Chapter 2: Together

                                    

                                          
The walk home from school often consisted of Izuku rambling about the latest hero activity, and Shigeo listening in silence, occasionally adding on with a sentence or two. Because of what had happened earlier, Izuku was less enthusiastic than normal, but nonetheless tried to stay positive. 
"I know it's really silly, but, I recently designed my hero costume. Luckily the page didn't get ruined." He passed his notebook over into Shigeo's hands. 
"Why would it be really silly?" 
"Well, because..." 
"I told you before, being quirkless doesn't mean you can't be a hero. You always had the conviction to become one since grade school. Why are you suddenly doubting yourself?" 
Izuku was silent. He stopped walking, standing solemnly. "We're third years already." Izuku would often daydream about getting into UA, but something at the back of his mind would feed doubts that slowly eroded the strength of his conviction to succeed. Either to ground him to reality or sabotage his ambitions, he didn't know. But regardless, the seeds of doubt grew larger and louder the closer they got to the end of middle school. This whirlpool of emotions often overshadowed his dream, until it was merely a whisper among the pessimistic outlook of those seeds.
 "We're already expected to select our high schools. The only one I want to get into is UA, and... I don't know. I guess Kacchan is getting to me more now that the deadline is getting closer." That much was true. Try as he might, Izuku could just not think of another school he wanted to get into, even as a cushion to fall onto if his application for UA was to be denied. His sights were set on one goal and one goal only.
"I see." Shigeo turned around. "I haven't selected a school either."
"Then apply for UA with me. I can't imagine a life where we aren't in the same school. That's the way it's always been, and... I don't want it to change."
"I'll think about it." Shigeo whispered, weighing the possibilities in his mind. To be born with such a quirk— cursed with one that was influenced by emotion— would be like a blessing to any other person. People would kill to have what he was born with. But to Shigeo, his power was nothing more than a shackle that prevented him from living a normal life. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Guilt. Petty arguments with his friends. Reading the room. He could only feel emotions at their maximum, bringing harm to everyone around him. He wouldn't be able to be a hero with such a... volatile quirk. 
It seemed as if Izuku knew exactly what Mob was thinking, from the way the boy was staring down at his hand with slightly more furrowed eyebrows. 
"Your quirk shouldn't be a burden. You could help so many people with it, I— It's the most powerful quirk I've ever seen." Izuku coughed, "Aside from All Might's— But we don't even know much about his quirk, so... You still count."
Mob looked up at Izuku, unable to put a finger on what his mumblings made him feel. "Thank you. I think."
The uncertainty of his answer made Izuku burst into laughter. "You are really funny, Shicchan. Even if you don't mean to be," He winked.
None of them noticed a sinister dark mass pouring out of a grate near the sidewalk. How it stealthily squelched up behind them until it was too late. Izuku felt an uneasy feeling at the bottom of his stomach, turning around to face the shadow that suddenly looked over them.
"Shicchan, look out—!"He pushed Shigeo out of the way before he was engulfed by a horrible green sludge. His throat burned as it forced itself down to silence his cries.
"Izuku!!" Shigeo cried out.
68%
"Ahh, fresh meat. Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. You'll just be a shell for me to use once I'm done with you, heeheehahaha!!" Awful globs of sludge tightened around his chest, restraining his limbs so that Izuku wouldn't be able to even try to free himself. His eyes darted around in despair, his voice muffled in his attempts to cry out for help. With all his might, all he could do was reach out a hand for his friend. Then everything started fading black.
80%
"Get away from him," Shigeo muttered, "Get off of my friend," He shuffled towards the villain, eyes poisoned with anger as his hair floated around him. 
"Or what, brat? You look like a quirkless nobody that couldn't save someone from a plastic bag," The villain snarled maliciously. 
Shigeo tried grabbing the mass of slime, to no avail. His fingers went right through. 
"Your friend is dying right in front of you, and that's what you can come up with to try and save him? Pah, you really are a pathetic little brat." Cackled the villainous sludge.
98%
Just then, a great thunderous voice boomed from behind them. "My dear boy, it will be alright. Why?" The mysterious man exclaimed, running towards the sludge with his hands outstretched. "Because I am here!" Like a flash of thunder he grabbed Shigeo with one hand, and used his quirk to blow away the villain. Izuku, freed from its grasp, fell to the floor. He coughed and spluttered, grabbing his throat that burned furiously. 
"Izuku? Are you okay?" Shigeo wriggled out from the mysterious man's grasp and ran over to his friend, offering him some water.
"Th-thanks." Izuku gladly took the bottle, gulping it down to soothe his throat. When he looked up to see who his mystery saviour was, he almost died again.
"A-ALL MIGHT?!" He yelped, almost believing he really had died and gone to heaven. 
All Might laughed. "That's right, my dear boy! Are you alright? Any serious injuries?" 
"N-no, I'm fine. Oh! The villain!" Izuku exclaimed. 
Right. All Might searched for anything that could hold the sludge captive, eventually (begrudgingly) pouring out the contents of the two soda bottles he'd just bought and managing to stuff the villain into both bottles. 
85%
"Wait! Before you go, can you sign my n—" Izuku opened the book— and his idol had already signed his name in large lettered across two pages. All Might smiled his trademark heroic smile; the kind that you would look at and just know things would be okay. Of course he was starstruck, and hugged the hero's legs with appreciation. 
"Hahaha, alright, boys! Now that you're alright, I must go!" All Might changed his stance and jumped with so much force it was as if he took flight. In the commotion, he didn't realise that Izuku was still clinging to his legs, now squeezing them tightly in terror at the sudden change in altitude. 
"A-All Might...!" 
"Hmm?" The hero looked down and almost fell when he saw the young boy grasping onto his legs. "Oh! Goodness me!" He searched for a good place to land, settling on a nearby building. 
Izuku was too frazzled to let go, his fingers digging into All Might's legs as if he was still hurtling through the air at 50 miles an hour, shaking like a sopping wet kitten. He was snivelling and sobbing, tears and snot streaked down the contours of his face due to the wind. 
"A.. A.. A.." Was all he could mutter, stuttering like a broken record. 
All Might had stopped smiling his trademark smile, instead checking every part of Izuku's body for any injuries and furrowing his eyebrows with worry. He was apologising profusely. 
"I-I'm fine..." Stammered the shaken boy. Physically, yes, but it would take him a minute to catch his breath before he could walk on his own. 
Muscles pulled at his ribs, straining his lungs even more than they were already. Shit. Running out of time. All Might clutched his side, looking for somewhere to hide before he changed b— Too late. Blood hacked out of his throat as fog blew up around him, and the figure that stood tall and confident was no more. In his place stood a gaunt, sickly man. He made eye contact with the boy, and the two stood in silence for a solid minute before another load of blood was ejected from the hero's mouth. 
"WAHHH?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ALL MIGHT?!" Izuku screamed in complete confusion. 
"Shh, shh shh! Calm down, it's— I'm All Might." 
"WHY ARE YOU SO SHORT?! AND SKINNY?!" 
Oh, boy. This would be a long story to explain. Yagi Toshinori, the true identity of the number one hero in Japan, sighed. 
Shigeo stood frozen at the sight where his friend disappeared into the sky. His mouth hung open as he took a moment to register what on earth had just happened. He was so focused on the crater in the road All Might had left that he didn't notice the two bottles containing the villain were now empty. 
"Huh." 
Seeing as there wasn't much he could do, Shigeo picked up Izuku's notebook and made his way home. From the shadows, the sludge followed him. When Shigeo was close to exploding, the villain could sense raw power emanating from one boy. Oh, what a catch this one would be. 
Izuku watched as All Might disappeared down the stairwell, spirit broken by his words. 
"I'm sorry, kid. There is just no chance of someone quirkless becoming a hero. Why don't you become a policeman? You could still help people that way. I'm sorry I don't have anything else to say."
"I don't want to be a policeman." He whispered as tears brimmed. Well. It was over now, he supposed. As he searched for his things he realised that Shigeo was left behind in all this. Something else crossed his mind. When All Might revealed his true form... The bottles. His heart dropped to the floor and his world shattered. Shit, shit, shit! The door to the stairwell flung open with such force the hinges wobbled out of place. With the speed at which he ran down the stairs he almost tripped and fell. But he didn't care. He had to get to Shigeo to make sure he was okay. It was a struggle to get his phone out of his pocket while running downstairs, and he managed to get to his friend's contact. 
Calling ⭐️SHIGEO⭐️...
Come on, come on...
Call failed. 
God, please just be the signal, please just be the signal... Izuku snapped out of his stupor when he heard explosions and screamed ringing out, not far from where he was. The smoke that rose up into the sky looked like it was coming from... Musutafu. It was along the way to Shigeo's home. 
100%
Fear