Author's Note

Alright, last chapter of the year. Glad everyone loves this.

Uploaded

12/28/2024

LEGEND BELOW

"So you want to be a hero?" = Normal speech.

''He's not serious...'' = Normal thoughts.

Chapter 5

Rated-M

M rating for violence, mature themes, romance, and language.

Music of the day

Sonic Unleashed - Mazuri (Night)

"When I took your quirk, it felt as if eight whole powers were shoved inside my body all at once. I-It was overwhelming, too much, too big. I-I couldn't handle it." He could still feel the power underneath his skin, embers of the raw unbridled fury that All Might bore remained within him.

And, he wasn't going to deny it. For a moment there, he was genuinely and utterly terrified for his own life. It had felt like it had gone on forever, but it hadn't lasted for even a minute before it returned to the hero.

"At first it felt normal, at least I think… But when I tried to tap into it like my ESP, I felt the world go white…" He glanced down at his open palm, the faded white lines that permanently etched into his skin a startling reminder of how close he'd come with a terrible fate. It was a sensation that he wasn't all too keen on reliving ever again if he could help it.

"I thought that I could control it, reduce the output maybe. I don't think that your quirk rejected me… I-I think that I couldn't acclimate myself to it." He bent down, grabbing the cracked remains of a wine glass abandoned on the beach front. The last piece of trash that remained, still relatively in one piece.

All Might sighed deeply, his usual smile replaced with a grim confused expression. "That's why I had you train your body so hard these last months. This was the reaction I was afraid of if you hadn't prepared ahead of time. But I can't understand why it happened now…" He spoke aloud, hand held up to his chin in thought.

Izuku held the glass up to his eyes, a green aura surrounding it as he held it aloft with his mind. Then he grabbed a stream of sand and began to direct it into the glass. "A-All Might… You mentioned once that you said my body is like a cup, o-or a vessel for your quirk. Right?" He recalled softly as he gazed up at the mountain of a man.

"That's right. That's how it had been explained to me before." All Might nodded sagely. "It's not as if this is a vastly researched topic, so I'm afraid that even I am not very well versed in the specifics of it…" It felt lame to say that he didn't fully understand it despite having used it for nearly forty years, but it was the cold hard truth. There was no sense in trying to lie to the boy about it.

Izuku frowned thoughtfully, arms crossed as he filled the wine glass full of sand. "Well, it felt like my wine glass, o-or my body, was already half full. When I took your quirk, it was as if I'd tried to put an entire second cup into one already half full. I-I felt like I was going to explode…" He had to repress the shiver that ran down his spine at the image.

All Might frowned, deeply troubled by this revelation. "So you're saying that because you already had a quirk that accepting my own was too much?" He mused aloud, eyes dark in thought. "This is troubling, very troubling."

It felt as if these past ten months had amounted to nothing in the end, and he was no closer to attaining his successor than he was a year ago. He'd put in a lot of effort to make enough time to help the boy train, sneaking away from his hero duties to raise his successor up. It had been quite the sacrifice he'd made over that much time, and he'd been very invested the entire time…

Only to learn at the very end that it was a wasted effort.

"Curse it…" He muttered to himself, upset that he'd not thought of a situation like this one sooner.

But…

As much as this situation was not ideal, he supposed in the end that he wouldn't take it back even if he could. No, it still held many merits in the end.

For one, he was not wrong in his assessment of the boy before him. He knew from the moment he saw him burst into action that Izuku Midoriya would become a phenomenal hero if given the opportunity. And he was ready and willing to be that guiding hand to help him along.

Yes disappointing as it was that his quirk was seemingly incapable of fusing with the boy, he knew that because of his guidance thus far, he'd set him on a path to the top with his own power.

More than that, however, it had introduced him to the temperamental spitfire that clung to his arm most days. Shadow was indeed a very powerful girl, that much he'd learned both from watching her in action and from seeing her helping train the boy. She was powerfully, extremely so. And he knew from what he'd seen of her latent abilities that she could grow up to become one of if not the best hero the world had ever seen.

But he'd also picked up on her problems, and there was a few to point out. Her anger issues seemed easy to manipulate, and he feared what could come to pass if she was taken advantage of by the wrong hands. He knew well that her fate was to become a hero beside the boy, and he was glad he'd been responsible for bringing said hero in training more up to her speed.

He wasn't going to beat around the bush and leave it to chance.

He wanted her inside Yuuei, and he was going to go so far as to get her in via recommendation if he had to do so. That power he'd seen her manifest when Izuku had begun suffering, that raging anger that threatened to consume both her and everything around her was not something he felt comfortable leaving unchecked.

He was a hero, one of the best.

But he couldn't protect everyone…

And he feared the world in which someone like All For One gained any sort of control over her.

No…

She had to become a hero. And he was going to help make sure she got in, one way or another.

That said, that didn't fix the most critical and current issue. Now that Izuku couldn't take his quirk, that meant he'd just lost ten months of time and he was still nowhere near finding a new successor.

"So we just need to find you someone quirkless that wants to become a hero, yeah?" Shadow's voice speaking up nearly scared the man out of his skin, turning to find the hedgehog girl in question standing atop one of the many light posts that lined the road running parallel to the beach front. She stared down at him with that unfortunately always mildly miffed face she wore, arms crossed firmly underneath her breasts.

He had to withhold his cringe, knowing that with her apparent protective streak with the young man beside him that she was probably still a little irked with him about the quirk rejection. But she wasn't yelling or threatening violence anymore, so he decided to take this as a blessing and decided to roll with it.

"Err, yes. Right now I believe that's exactly what I need, but it's not that simple." He cleared his throat, straightening his back a little as he glanced back over to the curious eyes of his once thought to be successor. "The chances of someone being quirkless nowadays is very low, and the chances of finding someone who's both lacking in a quirk and still harbors an intense desire to become a hero is pretty much like trying to find a needle in a haystack…" He explained with a disappointed sigh, shaking his head.

"So you're saying that the odds are slim to none?" Izuku asked in worry, heart aching for his hero. It hurt to see him so down, especially now that he knew the circumstances behind his desire to find a successor as soon as possible. After all, he didn't have much longer in the hero career if he continued to push his luck.

And he was supposed to be the ace, the blessing he'd been looking for, the perfect candidate for passing on his power. But that chance was no longer an option, and with the reality behind why, it left the man with pretty much no option left available to hi-

"I know of someone." Shadow sniffed, her words echoing out so casually that both of them didn't quite catch it at first.

All Might opened his mouth to tell her off, then clicked it closed when he ran what she said over one more time. Slowly his eyes widened as he gazed up at the hedgehog girl in surprised awe, mouth falling open in shock. "Y-You do?" He muttered softly.

She nodded, face neutral as he leapt down to join the both of them. "I overheard everything." She muttered simply, shoving her gloved hands in her short cut black jean shorts.

"I-It can't just be some random civilian, young Shadow." The hero quipped, clearing his throat. "They need to-"

But she cut him off, holding up her fingers as she quickly listed off his strict requirements for his quirk. "They need to be strong of heart, good willed and naturally courageous, have a heart of gold, quirkless and good natured?" She stated factually, holding up her fingers for emphasis. She placed her hands on her wide hips, drawing the white haired young man's eyes to her exposed tan skin, noticing how low her shorts sat. "Am I missing anything?" She raised an eyebrow, glancing over to Izuku too quickly for him to tear his eyes away, his face turning red as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

She smirked at his flustered expression, knowing darn well what he'd been doing while she wasn't looking. "T-They want to be a h-hero?" He tried offering helpfully, flushing when her cheeks warmed despite her smirk.

"Mmhmm, that too." She nodded, glancing back over to the befuddled hero. "Anything else?" She asked impatiently, foot tapping on the sand.

"Err, no that about covers it…" He murmured, shoulders sagging in defeat.

She smirked, suddenly pulling out her smartphone from somewhere in her jacket. Pointing a finger at the device she raised an eyebrow at the man. "Do you mind…?" She asked vaguely. "No? Cool." She cleared her throat, quickly moving through her phone before opening a video chat with someone neither of them knew.

It rang for a long moment, giving Izuku just enough time to look at All Might in question, before the other person picked up.

"Hey Shadow, long time no see. What's going on?" A bubbly voice exclaimed in surprise from the other side, her voice just about as vibrant as Izuku's.

"Hey Melissa, you wanna be a hero?" The hedgehog asked blatantly, no beating around the bush.

Melissa blinked in surprise at the question before shying away, feeling a little hurt at the question. "S-Shadow, you know I'm quirkless… Why would-?"

"Yeah, that's why I called you. Duh." Shadow cut her off with a shrug, spinning the camera around to show off the two surprised boys behind her. "Oh, and say high to All Might."

The girl blinked in surprise, her lips sprouting a confused smile as she gazed at the face of the confused hero. "U-Uncle All Might? You know Shadow?" The blondie was practically all up in the camera, trying to find out where in the world Shadow was that she had All Might of all people beside her.

"Yeah so, theoretically, if someone like, oh I dunno, say… All Might, could give you his power and help train you to use it, would you take it?" Izuku slapped his forehead at her terrible take on skirting around the secrecy behind the man's super powers, the man in question mouth falling open in shock.

"What? What kind of question is-?" The blonde huffed in confusion.

"No questions, answers only." Shadow corrected her, foot tapping impatiently in the sand below her.

"Yeah! Of course I would!" Melissa jumped, realizing that her friend didn't seem in the mood to chat for more than was necessary. "I-I've always wanted to help people around the world, to make a change whenever and wherever I could. T-That's why I help my father in making hero equipment and gear for other pro heroes around the world, especially some of the teachers at Yuuei over there in Japan. OH! Are you guys going to Yuuei as well?! Say hi to Hatsume if you see her, I miss her! I haven't seen her in-"

"Cool." She smirked, glancing over to the hero as she hung up on the girl, cutting off the very Izuku branded rant that had not so subtly exploded outward without any warning. She was almost as bad as Izuku…

No, she was definitely worse because she was loud when she went off on an endless rant. Izuku at least had the decency to mutter quietly, something that served to piss everyone else off yet didn't bother her what with her more advanced hearing what he said usually wasn't missed on her. Large furry pointed ears sticking out atop her head and whatnot…

That's besides the point, and she was getting distracted.

"So what about my friend? She hits all your requirements on the head and she's quirkless. I'd say me and Izuku could train her to better handle it and then she could join us in Yuuei. It's a win win for everyone." She huffed with a smirk, knowing that she was right.

All Might blinked, speechless as he turned to glance to his thought to have been successor. Izuku blanched. "E-E-Eh? Don't look at me!" He squeaked, flushing when Shadow smirked widely.

"Then it's settled. I'll get Melissa down here next week in time for get ready for Yuuei. She can train her quirk alongside Izuku and Shitface." She clicked her tongue, nodding to herself.

"Um…?" All Might questioned with a shaking rising finger.

"S-She means Kacchan, All Might." Izuku spoke up nervously, face flushed when he glanced at him as if knowing who that was supposed to be either. "S-Sorry! I meant Katsuki Bakugo, my friend who was attacked by the slime villain ten months ago…" He explained a bit more thoroughly, relieved when the man straightened up with a smile.

"Oh? Young Bakugo is aiming for Yuuei as well?" He questioned with a decidedly pleased tone, happy to learn that the young man in question had set his sights on a respectable future. He'd been a bit worried what with the boy's quirk and his attitude issues, but hearing about his desire to join the hero school he couldn't ignore how excited it made him.

Which brought him to the most current situation.

Now that it was decided that Izuku couldn't have his quirk that meant that he needed both a new successor and people to help train them. It had been extremely convenient to have Izuku stumble upon him in the most perfect situation possible, the situations lining up to give him enough time to both train his body and prepare him for the hero career he had ahead.

Only to have to throw it all away at the last minute.

Then in came Shadow with a perfect candidate to not only accept his power, but she actually offered to help train the girl during her time at the hero school. He certainly didn't take her for the type to mentor anyone at all save for the young man beside her, so it was safe to say he was bamboozled by her offer to help train and mentor young Melissa Shield.

Which just begged the bigger and arguably more befuddling question that had struck him over literally everything else.

"How do you know Melissa?" He blurted out, completely out of his element when it came to his edgy girl.

Seriously, didn't she understand how thrown for a loop he was every time she just up and surprised him like that?

Kids these days…

"My father is a billionaire who has connections with other rich people." She stated simply, shrugging her shoulders as if it was obvious. "I met Melissa when I was younger during a business meeting. She's… very clingy." She coughed, cheeks warming at some unexplained memories that surfaced. Her lips quirked down in a curious frown now leveled at the mountainous hero before her with a question of her own brewing at the forefront of her mind.

The man stared at her with something akin to surprised awe, before he straightened up with a barking laugh, hands on his hips. Here he was thinking he was out of luck and she had his answer all along. Ah, what a relief!

"I think I'm more surprised that you know who Melissa is…" Shadow murmured, but she either went unheard or ignored as the man laughed with a genuine smile. If there was something she'd gained from seeing him go from distraught to laughing with that bright grin on his face it was definitely the understanding that she didn't like it when he frowned. She didn't know why, but it just didn't sit well with her.

It was like watching Izuku frown, and that made her heart clench. For some reason it had similar effects when pertaining to All Might as well. She wanted to make him smile, and she just didn't know why.

"Well! It seems you both have this all figured out! And here I was panicking that my plans were for naught!" He laughed a mighty sound. "I'm going to be strapped for time as a teacher at Yuuei, so I won't have all the time necessary to train her to use my quirk. The teachers will help, but having someone who's in the know about the ins and outs will be more ideal. I'd say you two working together will be a good fit for young Melissa." He beamed with a grin.

Izuku smiled brightly. "Kacchan's going to be there too! Maybe he can help?" He offered helpfully.

Shadow blanched as the hero cringed with a barely hidden expression. "I-I'm not sure having him around her will prove to be a good role model with my powers." He trailed off with a nervous laugh.

"Y-You say that like he's going to have her blowing up the entire school with her quirk because he thinks it would be funny- yeah ok let's not do that I think I understand why you don't want to have him near her I agree that's a bad idea…" He was quick to defend his friend only to immediately course correct when upon saying the words out loud did he realize that it's exactly what was going to happen should they let Bakugo literally anywhere near her.

"Glad to be on the same page." Shadow muttered lowly, patting him on the head. "Moron…" She muttered quietly, cheeks warm as she averted her eyes.

He laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his head. She still had trouble getting used to his longer white hair, especially considering the fact that it seemed a bit more permanent now. His training had left him in a state most of the time where he had his ESP passively activated to strengthen his endurance and stamina when it came to using his quirk, which meant the white hair and golden eyes.

The only reason she found it as a problem was because she really, really liked that color on him. Especially when he was shirtless half the time he was training- and now she was getting off track so now was the time to finalize the plan!

"So, All Might." She cleared her throat, cheeks warm as she addressed the man with a glower, a look she unfortunately defaulted to often. "Is this plan a go or not?" She huffed impatiently, foot tapping repeatedly on the sandy ground below her.

The man straightened up, nonsense left behind as he took her proposal seriously. "I personally know young Melissa, although perhaps not as well as you do, but well enough. If you're going to vouch for her, then it only confirms my decision here now." He spoke seriously, eyes glowing with a newfound determination. "I would love to have her as my successor. And if I can count on the both of you to aid her during the times to come, it would take a huge weight off this old man's heart." He expressed genuinely with a genuine smile.

"Y-You're not old, All Might…" Izuku defended quietly, getting a hearty chuckle out of the man. His cheeks flushed but he smiled nonetheless.

Shadow smiled at the two of them, confident that she'd managed to make the best out of the situation. Now she just had to survive the chaos that was sure to ensue following Melissa's arrival...

"She got here quick…" Izuku murmured, staring up at the helicopter that had personally delivered the daughter of the one and only Head of Shield to the other side of Japan merely two days after the call had been made. "I-I mean, how did she even convince her dad to let her do this so suddenly…? Unless…?" He gasped, looking over to her in concern. "What if she didn't tell him she was coming here to become a hero?! What if he doesn't know?! Do you think she would do that?"

"Izuku?" The sun kiss skinned girl murmured with a frown, causing the muttering boy to clam up.

"Y-Yeah?" He squeaked when she sent him a withering glare. Or at least her best attempt at one, but she couldn't really bring herself to get angry at him, so it really just looked like she was pouting his general direction.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing…" She murmured, cheeks warming as she instead drew her attention skyward to the helicopter that was landing just outside the airport. All Might stood behind the two of them in his civilian form, dressed in slacks and a dress suit. The winds from the blades of the aircraft parted his long blond bangs as he gazed up upon the helicopter with sharp blue eyes.

The man couldn't help the smile that graced his face as he caught sight of the familiar blonde haired girl waving excitedly down at him, her excitable giggles echoing down at him even over the sound of the spinning blades.

"Uncle Toshi!!!" Melissa exclaimed in glee, waving happily down at him before she nearly fell from the aircraft. "Oooah-!?"

…

…

…

Actually she did fall from the helicopter, squeaking in surprise when she slipped free from the side of the floating vessel. Of course, ten feet from the ground as she was, she wasn't really in the way of harm as it was. Nevertheless, she did suddenly find herself floating a foot off the ground with a strange green aura surrounding her, providing her a more gentle landing.

Izuku blew out a relieved sigh, flushing when Shadow pulled him into her side with a knowing smirk. He only had a moment to question her behavior before he suddenly found himself rounded upon by the new blonde, eyes sparkling as she took hold of his hands with her own.

"Woah! Was that telekinesis?! That's amazing! Shadow's told me about her new boyfriend who can move things with his mind but I didn't believe it at first because that's way too cool and I guess I didn't think it was possible but then again I've seen weirder quirks so I shouldn't have been surprised like I was but I couldn't help it but then seeing it in person I can definitely understand why it's such a useful power for hero work! Have you considered the other uses it could provide like flying and lifting injured civilians out of rubble in an attack or moving even groups of people to safety or even holding a villain hostage until we can cuff him?! I can already think of the possibilities that you could-"

Shadow took that moment to step away as the new girl overwhelmed the white haired ESP user with an equal amount of energy, completely rivaling his muttering issues to a degree he couldn't keep up with.

"I-I'm unsure how you manage to keep up with them…" All Might muttered with a nervous chuckle.

Shadow rolled her eyes. "You have no idea…" She smirked, her lips curling down into a frown as Melissa failed to understand personal space with her white haired nerd, the teenager's eyes sparkling as he shot off into a rampant spiral of muttered ideas and endless talking.

Was this jealousy?

No.

No that couldn't be it.

What did she have to be jealous of?

That's ridiculous…

...

...

...

Wait what did she say? Toshi?

Chapter

5

End