AN: MrAngelFace - to answer your question. While the early stuff was unintentionally Himiko-heavy, this chapter kicks off Izuku's story. He'll be getting a lot more balanced screen time going forward.

It had been a rough day for Izuku. That morning during the homeroom period they talked about career development and choosing the right high school, so they could begin to think about that important decision as they began their final year of middle school. And somehow, the fact that Izuku was planning on attending UA was brought to Bakugo's attention. Even though Bakugo had backed off from his bullying, he decided that this news was enough to break the cease-fire.

At the end of the day Izuku was casually packing up his things, having gotten used to not having to rush out of school now. The last thing he expected was to hear the door to his classroom slam open and to hear Bakugo's voice growling out the name "Deku" with such venom.

Izuku turned around, panic filling him. "Ka- Bakugo, what do you want?"

He slammed his hand on Izuku's desk, with an explosion for emphasis. Izuku looked around at his remaining classmates, all of whom seemed to back away - not wanting to get involved. "I heard you are planning on trying to enroll at UA next year."

"Y-yes, Himi already goes there and there is no requirement that you need to have a quirk to ap - "

Izuku was cut off by another explosion. "Just because you're sister got in with her dumb quirk - at least she has one. You don't even have that going for you. Don't you get it? This is my origin story. Nobody from Aldera has managed to enroll in UA. Being the first and only kid to do so - that's the start of my rise to greatness! And some shitty quirkless Deku isn't about to interfere with that."

Izuku frowned at that. "Not like they're going to accept you with that attitude."

"What was that Deku?" Katsuki growled at him, before looking at his desk, an evil grin on his face. He picked up Izuku's hero notebook and blew it up. "Once I've aced the exam and get in you'll see. Just face the facts, you are just a liability. So stay out of my way."

Izuku winced as Bakugo tossed the notebook out the window and he began to leave. He stopped at the door and turned around, throwing one last insult. "Or better yet, if you want to have a quirk so badly, throw yourself off the roof. Maybe in the next life you'll actually get lucky."

Izuku sat down at his desk for a few minutes in an attempt to compose himself. His remaining classmates shot him looks of pity as they awkwardly left for the day. Eventually Izuku was able to pull himself together, fish his notebook out of the school fountain, and began his walk home.

"Stupid Bakugo, how can he so casually tell me to kill myself if he wants to be a hero? Is he even aware of the implications of what he's doing? I should probably have Himi report this to Principle Nezu at some point…"

Izuku was so focused on his own thoughts as he was walking that he didn't notice a sludge villain that came out of the manhole cover near him. "Does this kid have a stealth quirk or something? I almost missed him. He'll be the perfect body for me to hide out in!"

Izuku barely had time to react when the sludge villain attacked him, filling his mouth with goo as he tried to force his way in. Izuku's training had begun to kick in and he tried to fight back, but the monster's form didn't give him anything to get a solid grip on. He fought valiantly but after what felt like an eternity, even if it was only a minute, he felt the darkness creeping into his vision as he was suffocating from the goo that was forced into his mouth and nose. Is this it? What a way to go.

As Izuku began to slip into unconsciousness, he didn't register that the hero that had been chasing the villain was rushing in to save him.

Izuku felt someone gently slapping his face and woke up with a shot, gripping his chest. "Wait, I'm alive?"

"Oh thank goodness!" The form of his hero - All Might - was towering over Izuku and he scrambled back in surprise.

"A-all Might!"

"Sorry I was late, kid, that guy was a tricky one to track down." He held up a soda bottle that somehow had the sludge villain crammed inside of it. "But I was able to save the day!"

Izuku saw the notebook back where he had dropped it and ran over to retrieve it. "All Might, can you sign this?"

"I already have!" With a glowing smile he responded. "You seem to have some real talent in that head of yours. Hopefully you keep at it! But! I must be off, I need to deliver this guy to the police." He placed the soda bottle into one of his cargo pants' pockets.

"Wait, All Might!" Izuku saw All Might preparing to leave and without thinking, grabbed onto his leg before he was airborne. "All Might, I have to ask you something!"

"Hey, let go kid!"

"If I do, I will die!."

All Might paused for a moment and realized what he asked of the kid. "Ok kid, Hold on tight and close your eyes, I'll land somewhere." Izuku couldn't help but comply - the intense pressure from the air made it hard to even nod, as he was forced to close his eyes and mouth, until he felt them land on a roof and All Might stood him up.

"Sorry kid, I realize you must be a big fan, but I really need to get going."

"Wait, All Might, I have so many questions!" Izuku saw All Might turning away to leave, but he just had to know. "Can I become a hero, even if I am quirkless?"

The question shocked All Might and gave him pause as he looked at the kid. He could feel the smoke rising off of him - he'd have to make this fast.

"Sorry kid, but this is dangerous work. All it would take is one villain with the wrong quirk and you would be done for."

Izuku hung his head and felt his dreams crumbling before him. "But, isn't that true of heroes already? I have always looked up to you and to the other heroes, and I've always thought saving people was the coolest thing someone could do. Is it really that bad that I don't have a quirk? I have been practicing really hard, and even considering support gear to help-"

Izuku was quickly distracted from his barrage of questions by the cloud of steam that had formed on the roof. It quickly dissipated and Izuku saw that All Might had been replaced by an emaciated skeleton of a man, and yelped in fear. "W-who are you and where is All Might?!"

The man coughed and Izuku saw the blood on his hand afterwards, and he sat down, motioning Izuku to come closer. "Can I trust you kid?"

Izuku merely swallowed and nodded.

"I wish the world was different, but beyond the glamor of the headlines, the truth of it is, being a hero is dangerous. Even me - while everyone thinks I am invincible, the reality is I am not." He lifted his shirt and showed him a massive knot of scar tissue on the side of his sunken chest.

Izuku stared wide-eyed as All Might continued. "I got this in a fight five years ago."

Izuku wracked his brain. "Was that from the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?"

All Might smiled at Izuku trying to piece things together. "Good guess, but this fight was buried from public knowledge. The fight collapsed one of my lungs and all but destroyed my stomach."

Izuku stared wide-eyed at this revelation. "How?"

"I was fighting a very dangerous foe. I was able to win in the end, but it has left me in this state. Being a hero is dangerous. Every fight could be your last, even if you have the quirk for it. Now do you see why I said it's a bad idea?"

"Even through all of that, you're always smiling?" Izuku asked, a mixture of confusion and awe in his voice.

"Man, I must be going soft today. I'll let you in on another secret kid - even though I am putting on a fearless smile, that doesn't mean I'm not hurting, or scared of the villain. It's my job as a hero - to show villains I'm not scared of them, and to reassure civilians that they are safe, no matter how bad it is. To smile despite the situation at hand."

He pushed himself up to a standing position and patted Izuku on his hand. "While you were out I looked through your notebook. I wasn't making an empty comment when I said that you have talent. If you cultivate that you could be a great analyst or detective someday. I know it's not hero work, but it's still a noble way to help people." Seemingly satisfied with his answer to Izuku, All Might looked around for an exit. "Now let's get off this roof."

All Might went to the stairwell and headed down to the street, with Izuku following him dejectedly. When they were ready to part ways, All Might discovered that the bottle with the villain had gotten lost, and Izuku blamed himself for it. All Might ran off to try and find the villain, while Izuku slowly shuffled off towards his home.

Lost in his own head, Izuku didn't realize he had returned to Tatooin Station, until the sounds of explosions broke him out of his daze. He walked over to the crowd and saw the Sludge Villain was trying to take over another kid - and then he recognized Bakugo was the one struggling.

Izuku looked around at the crowd, seeing the heroes looking helplessly onward, and back at the scene. Why aren't they doing anything? Bakugo's going to die and they are just going to let it happen? Even he doesn't deserve to go out like that. Izuku then found himself drawn to Bakugo's eyes. For the first time in his entire life, Izuku saw that Bakugo looked scared.

Seeing that look, Izuku felt something wake up inside of him. Before he realized what he was doing, he had pushed through the crowd and was running toward the villain. What am I doing? How can I expect to fight this guy? He was looking at the villain and once again his training kicked in - but this time he saw a weakness. His eyes, first distract him, then focus - just like I've practiced - then go for his eyes! Izuku saw the villain hesitate for a moment as he opened his bag and threw it towards him, its contents spilling out and peppering him. Executing his plan, Izuku grabbed a pencil out of his pocket and managed to get right next to the villain, and then he stabbed the villain in the eye, causing him to scream and begin to recoil.

The villain loosened his grip on Bakugo and Izuku grabbed his arm to try pulling him out, much to Katsuki's protest. He was only able to partially pull Bakugo out before the villain recovered, knocking Izuku to the ground and looking at Izuku with a death glare as he reached a tendril back to deliver the killing blow.

Izuku cringed. I am going to die. All Might was right.

However the attack never came, because in the next instant, All Might had come up next to him and struck the villain with so much force that he shattered into pieces, the force of the blow creating a massive wind current and changing the very weather. While this was happening, Izuku vaguely was aware of All Might saying something. "I guess I should practice what I preach." But in the heat of the moment, Izuku missed what he was saying.

Izuku numbly went through the process when the EMS came and checked up on him, it wasn't until Kamui Woods and Death Arms came up to him and began reprimanding him that he snapped back to reality. "Listen to yourselves! You are right! It was too dangerous for me to be there! But what does that say about you all? You just gave up! What if he died while you were waiting for someone to show up? Some heroes you turned out to be." He collected his things that were still scattered across the ground, staring at his tattered hero journal before shoving it into his bag, and began to walk away.

Izuku was so distracted by his own thoughts that he never even noticed All Might was watching him the entire time, and that he heard everything.

As Izuku turned into his neighborhood he heard Katsuki yelling for him behind him. Resigned, he turned around and waited.

"Nerd, you didn't save me today. I could have handled that situation myself!"

Izuku just sighed, after everything that had happened he just didn't have the energy to respond with his usual placations. Bakugo didn't seem to wait for them either, just crossing his arms, and with a "tch" turned around and left. Obviously this whole thing is a show to soothe his own bruised ego.

Izuku turned back around to continue his journey, only for the next surprise a few blocks away. As he was walking he heard All Might's signature "I am here!" as he ran out of the alleyway and was now standing in front of him.

"Young man, I owe you an apology, an explanation, and a proposition." Izuku could only stare in shock as All Might's muscular form disappeared in a cloud of smoke, quickly replaced by the skeletal man he saw on the rooftop. He then gave a deep bow. "I had misjudged you in our first encounter. I had thought you were just another fanboy. But then - when that villain was attacking that other young man, your body moved on its own, didn't it?"

Izuku could feel the tears forming in his eyes as his brain was trying to process what was happening. It took all his effort to splurt out a single "Yes" in response to his question.

"That is what I thought. There are many stories about the origins of some of the greatest heroes. Most of them feature a common theme - at the start of their career, they found their bodies moving on their own. You alone acted when the heroes - myself included - did nothing. The fact that you did that so shortly after I reprimanded you only makes the feat even more impressive. So I was wrong about you - you do, in fact, have what it takes to be a hero!"

Izuku collapsed onto his knees at that, the tears flowing freely. There it was, that simple statement validated everything he has been doing. He could feel All Might's presence hovering over him, and a hand was placed on his shoulder while he cried.

It took a few minutes before Izuku was able to calm down and compose himself, before he could look at All Might again. "Do you really mean it?"

"I do, and that is why I owe you an explanation and a proposition. After I lectured you on the dangers of heroism, I found myself unable to act, while you were the only one, in that moment, to truly act as a hero should. It was quite frankly embarrassing, and shows how my own weakness has grown in the past 5 years. You see, the real reason I moved here is to find a successor."

"What do you mean, find a successor?"

"My quirk is a special one. I received it years ago, back when I was also a young man, not much older than you are. My mentor saw something in me - a drive to make a better society. And so she passed her quirk on to me, like a sacred torch. And now, it is my turn to pass that torch onward to the next generation."

Izuku put his hands up to his lips as he entered deep though. "It is true that there has been a lot of speculation about the nature of your quirk, and you have been always been good about keeping it that way whenever you are asked about it, but there has never been a recording of a quirk that can be transferred, at least as far as I am aware." His thoughts were broken by a laugh from All Might.

"Ah, there is your bright intellect showing through. With the proper training, your mind alone will be a force to be reckoned with. But that is getting off track! To further explain - the amount of time I spend fighting villains every day is becoming more limited, and so the plan is for me to become a teacher at UA next year. There will be an official media story about it. But the truth is I am looking for someone to pass my quirk on to, so that they can begin training before I lose the ability to be the Symbol of Peace. Seeing you today, I want you to have my quirk - to be my successor."

Izuku jumped in surprise at that "M-me?!"

"Yes. You made me remember something very important today - something I had forgotten, the very essence of what it means to be a hero. That spark that resides within you - it deserves to be a roaring flame." He held up a closed fist for emphasis.

Izuku began crying again. "T-thank you, All Might."

All Might stayed with Izuku long enough for him to pull himself back together. Izuku then pulled out his phone to add All Might's information, and saw quite a few messages and missed calls reminding him how late it was. After adding All Might's phone number and giving him his own phone number, All Might promised to call him soon to properly begin his training, and they parted ways.

Izuku ran the rest of the way home, riding a euphoric high - all of the bad parts of the day forgotten already. As soon as he entered the apartment he was tackled by his sister. "Izu, you better have a real good explanation for worrying the both of us!"

Izuku managed to get himself to a sitting position as he saw his mom walk up to them. "We saw the news. The TV reporters didn't seem to want to mention the boy who charged into the situation, but we could recognize you anywhere. When you didn't come home right away we both began to worry."

Izuku felt the tears coming back. "A-after the attack, on the way home, I ran into All Might! H-he t-told me I could be a h-hero!"

Izuku wasn't prepared for absolute shock to come over his mom's face as she slid down to the ground as well, tears beginning to stream down her face. "All Might told you that?"

Izuku smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

Inko launched herself at Izuku, wrapping him in a warm hug. "I am so happy for you!"