Izuku stumbled down the alley, hurrying to avoid any unwanted company.

Today had not been a good day.

Well, he hadn't been beaten up. That was a plus. What really hurt was Kacch- Kats- Bakugou telling him to kill himself. It wasn't the first time one of his classmates had told him to do it, but it was the first time Bakugou had stooped so low.

Despite it all, it still stung to no end to hear that from his former best friend.

He pulled on his backpack straps tighter, quickening his pace. He really didn't want to get jumped on the way home.

The manhole in front of him shuddered. Izuku instinctively took a step back, his nerves screaming at him to stay away from whatever that was.

All of a sudden the manhole shot up into the air, a mass of green sludge quickly erupting out from the sewer. It locked eyes (the only human thing about the mass, besides its jagged mouth) with Izuku and grinned.

"A v-villain?" He gasped.

"Well, well, well," It gurgled, "What do we have here? A medium-sized invisibility cloak! It's my lucky day!"

Izuku tried to run, but he had zero chance to escape the monster. All it took was a single tendril of sludge to wrap around his foot, and just like that he was at the mercy of the villain.

The sludge quickly began to wrap around him, attempting to shove itself down his throat.

"Don't worry, kid!" It cackled, "I'm only taking over your body! It'll only hurt for a few seconds, it'll be over soon!"

Izuku couldn't breathe. He desperately tried to claw at the sludge, fighting to do anything to stay alive, terror in his eyes.

But it was too little, too late.

"Thanks, kid! You're my hero!"

And wasn't that just about the worst thing Izuku had ever heard?

He kept trying to fight it, but it was hopeless. His chest was burning, his vision was narrowing, and he couldn't feel anything anymore. Was he really going to die like this?

"Have no fear, citizen!" A voice boomed, reaching out to him through the darkness, "For I am here!"

"Shit!" The sludge villain shouted, "If I'd only had another minute!"

"Texas Smash!"

As though a hurricane had swept through the alleyway, the sludge immediately blew apart under the force of the Texas Smash. Izuku collapsed limply to the ground, gasping for any air that he could…

Until he began to vomit up sludge, bile, and his lunch.

All in all, it wasn't a very nice time.

"Are you okay, young man?" That voice asked again, closer this time. Whoever it was, they sure sounded familiar. Their frame cast a shadow over Izuku's entire body as he slowly looked up to meet the eyes of his hero -

All Might.

All Might had saved him.

"I-I-I-I- u-uh-" Izuku trembled, eyes widening to the size of saucers as he stared back at his idol - and more importantly, Japan's Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace. "ALL MIGHT!"

All Might laughed. "That's my name, all right! Glad to see you're coherent enough to recognize me! How are you holding up?"

Izuku tried to respond, pulling himself to his knees, but the only thing that came out was more puke.

Right onto All Might's shoes.

He froze, mortification at an all time high. His trembling reached worrying levels as he realized what he just did.

Izuku's breathing became staggered and quick. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-so s-so-"

All Might put a hand up to stop him. Izuku curled into himself, unwilling to hear the incoming admonishment -

"It is quite alright, young man," All Might said, voice surprisingly soft for someone so big as he placed a hand on Izuku's back, "Just breathe."

All Might handed him a brown paper bag to breathe into (Izuku didn't question where he got it) to calm himself, and after a few minutes his breathing finally returned to normal.

Izuku gulped and immediately regretted it, the sour taste of vomit and the remaining sludge in his mouth nearly making him hurl again.

"I-I'm s-so sorry a-about that, A-All Might - I mean sir - I mean -"

"Do not worry young man!" All Might interrupted, "It is what heroes do!"

Izuku nodded quietly, not minding being interrupted by his favorite person in the world. "S-sorry."

All Might just laughed again.

"May I have your name, young man?" All Might asked.

"U-um, M-midoriya Izuku, sir," Izuku replied, before his eyes widened in alarm, "W-wait! What happened to the villain?!"

All Might's grin grew even larger somehow, and he held up a two-liter bottle of soda filled with sludge and a pair of eyes. "I happened to be in the middle of shopping before I stumbled across this fiend! It turned out to work out quite well, if I do say so myself! Apologies are in order for taking so long to arrive - I do not have the sewer systems as memorized as I would have liked!"

Izuku nodded along dumbly, not daring to question All Might. He was still 50-50 on this being real or him having died and gone to heaven. "It's no problem, s-sir. T-thank you for saving me."

"Of course! Now, do you have someone I can call for you to pick you up?" All Might questioned, "Or perhaps you would like to visit the hospital for evaluation?"

Izuku shook his head. "N-no, I think I'm alright, s-sir. T-thank you. I-I only live a few blocks away."

"If you believe yourself to be alright Young Midoriya, then I suppose I must trust your judgment!" All Might agreed, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get this fiend-"

"W-wait!" Izuku shouted, cutting off All Might.

All Might raised an eyebrow, and despite his grin not leaving his face Izuku suddenly felt like he'd made a mistake. "Changed your mind about the hospital trip?"

Izuku shook his head fervently. "N-no, I think I-I'm okay," he muttered, straightening his posture, "I-I just wanted to - no, I need to ask you something."

All Might shrugged, liking the spunk the small boy was suddenly showing. "I've got some time to kill, shoot!"

Izuku took a deep, shaky breath.

It was now or never.

"I-I know I'm not strong like you," he admitted bitterly, glaring down at his own red shoes, "O-or brave like you, or as fast, or cool, but you've always inspired me - ever since I was a toddler, I wanted to be just like you! My Quirk isn't useful for heroics, and no one believes in me, but I need to hear it from you…"

Izuku looked directly into All Might's eyes, the last dredges of his determination blazing to life in his eyes. "Can I become a hero, just like you?"

For all the times Izuku had seen his hero, he had never seen him look surprised.

Until now.

"A hero just like me, huh?" All Might repeated airily, sitting down on the grimy curb, "Kid, take a seat."

Izuku did as instructed, unwilling to do anything less than All Might's exact orders, and all of a sudden he was staring at nothing alongside the Number One Hero.

"Why do you want to be a hero, Young Midoriya?" All Might asked, "And be honest."

Izuku knew the answer in his heart immediately, but still took a moment to think about it. "I-I'll admit, part of my wanting to be a hero is because everybody has always told me I couldn't. I want to be a hero to prove them wrong, b-but that's not the real reason."

Izuku sighed, eyes downcast. "W-when I was a kid, I saw this video of you. It was your hero debut in the U.S., I think. There was a burning building, and everybody was so scared until you showed up." Izuku smiled at the memory. "You said 'I am here', and all of a sudden you were just everywhere, saving people by the dozens with every trip into the building. You had a smile that made everyone who saw it feel safe, and that was when I realized I wanted to be like you. I wanted to make people feel safe with just a smile, and save everybody."

All Might nodded. "A fine reason, Young Midoriya! There are not many as altruistic as you in the world. I fear many would rather become heroes for glory or fortune. So why, as you say, does nobody believe in you?"

Izuku tensed up involuntarily, a slew of memories dragged to the forefront of his mind.

He forced out an awkward laugh. "Um, how much time do you have?"

All Might smirked. "As long as it takes to hear you out, Young Midoriya!"

"Well," Izuku began, "A-as you can probably tell, I'm not exactly the strongest, or brightest, or bravest, or most outgoing person in the world, but those are just small potatoes compared to the real reason."

Izuku shuddered, ready to pour his heart out to his hero.

He didn't think about what he'd do if All Might rejected his pleas. He couldn't.

"My Quirk…" Izuku trailed off, "It… it came in late. Really late. All my life I was considered a Quirkless, worthless D-Deku, unable to do anything right. I was mocked as is, and wanting to be a hero just made it so much worse. I got laughed at in class today just for wanting to apply t-to U.A."

He sniffled, pathetically wiping his eyes as he spilt his heart out to All Might. God, how lame could he possibly be?! He gets saved by All Might and all he can do is puke on his shoes and cry in front of his hero.

Izuku was such an idiot.

For the first time he could remember, All Might frowned. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Young Midoriya," he said solemnly, "I don't remember Quirklessness being treated so harshly when I was your age, it must have taken a lot to stay so true to your dreams. But I have to ask, what is your Quirk?"

Izuku sucked in a breath. He still hadn't told anyone about his Quirk, and he certainly didn't think All Might would be the first person to hear about it.

Here goes nothing.

"I-I call it Transfer," he muttered, "I-it allows me to, uh, take a person's injuries and 'transfer' them to my body, healing them in the process but leaving me with their injury. All I need is to touch them with my hand to do so, but it works quicker if I'm touching their injury. I-it only came in about a year ago, s-so most people don't exactly know I have it…"

Toshinori was suddenly very glad that this kid didn't know about his injuries. He could not imagine a universe he wouldn't at least offer to heal his wounds.

All Might was quiet for a moment, pondering his words. "I see…" he muttered, voice low enough Izuku nearly missed it, "Chiyo would have a field day with him…"

"S-sir?" Izuku prodded, shaking All Might out of his thoughts.

He coughed into his fist. "Sorry about that, just lost in my own head. I have one last question for you, Young Midoriya."

Izuku straightened up. "A-anything, sir!"

All Might chuckled. "Thought so. Well, it's relatively simple: How badly do you want to be a hero?"

Izuku answered with zero hesitation.

"More than anything in the world."

All Might laughed.

And then he stood up, clapped him on the back, and smiled.

"Then I suppose there is nothing I can say other than this."

Izuku's heart sped up, the waterworks already beginning to burst.

All Might pointed down at him.

At the scrawny, filthy, pathetic nerd with dreams of grandeur and a heart bigger than Japan.

And he smiled.

"Young Midoriya," All Might declared, "You CAN become a hero! I believe in you!"

Izuku burst into tears.

He had waited so long, so fucking long just to hear those words.

And All Might was the one to tell him.

"Th-th-thank y-you, All Might!" Izuku cried, trying to hide his tears from the hero, "Y-you don't know how much this means to me! I-I'll make you proud! I'll become a hero, just like you!"

"I'm sure you will," All Might said coolly, "And call me Yagi. Toshinori Yagi."

Izuku blinked away some of his tears, looking up at All Might in confusion. "W-what?"

"My real name," All Might admitted, "But let's keep that between us, 'kay?"

Izuku nodded so quickly he thought his head would fly off. "O-of course, s-sir- I-I mean, Y-yagi-san!"

All Might started to laugh again, but cut it off quickly - almost like there was an unseen timer going off in his head. "I'd love to stay and talk more, but duty calls! I'm sure I'll see you at U.A. in ten months, winning the Sports Festival!"

"O-of course sir!" Izuku agreed, "B-but, um, could I ask you f-for one more favor?"

All Might nodded, despite his rapidly approaching time limit. He could do one more thing for this boy.

Izuku sheepishly pulled out his latest notebook. His burnt, soggy, sludge-covered notebook that Bakugou had haphazardly thrown out the window a few minutes ago.

It already felt like a lifetime had passed since then.

"Um, c-could you sign my notebook, Y-Yagi-san?" Izuku asked shyly.

All Might burst into laughter, graciously accepting the pen Izuku had offered him.

Yeah, something told him he'd be seeing Young Midoriya a lot more in the future.

–

"Quite the interesting prospects we have this year, no?" Nezu prodded, "So many different techniques on display! Information gathering to understand the situation, mobility on a scale unseen in recent years, the discernment to stay calm under the highest pressure, and pure combat ability! What a show they're putting on for us!"

Toshinori nodded along absentmindedly, slowly scrolling through screens until he found something interesting.

He didn't have much luck. Most of the examinees, while tough, weren't really doing much to stand out to him.

Well, that wasn't quite true. There was a certain green-haired boy All Might was keeping a subtle eye on while he observed the other students. Running around wildly, clearly focused on trying to gather points, yet abandoning all attempts at passing the exam the moment he passed an injured competitor.

He looked a lot better than he did ten months ago. And was that some muscle underneath that track suit? Toshinori was impressed by the kid's determination, if nothing else.

"Oh?" Kayama gasped, a teasing smile on her face, "Somebody catch your eye, All Might?"

Toshinori shrugged, keeping a neutral face even as Nezu helpfully made the screen observing Izuku cover the entire interface. "Just interested in this examinee, going around and helping his competition instead of focusing on gathering points."

Midoriya was clearly faltering. Bruises and whelps covered his body, and there was a fair amount of blood on him, but he trucked on regardless, healing anyone and everyone who needed it and doing whatever he could for those in a bind.

Nezu hummed, tapping away at some unseen keyboard. "Midoriya Izuku, Examinee #2839. Middle School, Aldera Junior High. Quirk… oho!"

Nezu pulled up the small file he had been looking at onto the main screen as well, placing the file and the screen side by side. Midoriya's smiling face greeted the staff (even with how forced the smile looked), causing Kayama to coo and Toshinori to smile, but the real kicker was located in the information.

'Quirk: N/A'

"That can't be right," Kan muttered, "That boy definitely has a Quirk. Just look!"

Sure enough, Midoriya stumbled upon another examinee and began to fret over them. They had blonde hair and were holding their stomach tightly, clearly in pain, but after one touch from Midoriya (and a glowing orange hand) they were as good as new.

The boy bid Midoriya farewell, and just barely missed him collapsing back against the wall in pain. He held his stomach gingerly for a few moments before pulling himself back up, determined to get some points.

"Well," Nezu muttered, mouth a thin line, "This file was last updated two years ago. Perhaps he is simply a late bloomer?"

Mutterings ran through the staff, and Nezu shared a discreet look with him. For his part, Toshinori simply shook his head.

There was no way the two were related. He had crushed All for One's skull between his own two hands, after all.

"Do not allow him into the Hero Course."

Toshinori turned towards the intruding voice, but he immediately knew who it was.

"Why not, Aizawa?" Kan grunted, eyes not leaving the screen.

"What good would he do as a hero?" Aizawa shot back. "No self-control, goes out of his way to help civilians at the cost of himself. No apparent countermeasures to healing others at his own expense, and doesn't even have his Quirk registered. What good would he be in the field? Cannon fodder? Getting himself and a civilian that he stops to help killed?"

Kan scoffed. "Isn't that why we're here, to guide and mold the next generation of heroes? We're teachers, for Christ's sake!"

Aizawa rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you do with him, Kan. I'm not going to force myself to go to another poor sap's funeral because he wasn't hero material. Spare me the sob story. Put him in my class, and I'll expel him. Simple as that."

Kan was quiet, but there was no doubt that a million and a half thoughts were running through his head. All Might assumed only half of them revolved around Young Midoriya - the others likely focused on strangling Aizawa.

He didn't blame him.

"Now, now," Nezu tutted, "That's enough of that. I think it's time to see what these prospects are truly made of! All Might, if you'd do the honors?"

Toshinori nodded, eagerly pressing the big red button. Here was Young Midoriya's chance - he hoped the boy didn't disappoint.

And as the Zero Pointer erupted from the confines of the city, Toshinori could only watch proudly as the scrawny boy he met ten months ago went above and beyond to save a complete stranger.

He took a glance at Kan. Sure enough, the man was hooked. Good.

It looked like he'd be seeing a lot of Young Midoriya from here on out.

–

Nezu clapped his paws together, immediately silencing any and all side conversations that had been going on.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," he said softly, "I hope I don't take up too much of your time today. I'm sure you all know why you're here."

No responses. Good. They knew when Nezu was in business mode by now, and knew better than to interrupt.

"Does anybody have any questions before we begin?" Nezu asked.

Kan's hand shot up. Unsurprising.

"Midoriya-kun is in stable condition," he offered, "Recovery Girl is looking over him as we speak. Kurose-san is also recovering well."

Kan nodded tightly in return, unable to trust his voice.

"Nezu-san," Kayama began slowly, "What exactly happened at the USJ?"

Aizawa and Yamada both leaned forward in their seats, intrigued. Of course.

"We aren't one-hundred percent on the details," Nezu admitted, smile falling into a terse line, "But the timeline of events seems to flow this way: This 'League of Villains', as they call themselves, orchestrated the press break in two weeks ago and used it as a distraction to sneak into the school and steal an itinerary for Class 1-B, with the intention to use it to find a way to isolate and kill All Might. They chose Class 1-B's field trip to the USJ as their opportunity to strike, and brought an army of lower class villains with them to achieve that goal. Alongside the cannon fodder they had one 'Nomu', a bioengineered creature meant to slay All Might, and 'Kurogiri', a warper that served as their entrance and escape from the USJ. Nomu was recovered and is being dissected as we speak, and Kurogiri and the ringleader, Shigaraki, were the only two able to escape."

"What happened to Anan and Midoriya-kun, though?" Yamada insisted.

"Patience," Nezu said, putting a hand up to silence his subordinate, "Kurose-san was injured in a fight with Kurogiri, as he was successfully able to warp one of her black holes directly behind her, nearly destroying her suit. As for Midoriya-kun, that is what we are less sure of. From the testimony of Honenuki-kun, Tsubaraba-kun, Tsunotori-san, and Shiozaki-san, we can gather that he wound up in the Landslide Zone, helped to incapacitate the villains present, and then went on a spree to heal any wounded classmates he found."

Kan sucked in a harsh breath. Aizawa looked vindicated.

Time to nip that in the bud.

"I've read the reports from Shuzenji-san," Nezu said simply, "They aren't pretty. We likely would have lost a student if it were not for Midoriya-kun, as the injury he transferred from Kendou-san likely would have killed. She is not sure how Midoriya-kun survived, but the working theory is that his Quirk grants him some form of advanced durability or regeneration that we don't know about yet. It's something we'll have to ask him about when he wakes up."

"So what do you want us to do?" Aizawa asked lazily.

Nezu shrugged. "Be vigilant. Sweeping changes are already being put in place in lieu of the Sports Festival's arrival, but it will not hurt to stay on our toes."

With that, the door opened. "You are dismissed. All Might, Kan-san, if you could hang back a moment?"

Yagi gave him a look, but that did not deter Nezu. This was simply the safest course of action.

Once everybody evacuated the room, the door slammed itself shut once more.

"What's this about?" Kan questioned, "I've got a lot on my plate at the moment."

Yagi sighed. "Please, we do not need to discuss this Nezu. I've told you already - there is no chance the two are connected."

Nezu's tone was clipped. "I would agree, but what about the Nomu? We both know only one person could be behind that."

Kan raised an eyebrow. "You two think you know who's behind that whole multiple Quirks thing?"

"Perhaps," Nezu admitted, despite the clear frown on Yagi's face. "Pray tell, have you ever heard of the Boogeyman?"

–

The next few days went by in a blur. Reporters hid around every corner, eager to squeeze any drops of information they could out of any poor U.A. student that they stumbled across.

Itsuka was lucky. Her family didn't let her out of their sight (or the house) all weekend, which meant she didn't have to deal with that.

She was glad they didn't learn about what had truly happened at the USJ. They might not've let her return to U.A. at that rate.

Truthfully, she didn't remember much past the initial confrontation. She and Ibara were stuck together in the Conflagration Zone, desperately fighting for their lives and more for what felt like an eternity.

Then there was a glint of steel, her jumping in front of Ibara, and pain.

She didn't know how long she was out for. All she knew was that when she woke up Ibara was practically catatonic, freaking out over her and Midoriya (who had somehow shown up out of nowhere and was bleeding out). Her injury was gone, though, so that was nice.

Until Ibara told her exactly where her injury had went.

After that everything became a blur. She remembered All Might showing up and taking Midoriya away, and for the first time since their first day with him the man wasn't smiling. She remembered talking to the paramedics for a while, and then the police, but things only smoothed out after she got home.

Itsuka really hoped Midoriya was okay. She didn't claim to know him that well - they had only spoken a handful of times outside of their mandatory class representative meetings - but he was very kind and soft spoken. He was a good person. But that pit of dread that had been slowly building up in her gut ever since that day was beginning to form a black hole with each passing moment he didn't show up for homeroom.

Then the bell rang, and there was still no sign of Midoriya. That really fucked with her.

Finally, eventually, mercifully, Kan-sensi showed up. He didn't look too good.

"Hello, everyone," he said, voice muted, "I am glad to see you are all okay."

"S-sensei," Ibara croaked pitifully, before Kan-sensei realized his mistake.

He sighed, putting his hand up to silence her. "That was a poor choice of words. I am sorry." He looked towards the lone empty desk in the back corner of the room, a frown set upon his features. "Midoriya-kun is… in recovery. We don't know when he will be ready to attend classes again, but you will all be the first to know."

"Your English period is canceled for today," Kan-sensei continued, "As I wanted to give you some time to allow me to answer any questions you may have."

Just like that, the class erupted, a cacophony of voices drowning out the pregnant silence that had preceded it. From the sound of things, most people were trying to figure out what had happened to Midoriya.

Itsuka was quiet. Only one question floated around in her head, and Kan-sensei certainly couldn't answer it for her.

Why did Midoriya lay down his life for her?

She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear the answer, whatever it may be.

–

Recovery Girl's office was quiet.

Empty, too.

Except for one person, laying still in the sole occupied bed.

Izuku had been sleeping for a while. His injuries had been extensive.

With a jolt, his eyes shot open. The sudden light made him wince, even if it was muted by the fact that it was nearly dark out. Only the vibrant orange of the sunset provided any light for him.

Izuku gulped at the dark outline of several figures standing outside the door to Recovery Girl's office.

Whatever happened to him now, Izuku was sure that things had changed as a result of his actions at the USJ.

He could only hope it was for the better.

Knowing his history, he doubted it.