On the Ledge [Complete]

Part 4

Even though the beach is still covered in trash, the light of the rising sun gives the shore back its beauty. The tide is low, gently lapping at the sand. It only takes a moment for Izuku to spot Yagi's silhouette nearby. He walks over to the man, but before Izuku has a chance to say anything, Yagi changes into All Might. Now that they're standing side-by-side, Izuku is struck by how small he is next to the hero. He barely makes it to All Might's elbows.

"Young Midoriya!" All Might's attitude is much more enthusiastic in this form. "Are you ready to start your training?"

Izuku nods, smiling softly. "Yeah... I'm ready."

"Plus Ultra!" All Might gives him a thumbs up. "Your task is to clean up this beach!"

Izuku gulps, staring at the dump around them. Some of the piles of garbage are over fifteen feet. Although, if Izuku thinks about it, by cleaning up the beach he'll be working all the different parts of his body. Perhaps All Might does have a method to his madness.

The hero wraps a rope around a refrigerator and climbs on top. "You can start with this, young Midoriya."

Not sure how to proceed, Izuku grabs the edge of the rope, holding it across his chest as he tugs on it. It's expected that it won't budge, but Izuku can't stop his spirits from falling because of the lack of progress. Izuku doesn't have the time to stand there feeling sorry for himself. Invigorated, he grips the rope again and heaves. The appliance actually slides a minute amount, causing Izuku to lose his balance. He falls to the ground as tears of frustration well up in his eyes.

"Come on, young Midoriya! Surely you can do better than this!"

Upset, Izuku turns to glare at All Might. "It wouldn't be this hard if there wasn't a six-hundred-pound man sitting on it!"

The hero laughs boisterously, unperturbed. "I'll have you know I'm down to five-seventy-eight!"

When Izuku doesn't respond, All Might sobers up. He takes out his phone – which is tiny compared to his massive hand – and his camera flashes.

"Did you just take a picture?" Izuku asks, curious. All Might turns the phone around so that he could see the picture. It's himself, obviously, laying on the ground covered in sweat and sand. The tears in his eyes are obvious and so is the defeat. Izuku sighs, "I look like a wimp..."

"This is where you start," All Might says as he puts his phone away. "When reporters and historians ask where Izuku Midoriya started his journey, it will be here, this beach. When you are among the greats, you will look back at that picture and see how far you've come. Everyone will see what you've accomplished, what you've achieved. You'll become a symbol of growth and strength -- a symbol of peace."

Izuku is sure that All Might is trying to be inspiring, trying to rally him. It has the opposite effect. Now all Izuku can think about is how much he has to live up to, how far he has to go. Being a symbol of growth sounds easy, but he actually has to get there first. He has to grow. And he only has ten months? It's impossible.

All Might may be the world's greatest hero, but he had said it himself that he had been looking for a successor before they met. It's obvious, isn't it?

God, he's such an idiot.

All of those talks, uplifting words... All Might doesn't mean any of it. The hero is just desperate. Izuku is just a last-minute scapegoat for his quirk. The hero can only work for three hours a day! All Might met him at the infirmary, saw an opportunity, and pounced on it – on him. It all makes sense now. Why else would the number one hero pay attention to a quirkless boy who wasn't even able to save a little girl? He can't even save himself from his own mind.