Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. All characters and locations are owned by Kohei Horikoshi.


Desperation claws at Izuku as he makes his way through the rubble. He'd taken so long to get here already, he can't let this take any longer than it needs to, he needs tofind him.

Stumbling to the top of a pile of rubble, he looks over the flaming piles of fallen cement and brick around him, before crying out, "All Might!"

There's no response from his mentor. The desperation in his gut claws at his throat as he fights to keep his breathing steady.

He stumbles down off the rubble, feet moving without him having to command them, leading him through the rubble as he cries out again.

"All Might! "

There's a cough from his right, and Izuku jerks around, rushing towards the sound as relief fills his body. "All Mi-"

His voice cuts off in his throat.

All Might's skeletal true form is pinned beneath a pile of rubble, blood dripping from his mouth.

Blue eyes look up to meet Izuku's, missing their usual shine.

"Young Midoriya," All Might says, his voice weaker than Izuku has ever heard it- weaker than he ever wanted to hear it.

"No," Izuku whispers, before rushing forward, dropping to his knees as he starts pushing rubble off of the hero. "No, no, nonono nononono -"

All Might starts to speak, but his voice cuts off with a cough. Izuku freezes with the piece of rubble he had been moving still in his hands, waiting for the hero to stop coughing, trying to figure out what to do.

"Young Midoriya," All Might repeats, "stop. You need to run."

"I'm not leaving!" Izuku says, tossing the piece of rubble in his hands to the side as he moves back in front of All Might, kneeling in front of the hero and bending down further to get closer. He tries to ignore the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "I just- I just need to get this rubble off of you, and then you can get up, and, and then you can win and save everyone like you always do-"

" Izuku. "

He freezes at the use of his given name, and the tears he was trying to hold back start falling, though he pushes the sob threatening to break from his throat deep, deep down. Not here. Not now.

"Izuku, I'm not making it out of this. You are."

All Might's hand reaches up to his head, pulling a single strand of hair from one of the front pieces.

"I meant to be there- I meant to train you with One For All beyond the preparation. I'm sorry. You'll have to figure it out on your own. Find Gran Torino- he'll be able to help you."

A shaky, skeletal hand holds out a golden strand of hair to Izuku. Izuku's equally shaky hands take it.

"Eat this," All Might says, and there's no time to think about how strange of an order that is, not when there's rubble all around them and he will be back any second now.

There's only time for Izuku to open his mouth and swallow the hair without any second thoughts.

A burst of wind sends a nearby building toppling to the ground, and Izuku ducks to the ground, covering his head as the rubble is sent flying. As soon as it settles, he just barely raises his head over the nearest pile, looking to where the building had been moments ago.

"Are you really going to continue to hide, All Might?" All For One speaks, and a new wave of fear rushes through Izuku's body.

He turns back to All Might, voice barely a whisper as he speaks again. "All Might, we have to-!"

"No," All Might says before Izuku can finish. "You have to run."

The embers of One For All burn within the Symbol of Peace's body one last time, as he pushes himself back to his muscular form and shoves the rubble off of his body, not yet standing. "It's fine."

"No." There's a gentle hand wiping tears from under Izuku's eyes.

"Do you know why, Young Izuku?"

"No."

"Because I am here."

It's a final promise, a final goodbye, and Izuku is so scared as he realizes that he's watching All Might's last moments.

"Now, Young Izuku, please. Run. "

A choked sob just barely makes it out of Izuku's throat as he stumbles to his feet and runs.

He can hear All For One behind him, but it doesn't matter what he's saying. All Might is there, and he'll-

He'll sacrifice himself to save the day.

And the fear triples within Izuku's chest as his feet start moving faster, his heartbeat drowning out the fight behind him, the losing battle from his hero, the helicopter blades that are just arriving, and oh, God, please-

All Might is supposed to be invincible, and his death is being broadcasted to the world.

And, once Izuku's out of this mess and home, he'll have to watch the chaos from his death unfold firsthand.

Or sooner. The second he tries to get to the train station, he's blocked by a crowd of people all looking up at a billboard TV screen, watching the end of the battle unfold, and Izuku wants to scream. Why are they still broadcasting? Do they not realize that All Might is diying?!

He can't tear his eyes away from the screen. Not with how All Might is struggling to stand, still bleeding from being crushed under that rubble where Izuku had found him, where Izuku had gotten One For All two months early.

Part of him feels his body protesting at the Quirk suddenly making itself at home within him. The other part of him is glad that he was ahead of schedule for his training. All Might's warning about his limbs exploding off of his body still haunts him.

As he's sure the images on the TV are going to for years.q

The fight is mostly one-sided at this point. All For One is attacking, All Might is defending with all he has, and Izuku is watching, terrified. Even with his skeletal form revealed to the world, the people around him are cheering, because he's still All Might, he's still the Symbol of Peace, and so he has to win.

Izuku is the only one who knows.

Izuku is the only one who knows how wrong they are about that.

Izuku is the only one who knows they're watching All Might's death.

He's the only one who sees that final hit coming, where All Might is finally tossed from where he had been keeping his footing, thrown into one of the near-collapsed buildings behind him.

He's the only one who knows he's not getting back up.

And yet-

And yet as the crowd realizes that, as they go silent, the December wind bites harder through Izuku's clothes.

Izuku finally realizes that this is the end for life as he knows it alongside the rest of Japan.

And the tears return in full force alongside the crowd.


Mom (5:07 PM):Izuku where are you?

Missed call from Mom, 5:07 PM

Mom (5:08 PM): Izuku? Are you safe?

Missed call from Mom, 5:08 PM

Missed call from Mom, 5:09 PM

Mom (5:09 PM): Izuku please pick up

Missed call from Mom, 5:09 PM

Missed call from Mom, 5:10 PM

Missed call from Mom, 5:11 PM

Mom (5:11 PM):Izuku Midoriya this isn't funny, please, call me

Me (6:23 PM): I'm sorry. I'm safe. I'm on my way home. The train station got held up.

Me (6:23 PM): I need to talk to you when I get home

Me (6:24 PM): It's about All Might

Izuku stares down at the last message, reading and rereading it as his finger hovers over the send button.

She'll probably assume it's about All Might. Of course it would be about All Might. His death was just broadcasted to the nation.

She just...

She just doesn't know what that means for Izuku, specifically.

He sighs, deleting the message and shoving his phone into his pocket, curling into himself as he stands on a familiar street.

In front of him is a passageway that marks the beginning of his life changing.

From bad, to worse, to good, to horrible.

How can things change so quickly?

One For All has settled in his veins by now, the power bubbling underneath his skin, a frantic, desperate fight to get out. Izuku wonders if this is what it feels like for most people, for everyone else with a Quirk. He wonders if this is what it feels like for All Might.

Felt. Felt like for All Might.

Izuku stops staring at the path under the bridge, and walks through it. He stops to stare at the sewer grate a little longer than he should, before he convinces his feet to move again.

He's been down this way multiple times since that day. Since everything changed. But this feeling- this feeling is not a good one. Usually, it's at leastpositive.

Right now, all Izuku feels is bad as he walks through the passageway.

He starts to question as he walks through. If he hadn't been caught by that slime villain, would he be as affected by All Might's death? Sure, it still would've been horrible , but it's so much more personal now that Izuku knows him. Now that Izuku has his Quirk flowing through his body, buzzing underneath his skin. No matter how personal it might have felt if he hadn't met All Might, he knows- he knows it's worse now.

All Might is dead, and Izuku saw him, talked to him, moments before he died.

It's…

Tears threaten to fall from his eyes, and he wipes them away half-heartedly. He's spent too long crying today. He needs to go home.

He keeps walking, the moonlight shining clear on his face again as he exits the tunnel. His eyes stay on the ground as he walks.

A few moments pass before he notices a shadow on the ground beside him.

The shadow of a person.

He jerks around on instinct, hands moving to his side clenched into fists in some sad excuse for a defensive position.

But there's no one there. There's only trees rustling a bit as the wind blows, biting at Izuku again through his clothes.

He looks around, slowly, carefully, checking anywhere he thinks could serve as a hiding spot, but…

Nothing. There's nothing. There's no one there.

Izuku takes a deep breath. "You're fine," he mumbles to himself as he turns, heading back home. "It's just the wind. The adrenaline's still wearing off, and you're panicking, and you're seeing things. It's- it's fine. No one's there."

But he can't shake off the feeling that someone's watching him. It follows him the entire way home, only fading as he finally, finally opens the door to his and his mom's apartment after the longest day of his young life.

" Izuku! " his mother cries, immediately rushing him and trapping him in a hug before the door's even fully shut behind him. There's tears rushing down her face, as is normal for the Midoriya family. "Thank God you're alright, you had me so worried! "

Tears start dripping down Midoriya's face, too, as he wraps his arm around his mother in turn. "I'm sorry," he says, voice quiet. "I'm- I'm okay. I'm safe, I promise."

It takes a few moments of both of them crying into each other's shoulders, Inko more intensely than Izuku, but eventually, they break away from the hug.

"I got things ready to make katsudon," Inko says, smiling up at her son with still-watery eyes. "Do you want to talk over dinner?"

His lack of appetite is betrayed by his stomach grumbling, and he lets out a quiet, half-broken laugh. "I think that's your answer."

"I'll get it started."

And with one final light hug, she leaves him in the doorway, heading off to make their dinner.

Izuku finally gets to shuffle off his shoes, pointedly ignoring the dust still left on them as he sets them to the side, taking off his jacket moments later.

He stares down at his shirt for a moment. His grey one, a darker text reading Plus Ultra.

U.A.'s motto.

All Might's alma mater.

Izuku's dream school.

He fights back another wave of tears, brushing off the front of the shirt before finally truly walking into the apartment.

He moves to go to his room, but is immediately stopped by the sign on the door. An All Might themed one, personalized with his name. As is the rest of his room. He's not sure he's stable enough to face that yet.

Instead, he moves to the living room, considering turning on the TV only to realize that all the hero news channels he usually watches are probably filled with news on All Might's death.

After a failed attempt to look through some hero forums to distract himself, being greeted by more people terrified and upset and grieving over All Might's death, he finally settles on a game he'd downloaded months ago and stopped playing shortly after. It's just a puzzle game, with no mentions of heroes or All Might to be found, and for once, Izuku is grateful for it.

He can't… he doesn't want to think about All Might. At least for a few minutes. He can think about All Might when he talks to his mom over dinner.

One For All buzzes underneath his skin.

All Might's Quirk buzzes underneath his skin.

He keeps tapping on his phone screen and forces himself to ignore it.

Still, the buzzing stays, and even forcing himself to ignore it doesn't make it go away. Eventually, it's too hard to focus on the puzzle game, his mind shifting back to earlier.

"Find Gran Torino- he'll be able to help you. "

Pushing the tears that threaten to fall from the corners of his eyes back, he taps out of the game and switches to Google, typing in "Gran Torino" and waiting for it to load.

Only for it to come up empty.

Izuku had assumed Gran Torino was a hero, either one of All Might's friends within the modern age of heroes or an older one. But there's nothing.

Pressing his eyebrows together, he closes Google and switches over to a hero forum he frequented. He ignores all the popular posts right now. All Might lost and All For One? and What happens now that we've lost our Symbol? and starts looking through the section dedicated to older heroes. When that fails him, he switches to lesser-known daylight heroes, and then underground heroes, and then older underground heroes, and then heroes specifically known to be close with All Might at some point, and-

Nothing. He comes up empty.

Even still, he switches to another forum, and another, and another , until finally, finally, he finds a mention of Gran Torino.

A single mention. And all it tells him is that he was a hero back before All Might debuted, and that he has some kind of air-propulsion Quirk. There isn't even a picture.

There isn't time to try to find anything else, because Inko tells him that dinner is ready as she sets their bowls down on the table, and his phone is off and put back in his pocket in seconds.

He has to talk to her. He needs someone- anyone - to know what's going on. He doesn't know if All Might told anyone about him, but he doubts it. If he had, that hero would probably have at least tried to get in contact with him by now. And All Might would've told him that someone would find him. He wouldn't have sent him on a wild goose chase to track down an old hero who is practically unknown.

So, no. No other hero is coming to Izuku's aid. Not this time.

But he can at least try to track down Gran Torino, like All Might asked. And until then, he can have his first hero- he can have his mom here to help him.

He can tell Inko hasn't forgotten about his request to talk over dinner. It's in the way she sits, hand gripping her chopsticks but not yet eating, poking at her food every few seconds. It's in the way she keeps glancing up at Izuku, waiting for him to say something, before looking back down at her plate.

Izuku takes a moment to take a few bites- he isn't sure when he last ate, and he's been running on adrenaline for so long today that his body is demanding food, demanding energy, before setting his chopsticks down and looking up at Inko. His hands find a place in his lap, fidgeting as he clenches them into fists before relaxing them, over and over. Part of him wishes he had his hand grip to fidget with, but that's in his room, and he… he still isn't ready to face that room. Not yet.

Inko meets his eyes, setting her chopsticks down in turn. "Izuku, honey?" she asks, her voice gentle. "There was something you wanted to talk to me about?"

His breath hitches as he goes to start, catching in his throat before the words can even start to form. Before tears can well up, he lets the half-breath out, pressing his mouth into a tight o as he does, before trying again. The second inhale is a full one, and he wonders when he last really, truly took a deep breath like that. Definitely before everything that happened today. Definitely before the fight started.

"...I don't know where to start," Izuku says, his voice quiet. It sounds like when he'd first tried explaining to his mom why Kacchan didn't come over anymore. Quiet, and weak, and scared. He really doesn't know where to start. How does he tell his mother that his idol has been training him for eight months? How does he tell her it was all to receive his Quirk? How does he tell her that he gave it to him today, two months early, less than an hour before he died?

It's so much. He doesn't know where to start.

"Anywhere, Izuku." Her hand reaches across the table, a silent offering, and Izuku reaches out and takes it, a grounding presence, something touching him instead of just buzzing underneath his skin.

He takes another deep breath, fights back tears, and finds a place to start.

"Do you remember the slime villain?"

Inko is silent for a moment, but nods. "I do."

"...That wasn't… Kacchan wasn't the first person he attacked."

And he starts. He tells her everything he can, about him being attacked, about All Might saving him, the rooftop, Kacchan being attacked, Izuku rushing in to help, All Might telling him you can be a hero , All Might telling him about One For All, the training, and finally, the rushed, too-soon transfer. Through it all, Inko stays silent, listening with teary eyes as he forces himself through every part of it.

"Oh, baby," she whispers when he reaches the end, "I'm so sorry."

And... and it's all he needs to be sent careening over the edge, the seams that were already barely holding him together finally ripping. The sob that tears itself from his throat is barely human, more of a screeching whine than anything, as tears drip down his face faster than he can control. Inko pulls her hand away for only a moment before she's by his side, hugging him like she did when he was little, arms around his shoulders, face pulled to rest on her chest as sob after sob wracks his already-exhausted body.

"It's okay," she repeats, throughout it all, "it's okay, baby, it's all gonna be okay."

Is it? he thinks, but he can't bring himself to say it.

Her hand rubs gentle circles on his back, patient beyond what he deserves, beyond what he ever deserved, and he's reminded all at once of how glad he is that this is his mother. His mother who floats over a box of tissues from the shelf in the other room to set on the table beside them. His mother who pushes his bowl of katsudon to the side, regardless of the fact that it's probably cold by now, with how long of a story Izuku had to tell added onto the time he'd spent sobbing. His mother whose hands are so gentle when they're placed on his cheeks once the sobs slow, gently pushing him back and wiping the tears with her thumbs first, then with a tissue, all while giving him a gentle, watery-eyed smile. His mother who helps him stand, shaky on his legs, and moves to bring him to his room before pausing and turning, leading him to the couch and telling him she'll be right back.

(He guesses she saw the same thing he did earlier. The All Might-themed sign on the door. He's glad she did. He's glad she didn't lead him in there. He isn't sure if he'd be able to take it.)

She comes back a minute later with his pillow, thankfully a plain blue (though he can't help but be reminded of the fact that it's the same blue as the blue All Might's costumes) and a simple white blanket.

"Are you alright sleeping out here tonight?" she asks, voice gentle as she sets the pillow down on the end of the couch. "I wasn't sure if you'd want to be in your room tonight, but… you're always welcome in mine, you know. I know you aren't a little kid anymore, but…"

Part of Izuku wants to grab on to that offer and take it. He wants to curl up in his mom's arms and sleep, like he did after waking up from a nightmare when he was a little kid. It's similar. Today is like one big nightmare.

But he doesn't. "No, I'll sleep out here. It's okay."

Inko looks like she wants to argue, wants to insist that he doesn't stay out here alone tonight, but instead, she just sits down next to him, draping the blanket over his shoulders as she does. They sit in silence for a moment, Inko smoothing the blanket over his shoulders, before she finally speaks.

"You know, Izuku… I'm sorry."

He blinks, trying to figure out what she's apologizing for this time. She has the same bad habit of apologizing for everything that Izuku does. Even when it isn't her fault.

"I should've… I should've noticed something was going on with you. And believe me, baby, I'm so, so proud of you, but today, seeing all of that on the news… I think… You can be a hero, Izuku. I'm sorry I never told you that before. I think you could've made it without getting a Quirk- what's it called again?"

Izuku is quiet, eyes wide as he answers, quietly, "One For All."

"I think you could've been a great hero even without One For All. You just… needed the right support, and I never gave you that, and I'm sorry. I… tell me what you need, from now on, okay? I know Quirk training is expensive, but I'm sure I can figure something out-"

Izuku shakes his head, frantically. "No, no, I don't... It's okay, you don't need to-"

"Zuku, let me finish. It's not that I think you can't figure it out on your own." She chuckles lightly. "You've always been so smart, and so good at understanding Quirks. But seeing all of that on the news today… you being a hero, it's scary. I'll support you- if you're sure, I'll support you- but I want to help you as much as I can. I want you to get all the help you need to be strong, okay? Even before you apply to UA."

Izuku doesn't want to cry again. He's cried enough for one day. So he fights back the tears threatening to form at the corner of his eyes and wraps his arms around his mom, voice quiet as he says, "Thank you."

She wraps her arms around him in turn. "Of course, Izuku. Anything for you."

They sit in the embrace for a few moments silently, before Izuku pulls away.

"Do you want to watch a movie or anything, Izuku?" Inko asks, hands still resting gently against his arms. The buzzing is still there, underneath his skin, but calmer. It's calmer, now. "If you just want to go to bed, I understand. It's been a long day for you."

Izuku is tired- more tired than he's ever been, even with the eight months of training he's gone through- but he isn't sure if he's ready to be alone quite yet.

"Can we watch a movie?" he asks, and Inko smiles, nodding.

After asking if he wants anything specific and getting a no in response, she picks something out- some old hero movie, from before All Might, and Izuku is relieved because he knows there's a lot of All Might movies on the shelf.

She puts it on, and Izuku can't focus on it, but he sits there and watches anyways, Inko sitting next to him and not-so-subtly glancing over every few seconds, sadness clear in her eyes. She's never been good at hiding it, nor has Izuku. It must be a family trait.

Slowly, the buzzing underneath his skin calms almost fully. It's still there, and he's not sure if it will ever go away. He doesn't know what having a Quirk feels like, especially not One For All. But it calms, and the buzzing that's been bothering him all night becomes comforting.

He isn't sure when he falls asleep.

He wakes up in the darkness of the living room to find himself laying down on the couch, carefully positioned with his head on his pillow and the blanket pulled over him in a way he'd never do naturally. He blinks, fighting with his eyes to get them to adjust to the darkness as he realizes that Inko must have moved him after he fell asleep. He squints over at the clock underneath the TV- 1:08 AM.

He blinks at it a few times, trying to figure out why he's awake, before he hears something.

"Damn it, old man, get out of the way-! "

He knows that voice.

The sliding door leading to the balcony is behind him, and he tries to turn over so he can peer over the arm of the couch to see through it without having to sit up and reveal himself.

Key word, tries . Instead, he topples off the couch, hissing as he hits his shoulder as he lands. Luckily, the fall didn't seem to be too loud, seeing as he doesn't hear Inko wake up, and the people outside keep talking.

Ignoring the pain of his shoulder, he shuffles over to the end of the couch opposite the balcony, peering over the edge of it outside.

He doesn't… see anything.

At first. Then, he hears the unmistakable sound of an explosion- a quiet one, somehow, but an explosion nonetheless, and he ducks under the edge of the couch, pressing his back against the end as he pulls his head down to try and ensure that he can't be seen.

There's someone else on the metal railings of the balcony, based on the clinking sounds Izuku can hear.

" Do I need to fucking carry you, or can you get up by yourself? "

" I'm fine, thank you, Young Bakugou. "

He knows those voices.

One problem, though. Two, actually.

One, other than when they met after the slime villain, All Might doesn't know Kacchan.

Two, All Might is dead.

He's dreaming. He has to be. This is some horrible nightmare that he'll wake up from screaming any second now.

Worried that even within the dream, he'll scream, he puts his hand over his mouth, trying to keep his breathing steady.

Even as he hears Kacchan 'no, not Kacchan, this dream-person' rustling through the fake plant they keep outside, pulling out the spare key they keep out there just in case someone gets locked on the balcony.

Even as he hears the key be inserted into the lock, a click confirming that it's been unlocked.

Even as the door opens, and two pairs of footsteps walk in.

This is a horrible nightmare, and Izuku is going to wake up soon. Any minute now. Any second now.

He curls into himself further as the footsteps get closer, walking around the back of the couch, and he considers moving around to the front of the couch before deciding that he'd be too exposed there. Is there enough time to dash for his room? No, he'd probably freeze at the door when he sees the All Might sign. His mom's? Maybe. No, they're too close. The bathroom? Still no, too close.

They're almost at the end of the couch, and Izuku's legs are pulled in as tight as he can, trying to maximize the time he has before they can see him, even if it's just his feet, even if it's just a dream, he can't , All Might is dead and Kacchan would never sneak into his house like this and-

He didn't notice that the footsteps had stopped.

"Midoriya?"

In a moment of absolute terror and instinct and why am I not waking up , Izuku shoots to his feet and shoots out his elbow, nailing the speaker directly in the nose.


Finish. I hope u enjoyed! i had a lot of fun writing this tbh, i have a lot planned and a lot of stuff im excited tuned for the events that will occur later.