Izuku sat on his knees on the rooftop, gazing at the city below with a mix of awe and apprehension as he held on to the wall.
His mind was still reeling from the revelation that this was no dream or hallucination—he was actually in the world of My Hero Academia, living as Izuku Midoriya.
The breeze was cool against his face, but his thoughts burned with intensity. He glanced at All Might, standing a few feet away, his powerful silhouette framed by the sun. This was it: the moment he'd been waiting for since waking up in this world. His meta-knowledge reminded him exactly what was about to happen next, but he feigned ignorance, keeping his demeanor appropriately wide-eyed and nervous.
"All Might," he began cautiously, his voice betraying a hint of the awe he wanted to convey, "C-can you answer me something? I… I'm Quirkless but even so I wish to be a hero, can a Quirkless person become a hero?"
All Might didn't answer immediately. Instead, steam began to rise from his body as he surrendered to fate, Izuku knew this was the beginning of the big reveal.
---
The iconic, towering figure of the Symbol of Peace began to shrink. His broad shoulders narrowed, his golden hair deflated, and his radiant presence diminished. Izuku stood up, pretending to stumble backward in shock as All Might transformed into his true form—a gaunt, frail man with sunken eyes and a weary expression.
"You're deflating!" Izuku exclaimed, channeling the right amount of shock to sell the act.
All Might gave a dry chuckle, waving him off. "It's not deflating. This is my true form."
Izuku stepped closer, feigning disbelief. He had to tread carefully; the last thing he wanted was to arouse suspicion.
"What… what happened to you?" he asked, his voice trembling.
All Might pulled up his shirt, revealing the massive scar across his side. Even though Izuku already knew the story, seeing it in person made his stomach twist.
"This scar," All Might began, his voice quieter now, "is from a battle five years ago. It left me like this. I can only maintain my hero form for about three hours a day. The rest of the time, I look like this."
Izuku nodded, pretending to process the information for the first time. He made a mental note of All Might's careful tone, the way he was sharing a vulnerability he rarely revealed.
"So even you have limits," Izuku said softly, more to himself than to All Might.
"Yes," All Might admitted, his voice heavy with regret. "The Symbol of Peace isn't as invincible as people believe."
---
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Both of them turned toward the source, smoke billowing into the sky. Izuku's heart sank—this was it.
"Trouble," All Might muttered, standing up. He began to hobble toward the edge of the roof, forcing his body to activate his quirk and ignoring it's protests as he didn't want to have regrets, even if it kills him.
Izuku made his move, his instincts kicking in. "Wait, All Might!" he called out, taking a step forward. "Let me come with you—"
"No!" All Might snapped, his voice firmer than before. "This isn't your fight. Stay here."
Before Izuku could protest further, All Might leaped off the rooftop, disappearing into the distance.
Izuku stood frozen for a moment before muttering, "Yeah, like hell I'm staying here."
He opened his system for the first time, bringing up the beginner's package he'd ignored earlier.
---
[System Alert!]
Beginner's Package Opened. Rewards Granted:
Healing Vial x99 (Minor)
Hero Aura (Passive)
Stamina III (Passive)
---
The words floated before his eyes, 'fuck! No offensive ability! It's useless!'
but he didn't have time to dwell on them. He closed the system, feeling the effects of the passive abilities take hold immediately. His breathing steadied, his muscles felt energized, and a strange yet comforting sensation washed over him—a newfound confidence and calmness, he felt his energy reserves expand massively.
With no hesitation, Izuku bolted toward the scene of the explosion, his thoughts laser-focused as he ignored the weird pop up of the system.
Not now.
He could somehow feel it, the life force of Bakugo is rapidly depleting, his Hero Aura gave him weird info
It's like a radar of people in need and it kept on urging him to hurry.
---
The crowd around the sludge villain was growing larger, their faces a mix of fear and fascination. Pro-heroes stood on the sidelines, trying to contain the situation, but none of them dared to act.
In the middle of the chaos, Bakugo struggled against the sludge villain, his face twisted in rage and desperation.
His hands were bound, his explosions ineffective against the suffocating ooze that blocked his sweat pores and prevented the necessary oxygen for ignition.
Fear. He felt it in massive waves. He saw the heroes watching him, and desperation slowly began to sink in as his air was running out
'Fuck! Help me you bastards! If heroes don't help me then who will! If only I can take out one hand… I'd blast this fucker in his face..'
"Why isn't anyone helping him? What do they expect will happen if they, the heroes don't act?" Izuku muttered as he pushed his way through the crowd, he slid past bellow them in a fast speed with his bag open on his stomach.
He could feel the power of his Hero Aura activating, a subtle but undeniable shift in the atmosphere, his face strengthened and his breathing stopped.
Total concentration on his target like a wolf hunting for prey.
The pro-heroes around him straightened, their hesitation lessening as their confidence seemed to grow. At the same time, the sludge villain's movements became slightly sluggish, its form less cohesive.
Izuku didn't stop to analyze the effects. Instead, he reached into his mind for a strategy, all he knew is that hero Aura gave him a buff and that activates when doing heroic action, giving him and other heroes 10% buff and inflicting 10% debuff on villains.
'Fuck it, let's go with the original plan, hit and dash.'
He ran to Bakugo, the hero barricade failing to stop him as they were distracted, he felt unexpectedly energetic, like his frail muscles hid immense power..
His huge stamina offers huge explosive strength at the expense of muscles and tendons damage.
He clenched his school bag and hurled it with all his might, aiming for the sludge villain's eyes.
---
The bag smacked into the villain's face, momentarily distracting it due to the surprising force behind it, his head jerked back and the villain roared, writhing as the items inside the bag spilled out, many sharpened pens poked his eyes, he was forced to close his eyes.
"That's my opening," Izuku muttered. Without a second thought, he charged forward, his Hero Aura flaring to life, the roaring of his heart muffled the shouting of the crowd around him that urged him to stop
'Fuck you, useless bastards!'
The crowd gasped as he broke through the barricade. The energy emanating from him was palpable, a magnetic pull that made him seem larger than life.
"What's this kid doing?!" one of the heroes shouted.
All Might, who had been watching from the edge of the crowd, felt the effects of Hero Aura.
He had arrived here with all his speed but no matter how hard he tried to activate OFA he just couldn't...he reached his absolute limit.
His body, weakened and battered as it was, felt a surge of strength all of a sudden, He widened his eyes and straightened slightly, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the green-haired boy, his arrival granted him an odd feeling of empowerment.
Using the newfound strength he felt, he directly activated OFA with smoke rising in his body.
Shame.
That was his main thought as he saw the kid act while he and the other heroes around stood watching.
"Is that… him?" All Might muttered, recognizing the boy as smoke keeps on rising from his form
Izuku didn't stop to think, his heart hammering in his chest. The sludge villain turned its attention to him, its tendrils lashing out.
Izuku dodged, sliding under one of the tendrils and grabbing Bakugo's arm. "Move it, Bakugo!"
Bakugo's eyes widened in shock. "Deku? What the hell are you doing?!"
"Saving your sorry ass!" Izuku snapped, rage on his face.
'Bastard! Be grateful I'm saving you, you piece of shit! Fucking kids!'
Izuku kept tugging at him with all his strength but the villain had a weird suction force on Bakugo.
Izuku kept on tugging hard, his muscles not tiring even as he pushed them to his absolute limit
And finally with a surprising force that shocked Bakugo and even himself…
*Pop*
He managed to free him with his raw strength, Bakugo almost instantly grabbed Izuku's hand and blasted an explosion at the villain to push them further.
The villain roared, more tendrils surging toward them. Izuku braced himself, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge in time while in the air, Bakugo's hand was rocked back from the force of the previous explosion and his other hand holding him.
Just as Izuku was about to resort to his last desperate attempt by throwing a healing vial at the villain to distract him he heard a sound of boisterous laughter.
'He had seen enough and decided to act, you old piece of shit! I saw the smoke rising almost 4 seconds ago, you were observing me like a fucking hawk..!'
---
"Never fear! For I am here!"
All Might appeared in a blur of motion, his muscle form restored. The crowd erupted into cheers as he stood tall, his presence a beacon of hope.
He was surprised, no pain for pushing past his time limit…? It even felt as if his limit expanded… He must have had more in him than he thought..no that's not it.
He glanced at the Green headed boy and knew his source of sudden boost.
'but he said that he was Quirkless? He doesn't have a power boosting quirk???'
Nevertheless, he focused on the villain that was moving in slow motion to him.
Izuku felt the effects of his Hero Aura amplify All Might's already commanding presence. The Symbol of Peace was radiating power, his smile brighter than ever.
Muk seeing this looked at All might, alarms ringing in his head, he leaped to the two kids to use them as shield and a hostage but before he could…
All Might cocked his fist back, his voice ringing out like thunder. "Detroit… Smash!"
The last thing he saw was the green kid's wild smile as he gave him a middle finger while falling.
Bakugo's perceptive eyes landed on Izuku's figure, he was astonished to see him grinning wildly with his mouth open and his hand giving a certain gesture he loved to use daily.
???
'The hell Deku? that's kinda sick-'
The punch created a shockwave so powerful it scattered the sludge villain into pieces, extinguished the surrounding flames, and sent a refreshing gust of wind through the crowd, it even changed the weather itself.
Izuku and Bakugo were thrown backward, landing roughly on the grassy land and rolling due to the sheer wind pressure.
However Izuku was not shocked by this but was shocked by Bakugo's actions as he grabbed him and shielded him from the intense fall, he even felt the kid's shoulder pop.
Well, he was a kid too now at 14 years old but his mind was in his early 20's.
---
As the dust settled, the crowd cheered wildly.
The heroes on the scene approached All Might, praising him for his intervention, the cameras kept flashing from the journalists.
Izuku sat up, his body still trembling from the adrenaline. Bakugo, beside him, stared at him with a mixture of confusion and anger.
"You… you bastard," Bakugo muttered, his voice shaking. "Why the hell would you do that!?"
Izuku looked at him, his expression unreadable. "Because someone had to, you were dying."
Bakugo didn't respond, his hands clenching into fists, he was right. How low he has fallen that Deku had to save him…
But still, his pride won't accept it!
"I didn't need your help! Don't you dare tell anyone about this you damn nerd!"
Izuku looked at him with a pensive look, his face calm as he nodded and got up, his one thought was 'childish little shit.'
Bakugo stared at his back as the crowd surrounded him and stopped his thoughts of utter rage as he saw his face.
'Why did it have to be you out of everyone… why do you always..!'
Bakugo thrashed as the crowd congratulated him, he was furious, they watched him almost die and now they are being all goody two shoes with him
And it irked him…how Deku got a scolding from these bastards…
'They should crowd him not me! I don't need to steal your limelight you damn nerd! I will shine brighter than All might himself! Just you wait, I'll show you. I'll show everyone that I'm better! That you can't look down on me with those damn sympathetic eyes!'
"Let me go you bastards! I don't need your fucking sympathy! I'll show you! just you watch!"
Bakugo was mad, the cameras kept on recording him in his lowest moment in life, him being detained by that mud villain was also likely filmed by someone.
'The next day everyone will mock me! Deku will mock me and spread the news to the entire school! I'll become the schools laughing stock!'
Later, as the crowd dispersed, Izuku found himself walking home alone. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving him confused.
Shouldn't he feel tired a bit? That was intense AF…yet… he still feels fine, just a slight muscle strain...
…As if his body could run for hours and hours before feeling exhausted…weird.
He took back his words, it's not useless at all, this Stamina III boost is the equivalent of a quirk.
"Hey, kid!"
He turned to see All Might, once again in his frail form, standing in the alleyway.
"You're the same boy from earlier, Deku if I remember right from what the explosive brunette said"
"Midorya, Izuku Midorya. That guy was mocking me by that nickname, it means useless since I'm Quirkless."
All might paused.
"Yet you saved him." The skeletal man's expression was unreadable to Izuku.
"I did, he needed help, I refuse to let anyone die while I'm around them"
"Even if he didn't thank you? Even if you were scolded?" All Might said, his tone serious.
"You disobeyed my orders and ran into danger; you could have died."
All Might paused again, looking down at the boy like a hawk.
"Why?"
Izuku hesitated, then took a deep breath.
"Because I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. My body moved on its own!"
Izuku felt his Hero Aura activate.
'interesting, so the ability activates even if I'm acting, I just have to say or do something heroic.'
All Might studied him for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, he smiled—a big, genuine smile, he felt it again and looked at the kid with an approving gaze.
"You've got the heart of a hero," he said softly, an excited hidden undertones in his voice.
He felt it, the closer he got to this kid, the more One For All reacted, he felt stronger, he felt the power inside him surge a little whenever he spoke to the boy.
He looked at the boy as the sun descended on his small young body, he seemed full of life and had the heart of a radiant hero.
'So, this is what Nana-sensei felt when she met me? I have found him, my successor! Finally!'
All Might laughed loudly as he felt the weight on his shoulders lessen.
'Finally, I have made it, after many decades, I have found him, I didn't even need to choose, the power chose its own successor.'
Izuku felt his chest tighten, but he forced himself to stay composed. This was the moment everything changed.
"I have something important to tell you," All Might continued. "Let's talk."
And with that, the future began to shift.