A/N: Rewrote and edited version
In Qing Qing, China in the late twenty-first century the world was forever changed by the birth of an infant whose entire body glows like a brightly lit lightbulb in a darkened room as its only source of light. Astounding the parents, hospital staff, and other patrons.
Soon after across the globe multiple people began developing strange symptoms similar to the dubbed 'Luminescent Baby' sending shockwaves soon after.
Tensions rose, movements were formed, both the political and scientific worlds were stumped on how to handle this world-changing development. But not enough as soon after crime rose to an horrific rate. People with these strange symptoms realize they have the power to cause havoc wherever they want. But then there were others with the symptoms who rose against them to put an end to the ravaging chaos.
No one expected that out of all the possible paths and predictions they have made they didn't expect humanity to enter the age where they can only find it in various forms of media: literature, television, movies, comics, ect.
The age of Heroes versus Villains. The age of where fantasy meets reality.
Shortly after, the symptoms were then given names that changed over time before accepting the one planet Earth now generally used for.
Quirks.
And now human civilization has entered a new age. An age of fragile stability and peace. An age of black and white acting as a surface with an iniquitous underbelly. But even so as this new age is still being written, recorded, and explored to unknown horizons we shall not forget the many secrets the old age still holds that are yet to be revealed.
Year: 2272
A small green-haired boy who has scrapes and bruises on his arms and legs couldn't help but stare at the woman as she got up, her hands leaving his shoulders, and her lips leaving the temple of his forehead. A strange warmth spread across his body all the way to the tip of his toes as the soreness and aches were soon gone along with the physical features of scrapes and bruises replaced by a feel-good feeling. The sun was setting down, giving off a beautiful orange glow as she walked towards the awaiting taxi that was parked in front of his apartment house. She opened the back seat door of the car, but before she got in, she turned her head towards him, her face shadowed by the setting sun, and said something to him that will forever be in his heart forever.
"And remember, Izuku Midoriya, no matter what, always stand proud."
She entered the taxi, and closed the door. The taxi began to drive away.
He never saw her again, but he'll always remember what she told him that day.
No matter what, he'll stand proud!!
Fist of the Emerald Heart Part 1:
His Youthful Start
2284
12 years later
Morning Time
We then see the same green-haired boy, now somewhere in his teens, in a high-school uniform with various accessories of a heart motif, running on the sidewalk of the busier side of the city he lives in. The green-black colored headphones that were on his head juddered a bit due to his running. Booming sounds can be heard from them as he listens from his phone.
~ Morning~
~Morning ~
~Morning~
~Morning~
~Morning Musutafu Radio~
"Hey listeners, this is the Morning Musutafu Radio show coming to ya live! It's thirty-eight after seven in the morning, and I tell ya it's going to be a great day today. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, heroes are fighting crime, and villains are getting caught doing crime!"
He turned to a corner and saw a crowd of people gathered in one place with more and more joining in.
"Yes sir, today is going to be a great day unless you're a villain, or you have a job in the business district of Musutafu, since that's where villains attack the most. So anyway, we have some great tunes to play you today, and the first one is an oldie but a goldie, all away back from the nineteen-seventies, yeah, that old. This is the British band Yes, and here is their song called Roundabo-"
He took off his headphones to hear the commotion, and started making his way through the crowd while repeatedly saying 'excuse me' until he made it to the front where before him, a bunch of police officers lined up forming as a barrier, motioning the crowd to stand back, and behind them, was someone he instantly recognized.
'That's the Punching Hero, Death Arms! That's so cool!'
He saw the hero with incredibly large muscular arms catching falling debris that a nearby giant villain caused. He then noticed two large streams of water putting out various fires. He turned toward the source of the stream's direction and got even more excited.
'Rescue specialist hero, Backdraft, double cool!'
He was so excited that he didn't notice a middle-aged old man pat his shoulder, startling him causing a yelp.
"Ghahaha, sorry about that, but I can't help but notice that dopey smile telling me you're a fan boy, aren't ya?"
The boy glanced away embarrassingly, "Y-yeah, you could say that I'm just a huge fan of heroes overall."
The man grinned. "So that means you're planning on becoming a hero yourself, aren't ya?"
The boy smiled. "Definitely. It's my dream to become one."
Both of them winced when they heard ear-piercing screams. They looked to see a bunch of women screeching their lungs off.
"IT'S KAMUI WOOD!"
"WE LOVE YOU KAMUI!"
"WE'RE YOUR BIGGEST FANS!"
'Wait, Kamui Wood?' the boy looked at where the villain was seeing him battling another hero he recognized.
'Holy heck it is him! The rising rookie hero, Kamui Wood!'
He swung his yellow backpack to his side, opened the top zipper and stuck his hand inside, going around through the many items he had until he felt what he was looking for, and pulled out a journal with a mechanical pencil clipped on. He opened the journal, turning a few pages until he stopped at the page he wanted, which had many writings and a portrait drawing of the wood hero, and started to write on it.
The man chuckled at that. "Come on Tree Man, show us the ultimate finisher of yours."
Kamui Wood evaded a punch from the villain, and jumped away from him before landing with a good space between them.
"Assault, robbery and illegal use of powers during rush hour traffic! You truly ARE the incarnation of evil!"
He then struck his fist out forward.
'There it is, his ultimate quirk move.'
Kamui yelled out,"The Preemptive-"
'Binding-'
Both of them yelled out in unison.
" LAQUERED CHAIN PRISON!!"
" Canyon Cannon!"
Then out of nowhere, the villain got kicked squarely in the face by a giant blonde woman, wearing a skintight bodysuit and a domino mask that has two horns on each side of her face.
'What the fu-'
She landed on the ground in a crouched position and then got up, purposely sticking her butt out. She turned around and winked her purple eye as photographers suddenly appeared, snapping pictures of her, especially the 'bottom' area, chanting 'Money Shot'.
"Piece of cake for the world's next hottest hero. Hello everyone, I'm Mt. Lady, always here to assist you."
The photographers kept snapping pictures of her as she shrunk back down to her original size, waving to the crowd.
Meanwhile, Kamui Wood just stood there, dumbfounded when the realization hit him. "Wait, does that mean she gets all the credit?"
The man beside the boy had a somewhat goofy face while the boy looked down, muttering and writing in his notebook.
"A gigantic quirk, huh? Well, she's certainly got the looks and attitude to be a crowd favorite, and her quirk is really showy but it'll be hard for her to get around much in the city if there's too many people and narrow spaces."
He glances up and quickly looks back again down with a small blush on his face. 'She does have a nice butt though.'
"Hey, what's that fanboy? Are you taking notes over there? You want to be a hero too, huh?"
"Yeah, more than anything."
"Ghahahahahahaha, well how about telling me the name of the fanboy who is going to be a hero for future reference?"
He smiled. His emerald eyes gleaming bright like the sun.
"It's Midoriya, Izuku Midoriya."
Izuku Midoriya:
The Start of His Roundabout
The City of Musutafu. First found far back in the old age as a simple village that exports fishing and farming. It is now renowned today as having one of most hero active cities across Japan and one still having a bursting hero scene generating great known heroes in the land of the Rising Sun. It is also known for having one of most prestige hero colleges but we hold on that for right now as we redirect to our main protagonist of this story-
'Crap crap crap I'm gonna be late! Come on legs, power to the max! '
-who is late for school and is currently running as if his life depends on it.
Yes, Izuku Midoriya. Age: 16. Born to a hospital nurse of a mother and overseas advertiser father. As far as he can remember, the green youth was instantly enchanted by this age of quirks and wishes everyday to have one to call his own.
It did not happen.
He looked at his phone in his left hand for the time, and what he saw made him run faster. 'I shouldn't have stayed up and watched that Dirty Harry marathon. I knew I shouldn't, but I did. Oh crap, my legs are going to be sore after this.'
Generally agreed upon but still heavily debated today, the controversial extra joint on one's pink toe determines if one has biological access to their quirk once they enter the age of four. And once Izuku hit four on his birthday his mother took him to a local clinic to see once and for all if his quirk had arrived.
What was once supposed to be the best day of his life turned to the worst and beyond.
"Your boy. Yeah, he has no quirk."
In a society where quirks are everything in everyday life. Whether they are minor or major, trivial or significant, weak or strong, heroic or villainous. Not having one at all deems you irrelevant, leftovers of the old age who have no importance in today's life. Only eighty percent of the world's population gain quirks while the remaining twenty, mostly composed of the elderly, are called quirkless. Even as one as young as Izuku it's an extreme rarity for the younger generation to not have a quirk.
And that it comes with social consequences.
'Why didn't you listen to mom when she said not to marathon them?! Why didn't you listen to her?!'
Isolated by force from his peers and brushed aside by authority figures from any wrong doings that ensued upon him, Izuku faced many troubles growing up. The situation at home isn't any better. His mother weeped and apologized thinking it was her fault for not bestowing him a quirk and a notice from his father saying he's now stationed in the U.S. for an unknown duration but once he got older Izuku came to understand the actual implications of why he left.
In his adolescence, Izuku was forced to accept the truth that life itself is unfair, that everybody is made unequal and no matter how much you try to fit yourself in the high position of the hierarchy either conform to society's expectations or be cast out. And yet, having to come to this truth, Izuku Midoriya's dream of being a hero never diminishes. No matter how hard society tries to push back, squash, break or shatter he'll fight tooth and nail to make that dream into reality. A hero who stands proud with a smile on his face.
And then the impossible happened, one some will call a miracle. His quirk arrived.
The late-for-school Izuku slowly stopped when he saw a tree with its branches almost completely bare of cherry blossoms, while other trees around it were almost completely full of them, creating a sea of pink. Now in front of the flowerless tree, he mutters, "It's gonna cost me a few seconds, but it's worth it." He looks around to see if there are any people nearby. He saw that there weren't that many and the ones he did see were far away; they would have to squint their eyes to see what he's about to do.
He placed the palm of his right hand on the tree, fingers spread, with his left hand still holding his phone going towards his chest and placing it atop his heart and closed his eyes. He deeply inhaled and exhaled-
" Koooooohhhh"
-and suddenly, a golden glow enveloped his entire body, with small sparks coming out of his right hand and ripples pulsing out of his palm. Small little flower buds were then coming out of the branches, growing and blooming at a rapid pace until they grew into cherry blossom flowers. Opening his eyes Izuku looked up and smiled at the now fully covered pink tree. He then moved his left hand away from his chest to look at his phone for the time. Just a glance at it made him instantly panic and start running again.
'It's the first day of my second year of high school and already I'm going to be late.'
He kept running and running, breathing heavily until he spotted the designated building far from a distance.
'Yes! I'm almost there! Legs, don't give up on me now!
He slowly came to a stop and dropped to his knees when he entered the front courtyard of his school, Aldera High. A not so well-established school compared to other schools in Musutafu.
"I… finally… made it… oh crap, my lungs." Panting deep with his eyes closed, now trying to get his breath under control. "At least… I'm not la-"
RINNNNNG
He looked at the school, his eyes widening as he heard the starting bell.
"... Sonovabitch."
Hours later
It was now the last period of school, and Izuku toned out the appointed teacher for the last period, who was speaking about the laws that were proposed and approved to regulate quirks and what each one of them were about, something he already knew. Instead, he was just writing in his 'Hero Analysis no.13 ' (of 13) journal about the two heroes this morning, along with another journal underneath it titled ' Hamon, How Does It Work' ?'.
Two years ago on a downpour morning similar to today's morning the green-haired Midoriya overslept and ran straight out of home forgoing an umbrella his mother prepared for by leaving it beside the front door.
Not catching the fretting voice of his mother thanks to the loud drops of the rain the then quirkless teen ran out to the street immediately soaking wet all the way to his sock-covered toes from the downpour. The heavy rain made it hard for him to see that not even his school bag over his head couldn't help his vintage better.
An unmount time has already passed and the already late boy can tell the second period of class has begun or it's already going underway. But that didn't deter him as he kept running. Even if he runs in circles like a headless chicken he'll eventually get there. More time has passed and at this point the late boy is starting to consider skipping school, his first of doing so when he unexpectedly tripped and fell on a street lane covered by inches of rain.
Getting up and spitting and coughing out road water, Izuku looked where he tripped and saw lying before him an injured canine with its body almost twisted, marked by a car tire, and blood drooling out of its muzzle mixing with the rain water. Panicky, Izuku scrambled to get the seemingly dead dog out of the lane and onto the sidewalk.
Knowing he was out of the lane by feeling his back contacting against a street light Izuku gently lay the dog only to be spooked and backed away by the sounds of a whimper from the supposedly-dead animal. He stood there feeling utter hopelessness not knowing what to do but witnessed death before his eyes. One that surely sear his head forever.
For all his wants, his needs, his very life based on the dream he hopes to achieve one day, Izuku Midoriya desperately wishes for a hero here knowing they'll have some knowledge of veterinary medicine or at least take it to the nearest animal clinic.
But none came, not even a civilian in sight. Only him and the canine, who's standing in death's door that began to open, under the gray sky with the rain stopping moments ago replaced by beams of light piercing through, radiate any land it touches.
One beam of light encircled both human and canine, warming them slightly like a thin blanket. But it didn't matter to Izuku if the whole sun was warming them up. A life is going to fade and he can't do anything.
Tears were starting to swell up, he soon began to breathe heavily, his ears ringing, his heart drumming fast and both of his hands violently shaking .
"Don't die," he whimpered to the dying street animal. "Please don't die."
No answer but slow painful breaths. The canine's eyes were starting to close causing the boy's tears to fall and utter choke sobs. There was nothing he could do. Nothing. And it was his fault because of that.
Then suddenly as if someone pushed a button, flipped a switch, pulled a lever. The body of the young man started to move on itself acting as if it was on autopilot. He became aware when his hands touched the fur of the now non-moving dog.
As if it was on instinct something that was integral in his life since birth he began taking deep breaths. Feelings and emotions wearing on his shoulders greatly were starting to lessen with each breath he took. Anxiety he was all too familiar with since the day in the clinic morphed into something completely unknown. All around him noises and sounds in the city environment dulled until silence took over. All he heard was his own breathing and… ripples? But how can he hear ripples or even know what they sound like if he never heard them at all?
If that couldn't get more bizarre, the word seems more appropriate, he can feel his blood boiling, his veins burning hot, his heart frantically drumming, his body lit on ablaze and his very soul crying out. Shouting to him to not give up, and giving his all in one single intake of air.
Comply, he inhaled as much as his lungs could hold. Mashing his emotions, dreams, nightmares, memories, what makes him him in this last desperate breath to save a soul that is so little and insignificant in the greater-scale of this world that values supposed gems in a rough hope to shine while ignoring those who have the potential to. Reaching the limited capacity of his lungs, Izuku Midoriya, son of Hiashi and Inko Midoriya, exhaled, roaring out not only the air but his very being. What felt like entirety to him only lasted seconds; his lungs no longer had enough air to continue sustaining the roar he stopped, not wanting to experience a blackout, and inhaling several times.
Abruptly, he froze when a rough wet surface brushed all over his face. Opening his eyes and to his astonishment, relief, and joy, the dog is alive and well. Still licking the boy's face as well it's tail wagging nonstop and, unknown to both of them, all diseases and defects that prolonged its body since it was a pup are now gone and now it's in near-perfect health.
But what caught his eye, momentarily stopped his heart, was a golden light enveloping around his body. Guttering like a flame with small sparks danced and played, spreading across the magnificent light burning bright like twinkling stars. The water from the departed rain coated the concrete floor and also had beautiful ripples overlying both of them, all coming from the boy who still stood like a stone statue.
Izuku's brain finished processing and he started to scream, not of terror but of pure joy, laughing as well. He embraced the dog as he got up from the wet ground. Tears of happiness and credence pour out from his tear ducts like a high power fire hose. He couldn't believe it, ever since four he wanted to believe with all his heart the one thing he desired the most would finally come but deep down in his subconscious mind he knew it would never come. But today that thought is now forever banished. For today-
Izuku Midoriya's quirk has finally emerged.
He hopped and danced around with the dog still in his arms who didn't mind and also joined the celebration by howling for it survived from its near death thanks to this human who saved it.
Without a second thought the boy ran back home nor longer caring about school. The need to show his mother one would call a miracle ran high. The taxing of her worry, her feeling it was her own fault for not providing him a quirk and the nights of hearing her crying can finally stop. The burden his mother placed on herself all those years ago can finally be lifted.
Now arriving at the apartment complex he took careful but still hurried steps up the stairs, dog still in his arms, and stood in front of his apartment door. Hastily and fumbling, trying to get the key out of his pocket, carefully to not drop the canine still in his hold. Once finding it, fishing it out and opening the door he barged in startlingly and surprised his mother who jumped almost dropping a dish she was washing.
Turning to see who entered, Inko saw her son in front of her with the biggest smile on him she ever saw since buying him a very rare, and expensive, variation of an All Might action figure for his birthday. Aside from noting him completely soaking from head to toe and the equally soaked dog in his arms who seems rather happy just like her son is, she was about to ask why he isn't in school when he excitedly mumbled at a fast pace.
"Momyouwouldn'tbelievewhathappenIwasrunninglateandIcouldn'tseebecauseoftherainsoItrippedonadogwhowasdyingandI-"
Already used to his mumbling that belonged to his… father's side of the family she called her son's name in a motherly tone that made him cease his fast-paced mumbling even those who have perfect photographic memory might not remember word-for-word that came from the motormouth teenager.
Blushing, he stammeringly apologized before she amusingly dismissed it, telling him to tell her slowly this time. Gulping, barely restraining his enthusiastic fast talk he developed ever since his discovery of heroes and quirks, he revealed his short but impactful story to her, wiggling his arms presenting the dog as proof.
Inko, not trying to express a grief-stricken look on her as her body trembles and a big amount of tears have already swelled, hiccuping, speaking in a broken voice told her only son to show his supposed arrived quirk.
With feelings of worry and disquiet upon seeing her body language, Izuku complied with her request. Setting the dog down, who strolled around the living curiously, he closed his eyes and mimicked the breaths he made as much as he could. The same feelings appear beat for beat. Sound dulling except, blood boiling, veins burning and so on and so forth.
As he was going to scream out to finish the process, a force of mass impacted against him causing him to gasp out and open his eyes, the icey cold soak of the undershirt of his school uniform dampened more. He looked down only to hear muffled choked sobs. His mother cried for reasons he didn't know except one.
"It's alright mom." He sobbed, his arms encircling her. "It's alright, you don't have to blame yourself anymore. It was never your fault to begin with. It's alright."
The family of two weep. No longer the faults of the mother burden her no more and no longer the chains of the son restrain him no more. Days, months, years are now altered in their lives towards the future after this day. The dark clouds that blighted them are now gone, disbanded by the light that now shines over them, now and forever.
Once the weeping calmed down and Inko gathered herself, they went to the hospital. The staff overwhelmed by the revelation, the ones who won the bets that were made regarding the young Midoriya couldn't accept the winnings, not believing he actually developed a quirk, tested and registered the quirk. They found out it was an emitter type but when it came to register the name Izuku came up blank. It happened so fast all in the same day he didn't think nor have time to think of a name for his superpower when his mother spoke up and gave one that sounded fittly.
[Hamon]. The very name filled him with a strange warmth he didn't understand as if he was familiar with it all his life. But it was one he'll cherish and the name he'll carry with pride.
And he gained a dog that day too, bonus.
Now back in the present day he created the Hamon journal to record everything he discovered about his quirk to the smallest detail but currently he was mindlessly writing in his Hero journal, that he didn't notice the bell ring, signaling the school day was now over nor the person standing over his desk calling him.
"Hey Deku."
Scribble scribble scribble
"Hey Deku!"
Scribble scribble scribble scribble scribble scribble
"HEY YOU DAMN NERD!"
Something suddenly slammed down directly on top of his journal and an explosion appeared! Izuku yelped, tumbling backwards off his chair, and now landing on the floor. His eyes briefly saw white from the explosion till colors were slowly coming back. He looked up, squirming upon seeing a pretty feminine face with blonde spiky-pixie hair and red eyes that were slightly glaring at him.
He mentally braced himself recognizing who she was.
Cautiously getting up, Izuku shakily spoke,"H-hey Kaachan. Is th-there something you n-need?"
Katsumi Bakugou, the best friend turned tormenter of Izuku, glared at him more, making him sweat a bit and his body slightly tremble. "Yeah, school's over and everyone left. It's just me, your dumbass, and those two dumbasses over there." She jerked her head to the direction where two boys were by the door, both of them waving very nervously. "Anyway here's today's fucking home assignment," she aggressively dumped several papers on his desk, no mark black.
Izuku got his papers while getting his backpack, placing it on his chair. "Th-thanks Kaachan. Now…", he looked at his desk, cocking his head in confusion, "where's my journals?"
"You mean this?"
He looked up, his body tense up at seeing Kaachan holding the top corner of the journal by the tip of her thumb and index finger as if she was carrying something disgusting.
His Hero journal was in pieces, papers burned away by the explosion and contents that were written in are now gone forever. The Hamon journal on the other hand was still on the desk, while not as damaged as the other, had explosion marks and thankfully was closed meaning the papers inside were not destroyed like its cousin.
But it didn't put him in ease and even more so seeing her face face the destroyed journal's front cover causing her face to morph into pure fury with both of her hands fully grabbing it, obliterating it with her quirk, [Explosion], until there was nothing left in her hands.
"Seriously, you're still doing this crap?" she glanced down and saw the other journal and roughly grabbed it with her hand, holding it right in front of his face. "Why the fuck are you still writing this shit? Even with a quirk, you're still going to be a hero?"
"Y-Yeah." The mortified boy squeaks, praying to whoever is up there for his Hamon journal not to meet the same fate as its cousin.
"Well don't!" She threw the item towards his desk much to his relief but still on edge. "How many times do I have to tell you? Even with a quirk you're still a damned Deku who is no way in hell going to be a fucking hero! So just fucking accept it, all right?!" She sharply turned and walked towards the door with the two boys that were waiting for her, having agitated looks on them. But as she was about to exit the classroom,
"N-No."
She stopped and turned her head, not believing what she heard. "What was that?"
"I said no."
She was about to go on another diatribe, but stopped when she saw his eyes; Fire burned bright in them matching the color of his irises so bright in fact she honestly thought it was another quirk coming out of him.
"I'm going to be a hero, Kacchan. I don't care if people continue to say I can't be one even if I have a quirk now. I'm gonna be a hero, no matter what. Not you or anyone else can change that."
She stood there, not knowing how to respond to such adamant in his voice, for a moment before scowling and turned around with a scoff, "Whatever, just don't fucking get in my way, Deku." She left the classroom with her lackey extras following in tandem.
Izuku stood there for a few moments before letting out a deep breath he didn't know he was holding. "That could have been worse." He glanced at his mostly destroyed and less destroyed journals then scratched the back of his head. "At least it was a copy." He opened his backpack and rummaged around until he pulled out another journal, identical to no.13 Hero journal. 'Always have a copy.' He thought as he put both journals (The Harmon journal does not have a copy however) and the school work inside the yellow backpack, gathered the remains of the destroyed journal to throw in the trash bin, and left the classroom with a single thought in his mind.
'At least today couldn't get worse.'
"Yo Bakugou, you were surprisingly calm back there."
"Yeah, both of us thought you'd go at him, like telling him to kill himself."
"Shut the fuck up! Who asked for your damned opinion?! I can be calm whenever I fucking want to be!"
Walking through the front courtyard, Katsumi yelled at her two stooges before yelling at them some more. "And really? You honestly thought I was going to tell Deku to go fucking kill himself? I may be an asshole, but that is just fucking disgusting."
'and besides, it's been, like what, a few years since both of us had a full conversation?'
She sighed as she slightly looked up to the sky. 'Fuck, when was the last time I had a conversation with Deku that didn't turn to shit? A single interaction and then bam! I go acting like a villa-'
She stopped forcing the two followers to stop too, and took a breath, calming herself before resuming walking, ignoring the inquiring behind her.
'Me and my fucking pride,' she thought as she and her lackey extras walked down the street. 'For once I don't want to go… antagonize him just because of my ideals. I… I want things to go back to what they were before' An angry scowl appeared on her face. 'And this school isn't fucking better. Fucking extras putting him down, mocking and insulting him, the fucking staff telling him to drop his dream of becoming a hero, and ignoring the shit that was thrown at him, including the ones involving me, and all of them had the fucking gall to fucking kiss my ass because of my quirk. Fucking sheep.' A smile soon formed after. 'At least they shut the fuck up when Deku got his quirk.' Katsumi can still remember everyone's shock, then denial, then reluctantly acceptance and finally the awkwardness after word spread of the 'runt' of society now having a quirk.
Granted, there were still asshole extras that tried to take advantage of him for repulsive reasons but at least Deku was aware of it, choosing to deny their request, even if he got insulted for it. Derogatory terms and all.
When she heard about it however, her immediate response was a shocked ' Deku got a quirk' to an ecstatic ' Deku got his quirk' to finally, a somber ' Deku got his quirk'. Back then, when she learned that Deku was quirkless, she wasn't bothered by it, in fact, she told him he can still be a hero, even if he doesn't have a quirk she'll help him achieve it.
Then that day at the park, the day their friendship was broken beyond repair, happened, and she turned one-eighty by joining the 'crowd' of becoming one of Deku's bullies, even becoming the most prominent, much to her regret and shame. But unlike them, at least she has reason to bully Deku, even if it's fucked up.
For you see, some days later after the park incident, she got curious about heroes who were quirkless and decided to look it up. It turns out, while there were no quirkless heroes, there were quirkless vigilantes here and there, but they didn't tend to stick around in the vigilante scene… or didn't stick around at all. Not helped by the very graphic images that give her nightmares for weeks.
So, even though it fucking pained her, she decided to make Deku drop his dream of becoming a hero - and by extension a vigilante if he decided to go down that path - so he wouldn't fucking die by tormenting him, demeaning him, and telling him a quirkless person like him can never be a hero.
Unfortunately, that had the opposite effect of what she wanted. She didn't know what happened to him after that day in the park, but he seemed even more determined to become a hero, quirkless or not. From what she heard from the phone conversations between her old hag and Auntie Inko, he even acts like one, helping and doing odd jobs for people in the apartment complex they lived in until he gained a part-time one.
But even so, she still has two years before applying to UA to crush Deku's dream, making him go down a path where he can be safe and sound with no trouble around. It's going to be worth it. It's all going to be worth it. Even if it means Deku will hate her forever, it's going to be worth it. Because she-
Katsumi got shaken off from her thoughts when one of her lackey extra assholes asked her. "Hey Bakugou, you got enough money for the arcade?"
She scoffed, looking back at Long Finger extra. "Of course I have money you dum-"
She got cut off by bumping into something. Stumbling a bit, she got her footing before she looked towards what she bumped into.
A boy who looks somewhere around her age, along with two other boys that were behind him. Automatically what caught her eye is that all three of them had their hair styled in a pompadour. Next were the clothes they were wearing. It looked like school uniforms, but not any that she recognized causing questions to rise in her mind. Who are they? What school are they from? Why are they here? But before she could vocalize them the one she bumped into lifted his head, sending a sneer at her. "Fucking bitch! Watch where you're fucking going, you dumb broad!" The other two beside him nodded, also sending her stares that would scare and imitate any students.
But Katsumi Bakugou was not your run-of-the-mill student. "The fuck you just say to me you shitty, out-dated hair looking motherfucker?!" she barked, surprising the three boys, as well as scaring her two lackey extras who backed away from her, bracing for the inevitable explosions that might come.
The front boy stammered a bit," Well, uh I was saying-"
"Say what?! Say what mother fucker?! You better finish what you were going to say or else!" She put her right hand in front of them, setting off small explosions from her palm, scaring them greatly as sweat was forming on their foreheads .
"I-I'm just sa-saying that you should watch where you going. Y-You were about to wa-walk across the street wi-without looking to see if cars were coming." The black hair pompadour fucker said quickly, his face soon paling.
She realised where she was, and true to stupid hair fucker's word, she was about to walk across the street which had a few cars driving by, including a truck.
"Ok, you got me there but what I want to know is who the fuck you are, and why you're here?" One of them, who had a rusty color pompadour and was chubby on the side, replied, "W-We're from Batuu High.'' He had a very raspy voice that made Katsumi wonder if he was a chainsmoker. "We're going to Aldera High to see a friend."
Katsumi narrowed her eyes, not believing a single word. "Oh yeah, then who's this friend you're going to see?"
"Izuku Midoriya."
For a moment she was baffled, unknowingly a little hurt, then got angry real fast. "So Deku got some friends, huh? Well then you're lucky you fucking trash extras. Deku is still in school, so all you have to do is fucking wait. But if I ever see you fucks again..." Small explosions came out of her hand again, but slightly bigger. "Got it?"
The three dated hair fucks all nodded with stupid grins on their shit faces. "Yes ma'am!"
She scoffed, walking away from them with her two lackey extras in tow, who were relieved things didn't escalate.
'So, he already got friends that fucking Deku? Whatever, it's not like I give a fuck.'
A little. She gave a fuck a little.
Once they saw the crazy blonde chick was a good distance away from them, the three boys let out a breath of sweet relief as their heartbeat came back to normal pace and their nerves calmed.
"Holy shit, that chick was scary," said the black pompadour boy, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Yeah," said the third and last boy with a lazy tone. He was lanky, with droopy eyes, and a brown pompadour. "By the way." He turned to his chubby friend. "Nice going with that lie Kemuri, can't believe that crazy chick bought it."
Kemuri let out a small smile. "Yeah, that was just a spur of the moment." His face then filled with worriedness. "You sure this is worth it, Shohi? You know I have to get to my part time job right now, if I'm late again I'll get fired."
Shohi smirked full of confidence. "Don't worry Kemuri, you won't get fired." He slammed his fist to his palm. "Once Midoriya comes out from that front gate, we'll show him what happens when someone gets in our business."
"Yeah, but like Kemuri said," said the skinny one. "Is it really worth it? Cause if you look back at it, we were major dicks to those two chicks."
"Oh come on Taiho, man, if we don't do this, gangs from other schools will hear what happened and will start making moves to claim our turf, thinking we're easy-pickings just cause we got taken down by one guy." Shohi said, getting pumped up. "So, if we beat Midoriya and claim his turf, then they will think twice of claiming ours. It's a win-win."
"Hey, there he is," said Taiho in a monotone voice, pointing a lazy finger at a boy with green hair.
"Yosh, let's do this!"
'You know, compared to other first days of school, or any other day for that matter, today wasn't so bad, and I'm glad nothing eventful happened.' Izuku thought as he walked out the front gate.
"Hey Midoriya!"
'... Dang it.'
He turned to the person who shouted his name, and his eyes widened in recognition, as the three pompadour delinquents walked up to him with smirks on their faces.
"Well well, I guess it's our lucky day, isn't it, boys?" said the black pompadour hair delinquent. The two beside him nodded.
"O-Oh. It's nice seeing y-y-you again, Kizunaru. You too Kowazou, Maihi."
Despite the situation that was rapidly forming, the two smiled and waved at him, while Kizunaru's eyebrow twitched slightly due to the friendly greetings. "Yeah, well, it's nice seeing you too, but enough of that, we got a score to settle with you, Midoriya."
"Score? What score?" Izuku asked, confused, tilting his head.
That ticked Shohi off. "You know! Last week, when you jumped on us while we were uhhh.."
Kemuri spoke up, "Harassing those two chicks that bumped us."
"Yeah, harassing those-Kemuri!"
Kemuri looked sheepish, while Shohi looked back at Izuku, more annoyed as he crossed his arms. Trying to regain control of the confrontation.
"Any-Anyway , since we're here, it's time to settle it, Midoriya!" Shohi yelled, trying to look intimidating, only to look somewhat pathetic .
"Well, maybe if you didn't harass them, then this 'score' wouldn't happen in the first place," snapped Izuku, becoming irritated and not at all intimidated by the bully tactic he's already used too in his childhood. It would have worked if he was still quirkless but now the only one who can still make him quake in his boots is Kacchan.
Taken aback by Midoriya, the three delinquents stood there not knowing what to do next, before Shohi's temper rapidly grew if the veins popping and the showing of the teeth were any indication.
"You motherfu- you don't even know them!"
"That may be so, but I'll still protect those who can't defend themselves from people like you, even if I lose."
"Ok, that's it," yelled the black pompadour delinquent, now officially pissed off as he lifted up one of his sleeves. "You and us. Right here and right now!" The other two were also looking ready to fight.
Izuku got in a sluggish stance, one a professional fighter would cringe, as he was unprepared to fight three people at once, or fight at all. He hoped, even if they didn't care about him, the school faculty would see the confrontation and stop it.
No one came as the four boys waited for someone to make the first move, like track stars waiting for the blank shot from a starter pistol to fire. None of them moved. Not a single centimeter. Then the imaginary starter pistol fired when Izuku made the first move. He leaned forward, his arm pulled back, causing Shohi to see what the green-haired dumbass was about to do, preparing to counter it, wanting to feel and see teeth flying off.
Just as Izuku was about to throw a punch, he suddenly ran across the road and down the street, his face stricken with complete sheer focus.
The three delinquents didn't move an inch, as they watched their soon-to-be punching bag running away flabbergasted and their jaws dropping to the ground. It wasn't until a few moments later, Shohi was the first one to shake off their befuddlement. The anger before was now intensifying as small puffs of steam were puffing out from his head.
"Oh that goddamn motherfu-! Get him!"
Meanwhile downtown
"So, you heard what went down in the business district?"
"Yeah, I heard about the hero debut of uhhh... Giant Woman? No, Giga Girl?"
"Mount Lady."
"Yeah! Mount Lady."
Two friends were walking down the streets discussing the debut of the pro-heroine.
"So, what are your thoughts about her?"
"Eh, she's hot, but if that's all she got, then she'll never be in the top ranks, much less the top ten."
"Really? I mean, yeah, she's got it going on, especially with that ass, but I'm sure she'll do fine."
"Really? Then name one heroine who has more sex appeal, but is more than that."
"Midnight."
"...Ok, that's one. Name anoth-"
"Miruko, who's number five by the way."
"...Ok, that's two, but now you mention her... them legs."
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't mind getting suffocated between her thick muscular thi-"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!!"
Both of them were aggressively shoved to the ground pavement, as they saw a person of literal liquid sludge running through the crowd, and behind them an employee came out of a store.
"Stop, thief! Help, he's getting away! Somebody stop him!"
The sludge thief laughed as he kept on running. "Catch me if you can, dumbasses!"
The two that were pushed to the ground got up, dusted themselves off, and looked on, seeing the gross green liquid sludge make a clean get-away.
"Whelp, that's one villain that's getting away."
"Yep, there's no hero in this area anywhere that's gonna stop him."
Unbeknownst to them, a small man carrying a plastic bag was nearby, and saw what just transpired. His body suddenly grew bigger and bigger.
One of them shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well that's a sha-" but got interrupted.
"Yes there is! Why, you ask?"
Annoyed, he turned around to tell off the guy who interrupted him. "Pretty sure nobody asked you, du- oh shit!"
The other one also turned around to see what caused his friend to shout. "What's the matter du- oh shit!"
The sludge thief glanced back due to the shouting, and immediately turned pale (if that was possible due to the gross color) at who he saw. 'Oh shit!'
"CUZ I AM HERE!!"
Meanwhile back with Izuku
'Okay, they're still following me, that's bad, I just need to find a place where I can finally lose them', thought Izuku as he kept running with the three delinquents behind him, who were breathing heavily.
"Come on… we're catching up… with him," said Shiho, panting hard.
"This is… so not… worth it," panted Taiho, who felt his lungs and legs hurting. Feeling this kind of pain he hasn't felt before.
Kemuri, the furthest behind, wheezed, as he was having trouble keeping up, with his hand clenching his chest and various parts of his school uniform blazer and shirt had spots of sweat.
Taiho, who was closest to him, noticed Kemuri faltering. "Hey Shiho… let's stop… Kemuri is not… looking so hot."
Shiho glanced back and slowed down when he saw Kemuri, prompting the other two to do the same.
"Ah shit… Kemuri… I'm sorry man… I forgot about you… and your condition… and job."
Kemuy came to a stop and planted his knees on the ground, wheezing hard. Struggling to even speak. "It's… ok."
"Oh shit, Taiho get his med pills." Shiho, catching his breath, kneeled down to Kemuri's side, rubbing his buddy's back while Taiho got a small bottle out of Kebuba's pocket, uncapped the bottle lid, grabbed a single pill and handed it to Kebuba.
Kemuri took it and put it in his mouth, swallowing it. "What about… Midoriya?"
"Forget him, looking out for my buds is top priority. So come on, let's get back home so you can rest."
Both he and Taiho got Kemuri up with his arms slung around their shoulders,and started walking away. "What about my job?" Kebuba nervously asked.
"I'll lie to your boss that I needed help with a school project, and if he doesn't buy it I'll beg down to my knees. Hell, Taiho will do it too, right dude?"
Taiho smiled and nodded as Kemuri teared up. "Thanks guys, that means a lot."
Shiho gave a cheeky smile, but soon scowled, as he looked over his shoulder to see Midoriya still running, looking like a speck. He raised his fist in the air and yelled out, "You got lucky this time Midoriya, but next time you won't be! You hear me?! Next time!!!"
Izuku was still running. He then turned to another direction, but gradually slowed down when he checked behind to see if they were still chasing him, and saw nothing. He bent down, grasping his knees, breathing deeply with some sweat on his face. He drew his head back and released a small puff of breath before straightening himself up. He looked around, realizing that he was in an underpass area with a bridge under him, its shadow cooling him a bit.
'Man, I'm glad I got out of that one,' thought the green-haired teen, trying to get his breathing under control. 'Getting in a fight with them is really an unnecessary pain.' Unbeknownst to him, a manhole behind him started to tremble. 'Not only that, but it's also going to be a pain to make another copy journal from the original.' He shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, not noticing a blob shaped figure behind him . 'At least it will be a good time wast-'
"Got ya!!"
Suddenly, he was struck! Tackled by, from what he could see, a body of sludge. Sickly green liquid quickly enveloped his body, restricting him with a vice grip as some of it was forcefully going down his throat.
He heard it cackle with glee. "Holy shit!" It spoke. "You have no idea how lucky I am to find an unsuspecting dumbass like you." He can feel the gross slime restricting his body tighter. "Don't struggle now. I want to see the look on his face when I have complete control of your body while he stands there not doing shit!"
Izuku heard it laugh loudly with disturbing joy, while more and more slime went down his throat.
'I don't want to die!' Izuku thought, as he desperately tried to scrape away as much sludge off his body as he could. 'Not like this! Damn it, not like this!' Then suddenly, an idea popped up in his head. 'It's body, the way it feels, it feels like a liquid.' He moved his arms as much as he could, his hands going towards his nose. 'If I can just breathe through my nose I can use [ Hamon] to get him off my body!'
The sludge criminal continues to laugh, not noticing his captor and soon to be host, scraping off his slime from his face. "Oh man, you can't believe what I've been through. At first I was having such a good day. Robbed a few pockets here and there from oblivious airheads till I said to myself, 'fuck it, I'll treat myself by robbing a store', and I did, and I almost would have got away with it if he didn't show up. I mean, holy fuck, what were the odds of him being there at all?!"
It was then he finally noticed the teen inhaling from his nose rather heavily. "Uh, hey I know you don't want to die and all, but doing that only makes this fas-"
He was interrupted when Izuku suddenly exhaled! Two torrents of air from his nose visibly shown as golden light suddenly erupted from his body. Small electric sparks appeared all over Izuku's body as his [Hamon] began to spread across him, and then to the body of slime. The Sludge Villain felt a stinging, almost burning sensation on him, burning so hot that it was starting to become uncomfortable. He shouted at his captor to stop, only to see the boy still exhaling as he felt a great force against his body. He tried to hold on, but the push only got stronger and stronger until he was completely off Izuku's body, including the tendrils of slime that were down his throat.
Izuku, now on his knees free from the prison of sludge, coughs harshly, his lungs in pain. The after taste from the sludge was horrible as if he had actually sewage in him. He tried to control his breathing to stop the coughing, but the amount of [Hamon] he conjured and expelled left him completely exhausted. He then noticed a much darker shadow over him. He turned to his side just to see the immense rage on the Sludge Villain's face.
"Oh you did it now!" The Sludge Villain spoke with such venom in his voice, making Izuku feel more terrified than before. "You really fucking done it now! Fuck taking your body as a host, I'm just gonna straight up kill you and leave, and when that bastard gets here, all he's going to see is a-"
Cough Cough
He suddenly froze as both of them turned to see a giant hulking figure with brown pants and a white shirt that strained against their extremely muscular body. A grin on his chiseled face, which the teeth shined so bright it was almost blinding, and blond hair with two bangs standing up that formed a V-sign. The manhole lid was laid behind him.
One look from him and Izuku instantly recognized who he was .
"Yo-yo-you're All Might!"
"Oh shit," spoke the Sludge Villain, trembling in fear.
All Might smiled even more, if that was even possible. "Well, looks like I caught up to you villain, and just in time too." He moved his arm, fist form, drawing it back. "To see a civilian, and a young one at that, get hurt by your hand. How villainous! But no more! Prepare to taste justice!"
He looked at Izuku, who just stood there stupefied. "Brace yourself young man!" He then thrust his fist forward, blasting a powerful wave of air.
Izuku held himself down, using all his weight to stay anchored on the ground. However, the air pressure was so great that he skidded across the ground. He heard the Sludge Villain cursing, but couldn't see what was happening to him. Eventually, the air pressure was too much for Izuku to endure and he blacked out.
He didn't know how much time passed, but he groggily woke up to a hand gently slapping him repeatedly. "Young man." He heard a voice. "Are you alright, young man?" He lifted his head up and yelped at who he saw, scooting back a bit.
The huge man stood up and let out a breath of relief. " Phew, thank goodness you're alright. If I had been here later, who knows what that dastardly villain would have done." He then let out a boisterous laugh, not noticing the green teen who had a silly look on his face and was also definitely not squealing internally.
'It's All Might! The Number One Hero! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!'
All Might's smiling face then became grim. "But really, I'm sorry for not arriving earlier and stopping him. It must have been a traumatic experience to go through."
Izuku got out of his stupor, shaking his head and waving his hands, "N-o-o A-A-All Might it wasn't your f-fault! If anything, it was MY fault for getting in your way of capturing the villain." The realization then hit his face and looked around. "Wait, where is the villain?"
All Might smiled and lifted his hand holding a plastic soda bottle. Inside the bottle, Izuku saw that it was full of sludge, with a pair of eyes looking angrily at both of them. " Hahaha, he won't be getting out of this," said All Might, tapping the bottle cap. " Made sure it was secure so he wouldn't try to escape."
He then pointed the bottle cap at Izuku. "And besides, it's not your fault. In fact, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have captured him." He shook the bottle causing the villain inside to shout all shorts of profanity, but all they heard were muffled noises. " So all-in-all, thank you…"
"Midoriya," squeaked a blushing Izuku, who was overjoyed to be praised by his idol.
" Young Midoriya," said All Might with a laugh. " Now if you excuse me, I've got to send this one to the authorities, so once again, thank you young Midoriya!"
Izuku stood up and then stiffly bowed his head multiple times while repeating 'you're welcome'.
All Might turned around and bent his knees, ready to take off.
It was at this moment, Izuku's inner fanboy decided to overtake him.
'Wait, All Might is leaving?! Bu-but I didn't even ask for his autograph! I-I can't let this once in a lifetime chance pass!'
All Might jumped, shooting like a rocket, soaring through the air. Though for some reason, his leg felt weird, almost like it had suddenly gained some weight. So he checked down to see why, and was immediately surprised by what he saw.
" Wh-What are you doing young man?! Get down from there!"
"Bu-but if I let go I'll die," yelled the wobbling faced Izuku, holding on for dear life.
" ... Oh."
Landing on the rooftop of a tall building, Izuku let go of the leg and sprawled on the roof floor, trembling all over and letting out a 'bleh' while All Might looked down on him.
" Well," spoke the blond haired giant. " Mind telling me why you did that? I've met some fans that were very enthusiastic, but not on this level."
Once the trembling fanboy got a hold of himself, he looked up at him shyly, and nervously asked, "W-W-Well I-I've be-been wondering if I can get yo-yo-your autograph?"
" Oh? If that's the case then I'll sign you an autograph, but I have to go quickly, so if you don't mind hurrying to get out your item."
"Re-really?! Okay let me get my journal," said the surprised teen, who then excitedly took his backpack around to his front and started looking around inside it. "Sorry it's kind of a mess inside, especially today. So it might take me a while."
" No no it's alright, just please hurry." All Might assured him.
'Let's see thirteen, thirteen, where are you, number thirteen?' thought Izuku as he went through his backpack, trying to find his hero journal as All Might stood impatiently waiting. He then coughed, blood coming out of his mouth which startled him greatly.
'All ready?!'
"Uhh hahaha young man if you don't mind. Can you speed this up, please." Steam came out of his body, making All Might panic.
'Science book, math book, history book, Breathing for Dummies, Hero Journal Number Thirteen- here it is!'
"I got it!" shouted Izuku, holding the journal up in the air with his eyes closed. "Sorry it took awhile." Izuku opened his eyes. "But I found… it…" He stopped talking, as he did not see All Might before him, but instead, a sickly, skinny man, almost looking like a skeleton with a large amount of steam around him.
"Uhhhhh wh-where's All Might?" Izuku asked, looking around trying to find his favorite hero.
The skinny man spoke, "I am All Might." But blood sprayed out his mouth.
Silence. Izuku stood unmoving until he dropped his journal, having a freaked out expression, trembling all over. He brought his hands to his cheeks and screamed.
"OH MY GOD!!"
"Seriously, I'm telling you, they're installing those old fighting arcade games from the nineteen-nineties."
"You're lying, no way they're going to put them in the arcade. They're, like what, three hundred years old? That's ancient, not even retro, just ancient."
Katsumi resisted the urge to let out a puff of annoyance, as the two lackey extras behind her were discussing old fighting games that might be added to the arcade they were heading to. She honestly didn't care if they were added or not. To her, it was just another game to dominate by getting the highest score on the leader's score board. Well… that and it was also a way to take the recent events from school off her mind.
'Stupid stupid stupid! Why do you have to go and blow up his journal like that?! All you had to do was just put the fucking papers on his desk and leave. God fucking damn!!' she frustratingly kicked a bottle with some strange liquid nearby. 'And you then tell him off for still wanting to be a hero even when he has a fucking quirk now?! How stupid are you?!'
She smelled the scent of cigarettes, causing her to turn around and set off a few small explosions from her palm. The two lackey extras got startled, with one of them dropping a cigarette from his hand. "The fuck are you doing with those shit sticks? Don't smoke, or I'll get this on my record, you stupid mother fuck-"
She stopped when both of their faces turned to an absolutely fearful expression, with one of them pointing at her, or rather pointing at what's behind her
"Ba-Ba-Baku..."
That's when the hair on the back of her neck stood up, as she heard a malicious voice behind her.
"Well, well, well, looks like I've been given a second chance. And what's this? A present? For me? Don't mind if I do."
"An imposter? Yeah that's got to be it, that's the only explanation."
"Ummm young Midoriya?"
"And maybe he used a quirk that can switch with other people, so he switched the real All Might to some unknown place with no possible way of escape. No, that's not it, he's All Might, he can escape through anything."
If there was one thing that impressed Toshinori Yagi today, it was how the young teen before him could mumble that quickly with multiple ways of how All Might could have been 'defeated' by the 'imposter'.
'Sent to another dimension by a dimensional portal quirk where all quirk users are women? Well, I don't know about that, but he's imaginative, I'll give him that… wonder what I'd look like as a woman?'
He decided to end this mumble spree before it really got wild. "Calm down Midoriya, I'm really All Might."
He saw him spring his head up quickly, with his green eyes narrowing at him. "Oh yeah, then prove it. Which state of the United States did All Might go to to study before he came back to Japan and made his debut here?"
What the? "I went to California."
"Which high school?"
"Motley Rose High. Go White Snakes!"
"Which hero college?"
"Sunset Eagles."
"After he graduated and made his debut there, how long did he stay in the country before coming back?"
"Three years. The first year I did hero work in Central, and the last two I went around the east-coast states like Rhode Island and New York."
"Before he named his agency, Might Tower, in Tokyo he had several names before he settled on that one and in order they were Mighty Lookout, The Fortress of Might and All Might Sanctuary. Is that correct?"
That got him confused. "What? No, they're not in order and you're missing two. The correct order is Justice Mountain, All Might Sanctuary, The Fortress of Might, Mighty Lookout and um..." He looked down embarrassingly, his cheeks turning bright red. "All Might's Smashing Tower."
Izuku's eyes widened. "You really ARE All Might! Only a few on the internet know about the last one before Might Tower became the official name."
Toshinori shook his head and waved his hands rapidly. "I only said that as a joke. I didn't know it was going to be on national news. Do you know how many people called me from the tower wanting to find out how good I 'smash'? Too many. Most of them were women and some were men, surprisingly. The PR team went through a lot of forum websites and other media sites just to get rid of it before it eventually settled down."
The boy's face then turned to worry and confusion. "All Might... what caused you to look like this?"
Toshinori let out a worn out sigh and sat down on the rooftop's floor. "Well... it all happened five years ago, when I fought against an enemy of mine that had to be put down. I won, but at a cost."
He lifted the left side of his shirt, revealing a horrifying wound on the left side of his abdomen. Toshinori saw the young man's face turn a little green while trying not to throw up. "My respiratory system is destroyed almost completely and my stomach is now gone entirely. I had multiple surgeries on me to save my life, but now I can only do three hours of hero work before I change back to this true form of mine, which you see before you."
"Was it…," spoke Izuku, managing to keep the bile down. "Was it Toxic Chainsaw that did that to you?"
"Heh, that guy wishes he could do this amount of damage to me," Toshinori shook his head. "No, the one I fought with was much worse. I even requested to never make him or our fight go public." He leaned back against the fence, letting out a tired sigh. "Ever since then, whenever I'm out there saving people and stopping crime, I have to put up this false smile of mine so the people won't have to be afraid of the danger around them, and to also try and push back the fear and pressure laid upon me."
That made Izuku confused. "The fear and pressure?"
Toshinori grimly nodded. "Yes, cause if I don't smile while in my 'hero form', I guess you can say, then evil itself will see my weakness and know I'm losing my momentum once I reach my limit." He looked up seeing the clouds passing by. "That's when evil will strike, bringing a vile chaotic future into this world. Even with wave after wave of new generations of heroes to keep that chaotic future at bay, they won't be able to hold against the massive tide of evil that will soon come if I falter even for the briefest moment. So I'll keep on going with a smile on my face to make sure it will never happen, even if it kills me."
Izuku stood there for a moment, taking in everything All Might had said before he backtracked to what he said earlier.
"Wh-what about your wound? Surely you have it fixed, right?"
He saw All Might shaking his head. "Nope, multiple doctors told me if they even attempt one more surgery on it, there's a higher chance I'll die from it."
Izuku tried to rebut. "But what about healing quirks? Maybe there's one that can restore your respiratory system and possibly get your stomach back."
"Tried that, but no dice. I seek out people who have quirks that have any kind of healing properties to heal this damage, but none of them have been successful. Even a friend of mine tried to, but she failed as well."
Izuku looked down, trying to come up with anything to help his favorite hero. One who inspired him his entire life by never giving up while having a smile on his face against any and all challenges when an imaginary light bulb lit up above him.
"W-Well maybe I can help."
"Listen young Midoriya, it is nice that you want to help me, but it's impossi-"
"Please, just one chance. One chance and that's it. If it doesn't work, I'll drop it, please?"
Toshinori scratched his cheek, pondering if he should accept the young man's help. He shrugged in acceptance. Might as well get it over with. "Okay, but just ONE chance, after that both of us will forget this ever happened and you are not going to tell anybody about this, all right?"
He saw young Midoriya nodding vigorously.
"So, how are you going to do this?"
Izuku embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. "Um, I'm gonna need you to lift up your shirt again."
"Oh, alright." He let go of the side of his shirt moments ago before lifting it up again. "Now what?"
Izuku then walked towards him before getting down right in front of All Might, his cheeks burning red. "Th-This is going to be weird, s-so if you don't m-mind."
Toshinori shrugged again. "Go ahead, this isn't the first time I've been weirdly touched by fans of mine. Some of them more enthusiastic and elated than others"
'Oh my god,' thought Izuku, his face now bright red like a decorative bulb on Christmas. He moved his shaking arm up his hand softly landing on All Might's wound, who hissed. He then moved his other arm with his other hand on top of the one touching the wound.
'Ok, here goes nothing."
Izuku closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply and calmly. 'Inhale then exhale, find the pace and repeat.' Two years after his quirk emerged, Izuku analyzed and studied the intricacies of what his quirk can do. What he found out by doing deep rhythmic breaths at a good pace was that the energy his quirk emits had both healing and strengthening properties. He tested the healed aspect of his [Hamon] trying to see how much it can heal by hurting himself - even going, while keeping it a secret from his mother, as far as breaking bones that will have to in casted for months for it to be healed in a natural rate - and so far with every concentrate breath [Hamon] spurts outs and heals any part of his body that is damage or injury and so far each one was a success. He tested the heal aspect on other various living things such as planets and his mother whenever she looked too exhausted when coming home from work.
Now it was time to see if it can heal a wound so damage no other couldn't.
Toshinori watched the fanboy teen breathing in a rhythm when he then noticed something happening.
'Is… he glowing?'
His eyes didn't deceive him, as a golden light began to envelope the kid who kept breathing in and out.
'Is this his quirk?'
Izuku continued breathing in and out, as the golden light of his [Hamon] grew brighter and brighter as the warmth in his stomach grew cozy hot.
'The beat of my Hamon is the beat of my heart and soul. The beat of my roundabout dream. Let it be warm like the golden light of the sun. [Hamon]! Aid me!'
He snapped his eyes open, pressing both of his hands to All Might's wound, who painfully gasped, and then let out a cry. The golden light became blinding now enveloped All Might who shut his eyes not handling the sheer brightness the light is illuminating.
For Toshinori, not expecting the short motion and pain then startling when the golden light wrapped all over him, felt a great fervor.
'It feels… so warm.'
He suddenly coughed harshly.
'What's happening to me?!'
The coughing then got even harsher, with blood coming out of his mouth in such large amounts that he couldn't breath, and instead had to start breathing from his nose but the blood still kept coming.
'Is this kid trying to kill me or something?!'
He was about to stop him, but the coughing and the blood soon lessened, and he was able to breathe properly again, freely even. It was almost as if he could take one big gulp of air and let it out without expecting coughing, or the painful feeling in his lungs that came after. Not only that, but the pain of all the injuries, wounds, sores and aches that he sustained from his years of heroing were starting to fade.
It felt like he was back to his younger years as a hero.
He then took notice the golden light was now gone; he lifted the hem of his shirt again just to see the wound was still there, but it was now very faded one wouldn't notice from afar. 'What… the… hell?' He looked up only to see the young man panting heavily, sweat dripping from his face, and his hands planted on the floor with his arms shaking.
"I…" Izuku spoke, trying desperately to catch his breath. "I did my… best to… heal your respiratory system… along with… any kind of injuries you had… but your stomach… I'm sorry but my… [Hamon] can't regenerate it… or any organ for that matter."
Toshinori quickly assured him. "No, no this is wonderful. You've done something where others couldn't do before. Young Midoriya, you've given this old dog a second chance. Thank you."
Izuku just scratched the back of his head sheepishly with a great shade of red on his face. "No, no problem."
The Number One Hero eyed him. "That quirk of yours... You must have practiced with it since your childhood."
"Actually, I had my quirk two years ago when I was fourteen, before that I was quirkless." He said with a chirpy tone, not yet finished relishing the praise from his most inspirational idol.
Now that took Toshinori by surprise. "You were quirkless before?"
Izuku nodded.
"A late bloomer, huh? That's rare, I've heard stories of people who were considered quirkless, but later in life gained them. Never thought I'd actually meet one." Toshinori said as he then began to stand up with Izuku doing the same, moving back to give him space.
"So Midoriya, now that you have a quirk, I'm assuming that you'll sign up for a hero college to be a hero, right?"
"Ye-yeah," Izuku poked his two index fingers together as he looked down. "But even before I had my quirk, I always wanted to be a hero."
"Really?" Toshinori raised an eyebrow. He heard of quirkless people who choose the path of vigilance. It does not end well. "No offense, but attempting to be a hero while not having a quirk is basically next-to impossible, and also a highly dangerous thing to do."
Izuku shook his head, his face now having a determined look. "I… honestly don't care about that because it's always been my dream to be a hero. Saving people with a smile on my face so they won't be scared anymore, and making them feel like everything is going to be okay. That's what I want to do, and that's who I want to be." Izuku looked at All Might, smiling. "Like you, All Might. I want to be a hero like you."
…
'Huh,' was Toshinori's mental response. Normally, fans and non-fans (mostly those who think he's overrated but he didn't mind that) who want to be like him, are just ones who want to be rich and famous, or to be strong, quirk or not, or actually be him, but with the power fantasy turned up to eleven. But this young man wants to be a hero like him. Just saving people with a smile, and making them feel safe because of it. It's honestly quite refreshing and kinda nostalgic and almost hit close to home. It almost reminds him of-
'Nana.'
His old mentor. He reminds him of her. He couldn't help but let out a teary-eye grin. Maybe, just maybe, he's the one he's been looking for. To carry the torch. The next Symbol of Peace. The next user of [One fo-
BOOM
Both of them quickly turned to the loud sound of an explosion. Startled, as a smoke cloud they could clearly see from the rooftop had risen to the air from an area that was not too far from where they were.
Toshinori paled when he suddenly remembered a very crucial item and checked his back pocket, hoping it was still there.
The bottle was not there.
'Oh no.' He quickly guessed that it must have fallen off when he jumped and young Midoriya grabbed onto his leg. He turned to the green haired boy to see the mortified look on his face, as he was thinking the same thing.
He turned back just to see more explosions occurring and said, "What's done is done, young Midoriya. It's probably my fault for not securing the bottle right."
Izuku opened his mouth to tell All Might that it wasn't his fault but his, but he got cut off.
"Sorry, but I've-" 'puff' " -got people to sa-holy stinking crap I feel AMAZING!" All Might looked at himself in awe, expecting at least a twinge of pain and a cough of blood, but none of them came, instead he felt even more alive than before.
Izuku looked at All Might, who started doing little jumps while moving his neck and shoulders around as loud pops could be heard. Looking positively giddy, The Number One Hero then looked at the explosion cloud area, then at Izuku, which made him straighten perfectly still, then back at the area then back at him.
Area.
Him.
Area.
Him.
Area.
Him.
It continued for a few moments as Izuku was about to ask him what's wrong when All Might kneeled before him, his back facing towards him and pointing a thumb at it.
" Quick, hop on my back young man." All Might said with such urgency.
That got Izuku extremely confused. "I-I-I'm sorry, what did you say All Might."
The Number One Hero shook his head and pointed to his back again. " No time, quick, on my back. Hurry!"
And that's what Izuku did. He got on his back, trying to get in a good position so that he wouldn't fall off once All Might jumped.
All Might, after hearing an 'ok' from him, tightened his leg muscles and launched himself off the rooftop. The difference was immediately noticed. After that fateful day his physical abilities took a heavy plummet, nothing more but a fraction - a shadow - of its prime he will never recover back no matter how hard he trained. But now? Well, now he's going just as fast as he was in his golden years! Well… almost, but it didn't matter. He never felt this great for a long time. He couldn't help but let out a joyous laughter, not aware of his young passenger's arms tightened around his neck and possible screaming being canceled out by said laughing and resisted air pressure.
He descended down upon seeing the near-close destination where the explosion happened as well as surveyed the surrounding area. There's a crowd. That's bad. There are policemen in front of them to keep them safe, and prevent them from getting closer. That's good. After them is a single alleyway that's on fire. That's bad. But there are several heroes trying to take out the fire. That's good. He also spotted the Sludge Villain there. That's good. And there's a person trapped inside the Sludge Villain. That's bad! That's really bad!
Finding a spot that was a good distance away from the crowd, he landed with a mighty 'Boom'. Everyone turned around and immediately cheered for who they saw.
"It's All Might!!"
"He's here to save the day!!"
"Go All Might!! Stop that villain!!"
All Might let out a hearty laugh and waved to the crowd, but he whispered as quietly as he could only a very keen observer would take notice of. " All right, young man, now you're probably wondering why I brought you here." The reply he heard was a gurgle-like sound, but he continued on. " Simple, since that dastardly villain is rampaging in that fiery area of death, there might be civilians that could be hurt." The gurgling instantly stopped, indicating he had the young man's full attention. The Number One Hero began to walk.
" The emergency ambulances won't be here for a few minutes. That's why I brought you along. With that quirk of yours, you'll be able to help those whose injuries might be fatal. Now, I know that once you get off of me, the people, and soon the media, will want to ask why you are with me." He was almost in the crowd. " Don't worry about that, I came up with something they'll buy for sure. Now, let go, we're here."
He felt the weight on his back lighten as the crowd swarmed around him as some of them were still cheering, taking pictures with their phones, and now asking for autographs; others, however, caught sight of a young teenager getting off his back. Confused, they asked questions as to why he was carrying him and who he was. All Might just laughed, " Hahahaha, he's here as my helper-of-the-month buddy. Now move aside good civilians, so me and my helping buddy can take care of that no good villain!"
The crowd parted. They kept cheering, but All Might could see some of them were giving the young Midoriya the stink eye, clearly jealous of the helper-of-the-month shtick that he made up.
Once he and young Midoriya were in front of the crowd, a hero he recognized, Death Arms, came up to him in clear relief of seeing him.
"All Might! We are so glad you're here. We're having trouble with both the villain and the fires around. But what's worse, is that the villain has a hostage and we have no idea of how to save her without grievously injuring her."
All Might sensed young Midoriya stiffen, thinking that it was his fault. But All Might laughed, trying to ease the intensity of the situation. " Hahahaha, not to worry Death Arms, I've got the perfect solution for taking out both the villain and the fires. Now as for the hostage, I'll-"
Young Midoriya ran.
'Wait, what?'
He ran to the villain, ran to the fire, and quite possibly ran to his death.
'WHAT?!!'
Oh god damn it, Toshinori. You had one job!
If someone asked Katsumi what the worst day of her life was it would have to be the day in the park where her friendship with Deku was broken. If they were to ask what her second worst day in her life is.
'God fucking damn it! Get this fucking gross slime shit off of me!
It's this. This would be her second worst day in her life.
One moment, she was walking to the arcade with her piece of shit lackey extras, and the next thing she knew, this motherfucking sludge shit is trying to hijack her fucking body.
Like hell it is!
She sent explosion after explosion in any random direction, trying to pry it off. But nope, she only made it worse cause there's now fucking fire everywhere, and her numbskull lackey extras did nothing but just standing there screaming their fucking lungs off.
Her hopes grew when the heroes arrived, but they didn't do shit, with the exception of rescuing her slightly crispy stupid lackeys! All they're worried about is hurting her. Which is fucking stupid, cause she can fucking take it! She's motherfucking Katsumi Bakagou! Number one badass and future Number One Hero!
So she kept on fighting, trying to escape from her gross slimy shit captor. But the more she struggled, the more tired she became, and that hope soon turned into fear after she began thinking that she might-
'Die. I am going to die.'
She desperately tries to claw and scrape the slime off of her, but it's like an endless ocean, which she was drowning in. She opened her mouth to scream at the heroes to rescue her ass, only to make a fatal mistake as a wave of slime rushed down into her mouth and down her throat.
'Shit!'
After that, her entire body was covered with sludge, except her upper front face.
'Double shit!'
There's no way out! In a few moments she's going to fucking die!
'I don't want to die! I don't want to fucking die!'
There was so much she wanted to do, go to U.A and be the best, say sorry to Deku, graduate, say sorry to Deku, be a pro-hero and become the number one hero in the world, say sorry to Deku, say sorry to Deku, say sorry to Deku, say sorry to Deku!
Tears stream down her face as her life flashes before her eyes, the most prominent memories being those of Deku .
'This is it. I'm gonna die. Deku, if you can somehow hear me. I'm sor-'
"The fuck?! It's that kid again!"
She felt the sludge move, placing her in front of the crowd where she could see the heroes, and she thought:
'Is that motherfucking All Might?!'
But what really caught her eye was-
' Is that motherfucking Deku?!!'
She could see him running full sprint at her with no hesitation with a very terrified look. None of the heroes, not even fucking All Might made an attempted of stopping him. They all just stood there, jaws dropped like idiots.
"You lost your chance, boy!" The sludge fucker yelled. "But if you want to die I can give you th-." She saw Deku throw something at it, and felt an impact through the gross shit slime ocean. "-Did you just throw a fucking backpack at me?!"
But it was enough of a distraction for Izuku to act with haste once he was in front of her. Trying to take the sludge off of her as fast as he could. He took enough off of her mouth to allow her to speak.
"The fuck are you doing Deku?!"
She saw him looking at her with a shit-scared expression, but there was also that hint of fiery determination in his eyes she knows so well.
"I-I-I-I can't let you die. I just can't do anything and see you die Kaachan! So please hold on tight, ok?"
Taken aback, she didn't speak but nodded instead. Now feeling him holding her arms deep in the sludge, he inhaled deep, getting as much air he could from the flaming area surrounding them. The golden aura and small electric sparks appeared over his body. Knowing what he's about to do, Katsumi grabbed hold of his arms, and gripped as much as she could.
He yelled out loud, the golden aura traveling and enveloping her. She can feel herself moving freely out of the sludge along with coughing out the sludge that went down her throat.
"Fucking shit, not again!"
She heard the slime fucker, but that doesn't matter. The moment she landed on Deku he hugged her in a protective manner. It's been a long time since both of them had physical contact with each other, and she ain't denying it, but it sent a delighted jolt throughout her body. She couldn't help but hug him back while also maybe, possibly nuzzling into his chest. She didn't see the slime fucker getting ready to attack them, or Deku's scared face, holding her tighter. But she did feel a very strong blast of wind against them, and soon after felt the drops of unexpected rain. But she honestly didn't give a fuck about it, as she kept hugging Deku.
It felt really fucking nice.
Izuku sighed, walking back home, exhausted after the rollercoaster of events that happened today. After All Might saved him and Kacchan, and took out the villain and the fires with the immense air pressure from his fist, which caused it to rain, the paramedic ambulances came to see if he and Kacchan were okay. The heroes, meanwhile, scolded him for recklessly running into danger like that, while praising Kacchan for her quirk. Asking her to join them as their sidekick, and if she would ever go pro. Kacchan, for her part, was surprisingly quiet after shoving him away. Though, she was a bit red in her face, making the paramedics ask if she was running a fever, causing her to lightly snap at them with an 'I'm fine'.
But what really surprised him was Mt.Lady coming up to him and praising him for saving Kacchan, while she couldn't do anything due to there being too many people, and the narrow single lane for her quirk to properly perform. She offered to take him home, but he declined, but before he left, he asked her for her autograph which she happily accepted, even telling him that he's her first fan asking for her autograph on her first day as a hero.
He stopped for a moment to put on his headphones and press play on his phone when he heard his nickname called.
"Deku!"
He turned around to see Kacchan behind him. She had an angry expression, only it didn't have the same intensity he normally sees on her, it was softer as she lightly panted saying, "I didn't need you to save me, alright? I could have handled it all by myself, so don't do shit like that again, okay?"
She spun around and marched on home. Izuku looked at her, a little befuddled, but soon smiled.
'You still care, huh, Kacchan?'
Turning around, he pressed the play button on his phone, deciding not to put on his headphones and just let it hang around his neck, hearing the sound of an acoustic guitar as he kept walking.
At least, he would have kept walking if All Might didn't appear right in front of him!
" I am here!" A puff of smoke appeared, replacing the huge figure with a skeletal one. Izuku saw him wipe his mouth with an arm, then looked at it. "Huh, still throwing up blood, but not that much. Anyway." He looked at him with a grin, and placed his hands on his hips. "I am here to see you, young Midoriya."
Izuku shook out of his stupor and asked, "M-m-me? But what about all those reporters who surrounded you?"
All Might shook his head nonchalantly. "Nothing I couldn't handle, but they asked me about that buddy thing, so I told them I discontinued it because of your reckless action. Luckily they bought that."
Izuku winced at that. "S-s-sorry."
"Oh no no no no young Midoriya, if anything, I got to thank you for that."
"W-What?" Izuku asked, surprised.
"Yes, your actions and what you said back at that roof awakened something in me that I had forgotten a long time ago…," All Might said, pointing his thumb at his chest, "What it means to be a hero. And kid, you have that."
That, for one reason or another, hit Izuku, hard.
"Y-Y-You m-mean that I can be a-a-a…"
All Might nodded. "Quirk or no quirk, you can be a hero."
He couldn't hold it anymore, tears freely poured down his face as he sobbed. Suddenly, memories began to run through his mind.
I'm sorry, but he's quirkless
I'm sorry, Izuku
Even if you have a quirk now, you're not going to be a hero
No matter what, always stand proud
It was that day. The day when green youth met All Might that marked the start of his strange, some might say even bizarre, roundabout adventure of becoming the Number One Hero.
"And because of that, I decided to choose you as my successor to inherit my quirk."
Izuku looked up, not quite hearing correctly due to his sobbing, and the song that was playing throughout the conversation, and all he could say was:
"Wait… what?"
~I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out 'n' out
I spend the day your way
call it morning driving through the sound
and In and out the valley~
To be continued
