A Light That Guides, A Warmth That Heals

Chapter 2

Izuku fought to regain his breath on the roof of the building All Might had landed them on. As he took another deep breath, he heard All Might say, "Not a very smart move, young man. Knock on the door and someone will let you in. Now, I must be off."

The green-haired boy felt his chest tighten up, like his heart was screaming at him to do something. 'Please don't leave yet..'

Izuku shouted to him, "Please, wait just a second! I need to ask you something."

All Might's reply was firm and instantaneous, "I don't have time right now! I really must be going!"

'I need to know..please..'

"Can I still be a hero, even if I have a weak quirk? Can I still save people with these weak hands of mine?"

All Might stopped moving immediately, turning his head to stare back at the young man whose life he had saved less than an hour before. The young boy who, now, was asking him if he could become a hero. As he looked at the boy, eyes full of hope and passion, he was reminded of himself at a younger age. However, before he could finish that train of thought, he felt his insides clench up, and steam began to rise from his body just as Izuku began explaining how badly he wanted to be like All Might.

When the green-haired boy finally looked up from his speech, he saw a scrawny man in All Might's place. The man's eyes were sunken and tired. His cheeks were hollow and he looked to be little more than a skeleton. Izuku's brain went into overdrive trying to come up with an explanation for what could have happened. He...well...he kinda freaked out a little.

The man standing in All Might's place seemed to take everything in very calmly, despite accusations that he was a fake. It was a fair assumption, he supposed, considering the situation. He let out the long sigh of a man who has seen too much and slowly slumped against the fence along the edge of the roof, finally settling into a sitting position.

He stared at Midorya for a moment, intense eyes unnerving the boy, then finally spoke, "I assure you that I am, in fact, All Might." He lifted his shirt, showing off what appeared to be the remains of a horrendous injury. It was patchy and covered in purple scar tissue. "I got this injury in a big fight a five years back. I wasn't able to recover. It can't be cured, and because of it, I can only perform as a hero for about 3 hours every day. The rest of the time, I look like this." His shoulders seemed to slump as he finished his explanation, almost as if he were disappointed with himself.

The young boy's eyes were filled with shock. He thought, 'How can this be? All Might has never come close to being defeated before. At least, not that I've seen.' After a moment thinking, Izuku asked All Might, "Five years ago? Was it the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?"

All Might replied, "You know your stuff kid, but no. He may have landed a few hits, but he couldn't do anything like this. It was a different fight. One I did everything I could to keep under wraps. As for your question, I could use a little more detail. What kind of quirk do you have?"

Izuku quickly answered his idol, "My quirk allows my body to have a very high temperature. I can expell that heat from my body, and it helps make me fairly resistant to both heat and cold. I know it isn't much, but is there any way I can save people the way you do? With a fearless smile that brings joy and security?"

All Might seemed to fall deep into thought, but he spoke after only a moment, "That smile is full of fear. For pro heroes, the pressure is always high. Lives are at stake. We must show confidence and inspire security. I smile to hide my fear. As for your question about whether or not you can be a hero, I would like to say that it is not so black and white as yes and no, young man. I'd say that your quirk has potential. It may not be as obvious as the uses for mine, but I'm sure you could find some. However, you seem to lack confidence in yourself and in your quirk, and that is often the downfall of many heroes. So, I would say that, until you gain some confidence in yourself and your quirk, you certainly cannot become a hero."

All Might's words took Izuku on a rollercoaster of emotions. He felt elated as his idol recognized the potential of his quirk, but it all came crashing down when he heard the words, "You cannot become a hero."

Said idol was walking towards the door, and as he made his way out, he said, "I can see that you have a dream, young man. The only advice I can give you is this- Prove me wrong. Prove that you have what it takes." After that, the door slammed shut, and Izuku sat there alone, all kinds of emotions clashing inside him.

Eventually, it all solidified into one feeling-determination. It was intense. His passion to become a hero had never been more intense that it was in that moment. He rose from his sitting position, staring out into the horizon as he starting thinking on how to put his newfound determination to work. However, before he could fall too deep into his thoughts, the sound of an explosion echoed across the city, and then he saw smoke start rising into the sky.

'A villain attack..I should go!'

~~At the scene of the attack~~

Izuku ran up to the scene of the emergency. He could hear panicked shouts from all directions. Buildings were on fire, and it seemed the heroes were in something of a desperate situation. He tried to look over the crowd, and was able to catch a brief glance of the villain. It was the sludge villain that had attacked him earlier. The same villain that had been captured by All Might. But now, the villain was clearly free. All Might had dropped the villain while trying to deal with him.

'That means...it's my fault.'

He felt his heart drop into his stomach as panic set in. He heard whispers about the villain having captured a child, and the tightening in his chest only felt worse. His stomach felt sick and his hands shook. He felt that, were the child to die, the death would be on his hands.

'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please hold on just a little longer. Someone will come to save you. I'm sorry!'

As he was panicking, he heard the croud start talking about All Might. Someone brought up the fact that All Might was chasing the villain earlier, and Izuku only felt more guilty. Then he looked over the crowd again.

This time he got a much clearer view of the villain, as well as the victim. A gasp left his mouth as he recognized just who it was- his best friend, Katsuki Bakugo. The boy who had been his best friend for as long as he could remember. There was no time to think. He could only act.

He ran through the crowd and burst onto the scene, sprinting towards Bakugo. He shouted, "Kaachan!" The boy looked up groggily, clearly being affected by the lack of oxygen. Izuku remembered that his heat wasn't able to hurt the villain last time, so he ran into the flames, hoping to raise his body heat for a larger burst into the villain.

As he ran, he lobbed his backpack into the eye as the villain before it could strike him. The villain recoiled, finally giving Bakugo a chance to breathe. He shouted as Izuku reached the villain. "Deku, what the hell are you doing here? You're gonna get yourself killed, you dumbass!"

Said dumbass shoved his hands ass deep as he could into the fluid body of the villain, releasing the heat he had stored inside his body as fast as he could. The villain's body heated up so quickly that he instantly recoiled, pulling the part of his body that was in front of Bakugo's torso away.

While all this was happening, All Might was watching from the crowd, amazed at the courage of the young boy he had just minutes before been reprimanding. As he watched the child attempt to pull the blonde boy out of the villain, and he could tell that he had used too much energy to have any chance of succeeding, he heard a few simple words.

"I couldn't just stand there and watch you die."

Those words shook the emaciated man to his very core. Those words encompassed everything that being a hero was to him. To save a life, no matter the cost, was the most important thing he could do. He forced his hero form to appear, rushing in and saving the boys, and as he watched them walk home together, his eyes focused on the back of the man he had saved earlier that day, and he knew what he had to do.

~~Back with Izuku and Bakugo~~

"You dumbass! What were you thinking back there? Your quirk isn't suited for fighting that kind of villain. You shouldn't have rushed in there."

Izuku took the criticism in stride. He knew that Bakugo wasn't truly angry at him. He was angry that he needed saving at all. It had wounded his pride. Izuku responded, "My body moved before I had a chance to think. You know how I am."

"Yeah, yeah. You're a hero right down to your piss. Whatever. Just don't expect a thank you. I'll cya later."

Bakugo turned off and walked home as Izuku continued on towards his own. That was about as close to a thank you as anyone was ever gonna get from Kaachan. He knew that by now.

As he was nearing his home, he was scared just about out of his skin by the appearance of All Might in front of him with a shout of, "I AM HERE!" In his shock, Izuku stumbled about his words asking why All Might was there.

After just a moment All Might transformed back into his normal form. He coughed for a few moments, and then spoke, "Young man, I came here to thank you, and to continue our discussion from earlier."

Midoriya was quick to reply as well, "There's no need to thank me, All Might. It was my fault the villain got out in the first place! I messed everything up. I'm very sorry."

All Might shook his head. "If you weren't able to act there after the conversation we had, I would never have become inspired enough to act. You helped me save people, and that is worthy of thanks. Furthermore, I must ask you a question. When you ran into that scene, trying to save that boy, you moved before you even had a chance to think, didn't you?"

Izuku felt his chest tighten up for the third time that day, but this time it was for a different reason. He nodded his head, forcing out a quiet yes. All Might continued, "That feeling you had earlier, what happened to you today, is what makes a hero a hero. So many heroes start off exactly the way you did today. Their bodies simply cannot allow them to sit still when there is the opportunity to help someone, and today, you were just like one of those heroes."

Izuku sat on his knees before All Might, the man who had been his idol for as long as he could remember, clutching his chest as All Might spoke the words he would remember for the rest of his life, "You have truly proven me wrong. Today, you were a hero. Young man, you can become a hero."

A/N:Hey all, sorry it's been so long. My upload schedule will likely be erratic, as I have a lot going on in my life right now, but I'll do my best to have less than two months between future updates, unlike this one. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!