Disclaimer: This is purely a fan work and I own nothing!
Tsuyu sat down on the river bank; she had suspected a connection between All Might and Deku for a long time, probably since the first time she saw his Quirk. And while he confirmed a connection, she wondered what it was. She was quiet under the moonlight as Izuku sat next to her again.
"I was born Quirkless." He started, turning and looking her in the eye, "and no one at school, except All Might and Recovery Girl know. Well. I think Aizawa has a clue. But...I don't have a Quirk of my own. I'm sorry I had to keep this from you."
Tsuyu blinked, trying to process all this information. "But... all those times you broke your arm...?"
"That's...that's where All Might comes in," he explained. "So, a few months before the entrance exams, do you remember the news story that played? Where Bakugou got attacked by the mud monster thing?"
Tsuyu nodded. "Right, yeah, he acted like he was semi-celebrity status for surviving that."
"I was there...that day." Midoriya admitted. "Before Bakugoi was attacked, I was targeted by the very same villain. And All Might saved me! And I...well, I reacted how you would expect."
"I bet you geeked out a lot. A really display of fanboyism." Tsuyu replied. "Did you cry? I bet you cried."
Deku blushed but laughed. "Yeah, pretty much...and I told him all about my desire to be this great hero just like him, to save people. And if he thought I could do it."
"And I assume he told you to go beyond? Plus Ultra? Kero?" Tsuyu croaked.
Deku shook his head. "Hardly. He basically told me it was hopeless. That I should focus my desire to be a police officer or something like that."
Tsuyu's jaw dropped. "Kero! I can't believe that! Then how did -"
"I'm getting there!" He assured her with a laugh. "So anyway, while I was talking with him, the mud guy escaped. And that's when he got Kacchan. All Might had already used all his power for the day, he didn't have it in him to take his hero form. And all the other Pros couldn't get close. And I was so freaked out seeing Kacchan suffocating...I ran in to save him..."
Tsuyu's eyes widened. "I remember that footage! You were that crazy Quirkless kid who was trying to scrape him out?! That was insane, Deku, you could have died!"
"I nearly did...and well, I guess that's why All Might chose me." He replied.
"Chose you?" She asked.
"Right..." he sighed. "See, All Might was already in bad shape, back then. Before his retirement. He needed a successor, because he wasn't born with a Quirk either."
"Hold on, hold on," Tsuyu interjected. "You mean to tell me that All Might, the former Symbol of Peace, the Number One Hero, blah blah blah, was born with no Quirk?"
Izuku smiled faintly. "That's what he tells me. So he told me that seeing me risk myself to save Kacchan - that's what a hero is all about. That it inspired him to push himself to act and save Kacchan. And then he told me that there was a way for me to be a hero."
"Kero?"
"His Quirk is called One for All," Deku continued. "It stockpiles energy from user to user, by ingesting DNA."
Tsuyu had a rather disturbed look on her face, so Deku quickly added. "N-not like that. He made me eat a piece of his hair. And it can only be passed if the user intends to pass it. So you know..." He looked to the side, "You aren't just going to break your legs when you jump."
"Kero..." Tsuyu sighed in relief. "I was worried for a minute."
"So All Might needed to pass One for All on to someone, and he thought I had the right potential..." Izuku looked up to the stars. "I question his choice almost every day. Sometimes I think anyone in this class would have been a better pick. But...anyway...he made me train first. See, One for All, as you may have seen, is incredibly destructive."
"I think that goes without saying, you were in Recovery's Girl's office almost every day," Tsuyu quipped.
"Heh...right," he replied, "And I was a scrawny kid. So he had me do some weird cleaning off a beach type training until I looked like I do now."
"Kero," she interrupted, stroking his arm, "Like my beefcake."
He turned bright red. "C-cut that out."
She beamed. "I only call you that because it makes you all embarrassed. Anyway, go on."
Midoriya smiled at her. It felt amazing to finally get this off his chest. "So once I was as ready as I could be...he made me eat a piece of his hair. He was like," and Izuku did his best All Might impression, "'Eat This!'"
At his impression, Tsuyu flopped on her back and erupted into laughter. He laughed as well with her. "I'm glad you liked my impression; he wasn't very fond of it."
Tsuyu sat up and hugged him. "I thought it was spot on."
"Thanks, I practiced." He admitted.
"Of course you did." She smiled as she rolled her eyes.
"So anyway, I didn't even know how One for All worked. The first time I used it was entrance exam when I saved Uraraka from that Zero Point Robot," Deku continued.
"So that time we were doing fitness tests with Aizawa...was that only the second time you did it?" She asked.
"Yeah...All Might was super proud I figured how to channel it just to my finger and avoid breaking my whole arm," Izuku answered with a laugh.
He paused for a few moments so that Tsuyu could absorb all of this.
"Kero," she croaked, finally, "I have so many questions."
"Like?"
"How'd you learn to control it? You came back from your internship and suddenly you were hopping around and punching people just fine!" She asked. "Until Summer Camp happened and you blew up your arms again."
"Blew up, huh?" He laughed, looking down at his scarred right arm. "I guess that's accurate. But my internship was with the man who trained All Might and All Might's sensei, a guy called Gran Torino."
"Can't see I've heard of him for someone who's trained the legendary hero." Tsuyu replied.
"He wasn't a fan of living in the spotlight. But yeah, he's this old guy with super speed and uh...well, he's a bit bonkers, if I'm being honest," Deku answered, scratching the back of his neck. "But he helped me realize I was using One For All like it was a special move. Or, you know, a desperation attack. I needed to make it just a part of me. Like all of you guys, your Quirks are just a part of every day living. I had to get used to my Quirk being part of how I did lots of things. So I figured out how to spread One for All across my whole body instead of one point. That way, I can use less of the energy, and it greatly lowers my risk of injury. It's just not as strong."
"Oh, so that's when you get all that weird green lightning stuff?" She asked, head tilted slightly.
He nodded. "Yeah, I call it Full Cowl. That's why I wanted to go to you for help in jumping. I knew how to spread out the power, but I'm still not quite a pro at it."
"Kero," she croaked, "at least that part worked out for us."
"Yeah...and good thing to." Izuku added, looking down at his right arm. "I'm trying to avoid over-exerting my arms while they heal. If I stress them too much I could lose them...after Summer Camp, I was told that I've done some serious ligament damage in this arm."
Tsuyu slid an arm around his right arm, affectionately. "I'll just have to make sure you don't do anything stupid. I really don't want you getting hurt again."
He chuckled. "I'm counting on you, Tsu. You're the best."
Their hands met as she let her arm drop. After a brief pause, Tsuyu looked up at him with just a hint of a frown. "That's why you were so obsessed with heroes and stuff as a kid, isn't it?"
He looked to the water and nodded. "It's not like what I told you about was a lie, but yeah...that had a lot to do with it. Growing up with Kacchan and the other kids at school, they all had wings or other such cool Quirks. All of them aiming to be the best heroes they could be. Being told every day by Kacchan how useless I was...I guess part of me believed it, and the other part just desperately wanted a chance to prove them wrong."
He looked to the moon and let a small, almost rueful laugh. "I think that's why it was so weird coming here and everyone being so friendly to me. Before, I was always just the loser with no Quirk. I didn't really have many friends."
Tsuyu scooted over to him and put her head on his shoulder. "Well, I can relate to you there. I only really had the one friend before I came here. Even if you have a Quirk, if it makes you look weird, kids are going to be jerks about it."
"I think you're beautiful." Izuku said. "Maybe I don't tell you enough."
"You tell me all the time, you dork," she teased, although she was blushing a bit, "but thanks, kero. I just was going to say, that makes all the muttering and quirk studying make a whole lot more sense."
"I guess so."
"You think that's part of why Bakugou is such an ass all the time?" She questioned.
"What do you mean?" Deku asked.
"Well, he grew up pushing you around. You were a punching bag he could prop himself up against," Tsuyu replied, "then suddenly you're able to outdo him and get out from his oppressive behavior. I know you guys grew up together, but I don't know how you've forgiven him for his garbage."
"It's...complicated," her boyfriend answered, "I'm not the type to hold a grudge, I guess. But yeah, I think you're on to something. He just really wants to be the best."
"He should work on his inferiority complex, kero." Tsuyu ribbited.
Deku gave her a squeeze and laughed, "You could always have a fallback career as a psychologist, Tsu. You're good at reading people."
"Thanks, kero."
For awhile they sat under the moonlight before another question hit Tsuyu's mind. "So one day you'll be the new Symbol of Peace?" She asked. "If everything goes according to plan, Kero."
"That's what I'm aiming for." Deku said, "So the sooner I can master this power, the better."
They stared up at the night sky for a bit longer before Midoriya turned to her, and said, "So that's it. That's the full story. You're the only one who knows the whole of it."
She slid her arms around him. "Thanks, kero. Why did you tell me now though?"
He kissed her cheek lightly. "You saved my life today. And I love you. If I can trust anyone here with this, it's you, Tsu."
"Kero. Your secret is safe with me."
"I know it is."
"I think All Might made the right choice," Tsuyu added. "I meant what I said when we were first here. If anyone in our class is a hero, it's you."
"Ha, well you saved me today, so I'm pretty sure you won this round," Deku retorted with a smirk. "But thank you. I don't always feel that - whoa!"
Tsuyu quickly shoved him to the ground and sat on him. "Stop it, Midoriya."
"W-what?" He stuttered, going red.
"Stop doubting yourself," she commanded. "You were chosen. You are worthy. You have risked your life to save others, with less training and experience on your Quirk I might add, than anyone I've ever met. You're going to master One for All. You're a hero. You're my hero."
He laughed and beamed at her. "I came out here to make YOU feel better."
She leaned down and hugged him. "You did. Then you went and made me mad by doubting yourself. Stop it."
He hugged her back. "Okay, okay. I promise. Thanks, Tsu. You're my hero, too."
She stood up and helped Izuku back to his feet, looking up again. "We should probably get back. Not like we could get in much trouble anyway."
"Yeah," he agreed, "Uraraka was really worried about you, too."
As they began to hop through the woods, he asked her, "You don't still blame yourself for earlier, do you?"
She sighed as she bounced off a tree. "No, I know you're right. I just feel like I could have done more."
Finally, they made it out of the woods and back to campus, and she added, "But thank you coming and talking some sense into me."
"Any time." He assured her as they snuck back in through his dorm window. They went to the common area, which was pretty deserted, save for Ochako, who ran up to them immediately and wrapped Tsuyu in a hug.
"You're making this a bit obvious," Tsuyu quipped, but hugged her back all the same.
The gravity-based hero back off though. "Sorry. I was worried though...everything okay?"
Tsuyu and Izuku both nodded. "Where did everyone go?" He asked.
"To bed," Ochako replied, frowning, "Everyone seems pretty miserable. This is so much worse than camp. They've taken more than a third of the school. What do we do?"
An awkward silence hung over them all, before Izuku finally had to admit, "I have no idea. But...we shouldn't let ourselves get rusty, right?"
The two girls nodded. "Why don't we meet up to train since we'll be free during the day?" Tsuyu suggested.
"Sounds like a plan!" Ochako agreed enthusiastically.
As she went off to bed, the two green haired heroes hung around the common room a bit longer.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you all this before," Izuku said to her when the coast was clear. "I hated not being able to tell you."
"I understand why you couldn't, Deku," Tsuyu said with a smile, booping his nose with her tongue. "No more secrets though, okay?"
He nodded as he pulled her in for a hug. "I'd like that."
Shigaraki walked along the cells in the basement hideaway. All cells built with the most impenetrable tech, impervious to being broken or teleported into. Although soon, this would become redundant.
He caught Toga coming out of one of the cells, gas mask on and syringe in hand.
"Heh...you finish administering the serum?"
She peeled off the mask and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. When can I go back to knives. The creepy nurse schtick was fun for like, no seconds with them being on the happy gas."
"Patience," the villain giggled, "Once we're done, you can have all the blood you want. You can have your pick on who to be. And they won't be able to stop you."
Before she could ask further, he turned, flipped the switch on the door that controlled the air vent, and walked into the cell. Toga freaked out on him a little and shouted, "Hey, don't do that! We don't know if it worked!"
"It will work," was all the response she got before Shigaraki slammed the door.
He pulled up a chair in front of his prisoner, who was chained to the wall in iron shackles. He waited awhile for Gasser's Quirk to wear off before Bakugou woke up.
"What...WAIT, IT'S YOU?!" Bakugou screamed, "I'LL KILL YOU! LET ME GO!"
Shigaraki gestured around the empty cell. "Well. I won't let you go. But your hands are free, so go ahead and kill me."
Realizing that, indeed, the shackles kept him to the wall, but his hands were exposed, he lunged toward Shigaraki and unleashed as big of an explosion as he could!
Or...he tried. Nothing happened.
"What...WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Bakugou yelled in a fury.
Shigaraki just chuckled as he got out of the chair. "Good. That's just what I thought."
"No...tell me what you did..." Bakugou muttered to the floor, confused. "Why can't I blow you to hell?!"
Shigaraki glanced backwards. "Because. Now you're just a Quirkless nobody."
