Be not Defeated by the Rain
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" His roar echoed across the skies, alerting anyone to his presence draped over junk and waste of his own design. His eyes dimmed as he fell, exhausted from his exertion…
"Young Midoriya…" His eyes reclaimed their sight, coming face to face with the smiling form of his mentor.
"A-All might…" He felt his embrace tighten, the symbol of peace gave him a real smile.
"You did it." The tone of pride was hard to miss, but Izuku was too tired to think. The sun hadn't even risen yet, he had tried harder than what his body should've allowed. All for the purpose of inheriting a power, One For All.
His consciousness ebbed into nothing.
"Eat this!" He stared incredulously, this small blonde little hair was his key to One For All? The elder Inheritor tried shoving it in his face, Izuku completely lost his composure at that.
"A-are you sure that's sanitary?" All Might shoved it into his mouth, eliciting a gagging noise from the green haired teen. He weakly swallowed and turned green, the bombastic laugh of his mentor eliciting a small glare from the much much shorter Izuku.
"See? Not so bad, and now in an hour or two you should have the power of One For All flowing through your veins!" Izuku curled a smile at that, his nervous and throuhougly grossed out expression replaced with one genuinely excited. Tears quickly ran down his face, he couldn't look his mentor in the eyes.
"I can't believe I've been blessed so much…" Even despite his origins, the fact that he was who All Might chose… It made him forget everything, his quirklessness, fatherlessness, torment at the hands of other kids, torment at the hands of himself. When everyone dismissed him, only to praise Bakugou… It left a pit in his heart, but All Might saw him.
This man chose him, and saw something special in him.
He couldn't hold them back.
All Might stopped smiling, his muscle form falling away in a flash and a barrage of steam. His large worn hands came to rest on the boy who couldn't stop crying, for a second or two letting him weep.
"Nothing is free young Midoriya, actions create opportunity, never think it's just mere luck. You worked hard for this, there is a difference between a gift and a reward, after all." Izuku sniffled and wiped his tears, taking a few steps back and smiling.
"Now stop the water works, a hero can't cry if he's trying to save someone can he?" A swift shake of the head.
"No sir!"
All might grinned, his skeletal form buffing up once more. Izuku gasped as his mentor took him into a fireman's carry and crouched low, the One for all inheritor paled.
"Let's get you something to eat, Hero!" Izuku widened his eyes, "Wait All might- '' and with a single leap, the two shot into the air, Izuku yelling all the while.
Sniffing the aroma, Izuku felt his mouth water. Two pancakes, bacon, eggs, all courtesy of his mentor. He said "You need a big breakfast for the exams coming up!" And brought them to an American style restaurant. All might did spend a few years in America after all, Izuku wasn't complaining.
"It smells wonderful All M-" A hand clasped over his mouth, the muffled noises of his chipper voice drawing the attention of the other restaurant attendees.
"Just Toshinori will do, young man." Izuku took a second to register, the large hand leaving his face.
His eyes became dazzled, 'I know All might's name!' The number one hero shook his head, rolling his eyes at the fanboy fanaticism. Izuku had a comical goofy look, his pearly whites out for all to see.
"Just eat your food kid, we only have a few hours before the exams after all." Izuku got serious, jabbing his fork into the circular confection. Toshinori almost choked on his water when he saw Izuku lifting the entire pancake off his plate, oblivious.
"Stop!"
Izuku instantly stopped what he was doing, the syrup from his provision flowing down and sticking to his pants. Toshinori facepalmed as Izuku frantically grabbed for a napkin, with an embarrassed face he tried to wipe off the syrup.
"Kid, have you ever had pancakes before?" Toshinori honestly asked, because clearly he didn't know how to eat them. The greenette was still flushed, but he nodded.
"Once or twice when I was small, Mom tried making them." The gaunt man sighed, handing the boy another napkin. He took out his own utensils, a knife and fork.
"Watch." Izuku did.
Jabbing the fork into the circular confection, his mentor took his knife and cut a few pieces off for him. Izuku flushed for a reason unknown to him, like he would if he was being scolded by his mom.
"... thanks, All-Toshinori." The man chuckled, he was hopeless.
"Didn't your dad teach you how to eat?" Izuku froze at that, before smiling somberly. Toshinori instantly regretted what he said, he'd gotten to know Izuku quite a bit over the last year but most of their time spent together was training. He was the boys mentor after all, they had to make use of every hour.
Izuku's eyes glistened, "N-no, I uh… I never knew my dad, he left after I turned four." That explained it…
That explained a lot actually.
"I'm sorry my boy, It must've been hard for you." The green haired teen shook his head, smiling.
"Thanks to you, I was able to smile all these years anyways… I'm glad I never let go of my hope, otherwise I'd probably still be the useless Deku from before." The blissful smile he had while speaking these self berating words… It didn't sit well with his mentor, not at all.
"Young Midoriya, you were never useless." Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder, his eyes widening. Twin blue orbs blazing with conviction.
"Weak? Yes. A crybaby? Yes. But at that point when every other hero sat by and watched, including me, it was you who acted." The words he needed to hear again, Izuku felt the water works almost start again. But he remained strong.
"A hero is someone who acts in spite of his odds, not because of them. A hero should never act based on his chance for survival, and a hero is no braver than your ordinary man… he's just braver five minutes longer." Izuku's lips trembled, his eyes glistening with moisture.
"And plus, if you REALLY wanted to… You could've become a hero, you just wouldn't be the kind like I am." Izuku sucked up his tears, wiping away his worries and doubts. The two sat in silence at their table for a few minutes, Izuku scarfing down his breakfast in a matter of seconds.
"Since we have the time, I should give you a warning about One For All." Izuku snapped to attention, his mouth filled with eggs. Toshinori snorted but continued.
"One For All as it is, I can't access all of its power with my weakened body. I've indeed gotten weaker in the past six years, but once you get it? You'll likely have to subconsciously limit your power, because your body likely won't be able to handle all of it at once even now. But one day, you'll be even stronger than me at my prime. Back in my heyday I could jump across Japan in a few seconds, of course it was a while before I could properly land but you get the gist." Izuku absorbed all the information like a sponge, wishing he had his notebook with him.
"Wait, wouldn't you create storms of wind everywhere you went?" Izuku questioned, the potential destruction All might could reign on Japan just by moving even now was incredible. He was vibrating with excitement, the idea of one day being stronger than All might was a fever dream at best but… He did have his quirk now right?
"Yes, that's why when I'm moving around the city I usually use 30-40% of my actual strength, and against most criminals I only use 10-20%, hell most can't handle that much. Of course I knew I'd need more for our sludge friend from last year, hehe." Izuku nodded vigorously, the blonde man coughed into his hand at the end of his explanation. The two looked out the window as a car passed by.
"Still really early, it would've been a good movie shot with you up there on that trash pile with the sun rising, hehe good luck beating the girls off of you with that body now!" Izuku smiled, it was so surreal to sit here and joke with All might like this. The man was oddly goofy despite himself, or maybe he was always goofy and his bias wouldn't let him realize that.
Toshinori noticed that he hadn't finished his eggs, "Hey, that's necessary protein young man, don't forget all I've taught you about proper diets." That got him,the gaunt man snorted as the green haired teen quickly scoffed down the last bit of food. He couldn't have asked for a better student, the only time Izuku disobeyed was to go beyond his limits…
Paying, the student and the mentor exited the diner. Toshinori waved to the staff as he exited, he was well known around the many American themed diners in Japan.
Izuku smiled as they walked through the city, Musustafu was his home… No matter how it had treated him, he couldn't imagine being anywhere else. And now that All might had fatefully encountered him, he was glad to have suffered everything. The mentor and student continued on, their destination so close. Izuku knew with this power, with this spark and quirk, he could do anything with All might supporting him. He would go to UA, train hard, and then…
He could call himself a hero.
"You might be wondering, what makes this story so unique? Well, this is a story about loss, redemption, hatred, but most importantly, a story of how I became the greatest hero. But before I could become a hero…"
"I became a murderer."
