Five months. He had forged strong relationships faster than that. Namely with his own master and Gran Torino, which was the relationship he now had with Young Midoriya. But there was still a barrier between them: the barrier of Izuku being not just a fanboy, but a super fan boy. During training, it became apparent the boy even wore his brand of underwear—not the athletic stuff; it was the kind that had his face on it, which was something that no boy beyond the age of six should be wearing.
Still, Toshinori rolled his shoulder as he glanced across the narrow beach that Young Midoriya had already carved out of the debris. He couldn't help but feel like he was making the right choice when it came to the boy. He was perhaps even more determined than he was starting out. But his starting state wasn't just bad, it was borderline pathetic.
But that's what they were doing. They were reforging Young Midoriya's growing body in the flames of youth and turning him into a man that could stand on their own and tell the world that they were here now! It was not going to be any simple feat becoming the next pillar of peace and justice.
He did have some pretty big shoes to fill, after all.
Size 23 U.S.
Thank goodness switching between forms didn't change his foot size too much.
"Ahh! All—" Izuku raised his hand as he half-ran down the stairs to the beach. It was so telling that even after five months he was still excited to train every morning. As the days went on, he was becoming more and more convinced that Izuku was the right choice. Izuku ran up to him, and even in the heat of summer, the cool sea breeze forced their breath into wispy steam. "I mean, uhh, Sensei!"
Ahh yes, the public title that he had Young Midoriya call him to avoid arousing suspicion. And just giving both of them a bit of privacy, as he tended to draw a bit more attention than he'd care for! There was no sense in exposing Young MIdoriya to that just yet. Besides, the boy could hardly talk to anyone he didn't know without fainting, let alone any ladies that might be stopping by the beach as they opened it up.
"I'm surprised you're here." The raspy voice of his relaxed form always grated at him. It just spoke of how much this transfer was actually needed. "Most people would take their birthday off."
Izuku shook his head and stared at his hand as it trembled for some unknown reason. "I've always wanted to be a hero, so making progress toward that? I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday."
This damn kid, his motivation was so infectious! Why couldn't he channel that energy when talking to people?
Oh well, the mind would follow the body. For now, they needed to make sure he wouldn't explode from taking One for All.
"All RIGHT!" He switched into his flex form and gave Izuku a great big thumbs up. "That's the spirit, Young Midoriya! Today we shall—"
A blinding light erupted from the cloudless sky and struck down right on top of Izuku. It was as bright and as ferocious as a lightning bolt, except it lasted for more than a few seconds. The force of the blast was like a hurricane, and the thunder that followed deafened even the most urgent of thoughts.
But he was All Might!
"Midoriya!" He roared and fought against the bolt, the sand giving way before his feet did as he sunk down onto his knee, his hands digging into the loose sand. Then, just as suddenly as it came, the massive bolt of lightning vanished.
In its place was a black scorch mark and several twisting formations of sand baked by the heat and power of what could only be described as a random act of god. The only sign that Izuku had ever stood there were the boy's bright red shoes that were somehow spared the attack.
"YOUNG MIDORIYA!" He fell to both knees and grabbed at the shoes, tears pooling in his eyes as he ran through every single possible explanation of what just happened.
But he couldn't even think of any that fit.
That was no mere lightning strike.
Why Izuku?
Why now?
And why weren't Izuku's shoes warm in the slightest?
XXXX
"Happy birthday!" A very chipper voice said. "You're now exactly fifteen years old, give or take like 20 seconds or such, but yeah, we're right on time baby!"
Izuku blinked as he found himself sitting in a hot spring. A really, really nice hot spring that didn't even feel like a hot spring; it was more just what it looked like. He didn't even feel wet. Across from him sat… "Endeavour?"
"Nah," the not-Endeavour Endeavour waved his hand. "I'm just looking like this because I can, but for the sake of making things easy you can just call me...hmm. Ah yes, Enjimbra! Let's go with that one." Enjimbra shrugged and snapped his finger, his clothing vanishing as he relaxed more into the water. "Normally I'd go for something more female in the baths, but given your terrible track record with women, I figured I'd go buff while in the buff."
Even if it was true, Izuku couldn't help but feel a bit insulted.
"Okay, uhh," He looked around and saw that outside of this hotspring and the shirtless Enjimbra, they were surrounded by empty space. "Where's All Might?" He looked down at his feet. "And my shoes. Am I dead?"
"Oh, no, not yet, you're still alive and kicking. But the no shoes thing is something I'm still figuring out. Shoes don't really transport well. It's super strange." Enjimbra shrugged and then pointed down. "And All Might's still on earth."
"Oh." He could hear his own heartbeat now. Was that normal? It felt like it wasn't normal. But it might be. He didn't know. "What's going on? Why am I here? Who are you? Why are we just sitting here?"
"Guh, seriously kid, why are you the one freaking out when this is all your fault?"
"How did I do this?"
"You were born."
That seemed hardly fair.
"Wait, if it's because I was born, does that mean I'm not worthy to be All Might's successor and that me getting his quirk would somehow bring about the end of the world or something like that?" He took in a giant breath after he spoke all that as his body finally remembered one of the things it needed to do to survive.
"Nah, I'm sure you would have been fine." Enjmbra waved his hand, a glass of red wine appearing in it.
"Then why am I here?"
"Because of your quirk." Enjimbra took a sip of his wine and made a childlike face with his tongue sticking out. The fact that it was Endeavour making that face made Izuku feel like this was all just some crazy dream he got from being hit on the head. "Duh."
"But," Izuku blinked and looked around the empty void that surrounded the hot spring again. "I don't have a quirk?"
That was more question than statement.
"Oh you do, and it's a doozy."
"But, what? My toe."
"That don't mean shit! Your little friend Katsuki doesn't have that bone either! It's completely unfounded too. Like, that guy you went to was a quack." Enjimbra tossed the wineglass and stood. A perfect cloud of steam followed him, giving him some form of modesty. "You very much so have a quirk."
"But…" Was his entire life a lie? "Why am I just finding out now?"
"Oh, because that's also a part of your quirk. it's one of those things where it doesn't activate until you're a certain age. Like puberty, but, less awkward, or maybe more."
"Are you my quirk?"
"No, no, I'm a god of storytelling here to give you the rundown. I think it's customary for when stuff like this happens. I don't really know; our world has never really dealt with it until you showed up."
"What?"
"A hero from another world."
"Huh? I'm not from Earth?"
Enjimbra waved his hand in front of his face and shrugged into a plush-looking robe as the hot spring faded into an equally relaxing patio. "No, you're one hundred percent from earth: specifically, your earth. But, your quirk is uhh, hmm, basically you're going to go to another world and be a hero there."
"Wait, so my quirk is that I get Isekai'd?"
"Bingo!"
"But, how am I supposed to be a hero in another world if I wasn't a hero in my world?"
"By grinding!" Enjimbra laughed and clapped his hands, a great big smile on his face. "So basically, you're going to go to a fantasy world where you'll learn magic, level up, and eventually beat the demon lord."
A make-shift catalogue appeared in front of Enjimbra as he scrolled through what looked like an infinite number of pages. "Oooh, this one looks promising."
"Wait, are those all—"
"Worlds with demon lords? Yeah, most of them don't need a hero yet—not quite time for that—but anyways, time for you to go."
"Wait!"
"Too late!"
A hole opened up beneath Izuku and he fell through it.
"Aren't you supposed to give me something?"
"I'm giving you a safe landing!"
XXXX
There were two moons sitting high in the sky, surrounded by hundreds of stars that just seemed so foreign to him that he couldn't even begin to point out a constellation. Not that he was well versed in astronomy, but, it still felt like he had never seen these stars before. The slight glow on the horizon spoke of the quickly-rising sun.
Pushing himself up from the soft, dew-filled grass, Izuku glanced around the area he had landed softly. He was still wearing his workout clothes, and his feet were still bare. He was surrounded by rolling green plains, with the hints of mountains and forests beyond them. A lone signpost near a tree rested atop one such hill, and a well-worn path snaked up towards it before it vanished over the horizon.
"Could have at least given me shoes," he muttered as he pushed himself to his feet. Really, it would have been nice to get anything, or at least be able to choose when he was able to go on this adventure. "Sorry, All Might."
Was he even allowed to go back?
How was he supposed to be a hero in this world? He couldn't even manage that back home.
Something caught his eye down by his bare feet. Barely sticking out of the crushed grass where he stood was a sword. Not a katana or any of the blades common to Japan, this one looked like it was out of some western fantasy. He reached down and picked it up.
[Short Sword obtained!]
A screen appeared in his vision, nearly sending him back on the ground from the shock of it.
Oh.
So it was this kind of Isekai.
He focused on the sword for a moment and another screen appeared.
[Short Sword:
Just because it's not magical doesn't mean it can't fuck someone's day up.
"It's dangerous to go alone! Take this."]
Okay, so that probably confirmed magic. Did everyone have this screen or was it just him?
"Wait, isn't there normally a status screen?"
[Status]
Oh, convenient!
[Izuku Midoriya: Lvl 1 Hero From Another World.
Str: 11
Dex: 12
Vit: 12
Res: 5
Mag: 2
Spd: 10
Skills;
Swordsmanship: You know how to stick them with the point pointy end. Rank 1
Magic: You're aware that magic exists, but much like a naked woman, you have no idea what to do with it. Rank 0
Perks;
Eager learner: +50% EXP when partied with someone of higher level.
Solid Base: Until level 10, Attribute points gained are increased by 1.
Omni-skilled: Skill penalty for having multiple high level skills is ignored.]
"So," Izuku looked at his sword and examined his status page with a bit more detail. "It looks like I'm more physical, based on my stats. But my perks say I don't have to specialize, which is good. I think. But, why does it feel like I'm being insulted with my magic skill? And the sword skill?"
He looked towards the rising sun and stepped out onto the path that led towards the nearest hill. He should probably find people before a monster showed up and attacked him. He winced as he stepped onto a sharp rock. "And find some shoes."
AN: Hello! New fic time! I'm not sure how much of Izuku's time in another world I'm going to actually write as this is a fic about what happens when he returns, so pay offs and what not. But anyways, let me know what you think! And incase it isn't obvious, Izuku isn't getting One for All.