Grand Revelations

At last, All Might would get some proper answers.

After running down the the road for about ten seconds, All Might finally made it to the beach. Once he did, he saw that the less densely populated area was to his left, where there was more vegetation and no visible buildings. The hero looked down at the boy's unconscious body. He was surprised by how knocked out this child was: even after running at high speeds and jumping, none of this managed to snap him out of unconsciousness. "You must be extremely drained."

The symbol of peace resumed sprinting down the beach for a few seconds, until civilization was more than a mile away. All Might stopped his sprint and gently placed the boy down. Then, the number one hero bent down and began to shake the boy's chest, increasing the intensity of the shaking. However, after a few seconds of this shaking, the esper's eyes did not open.

"Maybe splashing some water on his face will help." All Might dragged Shigeo to the edge of the water, cupped his hands together and splashed the esper's face with the salty water. The teenager's eyes quickly fluttered open, and the hero took a sigh of relief.

"There we go!" All Might backed away and allowed for the young esper to come back to his senses, coughing up the salty water. Well, it was time to question this teenager. The hero knew that he would have to be patient, calm, and willing to listen to whatever this young child had to say. That way, he could defuse the tension and prevent another complicated situation like before form building. When Shigeo saw All Might looking over him, he recoiled and moved his head back.

"Please don't be alarmed!" All Might held his hands out and tried to calm the child down. "I brought you out here to talk with you and try to get some things sorted out! I have no intention of harming you! So please, don't attack like you did before!"

Shigeo Kageyama looked up at the large and muscular man and remembered talking with this man and a teenager before. Then, he recalled something even more shameful: he had allowed his powers to explode, and he had sent both of them flying. Once this memory resurfaced, the grief and guilt over what he did resurfaced along with it, and his eyes shone with regret. "I'm... I'm sorry," said Shigeo, "I didn't mean to hurt you or anyone else. I was just..." Once again, the young student felt tears forming in his eyes, and All Might couldn't help but feel sad for this child.

"Now, now," The number one hero bent down to meet him at his eye-level.

"Don't worry: no one was injured. I understand that you didn't to it on purpose. I won't hold that against you. Now let's take a step back." Shigeo Kageyama could see in this man's eyes that he truly held no malice or disrespect towards him, and only wanted to try and understand what was going on with Shigeo. So he wiped away the tears forming in his eyes and put on a more serious face. "Where did you come from? You said something about Seasoning City. Where is that?"

"Japan."

"Japan?" And with that, All Might's brain began entering a meltdown. The city he came from was in Japan? But if that were true, then this student was indeed correct with his previous assertion: there should have been major news coverage if the events Mob was describing had actually happened. Even if Seasoning City did exist in Japan and All Might just didn't know about it, he still should've been informed a villain attack in the city. But to confirm this, some more questions were in order.

The next thing he needed to find out was whether or not this child was familiar with the general knowledge of this planet to see if Seasoning City was simply in a secluded area of Japan, cut off from rest of the world.

"Are you familiar with the concept of Quirks?"

"No."

"But then, what do you call those powers you displayed earlier?"

"Those are just my psychic powers." That answer didn't really help the hero sort through any of this.

"Alright, alright..." Clearly, All Might needed to be more specific in his questioning. "In Seasoning City, do many people there possess any powers similar to yours?"

"Not really. In Seasoning City, there are barely any people I've met who have psychic powers."

Odd. About 80% of the population possessed a quirk. Even if this Seasoning City was a secluded city in Japan, the idea that there would be so few people with quirks didn't make much sense. "And of the people who do possess these psychic powers, are each of their abilities... unique?"

"Umm..." Shigeo tapped his chin while he tried to understand what he was asking, but he gave All Might a blank stare. "I don't really get it."

The symbol of peace heaved and rested his chin in his hand. He didn't know how to properly explain this. "I mean that with all of these people who you met who have psychic powers, how much do their abilities differ? Do they all have the same range of abilities that you possess, or do they have powers that you don't have? Please try to be as detailed as possible. This information is critical in finding out where you came from and whether or not I can get you back to your friends and family."

"Right." Shigeo tried to remember everything he ever learned about psychic powers and all of the people and evil spirits who possessed psychic powers. "A lot of the espers I've met have different abilities, although they stem from the psychic energy that all espers have. Some espers can use their psychic powers to bulk up their bodies, others can morph their psychic energy to form whips, and a few can channel their energy into plants to command them and make them grow quickly. I've even met an esper who was able to control evil spirits-"

"Hold on," All Might's first interest was that term he just used. "What do you mean by evil spirit? What is that?"

"Where I come from, there're places that are haunted by evil spirits, but you could also call them ghosts. Espers like me are able to exorcise these evil spirits with our psychic powers."

"I understand. Go back to what you were saying about the abilities of these espers."

"Oh. Anyway, there are a lot of abilities that espers have. I've learned that it's possible for me and a few other espers to learn new psychic abilities."

"Huh?" Did he hear this child correctly? It was possible for these "espers" of Seasoning City to learn new abilities?

"It's true. One ability I picked up was the one I mentioned earlier, being able to control and manipulate plants. I'll show you."

Shigeo walked up to the treeline that was about ten meters away. He looked around and decided to do something small, knowing he couldn't try anything crazy with his psychic powers drained. All Might trailed behind him and watched patiently as the child prepared to demonstrate this power he mentioned. Shigeo decided to use a small shrub as his example: he lifted his hand, and the shrub was then shrouded in a light blue aura. All Might let out a faint gasp when he saw the shrub grow a few inches in height. Coupled with his telekinesis, that made two abilities. Except for one other person, he had never seen any quirk user who possessed more than one ability. All Might supposed it was possible, but the possibility was still very slim.

"I'm usually able to do more, but my powers are drained so, so..."Shigeo's sentence began to cut off, and a sense of tiredness that had been following him ever since he first woke up in this new place grew stronger. The hero noticed the child's knee bend, and he would've fallen flat on his face if it wasn't for All Might catching him. The hero looked at the child with more concern.

"What's wrong? Are your previous injuries catching up to you? Do you need to be sent to the hospital?"

"No no, it's not that..." muttered Shigeo, trying to make sure that his eyes didn't shut, "I don't have any bruised muscles or broken bones or anything. It's just that whenever I use my powers too much, I feel really sleepy."

"If that's the case, then take a minute to right yourself." Although he said this, he didn't want this child to waste too much time: after all, he did have a time limit.

"I'll be fine. Just let me splash some water on my face." Shigeo grabbed both of his knees, and pushed himself back up to walk to the edge of the water. Once he reached the ocean, he cupped the water in his hands and splashed it on his face multiple times until he felt it had woken him up enough. "That did it."

Having gotten a good enough explanation of the powers people possessed in his city, All Might decided to move onto the next big question that was on his mind. "How did you get such grievous injuries?"

"Before I woke up and found you and that other kid, I was fighting the boss of this organization called Claw." Already expecting a follow-up question from the hero, Shigeo continued before he could be interrupted. "They're a group of dangerous espers who wanted to take over the world. I fought them once before and thought they would be gone, but it turned out I was wrong."

All Might once again rested his chin on his hand, going over what this meant. He had never heard of any sort of villain organization called Claw. Now, it was possible that this organization was recently formed, so no intelligence agency or hero had any information on them, although it still perplexed him that an organization that had the ability to threaten an entire city wasn't known to the public.

"And did you fight the boss and this organization by yourself?"

"Well, I had a lot of friends and allies who joined the fight against them, though they mostly focused on dealing with the main army and some of their top espers. After facing some of those top espers, I encountered the boss, who I did fight alone."

"How powerful was he?"

"He was definitely the most powerful esper I've ever encountered. It also turned out he had the ability to give and take psychic powers from others, which I'd never seen from any esper before."

All Might felt his heart stop beating. Every blood vessel in his body constricted, and a sense of dread began to hit him at his core. Shigeo's eyes widened slightly when he saw how All Might's gaped open, and his eyes were now flashing with shock and despair. The hero sounded like he was trying to say something, but his words were being caught in his throat.

"Are you all right?" asked Shigeo, "What's wrong?"

It took a few seconds for All Might to speak, and when he did speak, his voice was a hushed whisper. "And did you..." The hero looked like he was struggling greatly to get these next words out, "happen to catch his name?" The hero could not believe it. He had eliminated him in their fight five years ago, the symbol of evil: All for One. He'd ended his reign of tyranny once and for all that day! It couldn't have been him! But who else could have had the ability to give and take powers? If everything this child was saying was really true, if Seasoning City really did exist in Japan and All Might had truly been so ignorant, so foolish to not hear about what was happening in this city, if All for One had truly returned, then All Might really was unworthy of his title as the Symbol of Peace. To imagine a mere child was forced to fight the most powerful villain of all time while he stood idly by, it was perhaps the largest disgrace the hero could think of. So he had to know! He had to know the name of this boss! He had to know whether All for One had returned!

"He said his name was Toichiro Suzuki."

Once this name came out of Shigeo's lips, some of the building pressure and fear inside of All Might was relieved, and the young esper could see the dread in the hero's eyes begin to fade. "His son also told me he'd been stockpiling 20 years worth of psychic energy." This statement appeared to almost completely remove the fear in All Might's eyes, and the hero took a sigh of internal relief. All for One never had any children, and furthermore, he was alive for more than one hundred years, while this other villain was only stockpiling power for twenty years. So whoever this Toichiro Suzuki was, it was now certain to All Might that it wasn't All for One. But despite this, the number one hero was still amazed at the idea that another villain existed that had similar abilities to All for One. It took everything All Might had to defeat the symbol of evil after years of training and preparation, and even then, he'd been grievously injured.

"And you fought this Toichiro Suzuki by yourself?"

"Yea."

"Unbelievable..." All Might put his hand over his eye, and the hero felt himself lose the energy in his legs, plopping down on his butt and kicking up the sand a few inches high. This newest information was the most impactful for the number one hero. What kind of formidable power did this child have? "And how difficult was the battle for you? Were you victorious?"

Shigeo Kageyama looked down at the sand, the memory of the battle and the intensity still fresh in his mind. "I'd say it was the hardest battle I've ever fought: the battle nearly tore the city apart. I was just barely able to hold my own for most of the fight: to try and beat him, I had to..." The young esper closed his eyes, ashamed by what he was about to say but knowing it was what he had to do in that moment, "I had to twist his body beyond repair." The hero grimaced: he remembered smashing All for One's head to end his life, and while it was necessary, he remembered looking at the blood on his hands with disgust. Now imagining a CHILD having to perform something much worse to finish his enemy off, that must have been truly traumatizing.

"I'm sorry to hear that: you must have been truly desperate in order to resort to such measures."

Shigeo was taken aback by this comment and the frown accompanied it. All Might was actually able to understand how he was feeling and what kind of trauma he underwent during this battle. Shigeo couldn't help but form a smile, pleasantly surprised to know this man was able to sympathize with him.

"So I assume that was the end of the battle?"

"Actually, no." The hero's eyes opened up and he leaned slightly forward to hear the explanation for this. "He managed to unleash all of his energy to correct his body. I was able to fight with him for a moment, but he quickly overpowered me. But it turned out that he released too much of his energy at once to try and stop me, and he couldn't control it anymore. It was going to keep growing and growing until it exploded and destroyed the entire city."

"So what did you do?"

"I tried to stop the explosion, so what I did was absorb all of the energy."

"So you mean you have the ability to absorb these psychic powers as well?" said a surprised All Might.

"Yea."

"And you managed to absorb such a large amount of psychic power?"

"Barely. It felt like my entire body was about to explode. I didn't even know if I'd survive with that much power in my body, but somehow I withstand it. After that, I blacked out. That's when you and that other teenager found me."

"I see..." This was a lot of information for the number one hero to take in and process. So many surprises, so many shocking facts. Even now, All Might wasn't sure he could fully believe everything that this child had told him. To imagine a child existed who was strong enough to singlehandedly fend off against a villain as formidable as All for One and who had so many abilities was too much for him to believe. If he was as powerful as he claimed to be, he could very well be a match for All Might himself. Who in God's name was this child?

"So did my explanations help you?" said Shigeo, "Do you think you'll be able to help me find my friends and family based on everything I told you?"

For a second, All Might and Shigeo stared at each other. The hero's gaze was stoic and lifeless, his regular smile now a neutral line, while the esper waited for him to give an answer, the answer he was desperately hoping for. After what seemed like an eternity for Shigeo, the hero closed his eyes and sighed. "Based on everything I've heard thus far, I believe it is possible that you simply became misplaced when you absorbed all of that energy, and it accidentally teleported you. However..." All Might opened his eyes, and the look in his eyes caused Shigeo to tense every fiber in his body.

"This possibility is slim," said All Might, now prepared to take his turn in explaining to Shigeo what was happening and where he was. "I say that because in this society, people possess something called Quirks. Quirks are genetic components that give people supernatural abilities, and there are many Quirks out there that give people vastly different powers, so many that they have to be divided in categories. About 80% of the population has a Quirk, so it would be extremely out of the norm if the city you're from had such few individuals with powers. Also, in this society, there are people who use Quirks to defend the population, and these individuals are known as heroes." All Might pointed his thumb at himself. "As the young boy mentioned before, I am a hero. The number one hero in the world, in fact. Forgive me for my lack of modesty, but that you don't know who I am is also not a good sign."

The esper's fear and insecurity rose, and water was yet again prepared to form into his eyes. The number one hero tried to dissuade the child out of making any conclusions yet. "That isn't to say it's impossible! Do not give up hope! We can still find a way to locate your city!"

Shigeo Kageyama's face froze at how serious All Might was looking at him. From the look in his eyes, he could see that he was determined to help him however he could. Furthermore, he also knew crying and letting his emotions go wild once again wasn't going to get him anywhere and would only cause more destruction. So the young psychic took a deep breath and forced himself to suck his tears back in. "Alright, let's go find my family."

"Excellent. However, until we do, I believe it's best that you stay with me."

"Stay with you?"

"Yes. I believe that for now, while you are in this unknown city with no one to assist you, my apartment will be sufficient enough to accommodate you." More importantly, he wanted to be there to guard this child in case he accidentally lost control of his powers again, but he wouldn't be so rude as to say this out loud. And if this living arrangement was to actually take place, then...

"Now listen here... What's your name again?"

"Shigeo Kageyama."

"Kageyama. What I'm about to show you is something only a few people in the world are aware of." Although it was a risky move to reveal his secret so soon, he knew that if Shigeo was going to be living with him, he couldn't hide his true form from the teenager forever. Besides, All Might could tell that this wasn't a child motivated by greed or money. "If it were revealed, it would deal a great blow to the public. Do you understand? I'm counting on you not to reveal this secret."

"Oh, sure." Shigeo awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. What kind of secret did this man have that was so dramatic? The number one hero took a deep breath in, and relaxed all the muscles in the body. Instantaneously, steam rose all around his body, and the hulking man was replaced by a fragile, skinny skeleton who spewed blood from his mouth. The esper took a frightened step back and gasped.

"Wha-what happened to you?"

The hero wiped the blood from his mouth and sighed. "The form you saw before is what everyone believes I look like 24/7. In reality, this is what I look like for most of the day." All Might lifted up his shirt, and like Izuku, Mob was horrified by the terrible scar he saw on the left side of his chest. "I was gruesomely injured five years ago. That injury nearly destroyed my body and now stops me from using my full power. People depend on me to be the strong, smiling symbol of peace that protects everyone, and if the public found out about this, then their faith in me would be diminished."

"I..." Shigeo Kageyama was baffled by the size of this scar. More importantly, to imagine he was still doing his job as a hero even with that scar was astounding. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Good. Now..." All Might grunted in pain, and forced himself to enter back into his muscular form. He spewed a small trace of blood, and motioned his hand out to Shigeo. "Before we find your family, there's someone I need to find myself. Remember that child you met before?" The esper silently nodded. "I must speak with him now. There's something important I need to tell him."

"Alright." Even though he wanted to find his family, he also didn't want to be pushy and demand anything. Besides, he nearly got that teenager killed: he owed him an apology. "Are you sure you're going to be ok?"

"Don't worry, Kageyama. Now hang on." All Might bent his knees, and began a full-on sprint back to the city as Shigeo held on as tightly as he could. Soon, the three would have a proper reunion.

Things settled down after All Might defeated the sludge villain. The heroes worked alongside the police to gather up all of the sludge villain's body parts and place them in separate bags so he couldn't reform and regain his strength. The citizens were all talking about how they saw All Might up-close. The news crew asked several questions to the heroes who had first arrived on the scene, although the part they played in this villain's defeat was minimal, so there wasn't much they could brag about.

Meanwhile, some of the other heroes scorned Izuku for going into the heat of the battle so recklessly. The Quirkless child couldn't do anything except apologize and bend his head down in shame. Opposite of this was the praise Katsuki Bakugo was receiving for his amazing quirk and ability to stay conscious despite being taken hostage by the sludge villain for several minutes. He should've been taking in all these compliments with his usual confident smirk, but all this praise was falling on deaf ears. No, the explosive student's mind was somewhere else, and his mouth was pursed into a tight line as he gazed at the ground in silence.

With everything settled and the villain taken into custody, Izuku Midoriya was now walking back home with a somber expression on his face. In the end, he didn't do anything except nearly get himself killed and forced All Might to step in even when he was already past his limits. "When I get home, I should post a message on his website. Hopefully, he'll see it and-"

"Hey Deku!" Midoriya was surprised to hear the sound of Kacchan's voice and rapid approaching him. The blonde student panted heavily before he spoke what he wanted to say, because he had quite a lot on his mind. Bakugo felt that what had just happened to him was one of the greatest insults of his life. To imagine that a Quirkless nobody decided to step in and help him, as if he needed it at all, as if his explosive power wouldn't be enough to take care of that damn sludge bastard, was the ultimate disgrace. "Don't think that I'm all grateful for what you did back there! I was perfectly fine without your help! So don't think that what you did amounted to anything! Because it didn't! A Quirkless loser like you will never amount to anything, you got that!?"

Bakugo's eyes were venomous and teeming with rage as he glared at his Quirkless classmate. But now that he had gotten his point across, he decided that he'd had enough and marched off in a loud huff.

Watching Bakugo vent his anger like that, the Quirkless student couldn't help but be confused by what had just happened. He had no understanding of the deep pride and insecurity that defined Katsuki Bakugo. "He's still right," muttered Midoriya, "I didn't do anything in the grand scheme of things, but..." Despite knowing that, he smiled because he didn't stand and watch like a helpless loser, "At least I did something. But now that that's over, I need to get my head straight and get back to the reality of being a Quirkless nobody..."

"I AM HERE!" From the left alleyway, All Might rushed out with his right arm raised back and his left hand bent in front of him. Izuku squealed in surprise: what was All Might doing here? Not only that, but that kid from earlier had his arms wrapped around his neck.

"All Might and that teenager! What are you two doing here?"

"We were looking for you." Shigeo let go of his grip around All Might's neck and lightly jumped back on the ground. The esper rushed up to Izuku, and the Quirkless teenager was taken aback by how ashamed and sad the esper's face was. "I know that you're probably really confused by what I did, but I want you to know that I'm really sorry. Losing control like that was never my intention." Shigeo ran his hand through his hair and gazed at the ground, too filled with shame to look at Izuku in the eyes.

"H-hey," Midoriya didn't have it in him to criticize or attack him. It just wasn't in his nature, and he could see how much inner conflict this teenager was going through. "You don't have to make it a big deal. I wasn't hurt at all."

"Yes, that's what I told young Kageyama before." All Might walked up to the esper's side and drew Midoriya's attention to him. "Now then, regarding-" The hero's body collapsed, and he spat out a somewhat copious amount of blood, causing both students to gasp with fear and shock. However, both the students were also frightened by the fact that he had just deflated in front of the other.

"Wai-"

All Might held both his hands up to the students to stop their concerns. "I've already revealed my true form to both of you individually, so don't worry." Shigeo and Izuku calmed themselves down. "Moving on, the reason I was looking for you was so I could thank you for stepping in when you did, as well as to talk about your previous question. If you hadn't intervened when you did, if you hadn't told me about your life as a Quirkless child, I would have been nothing but a useless spectator watching as the other heroes tried to stop that villain."

While All Might and Shigeo had been sprinting to Izuku's location, the hero told Shigeo about what had happened, although he left out the part about the villain being the sludge creature he'd accidentally released when he unleashed his psychic energy blast. The young esper was absolutely amazed by what he heard. To imagine that a kid with no powers would decide to go into a battle like that, it was something that Shigeo had never heard before. For the esper, running into a battle to save people was something he'd always found extremely easy. With his psychic powers, he could usually handle evil spirits and other espers without major trouble. But to imagine running into those fights without his powers to back him? He'd never pondered the implications of this before.

"No no, I really didn't do anything! All I did was get in the way, and-"

"Let me finish." The number one hero wanted to get his point across, for what he wanted to say to this young child was very important. "You told me about how you had no powers, so when I saw you, a meek, Quirkless child rush into action to save a life, it inspired me to join in and take action." Izuku and Shigeo slightly widened their eyes, listening with intent and curiosity.

"When every story of a hero is born, almost all of them have the same beginning: the hero's body move before they had a chance to think, acting on instinct to save a life." The Quirkless child's eyes sparkled with light, and he looked to the ground to hide his face being filled with an onslaught of new emotions. In the wake of everything that All Might was telling him, the words of Izuku's mother were coming back to him.

"I'm sorry, Izuku! I wish things were different!"

The young student tightly gripped his chest, bending further down as his emotions came pouring out of him. Shigeo gasped when he saw the tears forming in this teenager's eyes. Did this really mean that much to him?

All Might continued. "Today, I saw your story begin." The tears rolled down his cheeks, flowing down his nose and dripping onto the pavement. As the shock and gratitude of All Might's words took their effect, he dropped to his knees. That day, his mother couldn't say the words he needed to hear. His life story was being told his dream was a fantasy. Now, at long last, the number one hero of the world, the person he held the highest admiration and deepest respect for, was finally giving him the hope for his dream he had yearned for all his life.

"Young man, you too can become a hero!"

With that, Izuku Midoriya could no longer contain himself, and began to bawl uncontrollably, the tears forming a puddle on the ground. Shigeo's eyes sparkled with newfound shock. So much raw emotion coming from him. It was something he'd never encountered in anyone besides himself.

All Might stood silently as the Quirkless child released all of his emotions. He could only imagine how much of an impact his words would have on a Quirkless young boy who always wanted to be a hero since childhood. It was quite literally a dream come true. Well, All Might was about to make that dream even more amazing than he ever thought possible.

"I hereby deem you worthy to inherit my quirk!"

When these words reached Midoriya's ears, he felt his entire brain was about to explode. "What?"

The Quirkless student looked up at All Might with watery eyes and water marks on his face while drool dribbled down his chin. "You said inherit? What do you mean inherit?"

In the face of all this emotion, All Might couldn't help but find humor in Midoriya's priceless expression, and he let out a hefty roar. "The look on your face! My god, you don't have to worry! But listen up!" The number one hero raised his finger in the air, and pointed it down at Midoriya. "This is your choice: would you like to inherit this quirk or not?"

Both Shigeo and Izuku were unable to comprehend exactly what All Might was talking about. "Inherit a quirk?" asked the esper, "How does that even work?"

"Well Kageyama," Since the teenager already knew about his true form, it really didn't do any harm to tell him about the true nature of his quirk. "The true nature of my abilities is slightly similar to yours. Many journalists and news outlets have always tried to guess my quirk is super strength or invulnerability, and whenever I'm asked the question in interviews, I crack a joke and dodge the question." All Might turned his gaze back to Midoriya. "I do this because the people need to believe their symbol of peace was naturally born with this quirk. However, this quirk is nothing natural at all! The truth is," the number one hero raised his hands into the air and looked to the sky, "My power was given to me by someone else! And now, I can give this power to you!"

"Huh." Shigeo was not very impressed or surprised by this statement, although Midoriya, on the other hand, was absolutely amazed by this new information. Not only by All Might talking about his quirk, but by this teenager's powers as well.

"Wait, wait hold on a second. This is too much for me to take in! It's true that no one exactly knows what your quirk is. In fact, it's been one of the most heavily debated topics on the internet. Everybody's made their guesses, but nobody's been able to pinpoint exactly what it is. But, to imagine that it's possible to transfer a quirk, that's... insane." Midoriya's attention diverted to Shigeo, "And what did you mean your quirk was like All Might's quirk? What exactly is your quirk anyway? How does your power connect to All Might's quirk?" The Quirkless teenager continued to mumble several questions to himself, failing to come to grips with everything that was being explained to him.

All Might and Shigeo watched in confusion while Midoriya continued to murmur all these questions.

"You're putting too much thought into this. Now stop nerding out!"

Midoriya's sentence was cut off as All Might shot his arms out to his sides. "You'll just have to adjust your mindset and accept this truth as reality!" All Might motioned his hand to Shigeo. "Regarding his abilities, that requires a longer story, a more in-depth explanation and a physical demonstration for another day. But the bottom line is that my quirk can be passed on to you.

"It's name," All Might extended his palm out, "Is One for All."

"One... For... All..."

The number one hero continued, "One person receives this power, improving upon it and increasing its strength, then passes it onto another person, repeating the cycle and increasing its power as it continues to be passed on from hero to hero. It is this power that makes me what I am, allows me to be the man who can save those who need to be saved."

Midoriya was beginning to get a general grasp of the quirk, even if he was still coming terms to its possibility, but one question still perplexed him. "But... what makes you think I'd be worthy of such an amazing quirk? I mean, what if I'm not able to use this power to its fullest potential?"

"I was on a long and fruitless hunt to find a successor worthy enough to inherit One for All. But today, I saw you jump into action while the rest of us watched as helpless citizens. You may be just a Quirkless fanboy, but you have the heart a true hero!"

"Yea." Midoriya was surprised when he heard Shigeo jump into the conversation with a small smile on his face and passionate eyes. "What you did was pretty cool."

The Quirkless student was once again touched by the lofty words All Might was using to describe him, and although Shigeo's words didn't have nearly the same impact, they were nevertheless enough to cause Izuku's heart to stir slightly. Midoriya's eyes watered yet again, and truth be told, All Might had seen enough watery eyes today.

"Seriously!" The number one hero slapped his hand to his head repeatedly, "You've gotta stop being such a crybaby if you want my quirk, alright?"

The Quirkless student tightened his fingers and tried to come to grips with everything he had just been told. All Might had been so open with him, trusting him with the nature of his quirk and even offering him the chance to inherit his quirk. What greater opportunity would ever approach him? It was everything he ever dreamed of right in front of him! So he quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeve and lifted himself off the ground to stand with confidence. "I'll do it! I'll accept this Quirk!"

The symbol of peace took his hand off of his face and smiled. "That's what I like to hear! Very good!" All Might turned his body to the left and began a walking pace. "Meet me at the Dagoba Municipal Beach Park in two days! I'll explain more about my Quirk once we meet again. For now, I need to take care of some business with young Kageyama here."

"Oh... Well, nice to meet you, Kageyama."

"Yea," replied the esper. Shigeo made the unlikely action of extending his hand. "Congratulations, uhhh..." Shigeo's voice petered out, and he awkwardly stood there with his hand extended since he didn't know the Quirkless boy's name.

Izuku returned the handshake with a small smile. "My name's Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

"Midoriya." The Quirkless child eliminated the awkwardness Shigeo was feeling, and the sweat beads growing on the esper's face quickly disappeared.

"Well, see you later."

The two exchanged small smiles, and with that, Shigeo released his hand and began to walk down the road alongside All Might. Izuku stared at the pair for a moment, watching as they walked together to do whatever it was they needed to do.

"What a day." The Quirkless teenager rotated his body and began to walk back home, now leaving Shigeo and All Might to their affairs.

As the esper and the hero began to walk down the road, Shigeo's eyes were elevated slightly downward, and the teenager crossed his arms. All Might took note of Shigeo's physicality, and realized that he must've been in deep thought about something. But what? Was he confused about All Might's quirk? Was he still feeling shocked about the possible loss of his family? Was it something that was said during the conversation with Midoriya? All Might just couldn't tell.

"Kageyama? What's on your mind?"

The esper sighed and decided to unload exactly what was on his mind at the moment, and it wasn't what All Might thought it would be. "I'm just thinking about how much being a hero meant to Midoriya."

"Hmm?" Truth be told, All Might thought that question didn't make any sense. "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know..." Shigeo lifted his head up to the sky and slapped his palm to the back of his neck, thinking of the words to articulate what exactly he was trying to express. "I just can't really understand why having powers or being a hero would be so meaningful to someone. I mean, what would becoming a hero do for him? What would gaining your Quirk do for Midoriya?"

Just when All Might thought he'd gotten to get a general grasp of who Shigeo Kageyama was, this statement completely twisted his initial perception of him. For any normal person, they would probably spend every night wishing they had the power Shigeo possessed. If the esper was as powerful as he claimed to be, then he should've been one of the most popular people in his city.

All Might stopped in his tracks, causing Shigeo to look back at All Might with confusion. "That... The answer to that question should be obvious for you!" The hero realized the hint of rudeness in that statement, and dialed his shock down. "Forgive me, but I just can't imagine that someone who has the powers you have would ever ask that! Aren't you popular at your school?"

"No, not at all."

"But-But aren't people aware of the power you possess? Haven't you shown them what you can do with your psychic powers?"

The young esper shook his head, ready to tell All Might the same thing he told everyone else whenever they suggested that having psychic powers made him better or that he should use them to impress others. "No. Either way, I've learned having psychic powers doesn't make you popular."

"Huh?"

"More than that, my powers don't make me better than anyone else. If I live a life using only my psychic powers, then I'll completely neglect any other potential I have inside of me." The young esper flexed his hands out and slapped his palms to his chest. "There're people out there with gifts and talents I can't hope to match, which is why I'm trying to improve myself in other ways, to live a life where I don't have to rely on my powers for everything."

All Might couldn't help but be momentarily stunned. Shigeo saw the expression of disbelief on All Might's face and got a general prediction of what the hero would do next. After seeing the way so many other espers initially react to these beliefs, he knew that someone as powerful and popular as All Might who was revered for his powers would likely view his ideology as ridiculous or stupid. Shigeo's assumptions were proven correct when the first thing All Might did was laugh.

The symbol of peace began to lightly chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I get why a big hero like you would find it stupid, but it's the truth."

"No, no." The number one hero raised his hand up to Shigeo, regaining his composure "I'm not laughing because what you said sound stupid. I'm laughing because of how ironic your situation is."

It was Shigeo's turn to be confused. "How is my situation ironic?"

"Well, in our society, so many people put a person's worth in their quirks. People with powerful quirks become enraptured by the power they possess and think that they're better than everyone else. I've met so many powerful heroes who've been fueled by this belief and completely ignore their faults, so consumed by their own greatness. So when I met you today and heard your story, I believed that you were one of these people. It turns out I was wrong."

All Might placed his hands on Shigeo's shoulders once again, and the young esper's eyes glowed with amazement like they did before on the beach. During the time All Might had been with him, the hero had come to see something rare inside of Shigeo Kageyama. Unlike many other children with quirks of his age, he wasn't motivated by power or a desire for greatness. He didn't allow himself to be defined by his powers. Instead, he only desired to live a life where he was valued for something other than his powers. "We've only interacted for a short period of time, but I have to say there's something special about you, too. You're a humble soul who doesn't allow the ego of his powers to define him and who fought to defend his city and its people. You may view yourself as just a loser, but I see something special within you, just like young Midoriya."

"Ahhh..." Shigeo Kageyama had never heard anyone talk to him with the respect and admiration All Might was showing him right now. Not even his master had ever spoken of him with such amazement. To be valued and appreciated for his character, it felt pretty amazing for Shigeo. For the third time that day, the young esper's eyes began to well up.

"God, you and him both," All Might remarked, shaking his head and crossing his arms. It became apparent to the hero that this child didn't have much self-confidence, even with his psychic abilities. What an interesting character Shigeo Kageyama was.

The esper wiped away the tears, although his eyes were still shining with appreciation. "Thank you, All Might."

"Don't sweat it, kid." The number one hero patted the young esper on the back, and the two super-powered humans resumed their walk back to All Might's apartment.