Toshinori was already out of breath, ever since the emergency call last night he had been moving and his now withered body could barely handle the prolonged activity of working with the JSDF to find the successor to One For All. Of course he would be trying to help find any of his students and civilians but All Might couldn't lie to himself, he was looking for Deku. He NEEDED to find Izuku. He wasn't mad at his own dying body, he had long made peace with his limitations, but to say that he was growing frustrated would be an understatement. The damage to the smaller island was biblical. Trees ripped and burned to the roots, giant boulders and cliffs reduced to pebbles, and long uneven man-sized trenches carved into the stone. It could rival the aftermath of some of his fights with HIM back in the day. The more logical part of Toshinori's mind analyzed that there had to have been at least 5 different emitter quirks, strong ones at that.

"All Might sir, there are two more life signs past that ridge to our left."

Corporal Sato was a younger female JSDF soldier whom All might was paired with for this operation. She was fairly non-descript, it would be hard to pick her out a lineup with her black hair and without any mutations you might guess she was quirkless. Thankfully she had a sensor quirk "Life Sign", which enabled her to pick up "life signals" within 25 meters of her person as long as her eyes were closed and in an open area.

"Thank you, lead the way Sato"

Long experience with both the American and Japanese military taught All Might that in the field it is often easier to use last names without honorifics or ranks, it didn't hurt that the soldiers often preferred it that way. Corporal Sato opened her eyes and nodded, swiftly taking point. Though there were supposedly only four villians on the island, it would be foolish to let their guard down and so they proceeded at a much slower pace than Toshinori would like. Tasting blood in his mouth, he once again ignored his protesting body. He would rest once Izuku was safe.

On the crest of the ridge he saw what he was looking for and what he dreaded to find. Izuku and Katsuki, broken and bleeding but alive. It took all his willpower to not charge ahead, he couldn't help them if he got himself killed. A quick survey of the newly formed crater showed just the two boys with nothing but rubble for company.

"Sato, please hand me the first aid kit and call the Control Center, I'm heading down there."

Without another word, Toshinori took the offered bag and slid down the rough slope. Technically he should have sent the Corporal down as he made the call, being the less physically capable of the duo. That was what All Might would have done. Toshinori sensei need to make sure his students were safe. Stumbling at the bottom, he ran as fast as he could without falling. Arriving at his protege, he noted with unfortunate familiarity two broken arms, broken legs, numerous burns, and too many cuts to count. Katsuki was in a similar state, with only one arm broken but with even more burns, possibly because of his own quirk. Checking both of their pulses gave some relief to the former hero, even though Corporal Sato could only find them because they were alive.

Starting with Katsuki's cuts and burns since they were more numerous, All Might dressed the wounds as best he could with what he had, barely moving moving Katsuki in case he had any unseen spinal or head trama. Katsuki didn't even stir, which was a bad sign on top of all the obvious ones. Moving to Izuku, All Might was halfway done when Deku's eyes started flickering open.

"A-All Might?"

You could barely call it a whisper but for the retired number one hero it might as well been church bells above his head.

"It's me kid, I'm here."

Toshinori kept working, hands moving on autopilot while his full attention was on his student.

"A-All Might... Are they... Are they safe?"

Despite himself Toshinori smiled.

"Even though you shouldn't even be conscious right now, the only thing you're worried about is others. Young Katsuma and his sister are unharmed and with Hawks right now. You protected them."

"Kacchan?"

"Right behind me, about as beat up as you are but he's alive and breathing"

Unfortunately that's all Katsuki was capable of at this moment, but Toshinori didn't voice that macabre thought. Toshinori just finished tying the last emergency bandage and held Izuku's hand and said,

"Listen kid, I need you to keep talking and stay awake. You may have a concussion so you cannot go back to sleep, do you understand?"

"All Might... I'm... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Young Midoriya, you kept them safe and bought time for us to get here. You continue to-"

"I'm sorry All Might... I..."

Izuku was not one to interrupt, especially when his idol was speaking. Back on edge, Toshinori let Izuku continue.

"It was... The only way to win... To keep them safe... I'm sorry I..."

Did he kill a villain? Let a civilian die? Toshinori was reaching panic on the inside as Izuku labored with both emotions and words. Outwardly Toshinori was calm as he waited for his student to finish.

"Kacchan... I gave him... One For All..."

Toshinori's heart had stopped he was sure of it. His successor, a former quirkless, had given up one of the strongest quirks to exist in order to protect the innocent. In all of All Might's life he had never had to consider giving up his quirk to save others, only when he was no longer fit to be the symbol of peace did he start thinking about it. He could not be sure if he would be able to do the same. Never had he felt more proud, or melancholy, of Izuku than in that moment. Izuku was openly crying, apologizing for failing his idol over and over.

"Izuku, you have not failed. Young Katsuma is alive because of what you did. Young Bakugo, the rest of your class, and all the people of Nabu Island are safe because of your actions. You are a True Hero."

While slowing, Izuku's tears and apologies did not stop. Even after all that has happened, some things don't change Toshinori thought to himself. With his free hand, he grabbed Katsuki's. Then he felt it, the spark of One For All. It felt like a flame that just caught on fresh tinder, young and full of potential. How Izuku used to be. In contrast Izuku felt like he was smoldering, only smoke with no fire, dying embers. It was how Toshinori himself felt right after the final battle with HIM.

"Cementoss sir! They are over here!"

Corporal Sato had obviously not been stagnant while All Might had been with the two young heroes. After calling to report to the Control Center, she had been keeping watch while giving the heroes some privacy, she had a feeling this was a personal matter. Staying close enough just in case All Might needed her, she spotted the square shape of Cementoss using his Cement quirk to move him and a small JSDF team towards her location quickly. There had been plenty of broken castle wall for him to use around the battleground. Cementoss, having heard his name, found the waving Corporal Sato and moved his team inside the gargantuan crater. Meeting with All Might, he quickly was informed of the two students' various injuries while his teams' medic looked them over. Getting the go ahead from the medic, Cementoss formed a mold of cement under the two young heroes, so that they would not fall or move when taking them back to the triage.

Thanks to the Cement hero it was a quick, and quiet, trip back to the Control Center which gave Toshinori time to think while next to both his students. While glad they were alive he knew that everything would change. His successor was once again quirkless and the new holder of One For All was admittedly very volatile and untrained. Toshinori didn't know what to do but he did know that he would be there for both his boys, for better or worse.

A/N:

Well that is the first chapter of What Does It Mean To Inherit? and my first chapter of fanfiction. After seeing the movie I knew I had to write about it, I knew why they had to go back for the status quo because of the manga and anime but to me it's the best piece of MHA media outside of fanfiction (because Viridescent exists) and it has so much potential for the overall story. For future reference author notes will in no way be integral to the story, it'll just be where I put my thoughts about what I'm writing and I'll (try to) keep spoilers out of here. Feel free to skip the author notes, I know I do. Please read and review, I welcome criticism and flames with open arms. Also just because I know this Fandom this is not a Izuku X Katsuki fiction or even a romantic focused fiction, there will be some but it will be focused or more canon pairings. Nothing against gay pairings but as far as MHA goes none of the characters in class 1-A I feel would work with a same sex partner due to their characterizations and not the gender. Till next time. - Jazz0man