Years Prior…

It was the end of the first week of my summer internship. I couldn't tell Todoroki about the whole situation, so I told him that I came to Endeavor because All Might wanted me to have the most intense training. And even though that's not the primary reason, it's definitely a believable excuse.

"Todoroki?" I knocked on the door of the room he was sleeping in. It was fairly late, but not late enough that I thought he'd be asleep.

He opened his door looking tired. "Hm?"

"Sorry if I woke you. Can I talk to you about something?"

"Don't worry about it," he said, walking out into the lounge area and sitting down with me. "Sure. Is something keeping you awake?"

"... Yeah. A little."

"What's wrong? Do you feel unsafe? Are you overworked?"

I can't talk about what All Might told me, though admittedly, I'm not as concerned about that right now. All Might and the rest of UA are going to catch the traitor and we'll be safe by the time my second year happens. But in the meantime…

"Well, the work is tough. But it's something else."

"Oh," he said, feeling somewhat relieved it wasn't something too serious. "Well, what is it?"

"It's… uh… about one of my friends."

"Are they in danger?"

"No, why do you keep asking that?"

"Because it's keeping you up. It must be something serious!"

"It's… it's a girl, alright?!" I shouted in response.

Todoroki seemed perplexed by my response. He didn't seem to understand that well.

"I'm… sorry. I just… I'm not very familiar with that sort of thing."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up on you. But… yeah. It's one of those things."

"I'm not a big people-person, but if it helps, I can listen."

"Okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Is it about Uraraka?"

Instantly, my face went into a blaze. I immediately stood up with my eyes widened.

"How… how did you…? I thought you said you weren't good at this kind of thing!"

"Well, I'm not," he replied. "But Momo brought it up to me one time when we were studying."

N-No way! Does… Uraraka already think I like her? "W-What? What'd she say?"

"Well, we were studying in a group for the written final. Ashido, Aoyama, Kyouka, Momo and I were all there. I was focused on finishing my worksheet when someone suddenly asked me what I thought of you two."

I'm just surprised that before I could even decide whether or not I actually like her, people have already been theorizing about us.

He went on. "I didn't have anything to say, but Ashido, Jiro, and Aoyama were all adamant that she liked you. Momo and I weren't sure."

"W… Why do they think that?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure."

"Do they think I like her?"

"We were all a bit unsure about that. Aoyama said you seem to bit a bit awkward in general, so it was hard to tell."

That's… fairly blunt. "Do you like her, Midoriya?"

"Oh! Uh… I think I do? I… I can't really say."

"Do you think she likes you?"

"Maybe? I mean, everyone else thinks she does. And we had a bit of a weird interaction before school ended."

"What are you going to do about it?"

That was the question I wasn't sure how to answer. Granted, I wasn't completely sure about my answer on any of the three, but on this one I was completely clueless.

"I don't know. Do I really have any options?"

"Well, once again, I don't deal much with this kind of thing, but from my viewpoint, you can either address it or you can not address it. Which do you want to do?"

I smiled. For someone who doesn't seem experienced with romance, Todoroki is very good at giving advice.

My options are really one of a few. I can pursue this by asking her out, leave it be and not say anything, or just have an honest talk about our feelings.

"I'll leave that up to you, but for now, we should get some sleep," Todoroki said. "We're probably in for a big day tomorrow and you seem like you're already exhausted."

I really am. I'm trying to master One For All at a higher percentage and build up my body gradually, but we're going on a lot of patrols as well and encountering villains that way.

I'll focus on that for now and try to deal with this later.

"Okay. Thanks for listening and asking those questions," I said. "Though are you sure you're new to this? You're asking them like you have experience with it."

"Yeah. What makes you think I do?"

"Well, you just seem very well-versed in this area. Do you like someone, Todoroki?"

"W-What? No! It's just…" He stumbled a bit before coming up with his answer, where he went back to his regular calm demeanor. "These are fairly basic questions to ask. 'How do you feel', 'What can you do', et cetera."

"Ah, I understand. Thanks for listening." That wasn't very convincing… but I'll leave him be. He can ask me if he wants to talk to me about it.

"No problem. I wish you luck with her, Midoriya."

"U-Uh…" My face felt warm again. "T-Thanks! Goodnight, Todoroki!"

"Goodnight."

Present Day…

The office was already unlocked when I got there, which made me somewhat concerned. I opened the door and gazed into the room. Did somebody else get here already? But I own the agency now. I'm the only person with a pair of keys.

Unless…

"Deku! Good morning," said a chipper Uraraka, who ran up to me to say hi.

"Wow, you're an early bird, huh? It's a full hour before your shift even starts here!" The sun had barely begun to rise in the morning, with a still-dark orange sky looming over Japan.

"Well, yeah, but it's something I've been doing since about two years ago. It helps me get more energetic in the morning and ready to work! How do you feel, Deku?"

"Lethargic," I said without hesitation.

"W-Well… you'll get used to it! But you're the boss, so you've gotta be here before everyone else is."

"True. I have a question for you."

"What is it, Deku?"

"Well, actually, another one just popped up. What do you want me to call you?"

"Huh?"

"Like, just in general. Do you want me to call you 'Uraraka' like always or by your hero name?"

Uraraka gave me a smile that unraveled me from the inside-out. Ever since high school, she's had a bright smile that lit up the room, which I would say even rivaled All Might's.

Her looks only grew with age. I'd say she's surpassed it by now.

I'm really starting to remember why I had a huge crush on her in high school… this could be a problem.

"How about we do it like old times? Just 'Uraraka'."

"G-Good, good! I'm gonna go put stuff in my office!" I quickly walked away feeling embarrassed at my own thoughts until I realized I had no idea where I was going. Midway between walking across the room, I stopped and paused.

"Deku…" she said. "Do you need me to show you where you'll be setting up?"

"Y… Yes. Thanks." I shamefully walked back to her and she guided me to Noguchi's old office, which was now empty and mine to fill. Uraraka was partly finished with filling hers, which was a room across from mine.

"We'll be working really close, so if you need me for anything, be sure to let me know."

"Yeah. Thanks, Uraraka."

"I'll let you get to setting up. Welcome to the agency, Deku!" She walked away gracefully, though a part of me wanted to go away with her.

This is bad… it's only the first day of real work and I'm already getting flustered about my past. I need to get over it or it's going to tear me apart from the inside-out.

Switching my focus to my new office, it looked about as empty as my apartment did when I first got there. The lone object laying on the shined mahogany desk was a name placard with my name and hero title on it.

Opening my bag, I got out a few things that I intended to lay down to be in my office, including my computer, a pencil cup along with new sets of pens and pencils, a stapler and staples, my set of notebooks across my years as a student and a hero, and a lot of other office-y stuff.

Once I got the general stuff out and laid it upon the desk, I got out a few other things. Specially designed in America, I have two finger-strengtheners made out of pure steel that I use to exercise my quirk when I'm not doing anything at the moment. I put these in a drawer in the desk.

Secondly, I had three hero posters which I had in my last office, two of which I had gotten recently. The first was an old poster of Noguchi, which I got to honor the original owner of the agency, which I hung up.

The second was a picture of Bakugo, who now goes under the name "The Ground Zero Hero: Dynamight", which was also recently bought as he recently got #13 in the most recent hero rankings of Japan. I hung this one up as well.

Finally, most difficult of all, was the poster of All Might, plastered in his Golden Age costume saving people in the video that I watched several times as a child and even as a teenager. I had this poster custom ordered and in my room ever since I was in America, but it's still almost an eyesore.

As I put up the poster next to Bakugo's, I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.

All Might… you'll always be my biggest inspiration and the one who made my dream possible.

I promise to live up to your expectations in the best way I can.

"You know, I was in a similar situation when I became a hero."

I looked up to see myself in a world of complete black. The only thing I saw was me in my hero costume, which was different from what I walked into the office in. My stapler, which was formerly in my hand, was gone.

"A… All Might?"

"When my predecessor was killed by All for One, I went to UA, came to America for a bit, and returned to Japan for my biggest start as a pro hero."

"Y… It… it can't be… you're alive?"

"Unfortunately, no, Midoriya. However, we are still connected through the vestiges of One for All. Through that, I am here."

A tear started rolling down my face. "W-Why… I thought you had caught the traitor…"

"Midoriya, you have grown into a superior version of me. Complete with your own agency to boot! I'm so proud of you."

Tears began to flow from my eyes at a rapidly increasing pace. "I… I needed you still, All Might. T-There…" I struggled to get my words out between my sniffles and staggered breathing. "I had so much to learn from you still!"

"Midoriya," he said. "You have fostered into the best symbol I could have created. There is nothing more I could tell you know other than one thing."

I wiped my eyes and nose. "W-What are you talking about?"

He laughed proudly and boldly. "It seems your leaky eyes are still there, aren't they?"

"A-All Might…"

"Izuku, it is time for you to Go Beyond! Tell the world: 'I am here!'"

"All Might! Don't go!"

"Don't lose that smile, Deku! I will see you again another day!"

I ran after my perception of him, but he quickly faded into the air, and I fell onto my face trying to touch him. My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding, and I felt sick to my stomach. But I processed again what my mentor had said to me.

He's… he's right. I can't lose hope. Not now when my journey has just started.

Closing my eyes and beginning to stand up after clearing my mind, I was getting ready to go on with my life, until I was suddenly interrupted.

"Deku?"

"AH!" Boxes of pens, pencils, and staples, all airborne, were now dropped to the ground, including the stapler I was holding which fell onto my foot. "Ow!"

"AH! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

"No," I responded. "It's okay, Uraraka. I just…" I picked up the poster I dropped and stapled it back onto the wall, ignoring the pain I had from dropping the stapler.

She looked up and saw the poster. "Deku…"

"It's fine. I just… it's still a little hard."

"Are you sure you're okay right now?"

"Don't lose that smile, Deku!"

I turned to my assistant and gave her the biggest smile I could muster at the moment after wiping away the one tear I had left in my eye. "Yes. Thank you for checking on me."