Midoriya barely managed to catch any sleep last night.
Everything that transpired the evening before felt like nothing more than an awful dream. All For One sounded like bad news, as did his henchmen, Toga, who possessed a Quirk to impersonate people.
All For One in particular however unnerved him. He was the former dictator of Japan for crying out loud! Just how old was he? How did he survive for so long? Was it due to his Quirk? It must have been since he had the ungodly ability to siphon Quirks from others and pass Quirks on as well.
Especially if what he said was true and he managed to mortally wound All Might to the extent that he claimed to have done.
Yet in spite of this information, Midoriya tucked away Toga's phone number that she wrote on a notepad underneath his pillow.
What was he, crazy?! Did he really want to associate himself with villains?!
Well technically they haven't hurt anyone yet, have they? He thought to himself. All For One may have hurt people a long time ago, but had he turned over a new leaf? He didn't know for sure, but they did give off a very, very bad vibe.
He knew that if All For One wished, he could have wiped out the entire hospital on a whim.
But he chose not to. Instead, he was far more interested in Midoriya and his notebook of information on the strengths and weaknesses of practically every pro hero imaginable.
Wasn't that evidence enough that he was up to no good?
Gah! Why am I hesitating to do the right thing?! The choice is obvious! But…
All For One believed in him. He even offered him a job. Sure Midoriya declined his proposition, but still, it was the thought that counts right? He saw merit in his vision. That sense of validation was nice to have regardless of its source.
Midoriya was tired of adults with Quirks lying to him all of the time, giving him false platitudes and telling him that a Quirkless boy could become a hero. In some ways he was thankful for his classmates and even to Bakugou for trying to get him to accept his limitations so that he wouldn't put himself in harm's way and make a fool out of himself in the process.
Come to think of it, All For One said that he passed his interview with "flying colors" after he had declined his offer to gain a Quirk. If he was truly up to no good, then wouldn't he have disposed of him while keeping his notebook to incapacitate or kill every pro hero that he could with its aid?
Why would he want to offer him a job? As in, what did he specifically want him to do? Analyze the weaknesses of pro heroes and feed the information back to him? Did All For One really believe that he would do such a thing?
"If he does, then he doesn't know me at all," Midoriya muttered to himself.
His thoughts were interrupted suddenly when the door opened and a tall lanky man with a beige buttoned overcoat and similarly colored top hat stepped in the room.
He also wore white gloves and an all-white button-up with a navy blue tie and black slacks along with a pair of black dress shoes. He looked like a detective straight out of a Noir-style comic book.
"Good morning," The man began to say as he removed his top hat and introduced himself. "My name is Detective Tsukauchi and I work with the Police Force. You mind if I ask you a few questions, mister Midoriya?"
Midoriya couldn't help but sigh. He wasn't in the mood to answer questions, or to talk in general. He still had a very tired and haggard expression on his face, but he forced himself to smile, albeit weakly.
"Sure, no problem," He said as he sat up in his hospital bed.
"Excellent," The detective then pulled up the same chair that All For One sat in and sat there himself. "First, I would like to ask you about your condition. Are you doing okay?"
"The doctors haven't made their rounds yet," Midoriya began to say. "But I haven't been told any bad news yet. So I guess in this case, no news is good news."
"That it is," The detective agreed. He then shifted gears as he donned a more serious expression. "I'm going to ask you a few questions that may trigger some unpleasant memories of your ordeal, is that okay?"
Midoriya nodded his head. "Yes, it's fine." He wanted to cooperate so that the person that shot him could be promptly put to justice.
"Great!" The detective exclaimed as he reached into one of the pockets of his overcoat and pulled out a pen and a miniature notebook.
"First question is one that I have to ask. Do you have any enemies that you or your family would be aware of?"
Midoriya shook his head. "No, I'm sure that it was a random incident since he wanted to rob me."
"Well, chances were that you could have been targeted and the perpetrator was told to make it look like a robbery," The detective explained.
Midioriya could not argue with the logic of that.
"Still, if you don't believe that your family has made any enemies, then I will move on to my next question. Did you manage to get a good look at the perpetrator?"
Midoriya shook his head once more. "No, he wore a black ski mask. He sounded like he was in his mid-thirties, and most likely a smoker. He didn't have an accent, but his breath did smell. I never smelt anything like it before…."
"It was probably alcohol," The detective said. "But still, it's amazing that you are able to recall such detailed information in spite of what you've gone through. You may have a future in this line of work."
Midoriya smiled sheepishly. "I'm just doing what I can to help."
"Well regardless, you have a knack for recalling details. Have you considered joining the Police Academy?"
"I have actually," Midoriya perked up at this. Here he has, speaking to a detective, he could ask him anything that he wanted to about the program.
"If you want we could speak more offline, but as for now I'm on the clock unfortunately," The detective said.
Midoriya nodded. "Yes, I'd love to speak with you whenever you're available."
The detective smiled at the boy. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, on to my next question. Did you happen to take a good look at the gun that he used? You don't have to know the model, but just a vague description could help-"
"It was a standard issue Beretta M9, maybe an Italian model," Midoriya said while cupping his chin.
The detective was stunned to silence.
"U-Uh," Midoriya sputtered. "When Snipe was first starting out as a Pro Hero he favored that gun before he switched over to his customized weapons."
"That he did," The detective said as he made sure to jot down what Midoriya said. "Well, you've given me more than enough valuable information to go off of. It's been a pleasure speaking with you," He said as he rose up from his seat.
"Likewise," Midoriya smiled brightly at him. He appeared to have been far more chipper due to the nature of his conversation with Detective Tsukauchi.
The detective reached into his coat pocket and handed Midoriya his card. "I look forward to speaking with you and someday seeing you at the Academy," He said with a smile.
Midoriya's eyes glistened with child-like jubilance as he took the card in his hand and nodded.
The detective put on his top hat and began to walk toward the door, but before he then suddenly to turn back to look at Midoriya.
"Oh, and one more thing," The detective began. "You seem like a good kid so I don't think that I have to tell you this, but try to keep your nose clean if you do decide to join the Academy."
"Yes sir!" Midoriya exclaimed.
Later that morning the doctors made their usual rounds and after checking his vital signs, assured Midoriya that he could be potentially discharged within the next couple days or so.
From what he was told, the doctors managed to remove the bullet from his stomach and that thankfully he didn't suffer any major organ damage.
The bullet was a few inches away from his spleen and if it had ruptured it, he could have died from internal bleeding.
Since he was still young and in relative good health he was cleared to walk around the hospital as he pleased. After being confined to his hospital bed for the last couple of days his first few steps were hard, but after awhile he managed to walk as normal.
His mom visited him that afternoon with some of the schoolwork that he had missed out on. Thankfully it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.
No outrageous projects or essays, but the school year was coming to a close soon and he had to worry about his final exams as well as entrance exams and to make a serious decision on the direction that he wanted to go with his life.
His number one option was to join the Police Academy and to become a Cadet. However, the Academy was no walk in the park.
It was a very rigorous four year course that was akin to the Hero's Course at U.A. There's no way that Midoriya would be able to survive it the way he was now. He had to get in shape.
If that didn't work out for whatever reason, then he could always work for his dad. But he didn't like the idea of going overseas and leaving his mom behind. His dad was gone for years at a time. The last time that he saw him was several years ago during the summer.
The fact that he said that he would show up next summer seemed unlikely, but Midoriya's dad wasn't one to be mistaken on such a thing. He probably had it all planned out in advanced. But still, he couldn't shake the feeling that "something" would come up and force his dad to stay overseas for work.
That's because something always did.
A couple of days passed by unceremoniously, and Midoriya was finally discharged from the hospital. Overall he had been admitted for approximately four and a half days, and in spite of everything that transpired while he was in there, he was thankful for the experience.
Since Midoriya was discharged from the hospital early in the morning, he still had enough time to go home and get dressed to go school.
His mom urged him to take the day off, but Midoriya was far too restless for that. If he was cooped up any longer than he didn't know what he'd do. Probably scream.
His classmates treated him surprisingly well on his first day back, and he knew that it wasn't out of sympathy. They seemed to have thought well of him. Hell, he overhead some guys whispering to his friend that they shouldn't mess with him since he was "tough enough to survive a bullet."
Even Bakugou of all people didn't mess with him. Midoriya did catch him leering at him a few times, but it wasn't the usual stare of disgust. He had honestly never seen him give anyone that look before. Could he be jealous? What would he be jealous for? Not being shot?
Well, if there was anyone that would be envious of that, it would be Bakugou. Maybe he didn't like all of the positive attention that Midoriya received? That was more like it.
After the final bell rang and Midoriya gathered his belongings, he exited the classroom and the school. But before he managed to walk clear of the campus, he was suddenly shoved into a corner by someone to his side.
"Ah!" Midoriya gasped when his back hit the stone wall of the school building.
To his dismay it was Bakugou that had done it. He looked visibly upset, which wasn't anything new, but it wasn't like his demeanor earlier during the day.
"Were you faking it the whole time?! Huh Deku?!" Bakugou shouted at him.
"H-Huh?" Midoriya didn't understand what he was talking about. Why was he so upset at him? What did he do?
"You heard me the first time!" Bakugou grabbed Midoriya by his collar.
"I don't understand your question!" Midoriya shouted back at him. He was confused, and it in turn made him agitated. What was his problem?! Why couldn't he just leave him alone like he did before?!
"If you were tough enough to survive a bullet then why did you pretend to be a useless shrimp your entire life!?"
"Huh?" Midoriya's face sunk. "Is that what this is all about?"
He had to ask him a question for the sake of clarification.
"Do you think that I'm tough, Kaachan?"
"Don't call me that!" Bakugou shoved Midoriya hard against the wall, causing the boy to grunt.
"Listen! Don't go getting any ideas about joining U.A.! Got it?" Bakugou said as he turned to walk away. But as he did so, he said one final thing.
"Someone like you would be more suited to join the Police Academy."
Midoriya's eyes lit up. Did Bakugou just acknowledge him? Sure he had his own way of going about it, but Midoriya was privy to the language that he spoke.
Perhaps Bakugou felt as if Midoriya was feigning weakness the entire time. But what he didn't know was that the reason Midoriya was so tough was because he took his cue from Bakugou. Like him he was just too stubborn to quit, or to die.
On his way back home Midoriya couldn't help but think that he had forgot about something important. There was someone that he was supposed to have talked to.
No, not the detective… He thought. He planned on speaking with him after he had passed his final exams.
Then it hit him.
Literally.
He didn't look where he was walking so he bumped into someone.
Except this certain someone was so well built that it caused Midoriya to fall flat on his bottom.
"Ack!" The boy sputtered. He looked up to see exactly who or what he had ran into, but was shocked to see who it was.
"All Might!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"Good afternoon, young Midoriya," All Might said as he flashed him a smile.
"Good afternoon All Might sir!" Midoriya quickly stood back up on his feet and at attention. "I'm sorry I forgot to call you! I know that you wanted to speak with me!"
All Might gave Midoriya a haughty laugh. "No problem, I just happened to have been in the area and decided to drop by to see if you were home yet. Thankfully I managed to run into you."
Midoriya couldn't but smile like a schoolgirl. Here he was, conversing with his hero, his idol, All Might. How many kids would kill to be in his position?!
"S-So, to what do I owe the honor?" The boy asked him.
"Well, let me cut to the chase," All Might said as he deeply exhaled. Once he did so, a plume of white smoke filled the area. It was thick enough to cause Midoriya to cough. Once the smog lifted however, what he saw caused him to gasp.
"What the-"
The All Might that he saw was nothing like the All Might that he practically worshiped his entire life. This All Might was deathly thin and frail. He was like a bag of bones. His face was angular and, when he coughed, blood spewed forth from his mouth.
What in the world was going on?!
All Might wiped the blood from his mouth before he spoke.
"Listen, as you can see, I do not have long left, and I am in need of a successor. So my question to you is this, young Midoriya," All Might glared at Midoriya.
"Would you do me the honor of being my successor?"
Next chapter will be the end of the Prologue and the start of the First Arc. In my head I have about four arcs planned in total.
Also, thank you guys for pointing out the whole "Midoriya"/"Izuku" name debacle. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I tend to update past midnight so there are times where my mind is all jumbled up I guess. Plus in the series he's called Midoriya and Deku so much that I just forgot that certain people like his mom call him by his first name (though that should be common sense but whatever).
Anyways, no Easter Eggs this time either, but there will be plenty in the First Arc.
Do you think that Izuku will take All Might on his offer? Obviously the description of the story aside, do you think that Midoriya as he has been portrayed so far would or should accept All Might's proposal to be his successor, or refuse? Why or Why not?