up, having remained silent all throughout this until now. "Indeed, this was not something I expected." He put a hand to his chin.

"What are we going to do?" Inko asked after releasing her son and wiping some of her own tears away. "If a powerful villain is after Izuku, how are we going to protect him?"

"Fortunately, U.A. is heavily fortified. I've already invested in some heavier countermeasures for the future. It seems my calculations were correct when I first considered if we needed them." He turned to face Inko from his musing. "I've been informed that you and Miss Madeleine are currently set up in Yagi's residence to hide from the law. I believe it would be safer for both of you if you lived on campus."

"Huh?" Inko squeaked. "Are you sure? What if you get in trouble?"

"Ms. Midoriya," Nezu acknowledged. "This is a school dedicated to raising fledgling heroes. The authorities would never think that two supposed convicts would be hiding out here." Maddie noticed how he said "supposed," indicating that he didn't believe they should have been arrested for what they had done. She was silently grateful for that. While she also wanted to be near Izuku to better protect him, the principal had a point. She could agree to that.

"Speaking of Miss Madeleine," Nezu announced, clapping his paws together, "I had wanted to address this, as well." Maddie's eyebrow raised questioningly, all eyes turning to her. Nezu folded his paws again to rest them on his desk. "While the laws in America allowed you to stay with your family," he said, "the segregation was still very much present, which I'm sure was a huge part of your day-to-day life." Nezu snorted lightly. "It's quite ironic," he explained. "So much blood was shed in the history of your country to abolish segregation. And less than a century later, it's been implemented again, throughout all of it."

Maddie shifted her position, no longer appearing relaxed, instead sitting straight and poised, feet flat on the floor. Her hands rested loosely in her lap. Her expression was unreadable. "That's not all I was able to glean, however," the principal continued. "After your parents tragically passed away six years ago, you seemed to vanish as well." Maddie flinched minutely, something the others couldn't catch, but it was very clear to the rodent. As such, he decided to be more light-hearted.

"I'll tell you, it wasn't easy digging through the federal bureau's and Central Intelligence Agency's encrypted files. The Pentagon loves to keep their sensitive information under lock and key." Yagi felt his stomach drop at Nezu's insinuations. Perhaps, it was what he had feared.

Maddie's eyebrows lowered in bewilderment. "You hacked into the Pentagon?" she asked dumbfoundedly. The principal took another sip of his tea. "Yes, among other things." His smile had returned at the start of this conversation. Now it lowered again, into something Maddie recognized as pity and sympathy. "What those people did to you was nothing short of barbaric."

The girl's fingers curled into her fists. Her muscles tensed in her seat, that familiar pool of dread in her stomach churning. "While I wasn't privy to any of the graphic details," Nezu went on to explain, "I do know malpractice and unethical experimentation when I see it. Test animals receive better treatment than you did."

Yagi swallowed, hard. He tore his gaze from the girl beside him to glance at the principal. "What do you mean by that, Nezu?" The rodent's visage grew grave, clearly broaching a subject that bordered on taboo. "It was called Project Libitina. At least, it was for the specific location young Madeleine... resided in." He paused for a moment. "The purpose of this project was to reprogram, either genetically or psychologically, individuals with powerful Quirks."

Everyone's jaws dropped as they stared at the principal in shock. Maddie just lowered her head so her hair could partially hide her eyes. "But..." Inko protested, "why would they do something like that?"

"The Department of Homeland Security in the United States would never pass up an opportunity to bolster their image of being the most powerful country in the world," Nezu explained. "In fact, every country has their shady dealings. Japan is no exception. However, the things that Maddie experienced were not exclusive to her. There are sites like that all across the country, even today."

Yagi looked as though he might vomit. "And this was done to children, no less," he muttered. He turned to the girl sitting beside him, who refused to make eye contact with anyone. No doubt Izuku was thinking about that tattoo she showed him. Her gut felt like it was shriveling up.

"I was able to get access to her file," Nezu went on, "but most of it was redacted. I was able to glean a progressive timeline of events that accrued over a year or so, up until the project was halted by an escaped 'asset.'" Everyone scrutinized Maddie again. She could feel all their eyes on her. Sweat began to bead on her brow. She waited for Nezu to drop the hammer, to reveal to everyone the monster she truly was. "The incident report stated that there were multiple casualties from the staff."

And there it was. She wanted to curl into a ball and disappear. Yet, her legs refused to lift themselves up to the seat cushion. She just trained her gaze on the floor, her heart hammering in her chest. She didn't want to look at all the horror etched into everyone's features, for them to be afraid of her. But she was a monster, and people were scared of monsters. She wouldn't blame them for that. She prepared herself to be scorned and denounced, cast back into the streets like the vicious beast she was.

Instead, to her surprise, she felt Yagi's bony arms encircle her and pull her towards him, pressing her against his body. It was astonishingly warm, considering how skinny the man was. She took basking in this warmth over the tumultuous thoughts in her head, it being much less overwhelming. "You poor girl," he breathed hauntingly. "Why didn't you ever talk to anyone about this?"

Her face screwed into a sour expression. "It's not something I like to talk about." Yagi's fingers twitched. "I understand, but... to keep all of that inside for so long... I can't even imagine..." His hold around her tightened, assuring. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. If I had known, I would've put a stop to it. At least now you know that you're not alone in this anymore."

"'S okay," she mumbled. "You had more important things to worry about." Yagi pulled away to stare her in the face, hands on her shoulders. "You are important, young Madeleine. You're important to me, at least." Maddie couldn't get a word in, she was so enraptured. "Whoever told you that you're not worth saving is a liar."

Maddie struggled to keep in the tears that threatened to spill over. "Thanks," she choked out, feeling a sense of validation she had rarely gotten in her life. It made her perspective much less bleak.

"Now that everything has been addressed," Nezu piped up, "we've come to what we are really here for." He leaned forward in his desk chair. "Izuku Midoriya, Madeleine Pilgrim, if you choose to stay, I, and Yagi, will personally see to your development."

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Development in what?" she asked.

Nezu's eyes gleamed with barely contained excitement. "To become heroes, of course. If that's what you want, that is."

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Author's Note: Lot of things happening in this chapter. The way this conversation played out is similar to how it did in the original, just with the added commentary from Maddie and Inko. Another minor plot change is that Yagi knows from the beginning that All For One is Izuku's father, rather than him finding out at the end of Season 1. Maddie was able to figure it out fairly easily. Again, because I said so. And, of course, Nezu would hack into the Pentagon. He's Nezu, for crying out loud.

The FNAF movie was so good! Can't wait for the next one! Also looking forward to Markiplier's film "Iron Lung" as well!

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower