Chapter Text
His entire life, Izuku wanted to be like All-Might.
He did everything he could to be similar to the man; practicing expressions and poses, imitating his voice, buying merch, and even growing out his hair in order to imitate the infamous hair stands that the man was known for.
When he was thirteen, he had his dream come true when he met the man twice during the same day; once when he was in the mall, watching the news commentary about a fight the hero was involved in several days prior in Singapore; he unfortunately missed the original broadcast due to over sleeping, but was able to catch it on the public TV on his way to buy some more merch.
As he analyzed the fight in his notes, a somewhat burly blonde man wearing a hat approached him and began talking to him out of curiosity.
He wasn't aware at the time, but as it turned out, he ended up giving All-Might himself a complete rundown and detailed analysis of all the quirks he's ever used in public, whether it be in Japan, America or Russia; if he used it, Izuku had notes about it.
And All-Might, apparently somewhat shocked and pleasantly surprised, exchanged notes with him as well, saying things like "Actually, I think he did 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 in that fight" or "That's really impressive you were able to notice that, but you should have probably paid more attention to his legs. A lot of people focus on his hands and then miss him flying or building up energy in his legs"
Izuku was really excited, to say the least; it wasn't often that he met another hardcore fan of the same variety as himself who actually wanted to talk with him.
The second time they met was when he saw a kid getting bullied in an alleyway on his way home; he may have grown up and never been able to truly fight his own bullies, but he still never let go of the idea of becoming a hero.
So as soon as he heard muffled yells and cruel laughter, he sprung to action; running forth and placing himself in front of the purple haired teenager as a human shield of sorts after using majority of his strength to push the bullies away from him.
Needless to say, he never regretted that decision; even if he hadn't gotten One for All, he wouldn't have regretted it, but the terror and shakiness that he was displaying all across his body was definitely present during that moment.
Thankfully, the kids didn't get the chance to go far, as All-Might — still in his civilian form, but looking far more intimidating than before — stepped forward, letting out a "That's enough" before he even came into contact with the bullies, and reminding them of Japan's law of using quirks in public while staring them down, before threatening to call the police.
The other kids left in a hurry, mumbling something about them not being done with the other teen as they did so.
Izuku turned around then, and reached his hand out, helping said teen up and asking him if he was okay.
He nodded, but didn't say anything. Izuku didn't push.
After being thanked by Izuku on behalf of them both, All-Might smiled, offered to walk them to a train station so that they could reach home safely, and then left politely when the purple haired kid shook his head, clearly not trusting the man.
Izuku did end up walking the other to a train station, and after letting him burrow his notebook, he found out that the kid's name was Shinsou Hitoshi, he was his age and he wanted to be a hero.
He also found out that he had a voice quirk, and that the other kids have managed to punch him in the throat before he got there in order to shut him up and take away his only way of defending himself.
After some light back and forth of them both complaining about bullies and jerks, Izuku admitted to his quirklessness; hoping that at least this person would stay even if it was very unlikely.
And to his surprise, he did; he even told him his own quirk; 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, which evoked the same self doubting reaction Izuku had himself several moments prior, only Izuku wasn't scared; he found it cool.
They ended up exchanging numbers and he got a new friend that day.
The next day, All-Might approached him again, this time as a hero after school, when he was on his way home.
The young, fresh teen was obviously in shock and awe at meeting his Idol and the very world's number one hero underneath a dirty bridge.
The hero, however, wasted no time; asking the boy if they could talk privately as he had an offer for him.
He explained how he saw his heroic actions the previous day and wished to train him; which Izuku was incredibly excited about, to the point where he had to force himself to stay still just to agree.
He didn't tell All-Might that he was quirkless; it did not come up in conversation and a certain shame stopped him from doing so — he didn't know that the man already knew; that he was already planning to give him a quirk to compensate.
After a week of power training on the beach, Izuku confessed; hoping that the hero would still see worth in him despite this incredible flaw.
And to his surprise, he did. And not just that; he offered him 𝘩𝘪𝘴 power; the very quirk used by the world's infamous Symbol of Peace.
The young teen was on his knees, legs half buried in the sand as he sobbed out his agree — unaware that there were seven other people watching him, all with either fondly reminiscent smiles or understanding expressions.
By the end of the exchange, the man simply hugged him, reassured him that he deserved it but also explained that they had a long way to go before he could have it, and that he couldn't tell anyone else.
He listened to the hero's instructions like they were those of a religion, with the only exception being that, over time, he found himself beginning to tell Shinsou that he felt changes in himself; hoping to ease his only nice friend into the inevitable change that was going to occur, without actually telling him anything about the matter.
Several months later, after a certain sludge villain's attack, Izuku officially inherited One for All.
The quirk felt right; like it was completing his soul.
Over the weeks, he could feel his body starting to change; unaware that it was the calm before the storm; the subtle pain before the unavoidable sharp tears at his bones.
His hair was the first to change, ironically enough; random patches of it turning white and its entire shape and type transforming from subtle wavy curls to strong coils that were even harder to manage than before and made him look like he just got out of the military with how short they turned; he actively decided to grow his hair; if not for the looks of it then because he very much wanted to do the All-Might hair stands again.
Needless to say that everyone around him were surprised; his mom was very concerned and had him go to a quirk doctor, only for them to come back to her with it being a mystery, and an inability to identify anything at all regarding the quirk.
All-Might was there to help, and with time, Inko learned to trust him with her child and accept his input and assistance, but that obviously took time.
No one at school saw him with the quirk, including Kacchan; he very quickly found out that using the quirk equals broken bones until further development, and didn't have an interest in destroying his body in an already very dangerous setting.
Shinsou was shocked, to say the least; he was relieved to know that his friend's new sensations weren't a fatal illness, as he bemusedly admitted, but was still very much caught off guard.
Quirk practice was, to put it lightly, a bitch.
He had to learn how to control his body's quirk flow from scratch and ended up being taken to a doctor with a healing — or healing adjacent — quirk from All-Might's agency more often than not — it was a 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 good thing and an actual savior that the international hero committee had a requirement for all international heroes to have a personalized medical staff; because Izuku couldn't imagine coming back home with even more injuries than normal every single day and his mom still not getting suspicious.
He did get a celebration when finally connecting with the void fully, but that didn't stop his bones from breaking; and after some weeks, it ended up mostly just giving him more voices who criticized his technique and form, mostly in regards to the way he approached the use of the quirk.
They — and by they, he meant the vestiges — very quickly concluded that fists and knuckles weren't going to work in this case; much to Izuku's dismay, as he very much wanted to imitate All-Might's fighting style.
They ended up going with legs; and the threats and warnings of him not being able to walk or navigate if he fucks this up really added a certain layer of caution that he didn't exactly bother having beforehand.
He also learned the hard way that having hair in his eyes would just be a permanent fixture now; seeing as curly hair apparently does 𝘯𝘰𝘵 tuck away nice behind his ear like wavy hair does — a problem a certain mall braider, Bruce and Yoichi fortunately found a solution to about a year later —.
He still remembered when the vestiges found out that he was related to All for One.
He wasn't fully connected to the void yet, but he could hear and see them in his sleep, usually; but that night was different.
He felt an odd, strange feeling throughout the entire day, like a certain disgust within himself that made his skin crawl.
He remembered going to sleep and being unable to access the void the same way he used to; his vision and hearing becoming a blur once again as he only managed to hear bits and pieces of a broken conversation.
He heard All-Might defending him, Yoichi saying he didn't know, the vestiges saying that they're worried, that he might be the next, he heard En wondering if a certain awakening will be the death of him, if his body will even be able to handle both.
The next day, All-Might met with his mother, and Izuku couldn't stop himself from eavesdropping.
They were talking about his father; his absent, bastard father who left them to rot in poverty when he found out that his son was quirkless — or at least, that's how his mom described him.
All-Might tried to insinuate that he was dead, but his mom didn't care, in her words "He left us the moment he heard of the results. Izuku wasn't even six and still had to grapple with the reality of his father not wanting him because of his biology, and we lost the home's only breadwinner. I don't care what happened to him, I just hope that he got what he deserves. Whatever happened to him, I hope it was painful, I hope it was pain that made him realize what he left behind, what he did to his own child"
All-Might left soon after that revelation, apologizing to Izuku's mother about bringing up such a painful memory, and accepting her own apology for her manner of speaking.
By the end of the conversation, Izuku could feel the disgust slowly dissipating as comfort took over his soul; a certain feeling that wasn't unlike that of a hug washed over him as he nearly cried from behind the door, and then did let out a few tears at the memory of his father's departure.
The day afterwards, during another of their training exercises, All-Might sat him down, explaining that there was an important matter that they needed to discuss.
He told him everything; from his origin to his father to his very uncle being the center of his new ability; he revealed it all.
He also reassured him that he wasn't the reason for his father's disappearance; he may have killed him, but not even six full years have passed since then, while All for One left their family a near decade prior.
Izuku could see the worry on his mentor's face; something within him already knowing of the caution and nervousness in the man's demeanor and inner turmoil as he awaited the boy's reaction to him killing his father.
Yet, for some reason, Izuku didn't care; he knew who All for One was; he saw the vision of what he'd done to Yoichi; he knew what a danger he posed to those around him and what a rotten man he was; he got what he deserved, and Izuku actually found himself grateful that he wasn't raised by the very man who killed some of the kindest people his soul has ever known.
However, the thing about Izuku, the thing about 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of the vestiges from the fourth onwards was that they were young; they were young when meeting their predecessors; they were young when introduced to the concept of One for All; and they were young when their psyche merged with that of the quirk; both stunting and exhilarating their psychological development in ways very few have ever explored.
For many, their mind has become one with the void before reaching maturity, before their growth was even complete.
Perhaps that was why they were all so unaware of the impact both received and caused by the existence of such presences in their heads.
Because even if the spirits became both aware and adapt to their powers, they still never truly had a way to fully comprehend its effects; their internal distrust and caution of the ability having washed away like glass on the shore through the decades; breaking down the caution in favor of integration and submergence.
Even the veteran and long-standing vestiges, who have both learned and taught how their very presence, history and opinions could have an effect on the minds and perceptions of their successors, have yet to learn just how deep that influence reaches.
Because that hatred, that centuries long resentment for All for One from within the void hadn't sprouted from Izuku; it grew and intensified and integrated itself into the quirk's very mind so prominently because it was there from the start; one of the first ever strong emotions to enter the void, and the second one to consistently stockpile within it from all but the last user; the first being their protectiveness and care for one another.
It was this resentment that began to bloom again within the ninth towards who they now knew was his father; it was this hatred that made him indifferent to the villain's death; and it was this centuries long, stockpiled abhorrence that pushed him towards denying his sperm donor's relation to him; leading to the vestiges seeing all his Shigaraki lineage genes as those of Yoichi, having unanimously agreed to absolve the psychotic monster of all credit for their latest's developments.
It was the kind of effect that is barely noticeable, that existed for such a long time, that those existing in this mental vacuum never had the thought of it being anything other than natural, especially in this instance.
It was subtle, it was gradual, it was deserved, expected; the emotional and biased merge has blended so seamlessly amongst the other, more glaring changes for so long that it was barely even addressed outside of maintaining stability, and even then, it was no longer thought of as anything but a stepping stone to complete the transfer and adaptation; much like the sickness and physical load as the body reconstructed itself to accommodate the quirk.
And this hatred, this 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, disgusting hatred was so strong, so prominent, so mixed with the need to keep safe from the monster, with the first desperation to keep Yoichi away from the villain, that it began to extend.
Because All for One didn't work alone; the man had followers, followers who turned into all but a loyal cult; followers who as far back as the dawn age of quirks tried to infiltrate the rebellion in hopes of restoring Yoichi; of gaining All for One's favor.
That desire extended to One for All, and therefore to its users, only increasing the danger they were in and, of course, the duty and attachment their predecessors felt towards them.
Kudou and Bruce didn't mind killing to protect their successors; they didn't mind taking over and finishing the job when the younger ones couldn't.
En didn't mind it either; he didn't have the happiest childhood or history, and taking a life wasn't as difficult for him as it could have been.
Yet none of the wielders; spirits or living, seemed to realize just how horrifyingly tragic it was that so many risks, conflicts and emotions led to them willing and aiming to kill all that was left of the bastard in order to keep their successors safe, or perhaps to simply make it all go away.
And none of them seem to realize just how naturally, how knowingly the others seem to take it; some having even inherited parts of that terrifying trait.
They've lost their limits yet kept their composure; forgot the line but always shielded one another as they kept walking; it was a tragic existence, one they weren't even aware enough to understand its flaws; only smart enough to adjust themselves to the loopholes and conditions of the law.