Hey all! Sorry for the long time between chapters, I'm trying to keep the motivation up, but it can be difficult sometimes! Also, sorry this chapter is a little shorter than the others. Honestly, I just figured it'd be better to get something out today than to make you all wait more!
Another apology, I know I tend to be very long winded in my descriptions of what is going on in scenes. It's a habit I'm trying to break, but it's harder than it sounds! And after this chapter it shouldn't be quite to redundant, because the scenes will begin to follow the canon less and less from here on out!
Thanks for reading guys!
It seemed like it had been days since her conversation with All Might came to an end, but in reality it had only been minutes.
After answering the question she had never meant to ask, the hero had departed with a mighty jump from the building. And now she was left with even more questions than before.
She hadn't realized that she was still hung up on the concept of being a hero. Now that she realized that, she didn't know how to move forward. Although his speech had been altogether uplifting, she couldn't help but dwell on the definitive "no" he had given her. She would never be a hero. At least, not in the way she had secretly hoped for since childhood.
Maybe tomorrow she would be thankful for meeting her childhood hero, and hearing such good advice from him. But right now, it felt as though she had been sucker punched. She would need time to acclimate these new feelings and come to terms with them.
In the meantime, she was running very very late for her fighting class. And of all her instructors, the one for capoeira was the most strict.
Taking a deep breath, she forced her legs to move. She left the tall building All Might had dropped her off at and started towards the shopping district her lessons were in. Lost in thought as she was, she didn't notice the commotion around her at first. When someone ran into her running in the same direction she was headed, she finally dragged her head out of the clouds. Everyone around her seemed to be gathering around one section of the street.
Now that she was paying attention, she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before. There was smoke spreading through the street, paired with loud explosions that sounded oddly familiar to the young girl.
Picking up her pace, she pushed through to the front of the crowd and immediately felt the blood drain from her face. For there in front of her was the same slimey creature as before. But truly had her heart stopping in her chest was the blond boy held in the villain's suffocating grasp.
"Kacchan!" She yelled, the sound drowned out by the commotion around her.
She looked around, trying to figure out what the heroes were doing to help her classmate. The answer was nothing. None of the heroes present were able to get close to the villain and his hostage, especially as the blond's agitation was making for bigger and more powerful explosions, deterring those who might be able to save him.
She stood there, frozen for what seemed like hours. She couldn't rip her eyes from the disaster she had caused. If she hadn't grabbed onto All Might and forced him to take her along, he wouldn't have dropped the bottle containing the villain. Or if she hadn't distracted him with unnecessary questions, he would've noticed sooner that it was missing. If she had just let go of her dreams long ago…
Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as Kacchan turned his gaze towards her. She didn't know if it was her imagination or not, but they seemed to be staring straight at her, begging her.
Before she could fully interpret what was happening, her body was moving, running straight passed the crowd and into the fray.
She still had no plan, and no real weapons, but she'd be damned if she sat there and watched Kacchan get hurt!
Her brain ran through scenario after scenario, trying to figure out the best method of attack, even as long tentacles of slime shot out and tried to stop her approach. Luckily for her, long honed reflexes kicked in and had her easily dodging these attacks. After a particularly vicious swat from one of those tentacles narrowly missed her head, she finally realized the weak point she would need to aim for.
Whipping off her backpack she let out an ungodly screech, causing the villain's eyes to widen momentarily. That moment was all she needed as she flung her backpack directly into his swampy green eye.
The entirety of the slime's body seemed to reel back, including the part that had been trapping Bakugou's face, cutting of his airways. izuko took the opportunity and darted closer. Grabbing Bakugou's exposed arm she pulled with all her might, trying to heave him out of the muck.
"Deku!" the enraged teen yelled. "What are you doing here?! I didn't ask for your help!"
izuko could feel tears beginning to well and spill, the intensity of the situation getting to her already frayed emotions. "It doesn't matter if you asked! You looked like you needed help, and I would never turn my back on a friend!"
In that moment the villain seemed to realize what was happening and reared back to slam the young girl away. As everyone around them screamed at the girl to get out of the way, a loud yell was suddenly released.
"Detroit….Smash!" One second there was chaos, and the next there was an eerie silence. The villain had been blown away, the two teens were in the arms of a blond giant, and the heavens opened up to release a surprise rainfall.
The next few minutes seemed to pass in a blur for the green haired girl. She vaguely remembered being scolded by several pro heroes, and listened to the same heroes praise Bakugou. When time finally reverted back to its normal pace, she found herself already walking home, barely remembering how she'd gotten there.
"Deku!" A voice yelled behind her. She let out a sigh. She should've known he would catch up to her.
She turned and faced the irate boy. "Yes Kacchan?"
His tanned face was red with anger as he grabbed her by the upper arm, shaking her more gently than she expected. "Who the hell gave you permission to jump in like that?! You're not a hero! You're just a weak little girl!" She opened her mouth, a retort on her tongue, but he cut her off before she could even make a sound. "You might be better than most of the extras in our lame ass school, but you shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that. Besides, I don't need your damn help!"
Finished with his mini rant he stared her down for a moment, almost daring her to say something, before he violently shoved her away from himself and stalked back in the direction he'd come from.
Her eyes pricked with more tears but she held them back. She just wanted to be home so she could lay down and try to forget the crazy emotions the day had stirred in her.
Before she could take even a few steps there was another loud commotion.
"I AM HERE!" came the signature yell of her favorite hero as his buff body slid to a stop in front her. She jumped back, clenching her chest in surprise which seemed to amuse All Might. "Ha ha ha! Sorry young lady, I didn't mean to startle-" He cut off with a cough as blood spurted from between his teeth and his body abruptly shrank.
This time she screamed and waved her hands around, trying to figure out how to help the sick man, even as he nonchalantly wiped the blood from his chin.
"Don't worry young lady, this happens all the time!" the deflated All Might said with a deadpan tone. Oddly enough the sentiment did little to settle izuko's nerves, but she refrained from commenting.
"Can I ask what you're doing here?" she asked, trying to remain polite even despite her exhaustion.
His generally joking countenance abruptly sobered up as he stared straight into her bright green eyes. She could feel her own spine straighten in response to the serious atmosphere that had just surrounded them.
"Young lady," he began in his gravelly tone. "I come with both thanks, and a correction. If you hadn't have been at that scene today, if you hadn't showed me your will to fight…"
She cut him off before he could continue. "I'm so sorry All Might! I was the reason that villain even got loose in the first place, and then I jumped into the situation even though I'm just a girl!"
"No Midoriya, it is specifically because you, a girl, were willing to fight that I was able to act!" Said girl was completely speechless, unable to respond in the wake of such a powerful statement.
"I was willing to stand there and hope another hero would come along and help, but you who has no power acted without hesitation to save a life. There is one aspect that most true heroes have in common in stories from their school days. When it really counts, their bodies moved before they had a chance to think!"
izuko's eyes welled with tears as she felt a flow of emotion rush through her. It was like her mind knew what the hero was trying to tell her before the words ever left his mouth. And that notion, that fairytale, that dream, was one she had hoped for since she was a child.
"I could tell that was the case for you today." All Might's body was silhouetted by the setting sun behind him, and she couldn't think of a better backdrop for the earth-shattering sentence that next left his lips. "Young Midoriya, you can be a hero just like me."
Thanks again for reading! Hopefully I can get the next chapter out a little bit sooner than this one came, but no guarantees! I'm still hashing out some of the logistics involved in this story, because I want it all to make sense!
Until next time!