Izuku Midoriya's reality was breaking.

He'd seen and heard a lot of strange things in his fourteen years of life, but even then, in a world of superpowers with loose but clearly established rules, what he was hearing from the strange skeletal man in front of him just shat completely on his worldview.

"One person cultivates the power and passes it on to another person, who also cultivates it and passes it on. It is the crystallization of power that spins together with the voices of those who need help with a courageous heart."

"But… that literally breaks the rule of Quirk Inheritance, Quirk development- shit, Quirk Theory in general. Why would you wanna give somethin' so great to a punk like me?"

"... I've been searching for a successor. One with the wish to do good and the heart to follow through. After seeing you today, I've decided that you are that person."

The depowered hero put his hand on Izuku's shoulder.

"Izuku Midoriya, you're a strange young man with a foul mouth and a lofty dream, but at that moment that you ran in to save your friend, you were more heroic than anyone on that scene. You are a hero worthy of this power!"

"..."

All Might removed his hand and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, if that's what you want, of course."

"All Might…"

The number one hero's words ran through his mind over and over.

"I… I would be glad to inherit your power."

"Really, that's great! Let's-"

"But you'd be better off finding another successor."

"Huh?"

"All Might, I want you to look around right now. What do you see?"

"A beach."

The boy smiled.

"Yeah, a beach. Now tell me, do you remember what used to be here?"

"...A beach, no?"

"Well yes, but also no. A little over a decade or so ago, people decided to start throwing trash and scrap and a right mix of other assorted shit into the water, and because of the currents, it all washed up on this part of the coast. This place was more like a junkyard on top of sand than it was a beach."

He chuckled a bit.

"A veritable Junkbeach."

All Might didn't seem to get the joke, so Izuku cleared his throat and continued.

"Anyway, about nine or ten years ago, a strange man with an eyepatch brought a confused four-year-old here and ranted and raved about how it's a man's 'civic duty' to separate his trash, and when a man's slackin' in those duties, it's up to a hero either punish him or pick up the slack for him. He then subjected that four years old to about a decade of hellish training, where he'd pick up varying sizes of trash, be chased around by the eyepatched man as he'd scream relentlessly, and be forced to learn how to dance, both on and off roller skates."

"Alright, now dance!"

"... I'm sorry?"

"I said… DANCE!"

"It wasn't all bad, of course. As time went on, the beach started clearing up bit-by-bit. Eventually, that kid ended up meeting some friends. The first being an old dragon."

"Um… kid?"

"JIJI!"

"The kid screamed when they first met, but they ended up becoming friends, practically family."

"Thank you, Uncle Kaz. Thank you."

"A couple years later, the kid found a very strange man digging through one of the trash heaps."

"Um… Mister? What are you doing?"

CRASH!

"Oh my god! Are you okay!?"

"Why I'm just fine, young men. Now would you three oddly in-sync triplets mind going and grabbing my daughter? She should be deeper into one of the further heaps."

CRASH!

"There she is."

"He had his daughter with him and she was just as strange as him. She and the kid became good friends."

"Well, if you wanna be a hero, you're gonna need some support items. Don't worry, my babies can help with that!"

"Babies?"

"Fast forward about seven years and the kid finds some of the people who were throwing trash into the water, trash that ended up washing up here. He politely asked them to stop."

"I better not catch you doing this again, or you'll get more than broken noses."

"Yes, sir! Please just stop!"

"And if I find more garbage washed up on that damn beach… IT'S YOUR ASS!"

"AIEEEE!"

"After that, clean-up here on this beach sped up exponentially. Likely because those same people began to watch out for other people attempting to litter and stopped them whenever they could."

The young man smiled fondly.

"And about a year ago, that same kid decided to come back after finishing up the clean-up and he saw a beautiful sight."

The boy's smile widened.

"Families splashing in the water, a couple sharing an ice cone, little 'heroes' with beach towels for capes picking up the occasion can or wrapper. It was strange. For over a decade, it was a deserted trashy wasteland where you couldn't even see the sea past the heaps of garbage. But then, at that moment, the place was finally what the sign called it. The Takoba Municipal Beach Park."

"Young Midoriya… are you trying to tell me…?'

"That the kid who restored this place is standing right in front of you? Heh, guess I am."

The smug mirth in the boy's tone was so subtle, it looped right back around to being in your face.

"And that's why, All Might, I think you'd be better off finding a different successor."

"..." The boy's tone grew serious and so too had All Might's expression as he listened intently.

"I've got eleven months until the U.A. Entrance Exam. I'm quirkless and I can't do half the things you can, but the Entrance Exam is where I plan to show the pro heroes just what kind of hero Izuku Midoriya is. And when I ace it, I plan to show the world the same thing. Like I said, I'm honored that you would consider me of all people to be your successor, but I can't lie and tell you that I'm not curious to see just how far I can take this."

Izuku clenched his fist.

"With all these people at my back, supporting me, I wanna support them too. Keep my head held high, and show them that I can make it all the way to the finish line. I've been entrusted with all the hopes of everyone who cares about me, and I don't wanna break that trust. This is the path that I'm walking, and I won't change that."

Izuku looked All Might in the eye.

"That said, All Might, I'm not the best choice of a successor, I know that for a fact. But if you somehow can't find a candidate better than me by next year, I'll gladly take on the torch and tell the world that I am here."

A beat of silence.

And then another.

And another, as All Might looked back at the boy who had rejected his offer.

The silence went on for so long Izuku was slightly worried that he'd offended the man.

And then...

"Ha…"

Huh?

"Hahaha!"

"A-All Might?"

"Hahahahahahahahaha!"

The pro hero burst out laughing.

Huge guffaws echoed across the empty beach, all coming from the hunched over blonde, while a baffled Izuku watched on.

Am I missing something?

The laughing went on for a while longer, while Izuku's confusion only continued to grow.

"Um… All Might?"

"I-I'm sorry, Young Midoriya, you just… said something so hilarious at the end there."

"Something… funny?"

Confused still, the greenette watched the laughing man compose himself and stand back up again, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Whew! That was a good laugh. Oh, my stomach would hurt if I still had one."

"Yeah… that's nice, glad I could say something... funny? What was that, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Young Midoriya. After all you've said and done, did you really think that I'd decide you weren't worthy?"

"Um, yeah…?"

THUNK!

"Ow! Why'd you hit me?"

"You hit idiots. It's how they learn. It's what my predecessor taught me and what I'm teaching my successor."

"Whoever said that just wanted to hit people!" Then the tail end of what the skeletal man said to him registered. "Successor?"

"That's right. Successor. It's what you are now."

"But-"

"No buts, I'm set on it."

"I gave you a year to pick someone else."

"I don't want anyone else, I want you."

"That sounds awful out of context."

"Good thing we have context, then."

"You're really set on this?"

"Absolutely. I won't force this power on you, especially since there are things that you want to do on your own, but there's no one else that I want to give this to."

The freckled teen sighed, "Fine, All Might, but you can still back out if you find someone better."

The bony man grinned again, "Fat chance, young man, fat chance. Oh, and it's Yagi."

"Huh?"

"My name when I'm this form. It's Toshinori Yagi. Since we're gonna be spending a lot of time together for the next year or so, it's best that you remember it."

Toshinori Yagi… Okay, I've got it.

Izuku closed his eyes and gave his new mentor a big, toothy smile.

"Alright... Yagi-sensei."

A short chapter to help transition into the next phase before I take a short, maybe week-long break.

I hope you enjoyed. If you did, tell me why in a review. If you didn't, tell me why in a review.

See you all next chapter.