Chapter Text
Midoriya stood there white as a ghost, a cold sweat running through him as his mouth wrung dry, his eyes wide as he stares at the ground in shock.
“I didn’t hear that right, did I?” He questions, still looking at the ground.
“You want me to-to-“
“I want you to give me back One For All”
He lets go of an anxious breath, forcing his head to look up up up to the face of his mentor, the number one hero, his number one hero, the one who saved him when he was up on that rooftop and told him that he could be something; that he could be a hero. He looks at the man, hoping, praying that the stern face would crack into a shy smile, telling him it was a prank that he was joking, a mean joke, but a joke all the same. Yet all he sees is the face of All Might, unmoving and stern as the man stares straight into his eyes, holding his gaze.
Midoriya feels tears start to well.
“Why? W-what? I don’t understand, you. You want me to give it back?”
“Yes, young Midoriya, I want it back” All Might states, bringing a hand up to his face, staring and inspecting his nails looking uninterested, apathetic, bored.
“But why? I don’t get it, I’ve trained so hard for this quirk, I’ve broken bones for this quirk, I’ve almost died for this quirk! And now you want me to give it back? With no explanation? Why?”
Midoriya can feel the tears starting to slip out and down, rolling towards the bottom of his face, dripping down to the ground, gravity tugging the tears to floor.
“I think you’ve just answered your own question there young Midoriya, you’ve almost died but not for the sake of the quirk, but because of your un-suitable methods of using it. It took me just under three months to master that quirk and use it at 100%, pretty much no injuries; just bumps and bruises, yet, you’ve had One For All for nearly seven months and can barely manage 10%! Not to mention your reaction whenever there's a fight. You don’t think about yourself and as heroic as that might be, it’s also idiotic and suicidal and I don’t want One For All, dying with a young teenager and a stupid mistake.”
Whilst lecturing, the yellow haired man moved closer and closer toward the teen, stopping only a short distance in front, not leaning over him, but still close enough to loom and block out the sun, shoving the freckled boy under a fake shade, his head tilting towards the ground.
“So, young Midoriya,” He continues, “I want you to give me back One For All.”
Midoriya continues to stare at the ground, tears free-falling as he runs the words through his mind over and over, eyes welling more and more as thinks about how else he can try to stop this happening, hoping that he’s stuck in some sort of nightmare, unable to stop and wake up; he’d do anything to wake up right now.
The clearing of a throat halts the wish in its place, a hand thrusting itself into his eyesight, palm flat and open.
“A piece of hair is all I need.”
His head feels heavy as he once again looks up and into the blue eyes of a man he once looked up to before this, said eyes pushing a blasé face back at him.
“Right now, preferably, so if you would.” He states, thrusting his hand towards the boy with a fix of insistence, pointing at the mop of green hair.
With a heavy hand, Midoriya reaches up, tugging at a strand of hair until he feels the short sting of it leaving his scalp; he stares at the green hair, fixated on the way it waves and curls in the wind as he slowly places it in the hand outstretched and unmoving in front of him.
“Thank you, my boy. You’ve made the right choice.”
Those words leave a dark and bitter taste in Midoriya’s mouth.
All Might smiles as he places the hair in his mouth, swallowing it whilst locking eyes with the crying boy, still smiling as he inflates himself into the recognisable tall, muscley and unbeatable figure of the number one hero; rolling his shoulders, bending his knees and tensing his arms as he embraces the familiar feeling of One For All coursing through his body once again.
Midoriya Izuku doesn’t move as All Might pats his shoulder thanking him again before turning around and walking away, a slight pep in his step.
Midoriya Izuku doesn’t move even after the sky turned grey and the rain started to pour, soaking the mud underneath his feet.
Midoriya Izuku doesn’t move even after the rain has soaked him through to the bone, a chill settling in, making his body shake and his teeth rattle.
Midoriya Izuku doesn’t move as everything from the 15-minute conversation covers the entirety of his mind, replaying, replaying, and replaying.
Midoriya Izuku doesn’t move; can’t move as he feels the familiar emptiness floating through his veins, coating his bones, flattening his muscles, finalising everything that happened.
Midoriya Izuku is quirkless.
Again