Chapter Text
Izuku was drowning. He had been walking home from school, and it was a perfectly normal day-take a swan dive off the- so there was no logical reason why he should have expected the villain to come out of the sewer. He had taken a different path than his usual route, maybe that was it? Perhaps, in changing his path, he should've acknowledged that there was a bigger chance of him being attacked somewhere unseen and unfamiliar to him.
“You're my hero kid, you know that?” Oh. Had the villain been talking to him before now? He wasn't really paying attention. It wasn't like whether he did or not would matter much in the long run. The only thing he could really do for himself right now was say his prayers (for a quirk in his next life).
How thoughtful of whatever deity was out there, that he could still (sort of) grant Kacchan’s last request to him and he wouldn't even have to make either of the people closest to him feel all that guilty. Kacchan shouldn't feel bad for asking something that was perfectly reasonable of someone like him, and his mother shouldn't have to ask what she did wrong either.
He was just getting ready to black out, he could see the spots in his vision, feel how heavy his limbs were, when an interloper appeared from the same sewer as the villain. Golden hair, done up in a recognizable fashion to pretty much anyone, let alone his biggest fan, cargo shorts, and white T-shirt, all made Izuku believe he was hallucinating as his favorite hero came to stop his rather appropriately timed death. All Might…
Izuku blacked out.
All for One opened his eyes.
He had been keeping track of little Izuku, sometimes in person, and sometimes through the various quirks he had tagged him with to keep him safe.
Izuku reminded him of his baby brother. He was so helpless. His little Izuku needed someone to care for him the same way that he cared about other people. Not that said other people deserved it.
In his opinion, this little… event just proves that Izuku needed All for One to play a much bigger part in his life than he had been before.
Watching from the shadows wouldn't be enough anymore.
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“Do you think… that somebody like me, someone without a quirk… could ever be a hero like you, All Might?”
That question hung in the air, the only thing stopping All Might from leaving the roof that they had both landed on. His pause made Izuku fear the look he would have on his face when he turned around, but only for a brief moment. It's All Might, he always says anyone could be a hero, of course he's just going to say it again, he reassured himself. Of course All Might would know just what to say, he was perfect. A perfect hero, just like Kacchan would be.
All Might finally turned around, before coughing up blood, and seemingly… poofing? Into a much thinner, more sickly looking man. “What?! You can’t be All Might!” In Izuku's head he knew that was a lie, this person had acted exactly like All Might would have, but for his favorite hero to actually be so sickly… it couldn't be.
“I assure you, I am the real thing. And to answer your question, I am afraid the answer is no. Without power, how could you protect yourself, let alone others?” All Might lifted up his shirt, showing off a huge, gnarled scar. “Five years ago I received this scar in a fight against a villain, and now I can only appear as All Might for three hours a day. Would someone without a quirk have survived in a situation like that? Could someone without a quirk save people, if even the number one hero, the best of them, is vulnerable and weak? No, I cannot in good conscience say that you can become a hero.”
With those final words, All Might left him, walking past him briefly to get to the roof access, but neither of them attempted eye contact.
Izuku was alone now.
“Oh…”
Without meaning to, he fell to his knees. He didn't cry, he felt like he knew this was coming. After all, everyone had been trying to tell him that he couldn't be a hero, Kacchan, his classmates and teachers, his absolutely perfect mother -I’m so sorry-
He could feel how sad his little Izuku had been without him, how broken this world made him.
He should have been there for him.
He was going to fix it now.
Izuku realized that now he had another chance to grant Kacchan's wish, but he didn't even have the willpower to stand. I'm sorry, Kacchan…
He didn't know how long he was sitting there for, when a voice called out to him from behind him on the same roof.
“You look lonely.”
Izuku looked behind him, to where the voice had come from, and saw a very tall man. Even taller than All Might if you counted his hair.
“You're a villain.” Izuku stated this like a fact because he knew it was true, mostly from the way the man dressed. He wore a full suit, a really nice one, as well as, what really gave it away, a large metal mask, with various bits and pipes coming out of it that made it obvious it was support equipment, while the design made it obvious he wasn't a hero.
Not that it would really matter if a villain found and killed Izuku, he was about to die before the villain showed up anyway. It was probably better that Izuku be taken and used for whatever scheme the villain had than someone else.
That was why he didn't even try to struggle, or run (where would he even go?Off the-?) when the villain came closer.
“I’m taking you home now.”