Izumi drowned out her class as the teacher went on about their future. In a little over ten months time U.A. was going to have its entrance exam. Izumi was rather nervous as the success rate for the school was insanely low. She was starting to regret not taking the mock tests. She was pulled from her thoughts as the teacher spoke her name.
"Izumi, aren't you also looking to go to the U.A.?"
At that moment the class turned to her. Many of them had at one point voiced how her Quirk seemed suited for villainy more so then heroism. At least that's what they all thought.
"Wait, she's still trying out to become a hero?"
Katsuki rolled his eyes at this. As far as he was concerned they were just jealous. Most Quirks were useless, or not even fit for their work. A sad fact of life. The only ones in the school whose Quirks had a chance were his awesome Explosions and Izumi's Diclonius.
'Diclonius still sounds like a terrible name.'
Izumi for her part simply blocked out their protests. She heard it all before over and over again.
"You could just toss them out the window, you know."
No matter what medication she tried, the voice in her head just didn't go away. Now it seems to be rather chatty lately. Lucky for her the bell chose that time to finally ring signaling the end of class. Many of the students picked up their things and left the room while Izumi waited for them to leave. Izumi finished her writings and put her notebook in her bag.
As she walked home she felt an update on her phone. Pulling it out she saw a villain alert. An hour ago a villain with a Quirk that turned his body into a Sludge-like substance was seen escaping with All Might tailing him.
"You know I can't stand it, everyone, also going on about how great All Might is."
Lucy, it seems, didn't share in her opinions about the hero. Izumi would call her a cynic in this regard. 'Come on, you can't seriously think that All Might isn't who he says he is.'
"Nearly every single hero in the country has their real names known except him." Lucy did have a point about that. Nearly every hero in the country had their identity known in some way or form. Even the underground heroes who avoided public spotlight still had their names registered somewhere.
"Plus he never talks about his Quirk."
Izumi shook her head at this. All Might very likely had a good reason to not tell anyone. It wasn't like there weren't heroes who also had their information locked under national security in other countries. No, the voice in her head was once again trying to psych her out. 'Nice try.'
"Ah, a medium size invisibility cloak!" She stopped as the manhole from under the bridge she usually crossed shot open. Izumi's eyes widened in surprise as it was the Sludge Villain that All Might had been looking for. "Sorry kid but I am going to need a means to escape."
He immediately shot a tendril of his sludge-like body out to grab her. Reacting on instinct Izumi countered shooting her Vectors out from behind her back and positioning one to block the attack. The villain was surprised when he seemed to hit an invisible wall. "What in the world?!"
He shot another tendril at her only for another Vector to block it.
"His eyes are his weak spot, crush them under one of your Vectors."
That was a surprise. Lucy was giving her advice on how to fight him. Though her plan to crush his eye sounded extremely harsh. Even if he was a villain she couldn't do that.
"I see now." The villain caught sight of the faint distortions in the air behind her. "So that's your Quirk?"
He shot forward another tendril this time managing to avoid her Vectors. He grabbed her by her neck and quickly tossed her into the ceiling. Izumi tried to get a grip with her Vectors but the sludge just kept sliding off.
"TEXAS SMASH!"
At that, the Sludge Villain didn't have time to react as a shockwave of air was sent straight towards him. The villain was blown away and apart flying all over the tunnel. Izumi managed to shoot her Vectors out to prevent her from hitting the ground.
"That was close."
Izumi looked up to see who it was that had saved her from whatever that guy had planned. Her eyes widened as she could almost hear Lucy groaning in annoyance. The Number one hero All Might!
"Sorry about that, I was chasing the villain when he decided to make an escape through the sewer system."
Izumi was on the edge of fangirling right now. All Might was standing in front of her. She had so much she wanted to ask him.
"How about you ask why he never tells anyone why he rarely uses his costume nowadays?"
Izumi really wished Lucy would be quiet right now. She had the perfect chance to ask All Might anything!
"A-All Might, is it ok if I ask you something?"
All Might looked at the girl in front of him. He had seen part of the fight with the Sludge Villain. He didn't know what her Quirk was but he was beating it had something to do with psychic powers. "Sure my girl ask away."
So many thoughts raced through her mind. So many questions that she could ask. Yet, the one thing that she wanted was vindication. Her classmates' words occasionally made her question her resolve and the second voice in her head didn't help matters. "Everyone in my class says that I am better off being a villain with my Quirk so my question is this." She clenched her fists and closed her eyes. "Can you be a hero despite it?"
All Might looked at her for a few seconds. The number one hero knew that there was a certain degree of stigma for some Quirks. Like a role had already been placed on them.
"It doesn't matter about the Quirk, it matters about how you choose to use it!" All Might answered with his grin.
"Seriously that's what you wanted him to answer for you?"
Izumi didn't bother with answering the voice in her head. She was happy to know that All Might believed in her. Sure she was going to try out regardless but to know that one's idol believed in them.
"Why don't you just ask for his autograph while you're at it?"
Izumi ignored the sarcasm in Lucy's voice. She reached into her bag to pull out her notebook but couldn't find it.
'Where is my notebook? Don't tell me it fell out of my bag!' Izumi reached through and found a hole in her bag. 'Oh, great.'
All Might as he was putting the Sludge villain into two used soda bottles stopped as he saw a notebook on the ground. Picking it up he looked at the notes wide-eyed. They were all about Quirks. Both from Pro Heroes, Villains and even some notes on a few civilians.
'A girl with a notebook filled with Quirks.'
He recalled his old sidekick, Sir Nighteye, predicted this. The man yelled one night fourteen years ago frightened. He started rambling about something to do with a "Lucy" but soon whatever vision he had faded away. All he recalled was that All Might would meet a girl with a notebook filled with Quirks. On the front page, he saw the owner's name.
'Midoriya Izumi.' Perhaps it wasn't this "Lucy" That his old sidekick once awoke in a fright. 'Still, these notes are rather detailed. It would be dangerous if someone with wicked intentions got a hold of them.'
He turned over to Izumi before handing her back her notebook.
"I believe this is yours?"
"Y-yes it must have slipped from my bag." Izumi opened the notebook to see if none of the pages were ripped and stopped as she saw All Might's signature on one of the unused pages. "Oh my god!"
All Might placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. He was going to have to call his old sidekick later but right now he had his own question for the girl. "I take it you are looking to get into U.A. then?"
Izumi gave him a nod as she gripped onto her notebook. Getting into U.A. was what all of this was for. That and a promise she had to keep to her childhood friend. "I do. I want to become a hero that others can inspire and to save people with nothing but a smile on my face."
All Might couldn't help but grin at this. It was rare these days to hear people like this. It reminded him of himself actually. "Then my advice is for you to keep pushing for that dream." All Might placed the now villain filled bottles into his pants. "Now if you excuse me I have a villain to take to the police."
With that, All Might walked out from under the bridge and with a nightly leap went flying over the horizon. In the back of his mind, he replayed her words and her name over and over again. 'Midoriya Izumi.' He could feel a brief pain in his chest. A reminder of how close he was to the end of his limit. 'Perhaps.'