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Izuku had already started the morning feeling tired, the dreary rain outside doing little to improve his mood or energy. Despite Recovery Girl’s assistance, he was still very much in the process of healing from the Sports Festival. His fingers still ached whenever he moved them, even the slightest bit. There was a lingering soreness throughout his entire body that also reminded him of just how thoroughly he had pushed himself– beyond, and then further.
But even if it hurt, he had no choice. If he was going to get anywhere with One for All, he needed to give it all he had! So, instead of resting, he had spent practically the entire class period holding his body above his chair as a form of exercise. It wasn't glamorous training, but it was training nonetheless. He couldn't afford to slack off, even if he was still recovering.
The theme of the day continued on in relatively the same fashion. Mr. Aizawa handed out their internship forms, and unfortunately, Izuku hadn't received a single offer.
It shouldn’t have been surprising. Agencies wanted to see students with flashy, powerful quirks who could demonstrate their capabilities, and while Izuku had technically placed first in the obstacle race and made it all the way to the finals, his performance had hardly showcased what One For All could actually do. He had deliberately held back from using his Quirk at first out of fear of hurting himself, only to go too far once he finally did, repeatedly breaking his own fingers in the process. His lack of control had been painfully obvious, and the results of using his Quirk had often been more horrifying than impressive.
That wasn't exactly the most appealing advertisement for a prospective intern. No wonder no one had picked him.
Still, the day hadn't been a total loss.
For one thing, he had finally gotten to choose a hero name!
Deku.
Uraraka had shown him another meaning of the name– you can do it! It had given him hope. Even though things looked impossible right now, maybe they could still get better. Maybe, if he just kept trying hard enough, he could make them better.
And so, when the class was dismissed for the rest of the afternoon to give everyone time to choose an agency, Izuku decided he wasn't going to waste a single second of it. If he couldn't rely on someone else to give him a chance, then he would find one for himself.
He researched each agency thoroughly, constructing elaborate lists of pros and cons for every single one of the forty agencies that had accepted students who hadn't received personalized offers. By the time Izuku finally looked up from his notes, it was sunset.
He and Uraraka gathered their things, still chatting about Iida as Izuku opened the door to leave, only to squeak in fright when All Might suddenly slid in front of him, stopping in a rather sheepish bow.
“I am here– in a bizarre position!”
"U-um! Yeah, what's that about? And why are you in such a hurry?"
All Might didn't actually answer. Instead, he beckoned Izuku over with an awkward little wave of his hand. "Hi! Come with me a sec."
His mentor looked unusually anxious, which only made Izuku suspect that whatever he wanted to discuss was important and would likely take more than just a few seconds. He told Uraraka to go on without him, promising that he would call her later, before turning back to accompany All Might down the hallway. His mentor led him toward one of the more secluded corners of the school.
For a moment, his mentor said nothing. He just stood there with his back turned to Izuku, his enormous shoulders unusually tense beneath his dress shirt. Something about the sight made his stomach sink. Did I do something wrong? He knew his hero saw the lack of internship offers. Maybe All Might was disappointed, too…
The thought hurt more than Izuku wanted to admit.
"So, what's up?" He asked, trying to keep his voice light.
"There is a matter I wanted to discuss with you. It has to do with what happened at the Sports Festival."
"Oh..." The little bit of brightness he'd managed to scrape together disappeared almost immediately. Izuku’s gaze fell toward the floor. His hand drifted unconsciously to his chest, fingers pressing against the fabric of his uniform. "Yes, of course..."
But before Izuku could begin to spiral, he heard the quiet rustle of paper.
His mentor had pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out for Izuku, who took it curiously.
"That is a letter I received this morning from Gran Torino, a pro hero. You may have heard of him before, although he is an older hero now, so I wouldn't be surprised if his name isn't familiar to you. He taught at this school back in my day. In fact, the man was my homeroom teacher! He also knows about One for All."
Izuku's eyes widened and his attention snapped back to All Might from where it had been reading. “He knows about One for All too? How? You’ve never mentioned him before.”
"W-well..." The blonde rubbed the back of his neck. "He was actually the sworn friend of my predecessor. He retired quite a long time ago, so I suppose I've gotten into the habit of forgetting to count him among the people who know.”
Izuku nodded slowly, taking in the information. That made sense, at least.
He lowered his eyes to the letter again, curiosity pulling him forward.
Uhhh… Gran Torino was not holding back. His gaze jumped from one paragraph to the next as he slowly realized that this letter contained considerably less gentle advice and considerably more grilling All Might about his teaching methods. Scary…
Izuku swallowed, his curiosity had now become tinged with a healthy amount of apprehension.
All Might cleared his throat. “A-Anyway! I actually sent him a letter a month ago, the day classes first started. He didn’t send a reply until now. As you can see, er… i-it's pretty scathing,” he whimpered, trembling slightly as he spoke. “But..”
His mentor dropped his gaze with an unusually forlorn expression. “His letter… It made me realize even more something I had already begun to understand. Something I couldn’t properly address during our conversation after you were discharged.”
All Might drew in a slow breath. Then he turned toward Izuku fully. His expression was so serious, so genuinely regretful, that Izuku braced for the worst.
Then his mentor bowed. “I owe you an apology.”
Izuku blinked down at the man, mouth slightly agape. For a long moment, he could only stare, his mind struggling to catch up with what he had just heard. All Might was apologizing as though he were the one who had failed and not Izuku.
His teacher straightened then, looking down at Izuku with a guilty expression. “This whole time, I thought that One for All would eventually work itself out. I mean, that is how it worked for me when I first inherited the power. But… you’re not me, and just hearing it from Gran, I quite frankly have been a horrible teacher.” His voice faltered slightly. “You’ve always wanted to make me proud, and in doing so, at every challenge, you’ve thrown yourself headfirst into it, even though you knew you were going to come out of it hurt.”
Izuku knew it was the truth, but hearing it from someone, especially when that person was condemning his behavior… It was strange, and he didn’t know if he knew how to process it.
“I realized just how much I had truly failed when you–” All Might cleared his throat before any emotion crept into his voice, though the tight expression he wore gave away how distraught he was feeling. “When you brought up that you felt there were other, more worthy students at U.A. who should be my successor.”
Hearing it brought up again felt like a punch to the gut. He remembered the intense feeling of hopelessness and despair that had consumed him after saying those words. He had felt like he was a failure, like All Might must have been looking at him and wondering why he had ever chosen Izuku in the first place. But All Might had failed him? How could the man ever think such a thing when he was the one who had given Izuku this once in a lifetime opportunity in the first place.
“All Might…” Izuku said softly, the name trailing off as he struggled to find the right words. He wanted to argue. He wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that there was no way he could have failed Izuku when he had given him everything he had ever dreamed of– but somehow, nothing seemed sufficient.
All Might gave him a soft smile.
“Midoriya, you truly are a remarkable young man and a great student. I couldn’t have found a more worthy successor. I told that to Gran Torino in my letter, and I meant every word.”
Izuku looked up at his mentor, and the sincerity in his expression made his eyes begin to sting. All Might had told him as much after Izuku had asked that painful question about whether he was truly worthy of being One for All’s successor, but hearing it again now, spoken with such quiet certainty after all the disappointment of the day, struck somewhere deep inside him.
He really needed to hear that.
It wasn't simply something All Might was saying because Izuku was standing there in front of him, either. He had written those exact words to Gran Torino, another person he respected, someone who had known him long before he became the Symbol of Peace. The thought filled Izuku with a giddy sort of happiness that seemed to radiate all the way down to the tips of his toes.
“I still don’t feel like you owe me any apology,” Izuku said, his voice a little softer than before, “but I understand what you’re saying. Thank you for saying that.”
“From here on out, I will devote myself to training you. Properly, so One for All will never cause you unnecessary pain again,” All Might promised. His mentor's expression softened, though his eyes remained a little misty, and he reached out to give Izuku a gentle clap on the shoulder.
“You’re stuck with me, so let’s keep working hard, together.”
Izuku felt his own smile spread across his face. He nodded, clenching both his fists together with renewed determination.
“Yes! Nothing would make me happier!”
All Might looked determined again, the heaviness between them finally giving way to something lighter. Izuku found that, somehow, he hardly felt as exhausted anymore. Maybe it was simply knowing that All Might wasn't disappointed in him after all, or the reassurance that they were going to figure this out together.
“Now, I didn’t just come here to apologize,” All Might said, his expression shifting into something a little more thoughtful. “I also wanted to extend you an offer. I noticed that you haven’t really had the time to train One for All as much as I would have hoped because of the chaos caused by the incident at the USJ and, of course, your injuries after the Sports Festival. I feel responsible that my poor teaching caused you to miss out on good internship opportunities as well. So, if you would like, I wanted to offer you the option of interning at my agency.”
Izuku intern at–
All… Might's...
AGENCY!?
Izuku’s brain short-circuited as the meaning behind those words sank in.
The All Might himself had just offered Izuku an internship at his agency.
“I figured that this break between classes would be the perfect way to get you back on track, as you wouldn’t have schoolwork to worry about,” All Might continued, apparently unaware of the whirlwind currently happening inside his protegee’s head. “Gran offered me some advice in the letter he sent about how to help with your current problem of using One for All at more than five percent. I figured we could work on solving that together. Oh! But you would of course be learning out in the field as well as at my headquarters!” All Might quickly added. “I wouldn’t want to keep you cooped up with just training while everyone else got to learn more about actual hero work!”
He would be following All Might out in the FIELD!? MIGHT TOWER!?
The thoughts came rushing in so quickly that Izuku felt dizzy.
Then All Might suddenly looked very shy.
“I understand if you would rather work with another hero’s agency, though, too. I had a peek at the list, and there are tons of talented pros who you would no doubt learn a lot from!”
Izuku stared at him.
His usually confident hero seemed so demure in that moment that it gave Izuku whiplash. The way he praised all the other pros, as though he hadn't just handed Izuku his dream come true, was almost astonishing.
Wait.
Oh no. He hadn't answered yet, had he? He'd just been standing there staring at All Might like an idiot. All Might probably thought he was rejecting him!
Izuku's face immediately split into a grin bright enough to rival multiple suns. Without thinking, he threw himself at All Might, wrapping both arms around his neck in a fierce embrace. The man caught him on instinct despite his surprise.
“YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES!” Izuku squealed, kicking his feet happily as he giggled.
For a suspended moment, All Might simply held him stiffly as though his mind had yet to catch up with what had just happened. Then Izuku felt an amused puff of air against his neck, followed by the slow, gentle tightening of All Might’s arms around his back.
Izuku stiffened. He had practically thrown himself at the hero without even asking. Not again…
His face went beet red, and he quickly wiggled himself free, letting out an embarrassed little chuckle. “Sorry for doing t-that!”
All Might stared at him for a second with an almost awed expression, as though he had been caught off guard by just how much he had liked the simple affection. “I-It’s fine.”
He then straightened, his expression becoming more businesslike again.
“It’s settled, then. I’ll let the school know right away. You should probably be heading home now, though. It’s getting late.”
Izuku nodded enthusiastically. “Mhm! Mhm!”
He turned around and immediately started toward the hallway, practically bouncing on his feet as he went. He lifted a hand to wave over his shoulder.
“See you tomorrow!” he called.
And with that, he hurried off, still grinning from ear to ear.
Izuku could hardly sit still during the hour-long train ride. He kept alternating between reading his informational book on Might Tower and pressing his face against the window to see if they were anywhere near Tokyo yet. All Might, however, had fallen into a deep slumber beside him. The man had met Izuku at the train station looking more like a zombie than usual, so Izuku had decided to leave him be. He looked so peaceful like this.
A particularly sharp jostle finally roused his mentor from his nap. Toshinori blinked blearily, rubbing at his eyes before glancing over at Izuku. A fond smile soon graced his lips. “Are we there yet, my boy?”
Izuku shook his head. “Mm-mm.”
Toshinori sighed, settling his elbow against the armrest. He drummed his fingers against his cheek, looking thoroughly bored as he stared out the window for a moment before glancing back at Izuku.
“Whatcha’ readin’?”
Izuku startled slightly, lowering the book to look over at him. A faint blush crept across his cheeks, and he instinctively hid a little of his face behind the cover.
“It’s an informational guide to Might Tower. I’ve never been before, so I just wanted a quick refresher before we arrive.”
“You’ve never been? That’s surprising.” Toshinori raised his eyebrows with genuine surprise. Then, a small smirk tugged at his lips.
“Well, then we’ll have to make the most of it! What would you like to see while we’re there?”
All Might was asking him what he wanted to do?! If this was a dream, then please, don’t wake him up!
Normally, Izuku would have simply waved his hero off with a shy, “Oh, anything you want to do is fine!” But things were different now. They were trying to be more open and honest with each other, and Toshinori was clearly making an effort to meet him halfway. So Izuku should too.
He leaned over, holding the book open so Toshinori could see. The smaller man scooted a little closer, peering down at the pages with him.
“Well, besides all of it, honestly, I really want to see the statue, as well as the informational history section in the area open to the public. Visiting the café sounds interesting, too. Then I figured we could go to the training room at some point, as well as some of your R&D labs. Oh, and…” His voice grew a little meeker as he reached the end of his list, and he glanced over at his mentor expectantly. “Maybe your office as well?”
Toshinori simply let out a jovial laugh at his expression, as though Izuku had said something particularly endearing.
“Sure thing, kiddo.”
The tension quietly left Izuku's shoulders. Apparently, what he wanted wasn't too much to ask after all.
“Do you remember the plan?” All Might asked him.
“We’ll split up at the train station, and I’ll tell the lady at the front desk that I’m there for my internship.”
“And you’re sure you can get there just fine on your own,” the man asked, his voice carrying a note of concern that made Izuku smile.
“Yep! Even if I somehow got lost, it’s not that hard to find. It’s the tall building with a big, shiny golden globe on top!”
All Might chuckled, though there was still a faint crease of worry between his brows. “Right! Can’t be a hard thing to miss.”
Izuku's smile softened. It was sweet, really. Toshinori was trying so hard to make sure he had everything figured out, as though Izuku might somehow get lost between the train station and the enormous building they'd been discussing for the past hour. He knew it was probably a little silly, but there was something comforting about being fussed over like this.
Fifteen minutes later, the train rolled into the station and they parted ways. Toshinori went off to quickly hide and change into All Might so he could arrive ahead of Izuku, while Izuku made his way there on foot. It would certainly turn a few more heads than either of them would like if they walked in together. This was not before Toshinori made Izuku promise that he would call if he got lost.
Izuku took his time as he walked through the busy streets of the Roppongi district, taking in the bustling urban landscape around him. He kept himself occupied by taking an almost ridiculous number of pictures. It also gave him an excuse to linger, giving All Might enough time to arrive ahead of him so their entrances wouldn't be too suspiciously close together.
Really, he was trying to take his time, but it was just so difficult when he was so excited.
And the building itself was, just as Toshinori had said, hard to miss.
Izuku stopped on the sidewalk and leaned his head all the way back, staring up at the towering structure before him. This was it. His first day of really, truly being a hero.
If someone had told Izuku a year ago that he would one day be standing here, enrolled in the hero course at U.A. and beginning his first-year internship at All Might’s agency, he never would have believed them. If he had somehow been convinced, he was fairly certain he might have simply had a heart attack and died on the spot. But now he was practically giddy. It took a genuine effort not to start giggling like a maniac right there on the sidewalk. Not only was this his first real internship, but he was going to be spending it with his mentor, Toshinori, not just his favorite hero. They hadn’t had much time to simply be together, just the two of them, since their training on the beach.
With a deep breath, Izuku steeled himself, squared his shoulders, and walked through the doors.
He made his way over to the reception desk and waited his turn. In the meantime, Izuku looked around, taking in the sights with wide, amazed eyes as he rocked absentmindedly from heel to toe.
“–Excuse me! Hello!”
Izuku snapped back to attention when he realized the receptionist was looking at him expectantly. He quickly stepped forward, offering her a sheepish smile before schooling his expression. He had to look professional. He was a U.A. student, after all.
“Good morning! I’m here for my internship.”
The woman eyed him up and down for a moment, her gaze lingering on his casual clothes and youthful appearance as though she wasn't entirely convinced. Eventually, however, she conceded.
“Name?”
“Midoriya Izuku.”
As she typed his name into the computer, she continued making conversation. “What department are you interning for?”
“O-oh, um…” All Might had never actually told him how he was supposed to answer that question. “Hero department?”
“Hero department?” The receptionist repeated, staring at him with clear puzzlement.
Then her computer gave a small ping.
Her eyes dropped back to the screen before they widened to a comical level.
“O-oh my,” she squeaked under her breath, followed by a nervous little laugh. “It looks like you have our gold-level clearance! You are here to intern f-for– A-All Might.”
She glanced at him again, suddenly looking much more nervous than before.
“U-um… if you wouldn’t mind, can I also see your I.D.?”
“Sure,” Izuku replied, fishing his U.A. ID card from his pocket and handing it over. He wasn't entirely sure what gold-level clearance meant, but it sounded sooo cool!
The receptionist took the card, her eyes darting between it and Izuku several times before she finally handed it back with visibly shaking fingers. “V-very good, sir! I’ll just be right back with your badge,” she stammered before quickly hurrying away.
And he was getting a badge! He was absolutely keeping it as a souvenir.
Speaking of souvenirs, he wondered if All Might would let him take a moment to look around the merch store. There were probably all sorts of cool things inside, and maybe he could find something to take home with him. Izuku then sighed, dejected. He wouldn’t push. He was here for work, after all, not vacation.
The receptionist soon returned, accompanied by a few other employees who trailed behind her, all of them stealing curious glances in his direction. She handed him his badge, which Izuku accepted with an enthusiastic, “Thank you!”
He immediately looped it around his neck, unable to keep the pleased little smile from his face.
“If you would follow me, please.”
Izuku nodded eagerly and followed her to the elevator, where she asked him to scan his badge. The elevator made its way up and opened onto the top floor. Izuku stepped out to find All Might waiting behind his desk, dressed in his hero suit with his signature smile firmly in place. The moment he saw him, his mentor seemed to puff up even larger. He struck a dramatic pose, pointing directly at him. “Young Midoriya is here!”
For just a moment, Izuku felt like a kid again, standing in front of All Might for the very first time.
“I am happy to see that you accepted my offer. Welcome to Might Tower!” All Might exclaimed as he strode around his desk to stand in front of him. “During this internship, you will be learning the ins and outs of what it takes to run a hero agency, and, of course, the fun part– fighting villains! Now then, the first order of business is always looking the part. Why don’t you go get changed into your costume, and then we’ll begin the grand tour?”
He then turned toward the receptionist who looked just as giddy as Izuku.
“Would you mind giving Young Midoriya a tour of the place?”
“N-not at all, sir!”
Izuku nodded in determination before darting off toward the nearby bathroom to change. His costume was completely new and improved. The new additions were what excited him most. Reinforced braces now supported his arms and legs, designed specifically to help him better reduce the damage he caused himself while using his quirk.
Once he had finished changing, Izuku hurried back out. “I’m ready!”
All Might grinned, but as his eyes traveled over Izuku's new costume, he suddenly beamed. “Oh! I almost forgot. Didn’t your class choose their hero names before this week?”
“Yep!” Izuku puffed out his chest a little, unable to hide his pride. “You may call me Deku!”
The look of pride that settled across his hero’s face made Izuku's cheeks warm with the same feeling of when his mom was overly showy in her parental pride.
“Alright, Deku. Let’s get this show on the road!”
The three of them began their tour on the second floor, with the receptionist taking the lead as she explained the different departments throughout Might Tower. The first several floors were dedicated primarily to meeting spaces and offices for All Might’s marketing and public relations teams. Izuku had barely gotten his foot inside before the employees seemed to collectively lose their minds over meeting him. He quickly found himself surrounded by enthusiastic questions and excited greetings, all of which made him stutter and shrink in on himself beneath the sudden attention. “Oh, this is perfect,” one of them exclaimed. “We could do something for TikTok! Maybe a behind-the-scenes video showing the two of you together?”
Izuku's face immediately flushed bright red.
“T-TikTok?!”
Between his hero and the receptionist, they quickly whisked the increasingly overwhelmed boy away before anyone could start filming.
The next floor was where Izuku really came alive. He had questions about nearly everything he saw on the R&D floor. He eagerly discussed possible improvements to support equipment and offered suggestions whenever the opportunity arose, leaving more than a few members of the department staring at him with growing interest. By the time they finally left, Izuku was still turning over several ideas in his head.
He and All Might then parted ways with everyone else, needing to get to training. Izuku would have the rest of the week to properly explore everything, anyway. As the elevator doors slid shut, the greenette watched All Might puff back into his smaller form with a short cough. Toshinori cleared his throat once he had regained his bearings, shooting Izuku an amused smirk. “That was certainly entertaining.”
“Everyone was so nice. I can’t believe they were all that interested in me, though. Considering, y’know, you haven’t been here in a while,” Izuku replied sheepishly.
The blonde gave him a playful nudge against the arm. “Of course they were. I’ve never had an intern before, let alone many sidekicks.” He paused, his expression softening slightly. “But it’s not just that. I think they were surprised and intrigued by how intelligent you are. Most people would probably assume that if I brought in any student to intern with me, it would be someone overly flashy.”
Izuku chuckled at the joke, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling at the compliment either.
The elevator finally dropped them off on the training floor. Izuku stepped out and immediately found himself staring. The room was filled with machines and equipment, some of which he recognized while others looked advanced enough that he wasn't entirely sure what they were supposed to do. His sense of awe, which had somehow managed to endure the entire day so far, came rushing back with full force. This place beat Dagobah Beach, one hundred percent!
“Alright,” Toshinori said, watching him with an amused smirk. “If you’re ready to begin, why don’t we get started on powering up One For All?”
Izuku took a deep breath and nodded. Reaching inward, he searched for that familiar core where his Quirk seemed to come alive. Once he found it, he pulled that energy forward. Izuku tried to let it spread throughout his entire body, but holding it there was another matter entirely. Almost immediately, sweat began to bead along his brow. His muscles tensed as he fought to maintain his grip on the power, but it felt slippery somehow, difficult to keep hold of no matter how desperately he tried.
After only a few moments, he had to let it go.
Izuku bent forward slightly, breathing heavily. He chanced a glance toward his mentor, only to find Toshinori resting a fist against his chin, watching him thoughtfully.
“I-I…” Izuku swallowed. “I don’t know why I can’t just continually use it like my other classmates do.”
Toshinori perked up at that, giving him his full attention.
“I mean, like Kaachan is able to move while using his quirk with ease, as well as Kirishima. Their quirks are just a part of them, and I…” His hands curled into fists. “I just feel like One For All refuses to be a part of me.”
All Might was quiet for a moment.
“Young man, this power is a part of you.”
Izuku looked up.
“I know that you’re getting frustrated, but I need you to begin really understanding that.” Toshinori walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder. “One For All is your quirk, my boy. Not mine. It’s like… a car– since metaphors seem to help you picture it. I am only running off the last of my fumes, while you have a full tank. There is no more fuel left in me.”
Izuku let his words sink in. His greatest desire ever since receiving One For All had been to make it truly his, to have complete control over it and prove that he was worthy of the power All Might had entrusted to him. Maybe he was getting a little ahead of himself. He hadn't exactly been given much time to process the fact that the power had become his in the first place. It had been transferred to him, and almost immediately afterward, he had taken the entrance exam. Perhaps part of the problem was that he was still treating One For All like something borrowed.
“Here,” Toshinori said, breaking him from his thoughts. “Why don’t you try jumping from here and touching the ceiling? That should be easier than putting all that pressure on your hands.”
Izuku nodded and moved into position. He drew on One For All again, this time focusing the power into his legs. Almost immediately, he felt the difference. The energy still wasn't easy to control, but it moved more smoothly than before. It’s working!
Unfortunately, his excitement proved to be a bit distracting. Izuku launched himself upward and then promptly face planted into the wall. There was a loud thwack before he slowly slid back down the wall, landing on the floor with a miserable whine.
“We…” His mentor looked down at him. “Got a lot of work to do.”
Later, during his lunch break, Izuku sat by himself in the café downstairs, slowly picking at his food while replaying the morning's training over and over in his head. It hadn't gone terribly, exactly. Well… maybe it had. He had managed to move One For All through his body for a few seconds, and apparently focusing it in his legs had worked better than trying with his arms. Those were both good things.
Unfortunately, he had face-planted more than once.
Izuku sighed, stabbing halfheartedly at his food.
“Excuse me?”
Izuku looked up. Two people were standing beside his table, both dressed in professional attire and looking down at him with friendly smiles. They both looked younger than most, being around he would say college age. “Sorry to bother you,” one of them said. “You’re Deku, right?”
Izuku blinked. “Um, yes?”
“I’m Tanjirou, and this is Maki.” The woman beside him gave a small wave. “Would you mind if we sat with you?”
“Oh! No, not at all!” Izuku quickly shook his head, gesturing toward the empty seats across from him. “Please, go ahead!”
The two of them thanked him and settled into their chairs. For a moment, Izuku wasn't entirely sure what to say. He had only been in the building for a few hours, and somehow people already knew who he was enough to want to sit with him.
“So,” Maki said, resting her chin in her hand, “how are you liking Might Tower so far?”
Izuku brightened. “Oh! It’s amazing! The building is so much bigger than I expected, and everyone has been really nice! The R&D department was especially interesting, and the training floor has equipment I’ve never even seen before, and I got to see all of the different departments–” Izuku's face warmed. “Sorry. I’m rambling.”
“Don’t apologize,” Tanjirou laughed. “It’s nice seeing someone else as excited about the place as we are. Maki and I are huge fans of All Might, honestly, everyone in this building kinda is. I don’t have as powerful a quirk to get into a hero course even though I wanted to, but luckily my skills in IT landed me a job here!”
Izuku perked up at that. “You wanted to be a hero?”
“I wanted to as well,” Maki spoke up, “My quirk is like the wish dot com version of Midnight’s quirk. Still, life will take you to strange places but I’m glad I get to work here, supporting heroes and all that they do. Especially All Might.”
“I have been an All Might fan for as long as I can remember! I have books, and merchandise, and I’ve studied practically every major battle he’s been in.”
“Yep,” Maki said, pointing at him. “Definitely going to fit in here.”
Before he could say anything else, another person approached their table carrying a tray piled high with food. They set the tray down with a dramatic sigh before sliding into the remaining chair. “Oh, hey! You must be Midoriya.” They offered him a quick smile. “I’m Jun.”
“Nice to meet you!”
“Isn’t it just reality that the break room microwave would break immediately after they finally got us a new one?”
Izuku blinked, missing the plot. “...What happened?”
“The breakroom microwave is broken,” Tanjirou explained.
“And because it doesn’t rotate, half your food gets blasted into the surface of the sun while the other half is still freezing,” Jun added miserably.
“That is why we’re all down here.”
His brows slowly furrowed. The glass dish wouldn't rotate… which meant the food stayed in one position, not distributing the heat evenly. Izuku's eyes narrowed as his thoughts began racing.
Izuku suddenly jerked upright with a sharp gasp. “I figured it out!”
Everyone around the table startled. “What?”
Izuku was already gathering his things.
“I figured out what's wrong with it! I have to go! Thank you for sitting with me. It was really nice meeting everyone, bye!”
And before any of them could properly react, Izuku was gone.
The three employees sat there in stunned silence.
Jun slowly looked toward the others. “...Is he leaving to fix our microwave?”
By the time Izuku found his mentor, he was slightly out of breath from how quickly he had hurried back upstairs. “All Might!”
Toshinori turned toward him, looking up from where he had been picking away at his own food in his office. Izuku didn’t give him time to respond. “I figured it out!”
His hands moved as he spoke, thoughts spilling out faster than he could organize them. “The microwave in the break room is broken because the glass plate isn't rotating, right? So the energy is only being directed at one part of the food instead of being distributed evenly, which leaves some of it burning hot while other parts are still cold, and that made me realize that–”
He stopped to take a breath.
“I've been doing the same thing with One For All!”
All Might stared at him confused.
Izuku swallowed before continuing. “I keep trying to activate it whenever I need it. If I want to punch something, I power up my arm. If I need to jump, I focus it in my legs. But then I have to consciously think about moving the power every single time I want to do something. What if I keep One For All running throughout my entire body all the time? Not just when I'm attacking or when I need to move. If the power is distributed evenly, then it wouldn't all be concentrated in one place, and eventually, maybe I wouldn't have to think about every little movement or every single time I need to power up!”
“Well,” Toshinori said, squaring his shoulders. “There's only one way to find out. Give it a shot.”
They didn't waste another second.cIzuku stood in the middle of the room and took a slow breath.
Throughout my entire body.
He reached inward, searching for that familiar core of power buried deep inside him. When he found it, One For All surged to life. Energy rushed through every muscle, every limb, every part of him at once. He struggled to maintain it, his teeth gritting as the power threatened to slip away from him. Just… hold on.
Before he could lose his nerve, Izuku bent his knees and jumped.
He shot toward the ceiling with a burst of power. For one terrifying second, he thought he was about to repeat his earlier mistake. But this time, he didn't slam face-first into the ceiling, and instead he found he could brush his fingers against the top of the room before landing perfectly, albeit a little wobbly.
“I did it!”
“You did it!”
Izuku laughed, the sound bubbling out of him before he could stop it. He bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet, hardly able to contain himself. Toshinori's grin looked ecstatic as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I think,” he said, looking at Izuku with unmistakable pride, “we can work with this.”
By the time darkness had settled over the city, Toshinori was exhausted. Somewhere along the way, he had completely forgotten about his original plan to get Midoriya a room at a nearby hotel. Toshinori had fully intended to make sure he had somewhere comfortable to rest before another long day of work. Then they had started training, and Midoriya had made so much great progress– one breakthrough had led to another, and before either of them had realized how much time had passed, the sun had disappeared below the horizon and the lights of Tokyo had begun to glitter outside the windows.
Now, Midoriya was laid across the couch in Toshinori's office, passed out cold. Toshinori stood quietly nearby, looking down at him with a tenderness he wasn't entirely sure how to explain. The boy's mouth hung slightly open as he slept, his chest rising and falling in slow breaths. After everything they had done that day, after finally making some progress with keeping One For All running throughout his entire body, he had apparently reached his limit the moment they stopped moving. One arm hung lazily off the edge of the couch while his notebook had been abandoned on the ground below.
This boy truly was one of a kind. It still amazed him sometimes, just how Midoriya's mind worked. He had been given a power that would have terrified most people, one he could barely control and that had already broken his fingers and battered his body more times than Toshinori cared to think about. It still made him feel sick...
Yet despite all these hardships, he never stopped trying. Even when Toshinori himself wasn't sure what advice to give him, Midoriya simply kept thinking until he found another angle to approach the problem from. Today, of all things, it had been a broken microwave that had led him to a breakthrough with One For All. Toshinori shook his head fondly at the thought.
Only you, my boy.
He reached down, hesitating only briefly before gently carding his fingers through Midoriya's messy curls. The boy hummed softly at the touch, shifting slightly against the couch without waking. There was something about the trust of it that struck him unexpectedly. Midoriya had always been so eager to trust him, even when Toshinori had done little to deserve it. He had placed so much faith in him from the very beginning, and Toshinori sometimes wondered if the boy understood just how terrifying that could be.
Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away and crossed the office toward the large windows overlooking the city.
There was still a conversation waiting for him. His old friend had wanted to speak to him about All For One, and more specifically, whether Toshinori truly believed the man was dead. He had spent years believing that the nightmare was over, that All For One had been defeated and whatever remained of that terrible chapter of his life could finally be put to rest. But lately, doubt had begun creeping in around the edges, persistent in a way that made it impossible to dismiss completely. What if he isn't?
His reflection stared back at him from the darkened glass.
And then there was Midoriya.
The idea of All For One still being alive was terrifying enough on its own, but the thought of Midoriya ever having to face a monster like that was worse. He had already lost too much to that man. He had allowed himself to believe that the danger was over, and in doing so, he had given One For All to a fifteen-year-old boy who now stood directly in the path of whatever might come next. The thought of losing Midoriya to All For One, of finding himself powerless to stop it, haunted him.
Still..
Toshinori looked back at him again, unable to tear his eyes away it seemed. He found himself smiling despite it all.
Today had been a good day. There would be time to worry about Naomasa's questions later.For now, he had an exhausted boy sleeping on his couch, an entire week of training ahead of them, and the rare opportunity to simply enjoy the fact that, for this moment at least, they were together and things were alright.
'Today had been a good day,' Toshinori thought as he looked out over the city once more. 'And tomorrow was going to be an even better one.'