Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Toshinori's Choice
Chapter three: Proving worthy
Toshinori, in his All Might form, woke Izuku up and confirmed that he was safe. Toshinori remembered doing this in the alternate timeline where he had failed to be a good step-dad, but in the alternate timeline Izuku coughed and gasped rather strongly, highlighting the overall weakness he had. Here, Izuku although he still coughed a bit, was able to recover much more quickly. Toshinori was attributing this to how alternate timeline Izuku was a skinny beanpole at the time while the Izuku here had done a lot of working out to get into shape.
As Toshinori predicted, Izuku freaked upon seeing him, but then again he was looking at All Might and not his step-dad. Izuku had asked Toshinori for his autograph, but soon saw that it was already in his notebook. As Toshinori stood there, Izuku said, "I, umm, I wanted to thank you."
"It's alright, citizen," Toshinori said, keeping up his All Might form as he was not yet quite ready to reveal himself to his step-son, "It's all in a day's work for me to save civilians from vil-"
"Actually, All Might," Izuku said, "Umm, sorry for interrupting you, and I do appreciate that you saved me from that terrible sludge villain just now. But that's not why I wanted to thank you." Looking up at Toshinori, Izuku said, "About half a decade or so ago, you saved my dad, well technically he's my step-dad, from getting really badly hurt by a terrible villain that you fought. You saved him and a few others even though you got hurt badly from what my dad Toshinori told me." Smiling up at who he didn't yet know was his step-dad, Izuku said, "Thank you for having saved my dad, All Might."
Toshinori did NOT remember this part of this conversation from the alternate timeline; alternate timeline Izuku didn't thank All Might for saving Toshinori. The Symbol of Peace was attributing that to how, in the alternate timeline, he honestly wasn't all that good a dad to Izuku, causing Izuku to grow bitter towards him overtime. But here, Izuku went out of his way to specifically mention Toshinori to All Might, so that he could thank All Might for having saved Toshinori's life several years ago. Izuku also spoke and felt as if Toshinori was his REAL dad.
Toshinori, as he stood there in his All Might form, was honestly touched. Just by being there for Izuku and trying his best to be a good dad to the green-haired boy, the Symbol of Peace had prevented the return of the embittered, cold, cruel, indifferent boy that would go on to help villainy win and take over Japan. Instead, standing there in front of Toshinori was the warm, sweet, kind-hearted boy who went out of his way to specify that he was thanking him for saving his step-dad's life. Toshinori felt that he had already done a significant part to prevent the bad future.
Nodding once to Izuku, Toshinori said, "Ah, so you're Yagi's step-son. Izuku, right?" After Izuku nodded in the affirmative, Toshinori went on, "Yes, I got word about you from the others at Might Tower, how Yagi was able to arrange for you to use the work out facilities there. He mentioned that you were something of a beanpole when you first started working out there."
"Yeah, I guess I was a pretty skinny kid," Izuku admitted, laughing a bit out of embarrassment. To Izuku's surprise, Toshinori then picked him up and then leapt out of there with all of his might, taking him on a trip through the air.
"Sorry about the rush, but we ought of gotten out of there so we can find a more private place to talk," Toshinori said, "Don't worry, Young Midoriya! I'll keep a tight hold on you so you don't slip!" Speaking of slipping, Toshinori felt the bottle he shoved the sludge villain into slip out of his pocket. He did recall, in the alternate timeline, that he lost that bottle, which led to the sludge villain escaping, capturing Bakugo, Izuku rushing in to try and pull Bakugo out of there, and then Toshinori himself going in to pull the boys out of danger.
The slip happened before Toshinori could have stopped it, but he was thinking that it might actually be for the best; Izuku rushing in to save Bakugo despite being quirkless was a rather impressive feat, and if it happened again then it'd be the excuse Toshinori needed to carry out another part of his plan to prevent the bad future. And Toshinori remembered the events from the alternate timeline; he knew when to step in when need be, so he could safely prevent anything bad from happening to either of the boys.
Eventually, Toshinori and Izuku landed on a certain rooftop. After the safe landing, Toshinori sat Izuku on his feet and asked him, "Are you alright, Young Midoriya? I'd hate for something bad to happen to you."
"You're too considerate of me, All Might," Izuku said, "But, umm... while I have you here, there's something that I wanted to ask you." Looking up at All Might, Izuku asked, "Is it possible for someone like me to be a hero, even though I don't have a quir-"
*BAMPH*
At that moment, Toshinori undid his All Might form and resumed his true form, although here in the current timeline it was somewhat intentional; in the alternate timeline, Toshinori couldn't exactly control it, couldn't keep it from happening. But here, Toshinori let it happen. But there one thing Toshinori in this timeline had yet to see; how Izuku would react to learning that he was All Might. When the smoke faded and Izuku saw his step-dad standing there, the green-haired boy instantly had a rather surprised freakout.
"D-Dad?!" Izuku said, "What's going on?!"
Letting out a sigh, Toshinori said, "I... guess that it's time I told you, my boy." Gesturing to himself, Toshinori said, "The truth of the matter is that I don't work for All Might, I am All Might."
Izuku looked stunned, utterly surprise. "...So you mean to tell me that I have a bunch of merchandise of my dad," Izuku said.
"I was worried how you'd react, so I feared telling you," Toshinori said, "But the cat's out of the bag now, I-"
"-Am even more awesome than I had originally given you credit for," Izuku said.
Looking surprised, Toshinori remarked, "Excuse me?"
Getting excited now, Izuku said, "I always knew that my dad was a great man, but to learn he's actually All Might, the greatest hero ever?!"
"So..." Toshinori said, "...You aren't upset with me that I withheld this info from you and your mom? Oh, by the way, your mom still doesn't know, so please don't tell her."
Nodding once, Izuku replied, "Don't worry, dad. Your secret's safe with me." Gesturing to All Might, Izuku went on, "And I also understand that you couldn't tell me. Hero work sometimes involves withholding sensitive info from others. It's just part of the job of being a pro hero!" Izuku then relented, looked a bit unsure. "...So, umm, that brings me back to my question. All Mi... no, dad. Can I still be a hero, despite how I don't have a quirk?"
Toshinori inhaled through his nose, exhaling through the same. "...As I told you once before," Toshinori said, "Being a pro hero is dangerous work, even for those with the strongest and most powerful quirks, such as myself. You being quirkless puts you at an even greater disadvantage. That being said." Placing his hand on Izuku's shoulder, Toshinori said, "Are you, absolutely and without any doubt, certain that becoming a pro hero is what you truly want to do, my boy?"
"Yes, no question about it," Izuku replied instantly, "I don't care what hardships I'll face, I still want to be a hero. I want to do good, especially since I just found out that my favorite hero is the best hero ever, so I wanna follow in his footsteps."
Looking confused, Toshinori said, "But Izuku, you've known for the longest time that All Might is the-"
Toshinori was cut off when Izuku gently shook his head. "I wasn't thinking of you as All Might," Izuku said, "I was thinking of you as, well, you. I was thinking of my dad."
The Symbol of Peace felt his heart skip a beat, touched by the care and love his step-son had for him. It made Toshinori smile. Patting Izuku on the shoulder, Toshinori went on, "Well then Izuku my boy, there's something I want you to do before I can give you a definite answer." Removing his hand from Izuku's shoulder, Toshinori told him, "Prove it to me that you have what it takes to be a pro hero." Toshinori then leapt away, saying he had to take the sludge villain in to be handled by the police. Even though he knew that the sludge villain had gotten away.
But he knew it wasn't going to stay that way for long.
...
Things then happened in a similar fashion as what Toshinori remembered from the alternate timeline; the sludge villain took Bakugo hostage, Izuku rushed in despite the danger to himself, Toshinori in his All Might form rushed in and utterly wrecked the sludge villain, and the day was saved. Some of the present pro heroes on the scene came over looking like they wanted to scold Izuku, but All Might told them that he could handle things here, and instead asked the present pro heroes to look after the boy who was almost taken by the sludge villain.
The other pro heroes, respecting All Might due to him being the number one hero and Symbol of Peace, let him go about as he wished. As such, All Might left, leaping away with Izuku tucked under his left arm like a sack of potatoes. After finding a secluded spot on top of another roof, Toshinori changed back to his base form in a puff of smoke. Letting out a breath, Toshinori asked Izuku, "Well young man, can I at least ask you what you were thinking?"
"Umm... promise you won't get mad, dad," Izuku said, "But I... umm... wasn't thinking." Izuku then proceeded to explain that he just saw that Bakugo was in trouble, and that no-one was doing anything (not even the pro heroes on scene, something Toshinori took a mental note of for later), and that worry for Bakugo's safety and well-being overrode everything else in his mind. So he rushed in and tried to pull Bakugo to safety. Only difference in this timeline from the alternate one that Toshinori remembered was Izuku here being a lot more successful; a testament to his working out.
Toshinori never really bothered to get why Izuku tried saving Bakugo in the alternate timeline, and he felt that had he done so, he could have prevented the bad future the first time around rather than on this second time around. The reason being was that Toshinori let out a good natured, sincerely amused laugh. "Well done, my boy!" Toshinori said, "You really have proven yourself! You totally have what it takes to be a hero!"
Looking surprised, Izuku said, "I-I-I do?"
Smiling warmly at Izuku, Toshinori said, "Let me explain. Many of the greatest heroes have similar starts, and those starts involve acting without even thinking to save someone in need. You, my boy, have just risen to such a spot because you without thinking acted to save the life of someone who was in danger. I daresay it's your first step to becoming a great hero!" Izuku, overwhelmed, began crying as he threw his arms around Toshinori and cried into his chest. Toshinori continued to gently smile, as he knew that Izuku was truly grateful that he had someone believing in him, in his dreams.
And having that someone be his step-dad no less made things mean even more to Izuku.
Things continued along from there in a manner similar to what Toshinori remembered from the alternate timeline, only rather than Bakugo there, it was Izuku here. The first thing that Toshinori did was check to see how physically fit Izuku was; in the alternate timeline, Toshinori checked Bakugo's fitness level before giving him One For All, and while Bakugo had already come with some level of physical fitness that was necessary, Toshinori had him work out a good bit more before bestowing upon him the power that was passed down to Toshinori himself.
But here with Izuku, he was more than physically fit enough to safely receive One For All right off the bat. Toshinori attributed this to the exercising and working out he had Izuku do since he was four. The build-up of strength and fitness helped Izuku make up some for lacking a quirk, and he actually did better than a lot of his peers in school during fitness tests, especially since said tests barred the use of quirks. There was also how the tutoring that Toshinori, aka All Might, was able to afford for Izuku helped to shape him up even more than he already was in academics.
But that's beside the point. Given that his step-son was already more than ready, Toshinori passed One For All down to him by having him eat a strand of his hair. The Symbol of Peace explained to Izuku, like he did to Bakugo in the alternate timeline, that passing down One For All required the giver to have the receiver ingest some of the giver's DNA as the giver wills the transfer to occur. As such, Izuku ingested a strand of hair Toshinori plucked from his head. Toshinori could feel the transfer occur, but it gave him more hope for the future.
The transfer to a successor also occurred here a lot earlier than it did in the alternate timeline. Back there, Toshinori when he first took Bakugo under his wing had him work out for five months until he was strong enough of body to get One For All, then he gave him the quirk, then he tried training him in using One For All up until the UA Entrance Exams which took place five months after Bakugo got One For All from Toshinori. Here, Izuku got One For All from Toshinori about the full ten months prior to the UA entrance exams, which gave him extra time to train to master the power.
Toshinori also wanted to do the training differently; in the alternate timeline, Bakugo hurt himself more than a few times trying to use and master the power of One For All. Toshinori wanted to avoid that here with Izuku, so the Symbol of Peace swallowed a nervous gulp and called up someone he hoped would be willing to help him; his old mentor Sorahiko Torino, also known as Gran Torino, a former pro hero who was now retired. Gran Torino had been friends with Toshinori's predecessor in using One For All, Nana Shimura, and the older pro hero had trained Toshinori himself.
In the alternate timeline, it wasn't until Bakugo got some training and tips from Grand Torino that he was able to begin using One For All's power safely in a way other than using it to power up his base quirk Explosion. Toshinori figured that if Izuku got tutelage from Gran Torino from the get-go, then he'll do even better. Toshinori, after he explained to Gran Torino that he'd like his help in training Izuku properly so he could safely use One For All, was surprised when his old mentor agreed. "It's about damn time you picked a successor, Toshi," Gran Torino said, "Although I wouldn't have guessed that you'd pick your step-son."
"He's a good young man, sir," Toshinori said, "And he's got real heroic potential."
Gran Torino nodded once, offered an amused smirk. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, ehh? And it's good you came to me to help with the boy's training pretty much right after you passed One For All onto him. Knowing you and how bad you'd be as a teacher, you probably would have messed up, done something that'd of led to the boy hurting himself."
Toshinori nodded in agreement. "That's why I sought you out, sir. I really don't want Izuku hurting himself too badly, if at all, in training if it can be helped."
Looking to Toshinori, Gran Torino asked, "How much do you want me to do with your boy, Toshi?"
"As much as what can be done before the UA entrance exams," Toshinori replied.
Sorahiko let out a breath. "That's in about ten months or so." Looking back down from the ceiling to Toshinori, Gran Torino went on, "If all goes well, then your boy will have about ten months of time with a quirk before he goes to try out to get accepted into UA. He'll be competing with kids who have had their quirks for at least ten years each. A bit of a disadvantage, to be sure." Smirking in amusement, the old hero said, "But let's see if I can't reverse that disadvantage, ehh?" From the way he sounded, Sorahiko seemed like he was given a challenge he was going to have fun completing.
...A part of Toshinori worried for his step-son Izuku.
The time between Toshinori passing One For All down to Izuku and the days leading up to the UA entrance exams flew by. When Izuku wasn't working on his academics both at school and with the tutors (Izuku now knew why his dad was able to afford him such good tutors; his dad is All Might), Izuku had trained to further his control over using One For All's power under Gran Torino. As expected, Izuku did hurt himself the first time he tried using One For All. But it was nowhere near as bad as the times in the alternate timeline where Bakugo tried using it outside of powering up Explosion, and Recovery Girl was brought in to heal Izuku back up.
Early on in the training, Izuku made a breakthrough due to seeing Sorahiko heat up some food in a microwave; Izuku was trying to use One For All through one point in his person and do as much as possible, but from seeing Sorahiko complain about the microwave not heating his food up properly, Izuku realized that rather than try to concentrate power in one spot and use as much as possible, he ought to take only a safe amount his body can handle using and spread it out as evenly through his body as possible, like the heat in a microwave spreading out evenly to heat up food. This method, which Izuku dubbed Full Cowling, let him use a bit of power safely.
That bit started at about five percent of One For All's power, and increased from there gradually over the course of Izuku's time training under Sorahiko. By around the halfway mark in the time Izuku spent training under Sorahiko, the green-haired boy reached being able to use twenty percent of using One For All safely. At that point, Sorahiko suggested that Izuku try coming up with a move that was basically casting a projectile attack, like All Might punching the air and sending a gust of wind right at the target. Inspired by that idea, Izuku went about trying to use such a move, but very nearly threw out his arm in the attempt. No breaking, though.
Izuku was able to find more success by focusing the force through a smaller point than punching forward with a fist; flicking something forward with his fingers. Izuku felt he nearly broke a finger when he tried it the first time, but the resulting concussive blast of air he had cast was a lot more focused and controlled than the wild blast of air made by punching forward with his fist. Seeing the issue was relieving burden on Izuku's fingers, Toshinori called in a favor to Power Loader, who was going to be one of his eventual co-workers at UA as Toshinori was still intending to start working there as a teacher starting in the upcoming school year.
This resulted in the production of a pair of bulky looking gloves with a cover over the wrists, and little golden vent nubs along the knuckles. Wearing these gloves, Izuku tried to flick forward a concussive blast of air again, only this time not only was it stronger and more refined, but the burden on his fingers pretty much didn't exist. Izuku was now able to safely use his concussive air projectile attack. He hadn't come up with a name for it yet, but he was leaning heavily on something that was a bit of a homage to the moves used by All Might; so maybe a 'Smash' type move. Toshinori was amused his step-son was taking so much after him.
The remainder of the time before the UA entrance exams flew on by with little incident; there were no problems in Izuku's training, and Toshinori still did his work as All Might. During the times leading up to the UA entrance exams, another Hero Billboards Charts JP announcement went out, and as predicted All Might remained as the number one hero, with Endeavor remaining as number two. Toshinori heard rumors that Endeavor was annoyed with being number two yet again, but he pushed those thoughts out of his mind, as he wanted to focus on making sure that things were set up to let the newest batch of hero students learn to be heroes.
Toshinori was especially wanting it for his step-son.
...
The day of the UA entrance exams came in the current timeline, and Toshinori was nervous for multiple reasons. He went to UA ahead of time from Izuku to fill out the last of the work he needed to handle in order to officially start teaching there, then he in his true form found someplace where he would be able to watch it as the kids trying out this year to get accepted into UA would take the practical portion of the entrance exams. The Symbol of Peace was very nervous indeed, but Toshinori had a lot of faith in Izuku, his boy, and knew that he was going to do him proud no matter what.
As Toshinori thought of other events in the alternate timeline, and wondered how he could prevent them here in the current timeline, he jumped a bit when he looked up and saw on the monitors that the practical portion of the entrance exams were starting. Toshinori saw that Bakugo was also taking part but was in a separate arena from the one Izuku was spotted in; that makes sense, as students from the same schools were separated during the practicals here to prevent team ups. Toshinori was glad that Izuku was separated from Bakugo for this.
But it wasn't necessarily due to wanting to prevent them from teaming up; Bakugo here in the current timeline was a FAR more agreeable person overall, and a lot of his rough parts from the alternate timeline were worked out. But he was still gruff, still referred to most everyone by demeaning nicknames of some kind, and was still a bit much on the rough side of things with others for Toshinori's tastes. Toshinori's efforts over the years to eliminate bullying and discrimination in schools had helped a lot, and Bakugo was proof of that to the Symbol of Peace. Toshinori's efforts even kept the suicide bating incident from occurring here.
But the explosive teen was still a bit rough, still a bit gruff. Toshinori was hoping to keep work out Bakugo's rough patches because, as much as he didn't like Bakugo's roughness in the alternate timeline, Toshinori knew that the boy still had the skills and strengths needed to be a phenomenal pro hero, even though here Bakugo didn't get One For All. Due to remembering Bakugo so much from the alternate timeline, Toshinori kept an eye on the explosive teen's work in the practical portion of the UA entrance exams here in the current timeline.
But Toshinori was still nonetheless more invested in Izuku's progress. And hoo boy, did Izuku impress. Izuku couldn't bring any gear with him, so he didn't have his special gloves. As such, he just unleashed Smashes to wreck up the villain robots. Izuku racked up a very considerable score, and if Toshinori did his math right then his son was going to beat the score Bakugo was racking up. But then, getting close to the end of the practical portion of the entrance exams, Toshinori saw Izuku do a truly heroic feat, an act that made Toshinori all the more sure Izuku really DID have what it took to be a pro hero.
Izuku had encountered one of the Zero Pointer robots and was gearing up to just vacate the area, but stopped short upon hearing a cry. Toshinori saw it as Izuku located a notably obese girl trapped under some slabs of rubble. Toshinori had no idea who the girl was, but Izuku for some odd reason apparently recognized her as he rushed to her, picked up the slabs, threw them at the Zero Pointer with pinpoint aim to hit it in its electronic eyes, then grab the notably plump girl and rocket out of there. The judges awarding points gave Izuku a load of rescue points for this act.
Shortly after that, the buzzer indicating the end of the practical portion of the exams came to an end. Toshinori looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Izuku not only got the most villain points out of all the competing students as he destroyed a lot of robots, but he also got the most rescue points out of all of the competing students for saving that mysterious plus-sized girl. Izuku got a total of eighty villain points and sixty rescue points, for an overall score of one-hundred and forty points. Toshinori did indeed have faith in his step-son, but he was still amazed beyond words Izuku placed first in the UA entrance exams, and as well as he did.
Izuku had been accepted into UA.
Toshinori, as much as he wanted to, couldn't tell Izuku how he did. Instead, he same as Izuku had to wait until the letter from UA came. A hologram-playing tech disc fell out of the envelope and played for Izuku a video of Toshinori in his All Might form while wearing his yellow suit, where Dad Might was barely able to contain his excitement as he told Izuku he passed and got into UA's hero course. Toshinori recalled recording LOADS of said videos to be sent out to students telling them if they got into UA's hero course, or got into UA but not the hero course, or sadly failed to get in.
Toshinori saw, by only looking at the faces of the students, that a bunch of the kids from the alternate timeline's doomed Class 1-A got into UA's hero course, such as Bakugo. Toshinori failed to located Hitoshi Shinso who was in the alternate timeline's Class 1-A. He also failed to see the Uraraka girl. Toshinori was sad for the sakes of Shinso and Uraraka, but maybe not being in Class 1-A here would further help keep them safe from harm in the current timeline. It had been ages since Toshinori saw those faces, the faces of innocent, hopeful heroes-in-training who ultimately were all killed.
Toshinori felt himself acquire a new goal; in addition to nurturing his step-son, Toshinori was also wanting to help those faces, faces that like him have a second chance to do good. He wanted those kids to become the heroes he knew all of them could become. Toshinori planned to look into finding Shinso and Uraraka to see if he could do something to help them, but for now Toshinori had to be content with the fact that he had helped to nurture his step-son into becoming one of the finest hero course students that UA High School, Japan's top heroics academy, had ever seen.
...
Toshinori, in his base form, was at a staff meeting at UA, before the first day of school began. Principal Nezu, one of the exceedingly rare cases of an animal getting a quirk, wanted to go over a few things with the staff before the current school year could start. "Anyway, I would first like to thank Toshinori here, who we all know is All Might," Nezu said to the staff meeting, "Because his zero tolerance against bullying campaign that he started up over a decade ago in order to help combat bullying and discrimination in schools had made it so that UA last year had a zero percent rate of incidents of bullying and discrimination."
"We actually were able to claim for real that we were bully-free last year," Hizashi Yamada, otherwise known as Present Mic, said as he patted Toshinori on the back, "You're even more of a hero now than you were in the past, All Might!"
"I have to agree," Shouta Aizawa, otherwise known as Eraserhead, remarked, although he was a lot more subdued than Hizashi. "The elimination of such behavior, in addition to stamping out habits that could lead one down a villainous path, also grants a measure of peace to those who would have otherwise suffered under barbaric behavior from others. A safe, peaceful environment is ideal to help students learn better."
Nemuri Kayama, otherwise known as Midnight, smirked in amusement. "I heard talk that All Might actually has a step-son, and that said kid is starting his first year of high school in UA's hero course."
"Yes, and that's part of why I called for this meeting," Nezu said, "Toshinori's step-son, who is Izuku Midoriya, is something of a delicate case given who Toshinori is. We must keep his relation to the number one hero of our nation under wraps, and Toshinori has assured me that he already stressed this point to Izuku himself." Toshinori gave an affirmative nod; it was agreed that, for everyone who didn't need to be in the know, Izuku's step-dad was merely a secretary doing work for All Might over at Might Tower, rather than All Might himself.
Looking to Aizawa, Hizashi said, "Whoa Sho, you're lucky as balls! You got All Might's kid as one of the students in your homeroom!"
"At least he's got a firm, stable grasp over his quirk," the underground hero said, "That's what I want in my students."
Toshinori remembered in the alternate timeline that Aizawa was a very firm man when it came to training his students, but he still was more than willing to put his life on the line for them. The underground hero had proven this when he fought in the USJ attack and was killed trying to save his students. Toshinori hoped to prevent as much death in this timeline as possible, and he already had a plan to circumvent things in the chance the USJ attack occurred here; there were a few different occurrences in this current timeline that set it apart from the alternate one, and it gave the Symbol of Peace more hope that the bad future that happened in the alternate timeline could be prevented here. As far as he knew, the USJ attack may not even happen here.
...It may not happen, but Toshinori was planning to take a 'better safe than sorry' approach.
END, CHAPTER THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Toshinori work with Izuku to help him master as much of One For All as possible before the UA entrance exams in the current timeline. Due to how things were done differently in the current timeline, Izuku is ready to receive One For All pretty much immediately, and spends the ten months prior to the UA entrance exams training. Long story short, a way stronger and more trained Izuku passes with flying colors. The next chapter'll cover the first few days Class 1-A has as students of UA.