Took me a bit longer due to me getting distracted playing arc raiders so hope you enjoy
---
Before long all might came in to the lounge
With a serious expression, "young Midoriya if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a word with you in private."
Endeavor frowned but nodded. "Don't take too long." Nerissa gave me an encouraging thumbs-up, Momo smiled softly, and Shōko just murmured, "Don't die of nerves." so I got up and walked out to another room with all might.
When the door shut, the silence hit harder than any punch All Might had thrown.
He turned to me, shoulders straight, still every inch the Symbol of Peace. Then his body started to steam. His form… shrank. The muscle melted away until what stood in front of me wasn't All Might the hero, but a thin, hollow-eyed man with sunken cheeks and a ragged cough.
I froze. "What—what happened to you?"
He smiled faintly, a little sad, a little amused. "A lasting reminder that even the strongest heroes aren't invincible."
I didn't know what to say. The man who'd seemed untouchable just minutes ago looked fragile — mortal.
He took a breath. "I should start from the beginning. You deserve the truth."
And he told me.
About One for All.
A quirk born to oppose evil itself, passed from one soul to another — power built on the strength and will of those who carried it before. A light meant to be wielded by the worthy, to defend rather than dominate.
When he spoke of his battle with the villain who'd nearly ended his life, I could hear the pain in his voice — not fear, but the regret of someone who'd carried too much alone.
Finally, he said the words that stopped the world.
"I want you to inherit it."
I just stared. "M–me?"
He nodded slowly. "You have the spirit it needs — the heart that asks why power exists before it uses it."
I opened my mouth, closed it again. There were a thousand thoughts in my head, none of them coherent. "Why me, though? There are so many people who could do more good with that kind of power. Someone stronger, or faster, or—"
All Might chuckled softly. "And that question, my boy, is exactly why it should be you." He stepped closer, his frail form casting a surprisingly steady shadow. "The moment someone believes they're the only one who deserves power… they stop deserving it."
I swallowed hard, trying to find something to say that wasn't just a stutter. "I… don't know what to say."
"Then say yes," he said, smiling.
I let the silence stretch, my heart pounding. Then I took a breath and looked up. "I'll accept. But—"
All Might tilted his head. "But?"
"I won't hide this," I said. "Not from the people I trust. You had people who supported you, who knew your secret. If I'm going to take this power… I want the people I care about to be part of it, too."
His eyes widened slightly, then softened with approval. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, young man. And a point I can't argue."
"So, they should all know," I said. "My mom, Momo, Nerissa, Shōko, Endeavor, they've all done a lot for me and it wouldn't feel right keeping this from them. If this is going to change my life — they deserve to understand it."
All Might let out a breath that sounded halfway between relief and nostalgia. "You truly are something else, Midoriya. Most would guard this secret out of fear. You want to share it out of trust."
He smiled, his thin frame somehow towering despite the lack of muscle. "Alright. We'll tell them all together."
---
The Next Day
The room was full — a strange mix of awe, disbelief, and quiet tension.
All Might stood before us in his weakened form. Endeavor stood to the side, arms crossed but silent. Nezu perched on a chair, tail swishing.
My mom clutched her purse like it was a lifeline. "You're saying… you're going to pass this power to izuku?".
All Might nodded gently. "One for All. It's passed from one bearer to the next. And now, it's time for the next step."
No one spoke for a moment. Momo looked worried but proud. Shōko's eyes were unreadable, but her hands were clenched tightly together. Nerissa's lip trembled, then she smiled — bright, determined. "Then let's make sure he's strong enough to handle it. Will have his back all the way and give it 110% effort!!!".
Endeavor gave a low grunt that might have been an agreement. "He'll train harder than ever."
All Might grinned, a flash of his old confidence returning. "Then it's settled."
He turned to me, holding out a single golden strand of hair. "There's no elegant way to do this, I'm afraid."
I blinked. "Wait… that's…?"
"Part of me," he said cheerfully. "You have to ingest a sample of the current holder's DNA for the power to transfer. Don't look at me like that; I didn't make the rules."
Behind me, Momo made a choked noise halfway between laughter and disbelief. "You're telling me the legacy of the world's greatest hero transfers… by eating hair?"
All Might coughed lightly. "Tradition has its quirks."
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Of course it does."
Nerissa snorted. "Ten bucks says it tastes like shampoo."
"Quiet, please," Momo hissed, though she was trying not to smile.
I stared at the strand, took a deep breath, and swallowed.
It caught in my throat. I coughed once, grimaced, then muttered, "That's… disgusting."
All Might laughed — a real, booming laugh that filled the room. "Congratulations, young man! You've just inherited the most powerful quirk in the world."
Everyone held their breath, waiting for something to happen.
And then… nothing did.
Silence stretched.
Nerissa tilted her head. "Sooo… was that it?"
All Might rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Ah, well… technically, it might take an hour or two to digest and bond with your system."
Every single person in the room deadpanned.
Even Endeavor sighed. "You couldn't have mentioned that before he ate your hair?"
All Might looked mildly sheepish. "It slipped my mind."
I groaned quietly. "Of course it did."
Everyone laughed then, the tension breaking just enough to make the moment feel human.
But beneath the laughter, deep in my chest, something was waiting. Quiet. Dormant. Like a second heartbeat under my own.
---
They tried not to stare. They failed.
I sat on the edge of the training platform with a cup of water and seven pairs of eyes pretending they weren't watching me breathe. The hair was down. The water was down. The clock over the door ticked in a way I had never noticed before this exact moment.
Nothing happened.
Nerissa leaned forward until her elbows squeaked on the mat. "Do you feel, like… tingling? A zap? Anything?"
"Besides humiliation?" I said.
All might grin nervously " well like I said it would take time to digest" he replied still embarrassed about his forgetfulness.
Momo pinched the bridge of her nose, half smiling despite herself. Shōko stared at the clock. Nerissa made a little drumroll on her thighs and then apologized to the room when Endeavor looked at her like she was a fire hazard.
We broke into chatter to fill the silence again. Nezu asked Mom a gentle question about life in general. Endeavor and All Might drifted into a corner with the careful politeness of two men who could level buildings but had decided—today—not to. I sat there and tried to memorize what being ordinary felt like for the last time.
Fifty-eight minutes in, my shadow twitched.
It wasn't a movement you could see, not really. More like a shiver under my skin that the floor noticed. I set the cup down and swallowed. "I think—"
The rest of the sentence disappeared in a white-hot pop behind my eyes then blood trailed down my cheek and lips. Pressure swelled inside my skull like someone had opened a door and a storm walked in.
"Something's—different," I said, but it came out thin. I blinked and the world smeared, then doubled. The scar along my neck burned. Heat crawled behind my teeth and lightning and shadow crashed against one another near me. The smell of ozone and old stone filled the air.
Shōko moved first; I saw her out of the corner of my vision, hands up, a rising sheen of frost lacing the floor to keep the temperature stable. Nerissa slid to my other side, palms hovering by my temples, light building carefully. Momo knelt in front of me, already reaching forward ready to make something at a moment's notice.
My nose bled. Then my eyes,then everything started burning and then felt like it overflowed. Gold flashed across my sight like a filament burning through.
"Midoriya!" All Might's voice snapped the air tight.
"Get back," Endeavor growled on top of it. "Something's coming."
I opened my mouth to say I'm fine. A laughable lie. The floor under my hands went dark—black, glossy, wet-looking—and then it didn't stop. My shadow surged outward like a tsunami and spread everywhere. It poured up the walls, across the ceiling, underfoot. It reached for everything: shoes, ankles, the railings, the light rig. Not grasping. Claiming.
"back up and cover each other!" Endeavor barked jumping back. Flames hissed in tight bands, drawing clean, controlled lines that gave everyone a ring of clear ground. He never let it touch me. He never let it touch the girls. Every burst was a wall, not a weapon.
Shōko slammed up an ice berm in a second arc, its surface steaming as shadows lapped and slid. "Nerissa—left side!" she shouted.
"On it!" Nerissa threw a sweep of light like a painter spiking a canvas—soft radiance that the shadow recoiled from without anger, just… uncertainty. She kept it away from faces, careful as a surgeon.
"Izuku" Momo said, yelling trying to reach me, "if you can hear me, focus on my voice. Try to reel in your quirk "
Nezu had already hit a wall panel. The arena hummed as dampers spun up—hard-light filigree folding down from the ceiling to form a lattice that corralled the wildest eddies of black. All Might—gaunt, coughing once—didn't step back. He stepped closer, not reckless but ruled by a different fear: losing me to something he'd asked me to carry.
"Izuku," he said, voice loud and direct in the one corridor of sound I could still navigate. "Listen to me. You need to focus."
The pressure crested. The gold behind my eyes flared. Something ancient and bright uncoiled in my chest—and my power reared to meet it with a snarl I felt in my bones.
I felt like someone had cut a cable.
—
Darkness roared before I even opened my eyes.
Not quiet darkness. Moving darkness—my shadows—coiling into claws and spears that hammered against walls of different colors. Seven radiant figures braced in a crescent, auroras flaring each time the black struck. Where light met shadow the air sang, a resonant chord that shook the horizon of this place-that-wasn't-a-place.
I didn't fall in; I arrived, heart already sprinting.
My first thought was wrong: Am I under attack?
My second was right: No. My quirk is attacking them.
The storm recognized me instantly. The entire mass of shadow lurched, pivoted, and flowed behind me—between me and the seven—curling around my shoulders and spine like a cape snapping in the wind. It encircled my feet, lifted me a handspan, poised to strike again.
"Wait—!" I shouted over the thunder of colorless sound. "Stand—"
It didn't hear the word. The next wave of gold rushed out—firm, steady, not cruel. Reflex, not malice. My shadow surged to meet it, plates of black slamming together into a shield that covered me completely. The impact boomed. No heat. No pain. Just pressure, like a storm front hitting a mountain.
"Listen to me," I tried again, palms out. "They're not—"
The darkness trembled. Protective. Unsure. Still ready to fight.
I dragged air into my lungs that weren't lungs and let my voice drop into the place my training had carved into bedrock.
"Stand down."
Authority changed the temperature of the world. The storm froze mid-lash, tendrils suspended. Then, as one, the shadows snapped tight to me—wrapping my torso, bracing my arms and legs, sliding over my chest and throat in smooth, fitted layers. Armor, not a cage. I could move. I could breathe. The storm's edge spread in a ring, warding, waiting.
Across from me, the seven figures eased—not away, but out of the stance that says incoming. The golden field of lightning steadied to a bright, slow pulse. They hadn't advanced. They hadn't retreated. They had held.
The nearest silhouette lifted a hand, palm open—no weapon, just light. The gesture wasn't an attack; it was an offer: Are you in control?
"I am," I said, more to the shadow wrapped around my ribs than to them. "We are."
My quirk pressed close, cool and loyal and still coiled to strike if the light flared wrong. I could feel the instinct that had triggered this—ancient, simple, absolute: PROTECT!!!. The instant One For All's presence entered me, the shadow had judged it an invader and met it at the door with drawn steel ready to fight to the bitter end.
I let my feet touch ground that didn't exist and stepped forward. The armor flexed with me. A faint blue current traced along the plates—thin veins sparking to life—then faded. The gold brightened in answer, not to burn, but to be seen. Two forces measuring each other through me.
"Okay," I said, and the word calmed something I hadn't noticed was shaking. "We're going to fix this."
Another figure in the crescent moved—taller, steadier, a presence like a lighthouse in a storm. The golden field swelled, then gentled, as if lowering its hands. It still guarded the six at its sides, but the light toward me… softened.
"Thanks," I murmured. I reached outward with my right hand. My shadow followed, plating my forearm, shaping into a broad bracer. Gold met the edge of that bracer with a soft, chiming hiss. No clash. No recoil. The note held.
A realization clicked, simple and enormous. It isn't light against dark. It's light and dark that don't know each other yet.
"With me."I said—quiet, firm.
The ring contracted. Tendrils drew back from the seven, not fleeing, but bowing to my step. The armor around my chest eased just enough to prove it could. On the other side, the gold narrowed from a wall to a path, a lane of warmth leading to the center point between us.
I stood in that center. My heartbeat slowed. On the downbeat, the shadow flexed. On the upbeat, the light answered.
"Let's try this," I breathed.
I set my left hand—open—into the golden lane. I set my right—armored—into the shadow ring. Then I pulled, not with force, but with permission: Come here. Meet here. This is your common ground.
The first contact was a shiver. The second was a spark.
Gold threaded the seams of my armor changing color to neon blue. It ignited along the lines inside the plates, neither overwhelmed the other. Instead, they wove. Light nested in dark like sunlight caught under black glass. The pressure in the realm changed from collision to resonance—two notes finding a third that made sense of both.
Something unlocked.
I didn't hear the click; I felt it—like a door I hadn't seen in myself swung open and a room I'd always lived beside finally let in air. The armor tightened into a perfect fit. The cape at my back unfurled to the ground and then lifted, slowly, as if the world had learned my breathing and decided to match it, then a crown of blue and black formed above my head. The ring of shadow widened—not to threaten, but to claim. The gold condensed—no longer spread thin as a shield, but settled into a core that sat behind my sternum as if to say: I am here with you.
The seven watched. One stepped forward—the smallest , the calmest gaze. The first spoke. Sound worked now.
"You're late," the smaller halo said, voice wry and kind all at once. "But you came."
"I had to," I answered. "They're mine." I touched the new seam where neon blue and black braided over my heart. "And… so is this now."
The First's tone softened. "You bridged them," he said, wonder threading through the calm. "Not by winning, but by belonging to both."
"I didn't want to fight," I said. "I just wanted it to stop."
Even saying it out loud steadied me.
Another figure—taller, the weight of command and kindness in equal measure—stepped forward. Her light shimmered differently from the rest, warm instead of blinding. She looked me over slowly, and the stillness around her changed.
Her voice trembled. "That face…"
Her hand lifted halfway before she caught herself. "It can't be."
I frowned. "Do I know you?"
"No," she whispered, a small, astonished laugh escaping. "But I know who you take after."
The glow around her softened to a gentle gold-white, like dawn pushing through fog. "Inko," she said, and just hearing the name felt like sunlight. "My little girl had your eyes."
My breath hitched. "My… mom?"
Nana Shimura nodded, the edges of her smile trembling. "Hopefully she has my stubbornness too, then. It'll keep her safe."
Her eyes glistened with pride and sorrow all at once. "You've done well, Izuku. Keep that heart of hers close—it'll steady you when the power doesn't."
For a long moment, she just looked at me the way a mother looks at a grown child she never got to raise. Then her hand hovered near my cheek, light flickering like it wanted to touch but couldn't. "Tell her… tell her I'm proud of her."
The lump in my throat made it impossible to speak, so I just nodded.
The First stepped closer beside her, his golden form outlined in resolve. "Of course," he murmured. "That's why One For All reached for him so fiercely."
I blinked, still shaky. "Why? Why me?"
He looked past me, eyes distant, heavy with understanding. "The resonance… It isn't a mystery. It's blood recognizing blood."
Then, quieter—almost a confession—"You carry the blood of…" his voice firmed, calm and certain, "you….. ...… like ...."
Nana's smile turned fierce and proud. "No," she said. "He's ... ...….. of ... … ."
Their light pulsed once, warm and final. The golden field coiled back into my chest, settling behind my heart. The shadows folded protectively around it, neon blue veins tracing through the black like threads of sunlight in ink.
As the realm began to fade, I heard her voice one last time—soft as a memory and strong as a vow.
"Go be the hero she raised you to be, Izuku."
---
Warmth flooded through me—then the world snapped back.
I sucked in a breath, air cold and sharp in my lungs. My body ached with a strange, pleasant heaviness. Around me, color returned in fragments: the sterile white of UA's private arena, the hum of recovery machines, voices overlapping—relief, panic, awe.
Momo was leaning over me, her face pale but smiling. "He's awake!"
Nerissa's light flared reflexively, bright with joy then she threw herself and me hugging me tightly. "Don't you ever do that again!" she half-laughed, half-cried.
Shōko's eyes softened, her usually calm expression flickering into visible relief. "You scared us," she muttered as
She joined in on the hug followed closely by momo, hers was a lot gentler than Nerissa almost as if she was afraid I would break. I just sat there for a second then slowly returned the hug not minding in the slightest.
My mom was there too her hands were on my face instantly. "Izuku," she breathed. "Sweetheart, you're okay."
Across the room, All Might stood silent, shoulders relaxed but eyes glinting. Endeavor crossed his arms, a low sound somewhere between a sigh and a grunt escaping him.
"Are you in one piece?" he asked, dry as ever.
"Yeah," I said, managing a grin. "I… think so."
All Might chuckled quietly, the sound warm and proud. "It seems One For All has found its place."
I sat up slowly, shadows curling lazily under my palms. They were calm, steady—no longer chaotic. When I exhaled, a faint shimmer of gold pulsed through them before fading back into black.
"Light and shadow," I murmured. "Guess they finally agreed to share."
Nerissa laughed weakly, brushing tears away. "Just try not to blow up the gym next time, okay?"
Endeavor muttered, "As long as he doesn't start glowing," earning himself a sharp elbow from All Might and a few chuckles around the room.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I let myself relax.
The shadows were quiet. The light was warm.
And deep down, somewhere inside both, I felt a steady presence watching over me—two, actually.
---
The medical room smelled faintly of antiseptic and burnt ozone. I sat on the edge of the infirmary cot, still in the half-shredded remains of my training suit, shadows moving lazily around my boots like smoke that had forgotten how to vanish. Every eye in the room was on me—All Might's bright and curious, Nezu's calculating, Endeavor's unreadable behind the folded arms, and the girls' worried but proud.
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Okay… so, uh, short version first? I didn't die."
"That was already in my report," Endeavor muttered.
"All Might wanted your long version," Nezu said with a tiny smile. "What happened inside, young Midoriya?"
I exhaled. "It felt like falling into a storm that was already fighting. My shadows thought One For All was an intruder, so they attacked the seven figures that live there—the vestiges. When I got in, I had to make them stop."
"You commanded them," All Might corrected gently.
"Yeah." I stared at my hands. The dark mist gathered there, then steadied into armor lines, faintly veined with neon blue. "First I asked… they didn't listen. The second time, I commanded them. They obeyed like soldiers who just heard their general's voice. After that, the light and the dark started to—" I searched for the word—"recognize each other. They merged."
Endeavor leaned forward slightly. "And the change in your quirk?"
"It's… different now," I said. "Before, it was like holding my breath all the time, waiting for it to break loose. Now it feels alive but listening. When I move, it moves with me instead of ahead of me."
A grin slipped out. "It's weirdly comforting—like having a heartbeat outside your body."
Nerissa let out a soft laugh. "That's so creepy and somehow really sweet."
Momo elbowed her lightly. "Let him finish."
I nodded, heat creeping up my neck. "While the light and dark were merging, I met two of the figures. The First—Yoichi—and the Seventh." I paused. "Nana Shimura."
All Might straightened, eyes widening at that. "You meet master nana!!"
"She… recognized me," I went on, voice lower. "Said I look like her daughter, Inko. My mom." I looked down at the floor where my shadow pooled, the edges warm with blue veins. "She told me to keep Mom's heart close—that it'll keep me steady when the power doesn't. And to tell her she's proud of her."
Inko covered her mouth with both hands, tears spilling freely before she could stop them. All Might placed a massive hand on her shoulder, silent, reverent.
Nezu broke the quiet first, softly analytical again. "And the First?"
"He figured it out," I said. "Why One For All reacted so strongly. He said… the power recognized my blood."
Nezu hummed "that makes sense, if you're a direct descendant of one of the previous users it most definitely would explain why one for all reacted the way it did". With all might nodding along
For a long moment, no one spoke. The hum of the medical monitors filled the silence. Then Nerissa broke it with a grin. "So basically, you had a family reunion and a power upgrade."
I groaned. "When you say it like that…"
Momo laughed. Shōko's lips twitched upward. Even Nezu chuckled.
All Might's voice cut through the mirth, deep and proud. "Young Midoriya, you have inherited more than power today. You've inherited understanding. Use both well."
I met his gaze, the weight of everything settling in and somehow feeling lighter for it. "I will."
- a while later-
Everyone else was still catching up. Momo was double checking everything again and again ; Nerissa was trying not to cry again; Shōko stood guard near my mom, eyes darting at every flicker of motion on the floor. All Might and Endeavor were quietly talking in the corner, half relief, half disbelief.
That's when my shadow started to move.
It didn't surge or lash out this time. It flowed. Smooth, deliberate.
"Izuku…" Nerissa's voice trembled. "Your shadow's—"
"I know," I said softly. "It's… different."
The black beneath my feet rippled outward, circling me in a slow spiral. The light above seemed to dim, or maybe it was being devoured. Every strand of shadow folded toward the center, rising in slow, elegant arcs.
It wasn't chaotic—it was ceremonial.
The tendrils met overhead, weaving themselves together until something began to form above me. Not heavy, not solid—just there. I could feel it resting over my head like a whisper made real.
A crown.
Forged from shadow, threaded with faint veins of blue light that pulsed in rhythm with my heart.
The others backed up instinctively. Even All Might went still, gaze sharp, wary—but not afraid.
The air thickened. The shadows gathered in front of me, swelling upward into a single shape. A humanoid outline formed first, then armor—black, jagged, traced with electric blue lines that crawled across its surface like living lightning.
And in its hand—a sword took shape.
A great sword blade of dark metal with a spine that glowed faintly from within, like molten sapphire sealed in glass.
The figure stood tall, taller than any man, cape of shadow trailing behind him like a living flame. His presence pressed down on the room—not as a threat, but as a statement.
A knight had arrived.
He took a single step forward, the floor humming beneath the weight of his existence, and dropped to one knee before me. His head bowed low, the hilt of his sword pressed against the floor, point down, in perfect reverence.
Momo whispered, "He's… kneeling."
No one dared move.
I didn't understand how, but I felt what he was waiting for. Not orders. Recognition.
The crown above me shimmered, its edges flaring slightly. The shadows around us vibrated with anticipation.
I drew a slow breath, heart hammering, and looked down at the knight.
"Stand," I said quietly.
He rose smoothly, the movement as fluid as it was powerful. The glowing eyes—blue as lightning in a storm—met mine, unflinching.
"You're… one of mine," I said softly. "Born from my shadow. From me."
For a heartbeat, nothing moved. Then he tilted his head, sword held to his chest in a silent salute.
The word left my mouth before I'd even thought it through—instinct, not language.
"Igris."
The blue veins along his armor flared bright, running like fire through his frame. He straightened, and a low sound reverberated through the air—part growl, part roar, but filled with something that almost felt like pride.
Nerissa whispered in awe, "You… named him."
"I did" I said, though the grin pulling at my mouth betrayed me. "It just felt right, not sure why". The crown above me pulsed once, scattering into faint motes of shadowlight that sank back into the ground. Igris turned, sweeping his sword upward in a single elegant motion. The blade dissolved into smoke, the armor fracturing into tendrils that melted back into the floor.
A soft pop—like the world exhaling—and he was gone.
Only the faint shimmer of blue light remained at my feet, slowly fading into my shadow.
Silence. Then All Might's quiet voice broke it.
"You've given your power… form."
I nodded, still staring at where Igris had vanished. "No," I said softly. "He is only a small part of what I can do now I can feel it."
The room stayed silent for several long heartbeats. Then Endeavor, arms crossed, broke it with a sigh.
"Well," he said dryly, "at least he's polite. My sidekicks don't bow."
All Might laughed, the sound easing every bit of leftover tension in the room. "Yes, but do your sidekicks glow?"
Endeavor gave him a look. "Don't tempt me."
Nerissa snorted. Momo actually laughed. Even Shōko smiled faintly.
I just stood there, still half in awe, and murmured, "Guess I've got my first soldier."
All Might clapped a hand on my shoulder, his grin both proud and knowing. "No, young Midoriya… your first knight."
He continued"and I wonder how many more you may have in the future" he said with a bright smile.
Principal Nezu then interrupted the moment "as good and happy as this is, we need to discuss training for you new powers in the coming weeks and a way to explain all the abilities you now have."
"Hes right" Endeavor said with a thoughtful look "will need to put your new quirk through a series of stress tests. To figure out the best way to help you improve".
Momo then chimed in with a thought on how to explain my abilities " we could say he went through a quirk awakening. I know they are extremely rare but it's not impossible to occur. We would just have to either stage an incident or make a fake report of one to explain it easily".
Nezu hummed " yess that would work" then he glanced around like trying to decide how to put a puzzle together in the best way possible.
All of them keep throwing around ideas of how to best help me. It made me feel happy to know I had all of these people, new additions and old friends alike.