Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't want to believe it. Deep down, he knew it was just a pipe dream, but he never gave up hope. He was determined to become a hero. Now, as he stood face to face with his role model, a man he had looked up to go most of his life, had just told him no.

Smoke began to fill the area around him, a loud hissing sound coming from the direction that All Might stood, although Izuku's view of the hero had been hindered. As it began to clear, his eyes widened at the sight before him.

A short, scrawny man stood in the place of All Might.

Izuku quickly began to freak out, surprised by the sudden appearance of this stranger in front of him. "W-w-who a-are you?! W-Where d-d-did All Might g-go?!"

"Relax, kid." The man replied, voice much softer than the boistrous hero that once stood in his place. "It's still me, just, well...deflated?"

Izuku stared blankly at the man claiming to still be All Might. This couldn't be real, could it? He had used the word 'deflated'. It sounded like he was a tire with a puncture. He noticed 'All Might' had began to glance around with a nervous expression on his face.

"W-what's wrong?" Izuku asked hesitantly. He still wasn't sure what to make of what was unfolding, but it seemed to him the man claiming to be All Might didn't have any plans to harm him.

After another couple of minutes of the nervous looks, 'All Might' gave a small sigh of relief before turning his attention back to Izuku. "Had to make sure no one else saw that. Imagine if the world found out that the number one hero was just a scrawny old man." he said, giving a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

"S-so you really are A-all Might?" Izuku asked him. Curiosity was beginning to get the better of him. He had to find out now what happened to All Might to make him end up like he was now, standing in front of him. "What happened to you?"

"Well, it's a long story." All Might replied.

"I have time, I think? Besides, I really would like to know, if you don't mind telling me." Izuku said, eyes sparkling once again.

All Might gave a sigh. "Alright, but let's keep this as quick as possible before someone unsavoury comes along once again. I'm not sure if I'd be able to keep up my muscle form for much longer if it does happen." he explained.

He couldn't believe what he was about to do. Open up and explain his one biggest secret, to a kid of all people! Izuku meanwhile couldn't believe his luck. Ecstatic at the mere fact that All Might, his idol and role model, was not only standing in front of him, but also that he was probably about to find out something a very small number of people knew about.

"So basically, years ago I was in the prime of my life. I'd brought the rate of crime in Japan down exponentially during my relatively short time as a hero. One day, I ended up in a fight with a villain going by the name 'All For One.' I assume you've heard of him?" All Might began, pausing for a moment to allow Izuku to nod his head in affirmation that he did indeed know who 'All For One' is. "Good. So we end up in a fight, and it was a brutal one, my toughest ever I'd say. At one point, he blasted me hard abdomen."

Stopping once again, All Might then lifted his oversized shirt, revealing the scrawny figure underneath. That wasn't what Izuku was focused on, however, as his attention was drawn to a large scar that ran from All Might's chest down past his stomach.

"The blast ruptured most of my internal organs, almost beyond repair. Now, I can only use my quirk sparingly every day, otherwise my body can't handle the strain and stress of my muscle form, and reverts me back to this." All Might continued, gesturing to himself as he said the last part. "So, I hope you realise, kid, that being a hero takes a lot more than guts and ambition. I mean, I have one of the strongest quirks, and I'm working on borrowed time myself."

Izuku knew that this was coming. Hell, he'd already gotten his answer earlier yet he persisted with what he knew was a foolish idea and dream of his, hoping and praying that there was some way to achieve his one true goal.

He let his head drop, eyes welling up as this realization finally began to sink in. Power was what allowed one to be a hero. A strong quirk and a large, hulking frame. Izuku had neither of these qualities. He had been told thousands of times over that years that he could never be a hero by his teachers, his classmates and his doctor, yet hearing it now, from All Might, made it feel so much worse.

It really didn't matter how much he trained his body, did it? It was the harsh reality that he was now being faced with, but not wanting to start crying in front of his idol, Izuku began rubbing his eyes excessively, reddening them and making it more obvious that he was in fact crying.

All Might felt horrible, but it had to be done. This kid sure did have a lot of heart and ambition, especially wanting to be a hero without a quirk, but the world's number one knew what it was like, having the scars to prove it. This boy couldn't and wouldn't last long without being killed.

After a moment more of his excessive eye rubbing, Izuku raised his head back up to face All Might, for the hero to realise that Izuku's attempts at drying his eyes had failed, wet tears continuing to trickle down his face. "Th-thanks, A-all M-might. I'm g-g-gonna g-go now." Izuku forced out through choked sobs.

He turned away from All Might, scooped up his bag and just tried to get out of there as quickly as possible, tripping and stumbling over his own feet along the way. All the hero did was watch him go. Didn't call out to him, tell him that everything could be fine, that he could be a hero if he kept working hard. He let out a sigh as the boy disappeared from sight. "I'm sorry, kid. Sorry for being such a hypocrite." he muttered quietly, beginning to head in the opposite direction that Izuku went off in.

Eventually, Izuku came to a stop, the tightening squeeze on his broken heart becoming too much for him to handle. Tears continued to stream down his face as he just stood there, face buried in his bag.

"Aww, look at the little kiddie crying~" a voice to his left caused him to jolt in shock, bag dropping out of his arms and colliding with the concrete below with a dull thud.

Looking around frantically, he was surrounded by alleyways and closed off backstreets. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking, and now that he realized he didn't recognise this place at all, panic began to set in.

"W-who's th-there?" he called out, weakly. He wasn't in his right state of mind to defend himself should he be attacked again, and he knew that, but he still managed to clench his fists.

A giggle echoed around the area in response, making it impossible to find out where the source of it came from. He didn't have to worry about figuring it out however, as a girl, roughly his height walked out of the darkness not too far in front of him. "Are ya seeing this, Dabi? Little kiddie wants to try and defend himself~" she said, another giggle escaping her lips as she finished speaking.

'Dabi? Who?' was all that Izuku had time to think about, as he was swiftly grabbed from behind, something soft and wet being placed over his mouth and nose. He quickly realised what was happening. He was being kidnapped by villains, and there was nothing he could do as he frantically fought to get away, but felt himself losing what little remaining strength he had quickly.

"Sorry, kid, but the boss wants to see you, so you gotta come with us." the voice of who Izuku assumed could only be the man that grabbed him from behind, Dabi told him.

As Izuku began to feel his consciousness slipping away for the hundredth time that day, the girl walked toward him and Dabi, grinning maniacally at him, showing off her sharpened teeth. "Nighty night, little kiddie~" she sang, then blackness.