"Kacchan!" - Speech

'Deku!' - Thoughts

"I AM HERE!" - All Might Speech

"Detroit Smash!" - Special Technique Usage

Prologue

The Beyond

Kakyōin Noriaki drifted through the ether, lost in his thoughts. He had been the third and last member of the so-called Stardust Crusaders to die against DIO, as even although Joseph Joestar had died, Jōtarō had been able to revive him. He was glad that Joestar-san had been able to decipher the dying message he had left with his Hierophant Green, and that the monster known as DIO had finally been killed, but...

'...I wish I hadn't had to die as well.' the young man thought sadly. He wondered for the nth time how his parents had reacted to his death. Not well, in all likelihood, which distressed him. He had dearly loved his parents, who had cared deeply for him in return, despite his social isolation from his peers, which was due in part to his Stand and due in part to his inherently superior intellect.

As he had floated through the void, he had come across many people, including Joseph Joestar, Muhammad Avdol, Jean-Pierre Polnareff and Kūjō Jōtarō, who had either already been here or had arrived when their time came, although he hadn't come across his parents for some reason. Recently though, there were a lot of people coming through talking about 'Quirks', new powers that were very different from the Stands that had been one of the only super powers that Kakyōin had seen in his lifetime.

Still more had come through speaking about the 'Quirkless', the ones who didn't possess Quirks. They tended to live lives of suffering and tragedy, simply because they lacked a bizarre power or physical mutation. While Kakyōin himself had tended to not socialise with people who he didn't see as being his equal, he had also not disdained them for not matching him.

'The world may have changed, but sadly some of the darker aspects of humanity remain the same.' he sighed sadly. 'Humans will always find a reason to discriminate against each other and those that cannot defend themselves are always the first to suffer.'

Suddenly, he found himself in a swirling area that he quickly recognised. It was a dreamscape, a rare instance when the mind of a living human interacted with the beyond while they were asleep. Kakyōin had been sucked into a half a dozen of these during his time in the beyond.

Normally, he went out of his way to avoid the person dreaming due to the risks of encountering a living soul while being a part of the eternal, but in this instance, he could hear the sound of a child crying. The sound brought back many sad memories of the tears of frustration he had shed when he was too young to understand why no one else see his Stand, Hierophant Green. The sound tugged at his heart and, for once, he let his heart overcome his pride and logic, and allowed himself to be drawn toward the source.

Sitting in the very centre of the room was a boy, about eight years old. He had fluffy green hair and was curled into a ball as his small body shook with sobs.

"Young man." Kakyōin said softly as he landed nearby. The boy jerked his head up, revealing red-rimmed eyes the colour of emerald.

"Wh-who are you?" the boy asked, his voice slightly hoarse from the crying he'd just been doing.

"Is it not customary to give one's name before asking another theirs?" the redheaded man asked calmly.

"O-oh...m-my name's...Midoriya Izuku." the boy introduced himself with a flinch.

"A pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-kun." Kakyōin said with a nod. "I am Kakyōin Noriaki. Why were you crying just now?"

"I...I'm Quirkless." Midoriya confessed, looking depressed. "I've been Quirkless for four years, and I'm alone, apart from my mother."

"No father? No friends?" the Stand user asked with a frown.

"Dad's in America, working." the greenette shook his head. "And...Kacchan doesn't like me, so no one else likes me."

"Kacchan?" Kakyōin asked with a raised eyebrow.

And then it came pouring out, how Kacchan (Bakugō Katsuki) had once been his friend, but had turned into his primary bully. How he had the nickname of 'Deku', which meant useless. How his classmates and even the teachers followed Bakugō's lead because of the powerful Quirk he possessed and how likely it was he would become a Professional Hero because of it.

Throughout the entire tale, Kakyōin only barely kept his distaste for the Bakugō boy at bay as it seemed that, for whatever reason, the boy in front of him still considered his bully a friend. Quite why puzzled the man, but Midoriya was just a child. Children often clung to the familiar when faced with great change.

"I see...you have endured much." the Stand User said at last. "What are you going to do about it, though? Are you simply going to allow them to do as they please without fighting back?"

"I don't...I wanna be a hero, and heroes don't stir up trouble." Midoriya said stubbornly.

"There is a marked difference between stirring up trouble and avoiding being turned into a punching bag, Midoriya-kun." Kakyōin said dryly. "A 'hero' would stand up for themselves, because if he can't stand up for himself, then how could he stand up for others?"

As Midoriya worked through that, the man frowned. While convincing the boy to not be a doormat was all very well and good, it wouldn't solve what the world nowadays saw as his main problem, his Quirklessness. With a pulse of his will, Hierophant Green appeared at his shoulder, making Midoriya jump in fright.

"Whhaaa?! I-Is that your Quirk?" the boy asked after yelping in shock.

"I was born in the era before Quirks came into existence, over two hundred years ago." Kakyōin replied. "Back then, I possessed the ability to materialise my life force as an image that stood by me...I was known as a Stand User, with Hierophant Green here as my Stand. I died in 1989, if memory serves."

"S-So you're a g-ghost?!" Midoriya looked freaked out.

"Hmm, no." Kakyōin looked thoughtful. "A ghost implies that my spirit was somehow bound to the living world via unresolved issues or grudges. I passed on as soon as I died. My spirit intersected with your dream for some reason, Midoriya-kun. Technically I would refer to this as a form of séance."

"O-Oh..." the green-haired boy faltered.

With a mental command from Kakyōin, the puppet-like Stand swooped over and touched the boy on the head with one finger. He had done this once before in one of these intersections. His Stand was his life force made manifest and controlled by his will. How he could summon in in the beyond was a puzzle, but by having Hierophant Green touch someone on the head, he could see the true character of the person in question.

The last time, the man had been a piece of scum, pure and simple. That had put Kakyōin off from trying to do this again. But he had decided to look at this boys character to see if his inner self matched his exterior persona. A slew of emotions and feeling washed over him as Hierophant Green connected with Midoriya Izuku.

Pain.

Suffering.

Torment.

Despair.

Hopelessness.

Hope.

Determination.

Intelligence.

Insight.

Longing.

Adoration.

Love.

Protectiveness.

Self-Sacrifice.

Blinking and shaking his head, Kakyōin looked down in awe at the boy below, who had recoiled from the finger of his Stand in surprise.

'Despite everything he has been through since he was declared Quirkless, he still carries a core of unbreakable determination to become a hero.' the Stand User thought in amazement. 'Despite having every reason to give into his despair, he continues to walk forward. In spite of those who mock his dream as a fantasy, he still holds it close to his heart. In spite of how most would become twisted and bitter after all he has been through, he still cares for others, even above himself. This boy...'

"K-Kakyōin-san?" the questioning voice of Midoriya broke him out of his stupefied state.

"Ah, my apologies, Midoriya-kun." Kakyōin said with a nod. "I just read your character using my Hierophant Green here. You are quite the amazing person."

That made the boy squeak in surprise and hide his face in embarrassment. Unsurprising, as he was not used to being praised for anything by anyone other than his mother these days.

Making Hierophant Green back away, Kakyōin blinked as the Stand also cupped its hands, a green glow appearing there until it became an emerald, such as the ones that his Stand used in its signature attack, Emerald Splash.

'Why...oh. Could it be...?' the Stand User mused. Turning his attention to Midoriya, he smiled. "Would you like that emerald, Midoriya-kun? As a present to commemorate our meeting?"

"I-Is that OK?" the boy asked in amazement.

"Of course. I wouldn't have offered had it been otherwise." Kakyōin reassured the boy, making Hierophant Green lean down to offer the emerald to the young boy.

Gulping, Midoriya Izuku reached out and carefully took the fist-sized jewel...which then vanished into the boy's hands, making his body glow and a pair of familiar dual circles appear on each of Izuku's palms.

"EH?!" the boy exclaimed.

"As I thought..." Kakyōin mused. "Midoriya-kun, it seems that Hierophant Green has either bestowed its abilities upon you or it has given you the ability to summon a Stand with great similarity to itself. Can you try and force your spirit to call forth something?"

"E-Even if you say that...!" Midoriya stammered before he screwed up his face in concentration. After a moment, a figure slightly taller that Midoriya himself appeared behind him. It was indeed greatly similar to Hierophant Green in appearance; vaguely robotic, with grey-white armour, but that was where the similarities stopped. For a start, the figure's unarmoured portions were a deeper emerald green compared with the original, making the white lines criss-crossing its skin like veins stand out more vibrantly. The armour was also slightly more elaborate, with extra ornamentation running up and down it. In the centre of the chest-piece, a single emerald rotated. The final difference was that the eyes of the brand new Stand were not the yellow of Hierophant Green; they were a bright sky blue.

"Th-this is...?!" Midoriya gasped.

"This is your Stand, Midoriya-kun; your own power." Kakyōin said absently as he examined the boy's Stand clinically. "I wonder how much similarity yours has with mine...Hierophant Green, Emerald Splash!"

Placing its palms together, Hierophant Green then pulled them apart, revealing a tunnel of bright emerald water arcing between them. With a glow about its limbs, the Stand fired a barrage of emeralds from the water across the dreamscape, away from Midoriya.

"Whoa!" the boy gaped.

"Can you try and make your Stand do that?" the older Stand User asked the boy.

"I-I'll try..." Midoriya looked at the Stand hovering next to him and concentrated for a moment. The smaller Stand repeated the actions of its original, but was only able to fire three emeralds. It was interesting to note that the emeralds were also a darker colour, while the water was the same shade of green as Hierophant Green's attack.

"Hmm...it looks as if you're a bit young to use Emerald Splash just yet." Kakyōin mused. "Well before anything else, I think you should name your Stand, Midoriya-kun."

"N-Name it?" Midoriya looked tired.

"Certainly. Mine is one I names as a child, after the Hierophant card of the Tarot. Most Stand in my time were named after one of those cards." the man explained. "Star Platinum, Hermit Purple, Silver Chariot, The Fool and Magician's Red were the Stands used by my allies back when I was alive."

"What are the names of the other Tarot cards?" the boy asked.

"The World, the Tower, Strength, Wheel of Fortune, The Moon, The Devil, Temperance, The Hanged Man, Emperor, Empress, Sun, Justice, Lovers, Sun, Death, Judgement and High Priestess make up the rest of the major arcana." Kakyōin recited. "The minor arcana are Cups, Swords, Wands and Coins."

"Can...you choose?" the boy asked timidly.

"Me?" the redhead raised an eyebrow and looked thoughtful. "Certainly...ah, I know. I'll give it the name I originally gave to my own Stand. From here on out, your Stand is known as Hierophant Emerald!"

Just then, the dreamscape started to darken, and both Hierophant Green and the newly named Hierophant Emerald vanished back to their user's bodies.

"What's happening?!" Midoriya looked around in a panic.

"You're waking up." Kakyōin informed the boy. "As you do, your mind is being drawn from here, so the dreamscape is collapsing."

"Will I see you again?" the boy asked hopefully.

"I've never seen someone in a dreamscape twice." Kakyōin confessed. "Then again. I've never given someone a Stand before here either, so it's possible. In case we don't, I'll give you some advice. Experiment with your Stand and those markings on your hands. It could be you can use Emerald Splash without summoning your Stand. Hierophant Green was fairly weak in close combat, but while Hierophant Emerald was copied from my Stand, it isn't the same Stand, so don't discount anything until you have seen it with your own eyes. Finally, never give up or let someone tell you that you are less than you are. My Stand and I think you are worthy, so Stand Proud, Midoriya-kun."

"Yes!" Midoriya nodded before he vanished along with the rest of the dreamscape.

"Things are going to be interesting if I can find him again..." Kakyōin mused.

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Next Chapter: Stand Proud, Izuku!

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Stand Name: Hierophant Emerald (Child)

Stand User: Midoriya Izuku

Stand Type: Undetermined

Stand Appearance: Organic Humanoid

All Stats Unknown at This Time

Special Abilities: Emerald Splash