Chapter 1

"Izuku Midoriya, I choose you to inherit my powers."

…

"What-?"

"-the fuck?!"

"C'mon kid! You can do better than that!!"

"*HNNNNNGGG* I don't… think I can… move five hundred pounds… All Might, sir…"

"Six hundred, actually. I put on a little weight recently."

"Heh, bullshit. You musta lost some weight with your injury and all."

Sighing, Izuku muttered to his subconscious voice, "Be nice. He's still fighting even though he's injured."

"Hmm? Did you say something, young Midoriya?"

Shaking his head vigorously, Izuku responded quickly, "Oh, no sir! Just grunting in pain- I MEAN GAIN!"

Laughing loudly, All Might said, "That's the spirit, my boy! Work those muscles! Make those gains!"

"Ugh, is this guy serious? I mean seriously he's so obnoxiously chipper. Yeah, I admire his fighting prowess but he's so damn annoying."

Chuckling, Izuku thought, 'Sounds like someone I know."

"Hey! I'm you yanno!"

Izuku rolled his eyes and thought to himself, 'Yeah and apparently I'm really annoying inside my own head.'

After that, Izuku started getting lost in thought, considering all the things he had to do to succeed All Might and not putting as much into his physical training as he should.

"AGH! Shut the hell up! You're thinking so loudly I can't even… well, think! Seriously, how can you even understand all those thoughts with how fast they go? Stop thinking and focus on just getting stronger! You gotta be stronger Izuku! If you get stronger you can save everybody just like you always wanted! Stop worrying and just do it! You can do it bro!"

Izuku couldn't help his smile, though he did sigh and think, 'C'mon, I told you to stop calling me bro. I don't even talk like that!'

It felt like his own subconscious shrugged at him and said, "Apparently you do because I just said it. If I'm not your own thoughts, then that must mean someone else is in your head. Which of those possibilities is preferable?"

Izuku paused in his workout, considering the question then thought, 'Bro it is. Still don't like it.'

There was a snicker in his head and the voice replied, "I don't really care. I get to speak however I want since I'm all cooped up in here. If you let me take control, this would go so much smoother."

Rolling his eyes, Izuku thought back, 'Yeah, no. Working out myself is better, but thanks all the same. Also I feel like I might piss off All Might if I spoke to him like I do in my head.'

After that, Izuku did his best to stop thinking so much and focused more on his workout. It seemed to improve his gains too; his progress was much faster than All Might had anticipated.

'Hmm. Seems the boy really got a fire lit under him lately. Not sure what did it but I'm definitely impressed.'

Finally, after months of work Izuku had managed to clean the beach; he was even done sooner than All Might's plan had initially intended. Had he followed exactly as the plan said he'd have finished most of it the morning of his exam, then finished it entirely within a week after that. Instead, he'd managed to finish the entire thing two weeks before the exam; All Might was clearly shocked as he stared blankly at the spotless beach. Izuku was lying face down in a pile of sweat, tears, and what he was pretty sure was a dead crab. He didn't seem to be able to find it in him to care, however.

"You know Inko's gonna bitch when you come home smelling like low-tide. Actually, for once I agree with her. Get your lazy-ass up and out of that nasty-smelling shit."

Groaning, Izuku rolled over as he said aloud, "You know sometimes I feel like you just live to make my life harder…"

"Well I suppose you're partially correct, young Midoriya. However, I did hope you might appreciate my tutelage a bit more than that, haha!"

His eyes shot open at his mentor's voice and he shot up like a bullet, suddenly overextending his tired muscles.

"OWOWOW! Fuck you retard, don't go shooting up like that when we're all messed up!"

Izuku ignored the voice this time knowing that it was just his subconscious reminding him he was in pain.

"No. PAIN would be preferable to what your dumb ass does to our body. STOP HURTING YOURSELF MORON!"

All Might chuckled and deflated to his weakened state before calmly saying, "Well, young Midoriya, I'm definitely impressed. With how fast you managed this, I think we might actually have enough time to get you some training with One for All. Now, my young protege… I think it's time… to finally pass on this amazing gift. Young Midoriya, are you ready to accept this awesome responsibility?"

Izuku stared in awe at this man. He looked like little more than a tall, sickly individual who coughed up blood on a regular basis, but he carried himself with an aura more like that of an old god coming to pass on a gift to mankind. He nodded slowly, wondering if he truly was ready.

"Listen bro, I know I joke a lot but you got this. You've never wanted anything more in your life than to be a hero and this is the best chance you're ever gonna get. I mean for fuck's sake, the NUMBER ONE HERO IN THE WORLD believes in you, and obviously so do I. And really, what more could you ask for than my support huh?"

Izuku chuckled at that and said almost silently, "Yeah you're right."

"'Course I am. Now step to it, big guy. You're going to do great things and I'll be right beside you the entire way making sure you don't fuck it up."

That actually made him laugh out loud and All Might stared at him strangely, wondering about the sudden change in the boy's demeanor. Izuku realized what he'd done and gulped, trying to cover for his odd shift in behavior by saying, "S-s-sorry All Might, sir! I just… thought about how awesome this is going to be and how h-happy I am that you chose me for this honor!"

"...Smooth."

"Well, young Midoriya, I must say I am glad to hear you're so enthusiastic. I suppose it's time then." With that, All Might switched back to his hero form, reached up to his head and plucked a single strand of hair which he brought down to Izuku's eye level.

"Eat this."

…

…

…

"What the fuck?!"

"What the fuck?!"

All Might was surprised by the boy's outburst but let it go and explained, "Well the thing is, to receive my power you must ingest some of my DNA. There are other methods but… well, this was the least improper or disgusting. Don't worry! I even made sure to thoroughly wash my hair!"

Izuku just stared at the follicle with a deadpan expression. Was this really how such an important power was passed on?

"He's gotta be fucking with us. There's no way. I think we might need to start calling stranger-danger, here."

When that came into his mind, Izuku realized this was ALL MIGHT. Of course he was telling the truth!

"Well I guess it doesn't matter what I say. If we get raped, though, let it be said I told you so."

'Noted,' he thought back.

Reaching forward, Izuku took the hair and stared at it for a few moments until…

…

*HACK* *COUGH COUGH COUGH*

"Jeezus, All Might, did you use scented shampoo? Why?!"

Looking at the boy, he reached up and rubbed his neck and replied sheepishly, "Well, it makes my hair nice and soft…"

"Screw your hair! My throat's burning here!"

For a few moments, they stood there while Izuku grasped at his throat. Finally, the burning subsided and Izuku managed to calm down. He breathed deeply for a little longer and managed to calm down a little bit. Looking at his hands, he wondered if he should feel any different. Next to him, he heard a chuckle and All Might answered his unasked question, "Not yet kid. You gotta digest the hair after all!"

When he said that, Izuku realized how obvious that seemed. Finally relaxing a little, he thought about everything that had just happened… then promptly began freaking out.

'I JUST SWORE AT ALL MIGHT! WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!'

"DUDE! SERIOUSLY, SHUT THE FUCK UP! MY… ears? Do I have ears? Anyway, my ears are hurting like hell after that screaming you just did in here! Knock that shit off right the fuck now. I don't think he cares, otherwise he'd have said something."

As he heard all this, he merely ignored his inner voice's warning to relax and began apologizing profusely.

"OhmygodIamsosorryAllMightsir!ItjustslippedoutandIcouldn'thelpit! I promise I never swear like that! My inner voice just sort of influenced me a lot, and I let it slip out, and-"

All Might was a little shocked by the outburst and put his hands up in surrender, popping back to his weakened state and tried to calm the boy. "Whoa, whoa kid! I get it. It was kind of a weird situation so I think you can be forgiven for a little slip of the tongue. Don't worry, I'm not gonna start hating you just because you cursed a little. It's not like it's a regular thing for you anyway."

Literally slumping in relief, Izuku let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, (or that he even could hold with all that apologizing he was doing, geez). Still feeling bad about it he said, "Thank you sir but I still feel bad about it. That's not how I normally am and I really regret it."

Shrugging, All Might said kindly, "Really kid, it's fine. It just means you're human. What did you mean about your inner voice, though?"

Izuku completely tensed up at that, feeling a mounting sense of dread. 'I went all these months without revealing how pathetic I am and I slip up NOW? FUCK! DAMNIT! SHIT!'

There was a sound like an appreciative whistle in his mind. "Nice! I guess I am a positive influence on you after all if you can swear like that!"

Izuku groaned and thought, 'No, you're not. You are the worst possible influence I could have… aaaannd you're me. I wonder what that says about me...?'

Chuckling reverberated through his head and the voice replied, "That you're batshit crazy and you'll end up in a nuthouse one day."

"AGH! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

All Might took a step backward, confused by the boy's outburst. He'd watched Izuku seem to shut down for a few moments, trembling, then suddenly burst out yelling at seemingly nothing.

Izuku realized immediately what he'd done, so used to this situation by now that he just sighed and turned to All Might to apologize. Then it fully dawned on him what he'd just done. Now he'd have to explain to All Might what had just happened, then he'd ask Izuku to give One for All back, and Izuku would be right back where he started except now the number one hero would hate him too for lying about being a good candidate for his successor, and-

"Dude. Shut up and just explain it for now. If he wants it back then we'll give it back. If he doesn't then you know he's a better person than the rest of those morons. Just relax and get it over with. No sense in worrying about what Might be, (heh), and just see what will be. You never know until you do right?"

Listening to the voice he sighed, then began explaining to All Might what was going on.

"When I was a little kid I had this… voice in my head that started talking to me. I thought it might be a quirk, but then the doctor told me I was quirkless, so I... I started worrying I was crazy. My friends all laughed at me, teased me, and picked on me because I talked to myself. My mom had me tested but all the doctors just said I had an overactive imagination and it was nothing to worry about. They said it was just 'my subconscious manifesting in a more noticeable manner.' Ever since then I've sort of just… accepted it and I talk to myself a lot. It doesn't tell me to do anything. Well, it doesn't tell me to do anything bad. It's more like it's just… there with me, encouraging me and helping me get through my life. I'm... I-I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, it's j-just… I was so afraid you'd hate me like everyone else and then you'd say I wasn't worthy to be your successor, and… and…"

Izuku had turned to look at the ground during all this, afraid to look up at the man who had been so good to him, whom he'd lied to all this time. He waited for the rejection just like everyone else, knowing what was coming.

Instead, he felt a hand gently come to rest on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the kind smile across his mentor's face looking down at him. Chuckling, Toshinori said, "Well kid, seems you're more interesting than I first thought. It's fine that you have a voice in your head. After all, you seem like a pretty decent kid to me so it must not be a bad thing. In fact, if all it ever does is encourage you, then I'd say it's probably a benefit."

Awed by the kindness the man was showing him, he could only stare for a few moments. Then he smiled with joy at finally being accepted by someone despite his flaws.

"Oi! I ain't no flaw! I'm the reason you're still alive, numbnuts! You better not forget all those times I convinced you to stand up to Baka-go! Otherwise, you'd probably be a scared little rabbit by now."

Smiling to himself, he thought back, 'Yeah, you're right. I suppose I never really say this since, you know you're me, but thank you. I really do owe you so much. I know I get annoyed with you but seriously, I owe you… more than I can count.'

In his mind, there was a stunned silence, which was almost unheard of. His inner voice almost always seemed to have some sort of snarky response, but this time this time he felt something akin to a pleased tingle filling his mind. It was a first and he couldn't help but laugh at the sensation.

"Something funny your voice said, kid?"

Looking to All Might, he chuckled, and said, "No. Actually, it's the fact that it said nothing; that's pretty rare. Thank you, sir. I… you have no idea what this means to me. Everybody else, they always… they always just looked at me like I was crazy, and I was never able to make any friends. Sadly, the voice in my head seems to be the only friend I have. I've always been so worried about that. It can be a bit of a bad influence, really."

"Fuck you."

All Might blinked, and asked cautiously, "What do you mean a bad influence? I thought you said it never told you to do anything?"

Realizing what that sounded like, Izuku quickly explained, "Oh! No, it doesn't sir! I just meant that it's really snarky and swears a lot! It loves to tease other people and say things that just kind of make me feel like I'm being rude!"

All Might seemed to appraise him for a few moments before relaxing and giving Izuku a smile, "Hmm. Well, that's not so bad. Being a little snarky is a good thing from time to time; it helps us all blow off some steam. As for the swearing... hell, if people heard the things I say in my head they'd probably wash my mouth out with soap, haha."

Izuku just grinned at his mentor and replied, "I suppose in our own minds, we can think however we want."

"Damn straight, kid. Now, since we have a few hours to kill until your power starts to manifest, let's go ahead and head over to a friend of mine. I think when you first use your new power we're going to need her help."

With that, Izuku followed All Might to the train, wondering where they were headed.

"HELL YEAH! We get to see fucking Yuuei! Oh man I always wanted to see what the school that produces the best fighters in Japan was like!"

Externally, however, Izuku was little more than a bundle of nerves. The thought of going to Yuuei to practice his new quirk was more than a little daunting, but then add to that meeting a friend of All Might's! Was this person going to be some sort of combat instructor? Was he about to learn to fight with some kind of famous pro? ...Some other famous pro besides All Might?

"Boy, I sure hope so! We need some good combat training! You're far too… inexperienced is the polite way of saying it."

Surprised, Izuku thought back, 'Well I'm glad you're not being so crude and I-'

"Shitty is the more accurate way of putting it."

Izuku just deadpanned, wishing his subconscious would stop using such crude terms.

"Fat chance."

"I know."

"Hmm?"

Smiling, Izuku pointed to his head. All might simply chuckled and continued on. He had reverted to his weakened state since it was easy to move around without people noticing him at all.

As they moved, Izuku couldn't help but freak out at what might be coming next.

"Chill bro, whatever it is you got this. It's a little late to be backing out anyway don't you think?"

Realizing the validity of that argument, he did relax a little, accepting that whatever was going to happen would happen whether he worried about it or not so he may as well go with the flow.

As they approached the building, Izuku caught sight of a rather short person standing in front of the building. When they got closer, he could see it was an old woman waiting and smiling at them.

Finally, they stopped before her and she said kindly, "Well, Toshinori, you sure know how to keep a Girl waiting."

Surprised that this woman knew his mentor, Izuku looked up and saw the man smiling back and replied, "Well, they do say one should be fashionably late."

The old lady scowled and said, "Not at my age, you lunkhead. I'm old and my feet are tired. I'm also none too thrilled to stand around waiting for someone, even if it is you. Now what is this thing you need help with?"

Sighing, he looked around and said quietly, "This probably isn't the place for this conversation. Perhaps we could go someplace more... private to speak?"

Glowering a little, the woman said, "Well, I suppose Nezu's office is nearby. I'm sure he won't mind us talking there." Looking at Izuku, she asked, "Is this about him?"

Looking down at his protege, Toshinori nodded and said, "Indeed it does. I have finally come to a decision and this young man is the one I've decided will carry on my legacy."

She looked at Izuku more closely for a few moments before saying,, "Well, it seems you've entangled yourself into a rather large mess, young man. I hope you're ready for all the problems you're going to face from this decision."

Izuku stared back in shock for a few moments as he realized this meant she knew about One for All. His expression hardened with determination and he said resolutely, "I am ma'am."

She appraised him for a few moments before breaking out into a grin and cackled, "My goodness, so serious. Looks like you chose a real stiff one again, Toshi."

Toshinori rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling with nervous laughter and replied, "Yeah, kinda. Still, I can't imagine a better choice. Now, let's head to the office so we can discuss my plan."

They moved quickly through the halls making their way to the office. Along the way, Izuku stared in awe at the building as they moved. He had dreamed of coming here and walking these very halls and here he was being ushered through them by his hero, the very man who'd inspired him to attend in the first place!

"Jesus, dude, you really gotta stop fanboying out over every little thing. It's just a school. Yeah, it's a badass school where we'll learn to beat the shit outta people, but you're geeking over walls right now."

Izuku did his best to heed his inner voice's advice but he still caught himself marveling at random things.

When they reached the office, Izuku was shocked at the size of the door. Was this some kind of giant room for a giant person? As the woman opened the doors with ease, Izuku was shocked further. Was she super strong? Inside, however, was the biggest shock of all.

"Ah, Chiyo-chan, Toshinori-san what a pleasant surprise. I haven't seen you in a few days. How about some tea?"

Izuku couldn't help but stare at the small mouse/bear/dog creature that stood before him, speaking in a high-pitched tone, wearing a suit, and shoes far too large for it's tiny frame. Speaking to them! He wasn't sure which was stranger: the fact that he spoke or that he walked upright on two legs.

All Might, who Izuku was just now realizing was named Toshinori, replied, "No thank you, Principal Nezu. We're actually here to speak about my successor. I finally passed on my quirk today and was hoping to get Recovery Girl's assistance with his first test of One for All."

Izuku's head actually began to swim a little at that. So many things were dropped on him at once, he wasn't sure where to start. Recovery Girl? Principal Nezu? Talking animal? A TALKING ANIMAL WAS THE PRINCIPAL OF YUUEI?!

Wait, none of that was as important as, "He knows about One for All too?!"

Toshinori chuckled and answered, "Well, yeah. I can't hide it from everybody. They're two of only four people who know my whole situation. I kind of needed their help with covering up the incident that caused my injury, after all."

"Not to mention help with the whole losing-your-stomach part, you dunce," Recovery Girl added.

Chuckling, All Might replied, "Yeah, that too. Anyway, I know you need to practice with your new quirk and we needed a place where we could do it without drawing attention. Not to mention somewhere that could handle all the destruction when it finally manifests. I figured Yuuei's training grounds would be the best place for that." Looking over at the other two, Toshinori asked, "I was really hoping you could let us use training ground Gamma, Principal Nezu, and that you could be there to heal any injuries he might sustain, Chiyo."

Looking at Midoriya, Recovery Girl sighed and said, "I'm not sure whether I should be impressed that you actually have a plan, or annoyed that you expect me to just drop everything to help you."

Toshinori gave a pained expression and looked away slightly saying, "I know I'm asking a lot, but I really wasn't sure what else to do. It's not like this is a regular situation with a clear of set rules or anything. He's… he's quirkless like I was. He's not going to know how to handle having a quirk so I'm sure the blowback will be pretty extreme."

Izuku was shocked when All Might said that. He might get hurt by this quirk? Wait… All Might used to be quirkless too?!

"Holy shitballs! The lug was like you?! That actually kinda makes me wanna nutshot him a little more right now after that shit on the roof."

Ignoring Izuku's inner turmoil, Nezu said cheerily, "Well now, I think that would be just fine. Actually, this may in fact be a rather unique opportunity. When Mrs. Shimura passed on her quirk to you, she did a fine job in educating you on the fundamentals of being a hero. However, I think she failed rather spectacularly in teaching you anything else. Amazing as she was, she was a fighter not a teacher. I think your successor here.."

He looked over to Izuku who was confused for a moment until he realized the… man? Animal? was waiting for him to give his name. "Izuku Midoriya, sir."

Smiling, Nezu continued explaining, "Well, young Midoroya, I believe that you as the successor of our world's Symbol of Peace would benefit greatly from training in more than just fighting. I believe we have a unique opportunity here to train a hero even greater than yourself or Mrs. Shimura, Toshinori. I would like to personally train you as well, young Midoriya, in those matters beyond simple combat."

"Oh god no! I don't think I can stand to listen to this guy prattle on about some stupid shit like hero laws and tactics."

Grunting in annoyance, he returned, 'Well unlike you, some of us enjoy those things as well. I'm not exactly a battle-hungry person. You know just as well as I do I'm more interested in rescue than battle.'

Snorting, the voice returned, "Yeah, and for some of us that shit's really boring. We gotta be able to fight all those big baddies that're gonna be gunning for us as the next Symbol of Peace!"

Not answering this time, he replied to the principal instead. "Of course sir, that sounds amazing! I can't believe I'm getting such a great opportunity. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be All Might's successor and all and I figured that'd mean I'd have a lot of opportunities, but I just wasn't considering the-"

"Jeez, Midoriya, relax! You gotta stop that rambling thing of yours."

"Yeah, I agree with the oaf. You're way too talk-y. Do more fight-y, instead."

Rolling his eyes at the voice, he mumbled an apology to the others in the room.

Nezu just chuckled a little and said, "It seems you have a rather active mind. I'm glad for that since it only means you'll be able to keep up with me when I begin your education. At this moment however, it seems that this day is meant for something much simpler but equally as important, and that is adjusting to your new quirk. I imagine that Toshinori here is my superior in knowledge on this matter, so if he says this will likely have complications I don't doubt him. With this in mind, I say we head down to ground Gamma and begin your testing. Once we have a starting point to judge your progress from, we can better plan out your tutelage. I've already called a car to take us there, so let's get to it shall we?"

With that the group began the trek to their destination.

"Finally! All this talking was giving me a… headache I guess. I hate talking. I just want to get to punching things!"

Smirking, Izuku thought, 'I'm aware. You never really shut up about it. I always have to ignore you when you tell me to punch Bakugou.'

"And I'm never gonna stop telling you to do that. Still, we're finally here at least. We finally get to test out all the amazing strength we've built up all this time. We'll get to see how reality matches up to the expectations."

'Yeah, I can't fight it. I agree with you entirely this time. We're finally here and I can't imagine anything greater than this. We're going to learn how to use the same power as All Might!'