The Gift of a Hero Chapter 3
(A/N I'm still not dead but I sure as hell am taking a long time to upload. And for that I apologise but I'm in Uni now so please understand that I'm extremely busy and have even less time on my hands. But anyways, enjoy the story.)
In Class
Soon after his trip to the Nurse's office, Izuku returned to his class for his final period. After entering the classroom, he was greeted with a few angry stares since the students weren't happy that the most popular girl in the school was defending Midoriya. Izuku tried to ignore their glare and sat down in his seat since the teacher entered, causing all the students to return to their own seats.
"All right, settle down. Now today I have an important subject to talk to you kids about," the teacher announced as he started writing on the chalkboard. Most of the students already knew what the teacher was going to talk about, bringing excitement to the room.
"Since you're all third years, it's time for you to think seriously about your future. I'm gonna pass some handouts for your future plans now, but no doubt you're all planning on going into the Hero Course, aren't you?" The answer to the adult was obvious as the students all cheered and started showing off their Quirks.
There were all kinds of Quirks to see, such as long hair, rock body, bloated face, breathing fire, long neck, mist, sharp hand and many more. The only one who was showing some embarrassed face instead of a quirk was Izuku. With many of his classmates mocking him for being quirkless, he wondered how someone who can pull their eyeballs out of their head can be better than him.
"Sensei! Don't lump as all in the same group. I'm not gonna be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects!" Bakugou spoke up in a cocky tone.
"HEY! THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR, Katsuki!" yelled the other students, not wanting to be looked down on.
"Oh please, you all should shut up like the extras you are!" Bakugou snapped back in the same volume.
"Oh yeah, you wanted to go into the Yuuei, right, Bakugou?" All the students were stunned when they heard the teacher's question. It lead to multiple not so quiet murmurs as well.
"Yueei? That national school?!"
"It was the TOP school for the past few years, you know!"
"I heard their acceptance rates are always really low, too!"
"And that's exactly why you guys are nothing but extras!" Bakugou jumped onto his desk and looked around, grinning. "I aced the mock test! I'm the only one at this school who could possibly get into Yueei! And I'll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero! My name's gonna be inscribed on the list of top earners!" Bakugou's confidence intimidated the other students - it was to the point he almost looked insane with his expressions.
"It also says here that Midoriya wants to get into Yuuei as well." Bakugou turned white upon the teacher's nonchalant words and slowly turned to look at Izuku, who was trying to hide his face. Izuku slowly started looking up to see that everyone was looking at him. silence lingered for a few seconds before everyone bursted into laughter.
"What? Are you being serious? Midoriya? No way!"
"You can't just get into the hero course just by studying!"
"B-but they got rid of that rule! Sure, there's no precedent…." Izuku would have finished his sentence had his head not started feeling a dull throb echoing through. Bakugou jumped to his desk and destroyed the top of it with a small explosion, the force sending Izuku to the back of the class.
"Oi, Deku! Get it through your weak skull, you're below the reject! You're quirkless! What makes you think that you can even stand in the same ring as me?" Bakugou growled while charging a few tiny explosions in his palms.
"N-no, wait! Kacchan! I-I'm not trying to compete with you or anything… believe me!" Izuku backed up closer to the wall, trying to battle between the throbbing pain in his head and the scary figure approaching him, palms shimmering with smoke. "It's just that it's been my goal ever since I was little. And it's just…I won't know unless I try…"
"Whaddaya mean, unless you try?! Are you taking the test for fun?!" Bakugou questioned as he showed off a few tiny explosions in his hands. Izuku just started shaking as he saw the glares given by everyone, presenting their quirks and supporting what is appearing to be a monster in front of him. Izuku gripped his head, the pain beating as fast as his own heart. He was unable to speak up.
"Just what do you think that you can do?! You're quirkless!" Bakugou sneered as he was walking closer to Izuku, a few mini explosions dancing in his hands.
"Bakugou, that's enough!" The teacher's words were like the pair of wire cutters, defusing the bomb that was about to explode. "And Izuku, maybe it's time you consider what's realistic." The students snickered some more as Izuku slowly stood up and made his way to his burnt desk, clutching his head. Izuku had been wondering why he would constantly receive headaches at the most inconvenient of times, but seeing the state of his desk seemed to have shoved those thoughts and and the headache aside. Izuku sat down and had a few seconds of peace before the teacher carried on with his lesson.
After Class
With the bell sounding to send everyone home, people were talking and gathering their things while Izuku stayed behind, reading all the news about the fight between Mt. Lady and the giant villain at the Tatooin Station.
"The incident today is all over the headlines. I wanna hurry up and go home so I can write it down in my notebook." Izuku thought as he was about to put his notebook into his bag but then Bakugou pulled it out of his hands.
"You and I aren't done talking just yet, Deku!" Bakugou yelled angrily intimidating Izuku.
"Hey Bakugou, what's that?" asked another student behind Bakugou. Bakugou turned the notebook around and showed it off to the other two students.
"Huh? Hero Analysis for the Future? Seriously?"
"Midoriya…"
"I-It's fine, isn't it? Please, just give it back!" Izuku tried to recover his notebook but Bakugou pulled it away from him, he needed that notebook, it was his only chance to be a hero! Bakugou looked over the book smirking and burnt it with his Quirk.
"That's mean…" Bakugou didn't care for his action and tossed the burnt note book out of the window.
"Most top first-string heroes have stories about them from their school days, and they all say the same thing: I came from an average middle school and I was the first and only to get in. I want the shine of being able to be called the only students to make it into Yuuei from this mediocre city junior high school. I mean, I'm a perfectionist by nature!" Said Bakugou.
"So petty."Bakugou walked over to Izuku and placed his hand on his shoulder as his hand was beginning to release smoke. Izuku was nervously shaking while Bakugou gave him a sinister smile.
"So anyway, don't apply to Yuuei, nerd!" said Bakugou as he started walking away, intimidation complete.
"Sheesh, he didn't have the backbone to say anything back."
"Don't say that. He's pathetic, he still can't face reality even though he's in his third year."
"If you want to be a hero that badly, there's a quicker way to do it. Believe that you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a last chance dive off the roof!" mocked Bakugou but that was the last straw. Izuku quickly turned to Bakugou with a serious face but Bakugou showed off a few explosions in his hand and smirked.
"What?" asked Bakugou, daring him to say something, causing Izuku to back off.
After the three kids left the room, Izuku just clenched his fists as tears were starting to roll down his eyes. He immediately wiped off the tears and grabbed his bag as he got ready to go home.
"Idiot! Even I'm not that desperate to get a Quirk that I resort to suicide. How could he even say such a thing?" Izuku thought as he carried on walking. A small splashing noise to his right distracted him and he sighed, seeing his now badly burnt notebook floating in the water, surrounded by fish trying to eat it.
"Sorry little guys, this isn't fish food." Izuku picked up his book from the water container.
As he looked at the book in his hands, he couldn't help but remember some of the things he had to go through, all of his memories started flooding back to him. He remembered how the doctor told him that he would be unable to receive a quirk and that it was impossible for him to be a hero. Even after asking his mother if he could become a hero, he remembered how she held him closely while crying as she told him…
"I'm sorry Izuku… I'm sorry." Cried Izuku's mom as she held her son. She couldn't help but blame herself for her son's misfortune and didn't know what to say. All she could do was apologise, even though those were not the words that Izuku wanted to hear.
Izuku closed his eyes and sighed, pushing the memories away, she could never understand.
Musutafu City, Tunnel
Izuku carried on walking until he reached the same tunnel where he fought the three goons in the morning. Luckily for him, the police already took them to custody so he didn't have to worry about seeing them again anytime soon. Before he walked into the tunnel, he stopped and started thinking about his past. Izuku was discouraged ever since he was little because he didn't have a quirk but after remembering Sayuri and Ayumi's words, he felt a lot better.
"I decided back then, that I will become a hero. And with Sayuri and Miss Ayumi's words, I can do it! I won't care what people tell me, I'll hold my head up high and move forward towards my dream!"
Izuku started walking through, laughing and waving his fist up high but all that stopped when his head started feeling a tingling sensation once again. He turned around to see a giant amount of green sludge escaping through the sewers, gathering behind him and growing taller.
"A villain? Here of all places?! Why do I have such bad luck when it comes to walking through tunnels."
"A medium-sized invisibility cloak…" the Sludge monster said. After getting out of the sewer, the sludge monster pounced on to Izuku in hopes of capturing him. Izuku froze on the spot but just as the Sludge monster was about to touch him, he performed a backflip and got out of the way just in the nick of time, surprising the villain and himself.
"Not bad kid! You're quite agile." Izuku was slowly backing off but the Sludge monster extended his arm in hopes of grabbing him. Seeing the attack heading his way, Izuku quickly jumped towards the wall.
Izuku was still unsure how he was able to dodge all the villain's attack but relieved that he was able to escape. The Sludge villain was more surprised at he what he was seeing, in front of him, the young high schooler's hands and feet were attached to wall.
"I've got you now!" cried the villain as he extended both of his arms.
Once Izuku saw the incoming attack, he bounced off the wall and stuck himself to the top of the tunnel. Both Izuku and the Sludge villain were surprised at what they saw, he had no idea how but he was actually sticking to the wall.
"Wait a sec, am I stuck on the wal…" Izuku never had a chance to finish his sentence because the Sludge monster took the opportunity while he was distracted and grabbed his leg. Izuku got pulled off the roof and slammed into the ground before getting pounced on by the Sludge villain.
The Sludge monster slowly began to cover Izuku and made sure he was immobilized; the sludge was covering his mouth, making it impossible for him to breath or escape.
"Don't worry kid, I'm just gonna take over your body. Calm down, this'll only hurt for 45 seconds, you'll feel better soon! I gotta admit, for a kid, those were some flashy moves you pulled off." Izuku was trying his best to dig the sludge that was covering his mouth but it wasn't working.
"Sorry kid but you can't grab me, I'm fluid. But anyways, thanks for the help. You're my hero. I had no idea that HE had come to this city."
"Can't… breathe. I'm losing all strength. Is this… how I die?" Izuku's eyes were beginning to shed tears as the last thing he saw before passing out was a Sketch of his Hero costume. His hands stopped struggling and his eyes were beginning to close. "Someone… help me."
"Fear not, young man! For I am here!" The Sludge monster turned to the source of the voice and saw All Might wearing a white T-shirt, brown baggy pants and black shoes.
"Not you again!" yelled the Sludge monster.
"Unhand the boy!"
"As you wish!" The Sludge monster quickly tossed away Izuku from his body and escaped, All Might wanted to go after him but he wanted to prioritise Izuku's safety first. He ran forward and caught Izuku before he landed on the ground.
"He looks okay. Luckily, he's still breathing." All Might looked around and noticed a notebook on the ground with a picture of hero costume in it.
A while later
All might was lightly slapping Izuku's face at a rapid speed, trying to wake him up. After a while of slapping, Izuku's eyes were finally beginning to open.
"Oh thank goodness, you're okay." All Might took a few steps back. Izuku's face was frozen in shock once he realised that the man who saved him was none other than All Might, the hero he admired ever since he was just a young kid. He immediately crawled back in surprise since he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Good to see you're okay, young man. Sorry 'bout getting you caught in up in my villain fighting. I don't usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place." All Might said before giving off a light laugh. Izuku was still dazed at what he was seeing.
"The number one hero… A… All Might. I seriously can't believe this, the real deal standing right in front of me. He looks so different in person! Oh, right! An a-autograph! W-where's my notebook?!"
Izuku started frantically looking around for his burnt notebook until he found it in front of All Might. He rushed over to the notebook to find an empty page to get an autograph but as soon as he opened his book, it already had All Might's signature with a drawing of his eyes.
"HE ALREADY DID IT!" Izuku closed his notebook and started bowing frantically. "Thank you! Thank you very much! It'll be an heirloom! A family treasure!"
"Okay! Well, I'm glad to see that you're okay, young man. But now I must get going. The villain that attacked you is still out there and I must catch him before he harms any other civilians." All Might began to stretch as he was getting ready to leave. Izuku stopped bowing and looked over to All Might as he was getting ready to leave.
"W-wait…I… I have so many questions to ask, so many things to say. A-All Might, wait!" All Might stopped stretching and turned to Izuku.
"Yes?"
"I-I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life against the mutant Spider. M-my name is Izuku Midoriya."
"Ah yes, now I remember. You're the young man from the Mutant Spider incident. How is your injury?" asked All Might. Izuku turned to his shoulder as he remembered the night once again.
"I-I'm fine. I get a few headaches now and then, along with a few hallucinations but the doctor says I'll be fine." Answered Izuku nervously.
"Ah, that's good to hear. Good to see you made a full recovery. But hallucinations?"
"Oh right, I-I just had a crazy day. And I got attacked by a few thugs, got picked on at school and nearly killed by a sludge villain. I had a weird hallucination that I had 6 arms and I was stuck to the wall like a spider." Joked Izuku but All Might turned his smile into a serious expression after hearing those words.
"Luckily for me, it was just a dream." Said Izuku which brought a sigh of relief for All Might. Izuku then turned to All Might.
"B-but, I was also wondering if I could ask you something." Requested Izuku as he nervously scratched his hair.
"Okay, but please make it quick. I am a busy man and I must catch that villain quickly." Izuku was hesitant at first but then he clenched his notebook and asked…
"Can I become a hero, even if I don't have a quirk?" All Might was taken back by the question since it was the first time, anyone had ever asked him such a thing.
"Without a quirk?"
"Yes… the truth is that because I don't have a quirk, I'm always made fun of. Maybe that's why… I don't know… But I think saving people is super cool. To be able to rescue people with a fearless smile, I aimed to become a great hero, just like you. And that's why I need to know, can I become a hero even if I don't have a quirk?"
There was a brief moments of silence before All Might smiled and looked over to the nervous boy. Izuku was patiently waiting for his answer.
"So you're aiming to be a hero but you don't have a quirk? I have to say Fan-boy; you are dreaming big. And that's good since our dreams can motivate us to accomplish anything!" Izuku was feeling happy since it felt like All might was encouraging him. However, All Might's smile turned into a serious expression.
"But, this is not something you can achieve. In our world of superheroes, we are always risking our lives, fighting against foes that cannot be beaten without power. You can push yourself to the human limit, I don't think it would be enough to keep up with what we face." Explained All Might which froze Izuku on the spot.
"Therefore, I cannot simply say, "You can become a hero even without power."
Hearing those words from the hero he admired so much, felt like a bullet had pierced his body, leaving a hole that could never be filled. He always had dreamed, hoped and wished to become a hero even though he lacked a quirk, but all hope was crushed after hearing the truth from All Might himself.
"I-I see."
"Do not be discouraged young man, if you want to help others, then you can always pursue a career as a police officer. They're often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep, but that is also a fine occupation." All Might turned around and got ready to leave but he knew that his words had left a scar on Izuku.
"It is not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what's realistic, young man. Now then, I must be going. I'm counting on your continued support! FAREWELL!"
Izuku simply watched as All Might leaped a great distance and vanished in an instant. All Might turned back to see Izuku one last time and saw his head hanging low from his response.
"I'm sorry, young man. But I'm afraid that is the reality we face. If not from me, then you would've realized it sooner or later. Now I must catch that villain before it's too late, I'm sure I don't have much time before…" All Might coughed a little before his body began to emit smoke. "No! Not now!"
Izuku was standing still, not being able to move after hearing All Might's words. Without even realising it, tears began to roll down his eyes as he clenched onto his notebook. He wiped off his tears and looked at his notebook as All Might's words were flowing through his mind again. "Therefore, I cannot simply say, "You can become a hero even without power."
"I guess I heard from the pro himself. I guess it really was impossible." Izuku began walking home, sulking. It was one misfortune after another for him, he got attacked by thugs, he got picked on by Bakugou, his notebook got fried, he got attacked by a villain and now the hero admired, crushed his dreams.
Tatooin Shopping District
Izuku was walking on the sidewalk while going through his hero notes, not minding what was in front of him. Flicking through the pages, more memories began to return.
"He still can't face reality, even though he's already a third year in junior high."
"It's time for you to think seriously about your future."
"You have to consider what's realistic."
"Why am I crying now? I already knew this entire time. But even though I knew the truth, I was trying so desperately to look away from it. Averting my eyes, not looking at reality." He was about to head into the convenience store when a sudden explosion from the east got his attention. He saw that a crowd was gathered near the explosion, everyone was trying to get a view of what was going on.
"Is there some kind of villain there? Oh if so, there could be a new hero there to…" Just as he was about to walk over to the crowd, he hesitated as he remembered All might's words. "I shouldn't bother, it's not like there's any point anymore."
Izuku couldn't help but feel as though he was about to miss an opportunity at seeing a new hero so he decided to go anyway. "I'll only watch for a second, besides I'm sure it's almost over…"
His eyes widened the moment he saw the villain, right in front of his eyes was the same sludge villain that attacked him back in the tunnel. With a burning battlefield and explosions everywhere, it was complete chaos as the villain was flailing his gigantic sludge arms.
"I-I don't get it! Wasn't All Might after him? D-Don't tell me he lost?" thought Izuku.
Izuku looked around to see heroes trying to fight back and reduce damage while fighting back against the villain. Back Draft was firing water off his fire hydrant arms to stop the fire in the buildings while Kamui Woods and Mount Lady were rescuing civilians from the fire and debris.
Death Arms and Hitchcock Doodle were just standing while the sludge monster was surrounding himself around a kid.
"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?" asked a civilian.
"They can't. Apparently the villain caught a junior high schooler. What's even worse is that he's been stuck like that for a while now." Replied another civilian which surprised Izuku.
"A junior high schooler? How can they survive the suffocation?" Izuku turned back to the Sludge villain to get a closer look, after a getting a better look, he realised that it was a familiar face.
"T-that's Kacchan! He's in trouble!"
"Hey wait a sec, wasn't that the villain that All Might was after?"
"All Might? No way, is he actually here?"
"Yeah, he was around here earlier."
"Seriously?! Then where is he? The heroes could really use his help right now."
Izuku turned back to the Sludge monster and saw the struggle that Bakugou was going through to escape but it was all fruitless as the sludge had covered most of his body except his eyes and nose.
"S-someone has to do something! Kacchan won't survive if someone doesn't help him!" thought Izuku as he watched Bakugou struggle against the Sludge villain.
"N-no… a hero will surely arrive. S-someone will come and defeat that Sludge villain, then Kacchan will be safe. A-and then it's all going to be alright." Thought Izuku as he turned his back and was about to walk away.
"A real hero will arrive and save the day. D-do your best… I'm sorry."
"I help people not because I want to but because I have to." Izuku stopped moving as he remembered Sayuri's words.
"As a hero, you need to have the heart to put your life on the line for the sake of others."
Izuku clenched his Hero notebook before turning back to the Sludge villain. He watched as the sludge was about to completely swallow up Bakugou but then, the trapped boy showed an expression of despair, showing how scared he was.
"As long as you can do that, I know you can do it."
Seeing the expression on his face, Izuku dropped his notebook and started running towards them. The heroes and civilians all gasped when they saw the young school kid running towards the villain without hesitation. But it was no easy task since Izuku began feeling a headache the moment he got closer to the villain.
"You can become a hero!"
"KID STOP! ARE YOU CRAZY!" Death Arms cried as he tried to reach out to him but Izuku didn't stop. He carried on running at full speed.
"That kid!" The Sludge villain watched as Izuku was running straight towards him with a worried expression.
Bakugou slowly opened his eyes. "Deku…?"
"What the hell am I doing? Why did I start running again? Just like last time, I ran towards the mutant spider to save those kids. But what do I do this time?" Thought Izuku as he was running towards the Sludge villain.
"Stupid kid! DIE!" cried the Sludge villain as he launched his attack towards Izuku.
Izuku was finding it difficult to concentrate since his head was about to explode from the pain but then immediately after the pain was gone, Izuku felt something heading his way.
"An attack from my right!" Izuku turned his head to the right but it was too late, the attack was too close and hit Izuku directly. A few screams were heard from the crowd as they saw the young high schooler's body fly back and land on the pavement.
"That's what you get kid!" said the Sludge villain as he reverted his hand back to normal size.
"This feeling… I've felt it before. At home… at the tunnel… and now. I could feel his attack coming my way. And my body…" thought Izuku.
"KID!" cried Death Arms when he saw Izuku land on the ground. Most of the heroes were petrified, believing that Izuku was dead but a few seconds later, Izuku stood up again with minimum damage. Nobody could believe what they just saw, even after getting a direct hit from the villain, Izuku stood up as if it was nothing.
"WHAT!?" yelled the Sludge villain in surprise. Even most of the citizens were amazed that he was able to stand up again after that hit.
"What the… how is that kid still standing?"
Izuku inspected his body and saw that he was feeling fine. He thought for sure that he wasn't going to be able to move after that attack but his body was still in great shape. Seeing that he was feeling better, Izuku turned back to the villain and started running again.
"Damn brat! You just won't die! Well this time, I'll make sure you stay on the ground!" The Sludge villain immediately enlarged both of his hands and got ready to attack Izuku.
"Come on, I need to THINK! Going head on is meaningless so I need to come up with something! That's it! Page 25!" Izuku's head began tingling again as he noticed the danger ahead of him.
"From above!"
A few seconds later, the citizens and the heroes gasped when they saw the Sludge monster slam his large on the ground, sending a strong shock wave through the streets. The heroes covered the civilians from the air pressure and returned their attention to fight again. But they couldn't believe what they saw.
Izuku had jumped 20 feet into the air, dodging the Sludge villain's attack. As he started descending, his feet landed on the side of a wall. All the heroes and civilians were met with even more surprise when they saw Izuku running horizontally on the wall for a few seconds before jumping off and throwing his yellow bag towards the Sludge villain.
"Take this!" yelled Izuku.
The bag hit the Sludge villan directly on the face and in doing so, all the content inside such as his notebooks landed on the Sludge villain's eyes causing him to flinch and loosen his grip on Bakugou. Izuku landed in front of him and immediately started digging the sludge off Bakugou.
"Kacchan!" Izuku cried as he was doing his best to remove the sludge.
"You! What the hell are you doing?!" questioned Bakugou in frustration as he tried to escape.
"I don't know! My body just moved on its own! I don't know why!" After removing some of the sludge off Bakugou, his left arm was finally free. Izuku saw the opportunity and started pulling him out but it was difficult since he was really stuck in there.
"At that time, I was wondering what it was that made do what I did. But after remembering Sayuri and Miss Ayumi's word, it didn't matter to me that I didn't have a quirk. I just knew that I had to take action, even if it meant risking my life."
He remembered all moments in his life where he was told that he couldn't be a hero and how others kept on making him give up his dreams. But even then, he pushed aside his fears and doubt, and risked his life to save Bakugou.
"It's because… it looked like you were asking for help."
Izuku saw the opportunity presented in front of him and gathered all of his strength, he started pulling Bakugou out of the sludge. Everyone, including the heroes, watched as Izuku was actually able to pull Bakugou from the Sludge villain's grasp.
"Hey look! He's doing it!"
"The kid's actually saving him!"
"That kid must have some crazy strength!"
"Come on, while the villain's still distracted, let's go help save that kid!" cried Death Arms as he ran in with the rest of the heroes.
The Sludge villain finally regained his senses and turned back to see the heroes charging towards him. He immediately enlarged his hand and swung it down towards the heroes, sending all of them flying back. After the heroes were taken care of, he returned his attention to Izuku who was almost about to free Bakugou.
"I don't think so, kid! Just a little longer." yelled the Sludge villain as he immediately re-captured Bakugou. "Now I'm done playing with you kid! Don't get in my way!"
Izuku watched as the Sludge villain was about to swing his arm down towards him, Izuku was going to dodge but then his head felt a sharp pain causing him to clench his head.
"N-no! Not now!" Thought Izuku as he closed his eyes and waited for his doom. After the Sludge villain attacked, a large explosion covered the area. Making it difficult for everyone to see what had happened.
"I truly am pathetic, aren't I?" said All Might. Izuku slowly began opening his eyes but he couldn't believe what he was seeing. All might stood in front of him, blocking the Sludge villain's attack with his right arm.
"All Might…"
"Even though I admonished you, I realised I wasn't putting what I said into practice!" All Might freed himself from the Sludge villain's grasp before grabbing Izuku and Bakugou's arms.
"Pro heroes are always risking their lives! That is the true test of a hero!" cried All Might as his mouth was releasing blood.
"Damn you, All MIGHT!" cried the Sludge villain as he attempted to attack All Might with his large hand.
"DETROIT... SMASH!" cried All Might as he sent in a downward punch which was so powerful that it created a shock wave strong enough to disperse the Sludge villain and free Bakugou. But the force of the shock wave created a strong wind pressure which not only cleared up all the fire in the area but changed the wind pressure.
After the attack was complete, All Might slowly stood up as he let go of both Bakugou and Izuku who were unconscious. He looked over to Izuku with a smile before wiping the blood off his lips. Everyone was silent until they noticed that it suddenly started to rain, Death arms looked up to the sky and saw the spiralling dark clouds which were created by All Might's punch.
"He made…clouds…?"
"With just his right fist, he changed the weather!"
"That's amazing!"
"That's All Might for ya!"
Everyone cheered as All Might raised his right arm to show that he stood victorious against the Sludge villain. Soon afterwards, all the heroes and the police started gathering the large amount of sludge covering the streets. The reporters gathered around All Might as they interviewed him and took his pictures. After a while, Izuku and Bakugou woke up. While Bakugou was getting praised for his bravery, Izuku was getting chewed out by the heroes for risking his life.
"You moron! Do you have a death wish?!" questioned Kamui Woods while Izuku was kneeling.
"There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger!" complained Death Arms.
Evening
After all the chaos was over, Izuku was slowly walking home with all of his stuff in his yellow bag. The medics were able to fix up a few of his injuries but surprisingly, he didn't have anything major. The news about All Might's rescue was spreading around like wildfire. Izuku never had a chance to apologise to All Might for what had happened because the all the reporters were covering him.
"I wanted to apologize to All Might, but he was still getting interviewed. Maybe I'll try sending him a message on his website when I get home. But what happened to me today? My heads been ringing all day and for some reason, I felt like..." Thought Izuku as he walked on.
"Deku!" Hearing a shout from behind, Izuku slowly turned around to see Bakugou running towards him.
"Kachhan?"
After catching up to Izuku, Bakugou took a second to catch his breath.
"I never asked for your help! I never asked to be helped by you, got that?! I was doing fine on my own! You're nothing but a Quirkless failure who's wasting time, trying to be a hero! Don't think that you can look down on me! You damn nerd!"
Izuku watched as Bakugou turned around and started walking away in frustration after he delivered his message. "I guess that's one way to say thank you. But he's right, I didn't really accomplish anything. But I'm glad it all worked out. Guess I should get back to quitting on my dreams now…"
Izuku turned back and started heading home when out of nowhere, All Might rushed in from the corner of the street. "I AM HERE!"
Izuk gasped in surprise since he did not expect All Might to arrive. "A-All Might?! What are you doing here? Weren't you swamped by those reporters?"
"Hahaha! Escaping them was no trouble for me! Why? Because I am All M…" All Might couldn't finish his sentence since his body began to emit smoke. Izuku gasped when he saw All Might releasing smoke from his body.
"ALL MIGHT! What's wrong? What's going on with your body!?" cried Izuku as he tried to reach out to him but All Might raised his hand and stopped.
"It's okay young man." replied All Might. Izuku watched as All Might was completely covered but as the smoke was finally disappearing, Izuku's eyes were met with shock when he saw All Might again.
Compared to his muscle form, All Might had turned into an overly-skinny man with angular features, long limbs and neck. He had spiky, dishevelled hair with two bangs framing the side of his face and he lost his eyebrows. His clothes had become extremely baggy compared to his muscle form.
"Wha… WHAT?! W-who are you?! W-what happened to All Might!? He was just here a few seconds ago… you're an imposter!?" questioned Izuku as he was shaking and looking around. He couldn't believe the hero that he respected so deeply had such a 180 in his appearance. All Might sighed since he was expecting that type of reaction.
"I assure you young man, I am All Might…" answered All Might but as he was finishing his sentence, blood began to escape from his mouth.
"GYAAAAH! THERE'S NO WAY!" cried Izuku as he fell back.
All Might wiped the blood off his mouth before explaining his situation. "You know how most guys at the pool are always flexing and posturing? It's kind of like that."
"How the heck do you expect me to believe that?! There's just no way! All Might is supposed to be a giant of a man, always saving people with a fearless smile…"
"I guess I can't convince you like this." Izuku watched as the man in front of him pulled his shirt upwards and revealed a horrifying scar, terrifying the young high schooler.
"This was a scar I received from a fight five years ago. Most of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. I've become emaciated from repeated surgeries and the aftereffects. All the constant treatments wore me out and as such, I can only do hero work for 3 hours a day."
"W-wait a sec, if it was five years ago… then was it the fight against toxic chainsaw?" asked Izuku.
"You're well informed. But no, he may have landed a few hits but he could never defeat me. This fight was not made public to the world, I asked that it not be made public. Because as the Symbol of peace, I must save everyone with a smile. I cannot allow myself to be daunted by evil." Even though Izuku didn't believe it as first, he started trusting his words more and more.
"But then… why? Why would you reveal such an important piece of information to a kid like me?" asked Izuku.
"It's because… I've been thinking about what I said to you. And after watching you risk your life for the sake of that other boy, I realised that I may have been too hasty with my answer. And for that, I'm sorry." Apologised All Might.
"N-no, if anything I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had to risk your life to save me. Not to mention I wasted your time by asking you so many questions, if anything I should apologise to you. All I did was cause more trouble even though I didn't have a quirk…"
"That's right. It was because I saw the young, timid, quirkless fan boy spring into action to save the life of another, it inspired me to act as well." Hearing those words, Izuku slowly turned to All Might.
"Top heroes always have stories about how they became heroes from their school days. But most of their stories have one thing in common: their bodies moved before they had a chance to think."
Izuku clenched his fists and lowered his heads before tears started welling up in his eyes. Never had he expected the hero whom he admired so much to give him such encouraging words.
"At that time, I didn't know why but I remembered my mother's words."
"I'm sorry Izuku! I'm sorry. I'm sorry"
Izuku slowly started kneeling down as the memories began appearing in his head again.
"That was true for you, too, wasn't it?" said All Might. Izuku slowly nodded his head as he fell to his knees and clenched his chest.
"You never told me mom. The words I needed you to say, the words I needed to hear."
With the wind flowing through All Might's hair and the cherry blossoms flying across them, he said the words that would change Izuku's life forever.
"Young man, you can become a hero!"
At that point, Izuku could no longer hold back his tears and let it all out. After all the torment, the hate and the pain he had to go through since he was young, the man he looked up to the most told him the words that he needed hear.
Our dreams can be a reality; it was this very moment that made realise that. But this was just the beginning of the real story, after all, turns out there was more to me than meets the eye.
Chapter End
Anyways folks, that's the end of another chapter but in my opinion, this one didn't have a lot going for it since most of it was from the original source. But next chapter, I promise to give you guys something good since the next chapter will Izuku train for the Yuuei entrance exams. I know most people would want me to skip the training and go straight to the action but trust me when I say that the next chapter will have some interesting things going for it, that includes his spider powers and meeting a "certain" character.
Also, props to the people who recognised the History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi reference. I like to add little bits of references and Easter eggs around.
But until then people, please have a good morning/day/evening/night.