AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews, everyone!

Despite it being the first day of Golden Week, Izuku sat at his desk working on homework. His training schedule didn't care about the holiday, so he hurried to finish his schoolwork. That way he could spend what free time he did have over the vacation on the highlight of Golden Week for him - UA's Sports Festival!

It was a time-honored tradition in the Midoriya household that the first three days of Golden Week would be spent watching the festival together. Inko would make drinks and snacks and then mother and son would sit on the couch to watch as the next generation of hero hopefuls were given a chance to show their quirks to the world. Last year they added Himiko to the tradition. Even if she sat on the side of the couch and paid more attention to the family that was fostering her, she was more than happy to just be included in the tradition.

Oh, what a difference a year made!

This year, Himiko was one of the twenty hero students UA that were the highlight of the whole festival! It was a testament to how far she had come.

Izuku knew that he'd pay for it later by pushing his exercise off until late in the evening, but he didn't care! Once he finished his homework and the three-day event was over, Izuku could take it easy and use his free time to recover. And so he pushed ahead, trying to get as much done before Himiko got home.

Fortunately, he had gotten through most of the work by the time he heard the familiar sound of their apartment door slamming open.

"Mom, Izu, I'm home!" Himiko called out from the entrance.

"Welcome back Himi! How'd it go?" His mom's voice drifted further away as she went to greet her daughter.

"No Spoilers!" Izuku turned his head and shouted, cutting off his sister's response. He knew his mom wanted to know. And of course Himiko knew, but he didn't! And what's the fun of watching if she told them what happened already?

"I'm happy," Himiko told her mother. A few seconds later she poked her head into Izuku's room, with a huge grin on her face. "If you don't want spoilers you'd better get out here! Otherwise, I'm going to start telling Mom everything!"

Izuku tried to muster up a glare, but it fell apart immediately, replaced with a smile of his own. Setting his pencil down to mark his place, he traded his schoolwork for his analysis notebook and followed his sister to the living room. There Inko had already set out a small tray of treats and drinks, and the three settled on the couch, Himiko wasting no time as she leaned into her mom's side.

Once they were settled and the tissues were ready, Inko pressed play on the recording, and they watched as Mic began the opening ceremonies.

"Oh no!" Izuku exclaimed when he saw the third-round pairings go up.

"You see it too huh?" Himiko grimaced.

"What's the matter?" Inko asked as she looked. "Why is Hotoko such a problem?"

"She's sparred with Himi enough to know exactly how she fights," Izuku said. "And Himi hasn't had enough time to truly become unpredictable yet."

"And Suko has a quirk to help her out," Himiko grimaced.

"Oh, I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be," Himiko assured her mom. "Just… watch and see what happens."

Inko grabbed a tissue and rubbed her eyes. "Okay."

Grabbing the remote, Izuku pushed the fast-forward button. While the next thirty minutes have Mic giving a brief biography of the students in the top sixteen, right now it matters more to him and his mom that they saw how Himiko did. Besides, Izuku knew how Himiko felt about his hobbies and she would be bored the entire time. He'd much rather watch that segment later tonight when he's by himself and able to focus completely on the segment.

As the match started Izuku felt his mom tense up as she gripped Himiko, watching the crowd's reaction to her using her quirk like that. He carefully looked at his sister, who didn't seem to be nearly as bothered by the response as he thought she would - that means something good must have happened. Afterward, they watched the match between Himiko and Atsuko. It was close, but in the end Himiko lost.

"I'm so sorry Himi," Inko said, tears streaming down her face as she wrapped herself around her daughter.

"I-it's ok Mom!" Himiko insisted. "I got to show off my quirk, and that's what mattered!"

"How did people take it?" Izuku asked.

Himiko smiled at him as Inko pulled away, as tears threatened to fall. "They- they were impressed! Even if they didn't find the blood part cute, they were excited by what Transform did!"

"That's great!" Izuku found himself getting excited.

"Yep!" Himiko grinned. "It's- there's a lot of work to do, but it's a start!"

"Oh Himi," Inko pulled her daughter into a hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, Mom," Himiko felt tears falling. "I couldn't do it without you- either of you."

After a few minutes, everyone calmed down and they resumed watching the festival. The top sixteen didn't actually show off many quirks, much to Izuku's disappointment, as many students couldn't- or didn't- know how to leverage their quirks to an advantage.

In the second round, Izuku had to wince when he saw Himiko's two friends facing off.

"Hotoko's got training over Hideo, but Hideo's ability to absorb kinetic energy through the palms of his hands makes it really hard to move his blade," Izuku said as he watched Atsuko and Habiki both slide into a relaxed stance.

"Yeah…" Himiko trailed off as she watched the replay. "Suko's good, but Hideo's quirk is too good for this kind of thing."

Atsuko put up a valiant effort as they both used very defensive strategies, but Hideo eventually won. After the match, he bowed to his opponent as she was rubbing her arms.

"Hideo actually felt bad, Suko lost feeling in her left arm and needed to see Recovery Girl afterward," Himiko explained.

"Wow," Izuku breathed, "that must have been intense."

"It's different when you see it up close, isn't it?" Inko asked her daughter.

"Yeah," Himiko bit her lip as she watched her friends on television, "I know I wasn't paying attention last year but… it felt different being there."

"Everyone's ok, right?" Izuku asked.

"Yep!" Himiko admitted, "Recovery Girl is amazing!"

For the second round in a row, Emily won her match effortlessly, once again placing Himiko's friends against each other for the third round. Unlike Atsuko, however, Emily was willing to fight aggressively. She kept creating bright lights as she danced around him, throwing them in his face as she weaved around, watching his movements become more erratic and unsteady as he was blinded and distracted. She took full advantage of the situation, weaving in to score three quick points and claiming victory.

"Looks like Hideo found his match," Izuku muttered as he scribbled in his notebook. "Song knew better than to face him head-on and tried to disable him instead."

"Yep," Himiko grumbled. "Song knew that was the only way she was going to win and so she took it."

"You don't sound too happy about that," Izuku said.

Himiko rolled her eyes. "Keep watching, you'll understand eventually."

On the other side of the bracket, they saw Fuwa - a general studies student and former member of 1-A, defeat Kenji Ryo, Himiko's classmate with a Super Regeneration quirk.

"What kind of quirk is that," Izuku said as he watched the pink-haired girl intently.

"Some sort of cloud generation and teleportation quirk," Himiko muttered. "She can emit these thick clouds from her body and move in them freely."

"Is it like Yuki's quirk?"

"Maybe?" Himiko said uncertainly.

Izuku bobbed his head as he began writing questions in the margins of the page. Even if he didn't get the answers from his sister, perhaps Mic would give a better explanation in the part that he skipped. Or he could ask his sister's classmates… eventually.

Or next year he could ask Fuwa herself.

Finally, after Mic hyped up the match, the finals began. As Izuku watched, a thick fog seemed to emanate from the pink-haired girl, only for a blaze of searing white light to cut it to ribbons. This set the tone for the final match - which became a race between Fuwa's ability to generate her clouds and Emily's ability to burn them away. Without her mobility advantage, Fuwa proved to be slower than the American girl, and Emily was able to eventually score three points, winning her the sports festival.

"And that's why I'm mad that Song beat Hideo," Himiko said as the crowd was cheering on the winner. "She's going to be so insufferable for months."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Inko tried to assure her daughter.

"You haven't met her," Himiko crossed her arms as her eyes narrowed at the zoomed-in shot of Emily, her face radiating in joy.

"I'm sure it'll turn out okay," Inko said.

"I hope so," Himiko grumbled.

Izuku made the last notes in his notebook before closing it, then stood up and stretched. "Thanks for watching with us, Himi."

Himiko's pout disappeared as she looked at her brother. "Not like I had any choice, it's a Midoriya thing."

"Don't say that," Izuku protested. "You could've always hid in your room!" Himiko looked as if she bit into a lemon, causing Izuku to smile. He knew Himiko enjoyed spending time with him and their mom, even if she refused to admit it.

Inko smiled warmly at her two children as she stood up, and decided to take pity on her daughter. "I'm sure Himi is tired after her long day, why don't you go finish your homework Izu while I start dinner?"

"Yeah!" Himiko brightened. "I'm going to go take a nice hot shower and get into something comfy."

Returning to his room, Izuku saw a notification on his phone - he had a new message waiting for him on his support forums. Deciding he had a little bit of time before going back to work, he opened up his laptop and pulled up the site.

From: Froppy

Subject: UA Sports Festival

Hey SmallMight. I don't know if you've watched the Sports Festival yet but one of the first years made a big splash today. It turns out she has a blood-based quirk and used it on camera in the third round when everyone was paying attention to her.

There's already a thread talking about it here.

I don't know what that girl's situation is, but maybe you can show your friend a recording (yes I know you've recorded it) and let her know that she's not alone, and there's someone out there at UA, of all schools?

And before you ask, I'll be watching a highlights reel later tonight. I'll let you know when I'm done if you want to talk.

Have a good evening,

~Froppy

Izuku felt like he was punched in the gut as he read the message. Himi's already getting attention? And from the same support group he's on?

Fumbling with his touchpad, Izuku clicked the link to the thread and began scrolling. There were already dozens of posts! On this particular forum, there were only two people who openly admitted that they have blood-based quirks, and one of them, in particular, was praising her bravery, hoping she would set a shining example for other heroes. The other was much less boisterous, simply saying how they cried when they saw the footage themselves.

"Himi…" Izuku said, feeling a sudden weight in his stomach.

Look at all the good your sister is doing by being unafraid of who she is.

Izuku looked down at his hands before he closed his eyes, his memory of the day All Might flooding back to him.

"If I'm using One For All… can I really say I'm fighting for quirkless people anymore?"

Himiko found herself excited when she returned to school the following Monday. Not only was she going to get her internship offers, but they also were going to select their hero names!

After lunch, Kan-sensei handed out their internship offers. Himiko felt overwhelmed by the fact that she had almost a hundred offers! Plus the forty offers available to every student!

It's a good thing Izuku is so smart! He'd be sure to help her pick the perfect offer.

She hadn't even made it through the list of offers when Kan called everyone to attention and handed the class over to Kayama for the afternoon. While Tomoe passed out dry-erase boards to everyone, Kayama gave a brief explanation of what makes a good hero name. She then warned everyone that while the names they chose now weren't permanent, they would only have one chance to change them - when they received their provisional licenses next year.

"I believe that is everything." Kayama smiled at the students as she leaned on the podium. "Does anyone have a name chosen already?"

"I'm ready!" Emily's hand shot up before anyone else had a chance, and Midnight gestured for her to come to the front.

"Because my quirk is creation and manipulation of light, I decided to go with a star-themed name!" Emily explained before flipping her board over. "I am The Shining Light Hero: Polaris!"

"The name clashes with your costume," Midnight mused, "however it is thematically appropriate for your quirk, I like it!" Midnight bobbed her head before she looked back at the rest of the class. "Is anyone else ready?"

Atsuko raised her hand next. "I'm ready." Standing up, she walked to the podium before turning to the class. "Much like Song, I've chosen a name based on my quirk. I want to be The Protection Hero: Skyshield."

"It is simple and to the point. I approve!"

Refusing to be outdone by her friends, Himiko raised her hand. "Me too!" Jumping out of her seat, Himiko raced to the front of the room. "Much like my costume, I'm keeping with a vampire theme. It just… feels right," Himiko explained as she revealed her card.

"Oooh, very striking," Midnight mused. "But the word bloody doesn't exactly have a positive connotation."

"What about Kan-Sensei?" Himiko asked. "He is literally the Blood Hero."

Midnight gave her a small smile. "You are correct. But there is an important difference between you two - while your quirk relies on blood, his quirk involves him manipulating his own blood." Midnight paused, deep in thought until her face lit up in inspiration. Uncapping her marker, she crossed out one of the words and replaced it. "What do you think of that?"

Himiko looked at the revised title and felt her smile grow. "I like it!" Spinning to face the rest of the class, she showed them her revised hero name.

"I am The Crimson Heroine: Carmilla."

Izuku sat at his desk, his personal hero notebook sitting on a blank page.

"Izu!" Himiko shouted as he burst into his room. "I need your help!"

"Himi!" Izuku squeaked out, grabbing his notebook and slamming it. "What are you doing here?"

Himiko laughed. "I was going to say I was sneaking up on you, but you're so stuck in your head that a bad guy could have walked right up to you." She crossed the room and draped herself over him. "Whatcha working on?"

"I was just thinking about what it means to be a quirkless hero," Izuku admitted. "After your stunt at the sports festival."

Himiko rolled her eyes. "Why do you have to make things so hard on yourself?"

"Huh?"

Himiko separated herself and spun the chair around, before jabbing a finger into Izuku's chest. "Izuku, you are what matters. You-" She let out a sigh, looking like she was fighting herself to get the words out. "We both know why I'm doing this. But you- you've been wanting to be a hero ever since you were little! Before you found out you were quirkless, even! You're so smart and driven! It'd be unfair if you had a quirk," Himiko laughed.

Izuku couldn't help but laugh, feeling a tiny bit better. "Thanks, Himi. I think… I needed a reminder."

"Well, good thing your big sister is here to help." Himiko grinned at him.

"I guess so," Izuku smiled back. "So why are you here?"

"Oh yeah," Himiko grabbed her bag and fished out a tablet. "I've got too many internship offers and need your help!"

Izuku extended his hand. "Let me see." Taking the tablet from his sister, he began scrolling through. "It looks like most of these are underground heroes."

"That figures," Himiko replied. "Good to know they were paying attention!"

"A hero-led detective agency sent you an offer as well, but you'd find that boring," Izuku mused before hitting the bottom of the list. "I don't see anyone with a blood-based quirk on the list."

"Of course not." Himiko sighed. "That'd make things easy." She leaned over Izuku again. "What are my options that aren't underground?"

"That doesn't sound like you," Izuku said. "What's up?"

"It's something Song said," Himiko admitted, looking like she was ready to gag. "How we shouldn't focus on the same type of heroics all three years. If I'm going to go underground, I should intern there later. Which means something different now."

"Oh," Izuku unlocked the screen and began scrolling, his face lighting up as he stopped on an offer. "Mr. Brave actually is an interesting option."

"Who's that?" Himiko asked.

"He's a hero in the 200's, but the important part is his quirk. He turns his hair into swords and other weapons."

"So he can teach me more ways to fight?" Himiko asked excitedly.

"Exactly!" Izuku said, "And he'd probably be able to help with image management. People don't really like seeing villains all cut up."

"Their loss," Himiko said.

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Himi…"

"Fine," Himiko sighed before she snatched her tablet from Izuku's hands and looked over the offer. A grin split her face as she read the blurb. "He sounds perfect. Thanks, Izu." Himiko hugged her brother. "You're the best!"

After Himiko left, Izuku spun around and opened his notebook again. As he stared at the blank page he thought back to his sister's words.

It'd be unfair if you had a quirk.

Was Izuku thinking about this the wrong way?

Putting his pencil down, Izuku opened his laptop and opened All Might's debut video. He's watched the video thousands- tens of thousands of times over the years, and it never grew old. He hadn't even pressed the play button yet, and he already felt the smile as it formed on his lips. Pressing the button, Izuku watched as All Might appeared with his signature "I Am Here."

Pausing the video, Izuku examined All Might. As he stared at him, his eyes suddenly went wide.

Of course! All Might was once weak, too!

All of All Might's feats - his role as the number one hero - according to him, none of that would have been possible if he didn't meet his mentor. His reach - his influence. All of it was because he was given One For All!

And now, All Might wanted to give it to him. To give them the strength to enact his vision.

Izuku pulled up the forum thread about Himiko and scrolled through it. He was really happy for his sister, but she was Himiko, and he was Izuku. She would inspire people in her own way. He, on the other hand…

He wasn't trying to be like that. He wanted to help everyone - not just those who are quirkless. He wanted to be like All Might. Someone who was a symbol - someone who inspired hope in people. No matter who they were. Quirked or quirkless, mutant or emitter, heroic or villainous quirk - they all deserved hope.

Izuku closed his eyes, once again confident that accepting One For All was the right answer.

"Thank you Himi," Izuku whispered.