Chapter Text
A purple shadow whipped past rooftop after rooftop, ducking and jumping as needed. Her footfalls barely make a sound as she moves. Violet was smiling. Running always made her so happy. She is so focused in her own little world she almost missed the voices.
"Wait, not yet. One second."
A kid?
"No, I don't have any time."
No way! All Might!
"Wait, I HAVE TO KNOW…" The child pauses, "Could I ever hope to be someone like you? Even if I'll never have superpowers..."
Violet skids to a silent stop just out of sight to listen and watch what happens. She loves to people watch and listen to drama. This is awesome.
The child shakes himself back into the moment. "Despite everything I still dream… and I have to know.. Is it possible to become a hero even if I don't have a quirk? I'm a normal kid without any powers… Could I ever hope to be someone like you." His eyes are screwed shut as he whimpers nervously. The poor kid is shaking, but All Might has his back turned. Not that that would change his answer, All Might is always saying that anyone can be a hero. Violet smiles, feeling like she's going to watch the first quirkless hero be made. Well, first licensed quirkless hero, there have been vigilantes here and there.
"Without a quirk?" All might stops and makes a sound of pain unnoticed by the green haired child behind him but Violet stares confused.
The large man begins to steam, grunting a groaning with the effort to keep himself from deflating. "Oh no. Not now. Not here."
What's happening?
Still not looking at the hero the kid begins again, "People think I don't have a chance and not having powers makes me a weakling. My classmates like to make fun of me. But you know what? That makes me want to prove them wrong. Ever since I was a kid, I thought saving people is the coolest thing you can do. I want people to see my fearless smile and feel safe and be the kind of hero everyone looks up to. Just like you."
Violet felt like she was going to tear up, is that how people have really treated the poor boy? She'll have to 'accidentally' run into him on the street sometime.
The child got happier with each word, pounding his fist down on his palm in determination. That is until he looked up as the steam cleared revealing the shrunken bony figure that was All Might. Izuku Screamed.
She has to cover her ears, damn that kid's loud. Is he sure he doesn't have a vocal quirk?
Violet's ears are ringing enough that she almost missed the kids hilarious reaction, "Ha...I...wait...who...What happened? You deflated. Ha... Where did All Might go? You... you're not him. You're a fake, an imposter." She has to choke back a laugh to not give away her location.
"I assure you, I am All Mi…" He's cut off by a stream of blood falling from his mouth.
The kid yells again softer this time, but he looks sick from shock, "IMPOSSIBLE!"
Exasperated Small Might, as Violet dubbed him seconds ago, explains "You know how guys at the pool are always sucking in and flexing and trying to look buff? I'm like that."
"This can't be real!" The child is in devastated denial, "No. I'm dreaming."
Violet feels a bit the same way, though she also knew something like this might be true from the way her dad talks about him.
"All Might is a giant of a man who saves everyone. He defeats all obstacles and wins the day with a fearless smile." Violet can tell this kid has said the words many times before by the way he pronounces them a little different than when he's talking unscripted.
"There's plenty of fear behind that smile." Small might sighs and looks down, frowning. Violet jolts, she's seeing All Might frown.
All Might sits down against the guard rail and dejectedly says to the kid "I'm counting on you to keep your mouth shut. Don't go talking about this online or telling your friends."
The man lifts up his shirt and luckily the kid and Violet make the same shocked sound. The wound looks like it's old but barely healed, red and angry and like it's pulling the muscle next to it in like a sinkhole.
"Pretty gross right?"
Understatement
"I got this in a big fight five years back." He explains, "My respiratory system was basically destroyed. I lost my whole stomach, all the surgeries have pretty much worn me out. And it can't be fixed."
Eesh..
"Right now I can only do hero work for about three hours a day. 'rest of the time, this is what I look like.
"No way," the child gasps, "Five years ago? So does that mean it was the fight with the Toxic Chainsaw?"
"Wow, you know your stuff." Small Might raised his fist, "But no, the punk may have landed a few hits but he couldn't bring me down."
Green hair is a fanboy then.
The man looks off into space like he's seeing the fight happen in his head right then, "Most of the world has never heard of this fight. I did everything I could to keep it under wraps."
Violet wrinkles her nose. She has never liked how much power heros have over every aspect of life.
"I'm supposed to be the man who's always smiling, right? I'm the Symbol of Peace. People everywhere have to think that I'm never afraid." Mr. Ego looks at his bony hand. "But honestly, I smile to hide the fears inside. It's just a brave face I put on when the pressure is high. This job isn't easy."
The kid gasps and flinches back like All Might just slapped him.
"Pro hero's are always having to risk their lives. Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So, can you be a hero?" It looks like the man is glaring at him now. Violet hopes that it's just the way his eyes are when he deflates but something in her knows that's not true. "Not without a quirk."
Resisting the urge to run over and throw the man over the side of the building and making this kid forget this encounter took everything in her power. He's devastated, his world is visibly crashing down around him.
He manages to stutter out a sad "I see.."
"If you want to help people there are plenty of other ways to do it. You could become a police officer. They get crap because the heroes capture most of the villains. But it's a fine profession." All Might walks over to the door and opens it with a jarringly soft click, it seems to calm for Violet right now. "It's not bad to have a dream, young man. Just, make sure your dreams are attainable. Realistic. Understand?"
All might leaves the kid on the roof without waiting for an answer. He stands there for a moment when an explosion goes off in the distance.
"A villain? I wonder which hero will show." The kid goes to run to the door but stops a few steps later like there's an invisible barrier. If he could deflate like all might he would. Instead he sighs and lets himself drop down to sit bringing his knees to his chest.