“That's right, officer.” A civilian witness said. “That sludge thing grabbed that blond boy and started eating him. It was disgusting.”

“Then what happened?” The officer asked. It was his sixth interview and he was sure that it would be the same as the others. It was. The witnesses all confirmed that the blond teen was rescued by the other two teens. The funny thing was, the one that risked his life to save the blond teen, didn't have a quirk.

The officer glanced over to the green-haired teen and saw him fussing over the blonde-haired girl that had hurt herself by somehow using a plastic toy gun to blow up the sludge pile. He saw All Might go over to the ambulance and the teens, so he turned his attention back to completing the interview.

*

“Young Midoria, how is the little one?” All Might asked.

“She will be fine when Mother Hen here backs off.” Tanya said and glared at Izuku.

All Might laughed and pat the boy's shoulder. “Let's let the paramedics do their jobs for a few more minutes before you take over.”

Izuku looked at Tanya's angry face and nodded.

“Good! Gentlemen, make sure she gets the best care.” All Might said the two men straightened their backs and nodded. “Izuku, can I speak to you privately?”

“Sure, All Might.” Izuku said and gave one last concerned look at Tanya, who gave him her middle finger in an offensive American gesture to make him smile, and followed the very large muscled man around a nearby building and saw him transform into his smaller self.

“Whew! I almost lost it out there.” All Might said. “By the way, call me Yagi when I'm like this. Yagi Toshinori.”

Izuku nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I know this seems sudden; but, I already told you that my quirk can be passed on.” Yagi said and Izuku nodded again. “The reason I came here was because I'll be teaching at UA next year and I was looking for a successor to give my quirk to.”

“Mirio.” Izuku said and All Might sucked in a breath.

“How do you know that name?” All Might asked, surprised.

“Tanya and I found him a long time ago. Sir Nighteye took him as a protege last year after he finished his first year of UA.”

All Might wasn't sure what to say about that.

“You should rethink your decision, though. His quirk isn't compatible with yours.” Izuku said.

“What? How do you know that?” All Might asked, his eyes wide as the shocks and revelations kept coming from the green-haired teen in front of him.

“Intangibility and a power quirk are actually completely diametric to one another. Even if One for All accepted the power, it would be practically useless when combined with the others. In fact, if he did try using his intangibility while also using One for All, he could potentially phase himself right out of existence.”

All Might staggered slightly and Izuku reached out and steadied the man before he fell. “You know this for certain?”

“It's all theoretical.” Izuku said and took off his backpack. “Look.” He said and took out a journal to hand to his hero. “It's the fifth bookmark.”

All Might flipped through the journal, his mind amazed at all of the heroes, quirks, and analysis statistics with mathematical calculations he saw. When he came to Mirio's page, he nearly fainted. The detailed breakdown of his quirk, its usage and limitations, his potential to keep his clothing on if he trains to use his quirk to empower a thin layer above his skin, and the ability to gain momentum as he phased through different directions.

“Young Midoria... Izuku... this is amazing.” All Might said.

“Tanya and I work on it a lot.” Izuku said and saw All Might's blank expression. “We're very bored in class. Every day. For years.”

All Might kept no expression on his face for a moment more, then laughed. “I'd like a copy of this, if it's possible.”

“Sure. We can stop at a printers nearby when Tanya's okay.” Izuku said.

“Thank you.” All Might said and handed the book back. “Now, about my quirk...”

“I can help you find a more appropriate candidate if I can observe them and their quirks for a while.”

“There's no need for that. I already found my replacement.”

“Oh? Who is it?” Izuku asked, genuinely curious.

All Might smiled and changed into his large muscled form. “It's you, Young Midoria! You will become the next Symbol of Peace!”

Izuku opened his mouth and let out a squeak, like a mouse being stepped on, and promptly fainted.

*

“He was completely serious.” Izuku said the next day with an arm over Tanya's shoulders as she sat against him on his bed. She had been released from the hospital after the burns on her hands were healed. She had spent the night under observation in case she had a concussion from being so close to the explosion. She didn't and was declared healthy and let go.

“What did you say to him?” Tanya asked.

“Um... I... uh... don't really remember.” Izuku whispered and his face flushed red. “All Might said that I made a squeak sound and then fainted.”

Tanya held her mouth closed for about three seconds before she shook and bent over as she started laughing her ass off. “BWAHAHA! I-I-Izuku! Don't... don't ever change! HAHAHAHA!”

Izuku couldn't help himself and started laughing, too. He liked her laugh too much to be angry at her for laughing at him.

“I can see... your face.” Tanya said as she started to calm down and sat up straight. She didn't comment on his hand being down on the bed and she was almost sitting on it. “I wasn't laughing at you, just your classic Izuku reaction. I thought you trained that out of yourself and then you shocked me with its triumphant return! Ha ha! Poor All Might! He must have been terrified!”

Izuku was glad that she wasn't making fun of him and had only laughed at the situation. “All Might was pretty shocked.”

“I wish we had a picture of his face! We could have made it into our phone's background.” Tanya said and looked into Izuku's eyes. “When you woke up, you told him you accepted. Right? RIGHT?”

Izuku let her stew for a five seconds before he smiled and nodded.

“YES!” Tanya yelled and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him pretty deeply. When she broke the kiss, her face was red. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I know we promised to take our time and...”

“...you're still not sure what you're feeling.” Izuku said and she nodded several times. “It's okay. I can wait.” He said and reached up to caress the cheek of her face. “I'll win you over eventually.”

Tanya's blush intensified. “It's not that, Izuku. You already have. It's just... if I let myself...”

“Shh. I know.” Izuku said and Tanya's eyes widened. “I'm not stupid. You're worried about someone using me against you.”

“I... yes, I am.” Tanya finally admitted. “You have no idea what could happen...”

“I said it's all right.” Izuku said and leaned in to lightly kiss her. “We will eventually get to the point that we won't care who knows and we will be much too powerful for them to do anything to us.” He said and stood. “Come on, I'll walk you to the train station.”

Tanya nodded and they left the house. She was a little nervous about the whole thing and her eyes kept going to Izuku's serene face as they walked. “You really believe that.”

“With all my heart.” Izuku said and put an arm around her waist. “I'll message as soon as All Might tells me when I start my training schedule.”

“Are you sure he won't mind me being there?” Tanya asked.

“What is he going to say? No? We are both in the know and we know things that no one else he knows, knows.”

“That was a mouthful of knows.” Tanya said with a smile.

“I couldn't think of how to get more knows in there. Who knows? Maybe I'll know more later and then let you be in the know, too.”

“Oh, god! Stop!” Tanya laughed softly.

“You know I want to.” Izuku said with a crooked smile that he only did for her.

“Dork.” Tanya teased.

“I prefer nerd, actually. I'm too smart to only be a dork.” Izuku responded and she laughed.

They stood at the station to wait for the right train and Tanya stepped onto it when it arrived. She paused briefly and then darted back out to kiss him before she jumped back and the doors to the train closed.

“You shouldn't have done that!” Izuku shouted with a wide smile on his face.

“I know!” Tanya shouted back and they waved at each other as the train pulled out of the station.

*

“Are you kidding? That's all?” Izuku asked as he stood with the smaller version of All Might named Yagi on the trash-covered beach.

“My boy, there are so many ways this will exercise your body, strengthen your muscles, and increase your stamina!” Yagi said and waved at the mass of appliances, twisted unidentifiable metal, old tires, and a few rusted vehicles. That didn't mention the endless bags of garbage and general mess of the place.

“Did you bring the truck?” Izuku asked.

“Let's wait until you get a good pile of it over at the entrance before we worry about hauling it away to be recycled and taken to the actual dump.”

Izuku chuckled. “Then I'll see you this afternoon.”

“What? Why so soon?” Yagi asked. “You're not giving up, are you?”

“Nope.” Izuku said and took off the top of his loose fitting track suit to show off the rippling muscles and the tank top he wore. “I'm just going to be that quick.”

Yagi stared at the boy as he walked over to a very large tire, probably from a shipping truck, and Izuku easily stood it up and then hefted it up onto his shoulder with barely a grunt.

“This is what we're doing?” Tanya asked as she flew over to land beside Izuku.

“I carry, you squash.” Izuku said.

“Why not just throw it?” Tanya asked, curiously.

“It's lift and stamina training.” Izuku said.

“Oh, that's good then. I thought we would be wasting our time here.” Tanya said and walked with him to the entrance of the beach.

“Pop the rim out first before you crush it smaller.” Izuku cautioned her. “You don't want the rubber snapping back at you.”

“Good point.” Tanya said and charged her hand with a slightly glow, then she smacked her palm against the center of the rim while Izuku held the rubber part. The metal popped right out of the tire and fell to the sand without resistance. “There's no way they are all going to be that easy.”

Izuku laughed and tossed the tire to land on its side to start the pile. “We can only hope.”

“You're such an optimist.” Tanya responded.

“You're such a pretty pessimist.” Izuku said and saw her blush slightly. “Crush that rim and I'll grab another tire.”

Tanya nodded and stood the rim up on its edge, then she charged her hands again. “HAA!” She yelled and slammed both palms down onto the metal. There was a metal crunching sound and the once round rim was now compressed into a one foot wide and six inch high metal lump. “Dammit, I was off-center and it's lopsided.”

“Try again.” Izuku said and held out a similar tire. They repeated the process and she did the same technique. It was more even and Izuku compared the two. “You weren't off with the first one. It was warped already.”

“Oh, that's a relief.” Tanya said. “Hey, what are you standing around for? Go get me more tires!”

Izuku barked a laugh and jogged to go find another similar tire. He could have grabbed one from close by; but, that wasn't the point. He was training lifting and stamina, so more movement with more weight was the order of the day. He had learned years ago to never cheat at training because that didn't help anyone at all, let alone him.

All Might in his Yagi form stood there and watched them working out for an hour before he realized he was standing there and wasting time. He laughed at himself for getting distracted and left without disturbing the two teens. He glanced at the fairly large pile of crushed rims and stacked tires with a smile.

I guess I am coming back with the truck this afternoon. All Might thought and left to catch the train back to the UA hero school. He had an appointment with the principal and some paperwork to fill out.

*

Izuku and Tanya could only clean up on the beach on the weekends and on weekdays where they didn't have homework. Of course, they were the top of the school and had to apply almost no effort to pass their tests and exams. Most of their class time was devoted to hero and quirk research, which annoyed the teacher, because he knew they were only humoring him by being in class and didn't need to be there.

Surprisingly, neither Izuku nor Tanya were tired out by the gruelling workout schedule, even with everything else they were doing. Tanya's delivery and messenger business was making tons of money, especially for the long distance quick delivery courier packages. She didn't have to become a hero at all to make money, which she said was kind of the point. She wasn't going to do it for the money and had a much more personal reason.

Bakugo started to talk to Izuku without yelling, which was a huge improvement. He constantly said that he didn't need saving from the sludge villain and Izuku would always pat him on the shoulder and tell him that it didn't matter if he did or not. Izuku was there for him and that was all that counted. Bakugo would always grumble about arrogance and Izuku would just laugh.

By the time the school year ended, the beach had been completely cleaned up and Tanya bought a huge billboard to mount at the entrance just before the last day of school. Izuku and Tanya walked over to the place and laughed at a stunned looking All Might in his Yagi form staring at the huge billboard.

“What the hell is that?” Yagi asked them and pointed.

“Advertising.” Izuku said. “Tanya and I figured out that we could get recognition for all of our hard work and she could advertise her delivery service at the same time.”

“But... but that makes it look like her delivery service sponsored it!” Yagi exclaimed.

“I did.” Tanya said. “I paid for the food, the drinks...”

“I paid the trunk rental!” Yagi interrupted.

“Submit the receipts and my company will reimburse you.” Tanya said.

“But... but... it was supposed to be anonymous. No one was supposed to know who did it.” Yagi said.

“Why?” Tanya asked.

“Altruism!” Yagi said. “Izuku was supposed to do it for no personal gain.”

Izuku and Tanya exchanged looks and then laughed.

“What's so funny?” Yagi asked.

“You gave us the task to work out and it was all personal gain.” Tanya said and Izuku nodded in agreement. “Plus, I didn't want Izuku to not get credit for it. He did a great job.”

“I have to admit that this place looks like it was never a trash dump.” Izuku said and then lifted his arms to show off the well-formed muscles. “Your training really paid off and we were only doing it part-time. I can't wait to see what you have planned for this summer.”

Yagi's face changed from slightly angry to worried. “Ah... about that...”

“What is it? What's wrong?” Tanya asked.

“You see... I don't really have any other plans for you besides clearing this beach.” Yagi said, clearly embarrassed. “I never expected you to be done this soon or to do the entire beach and not just the marked off section before the UA entrance exam.”

“There was a marked off section?” Izuku asked, slightly confused.

“I had flags set up at the corners.” Yagi said.

“Oh! I took those.” Tanya said with a slightly embarrassed smile. “I was wondering why someone tossed out such great flags.”

“That's where you got those nice wind direction flags from?” Ikuku asked and she nodded. “Cool.”

“We're getting off track here.” Yagi said and then winced as he brought the conversation right back to his own lack of planning.

“Tanya? Do you have any ideas?” Izuku asked.

“Lots. The problem is, they don't take into account training you with your new quirk when All Might hands it over.”

“Right.” Izuku looked at All Might. “Do you know anyone that can train me in using it?”

“I may know one person... except...” Yagi sighed. “He won't even look at you until you have the quirk for a while.”

“How long is a while?” Izuku asked.

“At least six months.” Yagi said and wouldn't look at them. “At least.”

Tanya chuckled. “Well, there's no need to worry about whoever that is. We'll be starting UA in under three months.”

“You're right.” Izuku said and walked over to All Might. “How do we do this?”

Yagi looked around and no one else was nearby, so he changed to his muscled form. “You need to ingest my DNA.”

“WHAT?!?” Izuku yelled and jumped back. “No! NO! I refuse! I will never suck on your c...”

“Calm down!” All Might shouted and cut the boy off. “Not like that!”

“Oh. Then how?” Izuku asked.

All Might reached up and plucked a single hair off of his head. “Eat this!”

Izuku threw up a little in his mouth. “You can't be serious.”

“Hair follicles contain DNA, Young Midoria.” All Might said. “I know it's a little awkward...”

“It's idiotic, actually.” Tanya said and pulled a small folding blade from a pocket. “Poke your finger with this and give him a drop of blood to lick off.”

“That's actually much more reasonable.” Izuku said and watched as All Might poked his fingertip and a drop of blood appeared before the skin closed and healed over. He licked it off and it wasn't as disgusting as chewing on someone's hair. The coppery taste wasn't a good taste to have.

“Here.” Tanya said and handed him a can of fruit juice.

“Thank you.” Izuku said and took a mouthful to swish it around and swallowed it. The rest of the juice followed a moment later and he crushed the can with one hand and threw it twenty-five feet to land inside the recycling bin beside the entrance of the beach.

“Nice shot.” Tanya complimented. “Now what?”

“We wait a day for Izuku to adjust and then...” All Might deflated down to his normal size and sighed. “...I'll think of something.”