June 3rd 2417 --- Musutafu District --- Musutafu, Japan
The evening air hung heavy with the scent of car exhaust as Sage absentmindedly walked down the dim evening streets, the last golden rays of the setting sun illuminating the barren streets. As she walked Sage peeked down any alley she passed, looking for the familiar lock of green hair she had caught sight of earlier.
Taking a sniff of the air she picked up the faint smell of All Might cologne wafting in on the breeze, a brand she knew her friend wore religiously. Following the scent like a bloodhound, she slipped in and out through a few more alleys before spotting the familiar silhouette of her friend.
Jogging up behind him, she mentally noted his slumped shoulders and his usually energetic pace reduced to a listless shuffle. Frowning slightly, she gently tapped him on the shoulder.
Startled, Izuku snapped out of his fugue and jumped back while swinging his fist towards her. Shocked, Sage deflected his blow on instinct, her years of training guiding the action. "Whoa! What's got you so tense, Broccoli?"
Recognizing her nearly instantly, Izuku's expression rapidly shifted to one of worry. Lunging forward, he frantically checked her over for any sign of injury. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—are you hurt? Did I—"
"Izuku, breathe." Sage gently caught his flailing hands, studying his face with growing alarm. Fresh bruises painted his cheekbones in shades of purple and yellow, while angry red burns dotted his arms like cruel confetti. "I'm fine, but you're clearly not. Have you been fighting with Bakugo again?"
Shoulders slumping even further, he turned and began walking down the street with mechanical steps. Falling into place beside him, Sage opted to give him some space. After a few minutes of silence, Izuku finally gathered his thoughts, his green eyes bright with unshed tears as he looked forward.
"Do you think I could be a hero, Sage?" Hearing the tremble in his voice, Sage turned to look at him, noticing a stray tear welling in the corner of his eye.
"I thought I made my thoughts clear about it? Of course you can be a hero—you shouldn't need some fancy quirk for it. Has someone told you to give up again? I haven't seen you this torn up in years."
Sighing, Izuku wiped a stray tear before nodding slightly while looking down. "Yeah, I... I met All Might today. He said I should give up. That I could never be a hero without a quirk, and that I should find something more... realistic."
Clamming up, a few tears were streaming down his face by the end of his sentence, his expression causing Sage a wave of pity.
"That..." Unsure how to properly react, Sage patted him gently on the back a few times while trying to find the proper words. "I don't know what to say about All Might—maybe he was genuinely just worried for you and misspoke. No matter what though, you should follow your dream, seize every opportunity, even if your hero tells you to give it up. The world needs heroes like you, quirk or no quirk."
Nodding wordlessly, Izuku wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve before falling silent as they continued to walk. The silence lasted a few minutes before her curiosity got the better of her.
"So did anything else happen today? I'm pretty sure, if I'm not mistaken, those burns are from Bakugo?"
Perking up a little, Izuku took the chance to change the topic. "Actually, I got attacked by a villain today. That's how I ended up meeting All Might in the first place." His expression darkened again. "But I..."
"But what?" Prompting him after he trailed off, his face crumpling in what looked to be guilt.
"I was so excited to meet him that I inadvertently helped a villain escape." Voice dropping to a whisper, he continued at a volume inaudible to anyone without super hearing. "Because of my mistake, the villain attacked Kaa-Chan... and all I could think about is that if he died, it'd be my fault."
Watching her friend start sulking again, Sage could only sigh. Over the years she'd known him, he had proven to be nearly identical to how he was in the anime—he was a devout hero worshipper with a heart that dwarfed his capabilities many times over.
No matter who it was, whether friend, foe, or even bully, he would stick up for them, his heart bleeding whenever he saw any injustice, chasing his dream with seemingly unwavering dedication.
Opening her mouth to speak, she was about to offer some words of encouragement when footsteps echoed from around the corner. A tall skeletal figure emerged from the shadows, his dark sunken eyes immediately locking onto Izuku with an unmistakable look of recognition.
Gently jabbing her friend's shoulder, she pointed at the man. "Um, do you know him?" she asked, something about the man's appearance tugging at her memory—something important that she couldn't quite grasp.
Izuku's expression shifted to one of weary resignation. "Yeah, I know him."
Approaching them with obvious purpose, the thin man called out to Izuku. "Young Midoriya! I was looking for you. Can we talk?"
Stopping opposite Izuku, the strange man seemed to completely forget about Sage's existence.
Studying the newcomer more intently, she found herself struggling to place why he seemed so familiar. The man was abnormally tall, but his hunched posture betrayed his true height, while his frame was so thin he looked like a walking skeleton. However, despite his haggard appearance, he didn't seem weak—not even the slightest.
"What do you need, All Might? It sounded like you made your point earlier." Addressing his hero, Izuku's voice held none of its usual enthusiasm, just a trace of barely hidden pain.
Hearing Izuku's casual slip of the tongue, the pieces finally clicked into place with startling clarity. 'That's All Might?! How could I have forgotten such a crucial detail? What other details have I forgotten?'
Focusing on her oldest memories, Sage tried her best to draw up everything she could about this world's plot, but all she could recall were broken fragments—mostly just the major plot points.
Drawing up the rest of her fragmented memories, she did her best to imprint them into her brain.
Something she'd quickly discovered about her Eidetic Memory skill when she got it was that it didn't work retroactively. That meant any memories she made from before gaining it weren't imprinted in her mind and could fade over time.
However, she was able to imprint the memories into her mind by recalling them and focusing on the fine details of them. Doing so now, she attempted to recall anything else she could about the plot of this world.
Lost in her thoughts, she barely registered the conversation happening just meters away. It wasn't until she heard the unmistakable sound of someone dropping to their knees that she snapped back to attention.
"...Young man, you too can be a hero!"
Looking up, she saw Izuku was on the ground, tears streaming down his face as All Might stood over him with his iconic pose, muscle form and all. Not wanting to interfere in case things butterflied out of control, she opted to instead watch on from the side.
Watching what was essentially a scene straight from the anime, Sage found herself in need of a snack. Flicking her wrist slightly, a tiny metal ball shot from the strap of her wristwatch, landing in her open palm.
Then, activating her Quick Swap skill, the ball disappeared and a tub of warm popcorn appeared in its place. Turning her focus back to the two in front of her, Sage watched as All Might blabbed all the details about his quirk, finishing up by offering it to Izuku.
However, instead of immediately accepting All Might's offer, Izuku's expression grew thoughtful, almost calculating. Turning, he looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with her.
Seeing the look on Izuku's face, Sage got the impression he was about to do something stupid.
Following the gaze of his would-be successor, All Might finally noticed the ebony-haired girl a few meters away.
Spitting blood, he instantly lost his muscle form as a look of panic crossed his face at superhuman speed. Dashing forward, he grabbed her shoulders before falling to his knees. Frowning, Sage looked at the spilled popcorn that had been knocked from her hands by the brutish hero.
"How long have you been here?! What did you hear? Please, you can't tell anyone!" Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his voice cracked with desperation, his voice booming in her ears.
Reaching up, she calmly removed his hands from her shoulders before taking a step back. "I've been here the whole time—it's not my fault you were too caught up in your dramatic moment to notice me."
Meeting his gaze, she shrugged with deliberate nonchalance. "But don't worry, your secret's safe. I've got no reason to spill it."
Studying her with a sharp gaze, All Might took in her unusual appearance and muscular build. His gaze was cold in the way he assessed her, clearly trying to decide whether or not she could be trusted.
Looking back at him, Sage became acutely aware of just how tall he was. Even kneeling, he was just barely shorter than her. Feeling a niggling feeling from her quirk, like an itch she couldn't scratch, Sage's gaze drifted down to his left torso where she could vaguely sense a monstrous wound.
The ability to sense injuries was a newer aspect of her quirk that had begun to manifest after her soul stat broke through to C tier, and from what she was able to test, it allowed her to instinctively sense when someone was wounded.
Snapping back to reality, Sage realized with a rush of embarrassment that her hand had drifted towards All Might, a soft green glow flickering over her fingers. Resisting the urge to heal his wound, she retracted her hand while blushing a burning red.
Watching the girl space out, her hand drifting towards him while glowing, All Might briefly considered acting to stop her but chose to wait. But before he could make a decision, she reclaimed her senses and retracted her hand.
Rising to his full height in his weak form, All Might looked down at her. Before he could ask about what she wanted to do, Sage's phone began to ring, the noise cutting like a knife through the silence. Reaching into her pocket, she fished around a bit before pulling out her phone and answering the call.
"Hello?"
"Where did you run off to, Sage?" Echoing out of the phone's speaker, Momo's voice was tinged with equal parts exasperation and equal parts frustration. "We've been searching for you for over an hour!"
Blushing a deeper shade of red than she thought possible, Sage finally remembered the friends she'd ditched to impulsively chase after Izuku. "I'm so sorry! I saw Midoriya and just... got completely distracted."
Coming through the phone, Momo's sigh was long and drawn out. "It's fine. None of us thought to actually call you until now, so we've just been wandering around lost. Where are you? We'll come meet you."
Glancing around the non-descript city street she was standing on, Sage struggled to find any landmarks, much less a street sign. "Honestly? I have no idea where I am. How about I just meet you back at my place?"
At her words, another sigh came from the phone, followed by muffled conversation in the background. "Okay, that should work. Hela and Himiko both agreed. Just... be careful, alright? Hela's worried about you."
After a few more minutes of reassurances and apologies, Sage ended the call and turned back to the two heroes. "Well, this has been fun, but I should—"
Her words were cut off as a cloud of steam engulfed her. Within the vapor, her form began to twist and shift at a near-instantaneous speed. Her form grew taller until it reached a height of 182cm, her hair shortening from long black waves to a shorter medium-length cut. Finally, her distinctive inhuman features dissolved into motes of light that blinked away.
Acting quickly and on instinct, Sage activated his skill Quick Swap, instantly using the cover of the steam to seamlessly exchange the dress he was wearing for a set of thick plate armour he received as a quest reward, before that shimmered and transformed into a shirt and shorts when he activated Vanity.
A few seconds later, the last of the steam dissipated to reveal Sage now in his male form. Seeing the girl before him disappear in a cloud of steam only for a man around the same age to appear had All Might baffled, his jaw hanging open.
"Right then," Sage said, his voice now a few octaves lower, before running a hand through his shortened hair. "I should head out. You going to be alright here with Small Might?"
Izuku nodded, though he shot his friend a question right after. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Want to catch up later?"
"Sure, just text me first—I've been pretty busy lately." Sage paused, fixing Izuku with a pointed stare. "And don't do anything stupid. I can guess pretty easily what you were thinking earlier."
With that said, he took a step forward, walking off while thinking about his home, his body twisting impossibly as he stepped up into a higher dimensional space and vanished from sight.
{A/N: Urgh I hate Uni, I barely have any free time between classes.}