Toshinori has been on the beach for a while, originally planning to clean it up. Not like any other youngsters were going to do so. Community service was always a great part of heroism after all. It also helped pass the time for the weakening hero as Nezu finalized a solid plan for him to start teaching at U.A the next school year.
Sad to say, sooner or later picking up trash might be the only heroic exploit he would be capable of. His injury only made it possible for him to go out for three hours a day now, and One For All was slowly becoming incompatible with his weakened form. He needed to find a successor soon to at least secure the Quirk's safety.
Times like this he wished he could've talked to Nana. About the difficulties of passing the torch, of finding someone they could entrust the future to.
And now, his point of view was completely shifted. "Oh, a fan! I can finally replace those broken parts so I don't overheat!" A child has been cleaning the beach for him. "All right, just got to plug it into the generator and I can work until nightfall!"
For the past week this boy has been coming to the beach, day after day, night after night. He worked until he couldn't move, then slump away into a tent, or head off. He was a little concerned at first, but trailing the boy had confirmed he DID have a house and go to school, although he never actually saw him enter the house. He either slept in a tent or on the beach itself. Not to mention he was certain he wasn't going to school every day of the week.
But the boy seemed to be purely dedicated to cleaning the beach, so there was something noble in the young lad. He needed to make absolutely sure it was for something good, so Toshinori decided to approach him in his 'deflated' form. No need to overwhelm too soon.
"Hello there young one-"
"Trash Zombie!" The boy shouted, grabbing an object. "Stay back, I have a …" he looked down. "Fork, and I'm not afraid to use it!" While he doubted the boy could hurt him, he saw what Aizawa could do with a fork.
It wasn't the worst first impression he's ever had in this form, but it did make the list somewhere. "I get that a lot. I'm not a zombie, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be talking to you if that was the case."
"Oh, sorry! So sorry mister! I accused you of being a rotting flesh eating monster because of how scary you look!" Yes yes, no need to dwell on it.
"It's no worries young one, I've had much-" He coughed up some blood. "Worse interactions before."
"AGGGH! So much blood!" The boy stumbled backwards into a particularly large pile of trash. "Sorry I'm not used too.." The pile was now toppling over him.
"Kid look out!" Toshinori was fully prepared to transform, secret identity be damned. It was too late however because the heap came rushing down on the blue haired teen. Damn it! He had to get the trash off him and rush him to the nearest..
"Are you okay?" The boy appeared right next to him, completely unscratched and unscathed. "That was a lot of debris, did any of it hit you in the head?"
"I'm fine...how did you escape?" There were no openings that Toshinori noticed.
"I'm used to life threatening situations, this was kinda easy in all honesty." The boy scratched his neck with a chuckle. "But as long as you're fine there's nothing to worry about." Putting others before himself … the essence of heroism.
There was a spark here, he could feel it. "Why are you here to begin with? I didn't think trash collecting was a hobby kid's nowaday like to do."
"Oh, someone asked me to clean the whole beach by myself and now I'm doing it." The kid said it like the situation was that simple. "I've been doing it for about a month now, should get the rest done by the end of the year." That would perfectly align with the goal of UA as well, wouldn't it?
"What's your name, young one?" Toshinori felt this was the one, to inherit his legacy of the symbol of peace.
"I'm Iruma Suzuki." The boy continued, bowing.
"Young Suzuki.." Time to deliver on the fan service. " ..YOU HAVE THE HEART OF A TRUE HERO!" He 'inflated' his All Might form. The boy was trembling in excitement. This was no doubt the best day of his life. "YES YOUNG SUZUKI, IT IS I...ALL MIG-!"
"SCARY BUNNY MAN!" The kid was already beginning to pack on some muscle, throwing that fridge at him. That or adrenaline fueled fear. That was the first time someone other than a villain looked so afraid of him in this form.
"Ah...you haven't heard of me before?" It may sound a little egotistical, but it should practically be an impossibility, seeing as he was one of the most popular, if not MOST, popular heroes in the world.
"Oh, you're famous?" That was a gross understatement. "Sorry, I don't watch T.v. In fact, I don't think I've ever owned anything with a screen on it in my life." That was mildly concerning, but no matter. It didn't matter how low income the family was(he's seen the boy scrap for cash after all), what mattered was how they dealt with it. He didn't go through crime, he took honest and hard working jobs.
"HAHA, OF COURSE, SUCH A NOBLE HEART ISN'T DISTRACTED BY SUCH PASTIMES. I'VE TRULY FOUND SOMEONE I CAN TRUST!"
"Trust?" The boy stood stiff, he's eyes being more engaged in the conversation than it was before. "I can keep your muscles a secret if you want."
"THAT'S ALL WELL IN GOOD, BUT I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE IN MIND." He announced loudly one last time before deflating himself again. "I can only maintain my hero form for a few hours a day due to a nasty injury I acquired a while back." The wind blew across his baggy clothes, revealing the crater-like scar on his stomach.
"Was it a bear attack? Those guys can be rough." … There was a lot to unpack there. Especially considering how far it was from a forest.
"Actually it was a villain, rather not get into it however." Better to leave the boy unburdened of the dark history of the torch and the bastard. "I put him down, but he didn't go without a fight. For the longest time, I've had to struggle to maintain my image as the symbol of peace, struggling to give a smile to reassure them that everything will be okay."
"A smile that reassures everyone?" Suzuki tilted his head. "That sounds like a nice dream to have." It was at the time. Got a little harder to keep it up, but at the very least it didn't seem he needed to keep it up for much longer.
"Yes, it is..a dream that I've carried for over thirty years..a dream I believe you can carry Young Suzuki." All Might held out his hand. "Can I ask of you, young man, to please take on my power, and become my successor, the next inheritor of One For All!?"
"Yes!" Not a bit of hesitation, perfect for a future hero.
==
"You want a raise?" He never expected Suzuki, of all people, to ask for a raise. The boy had so many jobs he just expected the kid was content.
"Uh yeah, if it's not too much trouble." Suzuki bowed constantly like he always did whenever someone talked to him. "I'm..training...to go to this special school in a few months, and my sensei wants me to start on this meal plan, and I give most of my money to my parents … I also need to save up for tuition."
He looked at the, admittedly hard working boy, in silence. "You know you can't get that much in retail, right?"
"I'm just asking anyone I work for." Oof, that made him feel something that it shouldn't. That sentence hurt more to hear than it should've.
"You know what..you're always here, you've lasted longer than most of my full time hires, I can start with adding a few extra yen an hour." He offered the boy, hoping it would satisfy him.
"Thank you sir, I promise I won't let you down." Suzuki bowed as much as he could, before moving out of the office, and bumping into another employee. "Oh, sorry Akaguro."
"No problem kid, wasn't carrying anything important." He's still surprised a guy with no nose can be so friendly, but when you're in retail you never ask questions like that.
==
"Here you go." Their son handed them the usual weekly budget.
"Oh, that's my boy." Her husband patted him on the head. "So smart and hard working, this is more than usual too."
"Yeah, I just decided to work extra hard. I thought if I was able to pay for a better school, I might get a better job which would mean more money for you."
"Oh such a good boy." She patted him on the head. "Always taking care of your parents. So thoughtful." And to think they were planning on selling their meal ticket to a demon...well they would've if they didn't sell that book to Hiashi Midoriya.
"I promise to keep making you proud!" He smiled brightly, it was like a puppy. They trained their boy greatly.
"So what school are you heading to anyway?" Her honey asked. "Is it that fancy tech school, you're always working on trinkets after all."
"My new sensei called it U.A I think? I'm not sure what that stands for though."
Oh … that's interesting. "Do you know what course you're signing up for?" She added on hesitantly.
"I looked it over and already sent an application for the general course, but Sensei seemed pretty insistent I make one for the hero course too. Said his plan would make me in top shape for it."
That … was very concerning. She turned to her husband, the 'Sensei' he kept talking about seemed to push the boy for something he wasn't ready for. Sure if you push an animal hard enough it moves, but too much and it cracks. And what could a quirkless boy do other than grunt work.
She herself felt very ashamed for the lack of a quirk, she was a second generation after all, but her husband assured her they both were at fault and not to place the blame on herself, such a kind man. They instead agreed to place all the blame on their meal ticket and made him work to compensate for his lackluster existence.
"Okay, just if it seems like he pushes you to the point where you can't work anymore, don't be afraid to say no." Her husband said tentatively.
"But he said please and that he trusted me. I can't say no to someone that needs help." They should've kept 'Demon Summoning for morons'. The Fire Breather that bought it must have made a fortune at this rate. Well regardless, he could probably do well in the General Studies area.
"Well that's true, and remember, if it's your parents or your boss, if a person asks for help, you should always respond with a yes. You never know what they could give you in return, okay?" She gave the boy a hug, probably the first one since his birthday….did they even celebrate his birthday at all? "Ah..how old are you again?"
"Fourteen." Fourteen years since his last hug. Where does the time go?
==
"I can never forgive you." Jiro stared down at the betrayer. "Queens was so much better than ACDC! You can hear the soul in it."
"But ACDC just moves you! It gets you off your feet and roars in excitement." Jiro would need new friends at the rate this was going. "Anyways, wanna head out somewhere after school? I'm down to my few bits of money and my well's all dried up."
"I never did ask where you got that new phone." Jiro leaned in curiosity. "Come to think of it, how is it that so much of our class is able to have pretty much whatever they want?"
"It's the entire school actually." Leaned in her friend that somehow believed Pink Floyd was the superior band. "There's this kid, Suzuki, that just does whatever kids ask of him. He's super helpful and everything."
"I hear the student council president has a crush on the guy."
"I heard that the school representative swore to be his servant,"
"I heard that he's actually quirkless." ACDC fan pointed out, and that piqued her interest just a little more. "Yet he always does whatever you ask of him. Scale a building for a ball, he'll get climbing gear. Have a messy room, he'll sanitize your entire house."
"Must be a nice kid." Jiro shrugged, looking out the window. "Maybe I'll meet him sometime."
"Not likely." Pink Floyd fan brought up. "He's been super evasive lately, apparently he's training for UA, like you Jiro." Quirkless kid, in UA?
"Ha, now that's the most unbelievable thing I've heard all day." ACDC fan laughed. "Unless they have a course for being a personal butler, I doubt he'll get anything higher than Gen Ed."
"Hey now, Gen Ed is perfectly reasonable." Jiro argued. "It's still a school, and those guys get some of the highest scholarships you've ever seen." If you could make it there, anything is open to you. Her backup was music at UA. "Come on, let's head out now." She could put all her thoughts about the future to the side for now.
They made it out the doors of the school and made it about ten feet away from the building when they saw a blue haired teen carrying what looked like a decaying corpse on his back. "Come now, young Suzuki, a few more laps and we can move on to some core building!"
"Yes, Sensei!" The boy shouted as they ran off, the girls just standing in bewilderment.
"Did that just happen?" Was her quirk picking up radio waves again? Saw some weird shit the last time she plugged into a phone.
"No, the quirkless helper was carrying a zombie that's apparently also an exercise couch." Oh, so that was Suzuki … seemed like a strange kid.
==
Iruma painted, such a strange ten months. His Sensei was a Zombified Bunny Man that helped him train using parts of a beach he was already cleaning. Apparently carrying trash all day gives you muscle. Garbagemen must be the most fit people on the planet. Now he had a career that could pay well and keep him healthy.
"An entire beach was cleaned so easily, well done, Young Suzuki. You've blown my expectations out of the park." The man always called him 'young', but Iruma didn't get it. He was a kid after all, that already made him young.
"Thanks. It wasn't that hard, just hauling a bunch of metal everyday. Nothing I haven't done before." He accepted the praise but made sure to not get a big head. "I'd do it again if someone asked."
"I'm sure you would." Yagi grinned and moved closer. "I believe your body is finally able to accept it, One For All." He still couldn't believe it, a quirk that could go from one person to another, sounded like a mythical beast. Yet here he was, about to be offered something … well he didn't quite care for.
Sure, people had quirks and used them, but that didn't really mean anything. As long as Iruma had shelter, food, and headpats, he was content. He didn't even take 'quirkless' as an insult, it was just a fact that helped make him, him. "Uh, you sure you want to do this? It's still your quirk, and I wouldn't want to take something from you that you need to do your job."
"My job is almost complete, and it's thanks to you that I can complete it." Bunny-sensei patted his head before going buff bunny. "TAKE HEART, YOUNG SUZUKI, THIS IS POSSIBLE THROUGH YOUR HARD EFFORTS. THROUGH YOUR DETERMINATION! THIS IS YOUR REWARD." A reward for hard effort and determination … It felt nice. It made him feel powerful. "NOW EAT THIS!" That power was swept with confusion and fear.
"Ah, what?!" He screamed. He was such a nice bunny-sensei! How could he turn on him like that! His parents never warned him about helping 'bad touchers'!
"IT'S THE ONLY WAY FOR YOUR BODY TO ACCEPT MY POWER IN TIME FOR THE EXAM! NOW EAT, EAT, EAAAAAAAAT!"
And that's how Iruma learned that there are some things even he wasn't capable of eating, no matter how desperate he would be in any situation.