Disclaimer: This is purely a fan work, and I own nothing
Have people done a villain Todoroki yet? Anyway...pour one out for All Might, my friends.
Midoriya woke up on the couch the next morning, realizing he must have fallen asleep there.
After Hatsume had gotten him out of his trance, he returned home and disconnected his ear piece. His mother had seen the news and hugged him the second he walked in.
"I'm so sorry, son..." She cried, trembling into his ear.
He couldn't acknowledge her as he sat on the couch, numb. He had not moved from the spot as the night went on, watching as the news stories confirmed that All Might died in the hospital within hours after arriving. The Principal had been at his side as it happened, his only company in his final moments. It was reported he entrusted the mouse with a few letters and a task of some kind.
The sun was not yet risen, so it had to be early. He reached into his pocket and checked his phone: 4am.
He also had missed a plethora of text messages from Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Hatsume. They all blended together as he scanned them: Had he seen the news? Was he okay? Disbelief, shock, anger, and concern. He swiped the notifications away and meandered over to the bathroom. When he was done, he splashed some cold water against his face. It did nothing to wake him up, so he went to his bedroom instead.
In a haze, he sat on his bed, plugged his phone in to charge, and laid down. Some time later, he must have fallen asleep, because when he woke next, it was noon and the sun was beating into his room.
He pulled himself back into a sitting position, and it became apparent to him he was sitting in a room filled with posters of All Might. His breathing quickened. He...he couldn't look at them right now.
He hastily began taking the posters down - making sure not to tear them, of course, and folded them up in a corner of the room.
The scene replayed in Midoriya's mind as he stared at his blank walls, over and over again, watching the look on his Hero's face as he realized the ice spike had impaled his chest. The expressionless, cold look on Todoroki's face.
He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It couldn't be real. How could Todoroki have done something like that? To the man that wanted to save him?!
The more the scene replayed, his breathing began to pick up. He clenched his fists. He began to feel anxious and twitchy. What could he do?
The fight had been right in front of him. But as he was watching, he didn't act...but Todoroki had.
"That son of a bitch..."
A knock came at his door. "Mom, I'm not -"
The door creaked open, and he was shocked when Asui Tsuyu entered his room. "Hey, Midoriya-kun."
"Oh..." he replied, dully, "H-hey Tsu..."
He wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't expecting company.
"Do you mind if I sit, kero?" She asked, head tilted. "Your mom told me I'd find you in here."
He moved over slightly, and pat his bed, allowing her to sit next to him.
"I figured you'd be taking it pretty hard, kero." Tsuyu muttered, quietly, gesturing towards the posters as she sat down.
"Is that...is that why you're here?" He asked, unable to look at her.
She nodded. "I was discharged this morning, but didn't feel like going home. And I remembered all the texts you sent me about looking up to All Might, kero. I just felt like coming here was the right thing to do."
The two sat in silence for a minute as Midoriya calmed his breathing.
"He told me..." Midoriya sniffled, "He told me after the Sports Festival that I could be a hero."
"Something you'd probably wanted to hear your whole life..." Tsuyu croaked. "After my internships, he said something like that to me too."
"Really?" Midoriya asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"
She shrugged. "Never came up. But he pulled me aside after hero training, and told me about how Captain Selkie had told him all about the drug smugglers I helped him round up. He looked at me and said, 'I expect you to be the next great aquatic hero, Froppy!'"
Tsuyu laid back on the bed. "It was pretty much the coolest moment of my life, kero."
Midoriya let out a quick snort of laughter. "That's amazing. I guess that really was why he was the symbol of peace...he inspired so many people to be the greatest hero they could be."
"It's not going to be the same without him at school, kero." Tsuyu sighed. "He was a big inspiration for all of us."
After a few minutes of silence, Midoriya turned to his friend and asked, "did any of you suspect Todoroki would ever...?"
She shook her head. "No...he never seemed like a bad guy. Just quiet. Maybe sad, kero."
Midoriya turned back to his ceiling. "And they still have Tokoyami..."
"I saw..." Tsuyu replied, heartbroken, "he looked pretty roughed up. I hope he's holding up okay."
"I'm sorry, Tsu," Izuku sighed. "I had made it to the fight. I was there. But seeing All Might and All for One fighting...I had frozen up. I didn't think to act. I should have done something."
From across the bed, a tongue uncoiled and poked his cheek. "How do you think I feel? I was stuck in a hospital bed as the League took off with one of my best friends. Don't blame yourself, kero. You do that a lot."
Midoriya let out another bitter, hollow laugh. "All Might said something like that to me too...don't beat yourself up either."
"I won't if you don't," she offered.
"Deal," he accepted. "So now what? I'm sorry I'm not better company."
Tsuyu grabbed his hand. "Same. But I think I'd rather be miserable together than alone."
"I'll accept that." Midoriya said. "Thanks, Tsu."
Hatsume Mei had always followed heroics. You had to, if you wanted to be in Support. You had to know what Quirks made the too rankings, who was up and coming, and what these heroes needed to supplement their strengths and weaknesses. Especially ones that didn't have combat-related powers, like Eraserhead and his scarves.
Still, All Might's death had rocked her to the core. When Heroes wanted gear, it was an effort to chase that number 1 position the Symbol of Peace had held for so long.
She'd never heard anyone so broken as when Midoriya finally answered her over the earpiece yesterday.
Nor had she suspected that the Todoroki guy would end up joining the side of the villains.
She didn't know what to expect when school came back in.
Monday rolled around, as they often do, and school returned in session for the students of UA, even as they had to combat a sea of reporters looking for comments about All Might or the villain attack.
The Principal called an assembly and announced to the student body they would begin a conversion into a boarding school in order to keep the students safe. The results were...mixed, to say the least.
The Hero Classes had seemed rather downcast, but the dark cloud extended to Midoriya as well; he hadn't slept well and it showed. After the assembly, Power Loader had assigned them to build augmentations for the Hero Course costumes; ways that they could be more protective in the event of future attacks, and to help them develop ultimate moves. But Midoriya just stared at the blueprints for someone named Monoma in class 1-B and sighed in frustration. He couldn't find his inspiration today.
Hatsume was about to go see what she could do to help him, when Power Loader walked over to the two of them. She cringed, expecting to be in trouble for something - she wasn't sure what, but then again, she usually didn't see anything wrong with her processes - Higari tapped Midoriya on the shoulder instead, making him jump.
"Easy kid," Power Loader advised, backing up, "Principal wants to see you. You're not in trouble, so don't freak or anything."
Confused, Midoriya shot a glance towards his friend. Hatsume just shrugged at him. With a heavy sigh, he dragged himself out of the room, but was surprised to see a third year student waiting for him.
The older boy himself almost struck a passing resemblance to All Might; blonde hair and smaller blue eyes, he towered over the first year. "You're Midoriya, right?" He asked, in a friendly manner.
Deku nodded. "Yes...pleased to meet you...uh...?"
"Togata Mirio!" The blonde student exclaimed, "I saw your performance in the Sports Festival! You're pretty impressive. Let's go see what Principal Nezu wants."
"S-s-sure!" Midoriya stuttered, trying to keep his composure. He'd heard the name; this was THE top student at UA - expected to go on to be a top ten ranking hero.
Once they had made it to the office, they were greeted in the same, usual, calm manner the Principal spoke in. Joining them in the room was Recovery Girl.
"Take a seat, gentlemen, I have some news to tell you, and something to give the both of you." The mouse proclaimed. "Tea?"
"Um...sure." Izuku accepted. Mirio nodded as well.
"This may be a difficult conversation to have, so I'm going to cut to the chase," the Principal explained, "but All Might was not born with a natural Quirk."
"What?" The two students questioned, leaning forward almost in unison.
"Indeed," the Principal nodded, "His Quirk is truly a mystery, but it is called: One for All. It is a stockpiling Quirk that can be transferred from one user to another, growing more powerful with every person. And our dearly departed All Might was the eighth user of this truly astounding power."
"So many people have speculated on his Quirk, but I've never heard anything like that..." Midoriya pondered in awe.
"But why tell us this?" Mirio questioned.
The Principal walked over to a small, metal briefcase on his desk. "Before his passing, All Might knew his time was running out. I believe you," he tipped his hand towards Izuku, "had the luck of finding him in his weakened state."
"I don't know if I'd call it luck..." the green haired boy replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "that wasn't exactly the best day of my life..."
"Quite. Regardless," the Principal continued, not breaking his tone, "All Might was in search of a successor to this power before he passed. The power can only be passed if the user intends to pass it on through his DNA. Which is why, he entrusted this to me."
He opened the case, revealing a long, golden strand of hair.
"Whoa..." Both boys uttered, absorbing everything that had just been laid out to them.
The Principal nodded and closed the case. "We are preserving this with utmost care. You see...Mirio, you were being groomed to be the next recipient."
"M-me?!" He gasped in shock.
Nezu beamed. "Indeed. Your brightness, your disposition, your physical capabilities. Your tenure here has molded you into the ideal successor to One for All. However..."
Nezu smiled and turned to Midoriya, "He had also, in the last few months, considered that you might be a worthy successor for this Powerful Quirk."
"WHAT?!" Midoriya screamed, falling out of his chair. He quickly sized himself up compared to Mirio; while Midoriya had buffed up since being trained by Power Loader, Mirio looked like he could bench press the younger boy in one hand without breaking a sweat.
Nezu nodded and continued. "All Might talked about it a lot after the Sports Festival. He remembered the young, timid boy he saved, who asked him about becoming a hero. And even after being rejected by his hero, the boy was trained by another Pro, used his strengths to find work around his weaknesses, and made his way into our Support Program. With nothing but tenacity, the will to succeed, and ingenuity, he proved himself as being able to hang with the toughest of Quirk users, using only what he could build with his own two hands. That combination of heroic spirit and conviction shook him to his core."
Midoriya stared down at his own feet as the room grew silent.
"So...what do we do?" Mirio asked.
"Well...All Might knew he had run out of time," The Principal answered, sadly. "He gave me the hair, with full intent to pass it onto whichever of you ingested it. He had prepared a letter for each of you in the hospital. The poor man...I think he was fighting off the reaper himself in order to finish both. I want you both to read your letters. And take the rest of week to decide between the two of you who should be the inheritor. You can meet back here next Monday with your decision. This was what he asked of me before he passed on."
The mouse slid a letter to each of them.
The two students held their letters gingerly and looked at each other uneasily.
"I know this is a lot to take in," the mouse added, "so you don't have to talk about it now. If you'd like, I can excuse from your afternoon studies so you can have some time alone to process this."
"I think I'll take you up on that." Mirio decided. Midoriya nodded in agreement.
"It is done," Nedzu said with a smile. "I trust you two will come to the right decision."
The two students thanked their principal and left the office. They looked to each other in the hall and the older boy gave Mirio a confident smile. "Let's meet outside your class tomorrow afternoon and talk. 1-H?"
Midoriya nodded. "O-okay. Sounds good."
Sitting outside the front of the school, Midoriya opened his letter from All Might. It was not lost on him that this was one of the last pieces of communication anyone would ever hear from the Symbol of Peace. His hands shook as he unfolded the paper.
"Dear Midoriya,
I don't have much time, but I apologize for the brevity of this letter. I want you to know that I am proud of you. Proud because even on my darkest day as a hero, where I failed to save you friend, when I had to crush your dreams, you rose up from that tragedy and did everything you could to prove me wrong. Your tenacity. Your fighting spirit. The lengths you have gone to protect others.
I have friends in the police, young Midoriya. While I did not inform them, I suspected that you were involved with the capture of the Sludge Villain, and stopping Mt. Lady's assassination. You were in the right place, and it matches your performance in the Sports Festival."
Midoriya lowered the letter momentarily. "I need to cover my tracks better." He went back to reading, however.
"I have never been more happy to be wrong. You have all the makings of a hero. Spirit. Bravery. Tenacity. And a drive to be there for those in need. Whether or not you take One for All, I know you are meant for greatness.
I'm proud of you.
But be warned - One for All is a dangerous power. You will need to train your body, or else the force of my strength will be devastating on your body. Please take this into consideration.
There is one last thing I want you to know. It's about Todoroki."
Midoriya inhaled sharply just seeing the name. He was shocked All Might lasted so long as to write these, but he hadn't expected what he was about to read.
"I know you and the rest of the world will damn him. But even with what he had done. There was a sadness in his eyes. I do not believe he is beyond saving.
And I want you to save him from a life of villainy, if you can.
Either way, I believe in you."
Midoriya sniffed and wiped his eyes as he reached the end of the letter.
Having a Quirk had been his dream forever. But...he had come this far without one. What would it mean for his gear? If he was throwing punches with the force of All Might, it would tear his gauntlets or the mech suit apart. Of course, with a powerful Quirk, he'd be more suited to join the Hero Course.
"But do I want to?" He said to himself, slipping into his muttering habit, "I've been making tech for the last year. And I love making Support Gear. Would I be letting Power Loader down? Hatsume? But if I don't take it, am I letting All Might down? Or should it go to Mirio after all since he's probably more capable or handling the strain? And Todoroki? Me, save him? Why would he leave that to me? I barely knew him..."
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a hand waving in front of his face. He looked up to see Hatsume looking at him, concerned.
"There you are!" She said, exasperated, "where have you been? Do you know how boring the day is when you're not in class?"
Midoriya looked around. He must have been lost in thought all afternoon, as students were leaving the building, looking at him in confusion as he sat there muttering to himself.
To her surprise he grabbed her hand and began pulling her towards her house. "Come on, we need to talk."
From the safety of her basement, Hatsume let out a whistle as she processed the contents of All Might's letter. "Hot damn."
"Yeah," Midoriya sighed, "so I don't know what to do."
"I mean, with that kind of power, you'd hardly need any of this," she gestured around at the various gadgets and scrap they had gathered over the summer, "though you'd probably need some stuff to lessen the damage to your limbs."
She had done her best not to sound sad when she said that, but Midoriya had picked it up. After spending so much time together, it was easy to pick up on changes in her usually excited demeanor.
"I don't know if I'm the right person for it. And besides," Midoriya looked around and gestured towards the basement as well, "I love doing this. I'm more sad about not being able to come here to your basement everyday when we switch to dorms than I am about not being home."
Hatsume's face turned slightly pink. "Yeah...being here with you making babies has been the best summer I can remember."
Realizing they had done both connotations of that statement now, they both looked away from each other for a minute in embarrassment.
"So...what are you going to do?" Hatsume asked. "Take the power? Hunt down Todoroki?"
"I don't know...I guess I'll hear out Mirio tomorrow and think about it," he shrugged. "I have the week. After that, I'll worry about Todoroki. It's almost hard to believe. Anyway...how's your pack coming?"
Hatsume's face lit up. "Let me show you!"
She put on her pack, and it sprouted metal gauntlets just like his, although hers did not contain weaponry. She pulled the tip of her finger off the gauntlet, revealing a drill.
"Oh my GOD, THAT'S SO COOL!" Midoriya yelled, not even hiding how much he was geeking out.
"I KNOW! AND CHECK IT OUT!" Hatsume exclaimed. "Socket wrench." She said into a speaker on her right arm.
A compartment opened in her right forearm, having seen dispensed from the backpack.
"And when I'm done..." She showed him, opening a similar compartment on her left arm, inserting the tool and it was placed back into the backpack.
"That's going to help SO much around here and at school!" He crowed. "You've outdone yourself."
"Yup!" Hatsume beamed. "Hey, speaking of packs, you wanted to put launchers for your grenades on your arms, right?"
He nodded. "Totally! Let's get to work." At the very least, working on projects with Mei always cheered him up.
Feeling somewhat alleviated, he was in better spirits when he met Mirio after class on Tuesday. True to his word, Mirio was waiting for him.
"Hey Midoriya...let's step outside to the courtyard."
For a second, the green-haired boy felt apprehensive; in middle school, that usually meant Kacchan and his cronies wanted to beat him up or something. But then he remembered the point of this was to for real talk.
The two stood under a tree in the shade. Mirio grabbed his shoulder and took a deep breath.
"I think you should take it." He said.
Izuku's jaw dropped. "J-just like that? You don't think you're better suited for it...?"
Mirio shook his head. "That's not what it's about. This school night have groomed my abilities, but All Might saw it in your actions. I think that...that's more important. He saw a hero in you."
Izuku said nothing, and looked to his feet. He wasn't quite sure how he felt. Last year he would have jumped for this chance. But...now?
"The only thing that matters now is if you want it. Take some time and let me know, okay?" Mirio smiled at him. "I'll take it if you don't want it, of course. But consider it as you having first dibs."
Mirio's smile reminded him of All Might's.
"I will. Thanks, Mirio." Izuku replied, sincerely. "I'll think it over."
Mirio gave Deku his number if he wanted to talk it over more.
Izuku left the school, head reeling.
As he walked the halls, he pondered, and was so lost in thought he didn't notice someone was waiting for him by the front gate.
"Midoriya!" A voice croaked as he walked by.
He whipped around to see Asui Tsuyu had stayed back by the doors, alone.
"Hey Asu - Tsu. What's up?" He asked.
She looked around to make sure no one was listening in. "I need your help with something. I need some gear, kero."
Her behavior threw Izuku for a loop; she was always forthcoming, secretive behavior didn't seem like her.
"Sure, but what for...?" He asked.
"I know how to save Tokoyami." She whispered.