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Chapter 7

"I deem you worthy of my power. My quirk is yours to inherit." All Might said.

Midoriya and I both stopped crying immediately, lifting our heads to find him smiling at us.

"Huh?" We both squeaked simultaneously.

"Wait. What do you mean inherit? Inherit what?" I asked.

All Might began laughing profusely, his body shaking up and down as he threw his head back. "You should see your face right now." He choked out between laughs. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna force this thing on you. Listen well, you two. This is your choice. Do you wanna accept my awesome power or not?" He asked, pointing at us. Blood spewed from his mouth like a fountain.

I looked at Midoriya, waiting for him to accept and he only stared at All Might in confusion.

"There are a couple of things you should know about my abilities. Journalists always guess my quirk is super strength or some kind of invulnerability. When people ask in interviews, I always make a joke and dodge the question. That's because the world needs to believe that their Symbol of Peace is just a natural-born hero like any of them. But I'm not. There's nothing natural about my ability." He put his hands behind his head, spreading them out like wings as he dramatically stared up at the sky. "I wasn't born with this power. It's a sacred torch that was passed onto me from someone else."

"Someone gave you this quirk?" Midoriya asked.

"There's no way," I looked between the two of them, hoping for an explanation.

"Yes, way. And one of you is next. I can give you my abilities." His shirt flew with the wind and his body opened to us as if he was ready to give it to us now. "There's only one more thing, only one of you may possess it next." He looked at me for a moment, as if he didn't want to tear his eyes away to look at Midoriya.

"Only one?" Midoriya squeaked.

"Izuku," I sighed. He looked at me, confused.

"What?" He looked at me as his hands grabbed handfuls of the dirt below us.

"Izuku." I looked up at All Might.

"You're not even going to discuss this?" All Might stared at me as if I'd made a mistake.

"There's nothing to discuss," My eyes began to fill with tears again as my eyesight went fuzzy. I gripped the hem of my blazer in my hands as I begged myself to rid my body of this gut-wrenching heartbreak.

I was giving away a childhood dream to a boy I'd hardly known. He never gave up but I had many years ago. Why should such a power be given to someone who gives up to easily?

"What are you saying?" Midoriya grabbed my shoulder as he turned me towards him, forcing me to look him in the eyes.

"This is your dream, Izuku, not mine." As I spoke those words, a dam broke inside of me. One that was blocking every emotion I'd been trying to rid myself of since I was a child. Every emotion I'd felt surrounding the fact that I could never be anything more than some quirkless girl.

I wanted him to have it, I really did. This truly was a dream he hadn't come to terms with not being able to achieve before. His drive and determination beat my own by miles. He'd make a perfect hero and I'd make a perfect fan. A perfect nothing.

I didn't deserve it. Sure, sometimes I would catch myself daydreaming of flying through the sky or being pronounced the number one hero with a medal but I had let the dream die too easily. It'd be wrong of me to take All Mights power without the appropriate mindset. It was absolutely selfish.

And that's not what a hero is. They're not selfish.

"You're just going to give it up like that? Don't lie to me, you know you've wanted-" I cut him off.

"No, this isn't up for discussion. To do right by All Might, you should just accept his quirk. I can't make him regret his decision when I fail." It hurt. It hurt to give up something that I wanted... something that was being served to me on a silver platter.

It was painful... but it would've been more painful to fail.

"Asami, please-" He grabbed my shoulders kindly as if he were trying to comfort me.

"Izuku," I whispered through my cries, turning away from him. "Please. Stop." And he did. He lingered a moment more before he took his hands away. I was grateful he was respecting my wishes. I was tired of crying in front of both him and All Might. I must've looked so weak.

I held the inside of my elbow up to my face, trying to rub away every tear and rub my eyes back to normal so it seemed like I wasn't so weak.

Finally, tired of the silence, I got myself cleaned up completely. I turned back to All Might, feeling Midoriya staring at me intently from the side.

"You're sure?" All Might looked at me as if he wanted to scream at me.

"Yes," I whispered.

How could I allow myself to look so weak right now? So... useless.

Quirkless.

"Hold on, this is a lot to process," Midoriya started.

"It's true that there's a lot of debate as to what your quirk actually is. Nobody's ever figured it out- It's one of the world's greatest mysteries." I said, trying to redeem myself from my state of crying.

"People are constantly talking about it online." Izuku agreed before he began mumbling. "But, well, the idea of passing on a quirk or inheriting it just doesn't make any sense to me. I've never heard anything like that before. Powers are supposed to be unique to each individual. I mean, since the first superpowers, nobody's ever been able to just give someone else their power like a present. That's crazy. If this is true, it would cause us to rethink everything we know about quirks, to begin with. All bets are off the table."

"You sure your quirk isn't mumbling?" I nudged him, he continued on.

"Stop nerdin' out!" All Might yelled, catching Midoriya's attention once again. "You'll have to adjust your reality and accept this new truth!" He explained. "I can transfer my quirk to someone else. And that's just one facet of my secret abilities. The true name of my power is One For All."

"One... For... All." Midoriya whispered in amazement.

"Yes." All Might confirmed. "One person improved the power, then hands it off to another person. It continues to grow as it's passed along. It is this cultivated power that allows me to save those who are in need of a hero. The truth behind my strength."

"Why would you have chosen one of us to be your successor?" I asked.

"I was on a long hunt for a worthy successor. And then I watched you two jump into action as the rest of us stood idly by. You may be quirkless, but you guys tried to save that kid. You acted like a hero." He stated.

Midoriya whimpered and began to tear up again.

"Midoriya," I sighed, nudging him to stop.

"Seriously!" All Might kicked the air in amusement. "You gotta stop cryin' so much if you want my Quirk. Come on, kid." After that, Midoriya began quickly rubbing his eyes.

"You're sure about this?" All Might glanced at me for my confirmation that I wasn't going to fight for his quirk.

I nodded.

"This feels wrong," Midoriya glanced at me.

"Then stop feeling," I didn't bother looking at him as All Might held my gaze.

He furrowed his eyebrows at me, pursing his lips. I knew that he had to of felt guilt- accepting something he'd wanted for so long. Something we both wanted.

"Okay, I'll do it. Yes!" He yelled.