Quirk Isekai Tensai
Chapter II: Origins
Mount Lady's debut went about the same, though Izuku winced at hearing Kamui Woods' statement, especially knowing that this measly purse-snatcher was nothing compared to even the childish Shigaraki, let alone a true incarnation of evil like All For One. The only change was his reaction to the men and their 'money shot' chant. Pervs, he thought, though he was a little surprised that, at the very least, his hormones weren't agreeing with them. Oh well, it was something to think on later, after All Might and One For All. Maybe it was just his mind doing his best to be as different from Mineta as possible?
At school, everything went according to script until Chisaka-sensei mentioned that Izuku wanted to go to UA as well. Since Kacchan knew his abilities, he actually defended his rival when everyone else laughed. "Deku may be quirkless, but at least he works hard enough to make up for it!" Then he turned towards the other boy. "But don't think that means I'm going soft on you, Deku! You're still not going to go to UA!" Eh, such was the unusual dynamic they now had. Kacchan now wavered between hating him even more, and actually respecting him depending on his mood.
Izuku just smiled and said "Well, I guess we'll see what the teachers at UA say, won't we Kacchan?" That ... was the wrong thing to say, as he pulled Hero Analysis for the Future #13 out of Izuku's hand, blew it up and threw it out the window. "Why did you have to turn my dreams into fishfood, Kacchan?"
"Get this straight, Deku, you're not going to UA."
"Beat me in the next spar and maybe I'll consider it, Kacchan," Izuku growled out. Bakugou stared at the other boy, utterly confused. Usually that was enough to at least set him off, if not result in an out and out fight. Something strange was going on with his rival, and he didn't like it. Shortly after the confrontation, Izuku managed to get out of class to retrieve his notebook, which fortunately didn't seem too badly damaged, or at least, no more than the first time. Then, after class, he headed towards his destiny, putting some final touches to his costume design ... until the sludge villain jumped him so quickly, he didn't have time to react. All Might, please hurry, Izuku thought as the sludge villain smothered the greenette to death. It couldn't end like this, could it? Izuku passed out just in time to see All Might appear and save him. When he woke up, he fanboyed over All Might just as much as the first time, after all, it had been ten years since he had seen his idol turned mentor, and longer since he had seen his hero form. Then he prepared to leave ... but Izuku couldn't let him! "Wait, I just have one question to ask!"
"Unfortunately, I don't have the time to answer any questions. Thanks for your continued support!" he called out. Fortunately, Izuku had grabbed onto his leg and history continued. Once they had landed and Izuku had recovered from the trip, he asked the question. "I'm a normal kid without any powers, but I'm still determined to be a hero. Could I ever hope to be a hero like you?"
"Without a quirk?" he asked.
"People think I don't have a chance, that not having a quirk makes me weak and useless. My classmates make fun of me, but that only makes me more determined, it makes me want to prove them wrong! I've wanted to be a hero since I was a little kid because I thought saving people was the coolest thing one could ever do! I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe, and be the kind of hero everyone looks up to, just like you!" Then he looked up and saw the real Yagi Toshinori once again. "Sweet Susanoo, what happened to you?!" doing his best to sound like he had no idea what was going on.
"First, let me assure you that I am All Might," he started, blood dripping out of his mouth. "You know those guys at the beach that suck in their gut to look buff? I'm like that."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Izuku started. "Sure, there are quirks that can turn a skinny guy into a buff guy, but they always come at a cost, usually to speed or stamina, somethingyou'veneverhadtodealwith. You'vefoughtforhoursatatimeandatspeedschallengedonlybyactualspeedstersbutwhythecynicism?You'retheherothatsavesthedaywithafearlesssmileand-"
"There's plenty of fear behind that smile, kid," he stated, cutting off the teens' muttering. With that he sat down and showed Izuku his wound again. "Pretty gross, right? I got this in a big fight five years back. My respiratory system was shot, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have worn me out, and nothing can be done now. I can only do hero work for about three hours a day as a result; rest of the time, this is what I look like."
"Five years ago? But the only big fight you had that was shown was against Toxic Chainsaw, and I know he couldn't have done this kind of damage to you," Izuku said. "This happened right before you disappeared for six months, didn't it?"
"You know your stuff. Yeah, I kept this fight under wraps, didn't want anyone knowing about it even before the fight started. Only a handful of people even know it happened, all of whom I'd trust with my life. I'm the guy who's supposed to always be smiling, right? I'm the Symbol of Peace. People everywhere have to think I'm never afraid or daunted by evil. Honestly, I smile to hide the fear inside and to trick myself. It's just a brave face I put on when the pressure is high. This job isn't easy. Pro Heroes are always having to risk their lives, some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So no, I don't think you can become a hero, not without a quirk."
Izuku looked at him and smiled, remembering how many times he had already risked his life for others. "I know you have to risk your lives every day, All Might. Knowing you're afraid just makes you one of the bravest men I've ever known and makes me want to be a hero even more. I'm going to take your words as a challenge to do even better than before!" Toshinori simply stared at the greenette, as if he couldn't figure him out, then he told Izuku to go for a more attainable dream and walked out. "Damn! I had hoped I'd be able to simply talk him around here. Now what am I going to do?" That's when the explosion went off, and Izuku paled, as he knew what had happened. "Not again, Kacchan's going to kill me for that!" He then checked his bag for a special something he had bought specifically for this day and ran off.
Izuku ran off as quickly as possible, but he still got there after All Might did. Even worse was that he heard several people questioning not only the local heroes, but even All Might! How long had All For One and Shimura been campaigning in secret against the heroes? Seconds later, he spotted Kacchan and charged off after the villain. The greenette been preparing for this day since he came back, and he had a plan this time. Once he was close enough, he yelled "Let him go, you damned bastard!" Then Izuku threw his bag, hitting the villain in the eye which allowed Kacchan to breathe again.
"Dammit, Deku, what are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Do you really think I could just stand by and watch you die, Kacchan? Besides, there was something in your eyes asking for help; I had to do something!" The villain then moved his head down towards Izuku, allowing him to do the most dangerous thing yet: Izuku slashed at the villain's eye with a knife, a move actually inspired by Stain. However, it only enraged the creature, and he moved to crush the teen, only for the arm to be caught.
"I really am pathetic," All Might said. "I told you the traits that make a true hero, but I see now I wasn't living up to my own ideals or putting what I said into practice. Pros are always risking their lives, that's the true test of a hero!" he yelled as he grabbed Kacchan and hit the villain with a Detroit Smash. As before, the smash obliterated the villain and started a brief shower.
The heroes and police gathered up the scattered remains of the villain and carted him off to Tartarus, the media swarmed All Might, some heroes praised Kacchan for standing up to the villain and his quirk, while others turned on Izuku. "You moron, do you have a death wish?" Kamui demanded.
"There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger like that!" Death Arms agreed.
"No reason?" Izuku demanded. "Kacchan is practically my brother, and you lot were standing around doing nothing while he was being smothered! I can think of something that three of you could have done to save him, yet you did nothing. Either of you could have at least pulled Kacchan out, fire or no fire, Kamui! And Backdraft could have washed the villain away! But no, you just stood there! At least I tried, and you can never make me regret it." The two blanched, though whether they were shocked at what Izuku said or if he actually made them regret their actions, Izuku had no idea. (He suspected the former, though.)
Kacchan caught up with him afterwards, yelling at the other boy about looking down on him, but Izuku stopped him there. "Kacchan, I would never look down on you, let alone think of you as weak. You're one of the strongest people I know."
"Then why did you try to help?"
"Because sometimes, even the strongest person in the world needs help, Kacchan. Besides, All Might saved me from it before, and it was my fault he managed to escape and get ahold of you. I'm sorry."
Kacchan just stood there for a moment before saying "Thanks, for at least trying to clean up your mess. But I still don't owe you anything!" he yelled before storming off again.
Then, right on schedule, All Might showed up. "If you hadn't told me about your life, if you hadn't run into that fight, I'd have been another worthless bystander and eventually become a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk, unworthy of being called a hero. So, thanks. You told me you didn't have a power, so when I saw this quirkless boy with more guts than sense try to save a life, it inspired me to act too. There are stories of every hero, how they became great. Most have one thing in common: their bodies moved before they had a chance to think, almost on their own."
His eyes burst into tears, because while Izuku had prepared for the events, he had once again moved without thinking about it. Six months of work as a hero were hard to suppress, especially when they strengthened one's natural instinct. "And today, that's what happened to you." Then he said it, the words that only he had ever said before Izuku had his quirk: "Young man, you too can become a hero." The tears flowed like a river once again. Then he said it. "I deem you worthy of my power. My quirk is yours to inherit."
Now, even though Izuku had been looking forward to those words for more than ten years, he still reacted as he had before. No point in giving up the game this early. Besides, there were no hints whatsoever that One For All existed throughout history, and he had looked hard, hoping to find the other wielders. "Huh? What do you mean, inherit your quirk?"
"There are a couple things you should know about my abilities. Journalists always guess my quirk as Super strength, some kind of invulnerability or boost, when people ask in interviews, I make a joke and dodge the question. That's because the world needs to believe their Symbol of Peace is just a natural-born hero like any of them. But I'm going to tell you the truth: there's nothing natural about my ability. I wasn't born with this power, it's a sacred torch that was passed on to me from someone else! And you're next: I can give you my abilities!"
"Wait, hold on, this is a lot to process! It's true, there's a lot of debate as to what your quirk actually is, I see it discussed all the time on forums. Nobody's ever figured it out, it's one of the biggest mysteries out there. But well,theideaofaquirkbeingpassedonbysomethingotherthangeneticsisallbutunheardof.I' -"
"STOP NERDING OUT!" Toshinori yelled at him. "I've hidden things, but I've never lied. You're going to have to adjust your reality and accept this new truth. I can transfer my quirk to someone else, the power to transfer power is just one facet of my secret ability. The true name of my quirk is One For All. One person cultivates the power, then passes it to another person. It continues to grow as it's passed along. It is this cultivated power that allows me to save those in need of a hero, the truth behind my strength."
"But why me, All Might? Why give your quirk to me of all people? What if I can't live up to it?"
"I was on a long hunt for a worthy successor, and then, I watched you jump into action as the rest of us stood idly by. You may just be a quirkless fanboy, but you tried to save that kid. You acted like more of a hero than anyone else there."
"And you couldn't have found others like that at UA?" Izuku asked. "I'm sure that's why you're here in Musutafu in the first place."
"You're right, Principle Nezu did have a student in mind to be my successor, he may even be a worthy one. Why choose you though? Hmm." Toshinori thought about that for a minute before responding. "Because I see an unquenchable fire in you, young Midoriya, the kind of fire that One For All feeds until it is a star shining in the darkness. What do you say? Do you want One For All or not?"
"Like I could possibly say no to an opportunity like this! Of course my answer is yes!"
"No hesitation or reluctance, that's exactly how I figured you'd respond. Good, in that case, meet me at Takoba Beach tomorrow morning."
The next morning, Izuku had his mom drop him off at the beach early and went back to work cleaning the beach. By the time All Might had arrived, he had finished clearing out the new garbage that had washed up. "Huh, I honestly thought this place would be much worse off than it is," Toshinori said.
"Oh, it used to be horrible," Izuku replied as he dropped off another piece of garbage. "But I saw it four years ago and decided someone should clean it up, and since the government wasn't, then why not me?"
"Well, then that means this shouldn't take as long as I feared."
"Umm, what shouldn't take as long?" Izuku asked, again to keep up appearances.
"You're not physically ready to take on my quirk just yet. The combined physical abilities of everyone who's ever used it creates a hurricane of pure force. An unprepared body can't fully inherit it. Your arms and legs would shoot off if you tried to! I was afraid preparing your body enough for it would take until the entrance exams for the hero schools. But with any luck and your work before hand, we should be able to finish in plenty of time, not to mention give you time to practice with One For All." Then he turned to the teen and asked "Why did you decide to clean the beach in the first place?"
"I want to be a hero, even without a quirk, and before quirks, heroes were the ones that did community services without being asked or paid for it. I figured, even if I never became a Pro Hero, I could at least do this." Then something hit him. "Wait, if physical fitness is needed to handle One For All, then what about you, All Might?"
"Hmm? What about me?"
"Well, your other form is basically a skeleton, and you said you've lost your stomach, right? I'm betting you haven't been taking care of yourself as well as the doctors would like, which would mean you're losing time as a hero as a result." All Might just stared at me in shock while Izuku pulled out his phone. "Hey, mom, could you prepare another place for supper? Oh, and make something for someone who doesn't have a stomach, please?"
"Of course I can do that, Izuku. But may I ask who you're bringing home?"
"It's someone from Might Tower, Mom. He's helping me train for UA, but he won't accept payment. And about five years ago, he was hurt in a villain attack and lost his stomach, he hasn't been taking care of himself since. I was thinking a decent meal would be a good way to thank him."
"Oh, Izuku, you and your big heart! Of course we can do that! In fact, tell him that if he doesn't come every day he helps train you, I'll come down to that beach and drag him to dinner by the ear! Ooh, and I need to find out what's safe for him to eat ..."
Izuku couldn't help but laugh at the idea, and the image he had in his mind. "I'll tell him, Mom."
"You know, you don't have to do that," Toshinori said.
"I know, but I do owe you for helping with this. Besides, I want to make sure you live to see me graduate, and I'd worry about you if you didn't take better care of yourself." Toshinori turned to him and Izuku gave him the saddest puppy-dog eyes he could. Of course, he caved, but not before insisting that they come up with a cover story about One For All. Izuku immediately suggested that they say he had a power accumulation quirk, one that naturally took a while to build up to a point where it was noticeable. Toshinori gave him an odd look, but agreed to go with it.
And that was how Inko was introduced to Yagi Toshinori. She immediately realized why Izuku had called and took over his diet and it became common for the teen to see Toshinori with some kind of protein shake whenever he was training with him. In fact, by the time Izuku finished his training, his mentor was back to a relatively healthy weight and had boosted his time limit up to five hours. A week into said training and Izuku brought up one of the subjects he hoped to get help with. "Yagi-sensei, do you think you could look into something for me?"
"Oh, what's that, young Midoriya?" Izuku simply handed him a couple papers, which only raised the hero's curiosity. When he read the papers though, he understood some of it. The first was a small article concerning Todoroki Rei, Endeavor's wife being put in an insane asylum while the second concerned a fire that supposedly killed Enji's eldest son, Touya. "What do you want me to look into?"
"What happened to Mrs Todoroki, and did anyone ever find out what caused the fire? What about Touya? Did anyone ever find a body or is he still technically missing?"
"Tell you what, I have a friend in the police, so I'll talk to him and see what he can dig up."
Six months of training passed and Toshinori deemed Izuku ready to inherit his quirk again. "Someone told me this once: There's a difference between being lucky and deserving. One's an accident, the other a reward. Never get the two confused. Take that to heart, young man. This gift, you've earned it through your own valiant efforts. Eat this!" he finished, offering me one of his hairs. "To gain my power you have to swallow some of my DNA," he explained as I just stared at the hair
"Well, could be worse, I suppose," the greenette said as he took it.
"How's that?" All Might asked.
"Well, at least you're not some kind of perv," Izuku hinted with a smile probably reminiscent of Kacchan. All Might immediately collapsed into Toshinori, coughing up blood at his comment. Izuku just laughed and ate the hair.
