Chapter Text
Chapter 1: The New Symbol of Hope
"You want to work for us?"
"Mh-mh!" Ochako nodded, as she approached her parents. "When I grow up all big and strong, I'll help you and Mommy out any way that I can!"
"Hm," her father smiled, patting her head. "I really appreciate the thought, Ochako. But as your dad, I'd be even happier if you achieved your own dream. That's the way to make us happy. And if you do make money, you can take us to Hawaii, or something!"
"Daddy…"
RIIINGGG!!!
Ochako's mind returned to reality as the school bell rang, signaling the end of their first school day. Even after living in Musutafu for five years, she couldn't wrap her head around it. This place was still in Japan, sure, but it was so different from Mie…
Stepping out of Nabu Middle School, she flashed back to what the teacher said at the beginning of class that day. They had to figure out what careers they wanted, which meant figuring out what high schools they wanted to apply to. A lot of people picked the Hero Course…
…but would she?
She knew that Yui, her best friend, would go that route, and she knew that she wanted to, as well, once upon a time, but now? Did she have to? Ever since what had happened five years ago… she and her family didn't really have to worry about money.
But that raised the question: What would she do?
And an even better question, what did she actually want to do?
She knew a small part of her wanted to still be a Hero, but why?
She vaguely remembered a moment in her past, back when her family still had to struggle with their finances. The first time she ever saw a Hero in action. The thing she remembered most about that moment was the smiles everyone around her had.
She wanted to be like that, and she tried. Every opportunity she got, she used it to help others, and to put smiles on their faces. But she was still one person, which made her realize that even if she decided to become a Pro, she would still be one person.
She could fail. She could fail to make people smile, to make them feel safe.
She could fail to save them, especially from themselves.
Such thoughts kept her up countless nights.
The spring petals fell all around her as she walked towards the overpass, a direct shortcut towards her family's apartment. She sighed, as she really didn't know –
SLOOSH…
"Huh?" the brown-haired girl hummed, as she looked behind her, looking for where the source of that weird noise came from. Once she saw it, however, she screamed.
"AIIEEE!!! A VILLAIN!"
Right in front of her, coming out of the sewered, was a giant monster made of green slime. The creepy sludge looked at her, and smiled. "You'll make a perfect skinsuit for me to hide in!"
Immediately, she tried to make a run for it –
SPLASH!
…only to get tackled by the Sludge Villain. His liquid arms wrapped around her, restraining her movements, while he tried to suffocate her. "Don't worry, I'm just taking over your body. It'll be easier for both of us if you don't fight back. It'll only hurt for a minute. You'll feel better soon!"
I can't breathe… she realized, as she tried to use her Quirk to pry the bastard off of her, but it was no use. She could only touch solids, so Ocahko couldn't do anything to this guy.
"Grab all you want, my body is made of fluid," the Villain sneered.
My body… getting weak… Somebody… HELP!
KLANG!
As soon as Ochako thought of those words, the sewer cap bursted out of the air, causing the Sludge Villain to pause, and look back, only to see…
"I have no fear, you are safe," a deep voice spoke. "Now that I am here, that is."
BAM!
The slime monster tried to strike at the Hero, but he dodged, revving his arm into a fist, and yelling, "TEXAAAS… SMAAAAASH!!!"
FWOOSH!
Is that… All Might?
"Hey! Wake up! Hey!"
Feeling a soft pitter-patter on her cheek, Ochako woke up to see…
"Thought we lost you there!"
…the Symbol of Peace, All Might, slapping her awake.
"Sorry about that back there! I didn't mean to get you caught up back there in my justicing! Usually, I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe! But it turns out, this city's sewer system is pretty difficult to navigate!" All Might laughed, as he lifted up a bottle of slime. "Anyway, you were a big help back there! I've captured the evil-doer!"
The Mie native was still wrapping her head around the fact that she had encountered the No. 1 Hero, All Might. Sure, he wasn't Thirteen, but he was still something.
"Welp, I've got to get this guy to the police! Stay out of trouble! See you around!"
Hearing that, Ochako's mind immediately snapped out of her fantasies of Thirteen, as she asked, "Wait, you're leaving? Already?"
"Pro Heroes are constantly fighting time, as well as enemies!"
Getting up from where she was laying down, the brown-haired girl looked at the Hero. In the back of her mind, she had a question. She knew that any old Hero could answer her question, but she figured that the Symbol of Peace would have the best answer.
So, she nodded to herself, and made her decision.
Tapping his shoulder, she asked, "Hey, before you leave, I have a question –"
NYOOM – FWOOSH!!!
"AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Ochako screamed, as the second she was tapping the Pro's shoulder, the man ended up taking off, accidentally taking her along with her.
"HEY, HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"I'M SORRY!" she apologized. "I'LL JUST LET GO!"
"NO, DON'T! IF YOU LET GO NOW, YOU'LL DIE!" he yelled back. "Just… keep your eyes and mouth shut until we land on a nearby rooftop, then you can get off safely!"
"O-okay!"
"My whole life just flashed before my eyes…" Ochako whispered to herself.
"I'm sorry about that, young lady," the blond apologized. "I didn't notice that you were trying to get my attention when I was taking off. But… that does raise the question… why?"
"Oh, yeah, I had a question… I wanted to ask you."
"A question?"
Ochako nods, as she opens her mouth to say…
"A part of me still wants to be a Hero, but I don't know why."
"A part of you –" All Might begins, before he feels a jolt of pain, and then begins to internally panic, as the steam comes off his body. Oh, no! Not now, dammit! Not here!
Ochako was looking down at her shoes, didn't notice the steam, and kept talking, "Well, you see, my family owns a construction company, and we used to be poor. I figured that if I became a Hero, I'd be able to use my license to bring costs down a lot. But five years ago, our financial troubles were gone, and even though a part of me wants to be a hero..."
SSSSS…
Looking up, she said, "A part of me still wants to be a Hero. To make people smile, but I don't know why. Worst of all, the fear of not doing it has been eating me up since…"
However, as she looked back at the giant of a man who was All Might, all she saw was… a skinny, shriveled-up, dead-eyed, necromancer-looking dude, surrounded by smoke.
"Uhh… uhh… WHAT THE HELL?! AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
In an alleyway, a bottle full of slime opened its eyes, and thought, Where am I? What happened? Oh yeah… that bastard. If it wasn't for him, I'd be out of town already.
In that same alleyway, someone else was walking along, or, more accurately, searching.
They were wearing a middle school gakuran, and they're most defining features were the spiky ash-blonde hair and the piercing red eyes. This was none other than Katsuki Bakugou.
Walking alone, he kept wondering, Where are you, Deku?
It had now been eight years since the one person he could consider an actual "friend" disappeared, and for the last eight years, he didn't give up searching.
All of the other kids in Aldera thought that it was a blessing to be rid of the "creepy nerd", as they kept praising Katsuki. He figured out a long time ago that all of those flatterers were only interested in him because of his flashy Quirk and his drive to be a Hero.
It pissed him off.
"DAMMIT!" he yelled in frustration, as he kicked a bottle.
BAM!
He huffed in frustration. This was going nowhere! Eight years, and nothing changed! Auntie Inko was still in a coma, Deku was still missing, and all of the teachers at Aldera were parasites that kept trying to make him forget about the "future Villain".
"Hm?" Snapping out of his thoughts, he heard something… slimy.
"Perfect! I like a skinsuit with some fire!"
Oh, shit.
"What happened?! You deflated! Where'd All Might go?!"
"I can assure you, young lady, I am A… augh…" the man spoke, only to cough up blood.
"This can't be real," Ochako deadpanned. "You can't really be him. You're just a walking skeleton, and All Might's a Hero who saves everyone with a fearless smile."
"Fearless, huh? There's plenty of fear behind that smile," the skinny man said, before sitting down. "I'm counting on you to keep quiet. Don't post about this online, or tell your friends."
As he lifted up his shirt, all the brown-haired girl could do was recoil in fear.
"Pretty gross, right? I got this in a big fight, five years back," he said, showing off his scar. "My respiratory system was basically destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out, and it can't be fixed. Right now, I can only do Hero work for about three hours a day. The rest of the time, this is what I look like."
Ochako looked horrified. "Five years ago… you mean… the Deika City Massacre…?!"
"No," All Might corrected her. "My fight happened a week earlier. Whoever was responsible for that incident wasn't the same one who did… this… to me. In fact, because of my injuries, I wasn't able to get to Deika City and save everyone. It's still… one of my biggest regrets."
"I'm supposed to be the guy who's always smiling, right?" He gave a sad laugh. "I'm the Symbol of Peace. People everywhere have to think that I'm never afraid. But honestly, I smile to hide the fear inside. It's just a brave face I put on when the pressure is high. This job… isn't easy."
"I'm sorry, I'm being insensitive," All Might apologized. "Anyway, about your question… It's an interesting one… the motivation to be a Hero… but honestly… I don't have an answer."
"What?"
"I honestly think no one has the right answer. I mean, look at me," he explained. "I wanted to be a Hero because I wanted to inspire change. Back in my day, the streets weren't as peaceful as they are today. I wanted to become a symbol to inspire hope, to say that everything would be all right. Truthfully, the only person who can truly understand your motives is you and you alone."
"Oh… I understand," Ochako said, looking sad.
"In order to be a Hero, you have to be ready for danger and failure, along with several other things" he said, standing up and walking to the door. "But the first thing each and every person needs to do is figure out why they want to be a Hero in the first place."
Walking down the stairs, All Might patted his pocket. "Now, let's get you to the station…"
However, as he felt it a little more, he began to panic. Grabbing the insides of both of his pants pockets in a panic, he turned it inside out, only to find… nothing.
"Not good."
Ochako walked out of the building, feeling… empty.
All Might didn't have an answer to her question, and while she was bummed out, she could understand why. He was a Hero, not a psychiatrist. There were thousands of kids out there who wanted to be Heroes, either for money or for fame, but not every single person had the same motivation as she did. Especially since she didn't even know what iot was herself!
Still… she wished she knew. At least then she'd know what to do…
BOOM!
"Huh?"
An explosion snapped the middle-school girl out of her thoughts, as she saw that a crowd of people were watching something. Walking across the street, she joined the crowd, and recognized the Villain among the fires. Big, green, and slimy…
THAT'S THE GUY WHO ATTACKED ME! Ochako's mind screamed, before shifting in denial. That can't be right. All Might captured him…
The brown-haired girl's memories went back to All Might, in his muscled form, capturing the Villain, and putting him in his pockets. But when her mind flashed back to All Might's skinny from… there was… no…
But the bottle… if he dropped it…
"...that means it's my fault," she whispered, her eyes widened in horror.
"What aren't the Heroes doing anything?" one guy asked.
"It looks like they met their match," the other guy next to him spoke. "Plus, the Villain captured a kid. Things aren't looking good for him."
He caught someone? I wonder how long they've been in there… The Uraraka child's memories flashed back to when she was attacked. How can they survive being suffocated like that? I thought I'd die after a few seconds of struggling! Oh, man…
"Wait, I'm confused. Isn't that the Villain All Might was chasing today?"
"What? All Might?! No way he lost! Where is he?"
"Well, can someone call him or something?"
"Seriously! Why hasn't he shown up to help the Heroes?"
As Ochako was silently blaming herself, he saw the Sludge Villain moving around weirdly, probably the kid trapped in there resisting… but then… she saw it…
The blonde boy. He was looking right at her. His eyes.
She knew exactly what his eyes were trying to convey.
"Save me."
FWOOSH!
All the Heroes in the area were shocked as they saw a teenage girl, one with brown hair that went down to her shoulders, and with beautiful brown eyes, rushing towards the Sludge Villain.
"NO! STOP!" Death Arms cried out. "YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!"
"Huh? This little girl again?" the Sludge Villain asked, puzzled.
What am I doing? Why am I running? Why aren't I stopping?! Ochako screamed in his head.
"YOU'RE TOAST, KID!" the Sludge Villain yelled, throwing an arm towards the girl.
Quickly reacting, she saw a random rock near her. She ran towards it, scooped it up, aimed, and threw it right at the slimy bastard's eye. "TAKE THIS!"
"Wha – YOW!" the Sludge Villain howled in pain.
In his pain, he released the pressure on Katsuki, and allowed him to breathe.
"Gasp! Cough, cough!"
The girl kept running, and running, until she reached the Sludge Villain's body, and stuck one of her arms into the green fluid, searching, until she finally grabbed solid muscle.
"What the hell?!" the blond yelled, feeling something grab him. "Get the hell off me!"
"No!" the girl bluntly growled. "I refuse to let you die!"
As she held onto the blond, Ochako activated her Quirk, canceling out the guy's gravity, and making him easier to pull out of the monster's slime body.
"THE GIRL FREED THE HOSTAGE!" one of the Heroes, Slugger, yelled out.
"Come on!" the brown-haired girl yelled, grabbing the red-eyed teen, and still suing her Quirk on him, dragging him away as fast as possible. We can quickly get out of the way –
"I'M DONE PLAYING WITH YOU!" the Villain roared, charing at the duo.
OH, NO! Ochako screamed within her mind, before she quickly decided to throw the floating boy towards the crowd, as she quickly canceled out her Quirk by tapping her fingers.
"SAVE THE GIRL! THIS THING WILL KILL HER!" Death Arms yelled, as he and the other Heroes ran towards them. But it was too late. Ochako knew they wouldn't make it in time.
BOOM!
As the dust cleared, the brown-haired girl waited to see the horrific sight of one of her limbs getting crushed, however… what she saw instead… was…
"I really am pathetic."
Ochako immediately recognized that voice.
"All Might…"
The blonde Hero was currently in his muscle form, holding the Sludge Villain at bay with a single fist. As he kept smiling, he said, "I couldn't even figure out the most obvious motive!"
GRAB!
Grabbing Katsuki's body and revving up to punch the Sludge Villain, All Might shouted, "PROS ARE ALWAYS RISKING THEIR LIVES! THAT'S THE TRUE TEST OF A HERO!"
Ochako was the only one who noticed All Might was spewing blood.
"DAMN YOU, ALL MIGHT!" the living slime screamed, ready to attack.
"DETROOOIIIIT… SMAAASH!!!!!"
BOOM!
FWOOOSH!
In an instant, the green goop was blown away, and the No. 1 Hero saved Ochako. The wind pressure caused by that punch was so powerful, that the only reason the civilians and the other Heroes weren't blown away was because Mount Lady had shown up at the last minute and was now protecting them with her giant arms.
As the winds died down, everyone stared at All Might in amazement. They didn't even notice that the clouds had darkened, and that it started raining, until...
Plip! Plip! Plip!
"Huh? It's raining…"
"Don't tell me all that wind just now was…"
"Look at the clouds! They're moving…"
"Holy crap," Death Arms gawked. "He changed the weather…"
"Did that really just happen?!"
All Might stood up, wiping the blood off his smiling face, as the crowd cheered for him. He steadied himself, and raised his fist up in victory.
"He changed the weather with a single punch like it was nothing!" some random civilian cheered. "All Might saved the day again, he's amazing!"
It was a few hours since the Sludge Villain incident concluded. Ochako really didn't care about how All Might was swarmed by the press, or how the Heroes were praising the random kid that basically made the hostage situation worse by setting off all those explosions.
Nope, she was more worried about how she would explain this to her parents.
At first, she was getting chewed out by the Heroes, something about illegal Quirk usage. Thankfully, this was only her first offense, and with a little persuasion from All Might, she wouldn't have to face charges of Vigilantism.
But now, she was running through the suburbs, as she was definitely late getting home now. Hopefully, none of the reporters caught her on camera rushing into the Villain fight, or else her parents would kill her, bring her back, and then ground her until she was eighty.
But as she was running, she heard, "Oi! Round Cheeks!"
Turning around, Ochako saw that it was none other than the explosive blond.
Gritting his teeth, the blond said, "Thanks for saving me."
Ochako was surprised by that, but she simply smiled, and said, "You're welcome."
Grunting, the boy turned around, and left for home.
"I AM HERE!"
OH, COME ON! The brown-haired girl screamed into her mind, but on the outside, she acted normally. "Oh, All Might! What are you doing here?"
"BECAUSE, I – BLEAAUGHH… Cough, cough!" Immediately, All Might's buff form poofed away revealing his skeletal form, puking blood. "Ugh… anyway, I wanted to thank you, young lady. If you didn't rush in there, I would have just been a worthless bystander. So, thanks for that."
"Oh, no! It was nothing! Anyone could have done that!"
"And yet, it was you," All Might said. "Back when we first talked, you said that you had no idea why you wanted to be a Hero. So, why did you do this? Why did you save him?"
"I…" she paused for a moment, thinking. "I saw his eyes. They were begging for help, even if he didn't act like it. And none of the Heroes were doing anything. I think a small part of me knew that I could fail and make things worse back there… but I think… that an even bigger part of me knew that if I didn't try, there was a good chance that the kid would have died."
"Hm. That's what I like to hear," All Might said, confusing Ochako. "There are stories about every Hero, how they became great. Most have one thing in common: Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think, almost on their own. And today… that's what happened to you."
"I… All Might… thank you…"
"Young lady, I believe that you will make a fine Hero. Because you have the makings for the best kind of Hero: One who wants to save others, and puts smiles on their faces."
And that's when it finally hit Ochako.
She wanted to help people. Becoming a Hero to get rich, that was just her way of helping her parents. Every time she watched a Hero on the streets, those guys were helping people by both keeping them safe and putting smiles on their faces. For the longest time, she had forgotten what she wanted to do, but deep down it was this: Helping others.
As tears of joy streamed down her face, All Might had more to say.
"And thus… I have deemed you worthy of my power. My Quirk is yours to inherit."
And with that, the tears stopped, and the questions began.
"Huh? Wait, what do you mean "inherit"? Inherit what?" the girl asked.
"Hahaha! You should see your face right now! Don't worry, I'm not gonna force this thing on you," All Might laughed, before coughing up more blood. "Listen well, young lady! This is your choice: DO YOU WANT TO ACCEPT MY AWESOME POWER, OR NOT?!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"There are a couple things you should know about my abilities. Journalists always guess my Quirk is super strength or some kind of invulnerability. When people ask in interviews, I always make a joke and dodge the question. That's because the world needs to believe their Symbol of Peace is just a natural-born Hero, like any of them… but I'm not. There's nothing natural about my ability. I wasn't born with this power, it was a sacred torch passed onto me from someone else," the skinny All Might said, as he stretched his arms out dramatically.
"Someone gave you this Quirk?" the girl repeated.
"Yes, that's right, and if you say yes, you'll be the next holder! I can give you my abilities! I can transfer my Quirk to someone else! And that's just one facet of my secret abilities," All Might said, holding out his hand. "The true name of my power… is called One For All."
"One… For… All…" the girl repeated.
"Yes! One person improves the power, then hands it off to another person, and continues to grow as it's passed along. It is this cultivated power that allowed me to save those who are in need of a Hero… the truth behind my strength."
"But… Why me?"
"I was on a long hunt for a worthy successor. And then… I watched you jump into action as the rest of us stood idly by. You didn't know why you wanted to be a Hero, but you tried to save that kid, anyway. You acted like a Hero willing to save everyone and anyone! A true Hero!"
"..."
"And while it is true that there will be times where you can't save everyone, with my power, you will at least get a bigger chance at it! You could be a Hero who would be able to achieve any goal you put your mind to, and make things better! If you could inspire me to act, you can inspire so many other Heroes! Where I can only save people physically, I believe that you save people in more ways! I believe that you can be the good change the Hero world so desperately needs!"
"..."
"So, Ms…?"
"Uraraka," she answered. "Ochako Uraraka."
"Well, young Uraraka: Do you accept?"
He said so much to encourage me… And even if he didn't truly have an answer to my question… he said that I could be the change I wanted to be! He even offered me his power as a means for me to make people happy… How can I turn him down?
Looking right at him, with a face of determination, she said, "Okay, I'll do it."
"No reluctance," All Might smiled. "That's exactly how I figured you'd respond."
Ochako kept smiling at him, before she realized…
Wait, how am I gonna explain this to my parents?!
"Master," the mist man spoke. "We have a problem."
"What is it, Kurogiri?" the master asked.
"One of the lower-level thugs of the Shie Hassaikai has come to us with news. Apparently, the adopted son of the head has usurped his adoptive father and taken his place."
"All right. I guess I should visit the new head and… congratulate him… for his successful coup."
Author's Note: And from here on out, things will start to be different.
I've been developing this story for almost two years now, and I'm finally ready to start publishing. However, I still have to finish writing it, so my publication dates are gonna be a bit… slower than usual. Specifically, once every other week.
So, the next chapter comes out on September 15th, 2023!
In the meantime, this upcoming Friday, the 8th of September, I will be publishing a completely new story, so every other week, one of the two is gonna be updated. I really wanted to do both every week, but I don't have enough of a backlog for that!
For those of you that are new here, this is the second part of a series I have been working on known as "The Other Protagonists," where in each story, the main character will be someone other than our favorite green-haired Midoriya. Sure, he could still be an antagonist, a background character, or something, but not the main hero.
The previous story was "When They See, They'll Understand," starring Katsuki Bakugou in a future where AI and the dead end up mixing. If you're interested in that story, the links are s/14250531/1/When-They-See-They-ll-Understand on , and /works/48272467/chapters/121740241 on ArchiveofOurOwn, respectively.
Also, if you're interested, you can leave a comment. I respond to them in the next chapter in the Author's Note, so if you wanna, go right ahead. Just please be respectful.
If you wanna know more, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz . You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the other story's debut next week!
- Ernalore