Chapter 2: A Brave New World
I groggily opened my eyes, very suddenly aware of just how much my body ached.
Just a dream? It certainly didn't feel like it. I can remember the entire conversation I had with God, or at least what I assume was God, from beginning to end.
In fact, it was surprising just how well I remembered it. It was like I could replay the entire experience in my mind like a video. That would imply it definitely wasn't a dream.
Even in the darkness of the room, the sight of golden hair, a blinding smile, and a very 'America!' themed costume snapped me back to reality.
Why is All Might on my ceiling? Oh, duh. It definitely wasn't a dream then.
The conditions of my reincarnation were somewhat different than what I had seen in the few isekais I had watched over the years. While I had expected to be born into the quirk filled world of MHA, the voice had informed me that I would instead be dropping directly into the body and mind of Izuku Midoriya.
" What will happen to Izuku then? Is this gonna be one of those weird, 'angel on my shoulder' kind of things?" I asked when the voice had explained how my new life would begin.
"No, you can think of it as me creating this world from scratch. It will all be real. The people in that world will all have souls, but I will simply not create one for Izuku. His body and mind will be yours, and yours alone." The voice answered.
"That's reassuring at least. I would feel bad if you Thanos snapped the kid out of existence." I replied.
"That said, just because his soul will be absent, that does not mean his convictions and memories will be as well. You will be you, but the boy, the hero known as Izuku Midoriya will be a part of who you are."
Recalling the circumstances of my arrival seemed to spur an absolute avalanche of memories, as fourteen years of Izuku Midorya's life flooded my mind.
It was both worse than I had hoped, and better than I feared. The reality of Izuku's life seemed to fall in somewhat of a middle ground from what I had seen portrayed in the few MHA fanfics I had read over the years. Bakugou bullied the absolute shit out of Izuku, but it mercifully hadn't gotten to the extremes I had seen in some fics. Generally speaking, physical assaults had been rare from Bakugou himself, especially as the boys had gotten older and Izuku had stopped trying to follow Bakugou everywhere he went.
I knew from the anime that Bakugou didn't really hate Izuku, he just had massive inferiority and superiority complexes that were in constant conflict with one another. His anger towards Izuku came more from fear of Izuku's determination, and that Izuku kept trying to be friends with him, no matter how hard Bakugou tried to push him away because of that fear and feeling of inadequacy.
The bigger problem came from everywhere else. Bakugou's bullying encouraged others to abuse Izuku as well, and according to the knowledge of this world I inherited from Izuku, middle schools received government grants if they were responsible for a student that got into a hero school, with more prestigious schools granting commensurately larger payouts. To make matters worse, the anti-bullying law that forbade children with bullying on their permanent record from being admitted to hero schools ended up having the opposite effect from what was intended. Instead of protecting the victims, it encouraged cover ups on a massive scale.
That explains Aldera's behaviour, and why the teachers never took action against bullying. Even if some of them didn't approve of it, they weren't going to potentially end Bakugou's almost guaranteed top 100 hero career before it even began, which would mean no government grant, and thus no bonuses for any of them.
I sighed heavily as I put an arm over my eyes. Izuku did have people he could call friends when he was younger. Despite his feeble build and lack of a quirk, Izuku had often stood up to Bakugou and other bullies to protect others. This had earned him admiration from many other victims, and a few had tentatively befriended him. Unfortunately, because Izuku was quirkless, and was still so determined in spite of that, he had always gotten it the worst, and anyone who associated with him was inevitably caught up in the crossfire. Over time, those friends had either drifted away of their own volition, or even more depressingly, Izuku had pushed them away himself in an attempt to protect them from the bullying.
Fast forward to the present, and while the physical beatings had decreased over the years, the psychological ones had not. Most kids in Izuku's class were nice enough to him if it was just the two of them, but as soon as they were in a public environment, peer pressure and mob rule reigned supreme. There were a handful of exceptions. Some of the quieter kids and even a few of the friendlier popular kids were nice to him and never took part in the bullying, but they were in the minority. Unfortunately, Izuku attended a school where Bakugou was the king, instead of someone like Ashido, Kendo, or even Iida, and so the 'normal' thing to do was relentlessly bully the quirkless kid who just didn't know when to quit.
The kid has had a rough go of it. He pretty much landed in the worst possible situation. Izuku's insistence on trying to be 'friends' with Bakugou even though the latter clearly isn't interested hasn't helped either. I'll be taking care of that immediately though. Bakugou will be a great hero, and a great friend, but he isn't either of those things right now. Distancing myself should accelerate his growth and increase his maturity if I do it correctly.
My brow furrowed in thought as I considered the consequences of any action I took regarding Bakugou. The past was the same as canon, but everything going forward was subject to change. In theory, I could go out, find the League of Villains, and offer my services to All for One.
There was no way I could really damage Bakugou's character development. His transformation was inevitable as soon as he left the sheltered and enabling confines of Aldera. That said, I could still derail canon and set him on a path that may cause said transformation to be delayed, or potentially limit its extent entirely.
I'll have to be careful, but I think he'd be better served by me taking a more direct approach. I just have to remember that this isn't the Bakugou that has gone through hell and grown up accordingly. This is the spoiled little shit from season one.
Dropping my arm back to my side, I took a moment to look around the room. There was All Might merch everywhere. It seemed like every square foot had at least some All Might related thing plastered on it, from the posters adorning the walls to the alarm clock beside the bed with its small hair-tuft things. It was only 5:30am according to the alarm clock, but even with the lights off and the sun only just now beginning its ascent, I could tell this was one hundred percent Izuku's room.
My room now, I suppose.
At that thought, I stopped. Closing my eyes and searching my mind, I looked for any sign that Izuku was still in there somewhere. When nothing but memories arose to meet my probing, I sighed in resignation.
He really is gone. I didn't give it much thought when God made the offer, but now that I'm taking a minute…
In many ways, it was possible that I could manage to be a better Symbol of Peace than Izuku, but I did doubt that I could be as good of a hero. Izuku was shy, lacked self confidence, and was prone to letting his emotions get the better of him, but those very same traits often made him more relatable than All Might ever was. There was a reason All Might was a hero known around the world, but very few people bothered to remember his actual name. As far as I knew, Toshinori Yagi didn't even bother using an alias when he was out and about in his 'skeleton form,' as the MHA community likes to call it. That was absolutely insane seeing as heroes like Enji Todoroki and Rumi Usagiyama would be recognized by name in an instant. All Might was seen as something more than human.
Regardless, I had grown up as a fan of DC. The concept of the man behind the mask being famous was as foreign to me as the rest of the MHA world. I had never sought praise for basic decency in my past life, and with Izuku's convictions melding with my own, the idea of fame and fortune for the act of saving people sounded like more of an inconvenience than anything else.
Maybe I'll have to take a different approach than Izuku did. More All Might than Deku. I suppose we'll see.
There was no way around the fact that the timeline would be changed very early. I had no intention of making the same mistakes Izuku had. If anything, I would be skipping through a significant amount of his development process just to spare myself some broken bones. Not to mention the personality differences. I was a social butterfly, and I had never lacked confidence, even as a child.
I'll need to find a good reason for the sudden change in personality. Not to mention the need to improve the kid's… my physique much faster than Izuku did.
At that, a sudden thought occurred to me.
Shit, Izuku is short.
Looking down at my feet, I wiggled my toes to find them far closer to my head than I was used to. In my old life, I was six feet-four inches tall. Izuku probably didn't come in at much more than five-five, if that.
Taking a deep breath to prepare myself for the inevitable vertigo, I swung my legs over the side of my bed, attempted to stand, and promptly crumpled to the floor.
Right. I'm barely over five feet. I won't hit the ground as quickly as I would normally.
Sighing, I slowly pushed myself off the floor and stood. Thankfully, Izuku's bed was pretty low, so it hadn't been particularly painful. Vertigo is also much worse when you're higher than you're used to, so being significantly shorter wasn't too bad. The awkward walk to the bathroom on the other hand made it abundantly clear that I would have to find a way to at least somewhat close the gap between my two heights sooner than later.
I'd probably get used to it eventually, but there's no telling how much this will affect my training. I'd probably eat shit again if I tried to run, and if I attempted something like weighted squats, I could seriously hurt myself. Yeah, this is definitely a problem. A significant obstacle already and all I've done is get out of bed.
Releasing another exasperated sigh, I finished making my way to the bathroom and turned on the light.
I wasn't sure exactly what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. I looked… odd. It wasn't an uncanny valley situation or anything like that, and thankfully I didn't have anime scale eyes, but I looked very different from what I had imagined a real life Izuku Midoriya to be.
My hair was noticeably green, but it looked completely natural. More of a darker forest green color than something that would only be possible in animation or from bright hair dye. As for my facial features, those stood out the most. I looked like some big combination of a dozen ethnicities. The best way I could possibly describe it, is how Kirito from SAO described the people of the Underworld in the Alicization arc. I didn't look Japanese, but I didn't look Western either. It was some combination that somehow looked both completely natural, and entirely artificial.
Now that I think about it, all the posters of All Might had a similar feel to them. I look AI generated. Though I suppose anime characters don't look like real people either. Whatever. How pretty I am is the least of my concerns right now.
Splashing some water on my face, I placed my hands on the edge of the sink and pondered where I should start. In that moment, the ache I had felt when I first awakened returned to the forefront of my mind. I rubbed absentmindedly at my neck as I tried to remember why my body felt like absolute garbage.
I don't feel One for All, and I'm at Inko's house, so obviously it's very early in the canon.
Collecting my thoughts was proving harder than I imagined it would be. Izuku's memories were still trying to settle and find their place amongst my own. Thankfully, it didn't take long for my mind to dismiss the various incidents of assault throughout Izuku's life, from Bakugou or otherwise, and settle on the event in question.
The sludge villain. I got dropped into this world the day after. More importantly, the day after Izuku talked to All Might and became the successor, or at least the planned successor. That spares me from having to try and fumble my way through retracing Izuku's steps during that incident.
Making up my mind on where to start, I made my way back to my bedroom, careful not to trip over myself again.
Picking up my phone from the bedside table, I felt a pang of sadness when I found Izuku's only texts within the last several months were from his mother. Shaking my head of that depressing reality, I swapped to the contacts, checking A before scrolling down to T, and finally Y.
There it is.
Sitting at my desk, I began to rap my fingers against the surface impatiently while the phone rang.
"Hello?" A tired voice answered on the other end.
Right, it's not even six in the morning. Oh well, too late now, and this really can't wait. We need to start as quickly as possible.
"All Might, it's Midoriya. We need to talk."
Author's Note:
For the physical features, I've seen writers go with a normal, 'Izuku is Japanese and thus looks Japanese' approach, I've see people try to describe anime aesthetics but in 3D/reality, and I've seen people just straight swap their own appearance for the self-insert character. I don't really have strong feelings about it, so I went with this. I left it pretty ambiguous on purpose so you can visualize the characters pretty much however you like.
As for the height thing, that's a result of me knowing people in reality who have gone through dramatic height changes, namely a veteran friend of mine who lost his legs and experimented with prosthetics. It's harder to acclimate to getting substantially taller, but suddenly becoming shorter is also quite jarring.
With those out of the way, clarification for characterization. I grew up primarily interested in DC as far as superheroes go. As a result, the concept of heroes being rich and famous (for their hero work, not like Bruce Wayne) is really weird to me. Honestly, I find the entire system distasteful if anything. This mindset combined with me being in my late 20s, mean that I am very different from Izuku. Several core ideals are similar if not the same, but I am not the naïve optimist that Izuku is. Expect Izuku to be far more like All Might in this fic than he is in canon.
Overall Author Style Note:
Before we get started, here is what you can expect from me as a writer;
I tend to lean away from 'cartoonish' interpretations, which often results in darker tones at times. Life isn't sunshine and roses, from the good guys or the bad guys. Also note that no character is safe. Anyone could die at any time because I or another character made a mistake. That's not to say that half of 1-A will die by the end of the fic. It's entirely possible that none of them do. Just be aware that the major character death warning is there for a reason. Your favorite character isn't guaranteed a happy ending. Especially for a fic like this, I don't have a laid out plan. I'm trying to write in the same way that I would live this. That results in me forgetting small details or not taking changes I've already made into account. This can have mixed results.
As for reviews/comments, let em rip. I'm not made of glass. If you have a problem with my writing style and/or plot choices, it's probably better if you actually give constructive criticism so I can determine whether or not I want to make changes, but if you want to just yell at me and tell me how shit I am, that's fine too.
I also know that some people determine whether or not they want to read a fic based on how it ends. A single story change towards the end can completely kill a fic for a lot of people. If that change is early (for example, if I made this a weird twilight-style love triangle or some shit right out of the gate), then it's easy to drop and move on, but if it's a change that is likely to come later (for example, does Endeavor redeem himself and live happily ever after), you can sink a lot of time into a fic only to lose all that investment in an instant. As such, feel free to PM me. If you really don't care about spoilers, I'll answer whatever you want to know. Just be aware that if you turn around and drop it in the comments, I'll delete it.
Chapter 3: The Symbol of Peace
After leaving a note on Inko's door, I threw on my 'pants' t-shirt, some shorts, and Izuku's red shoes, then left to meet All Might at Dagoba Beach. Walking through the crisp morning air, I spent most of the trip planning my upcoming discussion with All Might. It was during this brainstorming session that I realized just how much Izuku had supercharged my mental processing. I found myself drifting into streams of thought as my body walked on autopilot, but after setting my phone to record audio during the walk, I discovered that Izuku's tendency to mutter had lost out to my self control.
It's a charming personality feature, but probably better that I don't speak my thoughts out loud. I can still unleash some of Izuku's signature mutter storms, but it will be nice having the ability to choose when to do so.
Breaking myself from my musings, I looked ahead to see that I had arrived. As soon as I registered my surroundings, it hit me like a freight train. The smell.
This beach is effectively a garbage dump, so in hindsight, it should have been obvious that it would smell like one. I guess some things can't really be conveyed through visual media. At least being next to the ocean somewhat mitigates it. I've been to a dump before, and it wasn't too bad. I suppose I'll also have plenty of time to get used to this place over the next ten months.
Making my way towards a dilapidated pier near the edge of the dumping ground, I noticed the slender figure of All Might's skinny form in his usual oversized white t-shirt and cargo pants standing at the end of the ramshackle wooden structure, staring off into the sea.
Cautiously making my way across the rotting planks, I called out as I got close and it became apparent All Might was lost in thought. "Good morning, All Might."
As one would expect from the greatest hero of all time, All Might didn't so much as flinch at the sudden intrusion, instead merely turning to face me with a soft smile that looked out of place on his sharply angled features.
Yeah, the visual appearances of people in this world are going to take some getting used to. Toshinori looks like a cross between a skeleton and the Scream guy's mask.
"Good morning to you as well, young Midoriya." All Might greeted warmly. "I apologize for the locale, but as I'm sure you can imagine, not many people come to this place, so we can be assured our conversation will remain private. I also intend for a portion of your training to take place here, but we'll discuss that in more detail tomorrow."
Just as quickly as his smile had appeared, it faded away into a concerned frown. "Like I told you yesterday, you really should be taking today to rest. Even if you hadn't rushed in to save your friend, you were still attacked by a villain yourself. You must be exhausted."
There was truth in that. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to sit down. The several kilometer walk from my apartment to the beach hadn't helped that.
"I know, and I had planned on it, but…"
All Might has had very limited interactions with Izuku before this, and all of them definitively painted Izuku as he canonically was at this point in time. Self loathing and entirely lacking in confidence. I have to be very careful, or I could whiplash him and he could grow suspicious. I don't have One for All yet, so if he thinks I'm a lunatic or worse, an agent from some villain group, he could back out.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to commit to the plan I had come up with on the walk over. Steeling myself, I clenched my fists and looked All Might straight in the eye. As expected, Toshinori blinked in surprise at what must have been a total one-eighty from Izuku's demeanor the day before.
"I know, All Might, but I've had time to think. About what happened yesterday, about the offer you made me, and what it means for not only my future, but the future of Japan as a whole." I began.
A slow and steady approach might be less jarring, but it will delay my progress by too much, and I'd almost certainly mess up at some point. If All Might had known me for more than a day, I might have taken a more long term approach, but I should be able to play yesterday's emotional outbursts off as being a result of meeting my hero, and having him both reject, and then accept me, in short order. Time to turn on my acting ability. Sorry to manipulate you like this, Toshi.
"I… didn't have a lot of people that believed in me growing up. In fact, it was the opposite. From the time I was four years old and the doctor told me I was quirkless, everyone in my life told me I couldn't. People I thought were my friends abandoned me, people who were supposed to nurture and guide me told me that not only would I fail if I kept going, but that I had already failed, before I even began. Even my own mother didn't believe in me. The day I found out I was quirkless, I asked her if I could still be a hero. She told me she was sorry. It came from a good place, but for my entire life, I saw it as her apologizing for making me. For giving birth to a failure."
The voice had been right, Izuku's emotions were still there, and his memories belonged to me now. My voice began to choke up and tears began to well in the corners of my eyes as I recounted the events of Izuku's life. Of my life.
I looked away from All Might's horrified expression and took a deep breath before continuing. This part was almost guaranteed to have All Might eating out of the palm of my hand. I felt terrible, but it needed to be done, and to an extent, it was true, and he needed to hear it.
"Even my greatest hero, the one I grew up admiring more than anyone, who always encouraged people, no matter what… Even you, All Might, told me that I needed to let my dream die."
I was a huge fan of All Might, even in my past life. He was everything a hero should be, and ranked only behind Batman and Superman on my list of favorite heroes across all fandoms. So when I looked up, I found the reaction I expected, but it still nearly broke my resolve to see it. All Might was devastated, and took a fumbling half step backward as if I had struck him.
"Young Midoriya, Izuku, I… I never meant to-" All Might began haltingly, despair haunting his sunken eyes.
"It's okay, All Might. You were right." I replied resolutely.
All Might blinked in surprise at my words and stared at me incredulously.
"You were right. I couldn't be a hero, not as I was. Sure, you could definitely have worded it better, or suggested potential alternatives still directly involved in the field of heroics, but seeing as you were in a rush and had just had your, well, second closest secret I suppose, revealed to a total stranger you had no reason to trust, I get it." I continued.
That wasn't true of course. Izuku had managed to become his own hero despite those perceived weaknesses, but for the purposes of this conversation, it was best to focus on the need for me to become stronger, and more importantly, more like All Might. All Might himself looked uncertain, and clearly still regretted his words from the day before, but he no longer appeared as though he would fall to his knees begging for forgiveness.
"That was the realization I came to last night. You asked me to become your successor. To become the world's next Symbol of Peace. No one ever believed in me. No one but you. You didn't have to offer me your quirk. You didn't have to do anything more than thank me for inspiring you to go beyond your limits, but you did. For the first time in my life, someone told me that I could do it. That they believed in me."
I smiled as the tears of sorrow mixed with tears of joy. I wasn't much of a cryer in my previous life, and I didn't plan to make a habit of it in this one, but I had to admit, with all of Izuku's pent up anger, sorrow, and self loathing… It felt good to let it out, even if it wasn't truly my heart that was finally releasing all that pain.
"I know that to be the Symbol of Peace, I will need to go beyond my limits. You aren't just a hero, you are an icon. I can't be the timid little boy I was before. I need to have a smile on my face, no matter the trials and tribulations that life throws at me. I have to be someone the world looks to, and feels hope kindle in their hearts. I have to be a hero."
All Might gaped at me for a moment before replying. "You don't need to change who you are, young Midoriya. You will inherit this great power, yes, but you don't have to be me. You can be a hero while still being yourself."
He really is the greatest isn't he…
I smiled sardonically, briefly looking down at my bright red shoes, shoes specially designed for quirkless feet, before meeting All Might's gaze once more.
"Thank you for that, All Might. It means more to me than you could ever imagine, but no. I can't only be me. Just as you can't only be you. All Might is a symbol, an icon. Toshinori Yagi may be the man that wears that icon, but it transcends you, in a way that no other hero can begin to replicate."
I took another deep breath, my nose wrinkling slightly at the odor of the adjacent dumping ground, and continued.
"You won't be here forever. Whether it be through retirement, or God forbid, something else. When that day comes, I have to be ready to become that icon, to become All Might. I can't just be Izuku Midoriya. I have to become something more, just like you did. When that day comes, the people of Japan, of the entire world, need to welcome your departure with a fond smile, and know in the depths of their hearts that everything will be okay,-" I brought my right hand to my heart, curling it into a fist as I stared resolutely into All Might's eyes. "- because I am here."
A strong breeze blew in from the ocean, rustling All Might's baggy clothes and whipping through his hair. With my fist still held to my chest and All Might straightening his posture as a proud smile crossed his features, it must have looked quite cinematic, akin to the day before when All Might had told Izuku he could be a hero.
"I knew that one day you would show me why I chose you to be my successor, young Midoriya. I just didn't think it would be the day after I met you." All Might said warmly, a chuckle escaping his lips before being cut off by a small cough.
Lowering my hand back to my side, I returned All Might's smile for a moment before continuing with my plan.
His praise gets the fanboy in me going, but we aren't finished yet. I didn't call him out here just to tell him I have to 'kill the boy and let the man be born'.
Noticing my change in demeanor, All Might's smile faded as well. "You had something else you wanted to talk about, my boy?"
"Yes, sir. You gave me an abridged version of One for All's potential and history yesterday, but I need to know everything if I am going to be your successor." I replied.
As expected, All Might's expression became uncomfortable, and he looked out into the ocean warily before giving a hesitant reply. "There will be plenty of time for that. For now we need to focus on strengthening your body enough to wield One for All. Once you've gotten into UA and settled into the day to day life of hero academics, then we can start to tackle the finer details of One for All and its past."
I had to resist rolling my eyes. I had noticed some things were different in this world than they were in canon. No doubt adjustments had to be made for this world to become 'reality', and I had been curious to see if things that the author had very clearly added in later years would be brought up immediately, instead of as some great reveal months down the line that was nonsensical to keep secret in the first place. At least in this case, it appeared that All Might was still set on hiding things from his successor.
I suppose it makes sense to an extent. There is always the chance that something happens and I can't inherit One for All. Or maybe All Might is afraid that if he tells me about All for One so soon I'll chicken out. There are some legitimate reasons for holding back, so I won't push too hard, but I'm definitely going to press to get as much out on the table now as I can. The more All Might knows I know, the more information I can work with, and the less chance there is that I mention information that I shouldn't know about yet.
"I understand if you have reasons for wanting to withhold information, All Might, but as your successor, I need to know everything. It isn't a matter of curiosity, but of necessity. You are the number one hero, and there are countless villains out there who would give anything to take you down. What if you were killed before telling me everything there is to know about One for All? Or if you left out some piece of its origin that ended up being crucial later? I swear that I won't back down, even if you tell me One for All is guaranteed to kill me within the next decade, or that it has some evil twin quirk that will stop at nothing to destroy me." I finished with a short laugh, intentionally baiting out information on All for One.
As anticipated, All Might winced at my final words, looking back out to sea.
"Right... I take it I accidently hit it right on the nose. I won't walk away, even if you don't tell me, but if there is an existential threat related to One for All, I need to know what I'm getting into, All Might. I never thought I'd say this, but I hope it was the evil twin part that was correct, not the 'me dying before I turn thirty' part." I said with a self deprecating chuckle.
All Might turned back to me with a panicked look and frantically waved his hands in front of him. "No! That's not it at all! As you know, I've had One for All since I was your age. It's…"
All Might trailed off before once again brooding towards the horizon. After a few long moments, he finally released a heavy sigh and continued. "You're right, young Midoriya. You need to know everything. About One for All, and about… and about where it came from. Who it came from."
Author's Note:
To be perfectly honest, I never even considered trying to emulate Izuku's personality. He and I are just so intrinsically different in how we interact with people that I realized I would blow my own cover almost immediately. With All Might having only known Izuku for a very brief (very emotionally tumultuous) period of time prior to my arrival, I figured it wouldn't be an issue having a massive swing. As for everyone else, the only one who will seriously notice is Inko. Bakugou will be explained in a couple chapters.
This chapter was mostly just me manipulating the conversation so that All Might would explain everything. That way I wouldn't have to walk on eggshells for every future conversation, trying to remember what he has and has not told me.