"Sorry kid, it's not gonna happen." The doctor said.
BOOM
What? What does he mean it's not gonna happen. I sat there processing what the doctor said. Everything else just disappeared into the background. I didn't even realize how I got back home, I only snapped out of it when I heard All Might's voice on the computer. It was my favorite video of All Might. He saved a bunch of people with a smile on his face. He always says,
"Have no fear, for I am here!"
It always managed to cheer me up.
But not this time.
I heard someone opening the door behind me, "Izuku?" My mom said.
"Do you- Do you think I can be a hero too?" I asked, looking over at my mother with tears streaming down my face.
She walked up to me, hugged me, and she said, "Of course you can be a hero."
"R-really?" I asked.
"Of course! You don't need a quirk to be a hero, you don't see them because unfortunately people without quirks haven't figured out how to bridge the gap between the quirkless and those with quirks. So people without quirks have never made it very high on the hero charts or they become police officers and civil servants."
She wiped the tears on my face and grabbed my cheeks lovingly and continued, "Anyone can be a hero sweetie, thats what support gear is for. If you want to be a hero, go for it! I'll help you every step of the way, so what do you say? Do you want to be a hero?"
I wiped the snot dripping from my nose, looked at my mom with stars in my eyes and said, "Of course! I want to be the best hero in the world! Ha ha ha!"
***
10 years later
***
I have never felt happier in my entire life, until now.
Standing in front of me is All Might, my favorite hero. A man I've admired ever since I could think. Looking like a deflated version of himself, asking me if he wants to be trained by me.
"What?" I ask.
"Can we go somewhere private?" He asks.
"No, tell me what you want here." I say.
"Sigh, listen kid. As you can see I'm not in too great of shape. I faught someone strong and they managed to do this to me before I killed them. I met people with the best medical quirks and they couldn't fix me up, most of my organs on my left side had to be taken out. I can only use my quirk for a couple hours a day, the rest of the time I look like this." He explained.
"And you want to take me under your wing because?..." I ask, asking for clarification.
"Sigh, fine. My quirk isn't really mine, it's a quirk thats been passed down from generation to generation and gets stronger everytime. I've been looking for a successor ever since I got my injury and I think you're the perfect fit."
"Okay, great. Let's do this, I'm in." I said, a little exited about the prospect of getting a quirk as powerful as All Might's.
"Hold your horses, meet me at Takoba Park tomorrow at 6 in the morning. I'll explain everthing there."
This is the story of how I became the strongest hero in the world. But to explain how everything came to be, we need to rewind a little bit to when I was five years old. The day my training began.
***
10 years ago
***
"Now, go get yourself cleaned up and come to the dining room. I made your favorite food~" My mom said teasingly.
"Wha- really? I'll be right there! Don't start without me." I said, as I hurriedly ran to the bathroom to wash my face. I didn't realize until I looked into the mirror, that I had a big smile on my face.
'I can be hero' I thought, with my smile widening further. 'I'm just going to have to train really hard, no big deal. I got this, I don't think All Might got his muscles overnight. Or maybe he did, who knows?'
I walked out of the bathroom and ate dinner with my mom.
"Okay sweetie, time for bed. I'll wake you up tomorrow for your first day of training. Don't worry I'll go easy on you." Mom said.
"Okay!" I was really exited to start my journey.
The next day, 4 am.
I jolt out of bed from water being thrown on my face, I hear screaming as I look around trying to catch my bearings, "Okay, get up, get up! Time for training! I want you changed in 30 seconds otherwise I'll make life a living hell for you. GO! GO! GO! MOVE!"
I instantly got up out of bed and put on a shirt and shorts ad well as socks. I didn't really have time to think about what I was wearing because mom was constantly over my shoulder yelling at me.
I was out the door of the house running in under a minute. I didn't know how long we were running for, but it felt like days. Mom was chasing me with megaphone in hand encouraging me as I ran. But eventually, I kinda just tuned everything out and focused on running. We stopped at a park, mom said,
"From now on you call me sir, you will only speak when spoken too. You will respond with a yes sir or no sir is that understood?!"
"YES SIR!" I said.
"Good drop down and give me 100 push-ups now!"
"Yes sir!" I said.
I started doing push-ups and stopped counting after 20 due to the pain.
"Good, stop."
My body gave out and I fell to the ground groaning.
"Nobody said you can rest! Get on your back and do 200 sit ups!" My mom said.
"Yes sir!" I screamed.
This training continued for five years.
Physical training, flexibility, homeschooling, martial arts.
After five years, I finally didn't look like an idiot when sparring against my mom. But, I still think she goes easy on me.
After the spar was over she said, "Well done. Now its time to take your training to the next level." She wasn't even out of breath, and we've been fighting for over ten minutes, non stop.
"Next level?" I asked.
"Yes, you will go around dojo's in Japan and challenge all of them. You'll start with challenging students at the dojo close to our house to gain experience. Then you will advance to challenging teachers." My mom said.
"Huh?! Huh!!!" I screamed. "You cant just tell me to go challenging all the dojos in Japan! Thats not possible, and I've only been training for five years!" I screamed in protest.
But then, my mom's eyes sharpened and I felt a chill down my spine. A scary green aura materialized around her as her hair started to float around.
"Oh? Are you going against me, now that you've learned how to fight?" She asked.
"No sir! I'm sorry sir! I'll go right away sir!" I yelled as I ran out of the house. Now I'm standing right in front of the dojo with a mask on to atleast spare me some embarrassment when I lose.
I took a deep breath and walked in.
"H-hello."
"Welcome!" The receptionist said. "How can I help you?"
"Yes, I would like to challenge the dojo to freindly spar if thats alright." I said.
I waited for a response, but none came. I looked up and the receptionist was frozen with her mouth wide open.
"Hello? Are you there?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you sure?" She asked.
"Yes, I would like to gain more experience in fighting."
"Very well, I'll let the dojo master know. He'll take care of you." The receptionist said and left.
I waited a few minutes and a middle aged man with a stubble came back with the receptionist and did a double take when looking at me.
"You're the challenger?" He asked?
"Yes sir."
"Aw, man. I can't fight you. You know how long I've been dreaming of someone coming to the dojo and challenging me?"
"I'm sorry sir, but I just started to learn. Once I get better I can come back and challege you for real." I said.
"Thats nice, anyway. I can have you fight one of my students. Follow me. If you want, I can have you start with someone of a similar build and you can work your way up if you're up for it." He said.
"Thank you so much for accepting my request sir."
"Dont worry about it. This is what martial arts is all about."
A few minutes later, I'm standing over a teenager who's lying on the floor groaning. I look down at my hands and think. 'Did I really just take down a kid twice my size? The sensei said that hes been training for ten years. He said he won bronze in national martial arts competitions in his age group. If he's that good, why was he moving so slow? And why did his punches seem so weak? No, if he's won bronze in national competitions. It means that I'm the strong one.'
I look up and everyone is staring at me in shock. I bow and say, "Thank you so much for this opportunity." Then I quickly leave the dojo and run home.
I get home, open the door and shut it quickly behind me. I then hear a voice.
"So, how was it?"
I turn around and see my mom standing at the door with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"You already know... of course you already know." I said.
And so, my life continued to move along. I became known as the masked martial artist. I would train in the morning, get to a dojo and challenge them. If I still have time, I would challenge another dojo and then go home. This continued for five years until I had finally challenged every dojo I could find.
***
One day, while going home after defeating a world champion martial artist, I heard explosions and screams.
I ran over to see what was going on and saw my childhood friend Bakugo getting suffocated by a slimey villain.
I took in the scene, the heroes in charge stood on the sidelines painting the perimeter waiting for a suitable hero to arrive and take care of the villain.
I saw my friend being suffocated by a villain, unable to do anything.
I put on my mask and ran over to help.
I took out my freeze disks and threw them around where Bakugo is. I then punched the frozen slime to break it and quickly pulled him out of the villain. Just as I was about to leave...
"Hey!" I heard Bakugo say.
I stop, turn to face him and say, "What?"
"...Thanks." He says in a low voice.
I show a surprised expression at that.
'Since when did he start thanking people?' I think.
"You're welcome." I say and try to leave.
But then I'm stopped by the heroes.
"Hey, you!" Death Arms says.
"Yes?" I ask.
"We're going to need you to come down to the station to take your statement." Death Arms says.
"Maybe you should focus on trying not to get sued when the videos of you standing around doing nothing while a kid suffocates go online." I said as I walked around him.
He turns around and places his hand on my shoulder.
"That wasn't a request." He says.
I stop and grab his wrist and move it off my shoulder.
"Keeps your hands to yourself." I say.