"Uuuuuuugh..." Takeyama Yu slowly awoke with a groan as she heard the blare of her cell phone's alarm.

With a pained whimper, she opened her eyes to the unwelcome sight of the sun shining through the dusty blinds of her apartment. The living room blinds. Not the bedroom shades.

"Not again," she mumbled as she rolled over and started going through her purse to find her screaming cellphone.

Third time. This was the third time this week that she'd fallen asleep on the couch like this. At least she was in her sweats, but she could feel the mask glue on her face as she delicately peeled it off.

"Is it too much to ask?" the grumbled to herself, "Just too much to ask for a real bath?"

As always, she arrived home late the day before, her heroic and public relations duties keeping her from returning home until damned near the last train. Getting home, she'd wanted to just relax for a bit. She'd gotten home, thrown her uniform in the washing machine, and started heating up the furo so she could enjoy a nice relaxing soak. And once again, she found herself falling asleep on the damned couch.

No bath for her, time for just another quick shower. Enough to get the funk out but not enough to really relax. Oh, and she'd be paying extra for the electricity too because leaving the bath to heat overnight wasn't cheap.

She sighed as she pulled herself up and stumbled into the washroom, first to turn the bath off, then to make sure her uniform was clean, and then to take her damned shower.

At least she was eating better. While having to work out of Might Tower while her own building was being rebuilt was kind of humiliating, at least it had one hell of a food court. So at least she had that.

She stumbled into the shower and turned on the water, just letting it cascade over her as she learned against the wall, her forehead pressing into the cheap plastic of her shower unit.

Sometimes she wondered why she put up with this. She'd studied hard for her degree in Media Communications and had busted her ass to get her hero license, working herself to the bone to earn enough to afford night school hero courses, but it was moments like this that she quietly wondered if she'd just wasted her time.

No.

Like so many other times before, she quickly buried that thought.

No. It was never a waste.

She'd worked hard to get here, and if there was just one little girl like her, one little girl with a troublesome Quirk who looked at her and said 'it's alright to dream', then so be it. For that one kid, she'd bite her teeth and stomach all the creepy crush lovers and foot fetishists that her manager could set up. She was only doing it to keep the lights on, so she could afford her insurance and all the penalties.

She wanted to be the mountain who'd shelter everyone, just like she'd told All Might after he'd shared his own story of hardship with her.

She'd always admired the Number One. How couldn't you? He was so strong and noble, always there when people needed help. When he said his catchphrase it always gave people hope.

I am Here.

All Might is here... so everything is going to be okay.

She'd always wished she had a quirk like his. He was so strong, and powerful, brave and handsome- everything a Hero...

No.

Everything a man needed rolled into one massive mass of... manliness. She'd always thought with a Quirk like his, everything must have just been so easy. Then he told her the story of his own quirk that was even more difficult than hers and then took in a student because they were alike.

Before she'd always envied All Might. Now she was jealous of his student.

She sighed as she reached over to grab the shampoo.

Enough thinking. She needed to have her hair washed, dried, and be ready to go in less than a half an hour.

Sure, she'd expected publicity, but this…

She stifled a groan and got to work washing her hair.

She just wished being a hero wasn't so miserable...

Yu sat across from her manager's desk, quietly munching on a 'breakfast burrito'. While she wouldn't miss having to live off All Might's largesse, she would miss this much. It was cheap, it was kind of tasty, and it beat the hell out of eating toast on the train.

Kuro Kabuto was a decent guy, as far as she was concerned. A bit strange, largely due to the fact that his quirk required him to wear a ridiculous looking helmet that covered everything except his lower face while in public, but very reliable. Even had a wife and kid on the way. Super reliable.

Also good at his job. Honestly, he was the one who'd really helped her set up the whole agency.

She was more the fighting type while he was really good with money. Without him she wouldn't even had an agency of her own.

"So what do we have lined up for today?" she asked him as she swallowed another bite.

It was okay, but she really missed having the time to enjoy a traditional breakfast.

He smiled. "I've managed to set up a special event today with the Tokyo Foot Lovers Association..."

How many puppies had she punted in a past life? Had to be a lot.

"I did one last week," she whispered, "Come on, don't you have anything... heroic for me to do?"

"Public appearances are critically important for your image!" He cheerfully replied.

"I know that!" she snapped, "But..."

He smiled, the fatigue clear on what features were left visible by his helmet. "I understand, Takeyama-san. Would you like to table this and move onto the next point?"

She nodded. "Please."

"We've finally gotten back the data on the little altercation in Shinjuku last week."

Yu visibly flinched. She'd been chasing a villain when she'd slipped on a car and fell face first into a china shop. It hadn't been her best moment. Especially because some of the debris had damaged her costume... and one of the major flaws with her costume was that with the amount of tension it was under, while it was really tough, once it tore a little it tore a lot.

"On the bright side..."

"There was no bright side!" she hissed. Yes. While they'd made decent money off the paparazzi who sold those damned pictures of her unfortunate and humiliating costume malfunction, that was not the sort of hero she wanted to be!

He cleared his throat. "Anyways, we have the numbers..."

"And?"

"We're looking at 120,000,000 yen in damages," he replied causing her to suck in air in a slow, pained gasp as if felt like all color had drained from the world leaving her floating in a grey, airless void.

"Thankfully, villain-damage insurance and the heroic-liability deductions are taking care of most of it, but we're still running in the red on this one..." he paused, "Now, if you'd like I can call the Foot Lover's Association and tell them you can't make the event but..."

She groaned. He had a point and she hated it. There were so many other events, but, well… the creeps paid. And they paid bank...

"Step on me, Mountain Mommy!"

It was difficult, but Yu was able to suppress the shudder. It was money, she needed money, and her manager had promised a tub of hot water and a scrub brush for afterwards. As long as she got a foot wash, she could handle it when things got... sticky.

She could do this.

She still had to suppress the grimace when the man under her foot let out a sound that no sane female ever wanted to hear at a fan meetup.

Well, except for Midnight, but, again, "sane" female. That leather frosted Christmas Cake* was a special sort of crazy she didn't even want to touch.

"Grind harder!"

Icey fingers went up her spine.

Just think of my company! Just think of my company! Just...

There was a ding.

Times up.

"Okay, next!" she called out as she lifted her foot, only marginally faster than she would have if she'd been walking on hot coals.

"Oooooooooh~~~~"

There were no words to describe how much she hated this. She'd become a hero to become a hero not a fetish sex symbol. She liked to show off her assets, but that's because she was hot, she knew she was hot, and she knew that sex sells. But there was a difference between selling the sexy and selling sex and to her, this was way too far in the latter direction...

But she needed the money. Two hundred people. Times five thousand yen each. Minus those fetish assholes cut to rent the venue and arrange it... meant that she was getting round about 500,000 yen. Not a huge amount, but enough that she'd be able to make her loan payments on time... a couple more and she might actually be able to put something towards the principle and properly pay herself and her manager for once, assuming she didn't trip and fall into any more Antique shops.

She took a deep breath as she looked at the clock. It was almost over. They'd stopped accepting new people and there were only about fifteen people in line. That was thirty minutes. Then she could wash her feet, walk into the shower, crawl up into a ball, and lament her life choices.

Again.

She took a deep breath as the next disgusting little pervert rushed in to be tread underfoot.

"Ooooh~~! Yeeeeees~~~~! Do me next!"

She shuddered.

Her life couldn't get any more fucked right now could it?

And then, of course, it did...

"I am... Here?" It started with all the bombastic energy she'd come to expect from the man… and trailed off into disorientated confusion.

No. Oh no. Nononononononononono no!

She slowly forced her eyes down to look at the new arrival, at the Symbol of Peace standing before her- so tiny in comparison, but so utterly, immensely disgusted, his eyebrows funneled into narrowed eyes- not angry, not at all, just stunned and shocked and utterly put off- his lips parted as he very clearly nearly swore in utter confusion at the sight of Mount Lady, one foot off the ground, and a very, very eager salaryman beneath it.

Her stomach dropped, and she felt cold- utterly and completely cold, as All Might raised a hand- not to stop her, just a single finger as he clearly tried to process what he was looking at.

She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The edges of her vision were getting foggy, and she tried to swallow, talk, say anything, do anything, to explain what was going on-

"It's All Might!" Someone called. Almost instantly everyone was scrambling for the man, and she just-

She didn't realize she was moving at first, bursting through a door to get inside- that was funny, she shouldn't be that small, shouldn't be able to fit inside a building- and headed-

She didn't know. Just away.

I want to die.

*Christmas Cake: In Japan, it's traditional to serve a Strawberry Shortcake (along with Kentucky Fried Chicken) on Christmas. It also gave rise to a rather unfortunate slang term for women over 25: Nobody wants a Christmas Cake after the 25th.

It had all been a blur to her after All Might had arrived. One moment she'd been... debasing herself, the next she just... found herself curling up in a bathroom stall.

It was over. Everything. Her life. Her career. It was over.

Everything she'd tried to build up was gone in a heartbeat.

There was no way she was going to be able to escape this. Sure, she'd developed a bit of a reputation from this crap, but she'd been largely able to avoid paparazzi due to a strict no camera's policy.

But now All-Might saw it, and everything All-Might got slathered all over every bit of news coverage there was. 'All-Might catches Mount Lady stepping on people in foot fetish gathering' would be in the papers by the next morning. Probably on the news tonight.

What an inspiration she was.

And what would he think of her? Some hero she was, just more fodder for perverts. He was probably disgusted with her and the man could kill her career without even trying. All he'd have to do is just say something even half-way disparaging about her and her placement in the rankings would drop like a meteor.

She heard the door open and close, the sound of heavy footsteps, and then-

"I am here," Oh god, he was here- "If you want to talk."

And that was it. He didn't say anything else. She didn't hear him leave, didn't hear him do anything- he just… stood outside the stall.

She sniffed as she tried to get herself under control

"G-go away," she choked out, fighting back tears. Just let her career die in peace. It wasn't fair to rub her nose in it!

"Is that what you really want?" his tone was far removed from this media persona. Not boisterous but thoughtful, quiet.

He didn't even sound mad, or disappointed even, just… concerned.

Did she really want him to leave?

She honestly didn't know.

"I said go away!"

But sometimes you reacted more by instinct than thought, and this was not a position she wanted the Number One to see her in. She'd had many of those in the past how many minutes.

He didn't leave. She heard him shift slightly, saw the shadow on the ground move towards the wall, and that was it.

She sniffed again and curled in a little tighter.

"You must think I'm disgusting," she muttered, her tone depressive and embittered.

"Actually, no," he replied, "First, true heroes don't kink shame-"

"It's not my kink!" she all but screamed. For the love of all that was sacred, no! She hated that stuff, but she had to eat. And pay her bills. All of her bills. Her many, many, many bills.

"Considering your reaction, that much is apparent," he replied with a slight chuckle. Not a demeaning one, not an amused one, just... a sort of tired empathy. As if seeing her doing what she'd been doing had in some way fatigued him.

Fatigued him... the closest thing to a living god the world had seen outside myth and legend.

Great job, Yu.

"Which begs the question... why were you doing this to yourself? I saw your face before you realized it was me. You looked miserable."

"Because I need the money and..." she groaned.

Of all the ways to put it... she had to say it like that.

"And now I sound like a whore."

"No," he replied softly, "You sound like you need help."

Help. The way he said that word... there was a gravatas to it. A finality. A power. It was like a full stop at the end of a sentence. Like everything in the world would grind to a halt.

It was the same kind of... power... that was behind his catchphrase. Not how he said it when he showed up for a media event, but how he said it in recordings disasters, especially the ones from her youth. From the bad old days back before people really internalized exactly who and what they were dealing with.

When some terrible disaster happened and everyone was full of terror, he'd just arrive and...

I Am Here.

All-Might was here... and everything was going to be okay.

She loosed a deep sob.

He wasn't- he- but-

Why? Why was he here, being like this?

"What's wrong?" he asked, his tone gentle and kindly.

"Money, what else?" she replied, bitterly.

He hummed slightly. "How so? You're a rather successful hero. Impressively popular for a woman who only made her debut a year ago. What's the matter?."

"Mostly insurance costs," she muttered. "I keep breaking things..."

If it wasn't for her insurance problems she'd be running deep in the black. She might be able to get an apartment closer to her patrol area. Maybe even afford to take days off.

She could hardly remember the last time she'd had actual free time as much as a vacation.

"Have you considered working in more rural areas?"

"That's not-"

That wasn't who she wanted to be! She wanted to be someone people saw, someone who they admired and looked up to! Not some country bumpkin rescuing disgusting fucking cows from their own stupidity!

"You're right. It'd be cheaper, but I- I don't want to be that."

She'd had her fill of farms, and cows, and rural hayseed morons looking to set her up with their idiot sons because she'd be the world's greatest piece of farm equipment to last two lifetimes!

Every inbred hick's dream: A tractor that puts out.

Fuck the country.

"And nobody even looks at rural heroes. And if I can be a hero, then…"

"The Wild Wild Pussycats are rank 32..." he offered.

"They've also been doing it for ten years and are a full team..." she replied. They had three pretty ladies in coordinated outfits, always a plus. Four before Tiger's Thailand trip.

Thinking about it, the media storm around tiger's transition had been the first most people'd heard of them. They'd just been so damned photogenic and wholesome that they'd not only weathered the controversy, but had... well... if you know how to spin it, any publicity is good publicity.

Yeah, no.

She wasn't willing to become a dude to get famous working in the boonies, thanks.

"It's just that..." She sighed and closed her eyes. Damn. How to put this.

"What's the problem?"

"This is kind of your fault," She muttered. "Not that I'm blaming you but..."

There was a long silence from the other side of the door.

"I'm going to need you to explain this one to me, Mount Lady-san."

She sighed. He sounded confused, not offended. Thank goodness.

"With you in the area you've reduced crime to a third," she said after a moment, "So it's harder to find villains to bring in, and the ones that we can find are more difficult- and when people want public events everyone just turns to you - and my manager has been booking me solid with this stuff - and it's just hard..."

"Oh..."

There was a bit of regret and... was that shame in his voice?

"I apologize, Mount Lady-san," he said after a moment, "I'll be more mindful in the future. I'll extend my range, and make sure not to impede your own activities unless lives are at risk."

He- what. He was- like that he was just- but- that didn't-

...It made total sense. It was All-Might.

"Would you like to come out?" He asked politely. Calmly.

She took a long breath and nodded, remembered he couldn't see her- but she could see his bangs poking over the top of the stall doors- and then carefully, slowly, slipped off the toilet to open the door.

He was smiling. Wide, but not the boisterous grin that was plastered to half the merchandise in Japan- just calm, confident, and reassuring.

He really was a flexible hero, wasn't he?

"Thank you for your offer. Really. I mean it. It's going to help a lot, but..."

"But what?"

She sighed. "But everything's still too small and fragile," she muttered. She could have dealt with it overwise but...

"Ah, the World of Cardboard," All-Might said with a knowing look and a strong nod. "I understand that one all too well."

She laughed. He would. She'd seen him against that slime guy... he'd punch and it rained.

He was on a whole other level.

"I'd have thought they would have helped you with that in Hero School."

"I never went to Hero School. I did a night program..."

Most university hero programs were just too hard to get into unless you went to a hero high school. Stupid because they were technically supposed to cater to people who wanted to become a hero after college rather than going directly into the field, but... well... they either could cherry pick their students or, in the case of private universities, charged so much that mere peasants need not apply.

"Oh." He grimaced.

"I see the problem," he said after a moment of thought, "Those programs tended to run the full gamut between scams that promise you the world and legitimate programs."

"I researched mine," she said defensively. She knew he wasn't judging her, but... it still felt like she was being put on the defensive.

"But I do see some of the problem. Programs like that exist to allow people like you, who have right mindsets to enter the profession. However, they focus on the academic and legal aspects of heroism as opposed to the practical side of things."

She nodded. She'd gotten the feeling that her instructors had just assumed everyone had a strong handle on their quirks and just needed to learn how to handle the back end.

"Why didn't you go to a hero school?" he asked after a moment "You're young and committed with a powerful quirk."

She loosed a self-deprecating laugh. Oh if only! "I tried! The only High School in Japan that would take me because of my quirk was an agricultural school in Hokkaido... because they wanted a free crane..."

Typical, wasn't it. People only valued what they could get out of her.

He grimaced, leaving her wondering what he was thinking. "So you're telling me that you haven't received practical training in the application of your quirk?"

She cringed and went silent for a moment.

"No..."

No she hadn't. Not really at all. She'd learned how to lift and move people in that stupid highschool if only via experience with livestock, but while important, that had largely been the end of it.

She really just...

She closed her eyes.

Who was she trying to kid?

"You're right..." she whispered in shame, "I'm sorry…"

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"

"I should just quit."

He spat out something in English. She knew it was English, though she'd never really been good with the language, taking it as a requirement and then largely forgetting it though disinterest and disuse once she no longer was being graded because she'd been young, dumb, and had a chip on her shoulder, but whatever he'd just said hadn't sounded pleasant.

She was pretty sure it was a curse.

"Wh-what?"

"Fuck. That."

Her jaw droped. Did All Might, the Symbol of Peace, and most photogenically child friendly human being on the planet just curse?

"I was simply asking if you had proper training," he replied calmly and carefully, "I was not trying to imply that you should quit being a hero." he paused for a moment, "I went to UA. Do you know UA's school motto?"

"No." she admitted. She honestly had done her best to forget UA existed after her little accident during the entrance exam.

"Plus Ultra," He said with a smile, "It is Latin and means 'Go Beyond'. In UA, students are expected to always keep that in mind during class and long after graduation. To go beyond their limits. To give it their all with every breath, then give more. Considering what you've told me so far, you live and breathe that motto. The fact that you had such difficulties is nothing less than a crime, and for someone who has a difficult quirk with no practical field training to make as far as you have in just a year is a testament to your courage and determination that borders on miraculous..."

Slowly her jaw just dropped.

She'd run in here expecting to watch her career evaporate. A part of her had even been wondering if it wouldn't be for the best to just... jump high, shrink down, and let gravity take its course...

Instead All Might was acknowledging her.

He'd heard her problems and instead of seeing her as being lesser for them, he thought that much more of her.

It had been so hard. Nothing but pain and the feeling that all of her efforts were for naught but... here was the world's greatest hero saying she was not just a worthy hero, but one to be...

She sniffed.

She couldn't help it

The room started to blur a little, she tried to say something in reply but all that escaped was a broken, choked sound as she started to cry, reaching up to try and wipe it away because for god's sake she was in front of All-Might and-

She felt his hand settle on her shoulder, and he pulled her into a hug.

Something inside her just snapped. She started to cry. Not a pretty cry, but a messy, sloppy cry full of both sadness and relief.

She didn't know how long she'd sobbed into the massive man, but eventually she wiped her eyes...and nose...

Oh great... she'd gotten boogers on All Might...

But he seemed to be pleased that she was doing better if that damned smile of his was any indication.

"Now, are you feeling better?"

"A little..."

Didn't solve her problems but at least she was able to get it some of it out of her system.

He grinned, "Wonderful. Now, I think I might have a solution to your problem."

She blinked. "Y-you do?"

"You've heard about my new sidekicks, right?"

She nodded. She doubted there was a single person in Japan who hadn't heard about it. All Might takes a vigilante and a petty criminal as sidekicks using some arcane hundred year old law? Godzillo could sneeze in downtown Tokyo and it would hardly get in the way of the news cycle.

"I'm planning on talking to Nezu - the Principal of UA - about remedial training for them. If you'd like I could see if he'd be willing to extend the same offer to you."

Her eyes widened as her mind struggled to process what the massive man was saying.

He… He was offering to talk to the principal of UA to get her remedial training. To help her stop being a destructive mess, to- to-

...He really did believe in her.

"Thank you...Thank you" she whispered, her mind wandering as she considered the posibilities.

If she could learn to control her quirk better and not break things she could start paying off her debts...and maybe... eventually she could work her way out of the red!

"How deeply in debt are you?" he asked.

She flushed. Oh shit, did she say that out loud?

"Um..." she caught, "It's... um..."

"I could work with you on it," he offered with a boisterous laugh, "After all, it can't be that much..."

It could be that much.

And she told him as such.

For the first time in the entire conversation, at least since she opened the door and probably before, the smile vanished from his face.

"Oh."

She nodded and closed her eyes. Yeah. Oh.

"But at least this way I'll have a chance..." she closed her eyes, "Without having to do fetish shit."

"Hmn," All Might rubbed his chin. "Mount Lady-san?"

"Yes?"

"I am going to need your permission for my financial department to go over your Agency's finances. See if we can't work something out."

She let out a long, relieved breath. Sure, he wasn't paying it off, but it was All-Might's financial department. If anyone could figure something out, it'd be them.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me," he said with a laugh, "I'm a hero! It's what we do."

"Help other heroes work out the dumpster fire that is their bottom line?" she said with a self-depreciative laugh.

"You need help," he said as if was a simple, fundamental fact of reality.

She could only laugh as she shook her head, unable to do anything but smile at the older heroes antics.

No wonder Endeavor never even got close. She'd met the man and while he was an imposing bastard, he couldn't pull off half the heroic gravitas All Might managed just by breathing on his best day.

"Thank you," she whispered.

All-Might just squeezed her a little tighter, before releasing her and stepping back, placing both massive hands on her shoulders. Crying on him was one thing, but this sort of intimate physical contact was a bit embarrassing. Not that she minded, he was, well... All Might. Just look at him, but in a way that just made it worse.

Taking a deep breath, and still blushing from the close contact, she walked forward and opened the door, leaving the ladies room with All Might walking behind her, only to come crashing right into a wall of cameras and the associated flashes.

Well shit.