Chapter 2: There is a Fine Line between Coincidence and Fate.
Midoriya, now fourteen years old and excited for the next year, stood in the street among the crowd. The pro hero Backdraft was using his quirk to create a fence made of water to keep civilians away from a villain with a size changing quirk. A power line fell, but was deftly caught with a pair of massive arms belonging to the Punching Hero, Death Arms. All of which, Midoriya took notes on. Glancing up, Midoriya spotted the new hero Kamui Woods do battle against the villain. Midoriya gasped, and remembered his newest edition to his intel gathering. Reaching to his lapel, Midoriya pressed a hidden switch on his All Might pin, activating a hidden camera that streamed all the footage back to Tsuburaya. The AI had always stressed the importance of gathering footage for further study.
"You never know when you might have missed something vital."
After all, if Midoriya was going to be a master of disguise and illusions, he needed to study the people he was copying. And Midoriya had been eagerly waiting to see Kamui Wood's special moves.
"PREEMPTIVE BINDING-"
"CANYON CANNON!"
But he'd have to wait another day, it seemed, for without warning, a shapely young woman as big as a building suddenly appeared over the train tracks and drop kicked the massive villain in the face. Midoriya blinked in shock, but moved to a new page to sketch the new hero as she introduced herself to the ogling crowd.
"Today is my debut! Pleased to meet you all! You may call me Mt. Lady, and this bum won't bother anyone else!" the heroine exclaimed while striking a pose that emphasized her figure. Several lustful civilians and reporters immediately took several pictures while Kamui Woods complained about the intrusion on his battle, taking the spotlight away from him.
Midoriya himself didn't really care about Mt. Lady's form and sketched her only to have a reference. Sure, he didn't really need to with all the footage he had, but it was an enjoyable pastime and kept his artistic skills sharp.
Finishing up the basics, 'I can add the details later,' Midoriya put away his notebook and clicked off the hidden camera, making his way to Aldera Junior High. Midoriya privately wondered why Japan had so many references to Star Wars. A good series that was still popular to this day, though Tsuburaya disliked the sequel series and later remakes and additions, citing the inclusion of several ''Darth Fakers'' as "derivative and boring." Midoriya personally thought they were okay, but then again, he wasn't a cinema purist like his AI mentor.
School went… well, it went. Same classes as always. Math, Japanese, History, Writing, Art, Science and English, the last two were the subjects Midoriya excelled the most at nowadays. Physical Ed wasn't too bad. Midoriya had gained some light muscle from sparring with Mysterio's different robots, commanded by Tsuburaya, though he still wasn't in the top of his class. That honor went to Bakugo.
No, the real issue was homeroom, near the end of the day. Specifically, when their teacher decided to make an announcement.
"Now, officially speaking, I need to pass out these career forms so you could write down the job you'd like to have once you're finished here…" he began, hefting up a pile of papers, only to toss them into the air a second later. "But why bother?? It's clear you all want to be heroes!"
The class cheered in joy, Quirks on full display to accompany their shouting. Midoriya, however, stayed silent, focusing instead on his notebook. Within it were sketches of various heroes, their costume's design, and their Quirks. Midoriya took special care to note the way they moved, the weight & posture of the person, even the noises they made when moving or using their quirks.
Midoriya ignored Bakugo, as usual proclaiming his superiority over the class as he took notes on Mt. Lady. While he doubted the need to disguise himself as the new Pro Hero would ever come up, observing the way she moved at giant form would help with selling the realism of some of the larger illusions Tsubaya was helping him develop. Midoriya was focused in his own world, not bothered by his noisy classmates. At least, not until his teacher made what to him, was a casual statement, but to Midoriya, was the equivalent of cutting open his hand and dangling the bleeding appendage over a shark tank.
"Oh, Midoriya was also planning on going to UA High, right?"
Finally stopping, Midoriya looked up, biting his lip. The other students around him snickered, brushing him off and dismissing him like usual. It upset Deku that he was underestimated, but it wasn't anything he wasn't used to. The real problem though was Bakugo, who turned to him with an ugly glare that Midoriya did his best to ignore.
Once the bell rang, Midoriya packed his bag as quickly as possible, hoping that if he was just fast enough, he could escape from his ex-friend's anger.
No such luck.
"What the hell do ya think you're doin', Deku??" Bakugo snarled, slamming his hand on the desk. "You know that I'm the only person in this shitty school meant to be someone special!"
"Kaachan…" Midoriya pleaded, not out of fear, but out of a vague hope that Bakugo would be lenient. Instead, Bakugo grabbed Midoriya's hero notebook and derisively flipped through it.
"You think your shitty drawings and notes are enough to get you into UA?!" he sneered, tossing it to his sycophantic minions. Midoriya refused to call the kids who hang out with Bakugo friends. A better word would have been parasites, but Midoriya wasn't that mean. The two collectively leered at his drawings of Mt. Lady and Midnight as if it was a dirty magazine.
"He even wrote the way they walked! What a creep!" one of them snorted.
"Please give it back…" Midoriya said calmly, thinking of his latest creation. It was in his backpack. He just had to reach in and slip it on. Then Bakugo would see how he could use his brains to get into UA. But… the projector was still in beta... and if the rest of it didn't work… Midoriya would just be mocked, laughed at… and so he pushed those thoughts away.
"No, deku, I won't." Bakugo snatched the notebook back from his minions, and crossed over to the window, overlooking a small koi pond. Midoriya's eyes widened and he charged forward, but the two sycophants grabbed his arms and held him back. "You can't even break free from them, Deku! I doubt even Shiketsu's GenEd course would accept you! All because you're a shitty pebble for greater people to step on!" Before Midoriya's pleading eyes, Bakugo lit the book aflame with his quirk, and tossed it down to the pond.
"NO!" Midoriya shouted.
"And I'll remind you of that fact no matter how many times it takes." Bakugo said, turning to the boy with a horrible smile. "But don't worry… I know a way you can get a quirk: ju-" Bakugo suddenly.stopped, as if choking on his words.
"Kachaan? What's wrong??" Midoriya asked his classmate.
"None of your damn business, and even if someone did need help, your worthless ass couldn't do anything!!" Bakugo shouted before storming off, his minions following behind him.
With that awful statement, Midoriya was left with behind to wallow in the boy's cruel words. Midoriya wanted to lash out, he wanted to prove to Kaachan he was capable, Quirk or no Quirk… but he stayed silent. Instead, Midoriya hurried out of the classroom and looped around the building to the pond. Shooing away the nibbling fish, he retrieved his burnt, but thankfully still eligible notebook. 'Thank you, waterproof notebooks.' he thought sadly to himself, shaking off the water remnants.
Exiting the school, Midoriya went along his usual path home. It wasn't far, so he didn't need to use the train. Midoriya briefly thought of heading to the Studio, the name Tsuburaya insisted that Midoriya call the underground lair when out in public. "To prevent unworthy thieves and heroes." he would proclaim. Midoriya thought the AI was being paranoid, but complied with his wishes anyway just to be safe. It would be a good place to test Midoriya's prototype, but that day had soured Midoriya's mood, so he chose to head home instead.
Besides, the boy reasoned as he moved under an overpass, he wasn't sure it was 100% functional. For all Midoriya knew, it could blow up and leave him with burns on his arm. Showing it off to Tsuburaya only for it to explode was the last thing Midoriya wanted to happen. Once he got home he could test it on the female mannequin arm he dug out of the trash. The look on his mom's face when she found it while cleaning under his bed was a memory he wished he would forget.
Speaking of trash, though… What was that awful smell?!
Behind Midoriya, a manhole cover rattled, and a mass of foul smelling sludge emerged, a pair of eyeballs and a mouth full of sharp teeth suspended within it. In seconds it spotted the now frozen in place Midoriya.
"YES! A skinsuit perfect for the taking!" the sludge, a villain! Midoriya realized in horror, shouted and shot towards the boy, enveloping him in its form before he could do anything. "Thanks kid, you're my hero!" the criminal shouted, forcing itself into Midoriya's mouth and nose.
Midoriya struggled, reaching for his backpack. His only hope now was his untested gadget. Even if it blew up, maybe it would take out the villain! But the sludge was thick, viscous, more akin to tar than slime, and the fact he couldn't breath didn't help either. His hands struggled against the backpack, even as his vision began to blur. But then, the manhole was rocketed into the air.
"HAVE NO FEAR! WHY??"
The Slime Villain and Midoriya looked back to the now exposed sewer entrance, one in fear, the other in hope. Standing before them, carrying a bag of groceries, was a mountain of a man. He had no hero costume on, only green cargo pants and a white t-shirt that threatened to come apart at the seams, barely able to contain the man's roaring muscles. But neither of them needed the man's costume to know who this man was. Everything from the smile to the distinctive V-shaped haircut told them that this was THE man- no, THE Legend. He was admired like no other, considered the number one Hero by the entire world. A renowned Symbol of Peace with few who could dare hope to match the strength, charisma, and hope he radiated. A Legend whose fights were almost always over in a near instant, a Legend who saved people from natural disasters, villain attacks, and hostage situations with 99.99% success. A Legend whose smile meant safety to the boy, and inevitable defeat to the villain. A man the masses knew as known other than…
All Might.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE!!!"
"No, NO!" The villain squirmed, even as the hero raised his fist. He was no less than ten meters away from the villain, so his fist couldn't connect with the slime.
Not that it needed to.
"TEXAS SMAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
As a roar of thunder shook the street, Midoriya's world went to black.
When Midoriya woke back up, it was from a man smacking his cheek.
"Hey-hey kid, wake up!"
Midoriya's eyes shot open and he sat up. It wasn't just some random passerby waking him up, it was his idol, All Might!
"Allmight! Ohmygoshyousavedmefromtheslimevillainbutwhathappenedtohim?!" Midoriya spat out without pausing for breath.
"Haha! You've got quite the lungs on ya, kid! But have no fear! I've got him safely sealed away!"
All Might held up a 2 liter bottle of soda, now filled with the Slime villain's material, eyes, and teeth.
"OhmygoshthankyousomuchAllMightsircouldyoupleasesignmynotebook-" Midoriya scrambled for his backpack and pulled out his notebook, only to find a previously blank page filled with a massive signature. "OHMYGOSHYOUALREADYSIGNEDIT! ISWEARI'LLTREASUREITALWAYSI'LLEVENMAKEITAFAMILYHEIRLOOMANDKEEPITSAFELYLOCKEDAWAYINAVAULTTOMATCHTHEMONALISA'S!"
Midoriya's quick ramblings amused the hero, who laughed heartily as he wiped the corner of his mouth. "I'd love to stick around and chat, young Midoriya, (OHMYGOSHALLMIGHTKNOWSMYNAME!!!) but I've got to take this baddie to the local police station! Farewell!" The man pocketed the villain's bottle in his pants pocket and prepared to leap, not seeing Midoriya scramble over to him.
"Wait, I still have QUESTIOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!!"
Looking down, All Might flinched in shock, seeing the boy clinging to his pants leg and screaming. "Kid, I love my fans, but this is a bit close for comfort, please let go of me!!" he shook his leg, which only made Midoriya scream even more and cling to his leg tighter.
"BUT IF I LET GO I'LL FALL AND DIE!"
"Oh, right." All Might ceased his leg shaking and looked around, spotting a building with roof access that he could land upon. With a destination in mind, he landed with a quiet grunt while Midoriya let go, shaking in fear and exhilaration from the ride. Seeing the man turn away from him brought him out of the state, though.
"All Might, wait! I have a question for you!"
"Sorry, but I have to leave now. Don't worry, if you knock on the door long enough, someone will come by and let you in." the Pro Hero turned and stepped towards the rooftop's edge, trying to hide how desperate he was to leave.
"CAN I BE A HERO EVEN WITHOUT A QUIRK???"
All Might froze. His face held his usual smile… but now there was a weight to it, and his words, as he turned to the boy looking at him with hope.
"Without… a Quirk?"
"Yes sir!" Midoriya responded. He was so overjoyed at having his idol's attention, he blocked out the rest of the world. "All my life, people have doubted me. They told me I couldn't be a hero. But if the Pre-Quirk heroes could do it, why couldn't I?? So I've pushed myself, studying harder than ever! I've even gone under another man's tutelage to build gadgets and gizmos that I know can put me on par with heroes, but people still doubt me! But I know, I know that I can be a great hero who saves people with a smile on their face, just like you!"
Midoriya finally looked up, hoping to see his idol smile and give him a thumbs up, maybe even a word of encouragement…
But instead got something that shocked him to his core.
Instead of the massive, muscular powerhouse he had been expecting, standing before him was the exact opposite! He wore the same clothes All Might had been wearing, but they were far too large for the thin, sickly looking man with gaunt blue eyes and disheveled blond hair with two parts that fell past his face, hunched over in the cloud of steam that seemed to pour out from his form. The skeletal man held no smile, just an annoyed, and slightly sad frown as his blue eyes observed Midoriya…
Who did not take the sight too well.
"WAAAAAGH! Who are you, what happened to All Might!? Are you one of Tsuburaya's tests?!" Midoriya screamed, looking around for All Might, or maybe a hologram projector.
"Calm down kid! I am All Migh- BLARF!" the man proclaimed, only to vomit a mouthful of blood that served only to freak Midoriya out more. The skeletal man sighed, annoyed more at the circumstances than the boy himself. "Look, ya know how guys at the pool are constantly sucking in their gut and flexing to look tougher than they really are? It's like that."
"Bu-but you can't be! All Might is a mountain of a man with muscles and a fearless smile!!" Midoriya rambled, while the emaciated man sighed in exasperation.
"Trust me kid, there's plenty of fear behind that smile." the man said, sliding down the roof's railing to a sitting position. "Listen, since you already discovered my secret, I'm going to show you something, so I'm trusting that you're not going to blab about this online."
The man lifted up the left side of his shirt, and Midoriya gasped in horror, hands covering his mouth. Upon the man was a massive scar, purple and sick, that covered almost half the left side of his torso, with the worst of it centered on his stomach. The fact that it didn't look fresh was only a small comfort to the boy.
"Pretty nasty, right? I got this in a bad fight about five years ago. I lost my stomach and part of my lung. The surgeries and therapy needed to recover from the fight messed me up badly, and nowadays, I can only be a hero for about three hours. The rest of the time, this is me."
Midoriya stared at the man. Working with Tsuburaya, Midoriya learned how to read people. He could tell when they were happy, sad, angry, or lying. This was to help him with learning how to imitate people and mimic them better. And every lesson he learned was telling him the same, horrible truth.
The man before him, against all possibility and logic, WAS All Might.
Biting his lip, Midoriya drew upon his extensive knowledge of All Might to ask his next question, mainly to keep his mind off the world shattering truth he had just witnessed. "Five years ago… was that the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?"
"Huh, you really know your stuff, kid." All Might said in surprise. "But no. That punk got a few good hits in, yeah, but he didn't do this. The fight that led to this was never made public, at my request. I mean, I'm the guy who's always smiling, right?" All Might shut his eyes, steeling himself for the next part of his speech. "The truth is… I smile, not just to assure everyone else… but to fool the fear within everyone, even me. If people saw this... Saw what being a hero could do to the Symbol of Peace, someone believed to be impossible to hurt?" he sighed, before looking at Midoriya apologetically. "You wanted to know if a Quirkless kid could be a hero, like in the Pre-Quirk era? I'm sorry, but in my honest opinion, kid…" he took a breath, and reluctantly continued. "I don't think you can."
Midoriya froze. He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. All Might, the man who coined the phrase "Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!" that became UA High's motto, didn't think he could do it.
"Gadgets or not, kid... This job is dangerous." All Might said sadly as he stood up. "Maybe in the past, when villains weren't as dangerous or common, or also relied on technology, but not these days. All the equipment in the world isn't enough to handle some of the worst villains alive. That's not to say you can't do good. Plenty of heroes need support equipment, or you could be a police officer. It's not glamorous, I know, but it's still helping people." Reaching the door to the rooftop access, the man turned one last time to the boy. "It's important to have dreams, kid… but they have to be realistic… I'm sorry."
With that, the man, the idol to Midoriya, left through the roof access, hating himself for telling the boy something so heartbreaking. But if it spared him from what he had to go through five years ago… then it had to be said.
Right?
The words, though clearly meant to be encouraging, had the opposite effect on the boy. Midoriya felt as though each counter argument and alternative was a smack to the face. A participation trophy for the person in last place. Confirmation that Midoriya was never going to fulfill his dreams.
Midoriya sat on the rooftop, wanting nothing more to cry, frustration welling up in him. His mother, his best friend, and now his idol said he was chasing a dream. Even Tsuburaya had expressed doubt on him being a hero, and tried to suggest he'd have better luck being a villain! Maybe…
Midoriya would have continued wallowing in his misery, but a nearby explosion quickly put a stop to that. Midoriya's head shot up. It wasn't far, and right now Midoriya needed a distraction, more than ever. Flinging his backpack on, he ran down the roof access.
There was already a crowd of civilians around when Midoriya arrived. The pro heroes Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Backdraft were already there, but weren't fighting whatever villain had appeared. The first two were more focused on keeping the crowd back, while Backdraft was containing the flames that consumed the surrounding buildings. Mt. Lady appeared, but stayed back, unable to enter the confined space, it seemed. Midoriya clicked on his camera pin, but couldn't get a good view of what was happening.
"What's going on??" Midoriya asked a passerby, a young teen with three fox tails.
"Some kind of slime villain! He's holding a schoolboy hostage!" he responded before turning back towards the scene.
"A… slime villain..?" Midoriya asked in horror. He quickly shoved his way to the front of the crowd, where his worst fear was confirmed.
It was the same villain from under the bridge, only now it had someone struggling within its folds. Who it was, Midoriya couldn't see. But how did it get out?! All Might had it captured! Unless…
Midoriya's eyes scanned the ground, and sure enough, there was the soda bottle All Might had imprisoned the villain in, the cap knocked loose only a meter away. "It must have fallen out while I was hanging onto his leg!! That means… this is my fault..!"
"Why isn't anyone doing anything!?" A bystander shouted in worry. More voices joined in, from civilians and pro heroes alike.
"He has a kid hostage!"
"Damn it my quirk isn't compatible here!"
"The fire's getting out of control!"
"I can't help, the space is too narrow for me to safely enter!"
"Where's All Might!?"
All around Midoriya, voices from onlookers, Pro Heroes, and firefighters mixed and mingled together, a chorus of blame that Midoriya was forced to listen to. A disaster he caused, and a cursing, exploding schoolboy who-
Wait, exploding?
"GET OFF OF ME YOU SHITTY VILLAIN!" Bakugo snarled through a mouthful of muck, his explosions useless against the villain's malleable body. All his attacks did was set the surrounding on fire, worsening the already dire situation. Seeing Bakugo, Midoriya's personal symbol of Victory struggling, looking around in angry desperation, had an immediate effect upon the green-haired child.
In a blur, Midoriya shot past the barricade, reaching into his backpack.
"Kid!!/What're ya doing?!/Stop!!"
The shouts did nothing to slow Midoriya down, who dug through his pack and slipped on a pair of bulky-looking sunglasses lined with circuits, tiny cameras, and wires. From the sidelines, All Might, thin and weak, watched, horrified. He was unable to do anything now that his limit had passed, and because of it a young boy who he told earlier today couldn't be a hero was going to die trying!
The shouts drew the slime villain's attention, who upon seeing Midoriya, recognized him and snarled.
"YOU AGAIN!" The villain lashed out a tentacle, but to everyone's shock, Midoriya dodged with barely a flinch.
'Tsuburaya's animatronic Spider-Man was quicker.' Midoriya thought as he kept digging through his bag.
Dodging the villain's next tentacle, and finally retrieving the last of what he wanted, Midoriya used the momentum of the dodge to fling the backpack into the villain's face. The pack was too light to do any real damage, and even though a few pencils managed to hit the eyes, it was a momentary distraction at best.
Fortunately, that moment was all Midoriya needed.
Midoriya slipped on a beat up leather gardening glove, attached to which via velcro and plastic ties was an old smartphone, a tiny projector, a palm-mounted emitter, and a long plastic tube connected to a small metal tank of fluid. Pressing a switch, the prototype Mysterio gauntlet sprayed a cloud of fog that lingered just above his height. Midoriya didn't bother with a hologram, since the smoke and ash would have made it an obvious fake, but even without it, the fog was thick enough on its own to fill the alleyway and hide him.
"What the hell?! Where are you, brat!?"
The Sludge villain swung its limbs through the smoke, unable to see the boy. Midoriya, unhindered thanks to his prototype's sonar, quickly made his way to Bakugo, who was glaring at him despite everything happening. Pressing a few key spots on the smartphone, a thin but hot laser shot out from the palm of the glove, burning away the thickened parts of the villain enough for Midoriya to pull Bakugo free.
"What the shit, Deku!?" Bakugo managed to choke out, tendrils of dark green slime receeding from the hot laser.
"I saw you… and I just had to move, to help you!" Midoriya shot back, blasting away the last of the slime holding onto Bakugo.
"I didn't need you!" Bakugo snarled, coughing up the slime still in his mouth.
"Kaachan, for once in your life shut up!" Midoriya snapped, grabbing his ex-friend's arm as he ran through the dissipating fog. "I'm not going to let you be smothered by this Blob wannabe, not when you need help!"
"THERE YOU ARE!" the Villain snarled, whipping out a tentacle that Midoriya, without even looking, dodged. Bakugo was not so lucky, and fell, the slimy limb latching onto his leg to drag him back. Midoriya stopped, turned around and grabbed his arm. "Give up kid! I found a better skinsuit than you, and if you run I might actually spare you!"
"NO!" Midoriya shouted, firing his prototype's lasers. They burned away all approaching tentacles, but Midoriya saw, thanks to his glasses, that the gauntlet was quickly losing power and intensity. "I won't let anyone die, not even you, Kaachan! If I have the power to do something, then I will, NO MATTER WHAT!"
The last laser shot out, barely scorching the slime villain's skin now, but still Midoriya stood his ground as they came for him, raising the smoke storage tank as his only means to protect Bakugo…
Only for nothing to hit them but a familiar rush of wind.
"I truly am a fool…!"
Midoriya's mouth fell open in shock. There before them was All Might, muscular and gritting his teeth as he grabbed hold of the villain's appendages in one massive hand, even as blood tickled from his mouth.
"I spouted off words to you, but didn't put what I said into practice!!" With a mighty pull, the slime appendages were ripped away. "I forgot the most important lesson of all heroes…! To push against the odds and save everyone, even when the odds say otherwise!"
Midoriya stared in shock, dropping the tank. Behind him, Bakugo stared in wonder, matching Midoriya's expression for the first time in years.
"A HERO MUST FIGHT TO SAVE EVERYONE, EVEN WHEN HIS OWN LIFE IS IN DANGER! NOW LET A PRO HERO END THIS DISASTER!"
The villain didn't even have time to beg for mercy when All Might reared back his fist.
"DETROOOOIT SMAAAAASH!"
The punch that followed was unlike any other anyone in the crowd had seen in person. It obliterated the Slime Villain, turning him into little more than chunks of goo along the alley walls and the buildings behind it. The bystanders were kept from joining the villain thanks to Mt. Lady blocking the wind with her own arms. For a full minute, a whirlwind of pure power, towering over all the buildings in the area, whipped around the boys and hero, sucking out the oxygen that fueled the nearby flames, only to vanish as suddenly as it began.
Bystanders, Pro Heroes, schoolboys, and civil workers alike were silent, the only sound being All Might, steam flowing from his form, his breath panting from exertion. He took this opportunity to quickly wipe away the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but that was the only movement anyone did. The silence continued even as the sky around them darkened and a drop of water landed. Then another, then another, and several more. The once clear sky now poured rain as people slowly realized the implications.
All Might had changed the weather.
With a single punch.
Like a dam breaking, that realization led to a mighty roar of cheers from civilians, while the Pro Heroes and civil workers began the arduous task of gathering up the villain's remains and putting out whatever small fires remained. All Might smiled at the crowd and raised his fist to the sky, even as he nearly stumbled over. A crowd of reporters ran over, eagerly demanding statements and quotes. As for the two schoolboys who found themselves in the middle of the scene?
Bakugo was praised for his bravery and powerful quirk. Despite that he stayed silent, even as he was inspected by some paramedics for any issues. Only a few minutes later, Bakugo was released, with the Pro Heroes offering internships once he made it to a Hero School. Throughout it all, an unreadable expression was on his face.
And what did Midoriya get?
"What were you thinking young man?!"
"You could have gotten yourself or that boy killed!"
"Did you even get a license for that thing?!"
"You're lucky you didn't use a quirk or you'd have been arrested for vigilantism!"
Yeah, Midoriya wasn't given much else besides a stern warning from the cops and pro heroes, not that Midoriya really cared. He was more focused on the gauntlet, now being taken away by the police as evidence of his "meddling." Although annoyed that he couldn't take it apart to find out why the power was drained so fast, Midoriya stayed silent. He had the blueprints at home, he could rebuild it and find out later.
Eventually he was let go after promising to never do that again, and Midoriya made his way home through an empty and quiet residential district. He knew Tsuburaya would have been watching the news, it was how he spent his free time these days, so he was expecting a phone call any minute now, probably to berate him for doing something so dumb or ask him about the first gauntlet prototype Midoriya had made without his guidance. And if he didn't, his mother certainly would call him, her words probably filled mostly with tears of relief and worry.
Surprisingly, neither of them were the first people to contact him.
"DEKU!"
Midoriya spun around, seeing Bakugo running over to him. Some small part of Midoriya hoped that this would be the moment where Bakugo would finally acknowledge his capabilities… but the rest of him, more realist, knew that it was as unlikely as Midoriya being bitten by a radioactive arachnid.
"Ka- Kaachan!" Midoriya stuttered out. "Ar-are you okay, do you need me to-"
"Where do you get off thinking I needed your help, HUH?!" the explosive boy interrupted, his hands popping. "I didn't need you, or that shitty fake Iron Man glove you used! And guess what?? It did nothing to help! YOU did nothing to help! You just got in the way, you shitty deku!"
"Wha… what…?" Midoriya stuttered, as the other schoolboy stood only a meter away.
"I didn't need you or your crappy junk, YA HEAR ME?!" he snarled. "I could've gotten myself free if you hadn't interrupted! I'll never need you or your shitty support items!! DON'T YOU EVER FORGET THAT!"
With that, the angry boy stormed off down the street, hands in his pockets. Midoriya stared after him for a good minute or two, before eventually deciding it wasn't worth dwelling over any more.
'He was right, though… the gauntlet wasn't useful for very long… I'll have to look into finding out the power issue. Maybe Tsuburaya can recommend something.'
Midoriya gave himself a small smile at the thought, and turned around to continue on… only to be interrupted yet again.
"I AM HERE! WALKING DOWN THE STREET LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
"Ah! All Might!" Midoriya yelped, having not expected to encounter All Might yet again. "What are you doing here, what happened to the reporters!?"
"HAHAHA, LOSING THE MEDIA IS NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER!! WHY?? BECAUSE I AM ALL- BLAAAAAARF!"
All Might quickly turned back into his weaker form, vomiting up blood much to Midoriya's horror. "Oh my gosh you need to get to the hospital!"
"It's okay! It just happens someti- blegh!"
All Might's assurance was interrupted by another cough of blood, which only horrified Midoriya further, to All Might's annoyance.
"Kid, seriously! I'm okay! This just happens when I push myself too much."
"Bu-but then… shouldn't you be resting??" Midoriya asked nervously. The man wiped away the last of the blood, then turned to the schoolboy.
"I will, but not yet. I needed to see you again, young man."
Midoriya looked at him, surprised. "But.. why?"
All Might straightened his posture and stuck up three fingers. "I came here for three reasons! Firstly, to apologize. Earlier, I told you that you couldn't be a quirkless Hero, all because I had undergone a bad experience. Whatever I had been through in my life should not have been an excuse to shoot down your dreams. But I did do that, and because of it I became a hypocrite."
"But… i-it was thanks to me the slime villain got out… an-and I got in the way of your work to bother you..." Midoriya muttered, looking down in shame.
"And the second reason I came here was to thank you." Midoriya's head shot up fast.
"Th… thank me?" Midoriya whispered out in shock.
"Earlier today, you told me how everyone else would underestimate your abilities and skill, and that no one else believed in you. But while everyone else was too scared or occupied to do anything, you ran ahead, armed with little more than homemade gadgets and sheer determination." All Might proclaimed. "Your actions reminded me that heroes aren't born from power, but from heart and drive. Had we not met earlier, I would not have realized what was staring at everyone in the face! What I saw inspired me to act, to push myself to save you!"
"Where others saw foolishness or stupidity, I saw a spark!" the man exclaimed.
"A… a spark?" Midoriya asked, eyes slowly widening with cautious hope.
"Yes, a spark, that made your legs move without thought, that gave you a drive to save that young boy! Nearly every great hero has a similar story, of their legs moving without thought, without regard to the consequences, only that someone needed help!"
Midorya's head fell, tears in his eyes. His world was blocked out, as the memory of moving without thought, only instinct, came to him.
"I thought so…" All Might said softly, a small smile gracing his gaunt features. Midoriya could only nod in response, so All Might continued.
"And now for my final reason, to make a declaration!" All Might aimed a frail, thin hand to the shaking boy before him. "Young man, whether or not you use gadgets, you too can be a hero!"
Midoriya fell to his knees, tears overtaking his vision. At long last, he heard it. Someone truly believed in him, 100%. Someone told him with no more doubt that he was able to be a hero, to fulfill his dreams. All Might wasn't finished however.
That day, All Might had made two different shocks to the veridian haired boy. The first had been the reveal of his true form and that his power was declining. The second was his belief that Midoriya was unable to be a hero. Learning these two things had shaken Midoriya, but he thought that he was done having his world rocked.
He was wrong, for All Might had one more perception shattering bomb to drop.
Throwing his arms open as if to embrace the heavens, All Might proclaimed "I deem you worthy of my power! My Quirk is yours to inherit!"
Midoriya stared at the Pro Hero in shock, unsure of how to respond.
"....your… Quirk?"
"Yes, please tell!"
Midoriya & All Might jumped, the latter looking around in shock and fear. "What- who said??" Steam poured from his muscles, but he didn't inflate any larger.
"Don't bother trying to shift to your muscle form, I already saw it."
That's when Midoriya realized two things. The first was that he had left his ringer off on his phone, through which Tsuburaya was now speaking.
The other was that he had forgotten to shut his Pin Camera off once the Slime villain was defeated.
Oops.