Spacetime Anomaly: MHA Fanfic

Chapter 5.2: Worthy Inheritor

Almost a quarter after Izuku left the site of the villain's attack, he stopped walking in the direction of his house. Now that he was in a relatively quiet and isolated sidewalk, he asked, "You plan on following me all the way to my home?" He turned to look precipitously at the corner he just turned.

Along his sight there came an all-too-familiar scowl. Though he hadn't seen it for the past decade he would never be able to forget the years of verbal and physical abuse, the scowling teen before him had dealt in his first life.

"Tsk" Katsuki Bakugo, the one Izuku once affectionately called Kacchan, narrowed his eyes as he trash-talked, "Don't get full of yourself. I didn't need your help back there, so don't go thinking I owe you..."

Izuku shook his head and smiled helplessly, 'To think I once thought of him as a friend… Even when I help his case, he fights me. Well, whatever...'

He was about to casually throw some placating words to conclude this interruption to his everyday life, when Katsuki clicked his tongue again and spat, "Che! Don't think I forgot who you are! What? You think you're better than me now just because you got a 'decent' Quirk? Hmph! We'll f.u.c.k.i.n.g see who's the boss at U.A..."

Without another word he turned around and proceeded to start stomping away; presumably to his house. His words genuinely shocked Izuku as he overanalyzed everything to the point of nearly burning off the synapses in his brain, 'What? It's been ten years and he clearly remembers me as he knows I'm Quirkless. And… Did he just acknowledge me? He didn't call me an 'extra' or 'useless.' He's not even picking a fight with me right away!'

As Izuku stood processing the encounter, a new figure emerged from where Katsuki was last seen. This person… "All Might? What do you want?" Izuku quickly gathered his bearings and masked the shock that was still blazing at the recesses of his thoughts as his former idol came out to meet him of his own volition.

"Young man, we really need to talk..." The skeletal figure before Izuku didn't deny being All Might, rather his blue eyes gleamed dangerously at being called by his pro hero name while not assuming his Muscle Form.

"What is there to talk about? I already cleaned up my mess and helped the pros take care of the sludge villain. Do you also want an apology for causing you to come dangerously close to the end of your time limit?" Truth be told, despite learning to be a tad more socially normal from his visits to his local dojo and Old Take's clinic, Izuku still had the attitude of a pushover ingrained his bones. He didn't even think to blame today's encounter on All Might or any of the other pros for being incompetent.

"You… How did you find out about my weakness and time limit," the pro hero's eyes' lost a bit of the dangerous vibe they were putting off as Izuku's cooperative attitude elevated his impression on All Might.

"You want to know?" Izuku deadpanned. A wide array of emotions crossed his eyes, but nothing changed the expression on his face as he explained; everything… It was extremely cathartic being able to tell the truth behind him to another person, but Izuku couldn't help but feel hollow when he concluded. He thought, 'I can tell the person that broke me to the point of committing suicide, but the thought of relaying the same story to my own mother is inconceivable…'

Izuku dwelled in his conflicting emotions until the pro finally finished digesting the bombshell of a story the boy before him had told. He too was feeling a mix of conflicting emotions. On one hand, he had driven a young man past the point of feeling redeemable and he had killed himself, but on the other hand, the boy expressed gratitude as the experience had held shaped his second life. The whole ordeal left him unable to react for a while after he finally believed Izuku.

At first, All Might had been skeptical about whether or not he should believe such an outlandish story. But after Izuku provided bits and pieces of evidence such as recalling the name of the building he had landed on after he flew away from the tunnel, and spoken about how he couldn't have possibly known that the sludge villain would have escaped from his grasp and tried to attack that other young boy, Katsuki, if he hadn't already thought that history would repeat itself from his earlier experiences in the day, All Might couldn't help take his words seriously.

Izuku also didn't look like the type that would lie about this, or lie convincing at all. To the pro hero who had dozens of years worth of experience having to deal with countless people, countless liars, this redoubled his belief that Izuku was telling the truth.

'Unbelievable… This boy… I… I'm ashamed,' All Might thought to himself as he thought deeply on the actions he would have made on an identical timeline where the only difference was whether or not Izuku had his Esper powers. 'To think that I, the so-called Symbol of Peace, would actually drive someone to the point of suicide, through words alone; a fan, too! Have the years of being number one made me lost sight of what's truly important? Have I forgotten my own roots..?'

At that moment, All Might resolved to practice what he preached and believed in his gut instincts. Izuku was exactly the kind of person worthy of inheriting his Quirk, One for All. After all, he's been through, after gaining incredible Esper Powers, he still went about life leading people to believe he was Quirkless; technically he was. The power hadn't gotten to him, he hadn't become spiteful, wrathful, or even arrogant! Staying low-key and even completing several side projects as he grew up which completely aligned with his, All Might's, idea of what it meant to be a true hero… It was all too perfect!

All Might grew incomparably excited as he felt like he had found the treasure he had been seeking for years and it was even greater than he imagined. After quickly checking for any prying eyes, he transformed into the public image of All Might and loudly proclaimed, "Young man! You've shaken me to my core… You're exactly what I've been looking for, so I come now to present you with an offer!"

"Mhmm… What is it?" Izuku thought taken aback as this was the first time he saw the pro transform into his muscle form and not revert out of it, wasn't very emotional seeing his ex-idol speak to him like this. If anything it was kind of expected as he always talked in this grand and majestic pattern; it was no different to hearing him talk on the TV or the radio.

"I believe you are worthy of inheriting my power!" All Might said as he looked up to the sky and stretched out his hands. He was coming dangerously close to looking like some sort of cult leader; as if he expected god rays to descend from the heavens as he spoke…