To say that Steve Rogers had missed a lot in the last seventy years was an understatement. In a little over a decade, he missed entire revolutions! The civil rights movement, the space race, the start and end of the cold war, the rise of television, the invention of the internet, and so much more! So much had changed, both good and bad. More wars started, there was more crime than ever, and something called global warming was starting to take effect. At the same time, there was better health care and women and those in minorities could get into fields of work they hadn't had access to before.
...But there were also some more neutral topics, such as quirks. Ah yes, quirks. Back in his day (man he felt old saying that…) they were called "mutations" and were scorned by society. However, now that a majority of the population had them, they had the same rights as anyone else…sort of. They obviously had the advantage now over someone without powers. While Steve was glad to see these people finally get acceptance in society, he was worried about the common man...or uncommon man now. These powers could be easily abused and they were. There had been a rise in criminal activity, not unlike something you'd find in a comic book. There were attacks almost every day from people using their powers to harm innocent lives.
But every cloud has a silver lining, so with the rise of super villains, came the rise of super heroes. People who stopped at nothing to protect the people of this world. Those that stood up for the defenseless and weak when they couldn't. So many, that it's become a legitimate profession with agencies hiring them and degrees one can get in hero work. Steve smiled at the thought. It was a little weird though, the thought being paid to do hero work. Though he supposed, firefighters and policemen don't exactly volunteer.
Still, the job of a hero has become one of the biggest professions of the century, to the point where there was a network spanning the globe and connecting to the governments of nearly every country in the world. That's actually why he was here in Japan. A few months after having been thawed out of the ice, he had been invited to speak at a world conference of heros. As the first superhero, they wanted to gift him his official super hero licences at the event. They even sent a fairly charismatic hero named All Might to deliver it to him (he decided he liked the guy, even if his charisma could be overwhelming). Steve had felt honored, even if he didn't really feel he deserved it considering he hadn't been doing any hero work for over seventy years.
After getting off the train he headed off to find his hotel. The conference was in a few days in the next town over. He'd take a cab there the next morning.
He walked along the streets holding the map in his hands and frowned. Looks like he had taken the wrong bus after he had gotten off the train. It was supposed to drop him off a few blocks away from his hotel but he ended up near the local elementary school. Steve scratched his head. He supposed he would just have to find the next bus stop then, as this one wasn't returning here for another hour.
He started walking along. The school children had gotten out for the day, but there were still some hanging out in the courtyard. He could see a blond boy and a kid with a poster. They seemed to be arguing about something, but Steve couldn't tell until he got closer.
"You really think you're going to get in? Oh grow up!" he heard the little blond boy sneer, "Like heck they'd let a quirkless nobody like you sneak into the conference. It's for heroes and sidekicks only."
Steve frowned and stopped, looking over to the pair. As he did, he saw the poster the other boy, a small, thin child with messy hair, was holding. It was an advertisement for the hero conference. There was a going to be a small convention of sorts where a few of the heroes would be there to take pictures with fans and sign autographs. This was an advertisement for tickets.
"I-I'm not going to sneak in!" the boy responded, stuttering, "I'm just going to see if I can get to meet All Might. You know...get a picture with him...maybe ask him a few questions…"
"What, like whether you can be a hero without a quirk?" the boy said with a snort. The other kid's eyes widened and he looked down. The blond boy laughed. "Aren't you going to just give it up already? You already know what the answer is," he said, "There's no way you can be a hero. You've got no power and you never will!" Steve could feel himself getting angrier.
Tears started to form in the little boy's big green eyes. "Y-you don't know that!" he retorted, "T-This Captain America guy is going to be there. A-and he never had a quirk! Maybe he…"
"But that guy still has a power!" the blond scoffed, tearing the poster out of his hands, "Wake up, Deku! You can't be a hero. Not now, not ever!"
"And neither can you," a voice said both boys were surprised as the poster was suddenly snatched from the blond boy's hands. They looked up to see Steve frowning down at Bakugou.
Bakugou scowled at him. "What?!" he snapped, "What do you know old man?! I'm going to be the best hero in the world! I have the most powerful quirk in this town!"
"Being a hero isn't about power," Steve said, frowning, "It's about being a good person, standing up for other, and treating them with respect. Something you still need to learn." He handed Izuku the poster back and the boy's eyes lit up.
Bakugou gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists and sparks flew off of them. "Whatever!" he huffed, "What do you know! You're just some idiot stranger!" The boy stormed off. "I AM going to be the greatest hero!" he snapped, "You'll see one day and regret what you said!"
Steve frowned. He hoped that kid would shape up soon. "Uh Sir?" a small voice said. Steve turned to see the little boy staring up at him and smiling. "Thank you," he said, "My name's Izuku. I appreciate what you did. Kacchan can be pretty mean sometimes."
"No problem," he said, "Don't let him get to you, alright?"
The boy nodded. However, then he frowned. "He might be right though," he said, "I don't know how I can be a hero without any quirk…I mean there are a few like Iron Man, but he's a super genius and…"
"Hey," Steve said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Trust me, You don't have to have a quirk to be a hero. It's not the powers that makes someone a hero. It's this." He pointed to Izuku's chest. Steve knew it was cheesy but it was true. If someone isn't going to stand up for those weaker than them, then they could never call themselves a hero. They boy's eyes lit up. They sparkled with hope and passion. There were slight tears in the corners of them. "Really?" the boy squeaked.
Steve smiled and nodded. The kid reminded him of himself a little when he was his age. While he hadn't been as determined to become a hero, he had wanted more than anything to be able to protect those he cared for. To do his part to make the world better. "Yeah," he said, "Just remember to always get back up when you fall."
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The little boy cried before moving to hug the stranger.
"Woah!" Steve said with a chuckle, "Now don't go around hugging random strangers, ok?"
The boy nodded as he pulled back. "So are you going to the convention?" he asked.
Steve shrugged. "You could say that," he said.
"I'm definitely going!" Izuku said puffing out his chest, "There's no way I'm going to miss it! There will be so many heros there like 13, Deathfist, and All Might! He's the best by the way. Oh! And the very first superhero, Captain America will be there too!" "It's going to be so cool! I just got to ask my mom to buy us some tickets," the little boy squealed.
Steve chuckled. "Well you better get home and be super nice to her to make sure you get those tickets, alright?" he said. The boy nodded before running off. Captain America smiled, but he couldn't help but feel worried. He hoped he had done the right thing by encouraging him. He didn't want the kid getting into any fights he couldn't handle.
"Maybe I should clarify better if I see him at the convention…"he thought as he continued to look for a bus stop. However, a few days later at the convention, he saw neither hide nor hare of the boy. He was saddened to find out that tickets for the convention had sold out the week prior. "Poor guy," he thought, "He had really been looking forward to it…" Maybe he should do something nice for the boy...
"Hey All Might," he called as he caught the large hero walking down the hall, "Mind if I ask you for a favor?"
"Hmm?"the large smiling man said, "What is it?" A bright smile crossed Steve's face. The next week, Izuku was surprised and overjoyed to find an autograph book full of signatures of all the heros that had been at the convention in his cubby. Nothing could describe the look of pure joy that had crossed his face.
I am disappointed in the serious lack of captian america my hero academia crossovers, so here this is guys! Enjoy this little ficlet I wrote in about an hour and a half last night. :)