After a year of training with his new sword and body, Izuku had learned two things.
Firstly, due to his lack of demonic abilities he no longer had access to his blood demon art Crescent Moon Blades. Because of that, his effective range in combat was severely reduced, and he could no longer rely on his crescent blades to dispatch large groups of enemies.
Secondly, he couldn't use any of his breathing forms after six, as without his sword's altered form he had neither the range nor strength to perform them. Save for his eyes, Izuku was no different than a pillar of the demon slayer corps, and though that alone would likely be enough for him to defend himself, Izuku sought to reach greater heights.
For now however, he would have to make do. And though his training had been coming along swimmingly, he had yet to find someone worthy enough to succeed his techniques. All who he had encountered at Aldera Middle School save for Bakugou wouldn't even have survived the Final Selection, let alone eventually surpass him in skill.
Izuku was a big fish in a small pond, and it was time he moved to bigger waters.
…
"Now class, I want you all to think very carefully about your high school of choice. This will influence the rest of your life, so make sure you take all of these factors under consideration." The teacher tapped on the blackboard before returning to his desk.
As soon as he did the classroom erupted in conversations about which schools were the best to choose. During all of this Izuku was in the middle of trying to think of a way to substitute his lack of demonic abilities.
Without my Crescent Moon Blades I'm left at a significant disadvantage in a long-range fight. My only options are to either carry a weapon that will allow me to fight at longer distances or make use of breathing styles that can shorten distances faster than Moon Breathing can. The only ranged weapon I could use that wouldn't noticeably slow me down would be a kunai, but the amount of damage I would inflict would be minimal. I could try to learn breathing styles such as Thunder or Wind Breathing, but I've tried that when I was a demon and the only breathing style that I could use other than Moon Breathing was Water Breathing, which doesn't specialize in speed. What to do…
At this point Izuku had long since learned to use total concentration throughout the day and had tuned out whatever noise happened around him, but upon noticing the future career form in front of him he realized that he should at least put some school down for the sake of the assignment.
Right when he picked up his pen he heard an interesting conversation closer to the front of the class.
"Whoa, Bakugou! You're applying to UA?"" Don't they have a crazy low acceptance rate?" "That's the top hero school in the country!""Are you sure you can get in?" a variety of voices clamored.
Bakugou laughed. "Well duh! UA is for the best of the best, AKA me and me alone. I'm the only one from this shitty school getting in, so don't get any funny ideas!"
The best of the best… Izuku thought back to his goal of gaining a worthy successor. All throughout this life, his contemporaries only failed to impress and pro-heroes only succeeded in disgusting him. It had become obvious that if he was going to gain a worthy successor, he was going to have to train one himself.
Unfortunately, talent like that is a rarity, and pursuing a normal occupation would only distance him from the caliber of individuals he sought. His best option would be to seek out potential successors at a hero school. On top of that, a school specializing in training heroes could teach him much about his potential enemies for when he inevitably met them on the battlefield…Though that day was likely still some years away.
Looking down at his paper, Izuku made his decision and wrote down UA as his first choice.
…
Three minutes after the bell had rung, the homeroom teacher walked into the unruly classroom. "Well class, I'll be handing out your future life course forms!"
The class sat to attention.
"But who am I kidding, you all want to be heroes!"
Before exploding into cheers.
Izuku, on the other hand did his best to tune out the noise.
A loud bang coming from Bakugou placing his shoes on the desk cut through the celebrations. "Hey Teach, don't lump me in with the rest of these losers!"
The rest of the classroom erupted in dissent.
"Get off your high horse, Bakugo!"
"What, you think you're better than us?"
"Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?"
Bakougou slammed his feet on the desk once more.``Oh, shut up already, you damn rabble! I'm going be the number one hero, even better than goddamn All Might! It's only natural that I'd get into UA! "
The teacher's face changed to a slight grim. "Oh that's right, it looks like Midoriya also wants to go to UA."
In stark contrast to Bakugou's proclamation, silence reigned over the classroom.
"Midoriya? Seriously?"
"I thought he'd be the last person to try for UA…"
"What can he even do?"
"He's kinda scary…"
The person in question was ignoring the whispering around him and reading a book on quirk science.
One voice exploded over the others. "DEKU!" Bakugou stamped over to Midoriya's desk. "What the fuck do you think you're doing huh? You think your weak-ass quirk holds a candle to mine? Where do you get off trying to place yourself on my level?"
After a few seconds, Izuku slowly raised his six eyes to meet Bakugou's, and as soon as he did Bakugou reflexively tilted his head down to protect his throat. And then…
He returned to reading his book.
"You little piece of shit…" Bakugou sneered before raising his sparking right hand.
"Now, now, quirk use isn't allowed in the classroom. Bakugou, return to your seat." The teacher interrupted before their fight could escalate.
Bakugou scoffed and started walking back to his desk. "This isn't over, Deku." He says under his breath.
Izuku didn't even look up.
…
After evading Bakugou and his lackeys at school, Izuku started to make his way home.
That Bakugou… Though his reflexes are good and his body strong, his mindset leaves much to be desired. His pursuit of strength is entirely reliant on his identity as a hero, and as long as that remains the case he will never become my successor.
Passing around a corner, he made his way towards an underpass. Not that I have any particular desire to train him. His default response towards any challenge is anger, and uncontrolled anger does not bode well for the Moon Breathing Style.
Izuku passed over a manhole. Control over the mind needs to come before control over the body, after all. It seems finding a worthy successor remains a distant goal…
Suddenly, he heard a rumbling noise from behind him and turned to see a giant blob of slime with two eyes approaching him.
"Well looky here, a medium-size disguise! You'll do nicely…" The monstrosity grew in size as it towered over him.
Izuku narrowed his eyes, unclasped the latch on his guitar case…
And moved.
…
Crap, crap, crap!
The slime villain couldn't possibly have gone far, but navigating these sewers was making this capture harder than it should be.
And right when I'm about to go past my time limit too… I was just supposed to get some groceries damnit!
All of a sudden he heard the sounds of a struggle directly above him. That must be the villain!
Preparing for his dramatic entry, All Might punched the cover right off the manhole and jumped into the light of day. "Never fear! I am-"
And was met with an unsettling sight.
A boy no older than 14 was standing with his back to him facing down a trembling pile of slime, one significantly smaller than the villain All Might had originally been chasing. There was mucus covering the walls, and deep gashes littered the concrete in the surrounding area.
Clearly there was a struggle here. Did another hero neutralize the villain before I arrived? If that's the case, where did they go?
With no one else in sight, he decided to ask the boy before him. "Excuse me young man, but did you perhaps see another hero stop this villain?"
The boy didn't respond.
All Might reached out to him. "Young man?"
Before his hand could touch the boy's shoulder, he turned around and All Might froze.
His eyes.
Gods, what is with this kid's eyes? It's like they're staring right into my soul. And why does he have six of them?
A moment passed.
The boy tilted his head. "You seem familiar… Are you a hero of some kind?"
All Might shook out of his stupor. "W-Well, but of course! The number one hero, All Might, at your service! I was chasing this rogue villain when he escaped into the sewers in an attempt to evade me. I trust you're not injured?"
He shook his head. "I was merely passing through… I came upon this scene entirely by coincidence."
All Might laughed. "Thank goodness! Not to worry citizen, I shall swiftly apprehend the villain!"
With that he scooped up the trembling remains of the villain and placed them inside an empty plastic bottle. Once the living slime had been secured, he turned to make his escape before his time ran out. He was already pushing it as it was. "And with that, I'll be off!"
Bending his legs, All Might prepared to jump to the police station. "Farewell, young-"
"How did you get that injury?"
Suddenly, one his closest guarded secrets was exposed.
All Might violently coughed, blood spurting out his mouth. "W-what? What are you talking about?" He said, feigning ignorance.
However, on the inside his mind was racing. How did he see it? I'm sure it was hidden from view! Does it have something to do with his eyes?Is that his quirk?
Despite witnessing the number one hero cough up a concerning amount of blood right in front of him, the boy showed no emotion on his face. "That injury. Whatever attack that caused it destroyed one of your lungs, a kidney, and most of your digestive system. I was simply curious as to what could have caused that degree of damage."
All Might stared at him in bewilderment, and thought a single word.
Shit.
Before he exploded in smoke.
…
Before Izuku stood a skeleton of a man who, despite wearing the same clothes that All Might had, couldn't have looked more different.
I see… so that's why his muscles were so tense before. And why he was in such a rush to leave… He continued explaining All Might's behavior in his head while waiting for the smoke to fully clear.
When it finally did, All Might narrowed his eyes. "You don't look surprised."
Izuku nodded. "Your weakness was apparent through the facade… though I suspect most people would be fooled."
"Unfortunately, that's the idea." All Might sighed. As long as he could appear to be healthy and fully functioning, he would have to.
A beat of silence passed. "So how did you come to be in such a weakened state?"
All Might, realizing there was no point in hiding the truth further, lifted his shirt to reveal the mass of scar tissue that made up his left side. Even professionals who witnessed it grimaced at its exposure, but for some reason the schoolboy didn't so much as flinch.
"I got this wound from a villian 5 years ago. As you said, it destroyed a lung, a kidney, my stomach and damaged a few other organs. And as a result, I am only capable of working as a hero for about 3 hours a day."
Izuku nodded. "I see… and is that villain still alive?"
"Thankfully, no. In our final battle I stopped him from hurting anyone else permanently. Though he was able to reduce me to this state, as the Symbol of Peace I must never falter to the forces of evil, and always save innocents with a smile."
All Might started to walk away. "And it is for that reason that I must ask you to never speak of what you saw here today. Not even to your friends or family."
Izuku slung his guitar case over his shoulder. "I have no interest in the affairs of heroes or villains… If anyone discovers your secret it will not be through me."
All Might gave a final, thankful nod before departing with the villain in custody.
On the other side of the underpass Izuku started to make his way home, thankful for the peace and quiet.
So that's the number one hero… he's rather imperceptive. Thinking back to the moment where he heard All Might arrive, Izuku realized how close his status as a combatant had been to being discovered. Thankfully he'd been so preoccupied with the villain that he hadn't noticed Izuku slipping his katana back in his guitar case, but nevertheless he needed to practice more caution in the future.
Well, it all ended well enough. Izuku left the darkness of the underpass and stepped into the light.
There was one thing that bothered him, however.
Why does the strongest hero in Japan have the extra toe joint indicative of quirklessness?
…
That fucking Deku…
Walking down the street in front of his two lackeys, Bakugou seethed over the freak that had haunted him all of his life.
Who the fuck does he think he is? Trying to steal my spotlight, when he's nothing more than a fucking villain…
People say first impressions are the ones that stick, and the first impression Bakugou had of Izuku was the feeling of the freak's fist crushing his windpipe. What kind of a preschooler does that? A villainous one, that's kind that should never be allowed to walk the streets, and definitely never walk the halls of UA, a school for heroes.
And yet, Izuku was trying to go to UA.
(And a small part of Bakugou was worried he'd get in.)
What the fuck is his game? Is he applying just to piss me off? Or maybe he's a plant sent by villains?
To Bakugou, Izuku had always been hard to read. Though he'd known him basically his entire life, he could never stare at his face long enough to try to understand what he was thinking. Whenever he does, he's always met with one of the six objects of nightmare that haunted his dreams at night.
His eyes.
No matter how strong he became, how fast he ran, or how loud he shouted, those eyes always seemed to see right through him.
And it's not like he was scared of them. No way that Bakugou, the future number one hero, was scared of some stupid eyes.
They were just fucking creepy.
Yeah, that's it. They creeped him out like they creeped everyone else out.
It's the eyes' fault Bakugou can't get a read on the freak, not his.
It's not his fault that his actions seemed so incomprehensible.
It's Deku's.
Bakugou didn't know why Deku was the way he was. All Bakugou knew for sure was that there was no way in hell that he was going to UA to be a hero.
After smelling cigarette smoke, he turned to one of his lackeys. "Hey, what did I tell you about smoking? I don't want to get in trouble for your fuckups!"
Instead of seeing him chuckle nervously and comply like he usually does, Bakugou saw him drop the cigarette with a look of fear on his face.
Suddenly a voice came from behind. "A skin suit… Hopefully you'll be easier than the last one."
All of a sudden he couldn't breathe.
…
A few miles away, Izuku was considering his options for successors on his walk home.
It will be another 10 months before the entrance exam to UA, until then I won't have any other candidates for succession besides Bakugou. I've scoured the local gangs and dojos of Mustafu, but no one I found has the kind of innate talent worth cultivating…
Walking on the sidewalk, he couldn't help but lament the state of the martial arts and swordsmanship in this new world.
Everywhere I look I see an overreliance on these quirks; they neglect physical training, develop no techniques, and prioritize frivolous showmanship over combat practicality. But they will see.
Thinking of the thousands of swordsmen he had felled in his previous life, Izuku narrowed his eyes.
One day they will see that their way of life is not strong enough to defend their society against those capable of destroying it.
A few moments later he heard an explosion coming from the shopping district. Though at first he had simply elected to ignore it, more explosions soon followed.
A series of explosions… not a gas main or a single bomb. They're panicked, seemingly at random, and at varying sizes and intensities. Likely the result of a quirk,. More specifically, Bakugou's quirk.
Izuku started making his way towards the explosions.
…
Upon reaching the shopping district he came upon a chaotic scene.
Bakugou had been almost entirely covered by the slime villain Izuku had neutralized earlier, and in his panic was releasing random explosions in a desperate attempt to free himself. The resulting explosions had destroyed the fronts of surrounding buildings, and ignited more than a few fires.
Hm.. it seems that the villain was able to escape custody… Apparently All Might is both imperceptive and incompetent.
Heroes had arrived at the scene and were trying to contain the situation, putting out fires and holding back civilians, who had come to spectate the chaos as though it were a show.
"Why aren't the heroes doing anything?"
"Isn't All Might supposed to show up?"
"When is the action going to start, at this rate I'm gonna be late…"
Disgusting. Izuku couldn't help the disdain from showing on his face. Who do these weaklings think they are? What right do they hold to speak of haste?
Further down the street, heroes were observing the villain, trying to find a weakness to exploit in order to rescue the hostage.
At least, that's what Izuku had assumed they were doing, but pushing through the crowd and listening closer revealed otherwise.
"None of us have the right quirk to deal with this!"
"There aren't enough lanes for me to get through!"
"We've got to wait for someone with a more advantageous quirk!"
"I feel sorry for the kid, but he'll just have to wait it out."
Izuku sees red.
…
A torn battlefield.
Blood covers the floors.
Four humans stand against an impossible foe, immune to fists, guns, or steel.
His only vulnerability is the sun, whose light cannot reach the darkened confines of the fortress.
Despite their weakness, despite their fragility, despite their fatigue, despite their wounds, the humans fight.
They hold blades while missing limbs. They attack weaknesses despite being blind. They utilize blood demon arts though they are human.
They fight knowing their deaths are almost certain.
Despite their resolve, their strength is not enough. The demon still draws breath, his neck intact. Eventually, they will falter, and the demon will reign victorious.
They need to finish this now.
They make a desperate attempt to close the gap between them, dodging dozens of slashes, employing all of the techniques they've learned, using every last ounce of energy in their bodies to move forward, until…
…
Izuku tries to calm himself down.
These so-called heroes aren't even deserving of the air they breathe.
He fails.
Though they were my enemies, the demon slayer corps fought an impossible battle every night. They were foolish, but I could respect their tenacity, their will. But this…
He looks again towards the heroes doing nothing.
Is this what humanity has fallen to? Izuku clenches his fists. Are these the inheritors of the world the demon slayer corps fought for?
Died for?
No. Izuku reassured himself. This world has no connection to the one I know. The denizens of this society are simply accustomed to the comfort of a peace they do not deserve.
In an attempt to distract himself, Izuku focuses on Bakugou's current state. He won't be able to hold out much longer. The oxygen deprivation will lead to permanent brain damage if he isn't released soon…
On any other day he would have turned around and left. If Bakugou was too weak to survive his encounter with the villain, then it was always his fate to die. His strength simply was not enough, and nothing could change that.
But the comments of the "heroes" aroused feelings of rage that had been dormant for 14 years. And if these heroes truly believed that they needed the assistance of their betters to resolve the situation…
Then Izuku was happy to oblige.
…
Things were looking really bad.
The slime villain had decimated most of the store fronts, and the hostage was still struggling to breath in the mass of mucus and smoke.
"Death Arms, can't you try throwing a car to distract the villain?"
Not if I want to explain to the media why I flattened a kid to paste!
"Negative, too risky! We have to wait for someone with a better quirk to show up!"
I feel like shit for standing around and practically doing nothing while the kid chokes on slime, but what other choice do I have?
Death Arms moved to keep the crowd at a safe distance. This is the best I can do… Good luck, kid.
It was then that he noticed a middle-schooler with his head down slowly making his way through the crowd, carrying a guitar case on his back.
"Hey kid, it's too dangerous here. I'm gonna need you to get farther back."
The boy didn't respond.
"Kid, you listenin' to me?" Goddamn brats, so desperate to get a view of the action.
The boy still remained silent.
Death Arms started to lose his patience. "Hey, get behind the-"
And then the boy was gone.
Making a swift dash towards the slime villain, he threw away his guitar case to reveal a katana with a size about the length of his legs. Unsheathing the blade, he ran far faster than his size seemed to suggest possible.
"Are you suicidal, kid?!","Get back here!","Is that a goddamn katana?" A variety of voices clamored.
But none of that seemed to bother the student. He simply continued down his path, hurtling towards the source of the destruction.
Finally, the slime villain noticed the lone assailant. "What, you again?! Oh no, no way in hell you're getting me this time!" Picking up a trashed car, he tossed it with the force of a speeding train.
"Second Form, Pearl Flower Moongazing." Suddenly, three slashes cleaved through the remains of the car, separating them just enough to allow him to pass through unharmed while the metal and asphalt crashed together behind him.
Trying again, the villain picked up some loose concrete remains of the street and hurled it in the same form of a shotgun blast towards the approaching threat. Instead of deflecting the wall of debris headed his way, the boy slid towards a fallen store sign to use as cover before jumping over it and continuing his rush after the danger had passed.
How the hell is he bouncing around like that? I thought his quirk was his eyes!
Realizing he was getting closer, the mass of slime aimed one of Bakugou's explosions towards the base of a crumbling wall in an attempt to crush Izuku, who drew his sword once more.
"Sixth Form, Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon." Six slashes tore the wall to pieces where it stood, allowing Izuku to finally reach striking distance of his opponent.
Changing tactics, the slime villain threw a wave of slime at the six-eyed swordsman in a desperate attempt to overwhelm him with mass instead of speed.
To his surprise, he found his target had vanished from his sight.
The villain panicked. Where the hell did he-
"Fifth Form, Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy."
From below, a vortex of blades consumed the center of the villain, separating him from his prey and splattering his mucus across the ground.
"AAAARGH, FUCK!" Screaming in frustration, the bubbling remains of the slime villain attempted to reform itself in order to retaliate against the immediate threat, but to his surprise saw the boy calmly sheathing his sword while walking away.
IS THIS GODDAMN BRAT TRYING TO MAKING FUN OF ME?
Raising what was left of his fist, the villain prepared to crush both the hostage and his savior together.
"LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS, YOU GODDAMN-"
'DETROOOIT SMAAAAASH!"
The last thing he saw before getting blown into the stratosphere by All Might was the disappearing form of the boy with six eyes.
…
Walking home, Izuku was thankful for the All Might's eventual appearance. Both because it gave him an excuse not to permanently blind the attacking villain and because it allowed him to quietly slip away while fans and media alike swarmed the number one hero.
That was my first real combat experience in 14 years… My skills and reaction times have become lacking. He crushed an empty can underfoot.
Though my training is adequate, I clearly need to practice sparring with a variety of opponents, otherwise I will become complacent. The only trouble will be finding individuals worth sparring with. The vast majority of them are little more than children swinging their favorite toys.
"DEEEKKUU!"
And speaking of children… Izuku turned around to face the explosive blond he had saved.
Panting as though he had been running for a while, his classmate stood across from him, clenching both of his fists. He was refusing to make eye contact with Izuku. Judging from his demeanor, he has no intention of expressing gratitude or regret.
He was disappointed. I had hoped that the life-threatening experience would have motivated him to reconsider his indignant approach to life, but it seems he's even more stubborn than I had assumed.
"I didn't need your goddamn help alright!?" He yelled. "I could've gotten out of there all by myself, you just got in the way. Just because you had an excuse to cut shit up doesn't mean you're any less of a villain, you got it!?" And with that, he ran off.
… What a pitiful child. Well, at least he's gone.
Finally free of distractions, Izuku could make his way home and-
"I AM HERE!" Dashing from around the corner, All Might made his presence known.
Truth be told, Izuku was starting to seriously consider unleashing a technique on the next person who interrupted his journey home.
"Greetings, All Might. Is there something you wanted?" Forcing a neutral face, Izuku tried to end the conversation as soon as possible.
"There is, young man." He paused dramatically. "The truth is, I wanted to-" A torrent of blood came out of his mouth as he transformed back to his normal form.
Izuku once again had to wait a few seconds for the number one hero to stop coughing blood so they could resume their conversation.
All Might eventually returned to breathing normally. "The truth is, I wanted to thank you for what you did for me today."
Izuku tilted his head. "Whatever did I do for you?"
The gaunt man pointed a finger at him. "When everyone else was standing by and letting that villain torture that young man, you and you alone rushed in to save him. You made me remember what it meant to be a true hero, and allowed me to push past my own limits to save you both."
I was not the one in need of saving, but very well.
"Though I do not know why you carry a katana, I do know this: You have the heart of a true hero. Your body moved before you could think, yes? That's exactly what separates you from the rest, my boy."
He stepped closer to Izuku. "You can be a hero!"
Izuku stared incredulously at the man in front of him.
What in the eight hells is this man talking about?
"Well, thank you very much for the compliment, but I must be leaving now, farewell."
"W-wait! There was something else I wanted to discuss!"
Izuku was starting to lose his patience. "Yes? What else?"
"Young man, the truth is… the truth is that I want you to be my successor!"
…
All Might had been searching for years, and finally he'd found him.
His successor.
He'd been pushing his limit as it was, and he knew that he was running out of time to find someone to pass One for All to. However, Lady Luck had smiled on him today, bringing him the perfect hero to train into the next symbol of peace. All he had to do was accept.
But the boy was silent.
"Young man?"
"...You want me… to succeed you?"
All Might beamed. "But of course! You demonstrated a heroic nature like no other! It's only natural that I would want you to inherit my quirk!"
The boy's eyes narrowed. "Inherit? You were given your quirk by another?"
"Indeed!" All Might laughed "It's a stockpiling quirk that grows stronger with each transfer, it's called-"
"I refuse."
All Might's breath hitched in his throat. What?
"I have no need for a burden like that."
"B-but why? The quirk itself bestows enormous strength, you'll be able to save more people than ever before! Please, at least-"
"I already bear one legacy. I do not need another." The boy turned around a corner.
"A legacy? Wait, young man-" All Might rounded the same corner to follow him...
But he was already gone.