Chapter Title: All Might

After his meeting with All Might, he was feeling better. While not his favorite hero, at least not anymore, he was still excited to have met the hero outside of any convention type of deal. Albeit, he isn't sure what to think about him revealing a secret of his to the man, who is a stranger to him. But... not everyone can claim have met All Might, let alone talked to him so casually!

When he gets to the orphanage, he has to brag about it. At least to the younger kids. He has the proof for it!

But he still has to get there. Mrs Shiota will be pissed when he arrives late. But he has proof to show why he is late. He walked tough a busy part of Masutafu. Especially when he realized that a battle was going on. He tried to get a good view, got his notebook ready. Then he saw him.

Bakugou was being attacked by the Slime villain. While his own quirk was painful to the villain, Bakugou's sparks weren't able to prevail in the goo. Looking around, Izuku saw so many heroes. But no one did anything. Something was clicking in his mind, his body was moving on his own. He ran to the villain and Bakugou. He heard people yell, telling him to stop.

But Izuku ran into action. As soon as he was close enough, he stuck his hand into the villain. Once again, the slime started to screech in pain. He let go of Bakugou. Said boy pushed Izuku to the ground ran away, before a paramedic of the ambulance stopped him to check for injuries. To Izuku's surprise, he was praised by the surrounding people for helping Bakugou. Not by Bakugou, though.

Before anyone could realize that he has a villainous quirk, he left the scene. Not before catching a glimpse of how All Might was surrounded by steam, replaced by a skeleton of a man. Mrs Shiota won't appreciate it if he comes late. He has to go. She is one of the few people who sees past his quirk, he doesn't want it to ruin his bond with her.

A few days later, on a Saturday, he was working on his prototype machine he needs to apply for the support course. He doesn't really want to, but as an orphan that can't be adopted with a villainous quirk, he has to take any straw to build a future for himself. Even if it means doing something he isn't interested in. No, management is worse than support.

Mrs Shiota walked into the room he was sharing with a quirkless boy, a year older. Said boy lazying on his bed, watching Izuku working. Mrs Shiota was very thin and short. Her quirk 'Neko' gave her the characteristics of a cat. Orange fluffy tail, ears and claws. Not to mention the whiskers. She wore oftentimes jumpers she knitted herself, a lot of green shades. The only thing Izuku dislikes about her is that she constantly bugs him that he dyes his hair green. But unless he uses his allowance for anything illegal, she can't do anything against his spending habits.

"Izuku, is your machine finished? The deadline is soon. Not that it bothers you.", spoke Mrs Shiota. "For how many schools did you apply?"

"Any school that is in budget, is easily reachable and if not, offers boarding, I even plan to apply for all UA courses.", replied Izuku, "Around eighty schools, not counting separate schools."

"That is overkill!", chimed his room mate in.

"Shut up, Tanjiro. You at least got into Ketsubutsu's General Course due to their Quirkless Quota.", snapped Izuku at him, "You don't have to grasp onto every straw, you can fall back on disability reliefs and support programs."

This pissed off the black haired boy. Both then felt claws scratching the backs of their head, hairs falling.

"No hissy-fits, boys. Tanjiro, don't mock Izuku for being dedicated. If anything, you should have put more effort into it. What if you hadn't gotten a spot in Ketsubutsu?", spoke Mrs Shiota.

"I would've gotten into Shiketsu's program.", replied Tanjiro. "Or Seiai, or Seijin."

"Dude, Seiai is a girls-only school!", reminded him Izuku, "And I'm pretty sure Seijin has a very intense no-orphan policy."

"Boys! Izuku, apologize to Tanjiro.", said Mrs Shiota.

"I'm sorry for discriminating you for being quirkless.", said Izuku, "As an apology, you can have my dessert for a week."

"Deal! Now get going, the stores end soon, if you really need new hair dye.", said Tanjiro, accepting the apology. With that, Izuku left the orphanage to the city. He soon came to the shop he frequents. The cashier already placed a bag with the dye and gloves ready for him. Old Mr Hamato is used that Izuku fetches his hair dye. But he doesn't know why.

"Oi, kiddo, sure that you don't want to try something new?", asked Hamato.

"Nope, Hamato-sama. A different color would feel wrong.", replied Izuku, while he paid.

"Wrong? Why?"

"This is the color I'm born with. But since I have my quirk, it is a grayish periwinkle.", replied Izuku, "Just not a color I like."

"Okay, but if you ever want to switch it up, Midoriya-kun.", replied Hamato. "Have a nice day."

"You too, sir."

He left the shop. He kinda felt bad, he lied to the old Hamato. Like Mrs Shiota, he didn't care about his quirk. Well, Hamato is quirkless, the Quirkless tend to be more accepting. He didn't want to start the same discussion he has with Mrs Shiota regularly. And unlike Mrs Shiota, Hamato could block him from buying hair dye. Hamato, like other shop owners already did, could ban him from their stores on the pretend that he is a villain. His quirk being proof enough. He won't shop in Hamato's store otherwise. It is rather far from the orphanage and somewhat pricey. On the other hand, Hamato's shop is the closest one to carry his Anti-quirk gloves in the digital artist style, so he may have brought the dye here as well.

He is sure Hamato would call him idiotic. Shiota does, Bakugou does, Tanjiro does. Everyone who knows does. He actually likes the periwinkle coloration. He just doesn't like that it isn't his mothers hair color. He keeps them green to feel connected to her, if she ever takes him back. She didn't sign the release, so there has to be a chance, right?

He was walking though a colony of houses, when he noted a figure. He saw a blonde man who was more akin to a skeleton. The form he saw in All Might's spot. He stopped and walked to the man.

"Ah, young Midoriya, I've been looking for you.", said the skeletal remains of All Might.

"A-Are you really All Might? How...", Izuku couldn't finish his thoughts. How could his muscle mass just poof away? Was this part of his quirk? Is this why his true identity is unknown?

"Young Midoriya?"

Izuku realized something, "I muttered, didn't I? I'm sorry."

"It is okay. The poofing is in fact part of my quirk. You have a bright mind figuring that out.", said All Might. "My quirk is what I want to talk with you about. You see-" He uncovered his stomach, showing a megalith of a scar, "-I received this nasty injury years ago fighting a powerful villain. This injury compensates my ability to use my quirk. I can only use it five hours a day now. It gets worse."

"W-Why are you telling me this?", asked Izuku. Not that he minds learning unknown data about heroes, especially one he used to adore the most.

"My quirk can be passed on. In fact, I'm the eighth wielder.", explained All Might. "I want to make you the ninth wielder. And train you in preparation for One for All. It is a very demanding quirk."

Izuku had no idea what to answer. His head was empty, yet so many thoughts rushed though it. Yet no answer he could give, this was a lot to take in. Even just the fact that this type of quirk exists.

"I am honored that you consider me for this, but I decline. Remember our talk?", replied Izuku to the heroes surprise, "I want to be a symbol of hope for the orphans of Japan, as well as people with unfortunate quirks! Your quirk, One for All, it has it's own message already... I-I don't want to be a second you."

Now it was Toshinori's turn to be speechless. He never expected to be declined like this. Not that he is against his goal. It somewhat reminds him of someone, his own mentor. Nana Shimura. If he remembers, Midoriya was told to kill himself, yet he wants to continue. Nana either never backed down.

"I see... understandable and an admirable goal, young Midoriya. Well, then I ask you to keep an eye for other hopefuls for me. While I start to teach at UA soon-" Toshinori had an idea. "-I would like to have extra eyes in the world."

"I-Of course! I'll be honored to help you in other ways!", agreed Izuku. "Wait, UA? Woah..."

"Your quirk... I, your quirk had me thinking, can you control the decay, or will it eat it's way though objects when all five fingers are applied?", said Toshinori, "I assume you think the later is true. I offer you to train you anyway, but in a different manner, to test and strengthen your quirk. And to test my theory. Who knows, maybe you change your mind about One for All."

"R-Really?"

"Yes... and I know where we could train. You know Dagobah Beach?", asked the hero.

"Yes. I rob that beach regularly for parts for my prototype machine, that place is a gold mine!", replied Izuku.

"What is one man's trash might be another man's building material or training exercise.", said Toshinori. "Well then, let us meet there tomorrow."