A/N This is my first fanfiction in years, so it's all gonna be a little rough! I hope you enjoy nonetheless, and I'd love any and all constructive criticisms if you have them. Feedback is appreciated, and I'm actively looking for beta readers to give input before updates go live.
"I'd give anything for a shot at being a hero like that," Izuku Midoriya muttered, jotting down notes in his journal. A crash jolted him out of his stupor, and he looked up. Before him, a blue-clad hero with a body appearing to be made out of bark was doing combat with an enormous man the size of a small building. It seemed to Izuku that the hero - Kamui Woods - had finally gained the upper hand, and over the din of the crowd he could hear the hero shouting a catchphrase. From Kamui's hands shot a forest's worth of roots and branches, all interconnected in a sort of cage.
The sound of rushing wind reached Izuku moments before a gale nearly blew his journal away, and seemingly from nowhere, the figure of an enormous woman - dwarfing even the gigantified man - drop-kicked the villain down an unoccupied street. From the crowd below, Izuku gasped in wonder and returned to scribbling notes in his journal. Wow, she's enormous! The boy thought, his pen moving almost faster than his brain could keep up with. I've never seen her before, I'll have to start a new entry in my journal later.
Izuku looked up for a moment, and his eyes were assaulted by the carefully-angled derrière of the hero who'd just usurped Kamui Woods' chance to shine. Izuku blushed embarrassedly and attempted to look elsewhere - which took a surprising amount of effort, given the sheer magnitude of the heroine. He noticed that atop a nearby building, Kamui stood frozen, seemingly in shock and indignation. I guess I'd be pretty surprised too, if an unknown hero came out of nowhere and stole my thunder. Izuku thought, instinctively returning to his notes.
"Today is the day of my debut! My name is Mt. Lady, it's a pleasure to make your ass-quaintance," boomed the delicately-postured giantess. The sound of clicking camera shutters intensified, and the freshly-debuted Mt. Lady began to shrink down to her normal size.
"If you wanna be a hero so badly, there's a quick way to do it. Believe that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life, and take a last chance dive off the roof," Izuku tried to think of a time when Bakugou hadn't been so awful, but came up empty-handed. After the boy had gotten his quirk, his treatment of everyone else began going downhill. Idiot! If I really ended up jumping, that would mean you instigated a suicide. He thought, silently raging with indignation at the statement. I don't even care that you're so awful to me, I just can't fathom why you'd put your future career at risk just to try and hurt me. Think before you speak!
Izuku glanced down at a chunk of floating detritus being nibbled on by koi fish in a pond he was passing. It took him a moment to recognize it as his notebook. "That's not fish food, stupid," He muttered, fishing his journal out of the water dejectedly. Stupid. He bemoaned his inability to give up. Stupid, stupid. Even you know quirklessness is a death sentence to the career you want. He remembered the day his dreams had been shattered. The day he'd been told to give up, because he was never going to manifest a quirk.
Never again, thought Deku, absentmindedly staring at his textbook. Never again will I let anyone or anything get in my way. Whatever it takes, I'm gonna be like All Might.
The boy looked up at the underpass he'd come to, clenching his fist in resolve. Don't worry about what other people think! He thought, only half convinced. He forced himself to smile confidently, and tried for a laugh like All Might's as he plunged forward.
Izuku was about halfway through the passage when he realized he could hear a distinctly unnatural noise coming from a grate behind him over the echoes of his own false laughter. He turned to look behind himself, and froze in bewilderment. A thick, green fluid was forcing its way through the holes in the sewer grate as eyes and a mouth manifested on its distinctly snot-like visage. A villain? His mind stuttered as he processed the shock, finally managing to take a step back and snap out of his frozen state. Crime's practically nonexistent in this part of town, what's a villain doing here?
Izuku turned to run in fear as the enormous, viscous man cleared the grate, but the villain pounced with unexpected speed. He braced himself to hit the ground but instead found himself completely enveloped by the viscous body of his assailant for a moment. Every part of his mind was screaming to run, but Izuku couldn't even figure out which direction was up as he was whipped around by the fluids, completely disorienting him.
Suddenly, he felt his body right again, and he had a moment of relative relief with his head clearing the liquid before his jaw was forced open and his nose and throat cried out in agony. A horrible, acrid taste filled his mouth and he gagged on the fluid forcing itself down his throat, into his lungs and stomach. Izuku's body tried to reject it, and he felt his stomach and throat convulse in vain as he automatically attempted to puke out the invading fluid of his attacker. To some extent, it felt like getting pool water in his sinuses - except about a million times worse and spread throughout his entire being.
"Don't worry, I'm just going to take over your body, calm down. It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds," gurgled the villain, roaring with laughter as the boy began clawing at his mouth with futile panic. "You can't grab me, you know. I'm fluid. Thank you for the help, truly, you're my hero."
Darkness began clouding Izuku's vision as the roar of blood filled his ears, a tidal wave of pain and discomfort screaming at his survival instincts as his mind went blank. Tears began filling his eyes as his strength failed him and they lost all ability to focus. The freezing, oily substance his assailant consisted of crawled up his face, lapping at his cheeks and threatening to begin forcing its way into his tear ducts. Am I dying? Izuku thought. Somebody, please, help me.
Over the din of his own panic and fading consciousness, he was faintly aware of a clattering storm drain and a man speaking. Vaguely, some part of Izuku felt like he was falling, or spinning, or some combination of the two - but he couldn't be sure if that was just his brain shutting down or reality. Then, in a manner as distinctly unpleasant as it had arrived, the fluid violating his throat, stomach, and respiratory system was dragged back out of what felt like every pore on his upper body - sweet oxygen rushed back into his lungs, and as his consciousness faded fully, his eyes focused on a blurry figure at the other side of the underpass.
God, that tastes acrid. Midoriya returned to consciousness and immediately regretted it. His entire body was oily, his lungs hurt like hell, and his left cheek felt like it'd been being slapped in the face with a sheet of sandpaper for the past fifteen minutes.
The sheet of sandpaper slapped him in the face again, prompting him to cough in distress and open his eyes.
"Hey, hey! He- oh?" The man kneeling over him nagged, preparing to lightly pat the boy's face again. He sighed in relief. "Oh, good."
HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT. Izuku's arms carried him instinctively as he backpedaled in surprise, the adrenaline from moments ago rushing back into his body.
"I'm glad you're okay! Sorry about getting you caught up in my villain fighting, I don't usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in this new place," All Might paused, laughing as if that were the funniest thing in the world. "But, you were a big help. Thanks! I captured him safely."
Izuku felt a little dizzy. His lungs weren't back to working properly after their violation, and he was sure he was hyperventilating. Some part of him was ashamed to be aware of the fact that he sounded like a squeaking dog toy being chewed on.
A-All Might's here, the real thing, he looks so different in person. Am I dreaming? Am I dead? Izuku's mind raced to handle the enormous mixture of emotions running through his brain, somewhat failing in its attempts. Finally, he managed something more akin to a complete thought. Oh, right! An autograph! Where should- Izuku was already moving to grab his notebook as his mind caught up.
Flipping the journal open, Izuku shouted in surprise. HE ALREADY SIGNED IT? He exclaimed internally, looking in disbelief up at his idol before scrambling to his feet and bowing vigorously. "Thank you very much! Uh, it'll, uh, be a family heirloom! A family treasure, yeah!" The words flowed out of his mouth too fast.
All Might's smile didn't quite reach his dead eyes. Even for a fan, this seemed a bit much. He mentally sighed, though, and flashed him the thumbs up. "Okay! Well, I need to take this dude to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen!"
Izuku froze as his mind and body finally synced back up. "Wait, already?"
"Pros are constantly fighting both enemies and time."
"Wait, but there's still so much I want to ask! Please-" stumbled Izuku, but All Might was already preparing to jump away. No, no! This is my chance, I have to know, please… Izuku stumbled towards All Might. What am I doing?
All Might uttered a catchy, shallow response as he leapt off the ground, soaring into the air as if flying. Sorry, kiddo, he thought, if I had a little more time left, I'd talk to you. Huh? All Might felt a tugging at his leg. What the fuck? The boy he'd rescued was holding on to his pants leg as they hurtled through the air. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Let go of me, isn't this a bit much?"
"If I let go now, I'll- I'll die!" Izuku blubbered, the wind against his face making his cheeks and eyelids flap unflatteringly.
"Good point," All Might froze.
"I have a lot of things I- I need to ask you directly!" Izuku continued, his cheeks continuing to flap loudly.
Christ, okay. "Okay, okay, I get it. Close your eyes and mouth please, you look like a fish out of water."
Fortunately, the boy obeyed, bending his head down and focusing on hanging tightly to All Might's leg. The hero grabbed hold of Izuku's backpack and started looking for a place to land and set the boy down, but an itchy pain in one of his lungs intensified and he coughed. Shit. Blood smeared along his cheek with the wind, before he wiped it off with his free hand and began looking for a more urgent place to land. Over there, that discount store's roof. All Might used his free hand to deliver a blast of air pressure to his side, redirecting his trajectory so he could land safely. Even so, he felt himself weakening as his muscle form began to fail, and the landing was a lot louder - and a little rougher - than he would've liked.
All Might dropped the boy onto the concrete a foot below, and Izuku coughed and wheezed raggedly on his hands and knees.
That was scary, thought Izuku, blinking rapidly to restore moisture to his eyes. He felt like he'd tried to chug the air from a leaf blower, as he wheezed to get oxygen back to his brain.
"Good grief. If you talk to the people downstairs, I'm sure they'll let you down. I seriously, SERIOUSLY am out of time, so I've gotta go," All Might spoke, striding towards the edge of the roof.
"Wait! Um-"
"No, I'm not going to wait. I can't-"
"But-"
All Might turned to face Izuku, giving him a frigid stare. Fuck, thought the hero as he felt steam beginning to curl off his shoulders. Even if I get off this building immediately, this is gonna be a rough landing.
"Even if I don't have a quirk, can I still become a hero? Can even someone without a quirk be like you?"
Oh, kid. I wish I could tell you how much I understand. But I can't give you false hope, it would be wrong of me - especially of me - to lie to your face. The itch in his chest worsened, then exploded to the rest of his body as pain threatened to overcome him. "Oh shit, god damn it-" All Might doubled over, glancing over at where the boy continued talking about himself without noticing. He could feel his body deflating as it refused to comply with One for All, and steam enveloped his body.
Izuku finally looked up, having gotten sidetracked talking about why he needed something to believe in. The steam slowly cleared and drifted away, revealing All Might's decrepit and pitiful form. "Whaaaaaaaaaaat? You deflated?! Are you some kind of fake, or-?" He trailed off, immediately trying to explain away what he'd seen.
"I am All Migh-" began the freshly deflated hero, before coughing up a copious amount of blood. When his coughing fit was over, he wiped his face nonchalantly with his sleeve and explained to the horrified boy, "It's kind of like how folks at the pool try flexing and posturing to look cooler."
"B-but you're supposed to be a fearless, infallible rescuer who always smiles, the greatest hero to ever exist!" Deku blurted out, immediately regretting his choice of words. All Might sighed dejectedly and plopped down on the concrete roof.
"Fearless smile, huh. Now that you've seen me like this, kid, make sure you don't tell anyone about it whatsoever - don't even write it down anywhere," All Might lifted his shirt to display his chest, the left side considerably deformed and discolored. Izuku gasped in shock as All Might began to explain the injury and how it had come to such a point. "Right now, I can only manage three hours of hero work a day, tops."
Izuku's horror and confusion worsened, as he began to process the realization that the Symbol of Peace was in decline. "That can't be, there's no way - five years ago? Was it when you fought, uh, Toxic Chainsaw?"
All Might blinked in surprise, and gave an amused chuckle. "You're well informed, but no. Almost nobody knows this fight happened, I asked for it to be kept that way. If word got out about that fight, the public's confidence in me would waver. I can't afford to appear weak, especially to myself. Many pros would have done the same in my position, which is why I can't easily say that you 'can become a hero even without a quirk.'"
The boy looked shattered. "I, I see," he looked down quietly.
"If you want to help others, there's nothing wrong with being a police officer. It may not seem as glamorous, since they don't typically do the big fights with villains, but it's no less heroic. I understand what it's like to dream, but you've gotta consider reality, kid," All Might meandered towards the entrance to a stairwell that led down through the building. The deflated man left without a further word of acknowledgment, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts.
Izuku was shaken out of his torpor by the distant sound of an explosion. "A villain? What hero will be at the sce-" he paused, guilt rushing through him. All Might would be there, if it weren't for- dammit. Izuku felt a lump grow in his throat as the guilt threatened to overcome him, and he adjusted his backpack nervously as he headed down the stairwell towards the base of the building. Thinking was nearly impossible as the weight of All Might's words slowly suffocated him, and he blinked tears back.
"Mt. Lady - 20 meters tall? Gigantification quirk, abuses her looks for publicity." Izuku read, looking down at his journal. Concise, neat notes. Guess I've been lying to myself all along. None of this was ever gonna mean anything, even if I became a hero. Who wants to team up with a quirkless hero? Izuku silently admonished himself. Another explosion shook him from his dejected state, and Izuku looked up to realize he'd instinctively walked towards the scene of the villain attack.
Don't go watch, you'll just feel even more worthless. Spoke the logical part of his brain. Izuku crossed the street anyways, and craned for a look at the villain - finally, he found a gap in the onlookers, and immediately regretted it. What?! But All Might captured him- wait, I didn't see it on him at the building, he must've dropped it- his eyes widened as the realization hit him. Then it's my fault.
"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?" Spoke an onlooker to Izuku's left, and the boy glanced up to see a man talking to a fellow onlooker.
"They can't, apparently a villain caught some kid and their quirk is causing all kinds of problems. It's been like this for a while now."
Izuku gasped. A while? How can anyone bear it for that long? The boy overheard conversation among the onlookers turning to the subject of All Might - apparently, it was public knowledge that he'd been pursuing this villain. Guilt overwhelmed Izuku to the point of grief as he blamed himself again, for having impulsively held on to his idol.
More explosions and a freshly invigorated struggle brought Izuku's attention back to the scene before him, as the hostage struggled to free himself from the grasp of his assailant. At the end of the alley, Mt. Lady stood helplessly observing, her body too big to fit into the alley. Above the alley, Kamui Woods seemed to be evacuating the final few bystanders who'd gotten caught in the chaos. None of the heroes present seemed suited to deal with a fluid, powerful villain. Izuku returned his attention to the criminal and noticed part of his putrid body beginning to move. The slime stretched, stretched, and a face could finally be made out from amidst the goop.
Kacchan? Even from a few dozen meters away, Izuku could recognize his former friend. An explosion roared out from the villain's gelatinous mass, spraying parts of the alleyway with chunks of slime, but the criminal didn't seem fazed whatsoever. Instead, he roared with laughter and lashed out at two heroes who had gotten too close while attempting to mitigate the damage. Bakugou receded into the slime again for a moment before forcing himself to the top with another explosion, and his line of sight crossed with Izuku's.
"Idiot! Stop!"
Fiery-hot adrenaline surged through Izuku's brain as he glanced behind him, his legs forcing him into an all-out sprint towards Bakugou and the villain. He vaguely recalled ducking under the arms of a hero holding back the crowd, and the gasps of several who tried - and failed - to stop him.
Before him, the sludgy criminal's laughter caught in surprise at the sight of a schoolboy sprinting at him. As he turned to react, attempting to use his captor's quirk to blow Izuku away, he caught a backpack to the eye and bellowed in pain, his slime convulsing and retracting to give Bakugou a precious few moments to catch his breath.
"Kacchan!"
"Why are you here?"
"M-my legs moved on their own! I don't know why!"
The villain roared in anger and enveloped Bakugou's face once more with his petrid sludge, and Izuku clawed desperately at it. Through the mind-numbing panic in his head, a sound stood out from the cacophony of flames and sirens. Izuku felt his clothes ripple in the wind as a gale tore through the alley, threatening to blow him over as the villain wound up an attack. He flinched, as the villain swiped his hand down, futilely attempting to ward off the attack.
I'm sorry, mom, he thought. But the attack never came, and he slowly opened his eyes. All Might had shielded the boys from the attack, and gave a confident smile to Izuku.
"I really am pathetic," quipped All Might, reaching into the villain's slime and carefully grabbing hold of Bakugou. With his free hand, despite blood flowing from his mouth, he wound up a punch and struck the villain with everything he had. Deku's vision blurred, and the boy fell to the ground as the pressure change knocked him out immediately. All Might knelt over the two boys, shielding them from the gale his punch had created, and at the end of the alley Mt. Lady did the same with the crowd of onlookers.
"Shit," muttered the battered number one hero, hacking up a copious amount of blood as it stained his shirt and the ground. All Might's eyes lost their focus, and he slumped forward by Izuku Midoriya's unconscious body.
Consciousness, Izuku had concluded, was a curse. His head pounded like he'd been slammed against concrete (he had been) and his limbs hurt like they'd all been broken (they hadn't). As his senses returned to him, the unexpected hum of a vital sign monitor somewhere to his right sent a small shot of adrenaline into his system, and the boy began mentally assessing his body. He inhaled cautiously as he felt the pressure of an oxygen mask affixed to his face. Legs working, check. Arms working- ow. He blinked the crustiness out of his eyes and lifted his arm to take a closer look, squinting through the dim light and ignoring the scratchy feeling of his dry eyes. His right arm appeared to be wrapped in gauze, but he was thankful to have a somewhat-spared left arm. Both hands were bandaged, though. Burns-? Oh, right. He wiggled his fingers tenderly, just to be careful, and immediately rubbed his sinuses. Something smelled vaguely burnt and acrid, and the memory of being assaulted by an enormous, sentient pool of slime returned to him.
Gross. He wrinkled his nose as the smell mingled with that of disinfectant. I think I bit my tongue, too. His mouth tasted metallic, and he swirled his tongue somewhat sorely around his cheeks to make sure his teeth were all present. Izuku sighed in relief as he realized he was mostly intact and immediately coughed up a storm, his oxygen mask losing its perfect seal and becoming infinitely more uncomfortable. To his left, Inko Midoriya sat up in fright from a sleeper sofa beside his bed, having been startled awake by his coughing fit.
"Sweetie! Oh, thank goodness, you're awake. Are you okay?" Izuku's mother calmed down as she realized her son was awake, her fright turning to concern over her son's well being. She stood up slowly and reached over to fix his mask.
"Mom!" Izuku teared up as he tried to stifle his coughing. Fighting back a lump in his throat, he noticed she was in terrible shape. Dark circles outlined her eyes, her hair was disheveled, and she had obviously been crying. Something in her eyes deeply unsettled the boy, but he shrugged it off. "Is Kacchan okay? How long have I been out?"
His mother sniffled and nodded, "Bakugou's alright, Mitsuki's taking turns with Masaru watching over him," she averted her eyes and masked another sniffle with a cough, before standing up and reaching out to embrace her son, "you haven't been out for that long, don't worry."
"Ow, a little less tight, mom, I think my ribs are bruised," he muttered, returning his mother's embrace gingerly. She laughed nervously and apologized, relinquishing her vice-like grip, and Izuku noticed the time on a digital clock by the sofa - 1:06 AM. Izuku faintly appreciated the realization that he hadn't lost even half a day. His mind began to wander as the room around him settled into familiarity and the remainder of his memories of the fight returned to him. The last thing he could recall was All Might standing over him, winding up a fully-powered punch. Another poorly-masked sniffle from his mother brought him back to reality, and Izuku felt a small jolt of anxiety travel down his spine. He gave her a cheerful smile, pretending to not be shaken from the events of the previous day. "I guess if I had to be rescued by a hero eventually, I'm glad it was All Might," he tried for a somewhat bashful laugh.
Inko went quiet, returning to her seat on the sofa. If it hadn't been so dim in the room, Izuku would have noticed her go pale. "Mom?" Started Izuku, his stomach clenching into a pit of molten lead. Usually, showing his mother he was fine would at least make her a little more relaxed.
Izuku's mother didn't respond, instead opting to stand up from the sofa and pull her son into a hug once more, taking care not to do so too tightly. "Mom, what's going on?" Izuku repeated, a quaver creeping into his voice as his mind began to race. Even the standard Midoriya waterworks would have been more reassuring than this.
Izuku's mother tried to form a sentence, but fell short just a few words in. She managed a successful second attempt, working out a choked, "I-Izuku, I'm sorry. Can we wait until your condition improves to talk about this?" Izuku's confusion worsened as he watched his mother struggle, unsure why his inconsequential sentence had evoked such a strong reaction.
"Mom, please, what's up? I didn't mean to make you cry."
Inko's shaky stillness broke into a hiccuping sob, and she shook her head at her son. Another apology worked its way from her, but she refused to budge on giving him more information. Izuku's worry threatened to overtake him, but he quietly accepted her request and laid back in bed. His headache was getting bad again; even without a headache, he wasn't sure he'd have been able to get back to sleep. But somehow, fortunately for Izuku, the rhythmic beeping of the machines at his side coupled with the sound of his mask amplifying his breathing managed to lull him slowly into a fitful sleep.
Well, that's where we're at at the moment. I've stressed over this work for four months, but I'm deciding to close this chapter here and post it live. The exchange between Inko and Izuku was probably the hardest scene I've ever had to write, and I'm not sure I'm happy with it at the moment. In order to move on, though, I had to go ahead and post this as-is. Please, put any thoughts at all in the reviews, they'll help shape the story and are incredibly useful to me.