It had taken a few days of thinking for Toshinori to have an answer to Izuku's question. What was something he wanted to do, but couldn't have done before?
The answer turned out to be Dagoba beach, also known as trash beach. Once a beautiful destination when he himself was at UA was now essentially a landfill because of illegal dumping that just got worse every year.
It was true that he himself would never be able to haul trash all day in his current form, but he could rally people together to get the job done. So he started by asking all of the students he personally taught, 1-A and 1-B, to join him on this task. It turns out there were few hero students that would deny the call of the former #1 hero. Some students, such as young Todoroki, were busy on the weekends, but those that were available seemed happy to assist him.
He smiled at the group of students, he felt it would also be a good bonding exercise to help the two classes grow closer together. Perhaps 1-A didn't need it since they had bonded over shared trauma, but the other classes thankfully didn't have that.
A few of the teachers were there too to help out where they could. It made sense though, few people became heroes without a desire to help their community in some way. This just felt like a good way to give back in a way that was meaningful to him.
"Alright everyone, we've got a lot of work ahead of us, so grab some gloves and let's get started!" He had spoken a bit too enthusiastically and coughed up some blood, but he was still doing better than when he was forcing himself to do hero work. His body definitely appreciated the break from daily combat.
Although he wouldn't be moving any of the trash himself, he still had an important role to play. He turned around to face the incoming reporters and fans that were swiftly arriving as word of their project spread.
"Hello everyone! It's so good to see you all on this fine day!"
One lucky reporter got set up before the rest and was already asking questions.
"All Might! Could you explain what you and the UA students are doing here today?"
"Ha ha! Gladly! These are the students that I personally teach and I believe that community service is always a good way to remind both ourselves and the people we serve what heroism is really about. We aren't heroes just to fight villains, but to help people and make the world a better place for everyone that lives in it."
It didn't take long before it became a familiar sea of questions where he couldn't hear what anyone was saying and would just point at people randomly.
"Mr. All Might Sir, is there a reason that you chose this beach specifically?"
"I must admit, it was a bit of a selfish choice on my part. I always enjoyed walking here when I was younger, but then it became neglected and I never felt I had the time to spare for such a project. So I wanted to take this opportunity to help teach a valuable lesson to my students while also accomplishing a goal I'd had for years."
He looked over his shoulder to see how the kids were doing. It seemed they had set up a pretty good system. Everyone with above average strength was moving trash up to the steps where it would be placed on a large cart. He did his best to hold in his laughter as he watched young Izuku in a rabbit harness that hooked up to said cart. There was just something inherently cute and funny about a small rabbit in an adorable harness pulling around refrigerators.
Once Izuku pulled it over to where they had some trucks, other students would sort the trash so it could be brought to where it needed to go.
He also caught sight of young Asui going in and out of the water to collect any trash that was underwater. He found himself incredibly impressed with all of his students.
Yaoyorozu came over to him, which made sense since she had been doing a lot of the organizing even though other teachers were there. "Sensei, we're having an issue where we're collecting trash faster than it can be driven away. And I'm not really sure how we could get more trucks or dumpsters on such short notice."
He wasn't particularly surprised by that, they only had two people dropping things off at the junkyard, with Thirteen destroying anything that couldn't be recycled in any way.
"No worries young Yaoyorozu, let me show you the power of public support."
He walked back over to the wall of cameras and fans with a big smile. "Alright everyone, if you have a moment I'd like your help with something." Everyone went silent in anticipation. "It would seem we underestimated just how motivated these young heroes would be, so if anyone out there watching this could lend some assistance with hauling away the garbage to the appropriate facilities we would be very grateful!"
His assumption had been correct, and within ten minutes people who lived nearby showed up to help them out. He truly did enjoy not only doing good himself, but giving others the opportunity to do good as well.
As the volume picked up again it was quickly stopped again by the sound of a familiar explosion and shouting.
Yagi looked to the source and found young Bakugou screaming at people who seemed to be trying to get pictures/autographs of the fairly famous hero students.
"Oi! If you're on this beach that means you're here to pick up trash or you're the trash." He gave them a vicious grin. "So? Which will it be? Do I need to toss you in this dumpster?"
Most of them ran off while a few actually put on work gloves and started helping.
Although Bakugou was brash and more than a bit rude, he was a good hero with a love for heroism that went to his core. He believed a perfect example of this would be watching him scream at someone who wasn't wearing closed toe shoes.
"Dude, it doesn't matter. I'll be fine, plus I've got a strength quirk so I doubt I'll be dropping anything."
"Oh, you're tough are you? You think you'll be able to punch tetanus you fucking blockhead?! Get the fuck off my beach you absolute disgrace!"
Say what you want about Bakugou, but no one can deny he takes things seriously. Yagi also appreciated that Bakugou's efforts made it much easier to keep the crowd contained and out of the way, because now everyone knew that if they strayed too close to those working then the explosive boy would enlist them by force.
He was fairly relaxed, simply answering questions and rambling about justice, when he heard Kirishima shout.
"INCOMING".
Everyone looked over in concern at the absolutely ridiculous sight. Uraraka was looking like she was about to vomit, but with a huge smile. But the more noticeable figure was their red headed student sprinting across the beach while holding an entire bus over his head.
He had a toothy grin as he yelled into the wind. "THIS IS THE MANLIEST I'VE EVER FELT!"
Within moments he brought the weightless bus onto the road where it could be scrapped or towed off.
Uraraka also seemed proud of herself, but her excitement was undercut by her vomiting profusely.
Everyone watching was impressed, alarmed, and a bit confused. How did a bus even get on the beach in the first place?
As the day went on more and more people joined the, even if only briefly. They came out today to support the community, but it felt like the community came out to support them as well.
While this project would probably take about a year for someone working on it by themselves, by having dozens of superpowered teens work together alongside over a hundred volunteers the process was substantially faster. Plus, the work of Thirteen could never be understated, they had the ability to completely destroy large amounts of material with nearly no trace left behind which was invaluable here. While usually it was used on rubble left behind by a disaster, it worked incredibly well for removing any type of dangerous or unsanitary waste.
It was late in the afternoon when they finished and everyone involved was exhausted, but it was done.
His heart was truly warmed as he stared out at the sunset, a place of joy for him as a child finally restored to its former beauty. Maybe he could do the same thing for himself, become something truly good for the community once more.
Ever since he was injured all those years ago he'd felt as though his worth to society and the people around him dwindled alongside his quirk. But a small rabbit taught him otherwise, made him believe he could at least try at being happy again.
This beach felt like proof that he wasn't useless. That he wasn't only kept around as a memorial to who he used to be. Maybe someone else could have cleaned this beach, but they didn't. Nothing was done until he brought people together to do something good. But not as All Might. Toshinori Yagi did this. This skinny old man was the lynchpin in making all of this happen.
His eyes rested on the sunset as he let tears of happiness and contentment run down his cheeks. He smiled softly and couldn't bring himself to care as journalists got pictures of his weeping smile. Something far less heroic looking than what they were used to, but much more genuine. Because this smile wasn't for the masses, it was just between a broken man and the forgotten beauty of a neglected shoreline, both starting to regain their luster.
Hey everyone. This was sort of a quick bonus chapter, it's not relevant to the plot or our bunny, but I felt like writing it anyways. Also, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I graduated from my master's program a bit ago and finally got a job. The bad news is that this means I will be much busier so you probably won't see as many updates.
One final note, in regards to the question I posed for Izuku/Yuwai, here's what y'all told me.
People who are down for that: 13
People who seemed mixed on it: 3
People who are not a fan: 1
So based on this it will at least be strongly considered but I haven't decided how prominent it would be.