"Midoriya you want to go to U.A. right?" Their teacher called out snidely, knowing exactly what kind of reaction that would elicit.
"Hah? U.A.? You?"
"No way! You do know you're quirkless right?"
"C'mon guys we should at least let him dream right? Hahahaha!"
The deafening noise of an explosion cut off the jeering of their classmates.
"Shut up you extras!" Bakugou Katsuki roared out in annoyance, "At least he has the balls to try."
They really should've figured out by now that it was best not to insult Bakugou's childhood friend in front of him, but what was to be expected of a school that had the lowest average test scores in the entire prefecture.
"Why are you always sticking up for that quirkless Deku? He's just dragging you down."
"You bastard! Say that again!"
"I said-"
The teen was cut off as Bakugou lunged at him, intent on dishing out as much physical harm as he could before he was stopped. Eventually Bakugou was pulled off the student he had assaulted, however it had required several teachers, and Midoriya himself, to finally get him to stop.
Midoriya sighed in resignation as he walked home alone. On most days he'd be walking home with Kaachan, however the stunt he had pulled today had earned him detention, so Midoriya was heading home before him.
As he was walking through an underpass he was suddenly and violently captured within a living mass of sludge.
"Ah, a mid-sized body for me to hide in."
Midoriya started frantically struggling against the villains hold upon realizing what was happening, however as the villain was liquid in nature so he quite literally slipped through Izuku's fingers.
"Fear not boy, for I am here!"
If Izuku were in a more calm state of mind then he might have found himself excited over the fact that the number 1 hero had just shown up in front of him, however as he was solely focused on not dying his fanboying would have to come later.
"Texas Smash!"
Suddenly Izuku was free from the villain's bindings, All Might's punch creating a strong enough shockwave to blow the villain apart and decommission him for the moment. Izuku felt his legs give out and he fell to the ground, body shaking as the adrenaline seeped out of his system.
"My apologies for getting you caught up in this." All Might apologized to him, "Usually I'm not one to make mistakes like that. However I was able to capture him thanks to your help. Now I must be off, I need to take this villain to the authorities."
"Huh?" Midoriya uttered dumbly, before he realized that All Might was leaving and scrambled after him.
"Wait!" He called out, "I have something to ask you!"
"I'm sorry." All Might apologized, crouching in preparation to take off, "But time is of the essence."
With that All Might lept, his powerful leg muscles sending him soaring through the air. It was only a few seconds into his ascent that he realized the young boy that he had saved was now clinging to his leg.
"Woah there!" All Might exclaimed, pulling him off his leg and cradling the boy close to ensure his safety, "We'll land in a few seconds so hold on until then."
True to his word All Might landed heavily on top of a building, jolting Midoriya out of his fear induced stupor.
"T-Thanks." Midoriya managed to stutter out his thanks as All Might set him down.
"Now I'm sorry young man, but I really must be off."
"Wait!" Midoriya called out, afraid of being left with his unanswered question, "Do you think I could be a hero like you? Even without a quirk?"
"Without a quirk huh? Well you- Damn!" All Might suddenly cursed as his body began smoking, concealing his form.
Izuku stepped back in confusion, wary about this potentially being another villain attack, when the smoke cleared revealing a lanky blond haired man standing where All Might was a few seconds ago.
"Who are you? What did you do with All Might?" Izuku questioned warily.
"I am All Might." He claimed, before his frame was wracked by violent coughing, an uncomfortable amount of blood flying from his mouth.
"What?!" Midoriya exclaimed in disbelief.
"A hero huh?" All Might wondered aloud as he sat down against the walling, "Sorry to tell you this, but you should probably give up."
The man lifted his shirt to reveal a ghastly scar that almost completely covered his left side, causing Izuku to instinctively recoil in horror.
"See this wound? Five years ago an enemy gave me this. It nearly destroyed several of my organs. I barely managed to survive and now I can only do hero work for about three hours a day."
"Five years ago? That's why you suddenly started appearing less? Toxic Chainsaw? No, he couldn't have done that. But then who…" Midoriya trailed off when he realized that he had started rambling again.
"You're right, Toxic Chainsaw definitely would have never been able to do this to me." All Might confirmed, somewhat impressed at the boy's deductive skills, "No, this was an enemy that was never made public. Do you know why?"
"Because you're the Symbol of Peace."
"Correct. If it had gotten out that the Symbol of Peace had grown weaker, then the villains would have started running amok. Unfortunately even I can't stop all the crime in the world by myself, however by standing in the limelight I can at least act as a kind of deterrent and hopefully lessen the amount of people who turn to crime."
"Unfortunately," He continued, "I cannot, in good conscience, encourage you to be a hero. A hero is someone who risks their life every day for those around them. Even those with power are not guaranteed safety. If you truly wish to help people then I would recommend police work. They may often be made fun of in today's society, however they too play a very important role in society."
"I see…" Izuku trailed off before giving All Might a sad smile, "Thanks for telling me."
Izuku forlornly made his way down the street. It had been a few minutes since his talk with All Might and he had finally managed to work up the nerve to make his way back down and continue on his way home.
He had been dejected when his second favorite hero had told him the same exact thing that everyone else had, however he still wasn't ready to give up. Not as long as Kaachan still believed in him.
Wiping away his tears he finally noticed the commotion going on across the street that had attracted a large crowd of people to gawk at it. Making his way over he listened in on people's conversations to get an idea of what was happening.
"That's the villain that All Might was chasing."
The villain All Might was chasing? The sludge one? Did he drop him? Was it his fault?
"He grabbed some kid."
Midoriya's heart clenched at that, knowing exactly how painful and terrifying that was from personal experience. Finally he managed to squeeze his way to the front and what he saw made him freeze in dread.
There, writhing in the sludge villain's grasp, was his best friend Kaachan. Before he could even process what he was doing he had taken off, determined to do something, anything, to help the one person who had always been there for him even with the world against him.
In one smooth motion Izuku drew his backpack off his back and tossed it at the villain, distracting him before he reached him and started clawing at the sludge, freeing Bakugou's mouth.
"Damnit Izuku!" Bakugou cursed at him, "It's dangerous you dumbass! Get back!"
"Sorry Kaachan, my legs moved on their own." He apologized, not even attempting to run away, "It's just, what kind of hero could I be if I just left my best friend in danger?"
"Don't get in my way!" The villain exclaimed, lunging towards Izuku.
"I'm truly pathetic. Thanks for reminding me what it means to be a true hero kid."
All Might suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a strong grip on Izuku and Katsuki's arms as he reared his right arm back for a punch.
"Detroit Smash!"
With a single punch All Might splattered the villain across the block, leaving Izuku and Bakugou completely clean.
-
Izuku and Katsuki were walking back home together after the villain event. Bakugou was particularly upset as people had praised him for nothing other than his powerful quirk whereas they had done nothing but lecture Izuku for coming to his aid.
It was exactly that kind of attitude that had caused his best friend so much grief over his quirklessness his whole life. Not caring about actually doing the right thing, only about whether or not someone had a cool and powerful quirk.
"Hold it right there boys!"
The exclamation was followed by All Might in his bulked up form speeding around the corner, stopping right in front of them.
"All Might?!" Midoriya and Bakugou both exclaimed, one more disgruntled than the other.
"That's right! I-" All Might was cut off by a bloodied cough as he deflated into his other form.
"Ah! Are you okay?" Izuku asked, panicked.
"Just fine my boy, just fine." All Might assured him.
"What do you want?" Katsuki questioned him, unperturbed by the sudden change in his appearance.
"I've come here with an offer!" He proclaimed, causing Bakugou to snort in derision.
"Sorry pal, but like I told those other pros I'm not interested."
"Ah, no no." All Might soothed, "Not for you, for young Midoriya there!"
"Me?!" Izuku questioned in shock.
"Indeed! I apologize for what I said before, you proved me wrong today. You are indeed a true hero! I'd like to ask… Would you be willing to inherit my power?"
"Inherit… your power?" Midoriya questioned, his disbelief clear on his face.
"Correct!" All Might proclaimed, "Many have theorized on what my quirk is, but the truth is that I too, like you, was born quirkless!"
"Quirkless?!"
"That's right! However a long time ago my mentor passed her quirk down to me. Its name is One For All. It's a quirk that has continuously passed down through heroes for generations. I believe you would be the perfect successor for me my boy! What do you say?"
Izuku's first instinct was to say 'Yes!', however he quelched that and took a few moments to actually think about it before he made his decision. It was looking at Kaachan that finally helped him make his decision.
"Sorry, but no."
"No?" All Might questioned, clearly not expecting that response.
"What do you mean no?!" Bakugou hissed, "Damnit Izuku this is your chance! Isn't this what you've always wanted?!"
"That's just it Kaachan." Midoriya told him, a serene smile gracing his features, "It's not what I've always wanted."
"What are you talking about?!" Bakugou demanded, frustrated, "You've always said you've wanted to be a hero!"
"Exactly." Izuku agreed.
"What?" Bakugou questioned, "What do you mean by that?!"
"I mean I've always wanted to be a hero Kaachan."
"You're not making any sense here!" Katsuki snorted in frustration.
"I've always wanted to be a hero." Izuku repeated, as if that explained everything.
"Damnit Izuku you-"
"Excuse me," All Might interrupted, "But might I ask why?"
"Why I refused your offer?" Izuku clarified.
"Correct."
"That's because I don't want a quirk."
All Might tilted his head in confusion, however it seemed as though everything clicked in place for Bakugou.
"But do you not wish to be a hero young Midoriya?" All Might questioned.
"I do." He answered.
"Then wouldn't accepting my quirk help you with that?"
"That's exactly it." Midoriya pointed out, "I want to be a hero. And yet the words hero and quirk have become so entwined that people have started seeing people without quirks as useless. As deku. I want to change that. I want to be the very first quirkless hero and show the world that quirkless doesn't mean useless!"
"Ah." All Might exclaimed in understanding, "I see. My apologies, young Midoriya. I understand now. Indeed that is a wonderful dream to have! And just like how you have proven me wrong today, so do I believe that you will do so to everyone else! Thus allow me to adjust my offer! I will help train you and prepare you for U.A.'s entrance exam in ten months! What do you say my boy? Will you let me help you achieve your dream?"
Izuku gave him his most sincere smile as he reached out and shook the man's hand.
"I accept."