I do not own My Hero Academia or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry this took so goddamn fucking long. I'm sorry for how it turned out. Just in general, I'm sorry. In addition to Real Life shit getting in the way, this chapter fought with me. Seriously, this was the hardest thing I ever wrote, that I actually finished. Even after I had finished it, this chapter just kind of sat there for a time because I wasn't happy with it. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but I know if I don't just finish proofreading it and publish it, it'll just sit on my computer for the rest of time.

But, the hiatus is over now (Hopefully). With any luck, I'm going to get back to updating at a more reasonable pace.

A moment passed. Another one passed, then another and another. Neither Toshinori or Midoriya said anything to each other. The green haired boy simply stared at All Might with eyes the size of dinner plates. He wasn't even moving, seemingly frozen in place. Toshinori had expected him to be shocked, but this was a bit much.

'Oh crap, I think he's blue screening." The blonde thought to himself. Looking closely, he could only barely see that young Midoriya was in fact still breathing. Quickly, Toshinori stopped using One For All and shrunk back down to his shriveled form, hoping that the boy might calm down a bit if he did that (And also because he couldn't stay as All Might for much longer).

Midoriya did move slightly, but it was only to lower his head and raise both of his hands to his temples. A quiet noise filled the room, it sounded kind of like the buzz of some sort of insect. Eventually, Toshinori realised that it was the green haired boy muttering exceptionally quickly to himself under his breath. Even when he tried to strain his ears, he couldn't pick up a thing that the boy was saying.

"Um, young Midoriya? Are you okay?" Toshinori spoke at last.

"Huh?!" Midoriya's head shot up, startled out of his stupor, "Oh, s-sorry. I-it's j-just... this.. explains... so... many... things..." He said slowly, looking back down at his lap. He spoke as if he had just had a great epiphany, which it sounded like he did.

"Um, what do you mean?" Toshinori asked, confused by what the boy was talking about.

"I- I just... for over a year now I've noticed a bunch of similarities between you and All Might! Like how you always seemed to be nearby whenever All Might showed up! The very first time we met was near a villain attack that All Might stopped, and you were all beat up too! Not to mention other stuff. Remember when villains, the War Pigs, attacked the train? I noticed that you and All Might were both wearing the same clothing, but I just dismissed it as nothing! Because, I-I mean, it's not like they were very distinct clothing! But then after All Might fought that one villain with the friction quirk, and he got punched in that one place in the chest over and over, I thought the way he, or, I mean, I guess you, sprayed blood from his mouth kind of reminded me of you! And then shortly after, you were hurt in the exact same spot, and you lied about it, which I could tell because you're a really bad liar, and I thought it was weird, because why would you lie about that!? But I didn't press it, because it I didn't think it was important! Also, you reminded of All Might in other ways, like sometimes when you smile it looks similar!" Midoriya ranted, almost hysterically. It was too loud to be classified as muttering, but it shared a lot of similarities, mostly in how quickly he was speaking, "But, but I just never, thought anything of it! I mean, what was I suppose to think? That you're All Might? That would just be crazy. I mean, just look at you!" He paused after he said that, his eyes somehow going even wider than they already were, "Oh my gosh, that came out wrong! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you! I just meant that you-"

"-Look like the exact opposite of All Might?" Toshinori offered.

"... I was going to say skinny." Midoriya said quietly, awkwardly glancing off the to the side.

"Same difference." Toshinori said with a slight shrug.

Midoriya responded with a small smile, before leaning back onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling with wide eyes again, "Holy crap... I'm friends with All Might..." He said in a disbelieving tone. Early, when he had been ranting, it hadn't seemed to have quite sunk in that Toshinori and All Might were the same person. Now, it looked like that realisation had finally reached him. The boy sat back up and looked at Toshinori, his eyes brimming with questions, a look that Toshinori immediately recognised, "How did this happen? I mean, why do you look like that? And... why are you telling me?" Midoriya asked. They were all questions Toshinori had been expecting.

The hero gave a tired sigh, and then pulled up part of his shirt to show the wound that All For One had left him, "Five years ago, a villain did this to me." Midoriya recoiled in shock and disgust at the sight of the injury, and he pulled his shirt back down. It only stung a little, he had been expecting a reaction like that after all, "My injuries were... extensive, to say the least. I lost one of my lungs and it was only by a miracle that I didn't lose the other. My stomach was removed too. I was in surgery for a long time, as doctors tried desperately to both save my life and ensure that I wouldn't need to be hooked up to a machine for the rest of said life. Despite everything that was done for me, I was still crippled. As a result, I can barely do hero work anymore. I can barely use my quirk anymore. I can only be All Might for about two hours a day, and that number's been steadily going down. Most of the time, I'm stuck like this." He gestured to himself.

'Stuck being weak, and worthless.'

"F-five years ago?" Midoriya asked, his face scrunched up in concentration, "Do you mean... When you fought Toxic Chainsaw?"

"Ha! That lowlife? No, he could never do something like this." Toshinori scoffed. He already knew that Midoriya was huge hero nerd, but he was still impressed by the boy's knowledge of his hero career. Seriously, this kid could give Nighteye a run for his money when it came to All Might trivia, 'I don't know if I should introduce because they'd probably get along, or make sure they never meet.' He thought to himself, before remembering to get back on topic. He could muse to himself later, right now, he still had a lot of stuff to explain, "No, this fight and the villain who injured me have been kept a secret, not just from the public, but from most Pro Heroes as well."

"Um... why though?" Midoriya interrupted to ask. He quickly looked away and twiddled his fingers, as if he was stepping out of line just by speaking to Toshinori, "I-if they're so dangerous, shouldn't people know about them, especially the other heroes? Keeping everyone in the dark seems like it'd only put them more at risk."

Toshinori smiled slightly at the boy's intelligence, before giving a tired sigh, "First of all, the villain didn't survive the battle. So, he's not a threat anymore." He said grimly. By now, he was convinced of that. Nighteye's search still had yet to turn up anything definitive that would suggest All For One somehow survived. The theory they were both currently operating under was that he somehow found a way to store quirks, "There's another reason too, one that is partially my fault. I'm sure you remember the battle I got into around a year ago against a villain with a friction quirk. The one I almost lost."

Color drained from young Midoriya's face at the mention of that fight. The boy gave a small, shaky nod.

"I'm sure you also remembered the aftermath. Things were... not good to put it lightly. Villain activity spiked, they were emboldened by how close that villain had come to defeating me. As a result, the Commission started leaning heavily on the other heroes to work harder. A huge number of Pros retired as a result, unable to deal with the stress and fatigue of the increased effort. Also, fewer hero students have passed licensing exams or graduated this year, due to the commission making standards stricter." Though, from a very odd point of view, it had actually been kind of a good thing. Some members of the Commission had even referred to it as a 'trial run' of what it might be like when All Might was finally forced to retire, "Could you have imagined what it would have been like if people knew this." Toshinori gestured to the left side of his body, and then to himself in general, "If they knew that the Symbol of Peace was going to be out of commission in the hospital for weeks to months on end after a battle, and then that he could only operate for a few hours each day... Villain activity would have sky rocketed. What's more, people would make attempts on my life during the time in which I couldn't use my quirk. I would need to constantly be guarded by police and other Pro Heroes, thus taking away manpower that could be used to stop villains committing other crimes.

"Really, this whole Symbol of Peace, Pillar of Society thing I have going, it's a double edged sword. I have to always be smiling, undefeated, and undaunted by evil. In order to maintain that illusion, and keep hope alive and let people feel safe, my injury has to be kept a secret." Toshinori said, "But, I can't keep doing this forever. Eventually, either the truth will come out, I'll lose my ability to use my quirk at all and be forced to retire, or I'll die. And when that happens... well, things probably won't completely go back to how they were before I started doing hero work, but it won't be good." Toshinori looked at young Midoriya's face, "Which brings me to your other question. Why I'm telling you this. To be completely honest, I don't have much time left. Which is why..."

He swallowed, and stared directly into the boy's green eyes.

"Midoriya, I want you to take up my mantle." The words rang out like a gavel, "I believe that you are worthy to inherit my power, my quirk."

Young Midoriya stared in shock, his eye somehow went even wider than they already were. At this rate, Toshinori was worried they'd pop out of his head.

"What?" The boy squeaked out.

"My quirk." Toshinori repeated, "You've already talked before about how it doesn't seem like a normal quirk. Well, there's a very good reason for that. It isn't a normal quirk. It was given to me by another hero years ago. And she herself received it from someone else. My quirk has been passed down through generations of heroes, like an Olympic torch. With each holder, the torch's flame grows brighter, its power becomes stronger. The strength of each holder mingles together inside this quirk, creating a crystallized network of power.

"That is the quirk I inherited. One For All." As Toshinori spoke, he held up his hand. Light seemed to shine forth from his palm as he gave his explanation. Suddenly, he closed his hand into a fist, cutting off the light, and stared back at young Midoriya, "And I believe that you are worthy to inherit One For All next."

Young Midoriya opened his mouth, then closed it without making a sound. Then opened it again, and closed it again. Realizing that he wasn't actually speaking, he held up one hand to Toshinori, while the other one grabbed his hair in confusion.

"W-wait. Hold on." He stammered out as he tried desperately to comprehend what was going on, "Your- your quirk was given to you?! Tha- that's nuts! I've never even heard a theory like that before. How does that work? Who gave it to you, and where did they get it? Where did it even come from originally? How many people have had it before?" Midoriya rapid fired questions at Toshinori far to quickly for the blonde to even try to answer any. "And, what do you mean you want me to have it next?! Why would you give it to me!?"

"I just told you. My days as a hero are numbered, and once I'm gone, there needs to be someone to take my place." Toshinori said, "Really, I probably should've found a successor a long time ago." He admitted quietly.

"No, I meant... Why me?!" Midoriya asked, holding both his hands to his chest, "There have to be, like, a million other better candidates!"

"Because, young Midoriya, you act like a hero. In all the time I've known you, that's been made clear time and again." Toshinori answered, "Heck, the very first time we met, you saved my life." He said with a slight chuckle.

"But! That doesn't mean I'm the best choice!" Midoirya said frantically. The boy's eyes were wide and afraid, "I'm just a teenager! I don't have any hero training! I can't even control my own quirk!"

"Mid- Izuku. What's wrong? What happened?" Toshinori asked. Something was wrong. The two of them had been training for months, working to improve Midoriya's control over his quirk. And they had been doing really well, or at least, that's what Toshinori had thought. But Midoriya looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack. The last time that had happened was when he accidentally destroyed the truck.

"I..." Midoriya's voice caught. There were tears pooling in his eyes, "I hurt him." He finally managed to say. With those words, the dam broke, tears and words flowed from, "When I tried to pull Kacchan out of the villain's grasp... I hurt him. I pulled too hard and I broke his arm! And the villain too. I destroyed his eye! I maimed him! Hero's don't do that!" Midoriya yelled, "Every time I try to use my quirk to help people, I just hurt somebody!"

The boy started taking quick, ragged breaths. His breathing was too fast, verging on hyperventilation. This wasn't good. Toshinori knew that Midoriya had been worried about losing control of his quirk and harming someone, and now, that had actually happened. Carefully, Toshinori reached forward and placed a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, and the boy leaned into the touch until Toshinori was practically hugging him.

"Young Midoriya, that's simply not true." He said calmingly, making sure to leave no doubt in voice, "You saved that boy's life, and you caught a dangerous villain before he could kill anyone."

"B-but, I still screwed up." Midoriya said quietly between sobs, "I still hurt Kacchan. W-what if I can't control your quirk either? It's so powerful, I could k-kill people." He moved closer to Toshinori and was now crying into the man's shoulder.

"I... I can't take your quirk." Midoriya said quietly after a minute, "I'm sorry. I'm just not worthy."

Slowly, Toshinori pulled away from the boy, and took a good look at him. Midoriya was still crying. He cried at lot, but it was different this time. Toshinori knew sorrow when he saw it.

'What happened?' He wished to ask, 'What happened to make you so afraid of your quirk?'

He knew better than to ask though. If he tried to dig up past traumas, young Midoriya could react very poorly. He already had panic attack, asking him could trigger another one.

"Midoriya..." Toshinori said, "I don't care if you aren't worthy. That's not important."

"Wh-what?" The boy asked, confusing breaking through his sadness.

"Do you want to know when I first started to seriously consider giving my quirk to you?" Toshinori asked, and young Midoriya looked a little caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic, "It was that day when we were on the train. " He didn't need to specify any more than that, "When you ran out of the train into the tunnel full of villains. What you did was extremely stupid, it could've easily gotten you killed, and nearly did. If a hero student did something like that, they'd probably be expelled from whatever school they were attending. If a Pro Hero did it, they might lose their license." As he spoke, Midoriya hung his head in shame, "Looking at how you handled the situation, you most certainly were not worthy. But that's not what I was focusing on. I was focusing on how you were willing to put yourself in harm's way to help innocent people. On how you acted like hero. Maybe not a Pro Hero, with all the training and regulations that come with the job title, but you had the heart of hero. And that's something that no amount of skill or training can replace.

"It's true that the way you behaved on the train or even earlier today wasn't professional or competent, but I never expected it to be. You're just a teenage boy, not trained hero. Neither of us can expect you to handle things as well as a Pro. So, I can't determine if you're worthy based on things like that." Toshinori said.

"B-but it's still important, isn't it?" Midoriya spoke up quietly, "Even... Even if you think I have the heart of a hero, that doesn't mean anything if I can't actually do the job of one."

Toshinori leaned back and sighed. If young Midroriya truly didn't want to take his quirk, then there was nothing he could do. He wouldn't force it upon the boy. But it didn't sit right with him, it didn't sit right at all. Midoriya was clearly being unfair to himself, but he didn't know how to make him see that. Telling him clearly wasn't working.

God, he really did pick the worse time to ask it seemed.

Wait, maybe that was it. A light bulb went off in Toshinori's head as an idea came to him.

"You're right. I can't give you my quirk right now. Literally, your body would probably explode if you inherited One For All at this exact moment." He said. Midoriya looked at him in confusion again, "But I don't need to give it to you now. You're going to U.A., right?"

After a moment, the green haired boy slowly nodded in response, "Yes, but what does-"

"I have a proposal for you. I think you would be an excellent choice for the next holder of One For All, but it's ultimately your choice. You don't think you're worthy, so I'm willing to wait until you are." Toshinori gave a reassuring smile, "Once you finish your first year at U.A., I'll ask you again. If you still want to say no, then I'll find someone else, I promise. But I truly do believe that you have what it takes to take my place. So, once you've been taught by the best of the best at U.A., we'll see if you're worthy then."

Toshinori held out his hand to young Midoriya, "What do you say?"

He looked at the hero's hand and reached for. Suddenly, he stopped, and drew his hand back. Toshinori's smile wavered slightly, but he made sure to not let it slip. Midoriya stared down at his own hand, deep in thought. Finally, he gripped his hand into fist, and gave Toshinori a determined look.

Midoirya reached out, and shook his hand.

"Yagi-san, no, All Might. If you really believe in me that much. Then I'm willing to try at the very least." He said with a wobbly smile.

Toshinori's smile grew even wider.

I feel the need to explain some things that I really couldn't address in the chapter itself, namely, the fact that Izuku in canon had absolutely zero qualms about accepting One For All compared to this fic. In canon, Izuku was desperate to be a hero, so upon being offered a way to achieve that dream, he immediately accepted. Later on, we did see him having seconds thoughts about whether he's worthy after meeting Nighteye, and by that point Izuku is way more confident in himself. Izuku in my fic has some confidence issues, due to an event that will be explained later.

I'm starting to regret setting up a backstory-twist like this, because now I feel the need to constantly remind you that there's a twist coming and certain information is being withheld. I'm also super worried now that the eventual explanation won't be adequate, or it just winds up being dumb or something. Is it normal to feel this nervous while writing?

Additionally, there's another reason why I had Izuku refuse OFA, albeit an out of universe one. I don't want to give him the quirk right now. I feel that if I did, I'd go through too many of the same plot beats as canon with Izuku learning to control the quirk and everything. And that's just not what I had planned for this story. He's still probably going to get OFA later, but I want him to get by with just his Stand for awhile first.

Also, a lot of people have been asking why Izuku's personality is so similar to how it is in the series proper, since they argue that he should be more confident due to having a quirk/Stand. Again, as I've mentioned before, there is more backstory that hasn't been revealed yet that will hopefully be a satisfactory explanation. But, there is another reason. I just, didn't want to completely change his personality. Too many fics have Izuku basically be in name only with a completely different characterization, and I didn't want to do that. I like Izuku's character. I don't know how good of a job I've done writing Izuku, but that's what I've been trying to do for the most part.