Something Different

4: Controlling Lives

[2705 words]

"Eat this!" All Might exclaimed as he shoved a strand of his golden hair to Izuku's face. Grimacing, Izuku took a few steps back and brought up his forearms to block All Might's advance.

     "...E-excuse me?" That was the first time he had stuttered in a while. Don't get him wrong; he knew that the only way to transfer One For All was through Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), but...

     Nobody warned him that All Might would force him to ingest a strand of his hair. Izuku was already pushing himself to communicate with the hero, so needing to eat his hair...

     "Can't... Can't I drink your blood or something?" He asks without thinking. The moment that sentence left his mouth, he winced. It reminded him of Himiko and the things that she would often say.

     Before his thoughts could spiral and darken, All Might laughed, "Of course not! We can't risk you getting HIV, can we?"

     "You..." Izuku bit his tongue before he could proceed with his words, and sighed defeatedly. "Fine, I'll do as you wish. Give it to me," he grabbed the strand of hair and momentarily stared at it with disgust. "...May I at least have some water?"

     All Might's smile broadened, and he took a plastic water bottle from the bench beside him and handed it to Izuku. Izuku shoved the hair into his mouth and gulped down the water in the same way that he would chug a bottle of vodka. Once he was certain that he had ingested it, he finally brought the water bottle away from his lips and exhaled softly.

     "...Never again," he muttered.

     "Now then," All Might nodded in approval, "Go home and sleep early tonight. Tomorrow is the entrance exam, so you should get plenty of rest."

     "Alright," Izuku smiled and bowed deeply. "Thank you for all your assistance, All Might."

     "No problem, my boy," Izuku twitched when All Might's palm rested on his head, but managed to refrain from tensing up. "I have high hopes for you!"

     "..." That was a horrendous thing to say to someone you just made your successor—especially if you were the Number One Hero. Didn't All Might realise how much pressure he was subjecting Izuku to? He was lucky that he didn't really care if he got into UA or not.

     After all, even if Izuku failed (which he highly doubted he would), he had the option to become a vigilante. Even if being so would betray All Might's trust—it didn't matter, as long as All For One was put in his place.

     "Have a good rest, All Might!" Izuku waved enthusiastically as he jogged back to his home. It was a normal schedule, at this point-to return home when the sun was already set and the moon was almost forty degrees up in the dark sky.

     "Izuku?" His mother instantly called as he entered the house. She smiled and waved at him, and he returned the gesture by running up to her and engulfing her in a tight embrace.

     "I'm back, Mom!" Izuku grinned.

     "Welcome home, Izuku," Inko patted him on the back and chuckled at his antics. "You must be tired. Dinner is on the table, so eat your share and head to bed. Alright?"

     "Got it!" Izuku nodded excitedly and made his way to the kitchen. Just as he reached it, however, his steps lost their haste and his face became sedated. With an exhausted huff, Izuku sprawled himself on a chair tucked underneath a counter. "Everything is so... arduous."

     Pretending to grin with joy and laugh at the most humourless things; it was unbearably tiring. Last time, he only had to worry about keeping up appearances around All Might. Recently, however, he started to play pretend with his mother, as well. After the discussion they had a while prior, Izuku realised that she... wasn't as gullible as he thought she was.