Author's Note: "Thanks to my amazing friend for helping Beta and clean up a lot of this work, without you this wouldn't be anywhere near the level it's at now!
If you'd like to come discuss the work, things pertaining to other works I've done, or become a beta for this work - join my discord at /xFuDyVM

As always, I do not own 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, this is a fan-work:
It is the work of Kōhei Horikoshi, serialized by Weekly Shōnen Jump, and animated by Bones.
The English release is provided by Viz Media and Funimation.

Please Support the Official Releases."

Italics denotes an individual's thoughts

Bold denotes large time shifts/ or introductions of new settings; also may be used for emphasis

Line dividers denote a smaller scene or time shift, or flashback

Ch. 1: A Hero's Ambition

Quirks! They are the superhuman abilities that have become commonplace within society. The first incident began many years ago with a glowing baby born in Qing Qing City, China. Since then, the amount of people with these extraordinary abilities has skyrocketed, with current estimates placing the number at around 80% of the population possessing some sort of ability. Normally a quirk would be either inherited from a parent, or be a mixture of both parents' abilities. However, in these extraordinary times, extraordinary and odd circumstances would give birth to these abilities as well...

Of course, the sudden appearance of super-human abilities was not an easy change for society. The world itself almost collapsed as what had long been established as the social norm was completely obliterated by the incredible changes seen within these new generations. This was due to many around the world that began to use these newfound super powers for far more heinous and immoral purposes.

Society seemed to crumble around this new power imbalance. The police found it best to create a model leadership, and not use any powers they might have in an attempt to restore the old status quo, but there still remained a gap between themselves and the new super criminals. To make up this disparity, everyday citizens began to stand up and perform vigilante work with their own quirks to stop those who ran rampant.

It was at this time, the profession of Pro Hero came about, encouraging those with quirks to strive to be the ones to fight back against the super powered criminals and bring back order. Many of those who became Pro Heroes were vigilantes who turned around and became registered members of society that would be legally allowed and encouraged to perform heroics for the good of society. Each country that allowed registered hero work formed their own association, with Japan creating the Hero Billboard Chart. The new heroes would be incentivized to work and be the best based on the number of cases they could resolve, along with how the public perceived them.

As society began to back the Pro Heroes, it became clear there were still many within the shadows that supported the criminals who believed they should be able to freely use their newfound powers. The most notorious of this time was the criminal known as All For One. As time passed, his influence had grown due to his ability to remove someone's quirk and give it to another. Under the guise of helping restore humanity to its former state, All For One was able to amass a number of quirks and legion of those who would carry out his will, eventually taking over Japan from the shadows.

However, as All for One began to gain more power and influence, some of the Pro Heroes began to move against him. One such hero was the now legendary figure known as All Might. Known for his incredibly cheerful mood; incredibly muscular physique; his flashy red, white, blue, and yellow costume; and pronounced blonde hairstyle. All Might was one of the few able to stand up to All for One, culminating in a fight between the legendary hero and villain, with All Might landing a debilitating blow on All For One.

All for One was brought low by the new rising hero, and was placed under armed watch within the prison known as Tartarus. With All for One disposed, it seemed that Japan would return to a tenuous peace; however, there still appears to be those who fight with their quirks in the name of their selfish desires and villainy. Pro Heroes became the shining beacon for many of society, with All Might, the ultimate beacon of hope, being made number one hero and hailed as the Symbol of Peace.

The year 2XXX

A young boy with a messy crop of green and black hair sat in a doctor's office, staring off into the distance with a dazed look on his face. As he tightened his grip on the All Might action figure in his hand, his mother asked her question again, "So you're saying he doesn't have a quirk?"

The doctor cleared her throat, and after noticing the boy's distraught state, carefully choose her words, "I'm not quite sure? As far as the X-rays have shown: he has the single pinkie-toe joint that is tell-tale sign of a quirk-owner."

The woman quickly interjected, "My husband has a fire breathing quirk, and I myself can move some smaller objects. Have you tested if our son has anything like that?"

The doctor smiled sadly and looked back at her clipboard, "We've tried to run various tests and asked your son to try doing something like what you've described… but it would seem that the X-ray results might have been a fluke. I'm sorry ma'am, but your son is quirkless."

With this proclamation, the boy's mother had gone white as a sheet. At this point, the woman collapsed into a fit of tears while hugging her son. She began muttering sweet nothings to the boy, assuring him that his dream of becoming a hero could still happen; but, the young boy still had the same glassy stare from before as tears began streaming down his face too.

The young boy had his dreams completely obliterated by the hospital trip, but there was still a glimmer of hope in him as he asked, "Hey mom, I can be a hero too if I really try? ...Right?"

The distraught mother turned to her child seated behind her in the car and tried to offer a reassuring smile, "I'm sure you can do anything you put your mind to, Izuku. You've always had a way of making people's wishes come true. No matter what happens, I'll be here to support you."

Izuku Midoriya. He was born to the Midoriya household, to a very loving mother and a distant father. His mother, Inko Midoriya, had made every effort to spoil and love her child twice as much due to the absence of his father. While the father, Hisashi Midoriya, spent most of his time at work or traveling on business trips. To say Izuku was raised fatherless wouldn't be too far from the truth.

In fact, you could say that the news of Izuku being quirkless had been the final straw that broke the camel's back: while the boy and his mother had been distraught over this fact, his father had become completely hysterical. In a fit of rage, Hisashi had lashed out at his wife and child nearly attacking them with his Fire Breathing quirk. As Ikuzu hid from his father's wrath, his mother was able to drive him out of the house. The next day Hisashi did not return home. A week later, Inko had found divorce papers in the mail, and just like that, the Midoriya household had gone from three to two.

Within a day Izuku's life had gone through two tumultuous changes, but his woes did not end there.

It seemed that word had gotten around in his school that he had no quirk. Kids he thought were his friends began to ignore when he asked to eat together or play. Even when his mother tried to arrange playdates for him, parents would make excuses or just flat out hang up. No one wanted to be potentially tied to or weighed down by a quirkless kid.

Yet in this dark time, Izuku still had one other person he could rely on besides his mother: Katsumi Bakugou. The Bakugou family had quite the history with the Midoriyas: the mothers in each family had gone to elementary school and high school together, while it seemed their children would be on the same track. Katsumi had been Izuku's friend from the moment they both could crawl. The pair of parents had raised the two of them as if they were family, with them splitting up who would take the children to school, and even made a plan of having weekly meals together.

Katsumi was defined by two major traits: the first being her incredibly messy short crop of blonde hair and sharp gaze. While the second was her fiery temperament and extremely vainity when it came to her own talents. This of course made it difficult for her to socialize with other kids normally let alone approach them. Despite her shortcomings though, her and Izuku were fast friends.

This all began to change though when Izuku had gone to learn about his potential quirk: while Izuku had come away finding out he was likely quirkless, Katsumi had found out she had inherited a powerful quirk that let her sweat nitroglycerin and create explosions.

With Katsumi's strong quirk and natural vanity, she began to show off to her fellow classmates and gained a new group of friends beyond Izuku. However, as Katsumi began to gain more friends and respect from her classmates, it seemed her relationship with Izuku began to become more strained. This became further and further exacerbated by the friends Katsumi had surrounded herself with that only seemed to fan her ego, until one day it bubbled up and boiled over:

Izuku, Katsuki, and two of her "friends" had gone off into a nearby park to play. As they were adventuring out, they came across a dry river bed spanned by a tree. As each the children crossed it, all made it across fine, save for Katsumi who slipped and fell into the river bed. As her two "friends" stood up above snickering, Izuku slid down the side of the ditch to check on his best friend.

"Kacchan, are you okay," Izuku shouted, using his nickname for her, as he climbed down. When he got to the bottom, he jogged over and held out a hand to help Katsumi up while a smile was plastered to his face.

Katsumi looked at the hand he offered before trying to pull herself up, only to be stopped by a slight pain from her knee. "I don't need your help up, Izuku. I'm gonna be the greatest hero, and the greatest and strongest don't need help," she retorted. Still, she winced slightly as she noticed a gash on her knee.

"Stupid Izuku. I don't need your help. I'm strong and smart enough to get myself out of here. You coming down here is just making another problem. Now you're making it look like I'm too weak and clumsy to take care of myself." Katsumi thought to herself.

As she pushed away Izuku's hand, he extended it out again this time saying, "It's okay Kacchan! Everyone needs a little help sometimes. Remember, even when we're both heroes, I'll be around if you need help!"

As Izuku said this, Katsumi only saw red as she thought of what some of her classmates had said about Izuku, "He thinks I'll need help?! ME? If anyone will need help, it'll be him. The quirkless wonder who still wants to be a hero. He's just gonna get in the way of actual heroes, or put others and more importantly himself in danger… he'd just be…"

"...useless," Katsumi muttered. "Are you joking? You being a hero? You'd just get in the way. You're useless. Not even worth being called Izuku. You're just Deku. Defenseless… worthless." Katsumi couldn't stop herself, already in an angry haze. A small part of her echoed, "I'm sorry, I don't mean it Izuku, but this is the only way you'll get it, you need to let go of that dream or you'll just get hurt," While her more prideful part plowed on.

Izuku had been stunned by his friend's words. Of all the people in the world, he hadn't expected his best friend Katsumi to turn on him too. As he was left dumbfounded by these words, she continued, "How could a quirkless nobody like you do anything? You need to give up on that dream, Deku. This is the first and last time you'll be any sort of hero without a quirk."

Izuku couldn't form any coherent response as tears began to stream down his face from his friend's berating. The only thought in his mind as Katsumi finally took his hand and pulled herself up was, "My only dream, my only wish is to be a hero… Like All Might. I just wanted to make sure Katsumi was okay, and wasn't hurt. I'd be willing to help her with anything or take away any pain for her. Why does she have to be so mean to me?"

Katsumi scrambled back up the riverbed, seemingly not having a problem with her injured knee, and towards her other "friends" then yelled back, "Come on useless Deku! I thought you were gonna be a big hero and keep up with us!" at which point the other two began joining in with their own jeers.

Izuku wiped away the few tears on his face, then yelled a quick, "Wait for me!" before running after them. He winced slightly as he climbed back out, not noticing the cut that was now on his knee…

As time passed, Izuku continued to follow his dream of being a hero, just like his idol All Might. One such way he carried this out was by watching news reports of Pro Heroes or their fights in person, then recording them into a notebook series he called "Hero Analysis for the Future". The information he recorded covered anything and anything about the heroes: the quirks of each pro or villain, their costumes, their fighting styles, etc. His vigorous analysis of heroes had come at a cost: an awful habit of him unwittingly mumbling about his ideas or analysis in these moments of complete concentration.

While Izuku continued his own studies to become a hero, Katsumi had continued her personal assault on him in an attempt to dissuade him from trying to go pro. She had begun much more subtly, trying to convince Izuku that the line of work wasn't a good fit for him:

While in the middle of another school lunch of being isolated and harassed by several of his classmates and Katsumi's lackeys, Izuku had finally found some free time to delve into one of his "Hero Analysis for the Future" journals.

"Hmmmm... that #5 Hero, Mirko, is really something. From what I've seen, she takes on her foes with powerful attacks from her legs, which judging by her costume/quirk seems to be similar to that of a rabbit…" As Izuku's mind poured on endlessly re-analyzing the newsreel from the previous night of Mirko facing a gang of petty thieves that had hit up a high end jewelry store, he had been making sketches of the Pro Hero's outfit along with minor additions he thought would best serve her quirk.

"Of course, if most of the power comes from her legs and goes into her feet she could change the shape of her costume's shoes/boots in order to change how that force is distributed… but then that would be hassle for getting around…" Izuku's mind continued in this manner for some time until a hand slammed down on the table with a large *BANG* and puff of smoke.

"Oh… hi Kacchan!" he was able to manage with a slightly strained smile, coming to the realization of the angry blonde woman above him. He sighed slightly and began mentally preparing himself for whatever she had in store for him today.

"Oi, Deku, what'd I say about calling me that! And why are you continuing these stupid Hero journals? It's not like they'd ever be of any use to you. Being the quirkless wonder and all." The dig at his lack of powers was nothing out of the ordinary, just another one-liner he'd heard her spit out before. But as usual, the nearby students and Katsumi's nearby lackeys chimed in with their own chorus of "Ooooo"s and "Oh Snap"s.

Seeing that she had gained a crowd, Katsumi's gained a vicious smile on her face as her eyes narrowed into a harsh glare directed at the young man across from her at the table. After a moment or two of staring him down only to get no reply, she became more angered, and snapped her arm across the table snatching up the journal. A protest of "hey give that back" and an attempt to lean across the table was all Izuku was able to manage before two of Katsumi's goons pinned him back in his seat across the table.

She absentmindedly flipped through eyeing the random tidbits of hero info she couldn't care about, "why care about this useless crap about small-frys," until she found the sketches of Mirko's outfit. Her first thought had been to turn the sketches into an opportunity to publicly shame him as a pervert; but, she just wanted to discourage her "old friend," not socially murder him. The more she looked at the sketches, a thought dawned on her, "Hey… these aren't half bad…"

She threw the journal across the table back to Izuku, at which point he grabbed it and jammed it into his backpack before closing it over and hugging it tight to himself. After "protecting" his precious journal, Izuku turned back to face Katsumi who seemed to be struggling to say something.

"You know Deku… those aren't half bad. You'll never be able to be a hundreth of the hero I am, let alone a hero at all, but you might have a skill you can put to work as a tailor or support gear designer for us real heroes." An awkward cough and the scuff of a shoe on the floor could be heard as the room had been shocked silent by what most people assumed was Katsumi's version of a compliment.

A very faint blush dusted her cheeks as she realized her uncharacteristic praise to him, prompting her to follow up with, "Or maybe if you're lucky, one day I'll let you do merch design for me!" which she punctuated with a laugh that quickly traveled around the room.

"... no..." The two underlings and Katsumi stopped laughing as they looked down at Izuku who was quietly mumbling with his head down, while his hands had curled into fists on the table.

He said it again slightly louder, "No. I want to be out there with all the other Pros, giving my one-hundred and ten percent. I-" he faltered for a second then carried on, "I'll be the All Might of our generation, a smiling heroic beacon that will tell any kid, with or without a quirk, that they can be a hero too if they really try."

As he finished, hope had surged into him causing to punctuate the last bit slightly louder than the rest, and he turned up to face Katsumi. A genuine smile radiated off his face, as determined sharp green eyes stared down her cold crimson ones.

"It's that damned look again. When will he give up? He needs to face reality one day," Katsumi thought to herself. With a annoyed huff, she turned and stomped away from Izuku.

Years continued to pass for the two, and soon they had reached their final year of high school. Izuku had grown to be a well built young man, pushing himself physically and mentally to make up for his lack of a quirk: He still had his messy green-black hair and hallmark freckles on his cheeks, but the small meek middle school boy had grown with time, shedding baby-fat and his timid tendencies to grow into a assertive and muscular man.

Likewise, Katsumi had gone through her own developments during this time: she had been naturally gifted with a sharp mind and impressive quirk, that with time had made her a formidable force to contend with. Despite this, she hadn't shed her fiery temper, with time instead causing her to becoming increasingly violent when it came to her problem solving. Katsumi was no longer the little girl Izuku grew up playing with: despite her incredibly fierce attitude towards others, the other major change he saw in her was when her figure filled out much more. She kept the same messy tomboy crop of blonde hair, but it was definitely becoming harder for people to refer to Katsumi as "just another one of the guys".

Nonetheless, despite these changes within each of them, the hostile dynamic Katsumi encouraged between herself and Izuku only seemed to get worse. Over their time in school, Izuku's determination to become a Pro Hero hadn't wavered. However, as they were approaching their final years of high school, Katsumi and her lackeys ramped up her abuse towards Izuku, eventually reaching a breaking point on the day that the teacher asked their class their aspirations for University life or entering the workforce:

The short balding-man who was their class' teacher coughed loudly to get the class' attention while shuffling the stack of 'career goals' sheets he had collected from the students: "Now, I know all of you have your own aspirations of anything ranging from normal college life or just jumping straight into the workforce… but I know many of you will be planning on going to the Pro Hero academies."

At this line, the classroom flared to life with students jumping up in their seats and showing off their wide variety of quirks: stretching or elongating limbs, the ability to grow scales or thorns on their body, flexing wings or extra limbs, etc.

A loud *THWACK* echoed through the room as the teacher slammed his hand on the blackboard in an attempt to quiet down the now rowdy class. "QUIET DOWN! You should all know by now that you shouldn't go wantonly flaunting your quirks in public unless necessary."

As the class calmed back down and students returned to their seats he continued, "Now, I assume many of you will attempt to go to the academies to begin your hero training, but it would seem there are those among us who think they have what it takes to go all the way… Katsumi, it seems you're planning on applying to UA?"

The teacher looked up from the papers to her as she leaned back in her chair, feet kicked up on top of the desk, "Of course I am. Everyone here knows I'm the strongest and smartest here," at which point some of the surrounding students chimed in with their mix of boos and cheers, "I wouldn't want to go to the same place as a bunch of second rates like the rest of you."

As the classroom erupted into more arguing, with Katsumi's lackeys backing her up and the rest of the class heckling her, the teacher shuffled his papers and spoke up again, "Ah, it would seem there was another one of you that wanted to go to UA… Izuku, you plan to apply too?"

The entire class broke out in uproarious laughter, that was quickly silenced by a fuming Katsumi who shot up and whipped her head to the embarrassed boy. She leapt at him with an almost animalistic snarl on her face as mini explosions rapid-fired in her clenched fists.

"WHAT?! You think you're gonna apply to UA too? It's one thing for one of these posers to want to try and fail to get in there, but you trying will just be an embarrassment to our school and yourself."

Izuku let out a breath he didn't quite realize he was holding and mentally played out the argument he foresaw coming. "I've said it before Katsumi and I'll say it again. Just because you think you're better than everyone doesn't mean you are. I will be getting in there, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me from trying."

The jeering of his classmates had rapidly turned to stunned silence, while Katsumi continued to fume. As she moved to grab onto Izuku's collar, the school bell for the day's end rung throwing the classroom into chaos. In the blink if an eye, Izuku had snagged his books and bag and ducked past Katsumi and out of the class.

To say she was livid was an understatement. A mixture of pure adrenaline and hatred pumped through her veins clouding her judgement, and with a whistle towards her groupies, they were out the door chasing down Izuku.

"That little shit thinks he can not only be a hero, but that he's good enough to go to the college I'm going to? It's time to finally drill it into him the difference between the two of us. If he won't listen to reason or threats, it's time to teach him a physical lesson he won't soon forget."

Within moments Katsumi's group was on Izuku's heels as he was about to leave the school's gates. Her two tag-a-longs put their arms around Izuku's shoulders and began steering him around the corner of the school building and away from any prying eyes. They gave him a hard shove into the wall, causing him to stumble and drop his bag.

"What the he-" *THWACK* before Izuku could even finish talking, Katsumi delivered a blast powered punch to his left ribs. He doubled over sputtering and coughing as the air was blown out of his lungs. "I'll definitely be feeling that tomorrow" he sorely thought to himself.

As he tried to pull himself back to his feet, one of the boys used their quirk to stretch out their arms to grab Izuku's back and slam him back to the ground. With a groan he managed to sputter out, "Why are you doing this? What'd I do to deserve this?"

Katsumi stared down at him, crimson eyes digging into his emerald ones like daggers. She nodded to one of her lackeys and muttered a, "get them," to which they replied by rifling through Izuku's backpack to gather up his Hero Journals. They handed them over to Katsumi who absentmindedly flipped through a few pages of the first one before snapping it back closed.

"Deku… we've tried the nice way to tell you. You can't and never will be a hero. But you won't listen to us... won't listen to ME… won't listen to reason. You NEED to give up on this useless dream of yours before,"

Katsumi stopped talking and took the journals in both her hands. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed and ignited an explosion between her hands charring the journals to ash, "your whole life goes up in smoke."

At this point the boy holding him down released Izuku, who promptly collapsed with hands attempting to grasp at the ashen remains of years of his hard work. He looked up, shock and anger overtaking his normally cheerful expression. "You know I've held onto the dream ever since you started bullying me when we were younger, that we'd be able to one day go back to being friends again," he shot back as he caught his breath, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks, "But I guess it's time to let that go. The old Kacchan is gone… all that's left is a husk of the hero she could have been."

Izuku rose, brushed himself off, and began to leave only to be stopped by Katsumi grabbing the back of his school blazer. He felt anger surge through him as he yelled back at her without turning around, "STOP! What more do you want? What more are you going to try taking from me? My life? My mother? Just leave me alone!" A sheen of forest green seemed to reflect off his eyes as he said this, and he felt the hand wordlessly leave his collar, as Katsumi mumbled to the other two "let's go".

Today seemed to be the second worst day of Izuku's life. On his way home, he decided to stop and get some sweets from the local convenience store to try cheering himself up. As he passed through the nearby underpass, he was too busy trying to decide what to eat that he didn't notice the nearby manhole that had been popped open.

Out of it oozed an a thick green and black sludge puddle that pulled itself back together. A toothy grin settled on the monstrous being's face as it saw the young man walking by. With a lightning-quick movement, it lunged towards poor Izuku and had him trapped within an instant!

"Sorry kid, but I've had a rough time trying to get away from the cops. Hiding out in you will give me a great get-away though, so stop struggling and let me take over your body!" As he said this, the slimy villain began to pour into Izuku's mouth and nose, stifling any screams he tried to let out along with his breathing.

"So this is how it ends… huh? Being almost beaten to death by my old friend, then actually killed by a villain who wants my body… And all I wanted to do was give my best and try to be a hero like All Might… What I would give to have met him at least once…" As Izuku's mind became hazy and his vision started going dim, he swore he could hear the signature "I AM HERE" that was All Might's catchphrase.

As he struggled to open his eyes again, he saw the #1 hero standing before him, jumping out of the sewer in a casual white t-shirt and khaki slacks. "Well, I guess my brain is finally dying out and I'm just hallucinating from lack of oxygen… At least it's my favorite hero I get to see before it's all over."

As Izuku's mind began to shutdown, the "fake" All Might looked over at Izuku with shock quickly flashing across his face before he grit his teeth with determination. He began to pull back his arm, muscles tensing, before punching forward with a loud shout of, "TEXAS SMASH!"

As the punch came towards Izuku, the sludge villain that had been around him was blown back and onto the wall of the underpass. All Might surged forward and gathered the splattered pieces of the villain into an empty soda bottle he pulled from somewhere before giving a relieved sigh.

"This must be it. I've passed on and this is all just a dream come true in my next life." As Izuku continued to sputter and spit up bits of the slime still in his nose and mouth, he came to the realization, he WAS in fact still alive and this WAS real life.

As he hacked up another lung of the black and green goop, All Might approached him awkwardly rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry about that citizen! I had seen this fellow rob the bank while I was out running errands and I followed him down into the sewers. I'm sorry I didn't get him in time and you had to suffer through that. I'm just glad to see you're okay!"

As Izuku finally regained his senses, he quickly dove into his backpack and dug out a pen and school notebook, "Uh, Mr. All Might sir. Could I bother you for an autograph?" Izuku mentally slapped himself, "I have the greatest hero of this generation, if not every generation, and all I can ask for is an autograph?"

However, as he mentally wrestled with himself, the hero gave a short chuckle and swiped up the notebook before signing a large signature across two pages. "Here you go lad! Now I must be off so that I can deliver this villain to the police!"

As All Might turned to leave the underpass, Izuku's mind was racing, "Wait… come back. I have so much more I want to talk about. So much more I want to ask you!" Even as his mind was racing, his body had subconsciously reacted and tried to latch onto All Might… right as the hero had began a mighty building-jumping leap.

"Kid. I like my fans as much as the next hero, but you need to let go!" The voice shook Izuku out of his thoughts as he realized he was clinging to All Might's leg as the two of them soared through the air. "Wait when did that happen… but more importantly-"

"No way! If I let go now I'll die!" With a sigh, the hero landed with a thud on a nearby rooftop, Izuku dropping off his leg and shakily standing back up on his own. All Might turned to the boy with a bewildered expression on his face.

"Young man, are you crazy? What could have possibly spurred you to do that? I appreciate my fans, but I really do need to get going and make sure this villain is in police custody! You can go to the rooftop access and see if someone will let you in." As he turned away to leap again, Izuku was able to regain his composure and shout out, "All Might, please wait!"

The hero sighed and turned back to face the boy to see his face was a mixture of anxiety and frayed nerves. "I do suppose I can talk to him for a minute, seeing as it's my fault that villain harmed him," the hero thought. He moved to sit on the edge of the building's roof, then patted for Izuku to sit next to him, "What can I do for you young man?"

Izuku cautiously approached the ledge and took a seat next to the hero. He took several calming breaths and tried to organize his racing thoughts, "All Might… can someone without a quirk be a hero?"

The hero in question sat stumped for a few moments, "I suppose this boy is asking me this as he himself must be quirkless. What a terrible fate to want to help others but not have the means to…" After a few moments of silence with Izuku slowly gaining a downcast look, the hero replied to him, "Well I'm sure the police or fire department could use someone courageous and honest like you seem to be."

Izuku sat baffled by what seemed like a deflection of the topic by the hero and he continued again, "I'm sorry, maybe I misspoke sir, I meant, could someone quirkless be a Pro Hero. Could they grow up and become someone like you?"

Izuku stared up at the hero, his lifelong idol, as tears began to well up in his eyes. All Might sighed and absentmindedly began twiddling his thumbs as he finally addressed the boy's question, "I'm sorry young man, but the world of a Pro Hero is dangerous. No matter the risks a person would be willing to put themselves at, no matter how brave or intelligent or strong they think they are… they wouldn't be able to become a Pro Hero. That will be a dream too far out of reach for them."

The hero put a supporting hand on the young man's back, giving him a few light pats before standing back up. "I'm sorry to tell you that, but I hope it'll help you. Now, I really must be off." With another grand leap, All Might quickly hurtled off towards the horizon, leaving a mentally and emotionally shaken Izuku to break down in tears on the roof.

A few minutes later...

"I'm sorry to crush your dreams like that Young Man, but there is an undeniable truth of this world: that there's an unbreakable barrier between those with quirks and those without. I hope you can learn to move past that." All Might morosely thought to himself as he leaped from another building.

As he soared through the air, he felt a great pain in his chest, causing him to stumble mid leap and clutch his side. "Gah, that old wound is flaring up again. I spent too much time tracking down that villain and talking to that kid. Gotta get the bottled villain to the authorities before I hit my limit." What the hero didn't notice was that his pockets seemed to be missing one bottle.

Meanwhile…

Katsumi's day had been a roller coaster of emotions she could barely process, not so much from being overwhelmed, but rather due to her choice to ignore them. Not only had Deku chosen to try to go to the same school as her (she was still fuming that he thought he had a chance of getting in or being a hero), but she was still emotionally charged from the confrontation of that afternoon.

"Gah, shitty Deku, it's all his fault I snapped. You think I don't want to go back and be friends again? I miss those old days too, but I can't be friends with someone who deludes themself with dreams of being something they can never be." She turned and softly punched the wall trying to let off some steam. She quickly started to fume again when she thought of the beating she gave the young man. "I didn't want to be pushed to the point where I had to hurt you or try personally destroying your dream, but how else are you gonna learn? I could never forgive myself if you became a hero and ended up getting hurt, or killed, because you were helpless to protect yourself."

While the girl continued to flip back and forth between berating herself and her old friend, something struck her on the back of the head. It was a bottle full of murky dark black and green liquid. She looked around enraged trying to find where it came for before settling on spiking the bottle into the wall.

As the bottle connected with the wall, the lid popped off and the gunk exploded out of the bottle coalescing into a small pool. The sludge villain pulled himself back together, and noticed the blonde woman nearby who was too distracted to take note of him. With a lunge, he was gathered around her.

"I thought I'd be able to escape that hero with the other kid, but seems like it might be better to take a hostage instead." Katsumi's world went black as the villain covered her eyes, causing her to panic and start firing off explosions.

Izuku had been able to make his way down from on top of what seemed to be an office complex after All Might left. Luckily for him the roof-access was unlocked, and led straight into a stairwell that took him to the back exit of the building.

He had been able to pull himself together after a few minutes of quiet sobbing on the roof after All Might left, and was now slowly walking home. It was at this time he happened to see a developing news story in a nearby store-front.

"We come to you live from downtown, where a villain has taken a young woman hostage." the report continued to drone on, but Izuku had decided to block it out. "Wait that's a few streets over maybe I could go get a few notes for more journ- oh, they're gone… right." Izuku sat dumbstruck as he remembered the events of the day unfold again.

"Why should I even care anymore? If the person I looked up to and respected most told me I can't be a hero, why should I waste time analyzing all these things anymore…" His thoughts were however interrupted by another line from the newscaster, "It seems though that the heroes can't get in close to save the girl, as the villain is channeling her explosive quirk into the surrounding buildings."

Izuku's neck snapped back to the TV, "There's no way. It has to be someone else with a quirk just like tha-" his thoughts were interrupted by the image of a blonde girl with fierce crimson eyes struggling against the sludge villain. Before he even had time to think, he was sprinting around the corner towards the distant mayhem of the villain.

The street the villain had kidnapped Katsumi on looked like a warzone. Chunks of building were blown apart. Brick, mortar, and glass were strew about from shattered store fronts and apartments. As Izuku arrived at the scene, it seemed all the heroes had been pushed back to where the police had cordoned off the street. Some were still towards the edges, pushing forward trying to put out fires or help civilians, but it seemed most were ignoring the villain itself as any who tried to approach it couldn't do anything with their quirks.

"What are they doing? They're just gonna let that villain continue to hold her hostage and destroy the city? Aren't you heroes?! DO something!" Yet even as Izuku tried to will the seemingly frightened heroes to help her, none would move.

"I may be no hero, but maybe if I can at least distract the villain, Katsumi can get away…" As the gears in his mind began to spin, Izuku had already ducked past the police line and was sprinting towards the villain. Shocked shouts from heroes and pedestrians alike rang out, "Kid, what are you doing?! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Paying no mind to them Izuku kept running towards the villain, "If I can help even one person today, then I'll have been the hero I always wanted to. If only I had even a fraction of All Might's strength, then I could punch an opening into this villain for Kacchan to escape." Even as Izuku's mind raced while he sprinted towards the villain, he didn't notice the faint green glow coming off his right arm.

"Hey you ugly snot villain," at this, the villain looked up, recognition and rage coming to life in his eyes as he realized Izuku was the boy from before, "leave my friend alone!" He shouted out, taking his backpack by one of the straps and throwing it towards the distracted villain. As it connected with the gelatinous body, rather than simply getting stuck in it or bouncing off, a small rush of wind accompanied his the bag as it punched a hole clear through the villain's sludge body. The strain and power of the throw ripped Izuku's blazer sleeve and the shirt sleeve underneath to shreds, leaving his right bicep exposed.

The villain stumbled back, and his grip loosened on Katsumi, letting her waist up go free. "Kacchan grab my hand and blast us away from here!" Izuku yelled to her. The shocked girl begrudgingly nodded and grabbed the boy's wrist with one free hand, while the other turned and blasted back towards the villain, shaking him loose from her lower half.

The two were sent flying a few feet from the villain as onlookers gasped in shock. The villain reformed the hole in his stomach and looked down at the two on the ground, "I'm not letting you get away a second time you little shit. I'll take you and that girl down, no matter what it costs!" His form surged across the ground as he moved in to grab the two of them, only to be interrupted by a strong gust of wind followed by, "I AM HERE!"

All Might had dashed through the crowd and jumped between the villain and the two young adults prone on the ground. He softly looked down at the boy he had met earlier, "It seems I was wrong young man, I forgot what it means to truly be a hero and help those in need." His head turned back to the villain, who had put some space between the two of them, and took on a more serious look.

"I was too clumsy today in trying to catch you, but that all ends here…" The mountain of a man drew back his arm tensing his muscles, then brought it forward into a straight punch aimed at the villain, "DETROIT SMASH!" With a sound like a cannon, a mighty wind was launched from the punch that connected with the villain and blew it to pieces. Little bits of the villain's sludge were launched onto the nearby buildings and streets.

The crowd had been completely dumbfounded by the hero who came out of nowhere and solved the problem in a single punch. As the crowds looked on, the sky began to become overcast with light rain beginning to fall and put out the fires. Murmurs arose from the onlookers, "Did you see that? He finished it in a single blow!" "More importantly he punched hard enough he changed our weather system!" And in seconds the crowd and news crews were closing in on the number one hero.

While the fans and news swarmed the hero of the hour, Katsumi and Izuku had been surrounded by the other heroes and paramedics on the scene. Within moments, their mini crowd had taken two stances: Katsumi was praised for being incredibly brave throughout the situation and for having an incredible quirk, while Izuku was berated for charging headfirst into danger that should've been left to the pros.

When they finally were let go, Katsumi was surrounded by a news crew, leaving Izuku by himself. "I guess I should try thanking All Might for saving me twice in one day… though by the looks of it he's pretty swamped now too… maybe it's best I head home."

Izuku had left the crime scene feeling very worn down. His school uniform was in complete disarray, partially due to the dirt and slime of the villain, and partially from the force of punching the villain. As he turned the corner of his street to his house, he found the one person he never would've expected there: All Might was standing there looking around nervously. As Izuku walked over, the hero turned around with a start.

"Ah, there you are Young Man! I had been trying to find you after all the commotion of the day." He began to nervously fidget with his hands, then bent over slightly to be on eye-level with the boy. "I had said some harsh things earlier today that were unfair to you. I was wrong to say a quirkless child could never be a hero."

Izuku could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes as he looked at his childhood idol. "You proved to me and many others out there, that the powers we have don't define our ability to be a hero. It's our courage and the strength of our hearts that drive us to help others. You should know that more than anyone else."

Izuku collapsed to his knees and began to openly sob with his face in his hands. All Might put his hand on the boy's shoulder in support, "You may not have a quirk, but you do have the makings of a hero. And I'll be damn sure to see that those qualities are nurtured."