Majima took a moment to let out a breath, most of his anger gone after telling off his well-intentioned, but still foolish, younger brother. He looked at Inko, who had pulled up a chair and sat the ashtray that she was holding on the computer desk.

Well, that's odd.

"Didn't ya quit?"

"I did. This is for you. Figured you'd need it after your… talk."

Ah, that explains it.

Pulling a cigarette out of the pack he had on hand and putting it between his lips, he asked, "Got a light?"

"Yeah, here." She pulled out an Endeavor-themed zippo lighter, put it in front of the unlit cigarette, and flicked.

"Thanks." He closed his eye and took a long drag, while Inko gently set the lighter down next to the ashtray. It was a quiet moment, a nice one on a nice night after a (mostly) nice day.

"So… Endeavor?"

Inko picked the lighter back up, flipping the top and flicking the flint. When she heard the click! and saw the fire from it spring to life, she smiled fondly and explained, "Hisashi and Izuku got it for me last Mother's Day. Izu looked so happy when I flicked it the first couple of times that I didn't have the heart to tell I wouldn't be using it much."

"What made those two get it for ya in the first place?"

"Izu found the one that I got from Mi-chan. His dad told him I was a collector."

"Ah, so that's the rub."

Another beat of silence. Another long drag, another puff. When it was broken again, the cyclops wasn't the culprit.

"Mom..."

"Goro-nii."

"He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they're in…"

"What's up?"

"He's such a cool hero…"

"Did you really mean what you said?"

"Can I…"

"What about?"

"...be a hero, too?"

"About Izu… about him... becoming a hero. Did you really mean it?"

"I'm sorry Izuku! I'm so sorry!"

The look in her eyes was intense. He could see them glint as she bored into his soul. He could see verdant green flames roaring with emotion as she stared him down waiting for his answer. Guilt, fear, sorrow, and… hope.

"Of course! Izu-chan's gonna be so great, All-Might's gonna be askin' for his autograph! Matter'a fact, when he wakes up, I'm gonna ask him to sign one for me!"

Hearing the earnestness in the voice of the older man's voice as he sang her son's praises made Inko release a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

If Goro Majima said something was happening, it was happening. Didn't matter how anyone felt about it. It was just his way.

That's why, with a weight lifted off of her chest, tears, and a smile largely present on her face, she hugged Majima tightly and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

She didn't need to say what she was so thankful for.

They both already knew.

Hero Training- Day 1

Izuku sat cross-legged on the sandy ground as Majima, sans jacket, stood and addressed him.

"Alright, Izu-chan. Today's yer first day of Hell on Earth, courtesy of myself!"

Izuku was already starting to regret this.

"It'll be hard, you will not like it. But the more you hate it, the more it'll teach ya. You will wanna quit. You may choose to quit, some days."

Regret intensified tenfold.

"But know this. Every single day that you work hard at this training, the closer you are to that dream of yours. Every day that you work yourself to death, the closer you get to living life as a hero!"

Izuku's eyes shimmered as he nodded once with a newfound resolve.

"Alright! So what do I gotta do, Goro-Jiji?"

"Well first… Look around ya! Whaddya See?"

"Umm… Garbage?"

"Exactly! Garbage! Garbage that you're gonna clean up, Izu-chan!"

"... Huh?"

Like father, like son.

"Ya see, it's a man's civic duty to separate his trash! If ya don't, who's gonna be left to take responsibility when we got toxic-ass dioxins floatin' around?!"

Izuku had no idea what dioxins even were, but his uncle seemed so passionate about it that he just let him continue without a word.

"And when a man's slackin' in his civil duties, it's up to a hero to either punish or pick up that slack for him!"

"Y-yeah!"

"You see, Izu-chan; this dump here used ta be a pretty bangin' spot for couples. But in the past couple years, some wise-asses decided they were gonna start throwin' trash and crap in the water. When I find 'em there'll be hell to pay, but for now, yer gonna be a friendly neighborhood hero and start gettin' this place cleaned up."

"O-oh, okay."

"Well, go on now, scamp. Smallest pile'a stuff's over thataway." The man in the eyepatch pointed far off into the distance. "Got a truck set up for ya ta toss the crap into, can't miss it. I'll come get ya before it gets too dark. Scream if ya need anything."

"... 'kay."

"Well, on your way, shoo-shoo." Majima smiled toothily and waved a single gloved hand, as Izuku trudged off in the direction that he was shooed away towards.

As the young boy disappeared into the distance to do as he was told, Majima let his hand and smile drop. Nishida and some of the other boys could watch him till it was time to go.

If he was gonna train that boy to be greater than the Number One Hero, he would need to get his shit together and start putting in a bit of work. He'd been slacking lately. Everybody was too afraid of getting bit to fight a Mad Dog, so that took a lot of his edge off.

He couldn't find the old man and ol' Kiryu-chan was too busy being a saint or whatever he was doing, so his options for strong opponents were limited after he left Kamurocho.

But if it was for Izu-chan, he'd train his ass off as much he could before he hit a wall.

He'd punch, kick, chop, and slash 'till he could teach it all to the boy that wanted to be a hero.

He could probably also look into some batting cages, he always did like hitting things with bats. Maybe Izu-chan too.

Looking around quickly to make sure he wasn't being watched, he dropped to his hands and started doing push-ups. Start with the basics, work your way up. That worked for him.

And so began years of hellish training for one Izuku Midoriya, age four.

Hero Training: Day 7

Izuku laid, out of breath, on a recently cleared patch of sand.

The only cleared patch of sand, aside from the pathways he had made for him.

He had managed to take a few things off of the smallest trash pile, dumping them in the back of the truck just like his uncle had told him to. The newest addition being a somewhat heavy mini-fridge.

He now wanted to go with Goro-Jiji whenever he found whoever threw some of the bigger trash away on the beach. He would smile at whatever they had coming to them.

That aside, Izuku was curious.

He was sure that he was alone on that part of the beach he was cleaning. No one would answer whenever he would call out, after all. And everyone knows that when someone asks, 'Is anybody there?' you have to answer. It's the rule.

But for some reason, whenever he was too tired to move anything, he would find these weird drinks. He knew that he shouldn't drink anything that he found in the piles (he was four, not stupid), but for some reason, they were always on one of the paths made for him.

And they all had his name written on them! So that meant they were his. Right?

Right! Glad we agree!

But Izuku's question was: Who was leaving these drinks?

They were really sweet and he felt much better after drinking one, especially the ones with the yellow wrapper and the birdie on it, but he had no idea who was leaving them for him and he wanted to say thank you.

So he laid a trap. He was gonna lay down in the middle of where all the pathways connected and then when whoever was leaving the drinks for him came by, he would pop up and say 'Thank you!'.

Foolproof. Perfect Plan.

And so, there he was. Lying in wait and listening out for footsteps.

Listening…

And waiting.

Listening…

And waiting.

Liiistening…

And wai-

Wait, there it was. The sound of footsteps!

He kept still. Letting them get closer and closer, until…

NOW!

"THANK YOU!"

He jumped up with a huge toothy smile, eyes shut, and waited for the other person's response.

"Um… Kid?"

Huh?

The boy opened his eyes, looking straight forward to see a sea of red surrounded by grey. Looking up, he saw a man's face.

Cool features, he looked a little younger than his uncle but definitely older than his dad. His eyes, slightly widened in bewilderment still held a sort of authority and strength in them like… a dragon.

Izuku would love to say that he was cool and didn't freak after taking in the sight of this huge man, but things don't always work out the way that people want them to.

And if anyone were to ask if he almost peed when he tearfully cried out, "Jiji!"

He would violently deny it.