Straight Through the Mailbox

by softSpokenLoser

Izuku's dreams? Crushed. Reality? Checked. Future plans? Non-existent. He's given up. He knows his place. All that's left for him is to go through the motions of life as he always should have. Too bad Nejire Hadou won't let him. If only she didn't nearly kill him the first time they met... Cover by Helia

15. Izuku Gets Cockblocked

Izuku was afraid.

And for the first time in his life, he was afraid of Nejire.

Why?

"Okay, Izu," she called from behind the curtain, "Here's the first one!"

Because.

Nejire had made good on her word from a few months ago and taken him swimsuit shopping.

Swimsuit shopping for Nejire.

And he was supposed to judge them.

Just because.

Nejire swung the curtain of the changing room back dramatically, stepping back out onto the shopping floor with a confidence Izuku couldn't even dream of having.

Izuku instinctively covered his eyes with his hands, doing his best to not peek despite the incredible allure of doing so. His face burned hotter than the sun, and he could tell because it sort of hurt to put his hands over his eyes.

Her giggles at his reaction were sweeter than honey. "C'mon, Izu!" Nejire teased, "Take a look! I need to know how this looks on me!"

"I-I'm s-s-sure it looks very n-nice," he mumbled.

She laughed again. "That's sweet, but I still need to know what you think of this bathing suit! You don't even know which one I'm wearing!"

"Y-You look g-good in everything!" He cried desperately, not even realizing what he had just said out loud to his crush. "I-I mean–"

His stammerings turned unintelligible very quickly. Nejire must have had the patience of a saint to be able to put up with him.

After he finally shut himself up, Nejire made her move. "You know," she said sadly, "I'm beginning to think that you don't want to see me in a swimsuit, Izu! This is an important job, and I'll be really sad if you don't help me!"

Oh no. She was teasing him even worse now. What part of that was he even supposed to address? It felt like he was walking into a trap.

He gulped. "R-R-Really?"

Nejire smirked. Hook, line, and sinker. "Really!"

Izuku slowly peeled his hands off his eyes, though they stayed shut as he prepared himself in the only way he knew how.

Don't get a boner don't get a boner don't get a boner don't get a boner don't get a boner.

He opened his eyes.

He immediately caught a nosebleed.

Nejire was wearing a simple black one-piece swimsuit that hugged her figure nicely, with thin straps around her shoulders and the bottom reaching halfway down her thighs, leaving quite a bit to the imagination but leaving even more to his eyes. It took all his willpower to tear his gaze away from her legs, despite how perverted he knew he was being.

She giggled at his gobsmacked expression. "Do you think it looks good?"

"Uh…" he said dumbly.

"Is that a yes?" She asked again, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

Izuku thought she was enjoying this a little too much. "Y-Yes."

Nejire beamed at him. "Great!" She said happily, "What do you like about it?"

"W-What?" Izuku sputtered, "W-W-Why does it m-matter what I l-like about it?"

"Because I like all the swimsuits I picked out, so you need to help me narrow it down!" She said it like it was the most basic idea in the world.

Izuku nodded slowly, but on the inside he was freaking out. "U-Um, wouldn't it b-be easier if you just show m-me all the ones you p-picked out first, and t-then I tell you which ones I l-l-like– t-think are g-good?"

"Oh!" Nejire gasped. "You're so right! But hold on, you haven't seen all of this one yet!"

"W-What do you–"

Nejire spun around slowly, and Izuku saw everything.

More accurately, he saw just how nicely the swimsuit hugged her figure.

His brain wouldn't let him finish that thought.

Thankfully, he didn't have to focus on it for long. Nejire made her way back into the changing room with a giggle, and Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief.

Until he remembered that Nejire had brought like ten different outfits into that changing room, and that most of them were bikinis.

Come to think of it, that first one-piece was probably the most conservative clothing she had picked out…

Yeah, Izuku was afraid.

"Okay, how about this one!"

Nejire strutted out in a baby-blue one-piece, similar to before, except this one was much smaller - i.e., the straps were thinner around her shoulders and it did nothing to cover up her legs.

At all.

Izuku's eyes shot up towards Nejire's so fast that he got motion sickness. "I-It's good t-t-too!" He squeaked, voice unnaturally high.

She pouted. "You barely even looked!" Nejire complained, "I need your opinion!"

He slowly glanced downwards (and immediately regretted it) as he felt all the blood in his body rush to his face and one other place. Nejire grinned at his reaction, spinning around again - slower this time - and Izuku's jaw hit the floor.

There was even less covering on her back than her front.

His eyes rolled into the back of his head as Nejire returned to the changing room once more. How he was still conscious, he had no idea.

–

It went on like this for hours, or at least felt that way.

They were the worst (best) hours of Izuku's life.

After the second one-piece, Nejire decided to turn to the stack of bikinis she had grabbed to try on, and while she looked very good in all of them, there was so little left to the imagination Izuku's eyes were about to start bleeding from sensory overload.

She was showing so much skin…

There was no way Nejire hadn't seen him staring at this point. Try as he might, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her (and wasn't that shameful?), but she still hadn't said a thing to him.

At least she said there was only one more swimsuit left. Maybe she had decided to take mercy on him and–

"What do you think?" Nejire asked as she walked out.

Izuku turned to look at her and–

"You CAN'T buy that!"

Nejire blinked. "Huh?"

He was mortified. It was like she was wearing nothing but string, and he was not going to look at her in that again. With how fast his head shot up after that first glance, he was surprised his neck wasn't broken. "N-Nope!" Izuku said decidedly, "N-Not t-t-that one."

"What's wrong with it?" Nejire asked - and it was really hard to tell if she was being serious or not.

"D-Don't make me s-s-say it!" He cried.

Nejire sighed. "But this is the first one you haven't said you liked!" She complained, "You have to tell me what the problem is with it!"

"C-C-Can you s-seriously n-not tell?!"

"No!"

Izuku wanted to scream. "I-I-It's t-too r-revealing!"

She blinked in confusion, as though he had just imparted ancient knowledge onto her. "I thought guys liked it when girls wore revealing clothes?"

He choked on his spit. Nejire was doing this… for attention?

That made him kind of upset - not that he had any right to be all up in arms about how Nejire carried herself or what she wore. He was mostly just saddened by the fact that she was trying to… 'show off' for other guys, but that was because he was hopelessly into her.

Realizing that she was still waiting for an answer, Izuku hastily replied. "I-I mean, t-they do…" he trailed off, unsure how to continue, "B-But, um, t-there's such a thing as, ah, t-t-too revealing… A-And it's n-not like you'd h-have trouble with g-getting guys' attention w-with any of the other s-swimsuits!"

She huffed. "I don't want other guys' attention!" Nejire complained, "I–"

Abruptly, quick enough to make his head spin, she cut herself off. A faint blush dusted her cheeks - not that Izuku could see that.

He blinked in confusion. "B-But I thought y-you said–"

"Forget what I said!" She said suddenly, "But, um, you don't like this one?"

Izuku's eyes were still trained firmly on the ceiling. "...I-It's very nice on you," he said after an eternity, "B-But I d-don't t-think you s-s-should w-wear that, i-if you want m-m–my opinion…"

"Okay!" She nodded. "So which ones did you like the most? What would your top three be?"

Why was she asking this? He liked all of them! Was she not paying attention to the way his face was currently redder than the sun?

"...The pink bikini with frills, the green bikini without them, and the blue one-piece," he finally admitted, his cheeks on literal fire.

Nejire returned to the changing room. "Got it. I think I'll get them all! Which one do you think I should wear today?"

Oh, right. They were doing this because Nejire and the others wanted to have a beach day before the summer ended. He had nearly forgotten, what with the hundreds of images of Nejire she had just burned into his brain.

Was it even the same day anymore? Time was hard to measure when you were busy trying this hard not to embarrass yourself.

"I-I d-don't know," he muttered shyly, unsure if she could even hear him from behind the curtain, "L-Like I s-said, y-you l-l-look good in a-all of them…"

"Hmm…" Nejire pondered aloud, "I think I'll go with the green one today!"

She emerged from the changing room for the final time, her selections in hand, and Izuku let out a sigh of relief. Thank God that was over.

Oh, wait. Now he had to spend the entire day at the beach with Nejire in one of those bikinis.

Nope, he was a goner.

–

"C'mon, Izu!" Nejire called, already sprinting down the sand dunes, "I'll race you to the shore!"

"N-No fair!" Izuku tripped over his feet as he tried to follow her - with each step, his feet sunk deeper and deeper into the soft grains of sand beneath him. "T-There's no way I'd w-win!"

Even though Nejire was wearing a long yellow sundress, that did nothing to impede her movement. As she reached the small huddle of umbrellas that Togata and Haya had set up earlier, Izuku was still trying to keep from face planting into the ground. Stupid Hero students, being prepared for anything and everything.

It didn't help that he was trying to carry both of their bags -in all fairness, Nejire was carrying both of their chairs, but even if she was carrying Togata on her back the girl still would have destroyed him.

"Hey, Midoriya-kun!" The blonde greeted as he stumbled over, "Nice day, am I right?"

Izuku gasped as he dumped his bag onto the ground, gingerly placing Nejire's down onto the nearest towel a moment later. "H-Hi, T-Togata-san," he breathed out, "Um, yeah, it's pretty warm. Have you b-been in the water yet?"

He shook his head. "Nah! Me and Yuyu just got here," he explained, "And we decided to set everything up before we went in. We're still waiting for Tamaki, so why don't you go ahead and get changed into your bathing suit?"

"O-Okay," Izuku agreed, "I-Is that where Nejire and H-Haya-san went?"

"Yep!" Mirio gestured to the little changing station that was a few meters behind them. "I just wore my bathing suit here so I wouldn't have to deal with all that. Kinda crazy how empty the beach is, right?"

He was right about that one. It looked like they were the only group of people for at least a mile, maybe more. Izuku didn't know why so many people would be avoiding the beach on such a lovely day, but he wasn't about to complain.

"I-I'll be right back," he said quickly, pulling his swimming trunks out of his back and making his way over to the stall.

It took no time at all to switch on his bathing suit, aided by the fact that he didn't bother taking his shirt off - he was pretty prone to sunburn, and there was also the fact that he was kind of embarrassed about how frail he was.

He had seen Nejire's stomach as she modeled all those bikinis earlier, and he was pretty sure that she had more outlined abs than him. Even after four months of Togata dragging him to their gym to workout, he was still less than a wet noodle in comparison to all of them.

And he was more than a little self-conscious about it. But what was he not self-conscious about?

It was probably fine if he kept his shirt on.

But as Izuku stepped back out into the sun, he didn't realize how long he had spent hiding in the changing stall.

"There you are!" Nejire called, bounding over to him, "Did you get lost in there or something? Tamaki showed up and got changed in the same amount of time it took you!"

Izuku laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "S-Something like that… sorry."

She flicked one of his curly green locks. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop apologizing for everything, Izu?"

His face flushed as violently as a stormy sunset. "T-Too many, I g-guess?"

Nejire giggled. "I guess so…"

Suddenly he realized just how close their faces were - and that Nejire did in fact choose to wear the plain, green bikini from earlier - doing absolutely nothing to soothe his nerves.

"Hey guys!" Togata called, grabbing their attention away from each other, "C'mon over! Tamaki brought sandwiches!"

The aforementioned teen shrunk back beneath the sudden stares he suddenly received, looking like he wanted to do nothing more than hide inside the thin white t-shirt he was wearing (even if it was only the four of them who were looking at him).

Izuku felt a lot better about wearing his own shirt after seeing that Tamaki was doing the same. He had seen the purple-haired boy demolish the bench press before, so maybe there was something to being at the beach with his shirt on?

"M-My mom told me to bring them," he muttered, holding out a plate of miniature sandwiches, each held together by a toothpick down the middle. "She also said that she was upset we haven't all come over recently."

Haya shrugged. "You definitely took after her in terms of how much you worry."

"I know," Tamaki sighed, "Please just take the sandwiches and I'll tell her everyone liked them later."

"Sweet!" Togata reached a massive hand out and swiped up what looked like half of the offered sandwiches in a single move. "Thanks, dude!"

Haya winced at the movement - and not just because of the way Togata was showing off his gluttony. "Mirio," she said, shocked, "What the hell happened to your arm?!"

The teen froze. Once Izuku looked over and saw what Haya was talking about, he froze too.

All along Togata's right arm were massive stretches of scar tissue - running down from the tips of his fingers up to his shoulder in several long, spidery tendrils, almost like veins of skin that were bubbling up and ready to burst at any given moment. They were hard to spot, only being a few shades of color darker than the rest of his skin, but once you saw them they were impossible to miss.

"Oh." Nobody missed the way Togata tensed up at the question. "Uh… let's just say I found out what using up one-hundred percent of the energy in my body for Permeation does, and that I won't be doing it again!"

He finished his explanation with a laugh, but it seemed as forced as Izuku's usually were.

"How is that even possible?" Tamaki asked with wide eyes, "I mean, when did this even happen? W-We hung out, like, four days ago!"

Togata grimaced. "Sir called me in for help with an operation he and some other pros were working on. They were messing around with Trigger, one of them had a really powerful muscle-augmentation Quirk, and it was either this or half a city block going down trying to stop them some other way."

A heavy silence hung in the air at Togata's words. He looked more than a little uncomfortable now, and his eyes flickered between the forms of his friends and Izuku and his arm.

It wasn't hard for Izuku to tell what the problem was. Izuku stared it in the face every day.

"I t-think your s-scars are really c-cool, Togata-san," he stammered, taking everyone by surprise, "I-I mean, you g-got them protecting others, right? There's nothing more heroic than that… y-you should be p-p-proud of them!"

"Yeah!" Nejire jumped in the moment Izuku closed his mouth. "I mean, I kinda wish you told us when it happened, but that's so cool! I'm glad you're okay! What kind of operation was it? Does it hurt? How can you–"

Izuku nudged her with his shoulder. It was kinder than the slap on the back of the head Yuyu was prepared to land.

"Maybe don't overwhelm him with questions right away?" She snarked, making Nejire let out an 'eep' in terror and hide behind the nearest body.

Which just so happened to be Izuku. It didn't work very well considering she was six inches taller than him, and the fact that he turned into a tomato the moment she grabbed his arms to shield herself with.

"Thanks, Midoriya-kun!" Togata said gratefully, "But it's a pretty good reminder of my limits, at least. It doesn't hurt, and the mission is still classified, but that's enough of that!"

He started shoving the sandwiches he had grabbed down his gullet at a rapid pace. "It's time to party!"

Crumbs flew over all of them - except Nejire, because she was still using Izuku to hide from the dirty look Yuyu was shooting her.

"Sorry!"

Tamaki sighed at the way saliva flew all over the remaining sandwiches. "I guess you can have the rest of them, too…"

Togata pumped his fist in celebration, and Haya finally directed her ire towards him instead - giving Nejire the opportunity to loosen her grip on Izuku.

"I didn't even notice before," she began, "But why are you still wearing your shirt?"

Asking the hard-hitting questions early today, huh? "I d-d-don't want to g-get sunburn."

Beep. Wrong answer.

Nejire tilted her head in confusion. "That's what sunscreen is for?"

Izuku looked down at his toes as they mingled with the sand. He really couldn't hide anything from her, huh? "I-It's embarrassing," he mumbled, eternally grateful that the other three were busy arguing about how Togata ruined the sandwiches, "I d-don't look very good compared t-to you guys…"

And that was the truth. Even Haya, the shortest and more than likely weakest of the four (though that was a given considering how the others were known as 'The Big Three'), had far more meat on her bones than Izuku.

Nejire frowned, wrapping her arms around his torso from behind and making him even more grateful he was wearing his shirt. "That's not true," she murmured in his ear, slowly tugging him towards the towel she had laid her belongings by, "For one, you shouldn't compare yourself to us, we've been doing nothing but training for three years now…"

Then her hands moved over to his upper forearms, and he nearly had a stroke as she squeezed his biceps. "Besides," she whispered, "I don't remember these muscles on you a few months ago… it seems like you've been going to the gym with the guys a lot, huh?"

Izuku spat out nothing but gibberish. He wasn't sure he was even alive anymore.

Her hands flitted away. "I'm not going to say you have to, but no one's going to think any differently based on whether or not you're wearing a shirt…" She placed a small tube into his hands as she sat down on her towel. "And if you're able to…"

"...Can you get my back? I haven't finished putting my sunscreen on."

She turned around, presenting her pale back for him to see.

Izuku crushed the tube of sunblock that Nejire had given him in his fist.

Some of it landed in his hair.

"That's enough of that," Haya said suddenly, at his side in an instant somehow and taking the bottle out of his hands, "I'll do your sunscreen, Nejire."

"What?" Nejire protested, "But–"

"I'm sorry Midoriya," Haya interrupted, "But I need to talk with our mutual friend here about something important. Maybe you could go collect seashells with Tamaki instead? Or have Mirio get your sunscreen?"

Izuku had no idea what was going on. "...Okay," he agreed, "Um, bye."

But he did not want to be caught in the middle of whatever was going on between Nejire and Haya.

As he walked away, the only words he could make out from their conversation was something about rabbits, carrots, and sticks.

Whatever that meant.

–

The water was nice and cool. It was a great way to cool down after helping Tamaki try (and fail) to build a lasting sandcastle.

There was nothing wrong with it, but when you built it right against the water as the tide came in it was hard to prevent the ocean from taking the structure down.

Togata was having a good time digging a hole… for some reason. To be honest, Izuku would have considered joining him if he wasn't constantly suffering from his crippling social anxiety. He always wanted to dig a hole on the beach.

As he floated around aimlessly, he couldn't help but wonder about how weird it was that he had friends now. They probably wouldn't be friends normally, especially considering they still didn't know he was Quirkless (though he was sure they might have been suspecting something at this point), but that just meant he had yet another thing to thank Nejire for.

Izuku sighed as the water pushed him around with the tide. He had fallen really hard for her, and that was just going to make it all that much worse when it came crashing down.

If word ever got out, at least. But he was more than happy to take that little bit of knowledge to the grave.

Well, not really. He'd rather confess his love to her in dramatic fashion and have it be eagerly reciprocated, but this wasn't a fairy tale. That was never going to happen - for more reasons than there were grains of sand on this beach.

He wondered if the tide would take him out to sea. That wouldn't be very fun. He tilted his head up to see how far he had drifted–

A small wave of water splashed into Izuku's face. "Hey."

Once he wiped his eyes, he realized that he had nearly bumped into Nejire. "H-Hey."

Looking around, he hadn't really gone far at all - in fact, all five of them were pretty close together in the water.

Nejire's eyes fell on his (now shirtless) chest, and Izuku suddenly felt very naked. "Having fun?" She asked.

"Yeah," he agreed, "This is n-nice. I haven't been to the b-beach in a long time…"

Izuku's mind briefly flickered to the beach near his house - Dagobah Municipal. When he was a kid it was nice, but nowadays it was just a dumping ground. Miles and miles of trash were all that remained of Izuku's childhood memories, and something about that idea hit him a little too close to home.

Until Togata cleaned the entire beach, of course. He hadn't been back since, but he was very grateful to the blonde for doing the community such a great service.

She grinned. "We'll have to get a few more days like this in before summer ends," Nejire hummed, "But first… think fast!"

"H-Huh?"

Before he could so much as blink, Nejire reared back and splashed him, the wave large enough to make him sputter and gasp. Almost without thinking he splashed her back in retaliation, and Nejire laughed as she was sprinkled by the salty Pacific water.

"That's the spirit!" She encouraged, even as she sent another wave Izuku's way, "Bring it on!"

There wasn't much of a competition here. Nejire was sending waves large enough to drag Izuku out to sea if she wanted. Any spray that Izuku sent back was absorbed by her strikes.

"Woohoo! Splash fight!"

Then Togata decided to join in. He leapt over to them excitedly, and as green lightning sparked off his body punched straight down into the ocean - sending a tidal wave towards both Izuku and Nejire and where Tamaki and Haya were relaxing.

Nejire shrieked as she was doused in the water, completely soaking her down to the bone, and Izuku wasn't much better. The force from the wave was almost enough to knock her into him, too, but she was thankfully able to catch herself before that happened.

Togata laughed in victory, only to yelp in surprise as Tamaki decided to enter the fray himself - using a dragonfly's wings (don't ask) to blow up a small hurricane that seemed dead-set on hitting the Permeation user.

If there were a few electric arrows hidden within the storm, Haya knew nothing about that.

Of course, Tamaki's Quirk wasn't to control storms, so Nejire and Izuku were caught up in the crossfire (and nearly blown away, in his case).

"Truce?" Nejire asked, teeth chattering as she wrapped her arms around her torso for warmth.

"T-T-Truce," he stuttered back, "B-But, um, I don't know how we're s-supposed to deal with… that…"

Nejire shrugged. "Tamaki can't keep that up forever! Eventually he'll have to come back down to the water, and that's when we can get him! Mirio too!"

Izuku shook his hair to get rid of all the water sopping up his skull. "I-In that case…"

He whispered his plan to Nejire, who had a very unheroic smirk on her face as he explained. "Alright," she giggled, "I like that plan."

"G-Great," Izuku sighed, "That makes one of us."
Nejire laughed at the grim expression on his face. Izuku really did get the short end of the stick with his little idea. "It'll be fine!"

And with that, Nejire dove under the water, already moving towards the center of the group.

Izuku sighed again. Time to go get bullied.

He made his movement towards Tamaki and Haya as loud and obvious as possible, but neither of them spared him a glance until he was directly behind them and trying to splash Tamaki's wings.

It didn't go very well.

Haya had an uncharacteristically scary look on her face as she leered down at his quivering form. "You didn't think that would actually work, did you?"

Even Tamaki took a break from drowning Togata to look at him.

Jackpot.

"N-No," Izuku said, trying his best to stand his ground, "B-But t-this will."

Tamaki blinked. "Wait, where's–"

A geyser erupted from beneath the purple-haired teen, completely drenching him in salt water and weighing down his wings way too much for him to be able to fly. He landed beside Haya with a splat, and the little hurricane he had created dissipated into the wind.

Unfortunately, for everyone, that was when the whirlpool started.

It was pretty simple. Nejire was just using Wave Motion in place in the water - with a very large spiral. Izuku, Haya, and Tamaki were all sucked into the current in no time at all, and it was only a matter of time before Togata was forced to leave whatever place Permeation had hidden him in to join them in the rushing spiral.

It was anarchy. And Izuku was sure that Nejire was having a blast, but the same couldn't be said for–

Two slender yet powerful arms wrapped around his torso, slowly lifting him out of the whirlpool his partner had created.

"Need a hand?" Nejire joked, somehow still able to keep up the whirlpool despite not holding the spiral in place beneath the water.

Well, not 'somehow', Izuku knew how she was doing it, but he was a little preoccupied with how she was hugging him from behind as they floated above their defeated foes. "T-Thanks."

"Anytime!" She beamed at him, before turning her gaze downward, "Do you guys accept your defeat?"

She shouted loud enough to be heard over the rushing waves, but all Nejire received was a groan in response. "Good enough for me!"

The whirlpool dissipated almost immediately, and suddenly the day was right back to normal, as if a small tornado and whirlpool didn't just ravage the beach.

"That was fun!" Nejire shouted, dropping Izuku and herself back into the water after descending a good part of the way, "Let's do that again!"

"NO!" Everyone, including Izuku included, shouted.

Nejire pouted. "Fine!" She huffed indignantly, "We'll do something else! How about… chicken fights!"

Haya sighed. "At least that's kind of normal." Her eyes landed on Tamaki. "We're doing this, I guess…?"

Togata pounded his fist in his hand. "Midoriya!" He shouted, "With me!"

The blonde made his way over to Izuku, only for Nejire to yank him backwards into her arms. "No, Izu is my partner! Go and get your own!"

He shrugged. "Alright!" Togata laughed, "Fine then! Tamaki, we're doing this!"

Izuku gulped as he side-eyed Nejire. Togata was, like, twice the size and one-hundred pounds more than each and every one of them - hell, he could probably hoist all of them onto his shoulders if he wanted. "A-Are you sure you w-want me to ride on y-your s-s-shoulders?"

She laughed, and Izuku felt his stomach sink despite not knowing what was coming next. "No, silly," the girl chuckled, "I'll be on your shoulders! I carried you last game, this time it's your turn!"

God save him.

Please.

–

"Are you ready?" Togata called eagerly, Tamaki sitting hunched over on his shoulders.

"Ready!" Nejire called back, perched atop Izuku's shoulders as he tried not to lose his mind.

Her thighs were wrapped snugly around his head, and her delicate hands were gripping onto his fluffy hair for support. Izuku was very grateful that the water was cold enough to keep him… 'relaxed' down below. The worst (best) part was that he had to wrap his arms around Nejire's legs to keep her steady, which meant he was getting a handful of her legs as he stood there.

It was enough for him to feel like he was going to pass out, all things considered. Izuku was just lucky she hadn't gotten mad at him for it yet, though it was definitely just a matter of time.

And that Nejire was surprisingly light. He barely noticed her weight as he carried her.

Togata grinned. "Then let's go! CHARGE!"

He ran at them like a bull in a china shop, and Izuku yelped in fright as his fight-or-flight instincts kicked in.

They told him to take flight. But the girl on top of his shoulders laughed maniacally, and that meant that he was going to have to fight. "Go, Izu!" Nejire encouraged, pointing dramatically towards Tamaki and Togata, "Get them!"

"I-I'm g-g-going to d-die," he whispered to himself.

Regardless, he charged at Togata. He wasn't very fast, but that didn't matter much since they were already bearing down on the pair.

Nejire locked arms with Tamaki as soon as he got within her reach. "Nothing personal!" She shouted, "But you're going down!"

"This is dumb," Tamaki mumbled.

Izuku struggled to keep his balance now that Nejire was grappling against Tamaki (and not holding onto his head for support), a fact that was only made worse when Togata decided to engage him - playfully trying to shove him backwards into the water.

"C'mon Midoriya-kun!" He taunted jovially, "Get into the spirit! Take me on!"

He staggered backwards at the push, nearly toppling over and taking Nejire with him, but the verdette was barely able to keep his footing. It came at the cost of having to immediately re-engage with the guys, though, which also meant that Izuku had to let go of Nejire's legs, but she compensated for that by squeezing her thighs even tighter around his head as she lunged for Tamaki.

And that was what made them lose - because Izuku froze like a deer in headlights at the action, and Togata took the opportunity to knock him over.

"Ah!" Nejire gasped as they crashed into the ocean, her legs finally separating from Izuku's shoulders, "Dang it!"

He felt a little guilty as she spat out a small stream of seawater. "S-Sorry."

She waved off his apologies. "No worries!" She said easily, "We'll get them next time!"

Togata shook his head. "If we're doing this again, we're switching up the teams!" He protested, "I kinda wanna see Midoriya-kun try and carry me!"

Izuku and Nejire blanched. Were they trying to kill him?

–

Maybe.

Haya had put a stop to the chicken fights after Togata tried hopping onto Izuku's shoulders, only for the smaller boy to immediately collapse beneath his weight. How was he even able to swim with that much weight?

At least Nejire was kind enough to save him from drowning. Though his heart could have done without her jokingly asking if he needed CPR.

Speaking of Nejire…

The girl had wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her chest into his shoulders as she laid her chin on top of his head. "I'm telling you, Izuku is on our team!"

"You've been hogging him all day," Tamaki pointed out from the other side of the volleyball court, Togata nodding seriously by his side, "And I thought we usually did boys versus girls?"

"That was before Midoriya joined our group," Haya pointed out, "And before you got a super power-up to Permeation."

"Nejire got a power up to Wave Motion, too!" Togata protested.

His words only made the girl tighten her grip on Izuku, inadvertently pressing the back of his head into her chest. "Yeah, but at least my Quirk's evolution makes sense!"

"Besides," the pink-haired girl added, "With Midoriya on our team it's three Quirks versus three Quirks."

Togata froze for a second, momentarily looking like his worst fear was realized before quickly schooling his expression.

Tamaki blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Permeation is basically two Quirks," she pointed out, "Like Endeavor's kid in 1-A. He has a fire and ice Quirk apparently, which is kinda like how Permeation is half phasing and half strength augmentation. If we take those two and Manifest, then it's equal to Wave Motion, Generator, and whatever Midoriya's Quirk is, so the teams are even this way."

Now it was Izuku's turn to tense, fears about his Quirklessness being revealed immediately resurfacing. Nejire, of course, noticed, and in an instant her semi-possessive grip turned into a soft hug to remind him none of that mattered - least of all to her.

Togata huffed. "This is ridiculous!" He griped, "C'mon Tamaki, back me up here!"

"I already have," he mumbled, "But, um, it is true that we probably have an advantage, even with Midoriya on their team."

"See?" Nejire pointed out, "Even Tamaki agrees with us!"

"Well, why don't we just ask Midoriya-kun what he wants!" Togata tried, "Right? Wouldn't you rather be one of the guys instead of Nejire's pawn?"

Izuku winced at the attention. It was weird being fought over.

"...I-I'm okay with being on N-Nejire's team," he mumbled.

Nejire beamed at him. "Yay!" She cheered, "See, Mirio! Izuku likes me the most!"

The Permeation Quirk user just huffed. "Fine," he grunted in betrayal, "I see how it is. Tamaki! We gotta show them how badly they just messed up now, right?! Show Midoriya-kun the error of his ways!"

Tamaki sighed. "Yeah, I know."

Haya pulled out a volleyball from her bag. "In your dreams!" She turned to her teammates as she prepared to serve. "Nejire! Get off of Midoriya and get ready to play! I'm not losing to the meathead here!"

Togata crossed his arms expectantly. "Who're you calling a meathead?! At least I have meat on my bones!"

"Yeah," Nejire snickered, "Too much, though!"

He leered at her in false-anger, only to blink as Haya's serve landed right on his head, quickly falling to the sand as Tamaki groaned. "One-nothing!" She shouted victoriously. "This is too easy!"

"Oh, it is on!" The blonde shouted back, tossing the ball back to Haya so she could serve once again. "Bring. It."
Izuku shuddered. Wasn't this a little too much intensity for a game of beach volleyball?

As Togata bumped Haya's serve, Tamaki set it, and green lightning sparked around his muscles as he prepared to spike the ball, Izuku knew he was going to have a rough time.

–

He was right.

The score was currently fourteen to fourteen, and Izuku had just about no impact on the outcome of the game - aside from setting the ball a few times for Nejire, that was.

To be completely fair, it wasn't like Haya or Tamaki were doing much either. Most of their game was spent watching as their teammates repeatedly used Permeation and Wave Motion to slam the volleyball down onto the other side of the court as hard as they could, and it was a pretty effective strategy. Sometimes Tamaki would pull out a clam shell or an octopus tentacle to make a save, but otherwise it was basically a one-on-one matchup.

Fine by him. Izuku would rather not have Togata suddenly try to cave his head in with a volleyball that moved as fast as a bullet.

Togata's chest heaved as he prepared himself for what was basically guaranteed to be the last round of the match. "Had enough yet?" He taunted.

Nejire laughed, but she didn't look much better. Well, she looked better in the sense that she was extraordinarily beautiful, even with sweat cascading down her body, but she looked just as tired as her counterpart. "Not a chance, Mirio!" She shot back, "You're gonna eat your words in a few seconds!"

"We'll see about that, pixie!"

She gasped. "You did not just call me that."

Haya served the ball, only for Togata to smack it right back over to their side of the court. Nejire bumped it calmly, allowing for Izuku to set it high enough for Nejire to spike it.

She hit it hard enough to knock someone's head off. That 'pixie' comment must have really pissed her off for some reason.

Togata smirked as he leapt into the air, directly behind his side of the next as he prepared to slam the ball down into the sand on Nejire's side of the court–

He flickered out of existence right as the ball would have smacked against his downstretched palms, allowing for it to sail smoothly to the sandy ground.

Nejire blinked, anger forgotten. "Did we win?"

He was back a second later. "Damn it!" Togata cried, "What the hell even was that?!"

Izuku shrieked in horror as he realized the teen lost his swim trunks, and he wasn't the only one. It took the teen a second to notice the draft coming from down below, but once he did he was quick to reattach his lost clothing. "S-Sorry," he apologized, "But seriously, what the hell just happened?"

Haya snorted (she was able to look away before Togata flashed her, lessening the levels of traumatization she would have received). "You tell us."

"I don't know!" He complained, "One second I was about to win, and the next I was Permeating! It was like I couldn't even control it!"

Tamaki gave him a strange look. "You haven't had that problem since we were, like, seven."

He stomped his foot into the sand in frustration. "I know!"

"Maybe you're just tired?" Nejire tried, "Sometimes when I'm running on fumes Wave Motion will get a little bit finicky.

That seemed like a weird reason. It made sense for Wave Motion to become less reliable as Nejire exhausted herself, what with her entire Quirk being centered around her stamina and energy reserves, but Permeation had nothing to do with that. In fact, you'd think it would be the other way around - if Togata was so powerful that his maximum limit on energy could break his body in the way he had described, then wouldn't it make more sense for him to not have issues with regulation when he was running low on said energy? It would make more sense for the issues with control to happen when he was at his most charged up, at least to Izuku. What seemed more likely to him was that his Quirk was simply unstable - in this instance, at least. Izuku wasn't one to dictate what he thought was wrong with other people's Quirks back to them.

Togata's arms fell limply against his sides. "...Maybe," he relented, though the look on his face was a mix of confusion and hesitance as he stared out into the now setting sun, "I'm gonna go lie down and eat the rest of my bento."

Tamaki's eyes followed his best friend in confusion as he walked away. "I'll go make sure he's not too upset," he decided, "And, uh, see what that was about…"

Izuku turned to follow the pair, and while he was distracted Yuyu saw fit to elbow Nejire in the ribs. "Now's your chance," she whispered.

The periwinkle-haired girl brightened instantly.

"I'm gonna go wash off!" Nejire said suddenly (and loudly), "Wanna come, Izu?"

His first instinct was to decline, having already used his one towel for the day, but he grimaced as he realized that he was also slick with sweat - likely as a result of the sun beating down on him for the better part of the afternoon. "S-Sure."

He passed Haya, and the pink-haired teen gave him a thumbs up as she took down the volleyball net. Izuku arched his eyebrow in confusion. What was that about?

Probably nothing, he decided as he shook his head. He almost never understood what went on behind Haya's eyes - it was like she was always planning something out, thirty steps ahead of the rest of them.

Not that it bothered him. Quite the opposite, in fact - whenever he spent time talking with Haya, he found her company to be quite enjoyable. Though maybe she was just happy that she didn't have to constantly fight to keep him in line like she did with Nejire and Togata.

Izuku noticed that the water was slightly warmer than earlier as he dipped his toes into it, which was a welcome surprise. Nejire had already leapt headfirst into the Pacific, splashing about without a care in the world as she cleaned off, and Izuku was content to watch her enjoy herself for a moment before joining the girl in the water.

Not for long, though - he didn't want to make his hair even more ruined than it already was. It would probably take days to get all the sand and grime out of it.

Instead, he settled for sitting in the shallows. His legs were completely submerged, but the rest of his body was perfectly dry (or drying) as he stared out into the sunset.

Izuku didn't even notice Nejire until she sat down beside him. "Did you have fun today?" She asked, nudging his shoulder to get his attention.

"Y-Yeah." He coughed into his shoulder to distract himself from his rapidly rising blush. Nejire's legs were pulled up to her chest, held in place by her arms while her toes sunk into the wet sand they were sitting on. "It was n-nice to come here. I l-like hanging out with you guys…"

She reached out to squeeze his shoulder gently. "We like hanging out with you too, you know," Nejire reminded him, "You're our friend. We like spending time with each other."

He nodded bashfully. "I know…" Izuku sighed. "I-It's just… k-kind of hard sometimes, y'know? Knowing that you g-guys actually like me, a-and that I have f-friends now…"

Nejire's heart ached. All this because of a stupid toe joint. God only knows how much he had to have gone through to make Izuku so… everything.

If she ever met any of the people who had helped to make Izuku like this, she'd make them wish they'd never been born.

The girl shuffled closer to him. Their legs were touching now, and Izuku blushed at the contact - even if there was nothing behind it, being so close to Nejire always made him like this, much less when she was wearing nothing but a bikini that matched the color of his hair.

"Izu," she began slowly, sending a jolt through his system at the sound of her soft, sweet tone, "I really like being with you."

He gulped. "I'm s-sensing a 'but'."

Nejire hummed. "That obvious, huh?" She laughed quietly for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "It's nothing bad or anything, but…"

The older girl trailed off slowly, unsure of how to proceed. A troubled look flashed across her features, and Izuku immediately decided that it didn't belong on her otherwise otherworldly-beautiful face.

"Y-You can s-say it," he stammered, "I w-won't get u-upset or a-a-anything…"

That was kind of true. If she said something like 'I don't think we should keep hanging out' or 'I honestly don't like you all that much' it would probably ruin his life, but he would have no right to complain after five months of Nejire treating him better than anyone else ever had.

A reality check was overdue at this point.

She brushed a strand of periwinkle out of her eyes. "That's not the problem," she giggled, "I just don't know how I should say it."

Izuku stayed quiet. It seemed like whatever she wanted to say was weighing pretty heavily on her.

Nejire took a deep breath. "Screw this," she mumbled. The taller girl snaked her arm towards Izuku's face, cupping his chin and forcing him to lock eyes with her. "Izuku, I–"

"I've gotta go!"

Nejire yelped and Izuku straight up screamed as Togata popped up out of the ground in front of them, a semi-panicked look on his face as he made sure his shorts didn't fall off. "Sorry, guys," he said quickly, "But I just got a phone call from Al– Sir Nighteye. He said there's another raid going down in a few hours, and that I need to be there. Like, I need to be there an hour ago."

"Do we need to go too?" Nejire asked immediately, going from bashful to business in an instant, "What did he say? Is Ryukyu's agency involved? Does it have to do with what you were talking about earlier? What kind of–"

He put his hands up and Nejire closed her mouth instantly. "Classified," he replied, uncharacteristically serious, "And even Sir doesn't know the extent of all the parties involved. If you haven't been informed already, you're not a part of it. No connection that I know of, but that doesn't matter. I need to go now."

Nejire nodded. "Be safe, Le Million."

Togata cracked a small, tiny smile. "I will."

Just like that, he was gone - Full Cowling across the beach at an impossible speed.

They stared at his retreating form until Togata was no longer visible over the sand dunes.

"W-Will he be alright?" Izuku asked. "T-Togata seemed really… s-shaken."

Nejire was silent for a moment. "I hope," she whispered, "Mirio's been getting into all sorts of secret missions, ever since the start of the school year. He never talks about them, but we can all see that whatever he's doing isn't good for him."

Izuku didn't know how to respond to that.

So he didn't.

"...W-What were you going to say earlier?" He asked, curious and desperate to get Nejire's mind away from worrying.

She opened her mouth to respond, but froze. "Nevermind," Nejire mumbled, "I'll– I'll tell you later."

Izuku frowned, though his frustration with the situation was directed at himself being unable to distract his friend. "Okay."

Nejire sighed. "Let's start packing everything up." She stood slowly, walking back to the small grouping of towels and umbrellas that remained. "I think I've had enough fun for today."

–

Izuku sighed peacefully to himself as he went about his work, dutifully attending each and every aspect of the meal he was working on.

The beach trip was nice, even if it did seem like Nejire was trying to kill him during their time shopping for swimsuits. Like he told her earlier, he liked spending time with all of them, and he liked doing things with other people (that weren't his mother) for a change. They all, Nejire especially, made him feel like he mattered.

Even the weather was perfect! Izuku couldn't have asked for better.

It was like nothing could ruin his good mood.

He should have known better to tempt fate like that.

He hadn't expected this. One minute he was standing in his kitchen, peacefully preparing dinner for himself (and his mother, for when she returned home from work), and the next their television roared to life as if possessed.

Izuku jumped in surprise. "What the–"

He was cut off by the sound of an explosion. Instinctively he ducked his head, fearing the worst, only to slowly raise his head as he realized what the source of the noise was.

The TV. Again.

He warily peeked his head around the corner of the counter he had leapt behind, watching the television raptly. He had put it on some time ago, but it was merely playing out some random cooking show Izuku had never heard of. Why was it so loud all of a sudden?

…And why was it showing him a vision of a burning warehouse?

"We're coming to you live from Kamino Ward's eighth district where a daring rescue mission led by All Might has been mounted following the kidnapping of one U.A. student last night by the League of Villains!"

Oh.

There was no reporter in the frame - likely to allow for the heroes involved to take center stage, and boy were there a lot of them. All Might, Best Jeanist, Mount Lady, and over two-dozen others seemed primed to storm into the compound, while hundreds of police officers closed ranks behind them. The stage was primed for an incredible showdown.

And then All Might cocked his fist back and…

…Blew the entire warehouse away.

Even the fires were put out by the simple act of moving his fist

A dozen or so villains looked completely and utterly lost for words as they were suddenly exposed to the world, along with a face that Izuku wished he could forget.

"If you want a Quirk so badly, why don't you take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a Quirk in the next life?"

Bakugou stood in the center of the villains, arms raised as though he were expecting a fight, only to blink in surprise as All Might began to systematically annihilate the villains that stood between them.
They never stood a chance.

As the Symbol of Peace prepared to deliver the finishing blow to a tall, lanky villain with hands covering his body, surging forward despite the desperate attempts of the few remaining criminals to hold him back, something happened.

One second, his fist was inches from the hand-villain's head.

The next, Izuku and the rest of the viewing world were treated to the sight of a boogeyman long thought dead.

An explosion rippled across Kamino, powerful enough to briefly turn the screen to static before it recovered, and all of a sudden All Might and a scarred, faceless man were staring each other down, the Number One's fist ensnared in what seemed to be a black mass that extended from the new villain's hand. Hordes of nomu rushed forward from some unseen place as well, engaging all the Heroes that had been ready to rush in and fight.

Izuku had already been lost by this point. But things started getting insane after that.

All Might rushed forward to engage, and he and the villain traded what seemed like a million blows in an instant. Their fists created shockwaves that destroyed the streets around them, slowly lowering them into a crater, but to the world's horror it looked like All Might was losing.

His eyes darted back towards where Bakugou had been standing, where he was now engaged in what seemed like a fight to the death with the three remaining villains. One was a girl with a large tan cardigan who repeatedly lunged at him in an attempt to skewer him with her knife, one was a heavily-scarred man who launched bursts of fire periodically at him, and the last one was the hand-villain from before. Despite how powerful his former tormentor was, it was clear that he would lose.

Hell, it seemed like he would lose to any of them in a one-on-one fight. It looked like the villains were toying with him, more than anything.

Eventually, it looked like the fight would end rather unceremoniously - the hand-villain got in close, arm extended to wrap around Bakugou's face, only for the boy to be yanked away by–

Wait, was that Togata?!

Izuku's eyes widened at the way he phased out of the way of one of the girl's stab attempts. That was definitely him.

Bakugou didn't seem to like being interrupted, turning towards his saviour with a decidedly less than kind look in his eyes, but he didn't have much time to react before Togata rocketed away from the villains, empowered by Full Cowling. The boy was deposited at the feet of the police, quickly swarmed by lesser Heroes, and disappeared into the crowd as Togata immediately returned to face the villains.

Just like All Might would.

Unfortunately for him, they were gone - the only trace of them remaining being the quickly disappearing violet portal that stood where they once were.

For whatever reason, Togata (and no other Hero, for that matter) did not move to assist All Might in his battle with the villain, even after most of the nomu were slain. Maybe it was because anyone giving All Might that hard of a time would likely be killed immediately if they tried to interfere.

Whatever the reason, it made for the perfect duel. The ultimate villain for All Might to fight.

Izuku wondered if he'd even have enough time to win - he still remembered the Hero's words to him on that rooftop, well over a year ago by this point. If he was down to three hours back then, what was his time limit now?

Steam was slowly rising from his body. It looked like that limit was close, if he hadn't already hit it.

He was well aware he was muttering up a storm by this point, but he paid it no heed. No one was going to chastise him for doing so in the comfort of his own home, and he was alone anyways so it didn't matter.

In the midst of yet another one of their gargantuan clashes, where All Might continued to get pushed backwards, the villain said something that made All Might freeze. It was like he was stabbed in the heart.

And then the villain actually did stab him - through the stomach, where Izuku knew his injury was, and that was when he realized that this must have been the same villain to injure him all those years ago. No wonder that fight was never made public - if people knew a villain like this existed, one with such power and cunning to seemingly be the leader behind the League of Villains and to be able to injure All Might, it would be far harder to convince them that society was anywhere near as safe as they thought.

A puff of smoke erupted from the Hero's body, like the final gasp of a dying god. All Might stood, heavily wounded, in the form he had accidentally revealed to Izuku all those months ago.

Traces of lightning danced around his form, just like Togata.

Izuku didn't need to be there to hear the gasp of surprise that erupted from the crowd.

It looked like that would be it for the Symbol of Peace, he thought numbly. Even if All Might somehow survived (or, even less likely, won), the image of a shrunken, hollowed out form of All Might was now likely going to be ingrained for eternity within the minds of Japan.

It was the end of an era.

A few moments passed where nothing happened, aside from a few words that were going to stay between the villain and All Might, before the man went for the killing blow. All Might countered with a punch, seemingly throwing every last bit of power into his left arm–

A feint. Izuku had seen Bakugou do something similar to this far too many times to count. All Might was on his last legs here, and it looked like he'd use any and every dirty trick left in the book he could to try and take the villain down with him.

It reminded Izuku of the same sort of punch Togata had thrown at the beach.

And somehow, by some miracle, it worked.

All Might's left arm crumpled like wet cardboard beneath the villain's might, but his right was unimpeded as it folded the man like a lawn chair. It was like All Might summoned a hurricane around the two in his final act, and the villain, just like every other time All Might wound up in a fight, was defeated.

But so was he.

Cameras and microphones swarmed the Number One Hero as soon as the villain's defeat was confirmed. All Might looked like he wasn't going to do so much as blink until they got Quirk-suppressing cuffs on the man, and Izuku didn't blame him.

His final speech as a Hero was nothing special. He announced his retirement, among other things, and did his best to encourage a society currently going through the worst case of shell-shock probably ever to find its feet and keep going without him.

Until he got to the end.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but his omnipresent grin was still there as he pointed at what Izuku was sure was one of the cameras surrounding him and smirked. "Now it's your turn."

Now it's your turn. What an odd thing to say. Maybe it was meant for Endeavor? After all, he would certainly become the newest Number One, even if there was no way the man could ever truly embody the Symbol of Peace - you needed a lot more than a number by your name to do that.

Maybe he was speaking to the next generation of Heroes. He had become a teacher at U.A. (Izuku winced involuntarily at the reminder of seeing him at the Sports Festival), so it was easy to imagine that he was speaking to the Nejires, Tamakis, and Togatas of the world–

Wait.

No.

"Um, my Quirk kind of evolved, for the lack of a better term, a few months ago, and now I have super strength."

No. NO.

He practically threw himself at the remote, frantically pressing the rewind button and freezing on the picture of All Might pointing into the crowd–

That was wrong. He was pointing at the people watching, sure, but he was also pointing at the arrayed army of Heroes who had all participated in the battle that took place.

He was pointing at Togata. As if that mattered.

Izuku's eyes stung. "Liar," he hissed, as if All Might was standing right in front of him.

"Permeation is basically two Quirks."

Quirks didn't just evolve. Izuku was right. He was right and he hated it and now he felt sick and his head hurt and he–

The boy barely reached the trash can before the bile in the back of his throat erupted outwards, spewing his lunch out into the bag as he groaned out pitifully.

Even after he finished throwing up, his body continued to shake as the full brunt of the truth bore down on him.

In hindsight it was so obvious. All the pieces were there for him to put it together, but Izuku just never made the connection.

All Might was injured and running out of time to be a Hero.

All Might suddenly shows up to teach at U.A.

He was looking for successors.

Togata worked out of Nighteye's agency, the former sidekick of All Might.

He already had a foot in the door.

Togata suddenly develops superhuman strength, just like All Might.

Izuku never stood a chance.

All Might was there at the Sports Festival for Togata.

He would have won it resoundingly if not for Nejire.

Togata left early from the beach today because All Might needed him here.

Every other time he left early must have been the same.

All Might was secretly a shriveled husk and used his Quirk to hide it.

All Might had a Quirk that could be passed down.

And he gave it to Togata.

Izuku wanted to scream. And cry.

So he did.

"LIAR!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, eyes locked on to the frozen visage of the now former Hero on the screen. "HYPOCRITE! ASSHOLE!"

It didn't make him feel any better.

Was it even All Might's Quirk? Did he have a teacher who passed their power on to him? What kind of Quirk was as strong as All Might's, gave one superhuman abilities, and also could be passed down? It was probably a stockpiler, and if it could be passed on and let All Might be as strong as that it had probably been around for a while.

Was All Might originally Quirkless? The answer was, more likely than not, a resounding yes.

And that… that was what broke Izuku.

"I HATE YOU!"

He threw the remote with all his strength - at the couch, because he wasn't about to make his mother pay for that, but he really wanted to throw it at the TV. He wanted to punch All Might in the face. He wanted to kick and yell and punch and spit on him and make him feel half as bad as he had made Izuku feel. Did he simply hate what he once was? Did he look down on Izuku? Did the very thought of being Quirkless again make his skin crawl?

He hoped it did. He hoped All Might had the worst experiences of his life now.

Izuku couldn't be a Hero without power - a power that All Might apparently had, and could have given him. Izuku would have done anything - literally anything that man wanted to be a Hero–

No. Not even that. He would have done anything to just hear the Hero say he believed in him. He would have licked the bottom of his shoe, no questions asked. He would have done all the training in the world for a fraction of a chance for All Might to support him. He would have fought the man's arch-nemesis without a second thought if that was what it took.

But he gave his Quirk to someone who was already gifted, who was already going to be one of the greatest Heroes Japan had ever seen. Someone who had it made for them.

Life wasn't fair. And it seemed like life wanted to remind Izuku about that every chance it could.

Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs until he couldn't scream anymore. Then he went to his room and found all the old posters he had carefully taken down of All Might after he crushed his dreams and ripped them all to shreds until they were nothing but scraps. Izuku punched the floor until his hand was a bloody mess. He cried and cried and cried like a petulant child when they didn't get what they wanted because that was all he really was and nothing would ever change the fact that no matter what he did or how hard he tried or who he met he would never amount to anything or achieve his dreams because his toe had one extra bone and his idol knew he was worthless when he had once sat exactly where Izuku did but that didn't matter because Izuku was a loser and a failure and an idiot and what right did he have to complain it wasn't his power or his right to choose it was All Might's but was it so wrong just to wish that the person he looked up to all his life would see him as something more than a problem or a liability or a name to be listed at the bottom of the list of obituaries in next morning's paper or–

—

A/N: I can't stop torturing the child. My bad. You could consider this one a two-parter as well, though I think it's perfectly fine to consider this and the next one as separate chapters.

I have also decided to go back and give most (if not all) of the chapters names. I think I have a lot of funny ones planned. Same treatment for most (if not all) future chapters.

Anyways, I've been looking forward to this one - specifically the end - for a while. Hope I didn't disappoint. Also, Merry Christmas! Hope the double chapter is appreciated lol, I did a lot of writing yesterday to make sure this one got out on schedule. Shoutout Lugia and Helia for spending their time on this busy holiday reading this instead (and subsequently tearing me apart in the analysis) lol. As payment you should leave a review.

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year if this is the last time you see me until 2025 (it probably won't)!
Hope you enjoyed! See you next time!