Total Command

Chapter 2: From ashes, a fire shall be woken

Katsumi's arms dropped down over Izuku's back.

It must have looked intimate to everyone around her. But she didn't care.

"WHY!?" Her eyes almost betrayed her tone. "WHY DID YOU COME?! I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP!"

He flinched but didn't pull back. "I couldn't just let you die Kacchan..." he breathed out "I couldn't-"

"GET OFF ME!" She cut him off and he complied.

As the intimate moment was broken, the rest of the world came rushing back. The crowd was cheering at the scene while the heroes were walking towards them. Apparently, the shockwave of the explosion was violent enough to blow the fires out.

Izuku wasn't sure if he was having the best or the worst day of his life; his idol had rejected him, yet here he was getting cheered on by a crow-

" YOU! " came a sickly-sweet screech from the side. How was she still one piece?

The slime bubbled and reformed, towering above both Katsumi and him. He knew she was out of juice and he didn't like his chances. Regardless, his slouch disappeared as he took a defensive stance.

"HAVE NO FEAR, FOR I AM HERE!" The bellow was like a song to his ears as, in the next moment, the slime was punched sky high, splattering into a million droplets and finally defeated.

Katsumi almost fell down from the sheer wind pressure from the force of her punch, as did some of the other pro's. The crowd cheered yet again as All Might's muscular form came into their view. Her eyes locked onto Izuku's, icy blues stuck somewhere between apologetic and thankful.

The following moments were a blur; one second, he was standing with Katsumi, the next he was getting both praised and scolded by Kamui Woods while Katsumi was getting praised for her powerful quirk. Then, he was on his way back home.

"DEKU!" His mind whirred back to life as he spun around and came face to face with Katsumi. "I won't thank you..." she growled, yet her eyes were missing the usual glint of rage- at least he thought it was rage- that they normally had. "I didn't need your help, alright? Next time you pull something like this, I'll put you down myself." She huffed and started walking back towards her own home.

He smiled softly. she said 'next time'... she knows I would do this again in a heartbeat.

He turned back to walk home, but was suddenly cut off by the massive figure of All Might appearing in his path.

"I AM HERE!"

"GAH!" He couldn't help the yelp escaping his lips. "A-All Might? Weren't you with the reporters?" He looked up at her muscular form posturing proudly before him.

" HAHAHA, getting away from them was easy, for I am A-" She suddenly coughed and her posture broke down, her muscles rapidly losing their girth and her skin tightening around her skeleton. "-ll Might.." she breathed out.

"Did you continue through your transfor-" He was cut off again. He was used to it, but today was breaking records.

"Young Midoriya," she said simply, her tone having enough seriousness to shut him up. "I have to apologize yet again." He was stunned at the amount of regret in her voice. "For not reacting to your friend's time of need as I should have... and for what I said on the roof..."

His breath caught in his throat.

"Moooooom, could I be a hero?" he asked his mother, big eyes glowing with hope and childhood innocence.

Inko didn't know what to say to her 4-year-old son; he didn't know that he wouldn't get powers, no one had told him or Katsumi yet. "Can I be a hero like All Might?" Tears started to stream through her eyes at the pure hope he had in his voice.