19

Chapter 19: Chapter #19 | Silent Judgement

Notes:

Hey everyone! With this chapter we officially move into canon territory. I hadn't planned on the chapter being as long as it ended up. But I told you all we were going to move into canon this chapter and I was damn well keeping that promise. So have a 7.6k chapter!

Chapter Text

Izuku stepped into the lobby of Moonlit Industries to find a very tired looking Mei resting her head against the reception desk. He didn't even have to ask the question on both his and Dabi's minds before she was looking at the two of them and speaking. "Kyoka was pretty messed up. I cleaned her up, stitched up her lacerations, set her nose, and sedated her. She's asleep right now in the one-oh-four since it's spare. Himiko moved over from one-oh-five for the night to keep an eye on her. Has the bastard been dealt with?"

Mei didn't need the confirmation. She could see clear as day the blood drenching Izuku. Blood that hadn't come from the undercover officer. She could smell the soot and ash on the two, as well, so that answered where the body went. But she still wanted to hear it, wanted to hear that the bastard had been dealt with the way he should be dealt with. It had taken a while for Mei to get used to having Kyoka around, as she wasn't an engineer like them. But even she had to admit that she had grown to be family.

Dabi nodded his head slowly, wary that Izuku's bloodlust seemed to be rubbing off onto his partner. "Yeah, gearhead. Nothing left of him now, but Midoriya didn't let him get away with it." She stared for a long moment into his eyes before letting out a breath that she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. She tossed Izuku his phone before stepping towards the doors that led deeper into the facility.

"You made the call to put him at contain rather than eliminate when you found him to be lurking around Don't Fret. You get to make the call to her parents." Izuku sighed and nodded. Yeah, he would make the call, even if it was going to be an unpleasant one.

"What does she mean 'put him at contain,' boss? You said it before, as well. He moved from contain to eliminate." Izuku glanced over to Dabi before peering back at his phone, looking for the Jiros' contact information.

"I run on a DCE protocol in both combat zones and in the information I gather. Deescalate, contain, eliminate. I gave Tajima a warning to stay away from mine about a year and some change back after he had followed Kyoka and myself to her home. Since then, he hasn't done anything other than occasionally follow her around. As such, I deemed the situation contained. I was evidently wrong. I don't know as of yet what triggered the escalation in his behavior, and frankly? I don't care. Once the situation has moved past containment, I'll eliminate it without hesitation. I won't be making that mistake again. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make a phone call. You go ahead and clock out for the day, Dabi. I won't be sleeping tonight."

Dabi nodded his head and was more than happy to get some sleep. His boss may have fixed up his body and given him some upgrades, but that didn't mean that he had the unending well of energy that Midoriya seemed to have. As he walked deeper into the facility, he contemplated Midoriya's DCE system and wondered. Just how many people sat on the knife's edge of elimination and would never know it?

…

It was just past midnight when both of the Jiros came barging through the front doors of Moonlit Industries, wearing panic on their faces. Izuku wasn't surprised when Kyotoku was the first to speak, nor was he surprised with the sheer amount of alarm and downright fear that the man was acting with. "Where is she?! Where is my baby girl?!"

Izuku wanted to sigh right then, because he knew this was going to be painful for them to hear. But he knew if he did, he would only set them more on edge than they already were. "As I said on the phone, there has been a bit of an incident-"

"You didn't say much of anything on the phone. You just told us that something had happened and that we needed to get down here quickly. What happened, where is our daughter, wh-" Luckily for Izuku, before he could be overwhelmed by the frantic father figure, Kyoka's mother stepped up.

It was fairly evident that Mika Jiro was the more sensible of the two at this moment. She was clearly panicked but was, thankfully, retaining her senses and not giving in to the fear like her husband was. "Let Izuku explain, Kyotoku. I'm sure that if he's called us down here at midnight, then it isn't something we would want to be explained on the phone."

Izuku gave a rueful smile to Mika before thanking her and continuing with his explanation. "Thank you, Mrs. Jiro. You're quite right, this isn't something you should hear over the phone. Around eleven-thirty, my head of security and I were alerted by our security system that there was a man following Kyoka with what seemed to be the intent to attack her. As such, we both took off running to intercept. Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time to stop the attack." Izuku wasn't going to tell them that the shattered concrete outside had been from them taking off at full speed, but all the same, both parents sucked in a breath as he continued. "We did, however, get there in time to stop your employee, Tajima Toru, from doing anything more than just hitting her."

Izuku let the implications of that sink in for the parents. It was a lot to process in one go. He could tell when it had sunk in, as both parents went deathly white as the blood leached out of them. Before they could start asking questions, Izuku continued with the information dump, knowing it was better to get it all out in one go.

"Before I say anything else, let me say that she is alright physically. She has a concussion, several stitches, and a broken nose. Besides that, though, she has no physical injuries. I stress the word physical because this is going to be hard on her mentally. She is trying to be a hero, and yet she was placed in such a situation where she had to be rescued a second time. Kyoka is going to need you two when she wakes up."

Kyotoku took a step forward and was going to take another towards Izuku when Mika placed a hand on his arm to hold him back. "You call that alright physically?! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Izuku frowned now, because clearly it hadn't sunken in as deeply as he'd hoped. "Yes, I do. Compared to what could have happened to her, yes. She is alright physically."

"What happened to Tajima?" Izuku looked now to Mika as she spoke to him. Her eyes were hard, her fear having morphed into fury. "We terminated his employment last week because he was violating several rules. Do we need to worry about him again?"

Ah. There's the catalyst. She doesn't need to know that, though. Izuku's smile went from rueful to cold and sharp. "Oh no, Mr. and Mrs. Jiro. You won't need to worry about him ever again. I've made sure of that." The smile and tone sent chills up their spine. They had thought Kyoka had been joking when she had told them Izuku could be scary occasionally. Now they understood wholeheartedly what she had meant. "You'll find Kyoka asleep in apartment one-o-four on the top floor. You're all welcome to stay as long as she needs."

…

It had taken a week for Kyoka to heal and go home, and though she bore no physical signs from the attack besides the new scar gracing her lips, she clearly wasn't alright mentally. She had tried to tell him she was fine, but he knew better than anyone the signs of trauma. He leaned back in his desk chair as he thought about it. He spent most of his nights here in his office, parsing through paperwork and other administrative tasks that needed to be handled, but tonight it seemed he had other issues pressing on his mind. They had eleven months until the entry exams for U.A University, and Mei had only just gotten through the worst of the attack on their headquarters.

If Kyoka was going to be a hero, then he'd have to take a more active role in her recovery. Not that he minded, of course, but he'd have to be careful. These things tended to heal the best with time and support. Rushing it could cause the opposite of what they wanted. Mei had been right when it came to the wall thickness. It was an oversight. He should have had them soundproofed. Kyoka had insisted a couple days into her stay that they get back to their training regime, but Izuku had known that would have been disastrous. She was still jerking when people made unexpected movements around her, and though Izuku doubted she noticed it, her focus wasn't there at all. He had told her to rest for the rest of the month before they got back to it, and Izuku could only hope that she would be ready to get back to training when it was time for it.

Izuku stood up with a snap out of his desk chair, bringing his weapon out of its holster in one swift movement to point out across his office. It took only a few moments for Phoenix to speak to him. "Izuku? What's wrong? There is nothing there, and I'm not picking anything up on the sensors." He grimaced, because that meant the sensors weren't picking up what he was sensing, and that meant only one thing he could think of.

"Enough toying around. If you want to have a conversation, then come on out. Otherwise, get the fuck out of this facility." Izuku was beginning to get annoyed now. It was one thing to barge into their headquarters. It was another entirely to both barge in and be impolite when you did it. Seconds stretched into tens of seconds before finally, a purple swirl appeared in the middle of the room and all hell broke loose with their alarm system. An ear-splitting klaxon ripped through the facility and the defense systems engaged.

Izuku wasn't worried about Mei and Himiko, as Phoenix reported to him that they had reached the panic room on the residential floor and she had full control of the thirty-millimeter turrets around the facility. He did decide he would have to bump the automaton project up on priority, though, if they were going to keep having these kinds of incidents. Dabi slammed the door open, blue flames already creeping up his arms, as one large man stepped out of the purple swirl, the mist coalescing into a person.

The purple mist of a man was standing behind the bigger man, so Izuku made the assessment of which was in charge. The moment he focused his attention fully on the boss, there were several details he took in. He was large, even to Izuku who had now reached six foot two. If he had to guess, the man was about seven-six, and while he wasn't huge, he gave the impression of power both with his demeanor and his presence. Both men wore well-tailored suits that, had the circumstances been different, Izuku might have complimented them on. It was when Izuku took in the man's face, or lack thereof, that he tsked his tongue, cursing in his head. He recognized the man from the whispers of the underground.

He put his sidearm back into its holster and sat down with a glare on his face. Phoenix, Dabi. Stand down. There isn't anything you can do about this one, and you would just get in my way. Dabi, go get Mei and Himiko out of here just in case. Dabi jerked. It was the first time Izuku had chosen to speak to him through his implants, but he quickly realized the gravity of the situation. As he moved away from the door and quickly towards the stairs, Izuku spoke. "And to whom do I credit the displeasure of a visit from the boogeyman of the underground? All for One."

…

"I see that you know who I am, young man. I must say that I am surprised you would be so blunt with me." The large man had taken one of the seats across from Izuku and crossed his hands on his left leg after laying it across his right. "But we can still have some decorum, no?"

Izuku narrowed his eyes, wanting to curse. This was going to be a massive pain in his ass. "If you wanted decorum, then you should have made an appointment like a normal person rather than use," Izuku gestured to the well dressed purple mist, "a Church of Clarity teleporter. Though now that I see you together, I suspect he's been more of a go-between."

Though he couldn't see All for One's eyes, he could certainly read his body language, and it was displeased when he spoke of the CoC. "Yes, a failed experiment that has gotten very out of hand. I would prefer it if you didn't associate Kurogiri and me with them. I suppose you are correct, though, so I'll get to the point. You have something that is of interest to me. Or, should I say, several pieces of technology that you and your partner are working on."

"Please, go on. Because if you are simply requesting them, then you can leave." Izuku hadn't stopped glaring at the two men, and the tension in the room was rising. The atmosphere was suffocating with pressure, and if it had been physical, then sparks would have rained down around the room.

All for One chuckled. He had to admit that he liked the spirit of this one, even if he wasn't crazy about someone not knowing their place. "Of course I'm not asking for something without compensation. You are quirkless, are you not? How would you like a quirk of your very own? Or you could even join us. The League of Villains would always welcome someone as brilliant as yourself."

Izuku sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back, as if giving it a moment's thought, before smiling. While All for One had seen the sheer animosity before and was able to keep from flinching, Kurogiri was not, and he involuntarily took a step back. "I must say, had you come to me only a couple years ago with that offer? I may have just taken you up on it. But I have to say, I have no interest whatsoever in having a quirk now. I've made peace with my quirklessness. I've found a better solution, after all. As for your offer to join you, well, I'm going to have to decline. While I may not have any love for most heroes, I have absolutely no love for men like yourself who would inflict suffering on the innocent just for your own gain. I'm sorry but I am very busy and if that was your proposal then the both of you can show yourselves out the way you came in."

All for One glared now at Izuku, and if looks could kill, then they both would have been dead by this point. "You misunderstand. That is the easy, friendly way of doing things. If it comes to it, I could kill you and your partner right now and take what I want." All for One may have been okay with the slightly crazy energy before, but even he could feel the pressure that was emanating from the boy now. The sheer bloodlust and fury on their own would have been enough to startle him in their amounts, but the presence he felt from the child now was on par with All Might in his prime.

Izuku's eyes were glowing again as he growled his words at All for One. "Lupus non timet canem latrantem. You are right, this is the easy way of doing things. You may be able to harm me, as I don't have my equipment, but do you really think that you'll get out of it unscathed, Muninn Shigaraki?" It was All for One's turn to jerk now. The boy, no, the beast that sat in front of him spoke his real name that should have been lost with time with such ease that it was no guess. A name he had believed removed from all sources. The shadows in the room seemed to darken as All for One was locked into those pits of viridian fire, and he could feel the eyes of a predator on him like he hadn't felt for a very long time.

"Or do you think that I don't recognize a respirator when I see one? Even if it is a fancy one made to look like a creepy-ass skull mask. Even if you could kill me and get away, do you think the heroes wouldn't come in time? Wouldn't figure it out? That the government watching this facility wouldn't have something to say? You would so easily violate the treaties by attacking a Japanese asset? No, you are a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them, Shigaraki. You can't afford that. Let me make something clear for you right now, though. I have no interest in the feud you have going with the number one for some reason. I don't even particularly care why. But if you come after one of my own? I will make your life a living hell. I don't have the qualms that normal heroes have. I will hunt and kill anyone and everyone that chooses to associate with you. I wonder. How will you explain to Tomura in Hell why his last moments were him choking on his own blood. Make an appointment like a normal person, and come with a proper business deal. For now however, last warning before I get impolite. Get out of my office."

All for One could see now the danger that was in front of him. This was no mere boy, and he would be damned if he was quirkless. His eyes glowed like jade fire while his snarling sounded like the growl of a panther. His incisors had grown in his mouth as he got angrier, and the wood of the desk was cracking with the pressure Midoriya was placing on it with his hands. The grim reaper's blade was wrapping around everyone's throats and it would seem he'd need to leave before this thing decided to take his head off. "How disappointing. I suppose we'll have to see again in the future which of us will get what they want. Won't we? Kurogiri, we're leaving."

…

It took Izuku far longer to calm himself than he would have liked. This was the second time this month someone had dared threaten those around him. He hadn't had problems like this controlling his anger since he first got spliced. His claw had been able to take care of themselves. Had been able to defend one another. Now someone dared to threaten the members that couldn't? It would appear that even he had some self-control training to do. He couldn't afford to go off on every villain that took a swing at Kyoka in the future.

Izuku reached up to his ear, tapping the communicator under it and connecting to Mei and Dabi. "We're clear. But we need to talk."

…

Izuku weaved left and right between the steady, controlled swings that Kyoka sent his way. Up until this point, he hadn't swung back, as he was still testing her focus. But he needed to know if she was up for this. She swung at him fast with several quick jabs that he was quick to step out of. And when she brought her last blow out towards him in a full-powered punch of where she believed he would be, he sidestepped, rotating his body and using the centripetal force to swing the back of his fist around towards her face.

He stopped just before hitting her but could already see the effect. She stumbled back, gasping for breath, her eyes clouded. She stumbled and fell on her rear as she struggled to pull herself together. Izuku simply wrapped her up in his arms and cooed. "You're fine, Kyoka. It's fine, there is plenty of time. Focus on my breathing now, deep breaths."

When she had calmed down enough that she wasn't panicking, she teared up again out of frustration. "God damn it!" She punched the padded floor before continuing. "No, Izuku, it's not okay. I've been training for over a year with you and I still got my ass handed to me and had to be rescued. If that happened in the field, I would be dead or would have endangered someone else."

"Kyoka, you just turned eighteen, and you may have combat training, but you have absolutely no field training. You can't be expected to be able to deal with crisis situations yet. No one is judging you, and it could have happened to anyone."

"It never would have happened to you or Dabi." She spit the words back bitterly at Izuku, but he couldn't blame her. She was right. It wouldn't have happened to either of them, but Dabi had been surviving for a long time and Izuku was barely human. It wasn't a fair comparison her brain was providing her. She had a look on her face of revelation, though, and he didn't like where she was going with that train of thought.

"That's it! How could I have been so blind?" Izuku simply started shaking his head, trying to cut her off there, but she just plowed right over him. "You just need to do what you did to Dabi, to me. He got way stronger after you did whatever it was that you did. He can even land the occasional blow on you when he spars with you."

"No. Absolutely not." Kyoka shot him a look that was mixed with betrayal and hurt. "Dabi has years of field experience that you don't. You'll get there eventually. It's all a matter of time."

"Please, Izuku." She grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him. "I won't screw up again, and you wouldn't have to worry about me getting into trouble."

"I don't worry about you getting into trouble, because I know that by the time we're through U.A. that you'll have the field experience to handle yourself. You didn't screw up, Kyoka. You did nothing wrong. You were simply the victim of a crazy lunatic who ambushed you."

"And what if I get ambushed again, huh? If you fix me, then I'll be able to deal with the situation." Kyoka had barely gotten the words out when Izuku shouted, and she jerked, fear trying to bubble up in her gut as she shoved the feeling down.

"NO." Izuku winced when he heard how that came out and once again softened his voice. "I'm sorry, Kyoka. I didn't mean to yell. You don't know what you're asking me to do to you. You aren't aware of what you are trying to give up. I don't need to fix you because there is nothing wrong with you. Please see that." Izuku sighed and reached up, wrapping his hands around Kyoka's on his shoulders. "I don't need to tell you to keep this a secret, Kyoka, but I rewrote our genomes. We aren't human, Kyoka. Please don't ask me to chip away at your humanity for the wrong reasons."

Kyoka's eyes widened as she realized what Izuku was telling her. "How much?" She choked the words out. Izuku looked at her quizzically before she clarified. "How much of yourself did you alter."

Izuku grimaced and looked away from Kyoka's questioning, curious, horrified stare. "Dabi's genome is still ninety-six percent human. He's the least altered out of everyone I've worked on."

"Izuku. That's not what I asked." Izuku shook his head, taking a step away from her and to one of the many weapon racks around the room.

"It doesn't matter. But I'll make you a deal. We have just over ten months until the entrance exams. I'll start training you in weapons, though it is a bit early. We'll revisit this topic after you've made it into the hero course, and if you still feel like you need it, then and only then will we speak of this again."

…

Izuku was walking back from their local grocer with the ingredients he would need to make their dinner. Himiko had surprised them by wanting to try jambalaya, and he was more than happy to oblige, as Cajun was a favorite of his. That being said, while they'd already had the shrimp and rice, he'd still had to go get sausage and a couple spices.

He was walking back to the headquarters and through an underpass, checking off items in his head to make sure that he'd gotten everything, when his instincts started screaming at him. Izuku threw himself forward into a roll and sprung up into a crouch just in time to witness the manhole cover he had just been over fire out of its slot like an explosion had gone off.

The gurgling sound of liquid trying to form words was enough to disgust anyone. "Hmm, a large invisibility cloak. I don't have time to find someone else with that freak behind me. Just behave and let me control you for a bit, eh?" As the sludge lunged at Izuku, he rattled off ideas in his head, time seeming to slow down. Knife? Can't see any vitals in the dark of this tunnel. Gun? Same issue. Brute force dispersal of liquid? Not elegant but the best solution at the moment. Izuku placed one hand out, sliding into a low stance as he prepared to scatter the liquid that was charging towards him. Both sides froze in place when a boisterous laugh began to echo from the manhole cover.

"Don't worry, young man! I'm here!" Izuku had time to process that it was All Might that had come out of the hole when he realized his fist was cocked back. Oh hell, doesn't he realize that-

The wind tore down the underpass, causing the liquid abomination to be splattered across the walls and Izuku to get launched out the other side of the makeshift cannon that was the wind tunnel of an underpass. Izuku skidded to a stop after several feet and could feel the scrape up his knee from the asphalt. He took a moment to check that his knee was regenerating and looked up to find that the number one hero had found a bottle and, utilizing his speed, had shoved most of the villain into it.

"I'm really sorry that you got involved in this, young man! I've been chasing this villain for some time but almost lost him in the sewers around here."

Izuku waved off the apology. It wasn't a big deal, and no one ended up hurt, anyway. "What are you doing here in Musutafu, anyway, All Might? Your office is in Tokyo."

"Sorry, young man, but I can't answer that question! It's a secret for now, after all." Izuku could understand very well the need for secrecy in their line of work, so that answer didn't surprise him at all. "Now, young man, I must be going! I have to get this villain to the police, after all!" Izuku frowned and his eyebrows pinched together. There were many things wrong here. Besides that, though, if he jumped with that bottle unsecured in his pocket, it was going to come out.

Izuku reached into his grocery bag that had fallen to the side, pulling out some of the sausages and removing the twine from the butcher's packaging. All Might could use it to secure the top of the pocket over the bottle. Izuku placed his hand on the shoulder of the hero to suggest the course of action and was suddenly flying through the air while holding onto the number one hero.

"Huh?! What are you doing, young man! Let me go!" You've gotta be shitting me. Did he just suggest I let go of him while flying through the air? You know what? Let's see how he deals with his orders being followed. Izuku quirked an eyebrow and simply gave him an alright before letting go and dropping towards the nearest rooftop.

…

Izuku stood up with a groan as All Might landed beside his impact site on the rooftop. The man looked panicked, and that look definitely didn't abate when he watched Izuku pop his own shoulder back into its socket. "Are you crazy, young man? What if you had died?"

Izuku gave the number one hero a glare that told him he was having none of it. "Am I crazy? I should be asking you that, All Might. First, you have the situational awareness of a gods damn sloth, in which you don't realize you've placed the bottle in your pocket in such a way that it will fall out. Which, might I note, it has, and you've now lost the villain. And when I go to suggest you a solution, you damn near launch me into the stratosphere because you couldn't pay attention and realize someone had a hand on your shoulder."

All Might took a nervous step back from the boy as he tore into him. "Then, when we're in the air, you give the order to let go. Because clearly, that was a plan you'd thought out so well. What the hell were you thinking." He took another step back and coughed. Shit, I don't have any time left. Steam was beginning to pour off of him, and Midoriya hadn't missed the detail. "You're trying to force your big form, aren't you? That can't be healthy, so drop the act, All Might."

"Wha-!" All Might took a hard step back now into the edge of the roof before deflating, coughing and spitting crimson all over the ground. "How did you know about that, boy?!" Midoriya's cold glare bored into All Might and sent chills down his spine. He'd felt a gaze like that before, and it shouldn't have been coming out of a child, barely an adult.

"All Might, I'm shocked that more people haven't realized. You are absolutely terrible at keeping secrets. You've been caught transforming on at least half a dozen alleyway security feeds since arriving in Musutafu. The only thing I don't know is why. If it's simply a transformative augmentation quirk, then that would be one thing, but since you're literally spitting your blood across the roof, I'm guessing that's not it."

All Might sighed, rubbing at his face with his hands. Had he really been that careless with security feeds? "Considering that you haven't been spreading around what you have found out, I can safely assume that you understand this is a major secret, yes?" Midoriya nodded and All Might continued, pulling up his shirt. "This is a wound a villain gave me five years ago. I haven't told the public about my condi-" All Might jerked again, cutting off his explanation when the boy rapidly closed the distance between them to examine his wound. He hissed between his teeth.

"Fucking hell, All Might. How are you functioning as a hero right now? I'm guessing your left kidney, left lung, spleen, a large part of your intestine, and liver were all destroyed, yes?" All Might was shocked he hadn't realized that the kid in front of him had medical experience.

"The symbol of peace must never show weakness and must never succumb to the forces of evil. It mustn't come out that I was injured this badly by a villain or that I am in a weakened state." Izuku gave him a critical stare before backing up, sighing, and sitting down in front of the hero.

"Obviously, though, I would point out that you are the one who put yourself in this situation. You've practically created the very system that doesn't allow you to lean on your fellow heroes for help. You're no god, All Might, despite what you would want villains to believe. Though knowing this happened five years ago brings up an interesting question. In an interview around seven years ago, you were quoted saying that anyone could be a hero, even the quirkless. Do you still think that, despite the injuries that you've sustained?" He didn't particularly care what All Might's answer was, but it would give him a good idea of what the man was like.

"Absolutely not. A hero is always laying his or her life on the line, and anyone without a quirk would just get themselves killed." Izuku's critical stare bored into All Might andhe shuddered from the disdain that now sat in that gaze. He sucked in a breath, as he could practically feel the ghost of his nemesis behind this young man.

"I see, well-" Midoriya was cut off when an explosion erupted only a few blocks over from where they were on this roof. Before All Might could even react and say something, he was startled when Midoriya threw himself off the roof. Just like when the kid let go of him in the air, his heart jumped into his throat, and he looked over the edge of the building just in time to see Midoriya hit the ground, roll, and sprint in the direction of the explosion, as if it was the child's job to run into danger.

…

Izuku skidded to a stop at the wall of stupid, gawking citizens and tried to take stock of the situation. The slime villain had obviously escaped its temporary prison and, shit, taken a hostage. The buildings around them were on fire somehow and lighting the alley up, as if a phosphorus round had gone off. From what he could see, there were four heroes on the scene currently. Backdraft, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and his favorite hero, Death Arms. To his horror, none of them were doing anything to save the hostage who was apparently struggling not to drown in the sludge.

Izuku's mind went blank with white-hot rage at the two heroes standing there, doing nothing, letting an innocent life be snuffed out. Fine. I'll deal with it myself. Izuku took off running towards one of the buildings to the right and jumped upwards, pushing off the wall and propelling himself over the crowd and over the line Mt. Lady had desperately been trying to use to keep civilians back.

The silver lining of all the fire was that Izuku could now see the sludge's vital organs in its translucent body. He sprinted at full speed towards the villain, drawing the Ka-Bar that he kept in the small of his back. The heroes shouted at him from the line to get back, because obviously, if their useless asses hadn't been able to do anything, that meant that someone else couldn't.

Izuku slid to a stop in front of the sludge before slamming his knife into what looked like a pancreas, causing a horrible, gurgling scream to rip out through the alleyway. Pulling his other arm back, he slammed it into the sludge, grabbing the arm of the hostage and ripping them out of the slime before tossing them back towards the hero line. The slime was pissed and reared back, preparing to crash into Izuku now that his hostage was gone. Izuku dropped into a low crouch, his knife once again running parallel to his forearm as he prepared to eviscerate the slime.

"DETROIT SMASH!" The world once again exploded into a flurry of air pressure as the slime villain was once again splattered against the walls. Rain began to fall on the audience, now in awe of the number one's sheer power.

…

"What the hell were you thinking, kid? You could have gotten yourself killed! You had absolutely no reason to rush headlong into danger like that! What would you have done if you'd gotten hurt? We should arrest you for vigilantism!" Izuku's lips curled back at the two heroes that were taking turns chewing him out but smiled a vicious, sharp smile when he looked past them and saw the media. He had a perfect way to deal with them.

"Yeah, good luck with that, jackasses. I'm quirkless. The charges wouldn't ever stick." Izuku strowed away from them and towards the media with a smile, fully aware of what he was about to do. The media shouted at him from all directions as he stepped in front of them. The quirkless wonder had been a favorite topic of theirs, and this would no doubt be great for their ratings. Izuku placed one hand up and waited for the media hounds to all quiet down. They knew the drill with him. He wasn't going to answer any question if they didn't have at least a shred of decorum. The heroes that still stood on the scene felt their jaws drop as they witnessed the media fall silent and raise their hands like well-behaved students.

Izuku called on one of them and smiled because he was immediately confronted with the question he was expecting to hear. "Midoriya! Why would the CEO of a major corporation jump into what was obviously a volatile situation? The heroes were on the scene, so why not let them handle it? You've stated on the record in the past that you plan on pursuing a hero license despite all of your achievements already. But you aren't a hero yet! Why would you jump into the already handled hostage situation?"

"Ah, thank you, Ms. Imada, for asking the very question that I wished to answer. First, let me say that I commend both Backdraft and Mt. Lady for doing what they could in this situation. Backdraft was busy fighting the fires created during the incident, and Mt. Lady was busy trying to keep the civilians on the scene safe and away from the incident. To them, I say thank you for doing their jobs. But let me assure all of you right now, the situation was very much not under control. Both Kamui Woods and Death Arms were doing nothing to try to save the hostage. The hostage was suffocating and would have been dead by the time someone had acted if I hadn't stepped in. I'm sure they'll tell you later that they didn't have the quirks for it. That they were waiting for someone with a more 'well suited' quirk to arrive."

Izuku looked around the sea of reporters who were hanging on his every word and scribbling rapidly into their notepads. "Pardon my French, but that excuse is bullshit. As you have all been so quick to point out, I'm quirkless. Yet, despite being quirkless, I was able to both injure the villain and rescue the hostage. This is the second time I have been on a scene where Death Arms would have gotten a civilian killed had I not acted. A quirkless was of more use than two of the on-scene heroes."

"But what you did was dangerous! How can you justify the threat to yourself and to the hostage if you had failed?" Izuku nodded along with the reporter's outburst before answering their question.

"You are right. What I did was dangerous, and in no way am I advocating for people to get in the way of professionals that are doing their jobs. But in this case, I had the training, the knowledge, and the ability to save a life, and that isn't something I am ever going to be able to walk away from. The moment you become a police officer, a federal agent, a hero, you sign your life away. Until the day you retire, it is your duty. Your obligation. Your commitment and burden. You are the shield that stands between the innocent and those that would harm them. If sacrificing your life means that even one innocent person gets away from a horrible situation? If trading your life is what it takes to save another? Then that is the contract that you made with the innocent by taking on the role of a hero." Everyone listening was enraptured by Izuku's words, and even many of the civilians that had stuck around to see All Might had gravitated towards him as he gave his speech.

Izuku frowned now as his voice took on a darker tone full of reprisal. "Kamui Woods failed in that duty today, and I hope that he can learn from it. Evidently, Death Arms hasn't or isn't interested in learning his lesson and is a prime example of what I consider to be a failure of a hero."

…

Izuku had finally escaped from the media and was heading towards yet another grocery store to once again purchase the items he had originally set out to buy this morning when one of his least favorite people came running up behind him, yelling. It was just his luck that the hostage had been none other than Katsuki Bakugo. "What?! You think you're some kind of bigshot now that you have your own company, Deku?! You're not! I never asked to be saved and certainly not by a worthless, quirkless piece of shit like you! Don't you ever do something like that again!"

Katsuki's breath hitched in his throat and his blood ran cold as Izuku turned to look at him. His eyes were cold, and there was no warmth in the smile that he was giving him. Katsuki's instincts screamed at him to run, and his eyes involuntarily focused in on the blood that speckled the cuffs of Midoriya's shirt from where he had stabbed the villain. "Bakugo, I wasn't even aware that you were the hostage, else I may have just left you to die as some form of twisted karmic retribution. But let me make something clear for you. Don't worry, I won't save you next time."

Izuku had barely made it any further down the road when All Might in his skinny form stepped out of a crossing in the road in front of him. "Get out of my way, All Might. I'm not in the mood for whatever it is you are going to say."

All Might nodded solemnly. He had misjudged the young man heavily. "I wanted to apologize for the hypocrisy of my actions. I told you that a hero is always laying his life on the line, and yet I very nearly didn't live up to my ideals. You almost had to handle a situation that I should have been the one to deal with from the start. For that, I am sorry. I also wish to make you an offer."

Izuku sighed, and some of the tension he was holding in his shoulders released. At least the number one is capable of recognizing his own mistakes and growing from them. That's already better than most. "What offer, All Might?"

"What you said to the media resonated with me, and I couldn't agree more. It is our duty as heroes to protect the innocent, regardless of the cost to ourselves. Even though you were evidently quirkless, you were still the one to act. Someone without any power to call his own was the one to make all of the difference. You are worthy to inherit my strength! You are worthy to inherit One for All!"

And just like that, all of the tension that had leached out of Izuku snapped back as he felt his eye twitch. "What?" All Might nodded his head knowingly and rapidly as he continued his statement.

"Indeed, my quirk. My quirk is a power not unlike the sacred torch of legend that comes passed from one bearer to the next. You are worthy of inheriting this power and becoming a hero." When All Might looked down at the young man from where he had raised his arms to the sky, he froze. What he found was not what he was expecting. He had expected excitement, confusion, and a thrilled look as the young man took him up on the offer. What he was met with was absolute, unadulterated fury.

"You haven't changed your mind about the quirkless at all, have you?"

All Might shook his head though to his credit he did hesitate slightly. "Of course not. Like I said before, it's far too dangerous for someone without a quirk to be a full-time hero."

Izuku wanted to rip into him right then and there. Wanted to take the quirkist asshole apart piece by piece until he could see that they weren't weak and powerless like he seemed to think. Instead, he stabbed his finger into the man's chest and snarled at him. "Not only do you think that I can't be a hero without your power, but you are also offering because you need a successor. Well, All Might, congratulations. You've found one person who wants nothing to do with you or your quirk."

All Might's eyes blew wide at the righteous fury that was leaking out of the young man and being directed towards him. He tried to take a step back again but was confronted by the young man following him, continuing to stab him in the chest with his finger. "You can take your quirk and ram it up your ass, you sack of poorly packaged horseshit. Now get the fuck out of my way, All Might, before I make you."

All Might stood there for a long time in shock after Midoriya had stormed off. Of all of the reactions he had expected, that had not been one of them. He had been quirkless once upon a time, after all. He knew what he would have given for a quirk like what Nana offered him. Yet he'd found the perfect successor and messed up that conversation massively. Perhaps Nedzu or Gran would have an idea of how to get through to the young man, especially if he were going to try to be a hero, anyway. Perhaps he wasn't beyond hope.