History Has Its Eyes On You

2. You can be a hero

"Even if I don't have a Quirk, can I become a hero?"

Those words stunned the blonde hero. Here was this kid he had no prior connection to asking him a heavy question. He didn't know how to respond.

"Without a quirk?" He repeated to himself. He was lost in thought. It wasn't until he felt pain that he snapped back. He winced at the pain. "Oh no. Holy shit. Goddammit." The whole time, Izuku was oblivious to it all. He was lost in his own mind.

"It might have been because I don't have a quirk," he looked at the ground. "But I'm always made fun of." He fiddled with his hands. His memories were fresh in his mind. After all, Katsuki did just intimidate the crap out of him. "Maybe that's why...I don't know. But I think saving people is super cool." Smoke covered the built hero, yet the green-haired teen was oblivious to any of it. "Saving people with a fearless smile. I want to be the greatest hero like you!"

When the teen looked up, he was in shock and horror at what stood in the place of his idol. A blonde, skinny man that was wasting away to nothing. Izuku's eye twitched.

"AAAAUGH!"

The man, Yagi Toshinori, stared at the teen who kept staring back in fear. "You-You're deflating!" The boy was in shock. "A-Are you a fake? An imposter?"

"I am All Might," the thin, withering man replied. The boy was astonished. "You know how people hold in their gut at the pool? It's like that."

"No way!" The boy was in complete shock. A million thoughts ran through his head.

"A fearless smile, huh?" The frail man took a seat on the ground, his hollow eyes looking at the ground in front of him. "You've seen the real me, kid. But don't go writing about this on the internet, alright?" As the child was freaking out, the man lifted his shirt, exposing the reminder of his vital mistake. "Five years ago...a villain did this to me." The green-haired teen winced. "My respiratory system was destroyed and my stomach was removed.

I've slowly wasted away because of the repercussions of all the surgeries that saved my life. I can only do hero work for about three hours a day now."

"Five years ago..." the young boy trailed off in thought. "Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?"

Yagi was impressed by the child's extensive knowledge over his hero persona's fights. A small smile graced his features. 'You've done your homework kid'. "That lowlife? He could never do this to me." His playfulness disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. "A symbol of peace who saves people with a smile...he must never be daunted by any force of evil." He looked off into the distance, thinking back to the event that almost cost him his life. "This was never made public. That is...I asked that it not be made public." He trailed off, feeling the weight of it all become great. "The reason I wear a smile...is to starve off the overwhelming pressure and fear I feel." His eyes fell onto the young teen boy. As dedicated and committed as he was, the man did not want to be responsible for giving him false hope and seeing the child get hurt. "A pro hero should always be ready to risk his life. Without a power...can one become a hero? I should think not."

The young Izuku felt a pain shoot through his body as those words echoed in his mind. He stiffened completely as he heard his idol speak those words.

The man got up and began to walk away. "If you desire to help people, becoming a police officer is always an option." He looked back to see the child still frozen in place. He felt guilty that he had broken the spirit of someone who admired him so much. "Those villain custody officers are often mocked but...that too is admirable work." He let out a sigh as he opened the door to the building. "It's not wrong to dream. However...you need to be realistic, kid."
.
.
.
Izuku walked down the empty sidewalk, looking down at his journal. He was buried deep in the thoughts of all the harsh words said to him. The boy let the tears fall from his eyes and stroll down his cheeks. "Even the best of the best said it," he moped.  The boy wipes his tears away. "Don't cry. You knew already, right? This is reality." He kept walking "It's because I knew that I tried so damn hard." The child let out a shaky sigh. "Tried so hard not to see. So hard to ignore reality."