I'm not on EITHER side

"The world needs a new symbol of hope."

Izuku's POV

Opening the door to his office, I take a look around. He's sitting at the table with a pot of tea and two cups on a tray. "Ah, Young Midoriya! Thank you for coming. I'm glad you decided to meet with me." I walk over and take a seat, taking note of everything around me. There's some faded posters of an old hero I recognize, a picture of All Might standing next to a young Gran Torino, and a copy of a newspaper framed on the wall.

"Well, I figured that after what happened in Kamino Ward and me, for lack of a better term, ignoring you, I've been putting this off for too long." He pours me a cup of tea and hands it over. I accept it and take a small sip. The almost earthy flavor of the green tea hits me and I feel a bit more relaxed. I look back up and see Yagi giving me a small smile.

"I'd like to start with an apology. I feel as though I betrayed your trust and manipulated your feelings by not telling you I was All Might. I have grown to see you as a friend. I should have told you." He goes to bow, but I reach across the table and stop him.

"Don't bow to me. I'm not mad about it. I understand why you didn't. It was to protect yourself and me, by association." He leans back into his seat and gives me a small smile. I smile back and feel content. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" His smile fades a bit, and he stiffens up a bit.

"I, uh, wanted to ask you something important. But first, I have to tell you the history of my quirk."

"Stop right there. I already know the history of your quirk. All for One gave it to his brother, who he thought was quirkless but really wasn't, then he passed it to other people, and eventually it got to you. The eighth holder of One for All. I'm guessing you want to pass it on to me." He slowly nods before taking a deep breath.

"Yes. That's what I was going to ask, but you summed everything up perfectly. You're smart and responsible, albeit a bit...reactive. Although so am I. The world needs a new symbol of hope. You're the best candidate for it. You would be a wonderful successor, and I would be honored if you would accept."

"I..." I sit with my mouth agape and my brain on fire. It's what I've wanted for so long. What I thought I desperately needed. But it would be disingenuous if I did take it. "I'm sorry, but I can't. It's what I've wanted for so long, but I can't accept it. I need to be the first quirkless hero. I can't be the symbol of hope for everyone if I have a quirk. I have to be my own symbol of hope. Please understand."

I look back up and see him giving me a kind, almost proud, smile. "I do. And as much as I wish you would accept, I'm gladder that you are being true to yourself and your ideals. That's what a true hero does. Therefore, I'll pose a new question to you. Will you help me find a worthy successor?"

"Of course. Hell, I'll help train them if you want. This is important to you. It's important to the whole world. Of course, I'm going to help." He smiles and looks out the window. I look out it too and take a long sip of tea. This went better than I ever could've expected.

"Thank you, Young Midoriya. I believe you should be going. Your family is expecting you." I feel a little heat raise to my cheeks and then put the teacup down on the tray and leave. After closing the door, I let out a long breath I didn't know I was holding in. I collect myself and leave the building.

I text Ochaco to see where her and Eri are at and make my way back to the dorms. I figure that I could do some setting up at the dorms. There are a few things that I need to move out of the dorm and into a secure place. I met with Cementoss a few days ago and asked if I could have some place secure and underground where I can hide everything. I always figured I couldn't have the stuff in my dorm, this just added to it.

I go back up to my room and take all the money out of the safe. I shove it into a backpack and look for what else I can find. I grab a duffle bag and put my computer, laptop, and monitors into it before grabbing some weapons I've hidden in the wall. I keep a few things there, but most are put into a different bag. I put my backpack on and carry the two duffle bags out of the dorms. No one is down in the common rooms, so I don't have to worry about people asking questions.

I meet Cementoss by the administration building and ask him to take me to the place. He walks me over to a small elevator that leads to a room made of cement. There's a place for me to plug everything in, a safe, a table, and some small lights built into the walls. I plug everything in and put everything in the safe. I look on a different wall and see some hooks for me to hang things up. I put everything there and make sure it looks clean.

I leave and then ask him how I can move it around. He hands me an SD card and tells me everything is on there. I go back to my dorm and grab an extra phone and put the SD card in. When it's done downloading, I see a remote with a map of the school. I can control where the room goes and how to get to the room if it's not under a building. I can see that each building is moveable too. This will be fun.

Word Count: 1029

Thanks for reading this chapter! Sorry it took me 2 months to write, I've been really busy. I'll try to get another one out soon, but no promises. Thanks for getting this to almost 10k reads. You guys are crazy! Again, sorry it took me so long to get this out, I've been really busy and struggling with some mental health stuff, but I'm looking into ways to figure that out. Thanks for reading the author's note and everything. Have a good day, and remember to drink some water.