A quiet silence filled the advisory office. Midoriya and Zoro sat side by side on the couch across from All Might's desk. All Might studied the two of them for a brief moment before finally speaking.
"Young Midoriya, Zoro. What is it?"
Midoriya's hands were pressed tight against his sides, his eyes carrying a mix of nerves and hope. He took a slow breath before breaking the silence, his voice trembling just slightly.
"All Might... about Sir Nighteye's agency. Could you, could you put in a word for me?"
All Might's mouth fell open in genuine surprise. "You want me to introduce you to Sir Nighteye for your Work Study?"
"Yes!" Midoriya answered, his voice carrying real excitement now. "He's one of the few heroes who actually worked under you!"
"Where did you even hear that name?"
All Might thought it over for a second, then it clicked. He must have gotten it from Gran Torino.
He cleared his throat, his massive features settling into something closer to regret. He rubbed the back of his neck and spoke in a low, uneven voice.
"Midoriya. I really wish I could. But things between him and me are complicated right now. I can't step in directly, or speak to him on your behalf."
Midoriya leaned forward in his seat. "Please."
All Might shook his head firmly. "No." His tone hardened. "I'm against the whole idea of Work Studies for first years to begin with. You don't need this right now, and before you go anywhere near something like this, you need to improve your own skills first."
Midoriya's head snapped up, his voice coming out stronger this time, carrying a real hunger to prove himself.
"I know that. That's exactly why I need this chance. I'm not asking because I think I'm ready. I'm asking because I want to learn how to become ready. If I wait around until I feel complete, I'll never move at all. I want to see how real heroes work from the inside. I want to know what I'm missing. I want to learn something the classroom alone can't teach me."
He paused, his eyes steady. "I'm not looking for an easy road, All Might. I'm looking for the right one."
Something shifted in All Might's expression. He didn't answer right away, but Midoriya's words had clearly landed.
Before he could respond, Zoro finally moved. He let out a light breath through his nose and spoke in his usual rough, even tone.
"He's not asking for a favor. He just wants to get thrown in the water so he can figure out how to swim."
Midoriya turned toward him, mildly startled, while Zoro kept going without much concern for the reaction.
"And students too scared to fall never learn how to stand."
A short silence settled over the room.
All Might looked between the two of them like he'd found himself facing something different from the students he usually saw. Midoriya spoke from the heart, and Zoro wasn't pleading at all, he was just laying the whole thing out plain: a confrontation, a test, a step forward.
All Might tightened his fist slightly, then said slowly, "But..." He rose to his full height and smiled with a confidence meant to cut some of the tension in the room. "Don't worry, either of you. I won't leave you two to figure this out on your own. I'll find you another way, one that suits you."
He turned toward the door. "Give me one minute. I'll be right back."
Then he left with quick steps.
Zoro stayed seated, leaning back against the couch, arms crossed over his chest. He looked toward the door All Might had just walked through and said in his usual calm voice, "That man still carries the whole world on his shoulders, even after losing his power."
Midoriya turned to him and nodded. "Yeah. All Might always tries to do the best thing for everyone, whatever it costs him."
He went quiet for a beat, then looked at Zoro with interest. "By the way, Zoro. What about you? Why not ask All Might about your own thing? Maybe he can help, maybe he even knows something about where Shimotsuki is. He knows a lot of people."
Before Zoro could answer, the door opened and All Might walked back in, his wide smile already in place. He looked at Midoriya. "I'm back! Young Midoriya, your problem is solved. Right now."
At that exact moment, he noticed Zoro sitting off somewhere else entirely, his eyes fixed on empty air. He turned toward him directly, his voice serious.
"Hey, Zoro! What's wrong? What are you thinking about?" He added, "If it's the Work Study weighing on you, your path's already decided."
Midoriya's eyes went wide with surprise, while Zoro raised an eyebrow and straightened up slightly. "What do you mean by that? My path's already decided?"
"We received word from Shimotsuki." All Might answered. "He reached out to Principal Nezu. He's going to be extremely busy in the coming period and won't be able to take you in, in case you were planning to go to him. But he didn't leave you without somewhere to go."
Zoro raised an eyebrow slightly, watching him with quiet interest.
All Might continued with a calm smile. "You'll be heading to the veteran hero Yoroimusha's agency. The staff already reached out to him, and he's fully prepared to take you in as soon as you're ready. You can head there whenever you like."
A flash of excitement crossed Zoro's eyes. He gave a faint, confident smile, touching Yubashiri's hilt with one hand. "Yoroimusha. The samurai hero." He paused. "Heh. So the old man didn't throw me somewhere random after all. This actually sounds interesting."
The moment Midoriya heard that, his whole face lit up. He turned to Zoro fast, his voice bright with genuine excitement.
"Then you've got your answer, Zoro! I really think that old man never forgot about you. He set up the perfect place for you!"
Zoro let out a light breath through his nose, a faint half smile pulling at his mouth, something between relief and curiosity. He straightened up in his seat and said in his low, calm voice, "Seems that way. At least I won't waste much time wandering around blind."
He got up slowly, grabbed his swords, and fixed them firmly at his hip before heading toward the door with steady steps. "I'm heading out now to get ready for tonight. Tomorrow's got a long, hard road waiting."
All Might smiled and boomed out, "Good luck, Zoro! Be careful, and learn as much as you can from him!"
Midoriya waved. "Good luck, Zoro! See you later!"
Zoro left the two of them behind in the office, stepping out into the wide hallway where the lights bounced off the polished floor.
He'd barely taken a few steps when someone appeared coming straight toward him from the opposite direction. He looked up to find Mirio Togata standing right in front of him, on his way into the same room.
Mirio stopped, flashing that wide, bright smile of his, studying Zoro's face with obvious respect. "Hey."
Zoro looked at him with calm, steady eyes, no exaggerated reaction at all. Mirio laughed lightly and kept going.
"That day, we never really talked. I never got to say what I wanted to say." He paused. "When I took all of you on, you were the only one who could read my movements and dodge them like that. That kind of instinct is terrifying. Honestly, after seeing that from you, I'll just say it straight: you deserve to be a third year here, not a first year."
A thin, mocking smile broke Zoro's usual stillness. "First year, third year. Just empty school labels that don't mean anything to me." He looked at Mirio with a sharp, confident edge, one that carried his whole fighting spirit behind it. "On a real battlefield, death doesn't care what class you're in. What actually matters is who's still standing when it's over."
Mirio let out a short, admiring laugh at that. "Alright, that answer just confirms you're really not a normal student. Hope we cross paths again on the field."
"Soon enough." Zoro said it short, then walked past him with steady steps, heading toward the academy's exit. Mirio continued on into All Might's office.
The next morning, in the Class 1-A dorm specifically, the place buzzed with that usual weekend energy. Morning sunlight slipped through the common room's tall windows, throwing light across the students scattered around the space.
The scene was a little chaotic, but familiar. Kaminari yawned lazily, rubbing his eyes, while Kirishima stood near the kitchen with a toothbrush in his mouth, trying to talk to Sato, who was putting together a quick breakfast. In another corner, Uraraka sipped a cup of warm milk while chatting with Tsuyu.
Then, without warning, that calm morning rhythm broke under the sound of quick, storming footsteps.
Midoriya appeared in his full school uniform, his bag hanging off one shoulder. He moved fast, like he was racing against the clock, his face carrying both seriousness and excitement at once.
"Morning, everyone! I'm heading out!" he shouted as he shot past them, heading straight for the main door to catch up with Mirio Togata on their way to Sir Nighteye's agency.
Kaminari blinked, staring at the door that had already closed behind him. "Why's he in such a rush on a day off?"
The silence barely settled back into the room before it broke again with a familiar, sharp voice.
"Shut up, half and half! Who said I was walking with you?!"
Bakugo stormed forward, hands shoved in his uniform pockets, Todoroki walking behind him at his usual calm pace, that composure of his somehow more infuriating to Bakugo than anything else could be.
Todoroki spoke in a flat tone, like he was reading off a weather report. "Since our route to the provisional license training center is the same, it makes sense we'd walk together. We could go over some details from the last exam on the way, to avoid..."
"I told you to stop clinging to me!" Bakugo cut him off, whipping around with fire in his eyes. "Take a different route! I don't want to see your split face this early in the morning! Walk at least ten meters behind me, or I'll burn you!"
Todoroki just looked at him in silence for a second, then said flatly, "Ten meters still means we're on the same road."
Bakugo let out a strangled scream through his teeth and spun around, walking faster, Todoroki keeping roughly the same distance behind him as they both left the dorm, headed for their own training.
While Uraraka and Kirishima watched the whole thing with a light sweat forming on their foreheads, a quiet chime rang out from the dorm elevator.
The metal doors slid open slowly, and Roronoa Zoro stepped out.
His look was a strange, striking mix. He wore the academy's school uniform, but he hadn't given up who he was underneath it, his usual green haramaki wrapped around his waist over the school shirt, his three swords fastened tightly inside it. His steps were heavy, calm, carrying the confidence of someone who knew exactly what he was walking toward.
Zoro didn't pay any attention to the light noise in the room. His eyes stayed forward.
"Morning, Zoro!" Kirishima called, waving. "Heading to your new agency today, right? Good luck, man!"
Zoro raised a hand slightly in a simple gesture of thanks without breaking stride, and walked out through the main door toward the train station.
His destination was clear enough: an old historic district sitting quietly between the noise of the modern city and the dark, aging alleys that had long served as an extension of the underworld and the yakuza's reach. Somewhere in there, behind those old wooden walls, sat the agency of the veteran hero Yoroimusha, who had climbed to the number nine ranking among pro heroes after All Might's retirement. The location fit the samurai's reverence for tradition perfectly, but it also meant getting there required cutting through streets that looked nothing like the rest of the city.
About an hour later, what should have been a simple trip had turned into anything but. For Zoro, the identical alleys and traditional wooden walls were a perfect recipe for getting lost.
He walked through a narrow lane now, old traditional houses pressing in on both sides, all of it too quiet for comfort. He stopped for a moment, looked right, then left, frowning at a small slip of paper in his hand.
"Damn it. Is this even the right address?" he muttered, his voice rough, folding the paper and shoving it back in his pocket.
He exhaled in irritation and got ready to keep wandering. Then something else caught his attention.
A faint presence, distant, deliberate. Not killing intent, not a direct attack, just an eye watching him from the shadows above one of the nearby wooden rooftops. A single scout, breathing slow, trying hard to stay hidden.
Zoro didn't stop for long. He didn't draw his sword. He didn't even bother turning to look at whoever was watching. He understood right away that this person wasn't here to fight, only to watch.
He kept walking at his usual pace, tilting his head slightly toward the shadow, a small, sideways smile forming on his lips, one that carried a quiet warning all its own.
"Keep watching." He said it low, barely loud enough for the watcher to catch, but the edge in his voice cut clean as a blade. "Just don't get in my way."
He carried on through the old alleys with the same confidence as before, leaving the Shie Hassaikai scout frozen in the shadows behind him, unable to even swallow properly, his whole body shaking from the cold weight of the presence Zoro had left hanging in the air. He didn't dare move.
He kept his eyes locked on Zoro until the swordsman had nearly vanished from sight, then pulled a small phone from his pocket and pressed a saved number.
The phone barely rang once.
"Talk."
Kai Chisaki's calm voice came through the line.
The man lowered his voice further. "The target's inside our territory."
A short pause.
"But I think he felt me."
"You think?"
The man's face tensed. "He never looked my way. Never touched his sword. But he spoke like he already knew someone was watching."
Another pause.
Then Overhaul's voice came through, cold as always. "Did he try to find you?"
"No."
"Did he change direction?"
"No."
"Did he attack you?"
"No."
Overhaul closed his eyes for a moment. "Then there's no problem."
The man's eyes widened slightly.
Overhaul continued in that same flat, empty tone. "If he sensed a watcher and didn't consider you enough of a threat to draw his blade, that means he got nothing useful out of us." He paused before adding, "Don't get close to him. Just watch. I want to know where he goes, who he meets, how he lives." Another pause. "Combat comes later."
"Understood."
The man ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
He threw one last glance toward the alley Zoro had disappeared into.
"So. You're the type who lets the enemy watch him on purpose."
He whispered it to himself, then moved silently across the rooftops, keeping a safe distance, never letting himself get any closer.
.
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