My Hero Academia: A Hero's Will

Chapter 21

We were given two days off in light of the sports festival. I was fairly excited to celebrate my win with my mother.

By winning the sports festival, I had taken a huge leap towards becoming a hero and I wanted mom to be a part of it. I owed it to her. Since dad wasn't there most of the time to make an impact, mom was the only one responsible for my upbringing. Everything she taught me, the values and the life lessons she gave me, made me the person I had become.

But first, I had to deal with something that had blown my mind away. Standing in front of a skinny and weak All Might, looking at what looked like a fatal wound, shocked me to the very core at the kind of dedication and the sense of duty All Might had for continuing his hero career.

Earlier that day, I was called to the teacher's lounge by All Might himself.

Before I could ask why I was asked to see him, his bulky and muscular form regressed into that of a lanky and skinny man who looked almost malnourished.

So shocked by his sudden and unexpected transformation, I nearly punched him through the wall.

"Wh-what's going on?! Who are you?! You're not All Might!"

He sighed and replied patiently, "Young Midoriya, I am All Might. This is my true form..."

"B-but All Might!!"

"... It's like those people in swimming pools who suck in all the air they can to look more buff than they actually are."

"That's completely different!!"

I stared at him incredulously. Who was he trying to fool?! But the skinny man continued, "Oh well..."

He removed his coat and lifted up his shirt. There on the side of his abdomen, I saw a wound as severe, I wondered how the man was even alive. As I stared at the wound, horrified by the sight of it, All Might began, "I got this wound nearly six years ago in my battle against a villain..."

I cut him off, "You mean Toxic Chainsaw? But that guy was nothing in front of you!"

He laughed, " You are well informed! But no, any information of that battle was closed off for public. I defeated the villain, but I was severely injured. They had to remove my stomach and parts of my intestines. I can barely perform as a hero for two hours a day."

I just stared at him with my eyes widened with shock, awe and a hint of unease. Why was he telling me all of this?

When I asked him, he replied, "That is a way of me building trust within you..."

He looked straight into my eyes with an intensity that showed why he was the best of all heroes, "Young Midoriya, even though you were a little harsh towards some, you selflessly helped them overcome their insecurities, even to the point of fooling the whole country just so that young Shinso could be recognized. You could have easily won your matches against young Shinso, Todoroki and Monoma, but you helped them, could you tell me why?"

With a soft smile, I looked into his eyes and immediately replied, "Because it was the right thing to do. What kind of a hero would I be if I couldn't save someone right in front of me from themselves?"

All Might's eyes widened momentarily as he took a deep breath, "Helping someone when not asked for is the essence of a true hero. Young Midoriya, I have deemed you worthy of inheriting my quirk."

"Eh?"

Inherit his quirk?

All Might continued, "For years the tabloids have debated about what my quirk could be. Many of them have deemed it to be some form of super-strength quirk. I've always evaded the topic in interviews. It won't do well if the all mighty 'Symbol of Peace' were not a 'natural born hero'. My quirk is not unlike the sacred torch from the legends that's passed from one bearer to next. It's a quirk that can be passed over to someone deemed worthy by the bearer. It's called, 'One for All'."