Chapter Text
Izuku decided that today would have been a good day to stay home. Not that he ever did miss school on a regular basis, however today would have a been a particularly great day to not show his face to the world. Not only did he almost die at the hands of a sewage villain , but he met his idol (All-Might), got his dreams crushed by said idol, then almost died AGAIN (this time with a guest appearance from Kacchan), was saved again by his idol, remembering why he idolized him in the first place, and now was sitting with a shock blanket wrapped snug around his shoulders, shivering, not because he was covered in sludge, but out of shame because three different pro-heros were chewing him out for being an idiot.
“I mean honestly, kid! What were you thinking!” I don’t know, Izuku thought to himself.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed!” Well, I’m not trying , he thought again.
“You’re lucky All Might showed up,” Yeah, I know . “Or you would have been toast, you and your friend. Just leave the saving to us, kid.”
“I mean you’re quirkless, for pete’s sake!” Yeah, I knew that much. “What did you think you could do? Just leave the saving to the people who have the quirks to do so.”
Izuku felt the familiar feeling of tears streak down his face as the hero grounded his dreams even farther into the dirt. The heroes had not given Izuku enough room to breathe, much less take in all that they were saying.
“Hey, man, I think you went too far,” One of the other heroes, Kamui Woods, pulled his coworker back from where he was leaning over Izuku, “The kid was obviously just trying to help his friend.”
The hero, probably a sidekick, thought Izuku as he had never seen him before, shrugged Wood’s hand off his shoulder, “Yeah, well, that doesn’t give him an excuse to just-”
“Excuse me boys,” One of the EMTs had come up behind the trio, cutting off the presumed sidekick, “I need to look over this young man before he is allowed to go home. I need to make sure he didn’t sustain any injuries.” She had what looked like to be a couple towels and a water bottle, standing confidently in front of the pros, her stare giving no room for them to argue.
The sidekick huffed, walking away without another glance at Izuku, followed by the other two, Kamui shooting a sympathetic look at Izuku, leaving him behind with the EMT. She looked not older than his own mother, her dark brown hair pulled up into a ponytail showing off her kind brown eyes with wrinkles lining the edges. She came up to Izuku without another word, handing him the water bottle and squatting down in front of him.
Izuku could still feel the tears running silently down his face, as the lady took one of the towels and began patting down his arms, removing patches of sludge off his arms as she went. Her hands were gentle as she went about cleaning him, letting Izuku calm down, his breathing coming becoming less harsh and tears slowing down as she started on his other arm.
When she was finished the EMT sat down besides Izuku, breaking the silence with audible sigh, “I think… what you did was very brave.”
Izuku felt his heart stop, he didn’t think he heard her right, “W-wait, what?”
She turned her kind eyes on him, wrinkles becoming more prominent, a small smile gracing her lips. Wow, I really want to see my mom right now, thought Izuku, as the EMT reminder him more of Inko Midoriya with every passing moment.
She repeated her statement, “I think what you did was brave. You saw your friend in trouble and you went to save him,” She paused, looking deep in thought before she spoke again, “I think I would have gone insane if I saw my friend like that, and then to not do anything to help, when everybody was just watching it like a movie. No, I think you did the right thing.”
He couldn’t believe it, no one has ever said anything like that to him before. His mind went reeling before he could stop. “Ma’am, I-I don’t think you have it right! I’m not brave! H-he, Kacchan, I couldn’t leave him l-like that! It just looked-It looked like he was asking for help! He looked l-like he was hurting and I just had to help! I don’t- I don’t think that’s bravery… It was stupid of me! I-I, I mean, you heard the other hero, I’m quirkless! I could have gotten-We could have gotten hurt, or worse, I-I could have gotten Kacchan killed! I- I…” Tears had started rushing down his face again. God, Izuku felt like such a crybaby.
The EMT however, through all of Izuku’s ranting, didn’t interrupt once, letting Izuku say all his thoughts aloud. After Izuku had come to an abrupt sort of halt, the EMT looked down at her hands for a moment and then looked over at the distressed Izuku.
“Last week we had a little boy, maybe four or five years old, just come into his fire quirk,” She took one of Izuku’s hands into her own, trying to calm the boy down again as she told her story, “A type of pyrokinesis quirk, y’know. Anything he touched with is forefingers caught on fire. You can imagine how dangerous it was. They were at the hospital because he had burned himself and his mother pretty bad. This kid’s quirk didn’t give him any resistance to fire and his mother just trying to help.”
Finding his voice again, Izuku commented, “T-that’s awful…”
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. I was the one incharge of treating his burns. He had been passed out for a while there, and his mom was beside him so she wouldn’t freak out when she woke up. I had left the room to go get some more gauze when the kid woke up in a panic. I don’t think he remembered his quirk, so on his way off the bed to get to his mom, he set the sheets on fire.”
The EMTs eyebrows scrunched up, another sigh passed her lips as she continued. “By the time he realized what he had done, poor kid had trapped his mom and himself in the room, the entrance pretty much blocked off by the burning bed,” Her voice trembled a bit, and Izuku still didn’t know why she was telling him this if it was hurting her to say it. “I saw the smoke from down the hall, and before even thinking about it, I ran in, pushed the hot metal bed away, and grabbed the kid and his mom and pushed them out into the hall.”
As she said this, she flipped her hands over, Izuku not having paying much attention to them earlier. The EMT had what looked to be old burns that littered the expanse of her palms, her fingertips looking smoothed over, missing the swirls of fingerprints and details unique to each set of hands.
“I got them out just fine. The kid was pretty rattled after, y’know, it was the second time in forty-eight hours that he nearly burned himself and his mother alive,” She continued, “I, however, didn’t really pay attention to myself until the fire was out and they were being looked over. I had burned my hands pretty severely, lost all the nerve in both of them and the hot metal had ripped almost half the skin off my hands.”
Izuku was looking up at the EMT with wide eyes, his empathy getting the best of him as he started crying for umpteenth time today. He felt as though he was never going to run out of tears.
The EMT just took it in stride though, starting to dab at Izuku’s face with clean towel. “My supervisor chewed me out pretty thoroughly afterwards. ‘What were you thinking?’ was his main concern and you know what I told him? It wasn’t much different that what you said earlier,” She turned her face towards Izuku, looking him in the eye with nothing but empathy and understanding, “It looked like they needed help, and I just. Went.”
It felt as if someone just gripped his heart, squeezing with all their might. She knew how he felt. She knew. When Izuku went to help Kacchan, he didn’t think about himself. All he thought about was how much Kacchan needed help. And like she said, he just went. There was nothing else to it.
Izuku couldn’t help when he said, “... I think- I think I know how you feel.”
The EMT squeezed his hand, “Yeah… I thought as much. When they told me what you did, I had a feeling that it was a similar experience.”
She stood up and dusted off her pants. “Kid, you got something in you that most people don’t. Now, as to what it is, I’m still asking myself the same question. But what you did was brave, and I don’t give a damn what anyone else says.”
Izuku felt a warmth pour into him, a comfort only a mother could give, or in this case, a really, really nice EMT. “I, um… Thank you.” Maybe today wasn’t all that bad.
She gave a small chuckle, patted Izuku on the head, and started to walk off, “Hey, no problem, kid. And by the way, my name is Akito Sasaki. Look me up if you ever head into the health profession.”
Izuku stumbled to get his name out, “Ah, my name- my name is Izuku Midoriya!”
Sasaki gave him a bright smile, “It was nice to meet you Midoriya! Stay out of trouble!” She called to him as she went to rejoin her colleagues.
He gave her the biggest smile he could muster as the EMTs started packing up to leave. Izuku didn’t know what to do with himself. He had probably just met the nicest person he’s talked to in a long time, and in one conversation (a very one sided one, but a conversation nonetheless) she had lifted the lead weight that had settled in his stomach. Someone believed in him, or at the very least, knew how he felt and that alone gave him hope for the future. Whatever the future had in store for Izuku, he felt he was ready.
“Midoriya, my boy… I was wondering if we could have a talk?”
Or maybe not.
____________________________________
Izuku was muttering the entire walk to the diner. All-Might had approached Izuku and asked him to talk. To talk about what? Izuku’s muttering interrupted by his own internal monologue, the thoughts coming in quick bursts accompanied by incomprehensible rambling. What do we need to talk about?
After All-Might, or Toshinori as he asked Midoriya to call him, came up to him, they had decided (or really All-Might had decided, because once again Izuki was rendered speechless by his presence alone) to head down to the diner around the corner from the ally were the, uh, incident had just happened. All-Might had returned to his deflated form, the skeletal like man scaring Izuku out of the stupor he had been in after talking to Sasaki. After the police cleared Izuku (and Izuku asking about Kacchan, to which they responded that he was fine and had left already), they started heading towards the diner.
All-Might had not said a word on their walk over, his face set in a solem, somewhat thoughtful expression. To Izuku, it almost looked like he was nervous, glancing down at Izuku every so often as to make sure he hadn’t run off or something of the like. Izuku, on the other hand, kept replaying their earlier conversation in his head. No, I don’t think you can be a hero, kept going in his like a broken record, but he couldn’t help thinking of what the EMT said either, What you did was brave. She had said Izuku was brave. And heroes were brave. Why couldn’t Izuku be a hero? I know I’m quirkless, but is that all there is to it? Is that it?
Izuku nearly jumped a foot in the air when All-Might finally spoke, “I’m sorry, my boy, but what did you say?” Looking down at Izuku, geez All-Might was tall , concern now lining his face, the nervousness still present. Before Izuku could respond, All-Might continued, “Ah, well, no matter. We’re here!”
Before he had realized, him and All-Might had stopped walking and were standing in front of the diner’s entrance. The diner’s open sign lit up a neon green above the door, and in the reflection of the glass Izuku could see himself and All-Might; himself looking a bit shaken up and All-Might still looking down at Izuku. All-Might held the door open for them as they walked in, Izuku sitting down at the first booth available as the place was packed for the dinner time rush. Izuku schooched into the booth and started picking at the torn leather of the seat beneath him, his muttering barely audible over the noise of the diner.
A waitress came by, getting orders from both of their drinks rather quickly; Izuku getting a water and a coffee for All-Might. After she left, the tension became palpable as Izuku refused to make eye contact with All-Might and the other not saying a word, creating a silence that Izuku thought he was going to drown in. He started picking at the seat with a renewed vigor, trying to think of anything other than what was happening right now.
All-Might was the first to speak up however, and at his words, Izuku didn’t think he would ever breathe properly again.
“I am sorry, Midoriya.”
Izuku’s neck snapped up so quickly, a twinge going down his neck but that didn’t really faze him because All-Might just apologized to him. All-Might just said sorry. But for what?
As his face started to heat up, Izuku realized it wasn’t out of embarrassment or the usual awkwardness that would envelope him, but out of anger . He didn’t need anyone’s pity, or even All-Might’s for that matter. Yes, I’m quirkless, but so what? What is so pitiful about being quirkless?
Polite as he was, Izuku could never yell at All-Might but it didn’t stop him from trying to voice his opinion. And despite his lack of social skills and stutter, Izuku pushed on through it all to get his words out. “Um… T-thank you All- I mean- Toshinori, but I do not need your pity. I know - I know you don’t think I can - that I can be a hero, but I do not need your pity! I kno- know that I’m quirkless but that doesn’t make me useless! Please do not pity me… everyone else already does it enough. I don’t - I don’t need it from you too.”
And from the look All-Might had on his face, Izuku knew he went to far. Grabbing his backpack, Izuku made to leave the diner and his favorite (was he still his favorite?) hero behind, but just as he made to leave, the waitress came with their drinks, asking if they were ready to order. All-Might politely declined and asked if she could come back later, but by the time he looked back Izuku had his head facing down and was visibly shaking.
All-Might reached a hand over the table to pat Izuku on the shoulder, but Izuku had flinched back, and All-Might thought it best not to try that again. Instead he spoke up again, his voice laced in concern, “No, no, my boy, my intent wasn’t to convey pity! No, that wasn’t my intention at all!”
Izuku brought up his arm to wipe at his eyes, his face feeling raw from all the salt dried on his cheeks, still refusing to look up. His voice was uneven as he spoke, “Then… then what do you mean? Why - why apologize?” Izuku was feeling light headed from all the emotions that had been running through him all at once. What is All-Might trying to say?
All-Might took a deep breath, his chest looking like to would crack from the pressure. “What I said, when I said you couldn’t be a hero, was a cold and heartless thing for me to say. I know better and I am ashamed to call myself a hero because of it.” At that, Izuku opened his mouth to speak up, but All-Might held up a hand to stop him.
He continued, “When you rushed forward to save your friend despite the odds, you reminded me of what a true hero looks like. And it is only because of you that I was able to come to your friend’s aid. You sparked a light in me that I haven’t felt in a long time.
“What I said before was wrong and I am sorry for ever saying it. And if you give me the chance, I would like to answer your question again. This time the right way.”
Izuku didn’t think his heart could take all the ups and downs that this rollercoaster of a day has presented him. Looking up slowly from up under his bangs, all he could do was nod at All-Might’s prompt, wondering if the words he says next actually manages to kill poor Izuku Midoriya. I definitely should have stayed home today.
All-Might crosses his arms on the table and leans over towards Izuku, his gaze never faltering as he tells Izuku his answer, the noise around them falling away as Izuku puts all his focus on what All-Might says to him now.
“You asked me if you could ever become a hero even without a quirk. And my answer, Midoriya, is yes. I… I believe you can become a hero!”
_____________________________________
Yagi Toshinori starred across the table at young Midoriya and watched as the meaning of his words sunk in.
The boy stared up at Toshinori, his green eyes wide and watery, as he whispered, “You… you believe I can - that I can be a hero?” Izuku looked up at Toshinori, disbelief etched across his face.
Izuku Midoriya was not the boy that Toshinori expected. He had written him off as an everyday fanboy, and having been in a rush, not really thinking there would be any more interactions. But, boy, was he wrong. When young Midoriya finally saw him in his true form, Toshinori had not felt so exposed before. It had been years since the last time someone had seen him deflate like so and it had hurt. A slap to the face is what it was, another sign that his power was waning.
Toshinori had finally chosen a successor for One for All, a spunky young man named Mirio Togata, at the request of a former colleague and friend. But passing on the power had only sped up the deterioration of his quirk even more. He was becoming weak. Yagi Toshinori would once again become quirkless. Just like the boy sitting in front of him right now.
In a moment of weakness, forgetting himself and everything he stood for, All-Might, no, no that was Toshinori, had crushed the dreams of boy. A boy who only saw the best in him. Someone had asked him if they could be a hero, despite what the world told him, and he gave them the most shallow, ignorant answer he could have. Toshinori had turned his back on his former self, so quickly to throw away those years of being quirkless, of being seen as lesser for something as trivial not having like the others, and had thrown that hurt back into Midoriya’s face. It was the most un-hero like thing he had ever done; worthy of a villian, were the words that crawled up from Toshinori’s conscious to grip his throat in vice grip, the shame choking him.
And, oh, how the world made him eat his words when he saw the very same Midoriya, quirkless Midoriya, unable to be a hero, be the first to rush to save his friend. It was brave, and idiotic, and the most heroic thing he had seen someone do in a long time. And when he saw Midoriya sitting off by himself in the midst of police officers and ambulances, he knew. It was a sign, a second chance to make things right. To do right by those who believed in him by believing in young Midoriya. Because this kid, yeah this quirkless kid right here, had a light in him that Toshinori never wanted to see go out.
But Toshinori knew how hard it was to be quirkless in this society, the memories of his childhood ever present even when he had One-for-All, and even more so now. Little Midoriya could set the world on fire if he wanted to. And now that he knows Midoriya, the smallest spark of regret lit up in Toshi’s mind. If only I had met Midoriya sooner, maybe I would have… But, no. No, that wasn’t fair to Mirio who deserved One-for-All just the same. But Toshi still wondered how it would have went if he had waited just a bit longer, searched a little harder. Again, Toshi shut those thoughts away for another day, a dream he could have later. Right now, though, he wanted to help Midoriya as much as he possibly could.
Looking across the table at Midoriya, Toshi took a deep breath and continued, “Yes, my boy, I believe you can be a hero, but I think…” A pause, Toshinori forehead creasing in contemplation, “...You will become a different kind of hero.” Yeah, that sounds about right. “One that people don’t think of, but appreciate just the same.”
Toshi could see the boy deflate a little at this, “Like a nurse or a policeman, right?” Midoriya whispered, his mouth quirking at the corners in slight agitation. But Toshi could remedy this!
“Do not think of them as any less!” Toshi’s voice a bit louder than intended, but none of the other patrons turned around. Midoriya’s cheeks reddened at this, almost looking ashamed. “Doctors, firemen, policemen, they save lives just the same as heroes! Heck, they are heroes! Do you think the lives saved on an operation table are worth any less than the ones that are pulled out of rubble?” Toshinori didn’t give Midoriya any time to answer, “Of course not! So why is their work seen as any less?”
At this, Midoriya spoke up, clamoring over his words, “It’s - it’s not that! I just- it’s not what I…” His voice softer now, “I just always wanted to be a hero…”
Oh, and if that did not pull at Toshi’s heartstrings. He knew exactly what this young man felt, and if Nana, his mentor, his teacher, his friend, had never picked him up off the side of the road, him, a scrawny, quirkless thirteen year old at the time, Toshinori doesn’t know what he would have done with himself. But there is something nagging at the back of his head that this kid was going to do something big. Something was telling him that this kid was going to great all on his own.
“I believe the world is pushing you in a different direction,” To put it lightly . “ You have everything within you to do as you aspire to. Because in the end, what is it that you really want to do?” There you go, Yagi, make him really think!
Midoriya’s eyes went wide, green and full of curiosity, as he answered Toshi, “I… I want to help people. I just - I just want to help.”
Toshi smiled wide at this, “And you will, young Midoriya! But the road ahead will be difficult! People will underestimate you. They will laugh and say things that aren’t true. They won’t believe in you. But you don’t need them as long as you believe in yourself. In the end, you are the only thing holding yourself back from your destiny.” Wow, I’ve gotten pretty good at these speeches, huh? I think I even motivated myself there.
And when Midoriya looked up at Toshinori with a thousand watt smile, Toshinori knew he did the right thing, and thanked the stars for giving him a second chance.
Then Midoriya’s cell phone rang and when he went to look at it, Toshi could see the screen lit up with hundreds of notifications. The look of panic that struck Midoriya’s face reminded Toshi of all that just happened not an hour ago and that Midoriya’s family is probably more than a tad worried.
Before Toshi could say anything, Midoriya grabbed his backpack and stood up, “Ah, thank you All Mi- I mean, Toshinori! Thank you - you for, uh, talking-” His phone rang again, and Midoriya let out a small eep, “I gotta go! My- my mom is waiting for me! Thank - thank you for everything!” And the boy dropped his head in an almost ninety degree bow, almost slamming his face into the table, and was out of the diner before Toshinori could get a word in.
Man, is that kid something, Toshi thought as he finally took a sip of his drink, I feel a lot better now about a lot of things. I think that kid will go far. And in his contemplation Toshi noticed that the kid had left something behind in the booth. As he leaned over to grab it he recognized it as one of the many notebooks the kid seems to lug around everywhere. This one wasn’t the one he had signed, that one being mostly empty. No this one looked a bit older and had some sludge residue on it from the villain from earlier.
Hero Analysis for the Future NO. 9
Toshi couldn’t lie, from the little bit he saw earlier in the other notebook, he really wanted to see some more of Midoriya’s work. Toshinori didn’t have anything else to do for the evening, and he didn’t think Midoriya would mind too much if Toshinori just took a peak at his notebook, would he? So Toshi ordered some food and more coffee and opened the notebook to the first page.