Hey guys, I am making a splash back in this community after many years of absence. I had this idea of a story come to my mind so I thought I would go for it and write about it. My writing skill is rusty to say the least, but I plan to spend quite a bit of time reviewing the chapters I write and making sure they fit. I have a general outline on how the story will play out, but I might struggle through writing 'filler' to give it appropriate pacing. But let us see how this turns out huh?

Chapter 1

The color brown, a mixture of green and purple is not a bright nor vivid color. It is an underwhelming color in art. It does not have the tendency to pop out at you as it stays in the background avoiding attention. A clash of color mixtures. Brown reminds people of their grandmother's old, ugly drapes that obscured the view of the lush world outside. It reminds people of the walls in their homes. Brown is an easily overlooked color, especially compared to the others that lit up the world around it. But in psychology, it is the color that is the most 'down to earth' in the color spectrum. Brown is the color of wood, the material that made the base structure of most homes and kept them sturdy for many years. Brown represents family, stability, reliability, and support.

Izuku Midoriya was outside the 1-A Alliance building laying into a tree with a flurry of punches and kicks, lit only by the natural light the moon and the stars emanated. His wild green hair flowing in the light night breeze, sweat dripping from his brow onto the lush, green grass below. He fell back and collapsed, his lungs begging for breath. He had been out here for a couple hours now and the exhaustion was starting to get to him.

"I need to get stronger. I have too." He mumbled to himself.

Midoriya struggled to his feet, stumbling a bit as he widened his stance, ready to continue his practice. He brought his right leg up and it connected with the tree with a hard thud.

"Young Midoriya! What are you doing out so late?" A voice called out. Izuku turned to see his mentor and idol, All Might. The embers of One for All gone now, he looked like a skeleton compared to his previous muscular form. "It is dark now, and you have class tomorrow."

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head and looked away from All Might, shuffling his feet a little. "Yeah, I know, I just wanted to get some extra work in… I have to get more control over One for All."

Hearing this All Might let out a heavy sigh. He knew the young One for All holder had an amazing work ethic, but he did not need to strain himself. "You will young Midoriya, but you need to be able to rest as well. Working all the time can be detrimental to your progress. Just like when you cleaned up the beach. Overworking can leave you in a stalemate and frustrate anyone. Progress slows despite the extra time and intensity someone puts in."

Izuku knew he was right. So much had happened in such a short time, he felt that he had to progress as fast as he could to take up the reins that All Might had laid down for him after the All for One fight.

"Next… Next, it's your turn." A battered, bruised, and broken down All Might said with a pointed finger at the nearby camera. His skeleton form on display for the whole world to see. The end of All Might, the Symbol of Peace.

The air erupted with a loud cheer from onlookers. A warning to any villain yet unseen. But Izuku Midoriya broke into tears hearing this. 'I have used up everything in me, everything rests on your shoulders.' The boy could not hear his own thoughts with the roar of the crowd filling his ears. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve as his face contorted with worry and self doubt.

Those words rang in Midoriya's ears. The heavy burden he bore slammed on his shoulders in that moment. The full weight of his purpose, as well as his drive to live up to All Might's expectations. The drive to not waste the gift he was given, the gift to follow his dreams of becoming a hero. A dream made realizable by All for One. Midoriya pushed the memory to the back of his head as his stomach turned.

"Y-yeah... I know. I just want to get where I can protect and save people." His usual demeanor faded as a frown formed on his face.

"You will. I know you will. But try to get some rest. Tomorrow is a new day and you can start back up tomorrow. Go get some rest." What else could he say? He noticed Midoriya smile, but it was not the same smile that he had a few months ago. It was different. It seemed more… forced.

Midoriya nodded his head as he turned towards the dormitory building.

"Yes sir. I will."

All Might watched him walk away to the dorms. His heart felt heavy. Midoriya had a strong heart, but he was positive that he was not showing everything that was troubling him. All Might knew that he took after himself. Smile to show people it was okay.

The retired number one hero turned and walked away, taking one last look over his shoulder at his successor. He recalled Midoriya's conversation with Togato after the latter has lost his quirk due to Chisaki's quirk erasing bullets.

"What… what if I could give you my quirk?"

Had Sir Nighteye said something to him about All Might original plan to pass his quirk to Togato? All Might sighed and hoped that those recent events had not broken Midoriya's resolve.

Midoriya reached the door and paused for a second. He rubbed his face for a moment and forced a smile before opening it and walking in. Kiroshima, Kaminari, Todoroki, Jirou, Momo, and Tokoyami were sitting on the couch huddled around a board game. Noticing that Midoriya had entered the common room, his classmate of his and user of a quick called Harden, Kiroshima jumped up and walked to him.

"Hey Midoriya! It's about time you got back, you were gone for several hours, what were you doing?" The red-haired boy asked.

"Oh, I was just training Kiroshima." Kiroshima was taken back with surprise. Midoriya had left before they had started their game of Monopoly. A quick glance back to the rest of the people sitting around the board said that they had similar thoughts.

"Damn man, this late? Have you eaten yet? We still have some pizza if you want some!" A toothy smile accompanied the offer as Kiroshima gestured towards the half open boxes of pizza on the counter.

"No, thank you Kiroshima, I am not really hungry, surprisingly. I appreciate the offer though." Midoriya declined with a forced smile. Kiroshima scratched his head in confusion but accepted what the green haired said.

"Ok bro, I'll see you tomorrow morning." A puzzled look stayed plastered on Kiroshima's face as he watched Midoriya leave down the hallway. He turned to his friends, who all sported similar looks. He made his way back to the table and sat down.

"How is he not hungry? He has been training for several hours?!" Kiroshima exclaimed as he leaned back against the chair. Todoroki lowered his head a bit as he contemplated Midoriya's strange behavior. The others with similar thoughts on their mind.

"Maybe he is just tired, he has been doing a lot more recently." Tokoyami said. Everyone accepted that and went back to their game. All except Kyoko Jirou. She stared at the hallway with concern in her eyes. She did not know Midoriya all that well, they would be called acquaintances at best. She did recognize that look in his eyes. His face was smiling, but he was not.

"Hey Jirou, you okay?" Momo tapped her friend on the shoulder. Startling the purple haired girl.

"Oh yeah, sorry, whose turn was it?" Jirou said as she grabbed the pair of dice that rested beside the board, stealing one last look at the hallway.

Midoriya finished his shower and sat down on his bed, dressed in a simple white t-shirt and gym shorts. He looked around at all the All Might memorabilia he had sorted around his room. It all used to be a source of inspiration and determination. Now all it did was remind him of the immense pressure he felt. Tears began to well up in his eyes.

"What if I can't do it? What if I can't live up to his expectations? Was I even the right one? Togato would have been a better choice. Even Sir Nighteye..." Midoriya's thoughts trailed off as he thought of Sir Nighteye. Tears began to flow down his cheeks as recent memories flowed into his mind.

Midoriya stared in disbelief at Sir Nighteye. The tubes and machinery in his midsection hooked up to various machines with flashing lights and screen displays of data the boy did not understand. All Might stood beside him. Looking down at his former sidekick, eyes glistening as he tried his hardest to hold back his tears.

"Sir!" Midoriya looked to the door and watched as a heavily bandaged Togato stumbled in the room.

"Togato…" Midoriya trailed off. What could he even say? Tears filled Togato's eyes as he clutched the railing of the bed Sir Nighteye laid in.

"You can't! Please, live! You can't die!"

The tears in Midoriya's eyes grew as he remembered Sir Nighteye's final words.

"Smile… A society without cheer and humor… Will not have… A bright future…" Sir Nighteye whispered before taking his final breath. A toothy grin frozen on his face.

"If I were stronger, I could have saved him. He wouldn't have died." Midoriya choked out. Togato and Bubble Girl lost their mentor because he was not strong enough. He looked up to Sir Nighteye as well. He did not spend the amount of time with them that those two did but watching someone he cared about take their final breath in front of him reverberated throughout his entire body. Midoriya shut his eyes and tried his hardest to get to sleep. Exhaustion slowly took him over, carrying him to relive his worries in the form of nightmares. Nightmares about losing the people he cared about.

The 1-A students in the common area had finished their game of Monopoly and were saying their goodnights. Momo had mopped the floor with her classmates, and after bankrupting more than half of them, the rest simply called it a night. Jirou waved goodnight at her friends as she opened the door to her room.

She looked at her bass guitar and her mind went to Midoriya. She knew that look all too well. The facade of happiness someone puts on when they do not want to worry their friends. Midoriya, while a nervous wreck most of the time, was a generally happy person, but recently it was all too obvious something had changed. It started before everything with the raid on the Yakuza happened but had only gotten worse after. The school festival did not change his demeanor at all. Yeah, he seemed happy, but she could not shake the feeling then that there was something more going on. Tonight, had confirmed it. He was sporting that large and warm smile he always wore, but his eyes were dull, seemingly void of color. Surely their other classmates could see the obvious guise that he wore. Right?

She changed into her pajamas and laid down. Everyone had problems, sure, but this just seemed different. She could see that Midoriya was sad, that much was obvious, but what had him down in dumps so bad?

Jirou did not have it bad growing up, but she had experienced enough to recognize when someone was suffering. She turned to look at her assortment of musical instruments. That was her escape, her way out. Music was therapeutic to her. A way to let any feelings, be them positive or negative, flow onto a page in a beautiful way.

"Should I try talking to him about it? Would that even help?" How does she help him? Would she even be able to help him? She was not close enough to him to even know how to approach him about it.

"I mean we rarely ever talk, why would he open up to me about anything?" She chewed the inside of her cheek as she contemplated what she should do. She did not want to see the boy forcing his way through each day. She had experienced that before in her life and would not wish the loneliness and unbearable internal pain on her worst enemy. The alure of sleep soon overtook her body, her mind still wide awake as she thought about what she could do. The thoughts ran rampant as her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep.

There is only so much that one person can bear before the load becomes to much on their own.