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Gang Orca heaved a heavy sigh.
It was over, finally. After two long hours, the fight was finally over. He turned and set his tired gaze across his surroundings, assessing the environmental destruction and collateral damages. He wondered how many people had been harmed before the civilians were evacuated.
He silently counted the sixteen Heroes who were injured and the three in near-critical condition. He thanked whatever deity was out there watching over them that none were killed. With another sigh, he lifted an arm and rubbed the back of his neck. Two excruciatingly long hours of near-nonstop battle and Gang Orca felt like he was going to collapse from exhaustion. This villain attack marked the longest fight he's been apart of in years.
"I'm getting old." He told himself despite knowing that most would argue that twenty eight was no where's near old in today's world. Especially if you consider the fact that over the last hundred years the average human lifespan has increased by years with every decade that goes by.
Once more he took a look around. With a nonexistent raised eyebrow he noticed that civilians were filtering back into the area despite the efforts of the police. He hummed as he turned his eyes on the destruction around him. This area wasn't as destroyed as the others, the buildings weren't in any risk of collapsing, the rubble and partially damaged road was far from dangerous, so he mentally shrugged to himself as he assumed it was alright for them to be here.
...
Oh.
The civilians were crowding around the other heroes. Getting autographs, selfies, and other things. Now, looking like an anthropomorphic orca whale for his entire life meant that he didn't have many friends, due to the intimidation factor. Especially being a towering six foot six inches only added to it. Hell, he is, on no part to his efforts, one of the top ranking heroes in the 'Looks most like a Villain' rankings. A fact that upset him greatly whenever it came to mind.
In contrast to the hard exterior that he portrays he is quite the softy on the inside. He had always been sensitive about his looks and how people view him. In spite of his physical appearance he is still human, so forgive him if he felt a little jealous and somewhat depressed about the other heroes for getting all the positive attention of the civilians. After all he had done most of the work in the fight with the villain. The other heroes, most of whom were low to mid level in terms of power and capability, had factored in far less progress in the fight than he had.
He clenched his already balled up fists and crossed his arms before turning his back to them in a rather childish attempt to hide his upset attitude. But apparently he didn't hide it well enough because-
"G-gang Orca, s-sir?" A small, young voice filled the atmosphere around him.
Only slightly startled, Kugo turned back around to face...he looked down...a child?
The small meek looking boy couldn't be any more than eight years old. His wild green hair flowing slightly in the weak breeze.
He's adorable, was the first thing he thought upon looking at the boy. The second being concern and how he could improve his thin, weak looking body with a good diet and exercise. "Do you need something, young man?"
The smile that grew onto the boy's adorably freckled face was nothing short of blinding. "Yes!" He held up a journal and, without looking, turned to a page with...himself on it? On the left page was a surprisingly detailed drawing of Kugo and several lines of info that extended to the entire right page. The information listed being strengths and weaknesses, history in heroics, moves, super moves, and other general info. The boy is obviously a hero fanatic. He remembers when he too was almost one when he was the boy's age, believing that as a hero he would finally be accepted in society. Which he only kind of was.
The greenette, having paused and flushed with embarrassment when Kugo began studying the journal entry, meekly asked "C-can I h-have your a-autograph?"
Even more adorable.
Then it hit him. A child is asking for his autograph. For the fist time in his entire career a child is asking for his autograph. He's always had a massive soft spot for children but like Santa at the mall they always seemed afraid of him. He smiled behind his wrinkled dress shirt collar, joy filling his now puffed up chest. "Of course." He gently took the journal out of the boys hands and retrieved an expensive looking pen out of the confines of his wrinkled white dress jacket. 'It's happening!' Even the voice in his head radiated joy. Any negative feelings and thoughts from earlier now effectively forgotten, replaced with much more positive emotions. 'It's finally happening!' Holding the journal in one hand and the pen in the other he wrote 'Gang Orca' in the neatest cursive he was capable of right under the drawing of him, the only space big enough for him to wright on. As if the boy anticipated getting a signature. Putting the pen away, he turned the cover of the journal over. In large, thick lettering was written 'Hero Analysis for the Future #1'.
I see.
"Young Man," he began, grabbing the boy's attention away from his distracting thoughts of getting an autograph from a hero. "Do you mind if I sort through this a bit?"
The greenette paused for a moment then nodded, seeing it as not his place to deny a hero of anything. "S-sure!" He did, however, look nervous. Now twirling his fingers in his anxiousness.
Kugo sifted through the journal. Page after page of heroes and the rare villain here and there. He raised a nonexistent eyebrow when he noticed that he himself was a fairly early entry, with All Might being the first. "Young Man, this is quite detailed. How long have you been writing this?"
The boy flushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at the compliment. "I-I actually finished that one a w-while a-ago. I'm actually up to m-my sixth v-volume."
Kugo would have paled if he was physically capable of it. Six volumes?! If they were all as detailed and numerous as this one then...oh dear. Having taken a careful note at the surprisingly in depth info on the quirk, strengths, and weaknesses of numerous heroes in the journal Kugo had immediately come to the conclusion that it would be a ridiculously bad day for everyone involved if they fell into the wrong hands. He turned to the inside of the back cover.
'Property of Midoriya Izuku'
With the name quickly burned into his memory, he went down to one knee and handed the journal back to the boy, putting his hands on the greenette's shoulders he gave them a firm squeeze. "My boy, in the future it would be a good idea for you to not show these to people. You might accidentally end up drawing unwanted attention to yourself and those you care about. And the information in those journals could spell the doom of many Pro-Heroes. You might not understand it now but you will when your older."
The now named Midoriya nodded, not quite completely understanding what the hero was trying to say but he will take it to heart anyway. Besides, who was he to question the words of a hero?
Dropping his hands from Midoriya's shoulders, he looked once more at the other Pros. Still signing autographs and the like. "If I may ask, why have you come to me? Wouldn't you prefer the attention of the other, less intimidating heroes?"
The embarrassed look made yet another comeback on the boy's face. "T-they're good and all but I-I prefer y-you. And you're not intimidating, you're cool! And you're my second favorite! Besides, you did most of the work anyway!"
Time stopped for him and his heart clenched. All he heard was 'your', 'my', and 'favorite'. He is someone's favorite. He's a child's favorite. His jaw clenched and tears welled up in his eyes. His breathing became uneven while his hands twitched. He couldn't help it, he was just so happy. He could actually feel his lifetime of depression leaving him and giving way to happier feelings.
"G-gang Orca, s-sir?" Izuku looked down to the ground, his wild green hair falling in front of his eyes. His voice was laced with nervousness and sadness. "Do...do you think I can be a hero...even...without a quirk?"
Kugo's first thought was to protect the boy, take him somewhere where he could be safe and protected from the horrors and hardships of the world and hero life. But he knew that in doing so he would only hurt the boy. His next thought was of Eraserhead. His quirk, Erasure, grants him the unique ability to cancel out any non-mutant type quirks by staring at them. But beyond that he might as well be fighting quirkless himself. Using his insane hand-to-hand fighting skills and that strange scarf of his to put down his opponents.
Tears still in his eyes, he brought his arms up and wrapped them around the boy in an affectionate hug. Bringing his mouth next to Izuku's ear he whispered, "Yes, you can be a hero." The hug got tighter. "Because you're already my hero."
Wrapping his own smaller arms around the neck of the Pro-Hero, Izuku was now openly sobbing. Tears of joy rolling down his face at the prospect of someone finally believing in him, that someone being the Pro-Hero Gang Orca. His newly made most favorite hero.
Releasing the hug, Kugo held the boy by his shoulders at a distance. "But you're going to need to work hard. Your peers are years ahead of you and have quirks to assist them. You will need to train. You will need to exercise. You will need to do everything you can to catch up to them. Remember, quirks are not everything. The measure of a real hero is not by their quirk, it's by their drive to do good because it's the right thing to do." He gently squeezed Izuku's shoulders. "Remember my words, because they will help drive you to become the great hero you could be."
Izuku held a look of wonder on his face. But it quickly changed to determination before he nodded. "I will." Tears welling up in his eyes once more. "T-thank you."
Kugo smiled. "You're welcome." He glanced down at the journal in the boy's hands and gained an idea. "May I see your journal again?"
Izuku quickly handed it over despite his confusion. Wondering what he could possibly want it for.
Kugo brought his pen back out and turned to the rear cover again. He quickly wrote something down before handing it back over just as he noticed the approaching law enforcement. "I apologize but I'm afraid I must be going. The police will need a report on this incident." He stood back up and ruffled Izuku's hair before walking over to the cops.
Izuku stood there, staring off into the distance.
He believes in me. I promise, I will do my very best to become the best hero I can be.
Looking down at his journal, he opened it up to the last page.
'Property of Midoriya Izuku'
'My Little Hero'
He turned around to look at the back of Gang Orca, now speaking to the police. He smiled.
Thank you.
He wasn't entirely sure why Gang Orca was already calling him a hero, maybe he said something that helped him? What ever it was he's sure he'll figure it out eventually. With a great big smile on his face, he turned and ran home.