Chapter Text
Izuku had grown up on Almight media.
To an extent, that was the case for every single kid in his generation. Almight’s face was on every television screen in Japan; for that matter, he was on television screens all over the world. Children cheered when their tired teachers rolled a media cart into the classroom and put an episode of his show on to teach in their stead. They still sang its catchy theme song years later, still referenced his lessons as teens. Almight was a household name.
But Izuku Midoriya was a bigger fan than that. He always had been. He hadn’t just seen every episode of Almight’s Place. He owned the first and only season of the commercially unsuccessful animated spinoff, Almight’s Adventures Abroad, on DVD. He’d collected every single one of the Almighty Science, Almighty Nature, Almighty Inventions, and Almighty Art books, still buying them long after he’d outgrown the target demographic. He’d watched every talk show appearance and unexpected cameo role, read every article and interview. He had three different posters of Almight on his bedroom walls at home. He’d had Almight-themed parties for his fourth, sixth, and seventh birthdays. Everyone loved Almight, but to Izuku, he was a true hero. Not just a charismatic, problem-solving, joke-cracking, educational hero like he played on television, but a real hero.
Even now, ten years after they’d stopped making new episodes of Almight’s Place, eight years after the man had taken a step back from the spotlight due to his health, and less than three months to go before Izuku began his university career, he still loved Toshinori “Almight” Yagi with everything he had. Which was probably the only reason that he recognised the lanky, slouching, exhausted-looking man who passed him on the sidewalk as his lifelong hero.
First, Izuku tripped over his own feet. The sound of his knee, and then the rest of his body, hitting the pavement was probably what made the man turn around, looking startled. Then, more shocked by the man’s face than his own fall, Izuku squawked, “Almight?” He tried to get to his feet again, which only resulted in him putting one foot down on the other shoe’s laces, and this time he hit the sidewalk face-first.
“Oh my god,” the man muttered softly, clearly alarmed. His voice wasn’t as deep as it had been on TV ten years ago, but it was recognisable. Then Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder and another on his elbow, helping him up. “You okay, kid?”
“I-I’m fine!” he stammered, swiping a hand across his face and checking it as soon as he was back on his feet. Only a speck of blood; his nose would be fine. Wide-eyed, he looked up at the man, and now he had no doubt. “It… it is you!” he blurted.
The man smiled awkwardly, reaching to rub his neck. “People don’t, uh… don’t usually recognise me when I’m out walking around. Looking like… you know… this.” He glanced down at himself – the open wool jacket and the plain, oversized t-shirt hanging off his wiry frame. In his youth he’d been muscled and handsome; now he was skinny and awkward and sleep-deprived. Then he tried to offer a grin. “Sorry, where are my manners…”
Abruptly, Izuku bowed. “Mr. Almight, it’s such an honour to meet you!”
“Oh, uh…” The man hesitated. “It’s always kinda weird when people call me Almight in everyday life!” he said finally, trying to joke. He put out his hand. “Almight is really just my TV persona. My name is–”
“Toshinori Yagi!” Izuku answered, straightening up again. Then he flushed. “I-I’m sorry! I should’ve let you introduce yourself-!” He put a hand on his face, wishing he could restart this whole interaction. “I’m just… such a huge fan,” he mumbled through his fingers.
“It’s okay,” Yagi answered, his smile sympathetic now, if maybe a little amused. He moved his hand a little so that Izuku would notice it held out between them. “And you are…?”
“Oh!” Izuku reached to shake the man’s hand, trying desperately to keep himself together. “Izuku Midoriya, sir!”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya,” Yagi said, his voice genuine. Izuku wished he could’ve recorded it, because it was one of the most amazing things he’d ever heard.
“I-I’m sorry,” Izuku stammered again. “I’m sure you’re just trying to go about your day… but, um, I wonder if you’d maybe be so kind as to give me your autograph…?” He smiled nervously, then glanced around him and retrieved his notebook from the ground. He’d been holding it while he walked, reviewing some notes from earlier in the day. Flipping it open to a blank page, he glanced up again.
“Sure,” Yagi replied kindly. “You have a pen?”
“Um, yeah, hang on!” Passing the notebook over, Izuku swung his backpack around to his chest, zipping it open and digging inside. Intent on finding his pencil case, he didn’t notice as Yagi fumbled the notebook slightly and quickly tried to flip back to the blank page. Izuku began to yammer as he shuffled through his bag. “I-I really don’t even have words to tell you how much I love your work, sir,” he said. “I mean, you just – I know you were an inspiration for my whole generation, really, and I’m sure you hear it all the time, but I’m certain you’re the reason I love math and science so much. And your show, it – it kept me company and made me happy through a lot of, um, a lot of rough times as a kid… I learned to pay attention and work hard from you…” Finally he found a pencil case in the messy depths of the bag, and he looked up as he pulled out a pen. Voice growing smaller, he said, “I-I even got into my dream university because of everything you taught me. I’m starting this spring.” Then he noticed Yagi paging through his notebook, distracted looking through Izuku’s notes, and he flushed. The book was full to the margins with sketches and scrawled observations about the world around them – plants, animals, buildings, machines.
“Damn, kid, you really are thorough!” Yagi commented, smiling a bit as he turned another page. “I love seeing this kind of passion!” Glancing up, he noticed Izuku’s embarrassment, and he quickly sobered his expression and flipped forward to the blank page again. He took the pen Izuku was offering and braced the book in his hand. “Um, how do you spell your name, Midoriya?”
A few moments later he passed the notebook and pen back. Smiling again, he asked casually, “So, what school are you headed to in the spring, then?”
Izuku flushed again. “Uh, well, your alma mater, sir. I’m going to UA– I mean, uh, I’m going to Musutafu University.” He caught himself at the last second. He remembered the interview he’d seen a couple of years ago – Yagi thought it was pretty silly that his alma mater had come to be known popularly as the University of Almight.
Yagi seemed to consider him a moment, a smile pulling at one corner of his mouth, and then he reached out and gently took back the notebook and pen. Izuku watched in surprise and confusion as the man wrote something more underneath his autograph – when he handed it back again, Izuku looked down, and what he saw was an email address. It was Yagi’s name, but very clearly a university email. He looked up, almost too puzzled to be excited, and Yagi gave a small grin.
“I’m actually in town because I’ve been invited back to the school as an instructor,” he admitted. “Don’t tell anyone, ‘cause it hasn’t been announced yet. But, hey… when it comes time for you to enroll in your classes, I’m teaching a first-year course called ‘STEM in the Real World.’ I’m kinda looking forward to it, honestly. Anyway, as soon as the announcement is made that I’ll be teaching this year, the school is expecting enrollment for my classes to be way over the limit, and they’re mostly gonna give spots by lottery. But, if you email me after you sign up, I can see about pulling a string or two to secure you a spot?” His little grin grew at the way Izuku’s eyes widened. “Listen, I’m not sure I can pull it off, but I probably can. You can’t tell anyone though, okay? I can’t go around picking favourite students before the school year even starts.”
“I!” Izuku looked down at the email address, then back up at his hero, before clutching his notebook to his chest. He could barely string a sentence together in his head, let alone out loud. “I-! Thank you so much, sir! I-I’m honoured! Of course I won’t tell!”
Yagi’s smile now had lost the awkwardness of earlier – it was warm and genuine. He nodded towards Izuku’s notebook. “If you bring that kind of enthusiasm and attention to detail to your schoolwork, you’re gonna be a great student, Midoriya.”
“I hope so!” Izuku responded, beginning to well up. He could only pray he’d make it through the end of this encounter without sobbing.
“I’ll watch for your email,” Yagi told him, tucking his hands into his pockets. “And I’ll see you on campus come April. Sound good?”
“Yes! Thank you again, Mr. Alm– Mr. Yagi, sir!” Izuku tightened his grip on his notebook, like he feared it might escape somehow, and bowed again.
“It was good to meet you, Midoriya.” Yagi gave him another friendly nod before turning to head back in the direction he’d been walking earlier.
“I– you too, sir!” Izuku called after him, his heart racing. For a few moments he simply stood there, watching Yagi’s receding figure and trying to absorb everything that had just happened. Then, overwhelmed, he turned on his heel and ran all the way back home.
Only once he was safe in his bedroom did he peel his battered notebook away from his chest to stare at the autograph and the email address beneath it. Despite his fears, it was all still there, exactly as he’d been picturing it.
Next year was going to be even better than he’d imagined.