Chapter 18: Reconciliation and Truth

After a couple of minutes to calm himself down Izuku exits his room to head back to Mr. Yagi's office. After a lot of thinking Izuku felt like it was the right time to confront him about everything that had happened up until that point. Despite Izuku being upset at AllMight for what he said to him on the roof that day he could see where AllMight was coming from, especially with his injury that has been plaguing him for years. The life of a hero is a dangerous one even for those at the pro level. Even the #1 hero can succumb to injuries. What was a kid who was quirkless for 14 years of his life supposed to accomplish.

AllMight was just telling Izuku the truth about the dangers of being a hero and as much as Izuku didn't want to hear it at the time, now he understood what AllMight meant. Izuku decided that it was time to confront AllMight man to man, clearing the air between them so that there doesn't have to be any "ill-will" between them if you can call it that. Unlike Katsuki, Izuku doesn't hate AllMight and is willing to hear him out. As he approached the #1 hero's office knocked on the door and Izuku made his presence known.

Izuku: "Mr. Yagi, it's Izuku Midoriya. Is it alright if I come in and have a talk with you sir?"

Toshinori: "Young Midoriya? Uh yes, come on in."

Izuku opened the door to see the #1 hero sitting down trying to shake off some nerves would appear, as the hero seemed to have been sweating bullets earlier. Gaining his composure he offered Izuku a seat across from him where the young man sat down.

Toshinori: "My apologies, I just got off the phone with an old friend. To what do I owe the pleasure of another visit, Young Midoriya?"

Izuku: "It alright AllMight I understand, look there's something that I want to get off my chest that's been bothering me for a while now. It has to deal with our situation."

Toshinori: "I figured this would come up sooner rather than later, it's been weighing on my heart for a long time as well Young Midoriya. What I said to you that day on the roof, I'm sorry I never meant to destroy your dream like that, I was just in a hurry so that you wouldn't see me in my real form. Plus looking back now I was foolish and forgot where I came from."

Izuku: "No, AllMight. You were right. The dangers of being a hero are serious, case in point your injury that you suffered all those years ago. An injury so severe that you're now limited to how long you can be a hero. If that happened to the #1 hero then what could a quirkless loser like myself have accomplished. It's just all my life I was told I couldn't be a hero because I didn't have a quirk, always being mocked and belittled, saying that dream was nothing but a joke, to the point where my own mom couldn't give me the words I wanted to hear after that day at the quirk doctor."

As Izuku clenched his hands into a fist. AllMight could tell that the young man's past was still a rather sensitive topic to him. As Izuku took time to breathe in and out in order to control his emotions. He wasn't going to let his past dictate who he is anymore.

Izuku: "Regarding everything that happened in my past, when you saved me from the sludge villain I knew that I just had to ask you whether or not it was true. Was I in over my head about wanting to be a hero despite not having a quirk. When I heard your answer it honestly broke me…. I didn't think I had anything else to live for at that point….if it wasn't for me getting kidnapped I honestly doubt I'd be having this conversation with you."

AllMight couldn't believe it, the young man had even contemplated suicide if it wasn't for him getting captured by the league of villains. AllMight couldn't help but feel guilty for not being able to truly understand the young man's struggles at that moment in time.

Toshinori: "Young Midoriya, please tell me? Are you truly alright? Be honest with me son? I am here for you."

Izuku: "To be honest AllMight…no, no I'm not alright but it's a slow healing process…..just have to get all this anger, frustration, and sadness out one way or another. Perhaps it's about time I check myself in for therapy. It's a lot of emotional baggage that's underneath all this fur."

AllMight couldn't help but see the sadness in the boy's eyes. His outburst towards Bakugo was only the tip of the iceberg, has the boy never truly been able to express his feelings to anyone, not even his own mother, or has he felt that his feelings never mattered because of how society has changed and viewed those with a quirk in higher regard then the quirkless or those with "villainous" quirks.

AllMight: "Young Midoriya, I was just like you once, believe it or not. I the #1 hero was also quirkless in my time, of course quirks weren't as prominent as they are in your lifetime and there wasn't any discrimination or at least a large amount of it as quirks were still a phenomenon that most people were getting used to. I wanted to be a hero myself but I didn't have a quirk, but it never stopped me from trying to help people. It was one incident where I didn't know what happened but all of a sudden my legs started to move on their own and I tried to help as best as I could. In the aftermath of it all I was approached by a woman who scolded me for trying to take on a group of villains with a pipe."

Izuku: "Wait? You were quirkless as well AllMight?! You, the #1 hero was quirkless?!"

AllMight: "All through basically my teens, it wasn't until I met that woman who eventually became my Master when I realized what being a hero meant to me, it was about becoming a symbol of hope for people who were living in fear at the time. Of course being quirkless my master thought I was crazy but she took a chance on me and with the help of my other master Gran Torino I would become her successor."

Izuku: "H-How did you become her successor if you were quirkless?"

AllMight: "Young Midoriya, what I'm about to tell you mustn't leave this room. It's very important that we keep this between us."

Izuku nods his head in confirmation as AllMight continues.

AllMight: "My Master had passed down her quirk to me, it's known as One For All. It's been passed down from user to user. I'm currently the 8th user of the quirk and have been for the past 40 years, however due to my injury that I suffered at the hands of my greatest adversary I'm currently on borrowed time, I've been searching for a worthy successor to continue on my legacy of OFA or perhaps at the very least until I rid the world of the enemy once and for all."

Izuku: "A transferable quirk? That's insane. Then it has to be the strongest quirk in the world, especially if it's been passed down for 8 generations."

AllMight: "Indeed, the reason why I'm telling you this now is because it's only right that you know the truth about me, I was once in your shoes once. There were times where I wanted to give up on this hero gig, especially when my master had died fighting the adversary that I was talking about prior. But as long as you have a smile on your face you can overcome anything in your path. Your living proof of such a feat. All the hell that you endured throughout your life and your still living to this very day and even after getting experiments on, you chose to survive. Even if you decide to never be a hero, you can still help someone out there by telling your own story, " Young Midoriya."

As AllMight walked over to place a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave him that signature smile that he's known for. Izuku could only look to the ground as his body started to shake as tears began to pour down his face. Finally after so many years of being labeled as a joke, a liability, a loser, and even suicide baited, finally someone had given him words that he wanted to hear. Ironically it was the man who had held deep regret for what she said to Izuku on the roof over a year ago and is taking responsibility for that moment. Even going as far as to tell him about his quirk that got passed down from his master to him.

In another timeline, AllMight may have offered the quirk to Izuku so he can pursue his dream of being a hero and become his successor. However it was clear to AllMight that the boy definitely wasn't mentally stable to handle that responsibility with all the emotional baggage that he carried with him. AllMight gripped his other hand into a fist as he allowed for Izuku to cry and be there for him.

AllMight: "Young Midoriya, I swear that I'll make things right so that you and children who have also dealt with situations like yours are brought to attention. I'll make sure the people of Japan hear those words from my mouth directly so they know I won't be playing around!

Izuku: "Thank you…..AllMight…Those were the words I waited to hear for so long….."

AllMight: "It's alright Young Midoriya, it's a hero's duty to help those in need. If there's ever anything you need from me, you can call me at any time."

AllMight gives Izuku his phone number on a piece of paper, before ruffling his hair. Izuku wipes his tears away as he thanks AllMight once again and gives him a heroic smile of his own. Despite how their first interaction went the two were able to find a reconciliation between themselves. AllMight would make sure that Izuku would get the help that he needs as he took it upon himself now to check in on the boy daily, almost like a father would to his son. This was the start of the true healing process that Izuku Midoriya would need, eventually with enough confidence one day he would tell his story to the world.

AN: I know before y'all attack me yes I know I let this story go with an update for about a month. Sorry about that, just been working on my other stories at the time but I finally got around to updating this one. I'd say this story is definitely more plot driven than what I originally intended for it to be but regardless y'all seem to be enjoying the story nonetheless which I'm always thankful for. That being said it'll take more time to get a chapter out for this story due to a more emphasis on the plot but I still will be working on this story. Final thing, I have 2 Pokémon stories that'll be in the works one is a remake of my Penny Eeveelution story that I seriously didn't like how it was type so it'll be remade and the second will be staring everyone favorite yellow mouse Pikachu so if your a fan of Pokémon and enjoy smutty goodness be sure to stay tuned for those. Other than that I'll catch y'all later peace out!