Thanks for 400k on the story loves <3
Ame
5 days later
My life has completely changed. It was one moment on a beach. Deku-san stood across from me, the sun at his back making him a silhouette beneath the shadows, a symbol. He spoke his truth about One for All and Mu asked the one question I was too cowardly to bring forth.
Why did he choose me?
"Why?" I breathe.
Deku-san shrugs his shoulders.
"Every single hero student I've encountered, no matter how strong, brave, or altruistic, they try to be this perfect image of another symbol of peace. Like Mu said, there's no such thing. And you don't pretend there is. You don't pretend to be perfect, you state outright that you aren't. You listen, you speak up when you disagree, you work hard, you're honest, and you have qualities that I wish I'd had at your age. I'm not going to lie to you the way All Might did to me. I loved that man, I still do."
Deku scratches the back of his neck, Mu, Kenji, and I listening, to his words, everything. He speaks like he's been waiting for years, like he's been holding this all in. His breath hitches when he paces himself, taking a few steps on the sand, looking at it.
All Might trained him on this beach. He told me that too. All Might also never told him about all the damage One for All does, it's history, none of it. Deku-san told me everything the very first day. He started crying when he told me a little bit about the war. He started crying when he told me how All Might died.
"What if Ame changes his mind?" Mu.
"What?" Deku-san wipes his forehead.
"He's an idiot sometimes. He acts before he thinks. He puts other people before himself. He likes horrid pop music trends and his taste in romantic partners is atrocious. You're absolutely right he's not perfect, but he's good. He's a good person and he's not done finding himself. So what if you do give him this power. What if by some miracle, he succeeds in the sport's festival and transfers into the hero course and graduates with honors and gets into an agency and fights crime as well as you do, and what if he decides one day that he was wrong? What if he decides he'd rather just be in a band and eat strawberries on a beach with his friends?"
Mu's tone dips. They stick in their hands in their pockets and even if I can't see their face, I know they aren't anymore close to a smile. They aren't acting as if they'll lose me, but they are acting as if this will change things. They're acting like if I become a hero suddenly them and Kenji's meaning in my life will be worthless.
That'll never be true. I want to reach for them and tell them that'll never be true.
"Then he'll be in band and eat strawberries," Deku-san says, patting Mu's hair down, smiling at them. "If I pass on this power, it won't be about legacy. It'll be about giving it to someone who deserves it."
"Do I deserve it?" I ask, my hands shaking. My entire future hangs on the balance of this one conversation. And the sun is already setting.
"Can I say something?" Kenji asks. I nod and so does Deku. She hops down from the ledge onto the sand, up to Deku-san, the wind playing with the pink, caressing her for all the kind she is. "This is life-altering. I know that's why we're talking so much. I also know Ame's dad treats him like a breakable object rather than a person and that's why we're not telling him but-"
"We will tell Kacchann," Deku-san says.
"Bakugo-san protects Ame." Kenji nearly interrupts him. "Can we trust you to protect him too? Because I don't care who deserves One for All. I don't care why you're doing this. I care about Ame. And I want to know when it comes down to it that you'll be there for him. No matter what. Just like we will."
