Disclaimer: I don't in any way, shape, or form own My Hero Academia, it is the property of Kohei Horikoshi, Shonen Jump, and Shueisha.

Author's Note: This is my first ever fanfic, I really hope it goes well. Please leave a comment on your thoughts and feelings; it will really help keep me going.

Edit: Revised and reposted on December 27, 2019.

Here's the sad truth, not all men are born equal. That is what Izuku Midoriya learned at the tender age of four.

For his was a world where the supernatural was totally normal. People were born with uncanny abilities, called Quirks. The streets looked like scenes ripped straight from a comic book. Some people could breathe fire or levitate objects with their mind. Others had incredible strength or could shatter stone with their voice alone.

Izuku Midoriya was not one of those people.

He was weak.

He was useless.

He was Quirkless.

And when he was four years old, that was the harsh truth he was forced to learn.

He also learned that he ate a lot more than other people.

"Alright, alright, settle down," the teacher said as class began, and the students got in their seats. "As third-year students, you guys need to start to think seriously about your futures." He picked up a stack of papers off his podium. "Now, I could hand out these career aptitude tests, but" he threw the papers into the air with a flourish and a laugh "why bother? I know you're all aiming for the hero course!"

At that, the classroom erupted in absolute chaos. Students roaring wildly and showing off their Quirks like they were Kindergarteners.

All except for Izuku, who shrank into his desk while he munched on a granola bar. You're probably wondering why he's eating in class. Well, there's a very simple explanation for that; ever since he was a child, Izuku has possessed a monstrous appetite. He could eat three to four times as much food as some his size and age normally could, although he never seemed to gain a pound. His pediatrician chalked it up to an abnormally high metabolism. The other kids joked about his Quirk being a black hole for a stomach, but those stopped after that fateful doctor's appointment.

At first, his teachers tried to get Izuku to stop eating in class, but in the end, his growling, scratch that, his roaring and screaming stomach proved to be a bigger distraction than his snacking ever could, so they gave up and let him eat. So long as he did so quietly.

"Oh yeah, Midoriya, didn't you apply to UA as well?" the teacher said dispassionately.

'Oh no,' Izuku thought, nearly choking on his granola.

"Huh, you think can compete with me, you fat, Quirkless, nerd?!" Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku's childhood best friend, and current bully shouted as he jumped on the green-haired boy's desk. He went tumbling backward out of his chair as Bakugo set off explosions from his palms.

As usual, the teacher seemed content to stand by and let everyone take out their aggression on Izuku.

"Don't even think of applying, or else."

"Just pray you'll be born with a Quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof."

Bakugo's words still rang in Izuku's ears as he walked down the road, dejectedly eating another granola bar.

'Every day is the same; I try as hard as I can, but it's the same result every time,' Izuku thought as he approached a tunnel. 'Kacchan, my classmates, the teachers, even mom, none of them think I can do it. Maybe they're right; maybe I should just…' He suddenly stopped at the entrance to the tunnel.

'No.' Izuku thought as he clenched his fist in determination. 'I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let anything or anyone hold me back. I will become a Hero!'

With a smile on his face, he entered the tunnel and let out a mighty laugh, unaware of the slime rising out of the utility hole he just passed.

"I'm sorry, but without a Quirk, you can't become a Hero."

Izuku walked forward in a daze, completely unaware of where he was or where he was going, but he didn't care. His dream of becoming had been crushed by his idol, the man Izuku had looked up above everyone else; All Might.

He couldn't really blame the Hero for what he'd said, risking your life to protect others was a dangerous line of work. No one got out of it unscathed, not even All Might, the Number 1 Hero, and Symbol of Peace.

But even so…it hurt, hurt so much in a way Izuku couldn't even begin to describe.

His steps were brought to a halt as the sounds of shouts and fighting brought Izuku out of his stupor.

'Heroes,' Izuku thought as he absentmindedly looked up. 'Must be a Villain attack, guess I walked here subconsciously.' He saw Kamui Woods and Death Arms, two of the Heroes he saw this morning.

'What am I even doing here? My notes are useless; there's nothing I can do.' Even so, Izuku was compelled to get a better look; he got closer to see- no. No, it couldn't be. 'Th-that's the slime guy All Might caught earlier, what's he doing here?' A horrifying realization struck Izuku; the bottle, the soda bottle All Might trapped him in must have fallen out of the Hero's pocket when Izuku grabbed his leg.

'This is my fault,' Izuku couldn't stop shaking. 'If I hadn't gotten in his way, then none of this would have happened.' The young boy was on the verge of tears. He looked to see the Heroes trying to get closer to the villain. And when he took a closer look at the amorphous villain he saw-

"Kacchan!" He cried out at the sight of his childhood friend being smothered by the villain.

At that moment, something happened to Izuku that he couldn't explain. He saw Bakugo, the boy who had bullied him endlessly since they were children, trapped in the wet, disgusting, suffocating grip of the villain. He saw the fear and desperation in the blond boy's eyes.

Before he even realized what was happening, Izuku was running. Running towards the villain, towards the danger.

Towards someone who needed help.

"Young man, you CAN become a Hero!"

Izuku felt overwhelmed. Tears born from overwhelming shock, and joy poured from his eyes.

All Might, his idol, and inspiration, the man who had so cruelly and carelessly crushed his dream, was here to give what he needed most; hope.

"Your actions inspired me to move, and you reminded me what it means to be a hero," All Might said, his baggy clothes hanging off him like drapes. "I deem you worthy of becoming my successor, my Quirk is yours to inherit."

And, like someone turning off a faucet, Izuku's tears were brought a dead stop.

"Huh?" was all he could manage. Izuku looked up at his idol like the blond man had inexplicably grown a second head and started singing opera; honestly, considering the day he'd had, Izuku wouldn't have been surprised if that did happen.

"But-but-but that doesn't make sense, you can't give someone a Quirk, it's impossible. I mean, well, it's never been proven you can't give someone a Quirk, so I guess it's possible, but the implications…" At that point, Izuku had started muttering and rambling to himself and was so deep in thought he'd pretty much shut out the entire world around him.

Quite frankly, it was freaking All Might out. 'What the hell is with this kid?'

As the green-haired boy continued to ramble on with no sign of stopping, All Might decided to put an end to it. He took in a deep breath and prepared to shout, when suddenly-

*GRRRRRR*

-he was cut out by Izuku's growling stomach.

Clutching his stomach with his face bright red, Izuku went dead quiet.

"Geez," All Might said, smiling. "Sounds like you're pretty hungry. Tell you what, how about we find someplace to eat, and we talk this whole thing over?" He held out his hand to the kneeling boy.

Izuku was about to say something, but-

*GRRRRRR*

-he was cut off by his own stomach. He merely nodded and took the hero's hand.

It had taken a little while, but the duo had found a small and quiet café called 'Ginko's' and gotten a secluded booth at the back of the restaurant. The menu had a little bit of everything.

All Might had gotten a tuna salad and bacon sandwich with cottage cheese.

Izuku had gotten… everything.

Okay, he didn't order every item on the menu, but it was way more than All Might thought humanly possible to eat in a single setting.

He was proven dead wrong; All Might could only stare in some strange combination of fascination, horror, disgust, awe, and envy as Izuku wolfed down a bowl of ramen after polishing off a plate of fried chicken and was preparing to move on to a bowl of curry.

After finishing off the ramen and putting the bowl down, Izuku finally noticed All Might's rather…intense gaze. He got very red and shrunk into himself. "Sorry, I know watching me eat can be disturbing, to say the least," Izuku found himself looking down at his hands instead of up at All Might. "You can move to another table if you want."

"No, no, no, it's fine," All Might as said rather nervously. "It's my fault for staring; I'm sorry for making you feel uneasy Young Midoriya." All Might glanced down at half-eaten sandwich and rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm a little jealous; my days of scarfing down huge meals are long behind me," his eyes drifted to the left side of his abdomen before returning to Izuku, a kind smile of his face. "But seeing you eat with a big grin on your face, I'm not sure why, but it makes me feel better about my situation." Despite everything, seeing Izuku happy filled All Might with a strange, warm feeling he couldn't identify.

Izuku was stunned by All Might's words; people had always said the way he ate was 'horrible,' 'disgusting,' 'sickening,' and 'just plain wrong.' Hearing those words, Izuku couldn't help but beam at his idol; All Might smiled back.

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about how much you can eat," All Might began before he cut himself off. The Pro Hero craned his neck to make sure no one was within earshot of them. When he was satisfied, he leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. "We're here to talk about you inheriting my Quirk."

Izuku leaned forward with his bowl of curry in hand. "I still don't get it. How can you give me your Quirk? That doesn't seem possible."

"I understand your skepticism," All Might said. "From what I saw of your journal, you've got quite a passion for studying Quirks."

Izuku laughed nervously, a little embarrassed.

"When my mentor told me what I'm telling you, I thought it was some kind of sick joke," All Might explained.

"Your mentor?" Izuku asked, a spoonful of curry halfway to his mouth.

"Yes." All Might brought his curled fist up to his chest. "My Quirk is a sacred torch that has been passed down from mentor to student since the emergence of Quirks. It is the crystallization of each previous user's power; its name,"

Izuku felt as if All Might was gazing upon his very soul; his eyes held an intensity that seemed to lock the boy in place.

"One for All."

Though quiet, the way All Might spoke those three words held a power Izuku couldn't explain.

"One for All," the green-haired boy parroted. Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Hold on, if you mentor had One for All too, why haven't I heard of them? Wouldn't they be as powerful and famous as you?"

"Not quite," All Might said, holding up a finger. "One for All grows in power with every wielder, and I am the eighth person to bear this Quirk. I am stronger than my predecessor, and she was stronger than hers, and you, Young Midoriya, will be stronger than me."

Izuku could only sit back and munch his food in contemplation, his eyes wide and wandering.

All Might let the green-haired boy think for a moment before he spoke. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I would never force One for All upon you. You don't have to decide now, but if you accept, meet me at Dagobah Municipal Beach Park one week from today, 5:00 am sharp."

"A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"

Izuku and All Might nearly jumped out of their skin at the sudden sound.

"A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"

Izuku went scrambling for his phone is the Official All Might Ringtone blasted out of it, he didn't even notice All Might reaching into his own pocket.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Izuku said in panic while his face went red as his shoes. "It's my mom- I mean my phone- I mean my mom calling my phone." He finally got his thumb on the answer button and held his phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"IZUKU!"

He was not prepared for the volume of his mother's voice and had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"Where are you!? I just saw the news- I saw Katsuki, and fire, and-and-and- please tell me you're okay!"

"Mom, don't worry, I'm fine," Izuku said in a desperate attempt to calm his mother down.

"But where are you? Why aren't you home?"

"I'm at a café called Ginko's. After the police took villain into custody, I came here with A-" Izuku cut himself before he could finish that sentence.

"Izuku? Izuku, who are you eating with?"

Izuku's body shook as he tried desperately to think of what to say. 'I-I can't just tell her that I'm eating with All Might; but I can't just lie and say I'm by myself, she'd see right through it.'

"You're scaring me, Izuku, please, just tell me what's wrong."

Izuku was now sweating bullets, paralyzed with fear over what to say. 'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I-'

It was then he noticed All Might, motioning him to hand over the phone. Completely overwhelmed by the situation, he decided to go along with it, even though he had no idea how All Might would handle this.

"A-a-actually, he wants to talk to you; I'll hand you off to him right now."

All Might took the phone and cleared his throat. "Hello, Mrs. Midoriya, it's wonderful to talk to you."

"Who-who are you? More importantly, how old are you, and why are you taking my son out to eat."

"My name is Toshinori Yagi; I'm All Might's secretary."

'All Might's secretary?' Izuku thought.

"All Might's…secretary?"

"Yes ma'am," All Might, or rather Toshinori Yagi, spoke calmly and collectively. "I was at the scene of the incident when All Might saved that young blond boy. Your son saw me speaking with All Might and started firing off questions. We both got hungry, and I offered to get him something to eat."

"Oh, thank goodness." The relief in Inko Midoriya's voice was palpable. "I was so worried. I'm glad to know my little boy's okay."

'Mom, why are you like this,' Izuku thought. He loved his mother dearly. She was his whole world, and he was Inko's whole world. But while her fears and worries were, admittedly, not unfounded, it could feel overwhelming at times.

"If it's not too much trouble, could you bring him home soon?"

All Might smiled. "Of course, I'll have Young Midoriya home, safe and sound."

"Oh, and I'll, uh, I can pay you back for whatever you spent on Izuku, Mr. Yagi." There a nervous tremor in Inko's voice that wasn't there before.

"It's not trouble, ma'am," All Might said with a chuckle. "Your son has been wonderful company; you don't need to give me a single Yen."

"Are you sure? I know Izuku has a… bigger appetite than most boys his age. You probably weren't expecting to spend so much on him."

"Truly it's no problem; being the secretary to the No. 1 Hero comes with quite a few perks, which includes a rather large paycheck. I could do this every day for a month it would barely put a dent in my budget."

"Alright then, thank you very much, Mr. Yagi. Can you please hand me back to my son?"

"Of course," he said as he handed back the phone to Izuku.

"Mom?" the boy said, taking his phone back.

"Okay, Izuku, I'll see you soon. Remember to thank Mr. Yagi for the meal."

"Okay. Bye, mom."

"Bye, sweetheart."

With that, Izuku ended the call. He looked at All Might for a moment, and All Might looked back; they let out breaths neither were aware they'd been holding and slumped in their seats.

"Holy crap, that was that scary," Izuku said, breathless. Despite the solid decade of bullying Izuku had lived through, the few seconds between handing his phone to All Might had probably been the most terrifying and nerve-wracking experience in his young life.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but is that your real name?" Izuku asked tentatively.

"Hm, yes, it's my real name," All Might said before taking a sip of water.

Izuku looked down at the empty bowl that used to be full of curry. "I'm sorry you had to tell my mom."

"Actually, I thought up the whole 'All Might's secretary' cover years ago. It's pretty convenient," All Might said reassuringly. "I tell people all the time, so you've got nothing to be sorry for, especially not a caring mother. She just worries about you, and with the way you dive headfirst into danger, I'm not surprised," All Might said with a chuckle while Izuku grumbled in embarrassment. "Are you almost done?"

The boy nodded and motioned to his three remaining dishes.

"Alright, I'll grab the check, and then we'll get going." All Might called the waitress over, a woman with four arms and five eyes, and paid while Izuku went to work on some Yakisoba.

"Again, thank you so much for taking care of Izuku," Inko said as she bowed rather profusely to All Might, although that was unbeknownst to her. "You're sure I can't pay you back?"

"Thank you for the kind offer. Mrs. Midoriya, but I can't take your money," All Might said, standing outside the doorway to the Midoriyas' apartment. "It was a pleasure to meet both you and your son. That's all the compensation I need."

Inko smiled at the tall, blond man. "Oh, you're too kind, Mr. Yagi."

Izuku, standing next to his mother, nodded in agreement. "Thank you so much for answering my question. I learned a lot about All Might's agency with you."

"You're welcome. It was a joy talking with someone so passionate about heroics." All Might pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Well, I'd best get going. Goodnight, Young Midoriya, Mrs. Midoriya." Toshinori bowed and started walking off as the Midoriyas said goodbye.

But he was suddenly back and was frantically searching through his pockets. "Almost forgot- where is it? Where is it?" With a sigh of relief, he pulled out a couple of business cards and handed them to Izuku and Inko. "If you ever want to talk."

With that, Toshinori Yagi, better known as the No. 1 Hero, All Might, was off.

Although neither of them knew it, Izuku and All Might had started something more magnificent than either could ever imagine.

AN: Holy Crap! I can't believe I did it; I finished the first chapter of my first fanfic! All 3,200 words of it. I've got to be honest, with college and other stuff going on in my life, I'm not sure how consistent I'm going to be with updates, but I'm going to try my damned hardest to see this thing through to the end!

If you want to stick around, expect future chapters to be of similar length to this first chapter.

Please leave a review; it'll really help keep me going, the more detailed, the better.

Anyways, stay awesome and have a beautiful day!