Chapter 4: One For All
All Might was on his way to the police with the villain. The bottle he was carrying dropped out of his pocket, dropped out and fell on the ground. The sludge monster was free once again to find a worthy host. Izuku was heading home. He got a text from Ochako saying she got the cake and was at the bakery waiting for him. As he continued walking he heard the sound of an explosion.
He started picking up the pace thinking it was another hero battle. He saw some people in a crowd and also the sludge monster once again. He heard he had a hostage, and went up close to see who it was. Fortunately it wasn't Ochako as she was in the bakery. She saw that Izuku was safe and sound and sighed in relief. It was a boy with hedgehog hair and had an explosive quirk. Izuku knew he had to do something.
He grabbed an old bag and dashed forward. Other heroes saw him and tried to stop him but their words fell on deaf ears. Izuku then threw the bag at the villain's eye giving him an open window. He dashed forward and grabbed the boy's hand quickly pulling him out.
After Izuku pushed the explosion kid out of the way, he was face to face with a villain. It was green and made completely out of sludge. It was trying to escape the pro heroes, and seeing Izuku gave it an opportunity to escape.
"You'll make a great host…." he said, "Now let me take over from here!"
The sludge monster reached out to grab Izuku, but Izuku shot an aura sphere at the monster keeping it away. He then shot another while moving back to keep the monster from getting anywhere near him. People were watching as Izuku was holding his own against the beast. The sludge monster dodges the last one in time.
"The hell is with this kid!" he said before thinking about his quirk, "But his quirk….. It could be useful…"
The sludge monster threw out some tentacle-like objects to try and grab Izuku. Izuku pushed his arms to the sides and used his aura to create a barrier to protect him from the beast. It was able to protect Izuku for a short amount of time, but he found himself losing stamina. He had no choice. He put his hands down releasing the barrier. The monster then saw this as an opportunity. However, before he could strike All Might appeared once again, ready to take on the monster. He threw another one of his smashes at the sludge monster, turning him into bits and pieces.
The situation had been taken care of. Izuku took a breather, having used a lot of aura. Some pro heroes started ganging up on him, and had excited looks on his faces.
"Wow kid, you got one heck of a quirk!" said one of the pros, "You should sign up for my agency!"
"No sign up for mine!" said another pro hero.
"I'd rather make my own once I graduate UA. You call yourself pros but none of you stepped up to help the guy who was in trouble. Some pros you are." Izuku scoffs, Before being pulled away by Shoto and Ochako.
"He does have a point," Kamui woods said.
Izuku and Ochako were heading back to their apartment.
"You were kinda harsh to those heroes back there," she commented.
"Well its kinda the truth," Izuku said, "They were just sitting there idly and waiting for someone to handle their problem. Just imagine if it was you in that situation, and I would've been mad that they didn't do anything. But even if that wasn't the case, I still would've went in and saved you. Because you're my best friend."
As Izuku and Ochako made their way back home, Izuku stopped for a minute. He could sense that someone was behind the two of them. It was All Might.
"Holy cow, it's All Might!" he said, "Sir its an honor to see you again.
All Might did a flex.
"Yes it is I, the one and only All Might," he said.
"Pardon me young lady, but would it be alright if I spoke with this boy alone?" he asked politely.
Izuku nodded to her.
"You managed to handle yourself well out there young man," All Might said to him, "I simply must thank you for your assistance, despite you not being a hero yet. And I must say you were pretty harsh on the heroes; they were merely offering you a position."
"With all due respect sir, they just stood there and did nothing while somebody was in danger, and I wasn't one to stand for that," Izuku explained himself.
"As much as I like to show people the right thing to do, that was really harsh. I wouldn't want you to apologize but next time keep that in mind, after all public opinion of a hero, though secondary to the work one does, is also a part of the hero rankings and if you want to be a top hero you need to keep that in mind."
"You have a point sir," Izuku said, "Maybe I was a bit too harsh to them."
"Admitting to a fault is one of the first important steps to being a hero," All Might said, "I noticed how you rushed headfirst into danger without thinking."
"Well when I saw that kid out there, I just…. I had to do something," Izuku answered, "Seeing someone I care about in danger just drives me to want to protect them."
"I see," All Might told the boy, "Your quirk is pretty powerful. A hard working person like you is bound to become a pro…" 'Damn it, why now!' All Might thinks to himself as his body starts to strain a bit.
Suddenly smoke emerged from his body and All Might started to deflate. As he deflated, he started to look more familiar to Izuku. When he looked he couldn't believe his eyes as to who it was.
"...Mr. Yagi?" Izuku asked.
"Hehehe…. Hi young Izuku," he said.
Izuku started connecting the dots together. Toshinori Yagi, a man who has acted like a father to Izuku all these years, and gave him advice on being a good hero, a man who was dating his mother, was none other than All Might himself.
"Holy crap, but….. HOW?!" Izuku asked.
"I can assure you Izuku, I truly am All Might," Toshinori said, "Also, when I'm in this form, please just call me Toshinori."
"Ok," Izuku told him, "But what happened to make you like….. This?"
Toshinori lifted his t-shirt up, showing him a scar that he received.
"Yikes…. Was it Texas Chainsaw?" Izuku asked, "I read up on that big battle and recognized a few of his moves. But he was pretty weak, I mean you were there and mom was there so who did that to you?"
"It wasn't him, he could pull off a few licks, but nothing of this nature. It was with another villain. While I managed to best him, he's managed to take out a few parts of my respiratory organs."
Izuku fake vomited.
"But that's not the reason I'm here, as you saw, I'm not invincible and I can't be All Might forever," Toshinori stated, "I need someone to take over in my stead. And then I saw you."
He pointed at Izuku.
"Izuku Midoriya, I deem you worthy of my power."
"W-w-what?" Izuku asked.
"I deem you worthy of my power," Toshinori repeated himself, "To wield my quirk and use it to become a future hero."
"Wait…. As in you wanna give me your quirk?" Izuku asked, "How is that even possible?"
"Let me fill you in on a little secret kid," Toshinori said, "I wasn't born with this power."
Little did the two of them know that Ochako was secretly listening in on the conversation the whole time.
"There are quite a few suspicions about my quirk and what it can do, however none of them were able to get to the tip of the iceberg as far as the explanation," Toshinori told him, "The true name of my quirk is One For All."
"One…. For….. All….." Izuku repeated.
"It is like a sacred torch that is passed down from one person to another, and as the user grows, the power grows with it. One For All is the secret behind my strength, granting me the power to save those who are in danger," Toshinori explained, "Those who have a quirk for themselves already, One For All will enhance that quirk in great ways. There have been 8 users including me who have used this power, and now I chose you Izuku Midoriya to be the 9th user.
Izuku was thinking about this opportunity. To be trained by the No 1 hero seemed too good to be true.
"Sir, I accept!" Izuku said with a smile.
"And also, young Uraraka, I know you're there, so you can come out," Toshinori stated.
Ochako walked out of the bush she was hiding in. She then scratched her head nervously.
"Hehehe….. What's up?" she asked.
"Were you listening to all of that just now?" Toshinori asked.
She nodded nervously.
"I wanted to make sure you were ok and didn't get attacked so I stood by and listened," Ochako said, "I'm sorry Mr. Yagi."
"I forgive you young Uraraka," Toshinori said, "Who am I to question a bond between two friends. But it's very important that no other living soul knows about this."
The two of them nodded.
"You should take the opportunity Deku," Ochako told him, "It's not every day you get chosen to succeed a pro."
"Deku?" All Might asked.
"It's this nickname she came up with for me back when we were kids," Izuku explained, "It derives from this word 'Dekiru' which means 'you can do it' and…"
He started to mutter about the word Deku.
"Wow, you're definitely good at word vomit, maybe better than inko at that," Toshinori said, "But in any case, it's very important that no other living soul knows about this. Except my master's friend, my friend in the police force and the UA principal, oh and recovery girl. Kids, its very important that this information doesn't leak out to anybody."
Izuku and Ochako nodded.
"So young Midoriya, you and I will meet tomorrow morning at 8:00 to begin your training to inherit the quirk," Toshinori stated, "And you're also free to join us young Uraraka. I know you two take lessons at Gunhead Martial Arts, and I will make a few adjustments to each of your schedules so each of you has time for the training."
Izuku and Ochako looked at each other and smiled.