Slightly shorter but that's kinda how it's gonna for a while. Long, short, long, short. I'll see how it goes. Enjoy!

Ch5: Work till you Drop and Mushrooms

"Where did you come from?!" shouted a sweating All Might. This person just appeared out of nowhere. How much did they hear? Was his secret going to be revealed?

"It really is you…" Izuku said with wide eyes. He walked towards the person who jumped off the wall and landed on their feet.

"You know him?" All Might asked.

"Yeah he's-"

"Names Leo!" the boy grinned wider, his metal teeth glinted from the sunlight shining down from the afternoon sun "Nice to meet ya…" he narrowed his open eye sockets with a playful/evil grin "All Might"

All Might went rigid, Izuku soon followed his idol. Both of them started sweating bullets. Leo knew about All Might and both didn't know if it was a good thing or not. All Might didn't know this kid so that was enough to make him suspicious of him and Izuku hadn't seen Leo for 7 years, so whether he was the same person or not was up to questioning.

"What's with the shocked looks?" Leo tilted his head "you two decided to have this clearly secret conversation out in the open. You're just lucky I'm the only one who heard it" he put his hand to his ear and to All Might's astonishment the ear grew in size before going back to normal after he took his hand away.

"L-Leo. What are you doing here?" Izuku asked his friend, who smiled wider and spread his arms wide.

"Well Izuku! You inspired me!" he laughed whole heartedly "I wanna become a hero as well!" he declared pointing to the sky dramatically with a cloud of smoke going off behind him.

"H-Huh?" Izuku was confused. It was nice that the boy wanted to be a hero, but why was he here?

"I'll tell ya why I'm here" Leo jumped up and landed on his one foot well doing a funny pose "I'm here to join U.A!" he announced.

"U.A?!" All Might and Izuku shouted in surprise.

"The very same, ladies and gentlemen" Leo looked around before adding "well, just gentlemen" he chuckled "I got the doc's approval and he's letting me become a hero. Let me tell you, it's a much better profession than being cooped up in a smelly lab all day" Leo made a gagging sound.

All Might watched the boy with suspicious eyes. Just because the boy wanted to become a hero doesn't mean that he's trust worthy with his secret. So he had to let the boy know about the ramifications of talking about it.

"Listen, er…"

"Leo"

"Yes. Leo. Since you know my secret, you must-"

"Must not tell anyone about it" Leo finished the sentence looking at All Might with a bored look "I'm not an idiot. I know that the minute people know about your…condition they'll start losing hope and villains will start to become bolder, leading to death and destruction. Hence why you're gonna make Izuku here the next Symbol of Peace. Yeah?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"…Yes" All Might nodded his head. At least the boy understood him, but something about him made it hard for the skinny man to get a read on him.

"Cool!" he turned to face Izuku, who jumped at the boy invading his personal space to put his hand on his shoulder "listen, Izuku" the green haired teen blinked and in that second Leo had donned glasses and his hair was grey. He wore clothing you would see on a typical old man. Even All Might was astonished that the boy was able to do this so quickly "you will be taking on a huge responsibility. Your life is going to change and you will get great power, but always remember, 'With great power comes great responsibility'" then he started to dramatically die well clutching his chest "my time is short. Remember my words son…son…son…son…Blegh" Leo hung from Izuku's shoulders with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

All Might sweat dropped at the boy's acting. Was there something wrong with him or something? A small laugh made the man turn his head to look at Izuku, who had been chuckling softly before he threw back his head and laughed, surprising All Might. The boy had seemed very timid by nature since the moment he met him, yet here he was letting out a laugh of pure joy.

"D-Did y-you rip off U-Uncle Ben from S-Spider-man?" the boy asked between laughs.

"I refuse to answer that" Leo said with a grin as he let go of Izuku to spin. When he was done spinning the boy was in his previous attire of a peach coloured jacket, white shirt and jeans with converse on his feet.

'Izuku seems to trust him' All Might thought, smiling at the interaction between the two, which now had Leo hold Izuku in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles over Izuku's head lightly.

"Alright, enough of that" All Might called their attention "now to talk about what has to happen before you can accept my Quirk"

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Leo cheered as he stood on a pile of trash.

It was two days after All Might said he would give his quirk to Izuku. Now the three of them were currently on a beach that had become a dumping ground for most of the residents around the area. The reason for them being there at this hour of the morning is thanks to All Might dragging the boy there the day before and declaring he had to move all the trash and clear the whole beach. Of course Leo tagged along, after he saw the two walking away from Izuku's house. He had come over to visit and say hello to Izuku's mother but followed the two towards the beach.

Izuku was currently trying to pull a fridge with a buffed up All Might sitting on top of it. Leo and his clones kept on cheering the boy. The two clones had green face paint on well they waved flags that said 'Izuku' on it.

"Come on now!" All Might laughed a top the fridge "You don't wanna let down your adoring fans now do you" just as he said that Izuku fell face first onto the sand with the ropes he was using to pull the fridge falling from his grip "You know, normal people can move these without quirks"

"That's because they don't have an extra 700 pounds sitting on top of it" Izuku mumbled into the sand as tried to catch his breath.

"Nah, I've lost weight. I'm down to a solid 640 now" All Might said.

"FATTY! FATTY! FATTY! FATTY!" Leo and his clones started chanting holding pictures with a fat All Might on it.

"Muscles weigh more that fat!" All Might shouted at the boy who started moving back and forth with his clones.

"Gimme an F"

"Gimme an A"

"Gimme a T and then another T"

"Gimme a Y"

"What does that spell? FATTY!" Leo and his clones started laughing as the two vanished.

All Might shook his head, deciding to ignore the loud boy. He focused on Izuku who was getting onto his hands and knees, struggling to stay up. The man took out his phone and started snapping pictures of the green haired teen.

"Look at you. At the rate you're going you'll never be ready for my Quirk" the man jumped off the fridge and walked over to the boy well he continued taking pictures.

"But you said I was worthy!" Izuku shouted in disbelief. He tried to hide his face as he felt his spirits drop. Was All Might giving up on him already?

"Relax" All Might put his phone away and stood in front of Izuku "I'm just saying that if I were to give you One for All now your weak body wouldn't be able to handle all the unimaginable power that One for All has. That whirlwind of power will cause your arms and legs to fly off your body if you had to use this power"

"W-WHAT?!" Izuku shouted with the colour draining from his face.

"Oh! Like a balloon" Leo had a balloon in his hand, which looked like Izuku's face. He then proceeded to pop the balloon with a needle. That visual actually made Izuku start to sweat more.

"Exactly" All Might nodded his head as he walked over to the fridge again "which is why you're moving all of the trash around this beach" he put his hand on top of the broken appliance.

"I see. It's like a form of training, right?" Izuku looked around him. He spotted Leo digging through the trash with a shovel but choose not to comment on that.

"Right you are Young Midoriya!" All Might looked up at the trash that blocked the view of the ocean "I did some research and found out that this place used to be beautiful. People would come here all the time, but the current would pull in trash from the sea. People started taking advantage of that and began illegally dumping here" the Symbol of Peace started pushing down on the fridge effortlessly compressing it until the thing exploded. The explosion and the added force of All Might pushing on it blew some of the trash away from where he was standing.

"You see" he began talking again as he stayed in his crouched position "back before being a hero had you appearing on talk shows, it wasn't a popularity show, being a hero meant helping out the community and doing menial labour without any need or want for recognition. That's one of the things that makes people a real hero" he got up and dusted his hands "that's why you will be cleaning up this whole beach!" he made a motion around the whole area.

Izuku grew pale again as he stared at the trash all around him "All of this?!" he shouted in disbelief "by myself?!"

"Well, you could get your friend to help you" All Might pointed over his shoulder at Leo, who was holding onto something and pulling with all his might "but I'd strongly advise against it. You want to go to U.A as well. Am I right?" the blond man gazed down at Izuku who nodded his head.

"Y-Yeah. I mean, that's where you went and it has the best hero course in the country" the green haired boy made a fist "that means that if I want to become like you I gotta make it to U.A"

"That's the spirit!" All Might reached into his pocket and pulled out some papers which he handed to a confused Izuku "and since you only have 10 months until the exams start that leaves us with less time than I expected to get you ready for my power" he patted the boy on the shoulder "So, with this training regime" he pointed to the papers in Izuku's hand "this will make sure you're ready by the time the exam starts"

Izuku read the very detailed regime and felt a little intimidated at everything that was written down "You even have a sleep schedule I should follow" he sweat dropped.

"If I'm honest with you, this training will be very hard. Are you sure you're up to this?" All Might whispered in Izuku's ear.

"Y-Yeah" Izuku nodded his head with a nervous smile "I have to work harder than everybody else so I can't complain about it" he got a pat on the back, which made him stumble forward.

"That's what I like to hear! AHAHAHAHA" All Might laughed.

"Can you believe this?!" the two turned around to look at Leo, who had finally pulled out the thing he was tugging on "who throws out a perfectly good couch?!" he patted the half of the couch he managed to pull out.

'This is going to be tough' Izuku thought as he watched Leo pull the rest of the couch out of the trash.

"This regime is actually pretty good" Leo commented as he and Small Might (as Leo dubbed him) watched Izuku running back and forth to move the slightly smaller pieces of trash to the area outside of the beach so they could transport it to a place that recycled trash. That meant loading some of it on a truck that All Might would drive, since he had a license. Leo offered to drive instead of the clearly sick man but Izuku feverishly denied that request. He still had traumatic dreams about getting in that car with Leo driving. All Might also said no, because the boy was too young to drive

"I should believe so" Small Might said keeping a strict eye on the boy transporting the trash "I followed something similar when I was training to receive One for All. Although I had to dial it back to take in account the time we have" he saw Izuku stumble and fall, letting a tire fly from his grasp "Come on! No time to slack off!" the green teen, tired and full of dirt, forced himself up and continued running.

Leo gazed at the man next to him for a brief second before he looked back at Izuku training.

"Who gave you One for All?" he asked, crossing his legs well he sat on top of a broken washing machine. Small Might seemed to freeze up for a second, which Leo pretended not to notice "You did say you got it from someone else. So, I'm just wondering who that was" he said nonchalantly.

"Forgive me, but I don't want to talk about that" the blond man crossed his arms and stared ahead of him with a serious look on his face.

"Completely understandable" Leo shrugged his shoulders "Then would you mind answering another question"

"Within reason"

"Were you Quirkless?" Leo looked up at the darkening sky.

"…"

"Well?"

"Yes…I was Quirkless" This statement caught the ears of Izuku, who had been running past. The boy skid to a halt and stared at his idol with a look of astonishment.

"So…that's why you said Izuku couldn't make it without a quirk, yeah?" Leo turned to Small Might, not even moved by the statement he just heard "you knew what it was like to be Quirkless and the dangers it posed to being a hero"

"Yes" Small Might sighed "although in the time when I was without a quirk there wasn't as many people who stepped up to the plate to be a hero, so that also meant that evil rain rampant. When I told my teacher that I wanted to be a hero that would be the symbol that everyone looked up to, they then gave me One for All…before they died" Small Might clenched his fists "I know what evil is out there and I didn't want someone to risk their lives carelessly"

Leo and Izuku stared at the man, one with a curious look and the other with stars in his eyes. This was something that no one knew about, a piece of All Might's past and it came straight from him. The part that made Izuku feel a deeper connection with All Might was the fact that he was also once Quirkless, like him.

Small Might noticed that Izuku had stopped training and turned to him to berate him for stopping. Making the green haired teen jump and quickly apologise before he continued cleaning up.

Small Might noticed that Izuku seemed more pumped somehow. Not that the boy wasn't giving it his all before, but now he seemed even more determined. That brought a smile to the skinny man's face.

"Dream…Destroy…" Leo mumbled as he gripped his knee tightly.

"Did you say something?" Small Might looked over to the empty eye socket boy, who grinned at him.

"Nothing! Just saying that I'm in the mood for something to drink" Leo jumped off the washer "I'll go get us something" he said as he walked away.

"Ah, let me give you some money" Small Might reached into his pocket to give the boy some money but Leo waved him off, not turning back.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I got this" he said.

"Ahuh. Yip" Leo spoke into his phone as he paid for the drinks.

There was a convenience store that was fairly close to the beach. As the teen was browsing the selection of beverages he remembered that he forgot to ask what the two wanted to drink. So he just took whatever.

"Thanks" the store attendant said with a bored yawn. Leo nodded his head before dropping some money in the tip jar on the counter.

'She kind of reminds me of Kirby with her pink skin and hair…a horned Kirby' Leo ideally wondered as he walked away from the store. He focused on his conversation on the phone again when the other person tried to get his attention.

"Sorry 'bout that, got lost in thought for a second" he said, reaching into the bag in his one hand and taking out a can that he popped open with his free hand "what was that again?...no, I remember things when you tell me, just not this time…geez, no need to switch to your native tongue…" Leo rolled his eyes as he took a sip of the drink "Yeah, I'll be careful…geez, what are you, my mom?" he chuckled as the person shouted from their end. That's when he decided to end the call and focus on his way back to the beach.

As he walked he noticed something moving behind some bushes. Curiosity getting the better of him, the boy snuck up to see whatever it was.

As he got closer the boy started noticing things about this mysterious object that was moving. First of all, it wasn't an object, but a person. Secondly, they seemed to be poking at the ground from where he was standing. Third, and finally, with their peach coloured jacket and their haircut, they looked like a-

"Mushroom" he said in curiosity. That seemed to make the person jump up from their crouched position and land on their butt. The person turned around to look at the boy with no eyes.

"AH!" the girl, by the tone of voice, screamed, scrambling away from the teen.

"Wow, am I that scary?" Leo mumbled with a thoughtful look. He took a sip of his drink as he pondered this.

"W-Who are you? Wh-What d-do you w-w-w-want?" the girl stuttered. The boy in front of her raised his eyebrows in surprise before he started chuckling "W-What's so f-f-funny" she asked nervously.

"Nothing much" he stepped back to give the girl some space "it's just that you remind me of my friend. He also gets nervous and stutters a lot when he meets new people"

"I-I'm not n-n-nervous!" the girl tried to defend herself. Even though he couldn't see her eyes Leo knew they had to be filled with fear/nervousness.

"Neh, so what's got ya so interested?" he asked, glancing down at the area the girl was crouched by earlier "oh, is that a Eryngii?" the boy wondered tilting his head to the side.

"Y-You know what mushroom that is?" the girl sounded surprised as she got up from her sitting position.

"I know a bit about mushrooms" Leo scratched his head "not an expert or anything. I know someone who's good at making toxins. She took me out to the forest one day and taught me about most kinds of Mushrooms, mostly deadly ones" he took another sip of his can "gotta say, it was interesting to know that some of these little things can be deadly" he crouched down to poke the mushroom.

"I-I know, right?" Leo looked up. The girl crouched close on the other side of the mushroom as she gazed at the mushroom. He assumed she was because he couldn't see her eyes because of her bangs. He also took note of her attire; she wore a peach long sleeved jacket with a red dress on underneath.

"Hey" the girl looked up at the boy. Her face flushed red when Leo put his hands under her bangs and pushed them up. Her warm brown coloured eyes showed shock and nervousness as the boy gazed at her with a curious look "ah, shiitake mushrooms" he grinned at her. Her face got hotter and she backed off again.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What d-d-d-do you think y-you're d-d-d-doing?!" she shouted in a high pitched voice as she held her hands over her bangs.

"I was curious" Leo grinned wider. He glanced down at his wristwatch and raised his brows in surprise "Oh crap! I've been gone for longer than expected. I should get back" he got up and began to jog away from the girl before he stopped when a thought came to mind.

"Hey!" he called out to the girl, who had been watching him leave "what's your name?" he asked.

"K-K-Kinoko K-Komori!" she called back, it was the polite thing to do.

"My names Leo!" the boy waved "I'll see you later Kinoko-chan!" he called before he turned around and jogged away, leaving behind a girl who was blushing so much you'd think she'd pass out.

'C-C-C-Chan?!' she shouted in her mind holding her cheeks and watching the boy run away.

I know it was kinda short but I'm gonna try to break up the training a bit. Slip in some different elements to spice it up. Ya know. It might just be one more chapter before I get to the Exam.

As always, Fav, Follow and Review