Author's Note: Welcome to the longest arc of this fic so far, at 68k words! Hope you enjoy the ride.
It was a few days after Izuku's date with Uraraka that things started getting serious about the sports festival. It was Monday, the first day back after their date and exactly a week until the sports festival was due to begin, and Izuku was feeling like he was walking on clouds. Nothing could stop this roll that he was on, or at least that was what he felt like. Not even Aizawa's training from hell could get him to stop smiling as he felt the adrenaline rush just elevate the elation of his recent streak of good luck. Izuku had returned to his training with a fervour that he'd rarely felt for school. He felt that it was warranted, as well, since Aizawa had taken their training to another level entirely. Instead of sending a variety of objects at Izuku at random times, Aizawa was now sending one small object, such as the pens and other mundane items, at Izuku constantly, never pausing his throwing for even a second. Instead, the quality that took on the random nature was the amount of objects being thrown, as every now and then, Aizawa would throw in two small objects to mess with Izuku and throw him off. He'd managed to catch all the objects so far, about half an hour in, but it was getting annoying. Izuku felt like he was dancing more than he was training, and he'd feel a tightness in his chest whenever he thought he saw someone laughing out of the corner of his eye. He knew it wasn't good that he was even paying them any mind, not only because he shouldn't care what others thought of him, but because it was taking away focus from his training, which he needed to absolutely perfect to the highest degree possible if he even wanted to compete in the sports festival next week, let alone win. Hopefully, this training would allow him to win, but he needed to get through that training first.
Aizawa, towards the end of the lesson, threw Izuku a literal curveball when he launched three of the small objects they were training with into the air at once. Izuku saw two that had followed a grouped path, a pen and a ruler, and one that had broken off to the side, that specific model of baseball that UA seemed to have all to themselves. Izuku stepped out and reached out his right hand as the ball fell into it easily and lodged itself between his middle and pointer fingers, and then immediately fought against his momentum and threw himself in the direction of the other two items. He dove out towards them and put his arm out, putting his hand directly under them and stretching his fingers in a wide net. The pen was first, as it fell between his fingers and Izuku quickly clamped his fingers down on either side of it, saving it between just two fingers. Then came the thirty centimetre ruler, which was a little heavier and thus had more momentum behind it to stop. Izuku reached up and let the ruler slip halfway through his middle and ring fingers, before clamping down just as he'd done with the pen. He managed to get it, and let himself crack a smile as he stumbled to regain his footing after leaping.
Izuku, upon finding his balance yet again, walked over to the bucket a few feet from him and deposited his items into it. He took a few deep breaths and a small bit of sweat from his face with the back of his hand. He looked over at Aizawa once again and braced himself for more things to be thrown at him. Aizawa, however, paused in his relentless assault, causing Izuku to look at him with questioning eyes.
"Class is over," Aizawa said flatly.
Izuku stood upright from his bent over position and looked around the gym to note that class had, indeed, been called for the day. His classmates were all picking themselves up from their various states of fatigue after an hour and a half of intensive training and beginning their treks back to the changing rooms. Izuku saw Uraraka huffing and puffing while leaning against a wall, but she was smiling contently up at the ceiling as she sat against the cement. Izuku cracked a smile at that, but it was quickly lost when he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and suddenly realised that there was someone else sticking around as well, one Shoto Todoroki. The boy was near the door, clearly having been in the process of leaving, but had turned and stared Izuku down from almost the whole way across the gym, the two of their eyes meeting for a fraction of a second. Izuku couldn't even recognise the look in Todoroki's eyes before those grey and blue pinpricks, clear as stars in the night despite Izuku's distance from Todoroki, were dragged away and Todoroki turned and left.
"Right," Izuku muttered. He silently picked up his bucket of caught items and gave it to Aizawa.
"Don't be like that. You're making good progress. If you keep this pace, you'll have no issues in the sports festival," Aizawa said with an unapproving tilt to his voice.
"Really?" Izuku asked. Aizawa wasn't one to give out a lot of compliments, so he took what he could get from the man.
Aizawa, instead of speaking more, simply hummed an affirmation and walked off with the various items they'd been training with. Izuku was left to do as he wished, and immediately realised that Uraraka had left already. He was now alone, and he moved out of the gym to catch up with his classmates. He all but ran as he pulled his gloves on and raced down the halls. He very quickly made a stop at the changing rooms to put his regular uniform back on, and then set off once again toward the classroom where his friends had likely gathered.
When Izuku got to the classroom, or at least the hallway that the classroom was in, he paused with a fright. There was a massive crowd around 1A's classroom, so large that Izuku couldn't even see the door. There were all kinds of people gathered around, all of them students but they seemed to vary in course and year. Some were hero course upperclassmen, some were business course peers, but the most obvious and vocal of the group were those that Izuku recognised from his brief glimpses in the halls of the other first year hero course class. A blond boy with grey eyes and a taller boy with steely grey hair were shouting something at the door, and Izuku arrived in time to hear what the blond one was saying.
"See, they're speechless! These arrogant wannabes can't even respond to a question! How do you expect to live it up and luxuriate in all that attention from the media when you can't even say anything when you get it!" the boy said.
Izuku sighed as he realised what this must have been about. The news had pretty extensively covered what had happened at the USJ, but that had mostly been across the weekend after it had happened, mere days removed from the incident. It had been over a week since then, and the news channels had moved on fairly quickly, all things considered. Now they were waxing poetic about some other hero that had retired, or whatever it was that people tuned into. Sure, maybe the general public was still concerned that the top hero school in the country could be broken into so easily, but none of that was directed at the members of 1A. Izuku usually got looks on the train to school because of his uniform, and those looks had increased, but it was pity, not respect or admiration or anything like that. This guy clearly didn't know what he was talking about if he thought that anybody in their class had benefited from what had happened. His buddy, too, who looked like he was about to back him up.
"Excuse me, but you're being very rude right now, and you're blocking our way out of the room. I'm asking you to move so that we can all leave, as classes have concluded for the day," Iida bellowed from inside the room.
"Excuse you? Excuse you? Why should I excuse you, you arrogant—" the blond roared.
"Hey, man, don't get upset. We're just trying to go home!" Kirishima's voice rang out into the hall.
"Yeah!" Uraraka's voice echoed.
Something in Izuku roared to life upon hearing this. Maybe he was mad at this guy for not getting it, or maybe he was just protective of Uraraka, but he felt like he should support his friends in talking back to this blond boy. Izuku took a deep breath and considered pushing through the crowd, but something stopped him. His legs locked in place, his hands rolled up into tight fists, his breath stalled in his lungs, Izuku was frozen. He couldn't break into the mass of people, no matter how hard he strained trying to move forward. It was as if his heart was racing and fiery hot, but his body was ice cold and without strength. In the middle was his brain, full of desire but lacking the will to do a single thing to help his friends. What was wrong with him? Was it the crowd, did it scare him? With that thought came a cold sweat on the back of his neck, confirming to Izuku that it was very likely that this was fear, but why? He'd faced down that 'All for One' guy at the USJ, so why was he scared of these guys? It was then that a terrible thought struck Izuku. Maybe it wasn't the people in the crowd, but the crowd itself that was making him so nervous. He'd always avoided crowds, for fear that he would have an accident and hurt people. He'd kind of made it a habit to never enter big crowds of people, so he found it going against his body's instinct to attempt to push through and get to the door by force. Izuku had to help his friends, though. Besides, he had his gloves on. It was fine. He was fine.
Very slowly, Izuku stepped toward the outermost edges of the mob. He stopped and took a moment to make sure that the gloves were on tight, hastily tugging on each of the fingers of the gloves to be certain. Then, taking a deep breath to steady himself, Izuku shouldered through into the crowd. Immediately, it was like a great pressure was bearing down on him from all sides. Squashing, beating, pushing him down, it was an unrelenting force that continuously tried to stop Izuku from slipping through the crowd and moving throughout the mass of people as he tried to get to his friends. He couldn't breathe, but that was due to Izuku, not anybody else, as he felt his lungs stop taking in air and his heart begin to pound against his ribs like a sledgehammer moving at the speed of sound. He felt the cold sweat that had begun on the back of his neck start sliding down his back as his fingers became uncomfortably sensitive under the material of the gloves. Izuku could feel every little shift in the fabric as he wrung his hands together to keep them away from people out of habit. He felt an elbow push into the small of his back as he passed a taller upperclassman, but Izuku pushed on. As he finally got to the head of the crowd, this blond boy, he was almost thrown out of the mob by that shove, and stumbled out and into the middle of the doorway, now face to face with Iida, Kirishima and Uraraka who looked at him in shock.
"Midoriya!" Iida and Kirishima said at the same time, while Uraraka simply said, "Hey!"
Izuku's hands were shaking, but he clenched them into fists and turned back around to look at the blond boy and his taller friend. He took a few deep breaths in, formulating what he wanted to say, but it appeared that the blond was quicker on the draw than Izuku.
"What, can't handle a little constructive criticism?" he said, followed by a dark chuckle.
"Oh, shut up with that crap. What are you even talking about? I honestly can't tell if you love us or hate yourself with how much you're grandstanding!" Izuku snapped.
"You don't know anything about me!" the blond screeched in indignation.
"So why do you get to go around talking about us like you know a single thing? Don't answer that, because I know why," Izuku said, putting a hand up to stop the blond's retort. "You're just an asshole looking for a problem to whine about. Go back to your class, where I'm sure you're so cool, and make yourself someone else's problem, because I'm sure you are."
The blond boy looked at Izuku as if he'd slapped him, his steely eyes glaring at what seemed like the very existence of Izuku's face. He seemed to turn very red in the face for a moment, whether it was from sheer anger or something else Izuku didn't know, but he then turned around to his taller friend and whispered something that Izuku couldn't hear. The two of them then shuffled off, muscling their way through the crowd and off into the halls. Izuku watched them leave, and when they were out of sight, immediately felt that fire leave him as he wobbled on his knees after being at a loss for breath for so long. Uraraka immediately rushed up and hugged him tightly, both as thanks and as a way to keep him upright. Izuku managed to stay on his feet as he took deep breaths, and slung an arm around Uraraka as well.
"Huh, didn't expect that, but thanks for spookin' him off!" Kirishima said, giving Izuku a thumbs up.
"While it was rude, and you could stand to be less vulgar, I do appreciate your support," Iida said in the same stern voice he always spoke in.
"Yeah, well, you're welcome," Izuku sighed as Uraraka pulled away from him and looked up at him with a scrutinous eye.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"No, it's just … crowds," Izuku said, waving his hand lazily behind him to the now rapidly dispersing mass of people.
Izuku laughed at himself, but nobody else seemed to find it funny. He looked around and noticed that all of his classmates were staring at him, silently. He startled at this, his whole body becoming tense as he tried to figure out if he'd said anything wrong or weird. He glanced at Uraraka to see if she was staring, too, but found that she'd stepped back and was actually staring past him, rather than at him. Checking with another cursory sweep across the room, as well as backing up a few steps, gave him his answer. Firstly, he realised as he moved that the whole class was indeed looking through him and out into the hallway, and secondly, he realised as he bumped into them that there was a person standing behind him, and that he'd stepped on their toes. Izuku whipped around and saw that All Might, his classic smile straining to remain fixed on his face, was right behind him and was looking down at him with an uncomfortably expecting expression.
"Uh, sorry about that," Izuku mumbled, stepping away from All Might in shock.
"Do not worry. It is my fault that I did not alert you to my presence," All Might said, his voice still filled with its characteristic cheer, though it was obviously forced somewhat.
"Well … okay," Izuku said, awkwardly ringing his hands. He and All Might were in a weird spot with each other, where Izuku was actually at the top of the power dynamic. Izuku knew about One for All now, and that meant that he could ruin All Might if he wanted to. He didn't, of course, he wouldn't dream of it, but there was still the unspoken passing of power over to Izuku along with the secret of All Might's Quirk. Of course, Izuku didn't really think that he was in a position of power over All Might, he just knew things that were dangerous for him to know, and All Might knew that. So, yeah, that made it a little awkward.
"Actually, you are the one I was hoping to speak with. Would you care to join me for some tea, Midoriya?" All Might asked, body stiff as a board.
"Uh, me? Sure," Izuku said, glancing at Uraraka in curiosity but getting a shrug in response. "I hope that's okay?" he asked her under his breath so that no one else heard.
"Yeah, it's All Might," she said with a quiet laugh.
"Alright, let's go," Izuku said to All Might. He was still unsure of what All Might could want, but he was willing to hear him out, at least. It would mean that he couldn't hang out with Uraraka after school, or at least not as much as he could, but that was … bearable.
"Good, then follow me," All Might said importantly.
For the next few minutes, Izuku silently followed All Might's lead as they seemingly walked towards the staff room. When they arrived at their destination, Izuku's suspicion was debunked, as they were heading towards a break room a little further down the hall. All Might opened the door to the break room and stepped aside for Izuku to enter, and he did. This was a room he'd never had any reason to be in before, but it was nice enough with two sofas, a coffee table and a few other features, like shelves and cupboards. Izuku chose a sofa and slumped down into it, after having refrained from complaining to his friends about how tired his legs were after training. Izuku patiently waited for All Might to close the door, which prompted the larger man to suddenly deflate in a puff of steam as he reverted to his true form in the privacy of the break room. Izuku wanted to shout in shock, but contained himself enough to merely recoil physically at witnessing the transformation. The deflated All Might took a seat on the sofa opposite Izuku and sighed heavily, seemingly worn out completely by the hollow sound that rang out around the room.
"I'm sorry for stealing you away like that. From the sounds of it, you had plans," All Might said.
"It's fine," Izuku said. He looked at All Might in a way that he hoped told the man to get to his point quickly.
"I suppose you want to know why you're here?" All Might asked. Izuku nodded. "Since our last conversation, I'm yet to find a successor to One for All. I didn't expect to immediately make a decision, especially since my last one turned me down, but I was thinking that we could use an upcoming event to our advantage."
"You mean the sports fest?" Izuku asked, lighting up with realisation.
"Precisely. I believe the sports festival is the perfect time to evaluate possible successors. I'll be up in the audience, watching closely, but I think the real advantage will be having you down there, in the thick of it with those candidates," All Might explained.
"How so?" Izuku asked again.
"Well, you can see how they behave down there. I can see the big picture, but you'll have an insider's eye for detail that I won't. You'll be able to evaluate how they use their Quirks, as well as how they generally manage themselves when put under pressure. For now, those are the keys to a good successor," All Might said.
"Okay, I think I can do that. Do you have any idea of a shortlist or something like that? Just so I can narrow down my focus to people you think could really be in the running for successor," Izuku said.
"Ah, I thought you might say that. Yes, I do have a vague notion of who I think are good candidates already. Eijiro Kirishima is one of them, as is your friend Ochako Uraraka," All Might said with a knowing nod.
"That's awesome!" Izuku cheered, his voice breaking. "I mean, uh, cool. Wait, what do you mean by friend?"
"I was under the impression that you two were an item. If that's wrong, then I'll—" All Might said, his eyes widening in surprise.
"No! I mean, you're not wrong, but … how'd you know?" Izuku asked, leaning back into his seat with a sigh of defeat.
"Ah, that. I've been a hero on the job for forty years now. I sometimes catch myself analysing people without meaning to, and I happened to notice that you two are awfully familiar with each other already, so that was the conclusion I came to. It's nice to know I'm not getting rusty, though," All Might said with a brief grin of triumph.
"Right, so, what exactly are you looking for in a successor? Is it just Quirk use and temper?" Izuku asked, brushing off the brief detour into his love life that the conversation had taken.
"Not exactly. See, I want to choose someone who I believe will change the world, and for the better. I want to choose someone who I see great potential in, but who is unaware, or at least unaffected by that potential. I want someone who is strong, and not just muscle-wise, but strong in spirit. I want a successor to be driven, passionate about helping people and willing to do whatever it takes to make their wishes into reality. I want someone that can change a wish into truth, no matter how hard it is, and no matter what stands in their way. I want someone who could be the next Symbol of Peace after I'm gone, a true successor. My master chose me for my drive, my passion and my desire to see a better world in my lifetime, and I wish to do the same. I believe that I see those qualities, or the beginnings of them, in Young Kirishima and Young Uraraka. As well, Tenya Iida could be an excellent candidate should he loosen up a little. That young man is wound tightly enough that not even I could remove what limits him. In addition to those three, I also thought of Shoto Todoroki. He's driven like no other is, if what I've heard is true. Though, he could be a little more social, for his own sake," All Might explained.
"Yeah, Todoroki really seems to be here as a formality or something. It's weird how removed he is from everyone and everything," Izuku remarked.
"I wouldn't be too hard on him, though. Just because you don't understand him, doesn't mean he can't surprise you," All Might said, another knowing glint in his eye as he met Izuku's.
"Right, of course," Izuku mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed.
"And of course, that's just your class. I also teach the other first year hero class, and there are plenty of future all-stars in there, as well. Itsuka Kendo, Nirengeki Shoda, and Setsuna Tokage just to name a few. They're all such wonderful future heroes, and there are more than a few possible successors in their midst," All Might continued. He looked at Izuku's thoughtful expression and said, "I trust that you'll be going all out for the festival, yes?"
"Of course!" Izuku said, a little too loudly.
"Aiming for the top spot, or just willing to take what you can get?" All Might asked, grinning as if he already knew the answer.
"I'll win. The sports festival has always been the second massive step I have to take in my never-ending staircase of a dream. Getting into UA was my first challenge, and I had to sell myself, and my Quirk, to a dozen people through a screen. There was very little room for error. Sure, I could've gone to Shiketsu or Ketsubutsu or something, but those are across the country from here. I'd have to leave my Mom. So, it was all or nothing, and I did it. But now I have to do it again, but for a whole country, even some other countries. I have to be on the top of my game, so I can't let myself get distracted. I'm not gonna lie to you, and I'll do my best, but I may not be able to fully commit to scouting successors for you," Izuku rambled.
"I had a feeling you might say something like that. I completely understand. In fact, I was already planning on asking a friend of mine to come along and do just what I'm asking of you if you couldn't," All Might said with a smile.
"Cool. Hey, if you don't mind, can you tell me exactly what you see in these possible successors?" Izuku asked in a falsely casual tone. In his mind, there was a very specific reason he was asking, and All MIght seemed to clock him almost immediately judging by the smirk that stretched across his thin face.
"Wondering about Young Uraraka, eh?" the lanky man asked.
"Well, yeah," Izuku said as an embarrassed flush briefly coloured his cheeks.
"Well, there are a lot of things to admire about her. She's kind, cheerful, talkative, optimistic, humorous, and these are all fantastic traits to have in the heroics industry. Truthfully, I didn't start considering her for One for All until your recommendation," All Might said. At a confused look from Izuku, All Might smiled once again. "See, I'd noticed those things about Young Uraraka before the USJ, before you asked me to think of her in that light, but I never truly thought that she would make a suitable wielder until after the USJ. I have no doubt that you've noticed it, Young Midoriya. In training, she's kicked it up a notch. Several, really. Young Uraraka has been simply laser focused on all aspects of heroics training since the USJ, and when I asked her about it, the amazingly simple answer I got from her was 'I want to save people with a smile on my face'. I couldn't imagine a more succinct summarisation of my own criteria if I tried."
Izuku felt a smile creep onto his face, and he had to suppress a very unserious giggle as his admiration for Uraraka swelled to an even greater amount. All Might seemed to be undergoing much the same process, with his eyes twinkling with joy at the anecdote. However, that joy seemed to become almost melancholic as he spoke again.
"My master was a pro hero, you know. She called herself Skywalker, a reference to an old American movie. Her philosophy about life was that those who were smiling were the strongest, and that hope was the ultimate weapon against evil, because if you have a dream, a vision of the world you want to create, then all you need is the hope of that future, and you can never be defeated. All good people need to do to save the world is to believe in a bright future, and that spark will never die as long as the people you save still believe in goodness. It's why I became a hero, the Symbol of Peace, in the first place, to give people hope that you can always make a better world. All evil needs to win is for the good people to stand by and do nothing, and as long as one good person fights for what they believe in, then hope can never be extinguished. That is the core belief embodied by All Might's smile, and that is the spark that I have witnessed the awakening of in Young Uraraka's heart. That's why I believe that she is an excellent candidate, possibly at the top of the list. She was already committed to saving people in need, but now she's had that extra push to leap into a truly magnificent journey, and I can't wait to see how she fares," All Might said, going on and on.
"Sir, you sound like you've already made a decision," Izuku said with wide eyes. He couldn't really be talking like that without having chosen her, could he?
"I suppose. Nothing I said was a lie, or a falsehood, but I'm keeping myself open for other people to surprise me. I learned to do that from watching you," All Might said, meeting Izuku's eyes with his electrifying gaze.
"Right," Izuku said. He waited a moment, and when All Might said nothing, he thought that he should break the silence or something. "Was … was there anything else you needed to talk about, or …?" He cringed internally at how terrible he still was at ending conversations.
"No, you can go. Thank you for talking with me," All Might said, gesturing to the door with his long, bone-thin fingers.
Izuku sighed and got up from the sofa, quickly and purposefully striding towards the door so that he wouldn't look All Might in the eye after he'd totally bombed the last part of their super casual talk. He exited the break room and wondered if he could still catch up with Uraraka before she just went home. He thought it over for a moment, not adjusting his pace in the slightest, but figured that he'd just let it be, at least for today. He had some things to digest, and Uraraka deserved some much needed unbothered rest after the obviously intense training she'd been throwing herself into. Izuku felt a swell of pride about her being so highly regarded by All Might, but then he remembered that All for One was still around, and he could just switch targets to her if All Might gave her One for All, since it was apparently his whole reason to be, to obtain the Quirk. Would he kill her for it? Izuku felt a tug in his chest at that, but decided to put it out of his mind for now. He had to train, and train, and train some more if he wanted to win the sports festival, and it was almost upon him.
It'd be fine. A week was plenty of time.
