Midoriya wasn't sure what he expected All Might to tell him when he got to the beach the next day, but it definitely wasn'tStart hauling trash.
Which, to be fair, the beach wasreallydirty, and had been for years, if his mom was to be believed (she'd looked at him like a crazy person when he told her where he was going; it wasn't pretty). The place definitely needed to be cleaned, but he wasn't sure why it had to be him.
Midoriya slips and falls face first into the sand as he remembers that, oh yeah, he was trying to pull a fridge up to the dumpster he saw by the entrance earlier. He's got rope burn on his hands now, which sucks but isn't too bad.
"Ah, finally!" he hears a massive, jovial voice say from behind. Midoriya rolls over and props himself up on his elbows. There, casually sitting on the fridge like he doesn't weigh six hundred and sixty-five pounds (Midoriya has the number memorized because he's a totalnerd)is All Might. "I was beginning to think that you were too stubborn for your own good!"
"All… Why am I hauling trash?" Midoriya settles on, sitting up and crossing his legs.
All Might smiles even brighter, which shouldn't be possible, and hops off the fridge. "You see, back in the early days, being a hero was all aboutservitude."He places one hand on the top of the fridge and pushes down, crushing it. "Why, I remember my years in America. They basically treated heroes like garbagemen! I mean that in the best way possible, of course, but you get the idea."
"So I'm doing this to get used to serving the community?" Midoriya asked, rubbing his hands together to warm them up. The idea makes sense. He does want to be a hero to help people, after all.
All Might picks up the crushed fridge and casually tosses it into another pile of trash. "Not only that, but I miss the days when the beach was clean. I made a lot of good memories here." The fridge lands with a clang about twenty yards away, and All Might strikes a pose. "Also, you're not a proper vessel for my power yet," he adds, almost like an afterthought.
"But I thought you said I was worthy!" Midoriya cries, already feeling tears running down his face.
"Yeesh, kid, calm down," All Might says, pulling out his phone and snapping a couple pictures, "I meantphysically.Mentally, spiritually, and instinctually, you're damn near perfect. It's just your weak body I'm worried about."
Midoriya wipes his face with the sleeve of his tracksuit. "What's wrong with my body?" He knows he's skinny. He's been so all his life. But he's still decently strong for his age, mostly due to all the running he does on a regular basis.
"As it stands, if you were to use my power at one hundred percent, you'd probably be blown to bits," All Might says, nonchalant like he's ordering the usual at his favorite restaurant.
"Blown to bits!?" Midoriya grabs his arms and pats himself down, making sure he still has all of his limbs.
All Might nods seriously. "Yes, that would definitely be bad. But, there's an upside!" He reaches into the back pocket of his pants and pulls out a thick, three-ring binder. "You can build up enough muscle with this!"
He tosses the binder to Midoriya, who opens it. The first page readsAim to Pass: American Dream Planin big, bold letters. Midoriya flips through some of the pages quickly. "Wow… even my sleep is scheduled!"
"That's what it's gonna take if you want to get into UA," All Might agrees. "Er, youdowant to go to UA, right?"
Midoriya nods rapidly. "Yes, of course! You and almost all the top heroes in Japan went there, and that's not even mentioning the free publicity from the Sports Festival, or the top-notch education staff. There's always Shiketsu—"
All Might holds up one of his massive hands, stopping Midoriya. "I get it. But it's gonna take a lot of work if you want to pass the entrance exam. This plan is your best bet." Then, as though they're being spied on, All Might looks around the beach and carefully approaches Midoriya. "If I'm being completely honest, this is gonna be way hard. You sure you're up to it?" he whispers, covering his mouth with one massive hand.
Midoriya takes another look at the plan. The binder probably weighs six pounds, and it's filled with names of exercises he's never heard of. But that's not gonna stop him. Midoriya nods firmly. "Yeah. I'll do it."
[x]
It's 7:12 am on a Saturday, and Yagi Toshinori is out for a drive in his truck. It's a newer vehicle, though it's modeled after a classic pickup from Pre-Quirk America. A teenage Toshinori probably would've tripped over his own feet if he saw it drive by. Adult Toshinori is lucky to get behind its wheel and drive it almost every day for a half hour to and from his agency.
The radio is on and, like usual, it's tuned to a local station that plays music that was popular back when he was in his twenties. The host announces the date in between songs, saying that it's now the seventeenth of December. Toshinori blinks in realization. The ten months he'd outlined for his successor had gone by in a flash, and the boy had one week left to get the beach clean.
The thought brings a smile to his face. The boy is progressing well, and he has already demonstrated that he's not the type to settle for anything less than the best. But the last time he'd checked up on Young Midoriya was last month. He remembers giving the boy a hearty slap on the back and wishing him a happy Thanksgiving.
But now, part of Toshinori realizes that, one, they were in Japan, and the amount of people that celebrated Thanksgiving in Japan was probably closer to zero than it was to ten, and two, he'd left his successor alone cleaning up a beach unsupervised for about a month.
His successor who had the habit of pushing himself too hard, even past the point of exhaustion.
Toshinori can very clearly remember the time that, about five or so months in, Midoriya had fallen victim to his own determination and faceplanted while hauling an old steel toilet. It wasn't pretty, but he'd gotten the boy patched up and given him a lecture on sticking to the schedule. It should've worked on any rational adult.
But Midoriya was a teenager.
Toshinori remembered when he was a teenager. More specifically, he remembered how much of an idiot he was, and that he was definitelynota rational adult.
The horrid image of Midoriya laid out on the beach, face-down, covered in seaweed and bits of trash runs though his mind. With a sigh, Toshinori flips his turning signal on and changes lanes. Yeah, hereallyought to check on his successor.
Luckily, he's only about thirty minutes away from Dagobah beach, so he should get there in time to catch the tail end of Midoriya's training time.
Usually, the boy was done hauling trash and off the sand by eight AM, mostly because his middle school started at nine. But, on the weekends, like today, he usually stops at 8:30 then returns in the late afternoon to sneak in a couple more trips to the dumpster.
By the time Toshinori gets to the beach, it's 7:45. There was a villain attack on the highway that he had to resolve, but it only took one good hit, and he was back on the road in thirty seconds flat.
Stepping out of his truck, Toshinori notes that the dumpster is full again. It's not exactly a good thing, considering it was emptied on Wednesday. Midoriya was probably working too hard like he had before. Hopefully the boy wasn't passed out on the sand like he'd envisioned, or worse.
"Midoriya!" Toshinori yells as he walks down below the seawall. "Midoriya, where are you?" Taking care not to slip down the steps, he makes it to the bottom. His feet rest on the soft sand. "Kid, you better not—oh, holyshit!"
Last month, there was probably about twenty square yards of trash to clean up, and most of it was stacked five, six, or even seven feet high. Now, every inch of the beach is absolutelyspotless.The sand is pure and white, and the ocean water is a pristine blue. Waves lap onto the shore, crested with beautiful seafoam. The sun is rising, and he can hear seabirds calling.
It's exactly as he remembers it being back in his youth.
"My god… Young Midoriya!" Toshinori feels himself puff up as pride and amazement fill him to the brim. He looks around again and notices a fifteen foot tower of trash standing to his far left. On top of it is a screaming figure, which is probably his successor.
Toshinori is proven right when he leaps to grab the boy and carries him to the ground. "Look at you!" Toshinori says, shaking the boy's shoulders.
Toshinori almost can't believe the transformation. Smooth, hard muscle had taken the place of skin and bone. The boy's shoulders, chest, and upper arms had grown the most, swelling a near excessive amount to broaden his build. His torso tapers in a slight v-shape, and Toshinori proudly notes the six pack of abs that take up most of the space on his belly. Midoriya's legs have also beefed up, his thighs stretching the fabric of his track pants and his calves looking more like steel cable than flesh and bone.
"I… I did it!" The boy laughs, nearly collapsing.
Toshinori steadies him. "Yes, you did. Here." He hands the boy his phone after making sure he won't collapse. On screen is a picture. "This is you, crying ten months ago."
"I'm so skinny..." Midoriya says in amazement.
"Yes, you certainly were," Toshinori agrees, patting the boy on the shoulder. "But now, you're ready."
Immediately, Midoriya straightens his back, his face serious. He looks up at his mentor. "Am I really?"
"Huh?" Toshinori cocks his head in confusion, his right arm already halfway to his head to grab a hair.
"It's just… you put in so much time and effort into helping me. Do I really deserve your power?" There's tears streaming down the boy's face, but they're different than usual. Less like rushing rivers and more like soft rainfall.
Toshinori understands his sentiment, but flagrantly disagrees. "My boy…" he comforts, "I was once told that there's a difference between something given and something earned. One is left to luck, and the other is left to the individual's will. You shouldneverget the two confused."
Midoriya seems to understand and wipes his tears away with the back of his hand. He takes a deep breath and looks right into Toshinori's eyes. They're still watery and red-rimmed, but they have the same fiery determination that had quickly become his favorite part about his successor.
"I'm ready."
"Good." Toshinori reaches up into one of his long, bunny-like spikes of hair and pulls a single yellow strand free. He holds it out to Midoriya. "Young man, you've trained for ten months and removed thousands of pounds of trash from this beach out of the goodness of your heart. The day that I met you, I first saw what I thought to be a delusional fool. But I was wrong. You saved that woman. You spurred me into action, inspiring me to push beyond my limits! That is why you are the one I've chosen.
"Midoriya Izuku, I hereby entrust my power, One for All, to you." Midoriya carefully grabs hold of the hair, which Toshinori still holds on at the other end. "Now, eat this!"
"W…what!?"
Toshinori lets go of the hair. It sways in the wind, held firm by Midoriya. "For the power transfer to work, you have to ingest my DNA, that's how it is!" he explains, awkwardly rubbing his neck. "Just hurry up and eat before this gets awkward!"
"But—!"
"Eat, eat, eat!"
[x]
The next day, Midoriya shows up to the beach at six AM sharp. All Might had explained that it would take a day or so for the transfer to work, so it was best for him to rest up before they tried it out.
Not that Midoriya had done much resting. He could barely sleep the previous night, and before that spent the entire day researching stockpile Quirks and how to regulate the output of emitter types.
But now was the moment of truth. The day of reckoning. The most important day of his—
"Ah, young Midoriya! There you are!" The voice of All Might's small form called. Midoriya always found it interesting how his mentor acted differently after changing sizes.
"Uh, good morning!" Midoriya replied, running down the steps to get to the beach. "Am I late?"
"Not at all! I'm just early," All Might says as Midoriya comes to a stop right in front of him. They're standing about six or seven feet from the tower of trash Midoriya made the other day, which he'd probably have to help drag off the beach later. But he'd have a Quirk for that. Hopefully.
"So, do you feel any different?" All Might asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Uh, a little. My stomach's all floaty and weightless…"
"Ah, that's just nerves. Don't worry, it'll all be fine." All Might spins around to face the open ocean and buffs up. "How about a little demonstration!
"First, you have to plant your feet firmly in the ground," his teacher says. "I like to stagger my stance—it helps deal with the backlash better. Next, you have to stand tall. Make sure to square your shoulders and puff out your chest. Finally, pull your fist back, clench your buttocks—" "Uh, what?" "—and yell this from the depths of your heart!"
"SMAAAASH!"All Might's fist shoots forward faster than Midoriya can follow. A massiveboomrips through the air, momentarily rendering him deaf. The ocean is nearly split in two, a large strip of bare sand nearly a kilometer long separating two ten foot waves appearing to keep the two mountains of water appart.
"Now," All Might turns around, his smile wide, "your turn!"
It takes a minute for the water to settle, but after it does Midoriya stands roughly where his mentour did before. All Might himself is a couple feet back, just below the tower of trash. He's in his skinny form, now, and has his arms crossed.
"Remember to clench your butt!"
"I know!" Midoriya calls back, exasperated. Still, he mentally runs through the crash course he got earlier. He sets his stance. "Is this okay?"
"Straighten your back more… a bit more… too much! ... That's perfect!"
Midoriya takes a deep breath and shakes out his arms. He can do it. All he has to do is yellsmashand clench his butt. Anyone can do that. He's got this.
He cocks one arm back and takes a massive breath of air. He holds the pose for just a moment before his arm shoots forward. "Smash!"
Nothing happens. Midoriya opens his eyes, just now realizing that they were closed. The sea is flowing like normal. There are birds gliding in the wind.
"Wh… what happened? Why didn't it work?" Was it all for nothing? Was he going to be Quirkless for the rest of his life? How stupid was he to hope? You can't justgeta Qui—
A loud crack rips through the air, startling Midoriya. He spins around and sees All Might standing under the pile of trash, on top of which is a hundred pound fridge, which sways on the edge dangerously.
The fridge starts to fall, and Midoriyamoves.
It doesn't occur to him that his mentor wasn't in any real danger. In fact, he doesn't even think. All Midoriya does is act.
Using his new Quirk for the first time, he leaps into the air, stirring up waves of both water and sand behind him with the sheer force of his kickoff. He intercepts the fridge midway, cocking his fist back to punch. His arm shoots forward, striking true and pulverizing the appliance.
The entire tower of trash falls due to the force, and not a single speck of dust lands on his teacher.
Midoriya only has a second to thinkholy shit, I did itbefore he feels his stomach drop. Suddenly, he's plummeting right to the ground, but All Might catches him right before he hits the sand.
Midoriya can hear his master talking as they descend safely together. It's a bit hazy, though. His words sound like something about his buttocks and a brilliant smile, but then the man swears in English before leaping into the air himself.
"Don't worry," he says, "I've got a friend who can patch you up. We'll be there soon."
It's only after they fly over a familiar set of walls and land in the courtyard of the school of his dreams that Midoriya's adrenaline wears off along with the haze. He realizes very quickly that both of his legs and one of his arms are completely shattered, andowowowowfuck, that hurts!
"Just hang in there, kid. Only a few more seconds." All Might mutters, breezing through the halls of U.A at top speed. Eventually, he reaches the medical wing and kicks down a door.
"You can knock, you know," a high and airy voice comes from behind a solid wooden desk. A small woman stands up on top of her chair. "Toshinori? What are y—what on God's green earth happened to that boy!?"
All Might carefully sets Midoriya down on a nearby exam table. "He tried to use One for All for the first time and—"
"You letthathappen to your successor!?"
"I didn't justletit hap—"
The woman, who's already gotten up from her desk, cuts All Might off with a hard smack to his left side. The man spits blood. "Stop talking and let me work!"
All Might deflates and rapidly nods, moving out of the way. The woman carefully gets on top of a nearby stool to get a better look at Midoriya.
"You're Recovery Girl," he recognizes, finally connecting all the dots. She's his mom's favorite hero, but Midoriya secretly thinks that she only said that to keep him from dreaming about fighting villains when he was little.
"That I am, dearie," she says, calmly taking his mangled right arm in her hands. She looks it over for a moment before moving to study his legs. "Well, as far as I can tell, all of the breaks are clean and nothing's twisted. You've dislocated your shoulder, though, so that'll have to be fixed before I heal you. Toshi!"
All Might coughs and sputters in surprise before rushing to the bedside. "Flip the boy over to his stomach so his bad arm's hanging over the side of the bed. And carefully!" the Youthful Heroine orders.
All Might quickly complies, wincing every time Midoriya lets out a groan of pain. The boy can feel all the blood in his arm rush to his broken fingers, which hurts even more. He bites his lip to muffle a curse.
"Now," Recovery Girl instructs, "firmly grab hold of his upper arm… the part that's not broken, you big oaf, you're going to pop his shoulder back in, not break more bones!"
"Like this?" All Might asks, gingerly holding onto Midoriya's arm a couple inches below the shoulder, but still above where his flesh is purple and bruised.
"Yes, butfirmly.Good. Now, pull the arm down until you hear a crack. Boy, this is going to hurt, but you can scream good and loud, understand?" She directs the last part of her instructions to him, and he nods firmly in response.
All Might draws several deep breaths and takes his time preparing himself mentally. After what feels like forever, he finally yanks Midoriya's arm down. There's a loud and chillingcrack,but it doesn't hurt as bad as he thought it would. Midoriya rolls his shoulder a bit and whines. It still hurts.
Recovery Girl gives him a quick kiss on the forehead half a second later, and his limbs feel as good as knew. It's ridiculously cool to watch his bones maneuver back into place, and Midoriya even thinks he can feel the healing a bit. But, despite his fascination with the Quirk, he still feels exhausted after it's over. It makes sense, though, since Recovery Girl's Quirk works with the recipient's energy.
Despite him being healed, both Recovery Girl and All Might agree that he should be x-rayed to see if there's any lasting damage. Midoriya complies, but it's a bit weird and awkward, considering the last time he got an x-ray, his dreams were crushed.
"Hmm," Recovery Girl says, zooming in on different parts of the x-ray of Midoriya's left leg, "I can tell that this one got the worst of it, though I don't know why… Midoriya, what happened when you used One for All?"
Midoriya looks over to All Might, who's sitting to his left with a contemplative look. "She knows the whole truth. It's fine," he explains.
"Well, uh." Midoriya takes a moment to think. "There was this huge pile of trash on the beach that I stacked. Looking back, it was probably a dumb thing to do, but… anyways, All Might was standing under it, and a piece started to fall. I couldn't just let it fall on him, so I clenched my butt and yelled 'Smash,' and then I was falling and now I'm here." He manages to cut himself off before he rambles too much.
"That doesn't explain why your left leg was worse than your right," Recovery Girl comments.
"He stepped with his left leg first. I remember it very clearly," All Might steps in.
Recovery Girl then very calmly stands from her desk and gets up from her chair. She turns around and slowly walks towards All Might, who swallows nervously. The man only has a split second to look scared before she clocks him hard over the head with her cane.
"Yagi Toshinori! When I said you should listen to your heart when picking your successor, I didn't mean pick a miniature version of you!"
A wad of blood and spit flies out of All Might's mouth at top speed. "He isnota miniature version of me! He's an overly determined fanboy with a heart of gold and an overactive mind! We're completely different!"
"Oh, so he's a cross between you and Nighteye,even better."
"I don't know if you realize, but candidates are scarce. Sure, he's not perfect, but he'll get there soo—!"
"I certainly hope I'm not interrupting anything!" a cheerful voice calls from the door. Midoriya looks up and over from his feet and sees an empty door frame. "Oh, my apologies. I'm quite short, so I'll have to come around," the voice says again.
There's the sound of a person sipping tea, followed by a soft sigh of content, then Midoriya hears a few short footsteps. The owner of the voice steps into view, joining Midoriya and the two heroes behind Recovery Girl's desk.
"Greetings! I am Nedzu, Principal of UA High. Am I a rat, a dog, or a bear? Who knows!"
"Ohmygodyou'reNedzu!" Midoriya leaps from his seat, rushing forward to shake the principal's hand, er, paw. "Can I have your autograph?"
The principal chuckles, accepting the handshake with a smile on his scarred face. "Why certainly, but only if you try to get into UA. It would be an honor to train All Might's successor!"
"G-g-g-good afternoon, sir," All Might greets, carefully standing and growing to his muscle form. "Your fur looks especially luxurious today!"
"Oh, stop with the flattery, Yagi. I wasn't even your principal." Nedzu takes a sip of tea and lets go of Midoriya's hand. "Though both you and Recovery Girl should be more careful with your arguments. You're all very lucky the medical wing is empty this early in the morning. If it was any later in the day, someone might've overheard!"
"We wouldn't have to worry about arguments if this buffoon was more careful with his successor!" Recovery Girl says sharply.
Nedzu takes a quick look at the x-rays on the computer. "I take it the backlash was far too great for—Midoriya, is it?" The boy nods. "For Midoriya to handle. Those breaks look bad. Why, I don't think I've ever heard of a leg breaking in over ten pieces!"
"I'll work with the boy on that, sir. Rest assured, by the entrance exam, he'll have it under control!" All Might rushes to reassure.
"You better," Recovery Girl warns, "if he breaks his limbs like that too many times, he could lose use of them."
"What!?" Midoriya cries, rubbing his legs rapidly.
"There's no need to worry," Nedzu soothes, "something that severe will take multiple breaks of similar magnitude, and Yagi is already working hard to help you!"
Midoriya calms down a bit and sits back down in his chair. "That's only a little reassuring..."
"Here at UA, we take student safety very seriously. You'll be supervised by our top-notch staff every time you use your Quirk. There's really no worry!" Nedzu turns from Midoriya to All Might. "I take it he just received One for All today?"
"Yes, sir. He actually first used it to save me from a piece of falling trash."
"My, my, how heroic." Nedzu looks back at Midoriya, but his gaze is different now. Less overly peppy and more intensely fascinated. "I can't wait until you make it into my school, Midoriya. I'd love to help shape your mind and spirit."