History Has Its Eyes On You

3. The world is going to know your name

The number one hero, All Might. Age unknown, Quirk unidentified. He dashed onto the scene of the hero world and received unwavering popularity based on his ability. Ever since he appeared, the once critically high rate of crimes committed by villains decreased year after year, and his existence itself became a deterrent. He became the Symbol of Peace in both name and reality. He lived up to the title he was given. That man had just told Izuku what he had longed to hear for so long.

"Kid, you can be a hero."

Deep down inside, the boy needed someone to tell him that. Ever since he was a child, he had longed for those words. And then, the person he admired the most in this world did. After all the years of setbacks, he begun to believe that he'd never hear those words, much less from All Might himself.

"I believe you are worthy...of inheriting my power."

"Huh?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Yagi questioned the boy whom was on his knees. "It's a proposal. The real work begins here. Listen, my boy," he looked at the confused child, "I am asking you if you are willing to try accepting my power."

'His...his power?' The teen was confused. 'What does he mean? What is he talking about?'

"My quirk...many have guessed that it was super strength or boosted power." He looked at his hands. "And I avoid the question in interviews by cracking jokes." He looked up at the sky. "The symbol of peace has to come off as a natural-born hero. But my quirk...it was passed down to me. Like the Olympic torch."

Izuku's mouth was wide open and his eyes were practically bulging out of its sockets. "P-Passed? Down to you?" His arms began to shake. "Really?"

"Yes," the man replied. "And now, it may be your turn."

"H-Hold on a second," Izuku stuttered. Sweat began to drop down his face as he rubbed his temples. The teen was having an existential crisis, rethinking everything he had every known and studied about quirks. "To be sure, All Might's quirk is one of the seven great wonders of the world and there's been endless debates over what it might be," the child began to mutter to himself, seemingly not breathing. His words flowed out of his mouth like Niagara Falls. "There isn't a day that goes by without some new theory on the internet but now he says it was passed down to him naturally I have no idea what he means but that is something that has never been proposed before and that's mostly because research on the origin of quirks is so limited since it's hard to grasp due to the diversity of quirks—"

"Damn, kid, you really doubt me that much?" The thin blonde mused. The child snapped out of it and bowed. "N-No?"

"I have many secrets, boy, but I never lie." He stared at the boy with seriousness written all over his face. "I have the ability to transfer power. That's the quirk I inherited." The man helped the boy up. "It's called One for All."

"One...for All..." The smaller teen repeated. The words were foreign in his mouth.

The lanky adult began to explain the nature of his inherited power. "The first person cultivates the power and then passes it to another. The next person refines it and passes it on again. Those crying out to be saved and those with brave and true hearts link to form a crystallized network of power."

The boy was in awe of it all, but he felt his doubt settle in once more. "But all this...why...why me?"

The man's lips curled into an upward smile. "I've been searching for a successor for a while now. I believe that you are worthy." The events from earlier were fresh in the weakened man's mind. "You may be quirkless, a hero admirer, but back there you were more heroic than anyone present there." The words of praise made the green-haired teen's eyes water. "But of course, it all depends on you. What do you say, kid?"