THE LEGACY

I don't own Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia or its characters. That honor belongs to Kohei Horokoshi. I make no money from this work, I just play in his playground sometimes.

Chapter 1 – Inheritance

*Knock, Knock*

Inko slipped out of her room, wondering who could be at her door at eleven-thirty at night. The knocking continued as she moved down the hall, pepper spray clutched tightly in her fist.

Tiptoeing to the door, she peered through the peephole. Gray hair was all that was visible through the tiny hole. Her heart skipped a beat as shaking hands reached for the lock.

The door opened almost of its own volition. Inko burst into tears at the sight of the man standing on the other side of the door.

"Mom, who is it?"

Inko glanced over her shoulder to see her muscular 10-year-old son cautiously approaching the door. The baseball bat fell from his hands, clattering to the floor as he spied the elderly man standing on the porch.

"Ojii-san?"

Inko backed away from the door, grasping her heart. "No. No. Tell me I'm wrong." Slender hands reached out and clutched the old man's shoulders.

"He's alive. Barely. He's asked to see Izuku. It's time, Inko. Keep it together for the boy. He's going to need your strength." Sorahiko grasped his daughter's hands as he guided her to her room.

"Get dressed quickly boy, we don't have much time. I'll help your mother."

"Ojii-san, what's –" Izuku's words were cut off abruptly.

"There's little time. I will explain on the way."

"So, you are telling me Hisashi Midoriya is just a well-crafted lie? Then who is my real father?" Izuku demanded as they pulled up to Yabin Private Hospital. Inko was sobbing in the front seat. Sorahiko guided her carefully out of the vehicle.

"Y-your f-father –" Inko stammered through her tears.

"You will find out inside. We can't talk about it out here," Sorahiko, formerly known as the Pro-hero Gran Torino, hissed, guiding them carefully across the snow-slicked parking lot.

The eerie sound of a respirator and the beeping of a heart monitor greeted them as they entered the room. Izuku's eyes widened as he took in the heavily bandaged form lying in the hospital bed, large feet hanging over the footboard. He moved closer, eyes taking in the golden hair and sweat-coated skin.

"Oh my God, Toshi!" Inko threw herself at the bed, sobbing, fingers clutching at the large hand lying atop the pale sheet.

Izuku turned shocked emerald eyes to his grandfather. "A-All Might's my father? What happened to him? "Thiscan'tberealhowcanAllMightbemyfatherHowdidhegethurtAllMightisinvincible…"

A strong hand gripped Izuku's shoulders giving him a sharp shake. "Snap out of it, kid. No one is invincible. Take a deep breath and we will explain." His grandfather guided him to a chair on the other side of the bed.

"To answer your question from the car, your real father is Yagi Toshinori, otherwise known as the Symbol of Peace, All Might. We planned to tell you when you turned fifteen, but circumstances have moved up the timeline. Hisashi Midoriya was the myth created to protect All Might's family. There are only two people outside this room that know the truth. It needs to stay that way for your safety. Do you understand? You can't even tell that Bakugo kid."

Izuku nodded, eyes wide. Even though it was just them in the room, his grandfather was leaning into his space, whispering quietly, his words obscured from the outside world by his mother's loud sobs.

"W-what h-happened?" Izuku whispered back, gesturing helplessly towards the prone figure.

"A super villain, the worst the world's ever seen."

"Is he gone?"

Sorahiko sighed and shook his head. "We hope so. The damage your father dealt should have been fatal, but no body was found. We are hoping wherever he is that he succumbed to his wounds, but we must plan for the worst."

"What happened to d-dad?" Izuku still felt odd referring to the Symbol of Peace as his father.

"We were betrayed. Your father walked into a trap. We didn't know All for One was going to be there."

"All for One?"

"The super villain. I will explain more later, or your father will when he wakes up."

"Is he going to be okay?" Izuku asked, tears running down his freckled cheeks. A pained gasp prevented Sorahiko from answering. Izuku's head swivelled back to the blond man on the bed.

Pained blue eyes stared at him and a raspy voice whispered, "you've grown so much." Trembling fingers lifted to brush away the tears flooding from his eyes.

"Don't cry, son. I am here." Toshinori stroked his son's face, his other hand still clutched in Inko's. "I've missed so much of your life. I'm sorry, son."

Izuku clung to his father's hand with both of his. Last time he'd heard dad's voice was over the phone on his last birthday almost six months ago. He understood now why his father had never used one of the many video chat programs available for their calls.

Toshinori let out a loud hiss of pain, his body reflexively curling inward as he coughed. "I haven't much time left…Izuku, have you been doing the exercises I assigned you?"

"Yes, papa. I have been working hard like you asked and momma has been making me eat the foods you said to eat." Izuku reassured his father, concerned about his words. Toshinori squeezed his hands. "I'm proud of you son." His pain-filled eyes shifted to his mentor and father-in-law. "Do you think he's ready?"

Gran Torino looked over the youngster with a critical eye. "I was hoping he'd have more time to prepare, but we'll have to make do. I'll talk to Chiyo, and we will figure it out."

"Thank you." Toshinori sighed, slumping back against the pillows with exhaustion. He squeezed Izuku's hand again. "Son…you may have been…born quirkless…as I was, but I know you…will become a great hero. You are," he coughed, and blood foamed at his lips. "… the heir to a great legacy. It is time…I passed that legacy…on to you."

"What do you mean? You were born quirkless? But how? You have a great quirk," Izuku's mind was going into overdrive, curiosity warring with grief.

"Most quirks can't be given to another. Ours is the exception. Ours is a powerful legacy passed down from user to user, growing stronger with each generation. It is not naturally passed on parent to child, as regular quirks are," Toshinori paused, coughing blood and gasping for breath before continuing. "Our quirk…is a special quirk that can only…be passed on willingly to the n-…next recipient, whom the current holder selects. It…is a great legacy that is meant…to be used to protect…the innocent; it is not…" he took another gasping breath and Izuku could see blood at the corners of his lips. "…not meant to be used selfishly. Since you first…began standing up for…your classmates, I…had decided…it would be yours. You must swear to me…you will…only use it…to protect…others." He looked at his son through pain-filled eyes. With every beep of the heart monitor he could feel more of his life ebbing away.

"I swear. I will use it for the protection of others. I will make you proud. I-I don't want you to die, dad." Izuku sniffled, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. Inko was silent now, tears pouring from her eyes. She didn't want to admit that the man she'd loved since she was sixteen was dying and there was nothing she could do to prevent it. She also knew this moment would be the most important moment in Izuku's life – the day he got a quirk.

Toshinori's smile was a faded echo of his normal reassuring grin and Izuku could hear the blood rattling in his lungs as he spoke again, "We can't choose…when we die, son…we can only choose how we live…Be the best…person…you can be…That is all I ask." He pushed a button on the bed remote, "It's time."

Author's Notes:

This story will be slow updating. I am working on others that have priority first, but I wanted to get it out there.