Chapter 63: Apologies and Revolations
Cid woke up sometime the next day around noon. He felt stiff and all his muscles ached slightly. 'Probably from laying down the past 3 days straight' he guessed. It definitely didn't have to do with all his injuries, nope not at all.
He felt a warm body against his side and looked down to see exactly who he thought would be there still. Yui was still lying beside him, both arms wrapped around his torso, phone propped against the bed rail while an episode of Power Rangers played through her ear buds. When she noticed he was awake she looked at him for a second, leaned up, and kissed his cheek. Then she put her head back down and shifted the phone so he could see it too while putting it on speakers.
They stayed like that for a few hours just relaxing comfortably. Cid didn't say anything about it, but he noted she was being extra clingy today.
Then their peaceful afternoon was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.
Yui got off the bed and sat on the chair next to it. Cid's eye went to the door.
"Come in." Cid said in his usual bored tone.
All Might stepped in sheepishly at how loud he had knocked. He felt smaller than usual, his shoulders were hunched and his smile felt more forced than he had ever seen it. Then he saw Cid, the bandages all over him, the empty sleeve, the way he was sunk back into the bed, and whatever greeting he'd prepared died on the spot.
All Might stared for a second clenching his fist, then cleared his throat.
"Young Kageno. How are you doing?"
"Well enough." Cid replied flatly
The quiet that followed was awkward. All Might stood there fidgeting with his hands unsure how to handle this situation.
Then he suddenly bowed deeply, nearly parallel to the floor.
"I am sorry young Kageno," he said. "You should never have had to face that man. All For One was my burden. I failed to deal with him properly last time, and because of that you were forced to stand in my place. This—" His eyes flicked to the empty shoulder and away again. "This is what that failure cost you, I am truly sorry."
Cid stared at him for a second, surprised.
"Stand up."
All Might hesitated, then straightened, still looking hesitant.
"I didn't fight him for you," Cid said. "Or for any of that, he threatened Yui, he was there to take my Quirk. I didn't really have a choice, but to fight him." His remaining hand rested against the sheet. "So this isn't your fault."
All Might opened his mouth to say something, but Cid kept talking before he could get a word in.
"But since you mentioned it. During our fight, All For One talked. A lot."
All Might's face pinched. He let out a short, annoyed breath. "Yes. Yes, he does. That man loves the sound of his own voice."
"He specifically talked about the last fight you two had," Cid said. "He said you were so focused on killing him that you stopped thinking about the damage you were causing." Cid's eye stayed on him. "I know he was trying to get in my head. But part of me can't help asking. Was he telling the truth?"
All Might stared at him.
The years of guilt piled on him all at once. He pulled a chair over and sat, elbows on his knees, head bowed resting on his hands. For a second he didn't look like the Symbol of Peace. He just looked old, tired, worn thin by the years of working.
"Yes, young Kageno. That is exactly what happened that night." His voice was rough. "I was so blinded by rage that I fought him recklessly. I caused so much harm. So much death. To the people I was supposed to protect." His hands tightened together. "It is my greatest failure and my greatest shame to this day."
Yui didn't speak but her eyes widened and her hand raised over her mouth in shock at what she heard and at just how tired he looked at the moment.
"Also, I know why this would matter to you," All Might said. "I went through every file from that incident by hand, I memorized each of them. I etched their losses into myself so I would never repeat that mistake." He spoke with conviction and intent that died quickly. "But that will never erase what I caused.
"When I first saw you at U.A., I knew this conversation would come. You are a byproduct of my own selfish actions, I just never knew how to start it. How to tell a boy that I helped destroy his family of four's peaceful life."
Cid went rigid
All Might saw the change and misread it immediately. Grief. Rage. Shock. He couldn't tell which, only that he had made this whole situation worse.
He stood turning towards the door.
"Excuse me. It seems I have only made this harder. Instead of apologizing, I dug up old wounds, I apologize I will take my leave."
He exited with the door clicking shut behind him.
Cid sat there staring at the sheets.
'He said four. Four members of the family. My family.'
His memory only had three. Him and his parents. That was it. That had always been it.
'Could he have made a mistake?'
No. Not over this. Not over something like this, All Might didn't get a number like that wrong, not with the kind of person he is.
'So All Might wasn't the one with bad information. I am'
'This confirms what All For One said, they did do something to my memories. The only questions left were why, who did they take out and how much did they really mess with.'
Then Cid jolted due to Yui giving his good shoulder a small shake.
"Cid, Are you okay?"
He blinked and looked at her.
"You zoned out there for a bit," she said.
"He said there were 4 people in my family. But I only remember three." He shook his head once. "He wouldn't misspeak about that. Not with what he just admitted. So that confirms that they did do something to my memories and I'm going to figure out what." His jaw tightened.
"If," she corrected him, "and I mean if there were 4 of you then yes, WE will figure out what they did."
She stopped. Her eyes widened slightly.
"Cid… do you think Claire could have something to do with this? She's the only part of your dream that keeps coming back so vividly."
That caught his attention.
The name pulled everything into one line. The 'L'. The face he couldn't shake. The fourth person All Might talked about like she had always been there.
"Then she isn't just from my dream," he said. "She could be the one I can't remember."
Yui nodded slowly.
"It would make sense. The brain's weird. That Quirk could have grabbed things that were already there or something and used it to recreate her. They might have removed her from your memories but might not have been able to or didn't even try with your subconscious"
Cid stared past her for a second.
"Then she could be my little sister." He said it like he was testing the words.
"Possibly." she said softly as she took his hand holding it tighter.
His eye cut back to Yui. "But that's only if All Might is right. We need to look into it."