Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya's day has been awful
Not that any of his days in recent years have been good, but today has hit an all time low. It had started out alright, he had caught up with Kaachan before anyone could corner him and Kaachan would have to rescue his sorry butt.
Again
He actually made it to class on time today, early at that, so the teacher couldn't punish him for being even a single second late. No one had bothered him all morning, aside from a few snide comments but that was the usual, he could tough it out. Everything was going smoothly, he was beginning to think that this was going to be the best day he had had in a while.
Then came the end of the school day.
The teacher had made an announcement that they would be deciding what path they would be taking for their future careers. Of course, everyone in the classroom wanted to be a hero, even he wanted to be one so it came as no surprise. But the part that had made it become the worst day of his life, his teacher making mention that Jet, a foreign transfer student from England (Birmingham if he remembered correctly), Kaachan, and Izuku were planning on aimming for UA.
Jet and Kaachan were praised for aiming so high, UA was the top school afterall, and they had powerful quirks so they had the best shot of getting in. But as for him, a quirkless loser in the eyes of the class, all he got was laughing and multiple comments how it was impossible for him and how he would fail before the entrance exam even began.
But what had happened next was the cyanide frosting on his cake of poison
Kaachan had been called down to the principal a few minutes before class ended, the school's surefire way of getting the two separated long enough that one of Izuku's bullies could go unchallenged when attempting to do basically anything to Izuku. Jet and his cronies had soon cornered him at his desk, it wasn't like this hadn't happened before. Jet had teamed up with one of the cronies to char his notebook using his quirk: Turbine, which gave him two holes in his hands that were able to propel wind at a tremendous rate, so far to even allow him to fly (the other guy had a quirk that allowed him to create sparks when he snapped his fingers or rubbed his hands together), then chucked it out the window. But what he said next took it to a whole different level entirely.
"If you are so determined to become a hero, why don't you jump off a roof, maybe you will sprout wings or begin to levitate or maybe
You can pray for a quirk in your next life, not like anyone would miss you when you die."
So as he sits here, suffocating in the ooze of the Sludge Villain, he wonders if Jet was right. Would Mom be better off without having to worry about him? Would Kaachan become a better hero without him weighing him down. Would society fair off better with him no longer wasting the air that could be used for others. Many mores similar questions plague his mind as he tries to dig the torrent of slime entering his mouth and nose, but one thought stands out from the rest, the defiant part of him that was pushing him along for most of his life since that fateful day at the doctor's office.
'I can't die yet, I have so much to do, I STILL NEED TO BECOME A HERO!'
That single thought was enough for him to attempt to double his efforts, even if it was in vain he would still go down fighting. Kaachan would be proud, after scolding him for letting himself get captured in the first place.
And in a single moment, time seemed to slow to a snail's pace, as he watched as a manhole lid suddenly burst into the air and a tall figure step out of the hole in the gound.
"Have no fear, for you are safe"
The smile he admired shone brightly in his eyes, the man he had looked up to since he was barely able to even walk looking right at him.
"Now that I am here, that is"
The villain tried to hit the hero to no avail.
"TEXAS SMASH"
Izuku felt the air suddenly rush all around him, like his capture had been nothing more than a figment of his imagination.
'All...Might?'
Izuku's consciousness quickly slipped away from him as his surroundings suddenly became dark.
Andrew Maxie's day had been relatively mediocre up to this point
He had woken up in his run down 'apartment', attended his online classes, went down to the Mustafu post-office to check if he had gotten any mail from his Aunt back in the States, sold some of his blood to the local hospitals (he found out that his O- Blood type was very useful in emergency transfusions from one of the nurses who had offered to do a free check up while he was there, not that he needed it), and was now wandering the back allies on his way home with a plan of stopping by the local shopping market and stock up for the next week or two.
At least, that was the plan until he started getting tailed
His follower had been behind him for the last 30 minutes if he had to guess, their steps were uneven so he had to assume they were either drunk or had a limp. He caught a glimpse at their appearance from a broken mirror from a nearby trash pile, an ash-blonde haired girl in a light beige school uniform. His quirk had told him that she was registering as a threat towards him as he felt a slight pull coming from the pocket her right hand was in, more than likely a knife or sharp object. He had tried to lose her at several crowded streets before dipping back into another ally, but when he thought that he had lost her she would reappear out of what was seemingly thin air.
She was persistent he would give her that.
He was in the middle of thinking of his next move to lose her when he suddenly felt something graze his cheek.
He looked down to his left an saw what had cut his now bleeding cheek.
A bolt
And by the way his quirk was acting he would have to say that bolt was from a support from a, probably falling Air conditioning-
*SLAM* *CRACK*
Unit........
'Ouch, that hurt. Okaaaaay let's take inventory shall we'
Broken: the back of his skull, three of his uppermost spinal segments, his left shoulder definitely should not be pointing that way, and the left side of his collarbone
And his right arm looked like it has seen better days
Oh and that girl is now crouching over him, just perfect. In her right hand, a box cutter with dried blood caught in its creases, and in her left is a.....is a........is that.......
"Is that a fucking straw?"
The girl seemed to freeze up, like a child getting caught stealing from the cookie jar before dinner.
"What?"
Himiko Toga was having a strange day
She had woken up on that roof she had fallen asleep on last night, about midday but she didn't really know anymore. She was hungry and her last blood-bag had run out, her mind was getting hazy again. She needed blood and she needed it fast. She couldn't go to that blood bank that she raided last time, they had upped security and had some heroes deviated their patrol routes to keep an eye out, so that place was a no go. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she was almost completely out of options at this point. She didn't have any money, so she couldn't buy any, she couldn't go into a blood bank normally, she was a wanted criminal as far as she knew thanks to THAT day. How long ago did that happen, she had lost track of the days at this point. She was currently left with two options, head to the next city by sneaking onto a train or hunt for blood herself.
She didn't know if she could last until the next town though
So hunting it is
She had already found the perfect target too, a boy with sky blue hair, blue jacket, blue jeans, and pair of dirty blue and green sneakers which had been modified by the look of them
Jeez that's a lot of blue, Ḯ̷̻̜t̸̝̉ ̶̩̋̈́w̵̧̖̌̕o̷̬͌u̶̺̟͋́l̸̗̖̏̌d̴̝͋̈ ̸̥̊͌ľ̷̛͉̰o̸̗̎o̷̞͒̀k̷̰̻͐ ̴̣̙̐š̶͓̈́o̷͖͐ ̷̰̌b̵̝͐͐ȇ̸̠͘ͅt̵͚̀͝t̸͖̰͘͝è̵̥͊ŗ̵̟̏ ̶̼̳͌c̶̠̈́ŏ̴̪͇̋v̵̲̘̄͘è̴̯̠̃ř̴̲̫̈́è̷̜͖͝d̴̜͇̔ ̸̨͗̑i̷̢̤̒͗n̸̫͒ ̸̩͂r̸̢͍͌e̴̺̰̿̊d̶͚̼͆ ̴͙̻̓̆b̵̟̉̽ľ̴̪͠o̵̟̊o̶̜͖̎d̴̳͈̚͝
She shook her head a bit, trying to wipe out the voice that love feeding into her blood craze
She was not the monster her parents said that she was, she wasn't
was she?
Her target dipped in and out of busy streets, making her have to use that trick she had learned to do a while back, minorly diverting her attention as to not run into people. But after awhile he suddenly stopped. She idly wondered why he did as she slowly closed the distance between them, as to not alert him of her presence.
And then he suddenly got smashed over the head by an AC unit
He collapsed to the floor, the sound of snapping bones and clanging metal rang out in the alley
His left arm was pointed in a strange direction, blood pooled around him, it was a mouthwatering sight for her.
Maybe she wouldn't need to fully become a villain, just yet.
She slid her knife and straw out of the pockets of her uniform, ready to drink the biggest meal she has probably had in a while
Itadakima-
"Is that a fucking straw?"
Himiko froze on the spot
Down on the gound, the boy stared up at her, seemingly unfazed by his current state.
"What?"
"The knife I get, cutting me up and all that, but the straw? Are you gonna drink my grey-matter or something."
She sat there baffled, who wouldn't be after watching someone who definitely should be dead have a casual conversation like nothing even happened.
Blood dripped down his forehead, and she felt her stomach growl at her
She turned to look away, opting to look at the pool of blood that now had stopped expanding.
She felt herself start to salivate again, she didn't know if she could last any lon-
An bare arm suddenly entered her vision
"Here drink"
She looked over at him, confusion all apparent on her face
"How did you-"
"Figure out that you wanted blood. You kept staring at the pool of blood under me plus your fangs and the bit of saliva that has been running down your chin for the past minute now kinda gave it away, now are you gonna drink or are we gonna sit her awkwardly until the sun sets?"
...
It didn't even take her 3 seconds to bite down onto his arm, and if she had to say, bagged blood was good, but fresh blood like this tasted waaaay better.
She didn't even have to cut him up to get any, that was the best part.
As she drank she could feel her mind getting clearer, she was feeling better, she was...she was...
Oh god what was she doing
She was remembered what she had done that day, she had lost control, she didn't mean to do that. She was usually better about keeping her urges under control, but seeing Saito like that she couldn't control herself. She couldn't live with herself knowing that she had-
"-out, in and out, that's its just keep breathing and calming down."
Himiko looked around, she was still in the alley from earlier, huddled against the wall opposite of the AC Unit. The boy from earlier kneeling before her, one hand on his knee while the other rested at his side.
...wait weren't his arms broken
"Gave me quite the scare there. One minute you were happily drinking away, next you were pushing yourself off of my arm and having a panic attack. Are you gonna be Ok?"
Himiko didn't know. She had become a monster just like her parents said she would.
"Ok, one, you are not a monster, what kind of parents tell their kid that, and two you're muttering."
She looked up at him
"I'm....not?"
"No, you're no monster, just a girl with a quirk that has a dietary requirement. Speaking of which let's go get you something to eat, I'm sure you're hungry. C'mon I'll pay."
Himiko was caught off guard. How this guy went from being entirely cautious of her to super friendly with her was baffling.
"Y-you don't have to do that for me, I'm not that-"
Her stomach decided to betray her at that moment, which got a chuckle out of the boy
"I believe your body is disagreeing with your words. I know a good café in a small shopping area near hear that has sandwiches which are to die for."
She could tell he wasn't going to take no for an answer, so hey free food she guessed.
"Okay then, lead the way"
Izuku didn't know why he was here
After having All Might, the man he looked up to more than anyone else, tell him that his dream of becoming a hero was basically impossible, he had practically shut down. What was the point of even trying anymore, putting any sort of quirk information in his notebook would mean nothing if he wasn't able to be a hero. He wasn't even sure why he was trying to get a peek at what villain was makin the ru-
It was the Sludge Villain, from earlier. But how he was sure All Might had captured hi-
His mind flashed back to earlier, to the pocket that All Might had put the villain in. It wasn't with him when they were on the roof.
Did....did he cause this
A little ways Toshinori Yagi stood gripping a light post
He was blaming himself, he shouldn't have been prioritizing his time limit and lecturing that kid, and because of that he made a rookie mistake and now a civilian was in trouble and he could do nothing about it
In a nearby shop, Andrew and Himiko were taking cover
They had just finished having their meal when this villain randomly showed up with a hostage, blowing up things left and right. They had jumped behind the counter just as the villain shot an explosion their way narrowly avoiding being singed.
Himiko was getting worried by the second
"What are those heroes doing, why are they just standing around while the villain does whatever he wants?"
If Andrew's concern matched Himiko's he didn't show it at that moment
"The villain has a hostage, they should be doing something to get that guy out of there not sitting around twiddling their thumbs like a couple of idiots."
Izuku felt sick
'This is all my fault, I'm so sorry'
'someone, a real hero will come soon'
Toshinori gripped the pole harder
'I'm a disgrace'
'I'm not a real hero'
Andrew's jaw clenched in worry, Himiko could only look on in horror
'Pros are supposed to save lives'
'Where is a real hero when you need one'
And in a single moment their lives all changed
*clack*
Izuku suddenly found himself in a mad sprint towards the villain
He could hear the heroes yelling in the background but their words didn't register
'What am I doing? Why am I running? WHY CAN'T I STOP?!?!'
As the villain wound up for a swing, he remembered page 25 of his notebook, he took his backpack and threw it with all his might
The villain got stunned for a bit, allowing him to get close enough to start digging away at the villain's sludge body
"Zuku? The hell are you doing here?!?"
Katsuki Bakugou, brash, abrasive, and very vocal, but Izuku's childhood best (and only) friend
"I don't know, my legs started to move and next thing I know I am running full throttle."
Andrew and Himiko looked on from a distance, Himiko thought the green haired heroic boy looked a cool (and looked uncannily similar to Sai- don'tthinkaboutit)
Andrew could only look on in awe, he had never seen anything like this guy, willing to risk everything just to save a life
He....he felt a part of him that he hadn't felt in the last 5 years of his life, a desire that he had every day of his life when he was young.
A dream that had been dormant in his mind
Toshinori could only watch in shock and awe
The kid, whom he had lectured mere minutes ago, was out there, being more of a hero than he could hope to be in this moment
He watched as the villain recovered from the kid's blow from earlier
'I have to do something, no matter the cost!'
The villain glared down at Izuku
"Why you little brat, I should have just killed you from the start!"
Izuku could only block his face as the dust kicked up, the impact mere seconds away
But he never felt it
"I really am pathetic."
Wait, he knew that voice
There stood All Might, holding up the slime. Defending him from the blow.
"I told you the traits of a great hero, but I guess I should start practicing what I preach.
A hero always needs to do what is right, NO MATTER THE COST TO THEMSELF!"
Andrew's quirk suddenly pinged, he grabbed Himiko and ducked back behind the counter
"DAMN YOU ALL MIGHT!!"
"DETROIT SMASH!!!!"
After the dust had settled, weather had calmed, and the heroes berated him for doing something incredibly stupid (even if they were the ones who were standing around doing nothing, not that he would admit that out loud), Izuku and Katsuki were walking home, just about to split off from each other when Katsuki turned to face him
"Hey... Zuku. Thanks for trying to save my sorry ass. I mean you did more than those extras who stood by with their thumbs up their asses letting snot face force the air outta my lungs, so that had to count for something, right?"
"Right" there was barely any emotion behind his voice
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, don't let what those extras said get to you, we are gonna be the best heroes this world has ever had the honor of laying their fucking eyes on!"
As he watched Katsuki run off, he could not help but think of how wrong Kaachan was
'well, time to go home and continue giving up on my dreams'
He didn't even make it three steps before All Might slid into his view
"I Am Here."
"All Might what are you doing here, I though you were still with those reporters."
"HAHAHAHA!!! I stand for Justice. Not soundbytes! Because I, I AM ALL MI-aaaaagh *cough cough cough*"
They stood their awkwardly as All Might frantically wiped the blood from his chin
"Young man, I am here to thank you, and correct my answer from earlier today.
Had you not been there when you were, told me about you life and ran in as you did, I might have been another bystander in the crowd. Thank you."
Izuku suddenly became flustered, he was not used to being thanked by people other than mom and the Bakugous, nor be praised in any shape of the term
"But I didn't do anything, I was the reason why that guy got free in the first place, and I wasted your energy, not to mention, your time."
He practically whispered that last part
"I'm not done, the way you ran into that fight, no power, just the bag on your back and you mind at your disposal, it inspire me to act too."
what... was he saying, Izuku could only stand there and listen in confusion, and a tiny bit of awe
"There are stories about every great hero, about how they became great. Most of them had one thing in common, when they saw someone in danger, their bodies moved before they had a chance to think, seemingly on their own."
"And that's what you experienced, wasn't it?"
Izuku could feel the tear welling up in his eyes, he couldn't believe it, was All Might really saying what he needed to hear, all those years ago
"Young man. You too can become a hero."
Izuku's tears fell freely
"I deem you worthy of my power. My quirk is yours to inherit"
".................huh? Wait, what do you mean inherit? Inherit what?"
All Might chuckled a bit, before handing him a pocket handkerchief, a bit bloody from the many times he had used and cleaned it himself, allowing him to clean up the tears and saliva that lined his face
"I understand your confusion kid, I did spring this upon you all of a sudden, but listen well young man, my quirk is something quite special. You see I wasn't born with this power, it was passed to me like a sacred torch of the ages."
"Wait wait, hold on. That's impossible. You shouldn't be able to pass along a quirk. Quirks can only begottenfromgeneticsTheycantbepassedalonglikeitsomesortofgiftboxthatwoulddefyalllawsofgeneticButiguessifyouthinkaboutititstheoreticallyposs*muttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermuttermutter*
Aaaaaand he got lost in his head and started to mutter again, he only realized he had suddenly did this is when All Might put his hand on his shoulder
"Kid, I get you are smart, but right now is not the time to overthink all of this, just accept that my quirk is like this for now, is that okay?
Izuku didn't trust his mouth right now, so he just nodded
"Alright, where were we, ah yes, One user acquires the power, cultivates it before passing it along, growing its power with each user. I am the Eighth holder of this quirk, it's name is One For All."
"One...For...All"
"Yes. And I am asking you young man to become my successor, the next in line of the wielders of this power. So do you accept, you can think about it if you need to.
Izuku thought for a second, did he truly want this?
"Yes, I'll do it!"
it was only a second
"No reluctance, that's how I figured you would respond. Right then, let me give you my number so I can contact you for a place we can meet up lat-"
"Is this a bad time to announce our presence?"
Both he and All Might froze on the spot
Up on the top of the brick fence to their right sat to teens. A blue haired boy in an unzipped jacket and an ash-blonde girl with her hair up in two buns in a tan school uniform and navy blue skirt
All Might looked, understandably, petrified
"how long-"
"A minute" the boy
"2 minutes" the girl
"Since the 'I stand for justice, not sound bytes' quip" the boy finished off
They all stood their in silence for a solid minute, before All Might broke the silence
"Shit"