Author's Note: Just as a heads up, these next two chapter are going to be shorter, as they're wrap up chapters. That being said, enjoy!
A plain white door had never been more terrifying. Izuku was standing outside the infirmary in the Hub, and he was frozen in place. He couldn't move a muscle due to the pure, overwhelming fear that he'd messed up in going full throttle against everyone. Yaoyorozu had clearly been in a lot of pain, Izuku had smiled while giving Bakugo the biggest electric shock he'd likely ever received, and Kaminari had been reassured by the same guy who cracked the pavement with his face half an hour later. Aizawa had said that they weren't mad, but he didn't believe that. Maybe they weren't mad, but they couldn't have been happy about what had happened. No sane person would smile and thank someone for literally wiping the floor with them, in Kaminari's case. He had to do this, though. If Izuku didn't do this, he may as well resign from being the Class Rep and give it to Yaoyorozu, who could find her own Vice Rep.
He lifted his hand to knock on the door, but was interrupted by the clearing of a throat to his left. Izuku turned to see All Might in his true form, standing there in clothes that were several sizes too big for him. Izuku reasoned that he'd had a class earlier that day, then, and was tempted to ask how it went to get rid of the odd silence that was growing between them.
"I saw how you fought today. You're improving more by the minute, my boy," All Might said, stepping closer to his successor.
"Yeah. I'm worried it's too much , though," Izuku admitted.
All Might gestured to the door with a questioning expression, and Izuku nodded. He turned and leaned against the wall beside the door, All Might doing the same on the other side. It had been a while since the two of them had shared a quiet moment alone like this. They'd not spoken to each other for a while after the Sports Festival, but Izuku thought they had reconnected after Iida's death. From then on, they made sure to have meetings at least once a week, almost always more than that, but there was always the buffer of Aizawa.
Izuku didn't regret telling Aizawa about One for All and where he got it, but it wasn't the same as his relationship with All Might. Aizawa was a good teacher, and Izuku saw him as a mentor to him, personally, but All Might was different. They'd spent ten months together alone, on a beach hauling trash. Well, Izuku had hauled trash; All Might had charmed some women that had come to check out what they were doing a few times. That was irrelevant, but it was just different between Izuku and All Might. Their bond went deeper than anything in the world, even blood. They had felt the same lightning in their bones, the same searing heat giving them the power to topple mountains. They'd both held One for All, and that made them family. Aizawa was his teacher. It was different.
Izuku tuned back in as All Might spoke.
"I think it's good to grow, no matter where you stand in the present. Growth brings perspective, and perspective helps us grow, and so on. It's one of those cycles that we can never quite escape in the short lives we live," All Might said.
"Yeah. It just feels odd to know exactly where I stand with my classmates. Back before the Sports Festival, I considered restricting myself to one Quirk the whole time. I felt like it was cheating to have three Quirks, so I thought about using just one. Even then, I don't think I fully scratched the surface of that idea, yet. I'm the convergence point of over a hundred years of willpower and strength. When you shared your secret with me over a year ago, I thought using your incredible strength was a fantasy come to life. Now, it feels underwhelming in comparison, and I don't know how to feel about that," Izuku rambled.
"Reality often turns out the way you'd least expect it to. Fantasy and more became your reality, so I think it's reasonable to be unsure of where you go next. You're only fifteen, and that's a part of growing up for everyone. You don't have to have it all figured out now, just eventually. It's okay to not know your path. If I'm being honest, I didn't know my own path for decades ," All Might said, getting Izuku to look at him with wide eyes and a questioning look in his eyes.
"Don't be so shocked," All Might continued, a small smirk on his thin face. "I became the top ranked Hero in Japan when I was twenty nine years old. I spent the next thirty years in that same place, running around Japan and trying to help people. They'd say 'Of course All Might saved us; he's unbeatable', and 'With guys like All Might around, we'll never have to worry again'. They'd constantly praise me, but that was just the act I put on in front of millions of people, every single day. You met me after my injury, but before that whole mess, I couldn't turn it off, or shrink into a crowd. I was always the Symbol of Peace, and that wore me down. I was just going from day to day, doing what I could for people and getting that surface level adoration, for thirty years ," he elaborated.
"What got you out of that place?" Izuku asked, frowning at his mentor.
"You did," All Might admitted, making Izuku gasp lightly.
"What do you mean?" he asked yet again.
"Well, when I met you, Izuku Midoriya, I was running on fumes. I'd been withering away to nothing for a few years, then, and I was facing retirement. Then, out of nowhere comes this skinny Quirkless kid that says he wants to be a Hero, despite all the challenges. I … won't lie and say that I believed in you. I told you that you couldn't do it, and to choose something else. I'm not going to defend that decision, because it's an awful thing to say to anyone, let alone someone who was clearly already so downtrodden. I said that to you, and then left. I left you alone, when you were most vulnerable, and I apologize for that from the bottom of my heart, Izuku," All Might said, putting his hand over his heart.
Izuku felt like he could cry. He didn't know where this was coming from, but he was glad that All Might felt comfortable sharing this with him. Izuku smiled at his mentor, trying to keep the tears from flowing. Of course he'd forgiven All Might, he'd done that almost right away. He'd known, even back then, that a Quirkless person couldn't be All Might. Izuku was still of the belief that Quirkless people could be Heroes, as anybody with the will to be a Hero could become one, but Izuku's dreams of being that number one Hero, making everyone feel safe with his smile? That would have been impossible for him back then. But, he had One for All now, and he was on his way.
"I said those terrible things to you, but when you came back and ran toward a Villain that had captured Bakugo with no hesitation, something that even trained professionals on the scene wouldn't do, I saw who you truly were. You were already a Hero. You had the heart, you just needed some help to get where you were already going. That's why I chose you to be my successor; not because I pitied you, or because I saw myself in you, but because I saw someone better than me. I saw someone who could change not just Japan, but the whole world if you just had the right opportunities. I saw a chance for me to nurture something truly good for the first time in decades," All Might continued.
"I'm not sure that I can do all that, even with my Quirks. Besides that, do you … not see what you've done as the Symbol of Peace as good?" Izuku asked, giving All Might a questioning look.
"I'm not completely convinced that what I thought when I was younger, about the world needing a pillar to hold them up, was correct or accurate. Did I ever tell you how I met Nana?" All Might asked, smiling fondly at his successor.
Izuku searched his memory, but came up with nothing. He genuinely thought that he'd been told that story before, but it turned out that he hadn't. Izuku shook his head at All Might, and the older man sighed deeply. He stared out into nothing for a brief moment, seemingly trying to remember everything.
"I remember it like it happened today. I was thirteen. It was the twenty-first of May. I was heading home from school when a Villain with the power to cause tremors in the ground went wild in public. All the Heroes around were ground-based, so none of them could get close without being shaken up inside by the vibrations. A lot of people died. I was on my way home from school when this was happening. I stumbled upon the scene and was able to see that the Villain could only create those tremors in one direction. It wasn't a circular thing, it was a cone in front of him. So, when he turned his back on me, I took the chance to attack him. I didn't even get close, but I tried," All Might said, laughing at himself.
"That was when Nana showed up. Her Hero name was Hera, after the goddess of the sky. Her Quirks allowed her to get close to him without succumbing to the Villain's tremors, and then blow him away with a single powerful strike. She saw me, spooked out of my wits from almost getting killed, and offered to take me home. When she dropped me off, I told her about my dream, about the pillar that would set an example for humanity and push society forward. I asked her the same question that you asked me last year on that rooftop. Can I be a Hero ?" All Might continued.
"What did she say?" Izuku asked, feeling his heart speed up from anticipation.
"She said yes . Nana told me that I could be what I dreamt of, and offered One for All to me so that I could achieve my goals," All Might answered, a wide grin on his face.
Izuku wondered where All Might was going with this. This was a nice story, but what relevance did this have to the conversation they'd been having? All Might seemed to notice whatever strange look Izuku had on his face, and laughed.
"Don't look so lost! My point is, that was my path. But, that path slowly seemed to be less worth it over the decades. My path used to be so wide that I let things pass me without even trying to catch them. I allowed people to become bystanders to their own society, watching and waiting when people were in trouble because a Hero will come, eventually . I enabled the rapid decline of empathy for people in danger. I also allowed a status quo where the weak are bullied and abused, while the strong are lauded as perfect and pure to become a reality. But, now my path has changed. It's gotten a little bit more narrow. It's changed to raising you up to be the best Hero possible, for everyone. Not just the people in physical danger, but a Hero for the people who are like you once were. The broken, abused souls who fall through the cracks will not be left behind in the society you could build. I wholeheartedly believe that. But, it's up to you to make your own path to that end point. I have no doubt that you'll try your hardest, but it's okay to take some time to acclimate and adjust your thinking. You're fifteen; I don't expect you to be All Might just yet," All Might concluded.
"I'll be sixteen in like two weeks, you know. You don't have to keep rubbing it in," Izuku said, smiling.
"I can't help it. To know that it's already been over a year makes me feel old, so this is how I cheer myself up!" All Might said, laughing.
"Weird, right? We met when I was fourteen , and now I'm about to turn sixteen. It feels like those ten months on the beach just sped right past us," Izuku exclaimed.
All Might nodded slowly, seeming to realize something. He smiled at Izuku, and gestured to the door between them.
"It's been two hours. Most people inside are awake," All Might said.
"Who exactly is still in there?" Izuku asked.
"Yaoyorozu, Bakugo, Shinso, Asui and Tokoyami remain for further observation. Everyone else's injuries were either superficial and required no healing, or were able to be healed without any major loss to energy, so they could leave right away. Oh, and Ashido is inside as well. She refused to leave Tokoyami's side," All Might explained.
Izuku knew that he had to see his classmates. He was grateful that he and All Might had been able to talk, because he felt like he could do it now. Izuku could face them. He nodded to All Might and pushed himself off the wall where he'd been leaning. The two shared a look, which filled Izuku with an odd buzzing feeling, like he was more confident just from being in the same room as All Might alone, and turned toward the door.
Izuku took a deep breath and walked through the door, pushing it out of his way and entering the infirmary. The room was darker than the hallway, and Izuku took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light. When they did, he saw that the people that were awake, namely Bakugo, Shinso and Ashido, were looking at him. Izuku looked back into the hallway to find that All Might had vanished, likely to avoid getting seen by the other students. He closed the door silently and took a few more steps into the room, wringing his hands together anxiously.
"Hey," Izuku said.
"What the hell do you want?" Bakugo asked.
"To apologize. I hurt you, and I didn't mean to. I didn't know that I could do that. I wanted to make sure that you're gonna be okay," Izuku said.
"Well, shut up about it. You've got jack shit to apologize for," Bakugo said, his red eyes piercing through the mild darkness.
"Yeah, you were just following the rules that Aizawa laid out. That exam was no holds barred, remember? Besides, you aren't the only one that got a little caught up in it. I went too far, as well. Hell, I'm the reason that Tsu's even in here, so if anybody deserves to feel bad, it's me," Shinso said, not taking his eyes off Tsu, who was curled up with more blankets than Izuku thought anybody could be comfortable in.
"I messed up big time, too. I made a mistake in aiming for Tokoyami's eyes, and now … well, this happened," Ashido chimed in, gesturing to Tokoyami laying in his own bed.
Tokoyami was clearly asleep, but the pain was evident on his scrunched up face. There was a thick bandage wrapped around his head, running over his eyes. The feathers around the bandage were burnt away, allowing raw skin to be seen under them. Dark Shadow was nowhere to be seen, which was strange because it usually did what it wanted, much to Tokoyami's chagrin.
Izuku walked over to the bed holding Tokoyami and saw that Ashido had a very familiar expression on her face. She was clearly heartbroken, devastated that she'd even been able to do that. Izuku felt a similar way about his own ability to destroy his classmates. She was looking down at Tokoyami with tears in her eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder, which got her to look up at him, the same expression on her face as before. Izuku recognized that expression from himself, after he'd been told he couldn't be a Hero. He could see that a million and one different thoughts were going through Ashido's mind at the moment, and he couldn't bear to see her on the verge of a breakdown like this.
"Everyone knows that what happened was an accident. Nobody blames you, and when Tokoyami wakes up, I'm sure he won't hold it against you. I know the kind of person he is, and he's not one to hold a grudge against anyone. I've been thinking a lot about how willing I was to hurt you guys for the exam, and I can tell that you're thinking something similar. I think we both need to—" Izuku tried to explain, but was cut off by Ashido standing up and pushing his hands off her shoulder.
"What? Do we need to accept that this just happens ? Do we need to move on? We're kids; this shouldn't happen. We shouldn't need to move on," Ashido said, her voice breaking.
"I was going to say that we need to make a vow," Izuku said, giving Ashido a fierce look that he hoped conveyed determination.
"A vow?" Shinso asked from across the room.
"My Super Strength can kill a person very easily. Acid can do permanent damage to people by accident. Explosion can rip a person apart at its strongest. Ochako just needs to touch you, and you could be gone forever, floating in space. Brainwashing could make someone do horrible things against their will. A lot of us have powers that can do this kind of thing without a second thought. That's why we need to be better. We need to make a vow that we'll learn to control our abilities even more precisely so that we not only never hurt someone like we've hurt people today, but so that we can prevent anybody else from doing that kind of thing ever again. That's why we're gonna be Heroes," Izuku said, locking eyes with everyone that was awake as he spoke.
Shinso looked at Tsu, then back at Izuku and nodded, his face set in a grim expression. Ashido didn't exactly smile, but her crying had stopped and she wasn't frowning. Bakugo just narrowed his eyes at Izuku, not managing to wipe his perpetual scowl from his face. Izuku didn't want Bakugo's approval, he just needed Bakugo to realize what he was saying. When Bakugo broke their silent stare, Izuku sighed. Bakugo knew exactly how strong he was. He'd always known, but his problem was that he'd placed too much importance on that strength. It was one of the things that had led him down the road of bullying and harassing Izuku for those ten years. Things were different now, they were better, and Izuku fully intended on keeping them that way.
"I think that we should all take a well deserved break. I'm going to take off this costume and get some food. Anybody want anything from Lunch Rush?" Izuku said, beginning to step toward the door.
"I'll take like a dozen jelly cups," Shinso said, letting his head hit the pillow of his own bed as he smirked.
"I'm good," Ashido said, sitting back down in her seat.
Izuku was about to leave, but paused and turned to Bakugo. The two held eye contact, Izuku raising his eyebrow at his former friend turned bully, and both were silent for a moment as they stared at each other with what Shinso would probably later call 'Dramatic Tension'. All was silent for that moment, but Bakugo eventually spoke over that emptiness that had taken over the room.
"Anything spicy," he mumbled.
"Just like always," Izuku laughed, before taking his leave.
Izuku walked through the halls, thinking. He was still thinking about Todoroki's hatred of his left side. He knew it wasn't his place to meddle, but Izuku couldn't stop thinking about how much anger and pain that Todoroki was carrying. He'd thought they'd made peace with that when Todoroki used his fire to warm up Tsu when they'd been freezing, and he'd also used that same fire offensively, but then he'd used it to hurt Ashido. She hadn't looked too hurt by it in the long run, but that was just because she'd only briefly been in contact with the flames. If Todoroki wanted to, he could kill. He wanted so badly to help Todoroki move past his trauma, and it seemed like he wanted help under the act he put on in front of the class, but Izuku didn't know if he could.
It seemed like every time Izuku tried to do something good, the universe just slapped him with the bad as a consequence. He'd helped Ochako in the entrance exam, but he'd wrecked all of his limbs to do that. Izuku had gotten Bakugo to think about his actions and how they affected other people, but that had gotten Ochako hurt. He'd landed a solid hit on Shigaraki at the USJ, but he'd destroyed his arm and received the facial scarring and white hair streak as a result. He had tried to do his best at the Sports Festival, just to be attacked by All for One in his own mind. Izuku had tried to help Iida, but he'd died anyway. Trying his best to pass this exam had resulted in his friends getting hurt, maybe beyond repair. Izuku knew that he was supposed to be the Hopeful Hero, but he just didn't see how he could keep that up in the face of all the bad things that had happened since school started back in April.
He refused to give into this feeling of hopelessness that was building up from all of these events, but it was getting harder to see the light in the oppressive, overwhelming darkness that had been the school year so far. Maybe that was the life of a Hero. Maybe he was supposed to feel this way. Did All Might feel this way when he first started? Izuku knew that it was a Hero's job to deal with unfairness in the world, but it was just so much unfairness that it felt like too much some days. Izuku wanted to change the world one day, but it was looking less and less like that day would come. So much had happened in the first few weeks of school, but the complete halt of any danger was almost worse. During those weeks, it felt like he'd shared the same, singular drive with his classmates; survive. Then, he'd been left to just be and it had tripped him up. Did he miss being in danger? No, that didn't make sense. Izuku's reason for being a Hero was to keep people out of danger, so he couldn't like it. Could he?
Izuku entered the locker room and immediately stripped his costume off, rushing toward the shower so that he could get the dirt and remaining cold to leave him. It was there where Izuku spent the better part of an hour, reasoning that the others wouldn't be mad at him if he took some time for himself. Bakugo probably would be, but he was always mad. Izuku stayed that way for a long time, just letting the energy and adrenaline drain out of his body. It had been a long day, and he was glad it was over. Now, he could get his grade and go on summer break, where he finally had the chance to relax for at least a bit before the training camp that Aizawa had told them about.
Everything would be fine.