Short Summary: Shigaraki Tomura is captured and so are the rest of his companions. The League of Villains is no more and society's trust in Heroes seems to be restored. All Might visits the young villain in jail. No spoilers past season three.

No Spoilers beyond Anime season 3.
No pairing, no sexual content.

Author's note: English is not my first language but I wanted to make this available for as many people as possible.

This is also a warning that this story is not going to be morally correct. I do not believe that all humans are redeemable and I do not believe that all things should be forgiven. However, this is just fiction and this story specifically is about exploring the relationship of a "hero" and a "villain" and how an idealistic/optimistic ending could look like. I like generic stories with a happy ending – so if you're not into forgiving the "villain" I can see that, but this story may not be for you.

Additionally, I have revised/replaced all chapters while writing chapter 20 and hope that they're less cringy to read now. Re-reading my own story, I realised how many deux-ex-machina moments were built in to make the story progress. I can't write and I know that, this is just for fun. I have also removed some (unimportant) notes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Boku No Hero Academia.

CHAPTER I – FOR NANA

All Might stood nervously in front of the heavy cell door of Shigaraki's cell. He had been told that the room that held Shigaraki was made out of the best steel in the world. It didn't matter, this alone would not keep Shigaraki inside - his quirk would simply decay the material, which was why they had come up with an additional solution: While he had been restrained in the hospital after being beaten by young Midoriya and Bakugou in an unimaginable team effort between the two, the doctors had clothed his index-finger with a glove fabricated of special polypropylene, while his pinkie was held into a different glove made out of metallic fibres. This way he would always be touching two different materials at once, meaning that he couldn't use his quirk as long as he wore them. The gloves were connected to his wrists, squeezing them painfully and stopping the blood circulation as soon as Shigaraki tried to take them off.

All Might shuddered when he thought about how the justice he used to be the face of could use devices like that, even for a criminal. But then again, there seemed to be no other way to keep Shigaraki from breaking out.

How useful his quirk would have been, had he chosen a different path..

The once number one hero sighed and looked through the only little window into the cell.

Shigaraki Tomura was sitting on his knees on the cold cement ground, his hands on his legs and his back crooked, his face hidden beneath the mop that was his fair silverish hair. He wore a black t-shirt, exposing the bandages that covered his arms. All Might immediately felt sick seeing that they hadn't been changed in a while, being soaked with old brown blood.

He had been told that Shigaraki would scream and attack everyone that came near to him, so that they had to wait until he passed out from exhaustion before they could touch him. When Shigaraki would realise that he had been touched or that they had taken a blood sample, he would get so angry as to thrash everything inside his cell, which was why his once luxurious room including a table, a chair, various books and even videogames (!) had been emptied more and more every day.

It was because of All Might that they had brought him videogame systems and books, out of his old room near the bar hideout of the league, in the first place. The police had found it by accident, shortly after what had happened in Kamino while they were looking for clues in the area. All Might had visited the room as well. He didn't remember anything unusual for a young man in his early twenties. Besides books and videogames, the shelves had contained everything from action figures to a lava lamp to even a wet specimen. The walls had been plastered with maps and news articles about All Might and other heroes.

All for One had probably raised the boy with a reward system, buying him everything he wanted as long as he did his "homework", stimulating his brain and spoiling him at the same time.

The police then had confiscated all of Shigarakis belongings from the computer to every empty soda can (and there had been a lot them!) but nothing ended up being of value. All of the stuff that hadn't been brought to his cell had been disposed of; burnt to ashes.

When there had been nothing left to destroy, Shigaraki had proceeded to dig his nails into his neck until his blood loss had been so drastic that he had passed out. It was the one time they had to take him back to the villain hospital. Even Recovery Girl had been called for assistance but since Shigaraki was so thin, healing him with her quirk would have taken too many reserves out of him so that he probably would have died. He had to recover slowly on his own, spending most of the days asleep.

About a week after that incident, when Shigaraki had been brought back into his cell, he had reamed his own arms against the rug until he had passed out again. Luckily, the damage had not been as grave as with his neck. The rug had then been removed as well, leaving him with nothing but a thin mattress, a toilet and a sink. The villain only stopped hurting himself after being warned that he would be drugged into submission if he continued on like this.

It had now been almost a month since they had captured him and All Might had finally been given the permission by the authorities to visit him. He knew that Shigaraki wouldn't answer to any psychiatrists, making the legal process even more difficult than it already was. The judges knew that his upbringing suggested manipulation, which was the reason for him not being completely restrained full-time like All for One or Stain, but they still argued that all of his actions were made consciously.

And they were: He didn't show regret or remorse, but then again, he really didn't show anything except for hate and anger towards all around him and the despise he carried for himself.

"All Might?", the prison guard that had brought him here asked, pulling him out of his thoughts, "Are you alright?"

All Might nodded weakly: "Yes, don't worry. I just can't stand to see such a young man be hind bars. He should be out living his life to the fullest."

"He's dangerous.", the prison guard told him and typed in the code for the door to unlock, "But I get what you mean. I have a son around his age."

He then pulled open the heavy steel door and All Might's heartbeat sped up.

"Shigaraki, you have a visitor. Use the time well. If you try anything funny, we will take action.", the guard warned the prisoner but Shigaraki didn't even look up. The guard then turned back to All Might.

"You have an hour max. The conversation will be confidential but we will watch you through the monitor just in case."

He then left the two and closed the heavy door again, keeping it unlocked in case of emer gency. All Might had already been informed prior to not get to close to Shigaraki and that he would have to sit on the ground, since no chairs or any other materials that could be used as weapons were allowed into the cell anymore. It was okay though, he was happy that the judge had at least allowed their conversation to stay between the two. He didn't want too many people to know about his personal attachment to the criminal.

All Might looked at the boy – he isn't really a boy anymore, he reminded himself but couldn't help but see a child in front of him – and felt his heart break. He needed to be objective, but all he could see was Shimura Nana's grandson. How happy she would have been to be a grandmother and he imagined her holding a child with fluffy pale hair and red eyes, smiling-

His mentor had given up her only son, Shigaraki's father, for him to grow up away from the dangers that affected the life of a hero, only for All for One to torment her even in death by abducting her grand child and twist him into this.. monster.

Time was running and All Might needed to use it. He was only allowed two one-hour visits per month, for the beginning at least, and All Might didn't want to waste precious seconds. So he sat onto the cold hard floor and folded his hands. A last deep breath and lets go!

"Shigaraki, there are some things we need to discuss.", he started getting right to the point and noticed how the villain immediately flinched upon hearing his voice. He hadn't flinched when the guard had spo ken. Was it because he recognized All Might?

The former hero awaited some answer, even just an additional reaction besides the flinching but Shigaraki stayed quiet. Well, he wasn't known to be cooperative with anyone, why would he be with All Might? What exactly had the hero expected out of this visit? Had he actually expected anything at all or did he just want to get know Nana's grandson? Would he ever be able to see the sunlight again, to smile like Nana had smiled?...

Focus.

It's wasn't that the court wasn't willing to shorten his lockdown if Shigaraki had agreed to go through therapy, work towards improvement and a will of wanting to fit into society. But Shigaraki didn't want a freedom with restrictions; he didn't want to be oppressed by society and therefore didn't agree to any terms set to him by the court, lawyers, therapists or doctors. He wanted to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. His mind had been poisoned for so long that All Might's questions were answered right away: It seemed as if Shigaraki would stay in here for the rest of his life.

But All Might wasn't one to give up. He had spent nights thinking about this meeting and he would try different approaches, surprised to find out that his second one would already get him a reaction.

"Shimura?"

Shigaraki slowly looked up, his red eyes wide but clearly tired, most of his face still hidden behind the curtain of hair. He would have actually been a good looking lad if it wasn't for those patches of dry skin, All Might could see that.

However that wasn't important now, he couldn't allow himself to lose Shigaraki's attention.

"That is your name, right?", he asked like he was talking to a friend. The villain didn't answer, just snarled and it was then that a guard's voice echoed through the small cell.

"Shigaraki, you are warned.", said the voice and the leader of the league quickly lowered his head again. He knew that misbehaving meant that they drugged him, so he obeyed. Being caged was one thing but being completely helpless and at their mercy something else entirely.

"I just want to talk.", All Might continued and Shigaraki looked up again. All Might hadn't expected to get any answers at all, at least from this first visit but Shigaraki seemed to be good for a surprise.

"Have them kill me.", he answered, his voice raspy from the constant screaming but All Might could still her the anger and hatred in it. He felt his own heart rip apart.

"Kill me while you can. Because when I get out of here, I will tear down this world. I will kill all of you in the most painful way possible."

All Might sighed. These were the only answers he was giving when he answered on the rare occasion: threats. You would think that after one month of isolation and total lockdown, he would start to break. None of that with Shigaraki.

"What did All for One do to you?", he asked, his voice full of concern that he wasn't able to hide.

Shigaraki then showed one of his crude evil smiles, forming more cracks into his dry lips. It was what came next that All Might didn't foresee. He knew that even with that naiveté of his, Shigaraki was still intelligent and cunning. And because he hadn't thought about that, he was taken off guard.

"Tell me, All Might, do you care so much for me that you would make them go so far as to give me this cosy cell whereas other villains are not even able to feed themselves? Is it because you think that I was used by my Sensei? That I deserve a second chance?", he said quietly and slightly leaned forwards.

Surprisingly, no warning came this time so All Might assumed that there was no danger for now.

"You're partially right. I care because this isn't you. You were not born this way and I am convinced that you can change. You should have been informed that if you went through therap-", he tried to explain, but was cut off by Shigaraki laughing out loud. All Might wasn't surprised that Shigaraki thought of all of this as a joke. This young man seemed to have gone way past sanity a long time ago.

How could All Might even know if Shigaraki wouldn't have ended up the way he did if All for One hadn't been involved? Maybe this was truly him, maybe he had made himself this way, maybe…

"Shigaraki was already born twisted. Only one with a mind like his could be my successor."

All for One's words.

No.

He was of Nana's blood.

The laughing stopped.

"What makes you so sure, All Might? Do you think that you have me all figured out just because of a name?", the prisoner then asked, keeping his voice low.

"No, I don't."

This answer seemed to satisfy Shigaraki because he smiled again. But All Might wasn't done.

"But I want to help you either way. I made a promise to your grandmother, before she was killed."

This was when the climate inside the cell began to change. This was dangerous territory but All Might had no choice.

Shigaraki's was already naturally pale, most likely an outcome of having had to hide constantly, but he looked like a sheet of paper now. His smile disappeared and was replaced with an angry look, his hands which had laid flat on his legs for all of their conversation suddenly clenched into fists.

"Shigaraki, calm down. This is your last warning.", came the voice through the ceiling again. But it didn't show any effect on the criminal, his attention now fully on All Might.

"What the fuck does that matter? If she was friends with you, she was probably a wretched hero too!"

"Nana just wanted to protect her family. I don't know what happened to her son, your father, but all of this should never have happened."

Who would have thought that her child would grow up to have a child of his own who would then turn out to be one of Japan's most wanted villains? On the other hand, it wasn't that surprising knowing that All for One had been involved.

"Where the fuck are you going with this?", Shigaraki asked, his voice now trembling and his face hidden again. It was a warning but All Might never backed down. If he wanted to get the upper hand in this conversation, he needed to push Shigaraki out of his comfort zone to where he couldn't defend himself.

"I wish I could have been there when you needed me. But All for One got to you first. After he killed Nana.", he further provoked and noticed how Shigaraki's body started to tremble as well.

"Shut up, shut the fuck up. Fuck off.", he murmured but All Might wasn't planning on going anywhere. He was not a therapist but he was sure that Shigaraki needed to confront whatever had happened in his past so that he could find the right path. Like a bone that had healed the wrong way, he needed to break him again so that the kid could let go and heal properly. If Shigaraki would let him was a different question, but All Might had to try.

"Shimura, let me hel-.", All Might asked, almost pleaded, but was interrupted again.

"Don't fucking call me that.", another warning came and Shigaraki started to dig his nails into his bandaged arms. The nails had been clipped so short that he wouldn't be able to scratch dangerously deep, but it still took All Might a lot of effort no to grab the young man's wrists and tear them away from his arms.

"We're stopping this. Shigaraki back off.", the voice said fast and All Might trusted the guards of Tartarus enough to know that this situation was getting out of hand. He wouldn't be able to change their mind and prepared to leave but before he could get up, Shigaraki threw himself onto him, grabbing his throat with slender but strong hands and choking him.

All Might didn't panic; he had been a hero for so long, he was used to people trying to kill him. He knew that the guards would be in here any second now, but he still grabbed Shigaraki's wrists and tried to push them away. In this form however he didn't stand a chance. Shigaraki was heavier then he looked, pressing his bony knees into All Might's chest, his eyes a gleaming red that screamed in anger and hate in a way that made All Might ask himself why he had decided to come here.

It was obviously too late for him. Nothing All Might could do would ever bring down this mountain of hate that had piled up over all these years. He was sure that he couldn't bring Shigaraki back on the path of righteousness. He could just give up now.

It would be the smartest of decisions, wouldn't it?

Probably.

But he had to try.

For Nana.

"Your fault! This is your fault! I hate you! I'll kill you!", Shigaraki screamed through his teeth but was suddenly pulled off All Might, who caught the precious air as soon as his throat was free again. He sat up slowly, coughing and rubbing his neck. His attacker was thrown violently to the floor by four guards, fighting like a prey for its survival and screaming curses and threats about how he was going to kill them. He didn't even realize that a guard had already pushed a syringe into his right arm, drugging and calming him in minutes.

Soon Shigaraki's screams became mumbles and although he was still trying to get up, his body wouldn't obey him.

All Might, who had stood up and watched, became sick. He didn't blame the guards, they had to stop him somehow, he just didn't feel good watching someone get unwillingly drugged into submission, even a villain. It felt like they were stripping away the last inches of his humanity.

"Is everything alright? Are you hurt?", the guard that had let him inside asked and All Might shook his head. With all these people inside, the cell suddenly felt so tiny.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for reacting the way you did."

"You should get your neck checked, just in case.", the guard advised but All Might shook his head.

"No, really, it's alright.", he assured the man again and added one of his signature smiles. It wasn't the same as it used to, considering he was now walking around in his true form all the time, but he still got the feeling that the guard had been satisfied with his answer. Remembering that he too was now one of those who needed to 'be protected', he brushed off the feeling of annoyance he had gotten because of the guard's worry. He had just meant well and it was his job after all, All Might should have been thankful.

His attention went back to Shigaraki, who was now lying still, staring at the ceiling but still mumbling. He prepared to leave with the guards, who had already left the cell, only to turn back again and walk towards Shigaraki, kneeling down next to him, slowly reaching out – slowly, as if he feared that Shigaraki would bite him.

The villain didn't even look at him though and All Might was sure that he wasn't able to; he just kept staring to the ceiling, mumbling things about 'Sensei' and 'tearing down this world'.

Sensei? All for One..

Sure that he was safe, All Might put his hand onto Shigaraki's head, combing through his unkempt hair, exposing his face. It was an awfully personal gesture and he knew that the guards would talk about it as soon as he had left, but it didn't matter.

Now he knew that his desire to save Shigaraki Tomura from not only All for One's teachings, but also from himself, was more important to him then the world knowing about his attachment towards the boy and his family.