It had been a few months since Akira Tenma started attending elementary school, and honestly, he had to admit that life had been surprisingly fun.
For one, he regularly got opportunities to beat up Katsuki Bakugo whenever the blonde idiot crossed the line too much.
Though, to be fair, Akira could already see the effects of constantly shutting Bakugo down. The explosive child was still loud, arrogant, and aggressive, but compared to canon, he was slowly becoming less of a complete delinquent who bullied people for breathing wrong.
Akira considered that a massive success already.
Another good thing was academics. Akira got perfect scores effortlessly. Due to his quirk affecting his brain and nervous system, his memory and processing speed had become absurdly high. He almost had photographic memory at this point.
Most of the time he only needed to read something once before remembering it permanently, which meant studying was practically unnecessary for him.
But the biggest change in his life was probably Izumi Midoriya.
Over the past few months, Akira had slowly started mentoring and training her. Whenever there was a holiday, weekend, or simply free time after school, the two of them would go to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park together.
Just like in canon, the beach was practically a giant junkyard. Mountains of rusted metal, broken electronics, old furniture, plastic waste, and abandoned machines covered the shoreline.
Akira and Izumi spent hours dragging all the trash together toward the staircase near the edge of the beach, where later either All Might or Sir Nighteye would arrive with a truck and transport the waste away for recycling and proper disposal.
At first, Izumi had asked why they were even cleaning the beach in the first place. Akira had simply given her the same explanation All Might once gave Izuku in the anime.
"Heroism is rooted in volunteerism," Akira had told her calmly while carrying an old microwave on his shoulder. "Heroes shouldn't only focus on fame and glamour. Real heroes also do the unglamorous work of helping the community."
He had then looked around at the disgusting shoreline before continuing. "Cleaning this beach helps restore the area for everyone. That's something heroes should do too."
Akira had also told her another reason.
"I'm looking for a suitable quirk for you," he explained. "And some quirks require strong bodies to use properly. So you should train your body too before receiving one."
Those reasons alone had been enough for Izumi. Ever since then, she trained with an almost frightening amount of dedication.
Meanwhile, Sir Nighteye constantly observed them whenever they trained together. Akira quickly noticed that his uncle often asked Izumi oddly specific questions regarding hero work, rescue operations, morality, and combat scenarios.
Questions like:
"What would you prioritize first during a large-scale disaster rescue?"
"If you had a strength-type quirk and a villain threatened civilians while escaping, how would you handle it?"
"What makes someone worthy of being called a hero?"
At first glance, they looked like normal educational questions, but Akira already understood the truth.
'Uncle definitely used Foresight on Izumi.' There was simply no other explanation.
Sir Nighteye had most likely already seen the future where Izumi inherited One For All, which explained why he kept evaluating her so carefully.
Izumi herself had nearly ascended into heaven when she first learned that Akira's uncle was actually Sir Nighteye.
For nearly two weeks straight she could barely speak properly around him and kept fangirling internally whenever he appeared.
Even now she still occasionally stared at him with sparkling eyes, though despite her nervousness she always answered his questions honestly.
And judging from the small hidden smiles Sir Nighteye occasionally showed afterward, he clearly approved of her answers.
Right now, in the present, Akira and Izumi were carrying an entire refrigerator together across the beach.
Akira held the lower side while Izumi struggled with the upper portion as both children trembled from exhaustion.
Sweat dripped down their faces and their arms burned painfully as they slowly dragged the heavy object toward the giant pile of collected trash near the staircase.
Finally, both of them dropped the refrigerator onto the pile before immediately collapsing onto the sand beside each other.
"Haaah..."
"My arms are dead..." Izumi groaned while lying on her back.
"You said that twenty minutes ago too," Akira replied while breathing heavily himself.
"You two can take a ten minute break," Sir Nighteye said calmly from nearby.
Almost immediately afterward, All Might arrived carrying several cold orange juice cans in his hands.
The moment the two exhausted children saw the drinks, their eyes practically sparkled.
"Orange juice!" Izumi and Akira cheered.
Both quickly opened the cans and started drinking before simultaneously letting out huge relieved sighs.
"Ahhhh..."
"That feels amazing..." Izumi muttered happily.
While the two children talked excitedly about their training and which trash pile looked the biggest, All Might quietly sat down beside Sir Nighteye and lowered his voice slightly.
"How is Izumi?" Toshinori asked quietly.
Sir Nighteye remained silent for a few moments as he watched the green-haired girl energetically discussing hero training with Akira.
Then he finally answered. "She truly possesses the heart of a hero." Toshinori listened quietly.
"Her dedication toward training, her intelligence, her quirk analysis abilities, and her determination are exceptional," Sir Nighteye continued calmly. "Even without a quirk, she likely could have become a hero someday."
All Might remained silent for a while before asking quietly, "When should I give it to her?"
Both men became quiet as their eyes moved toward Izumi.
Three months ago, Sir Nighteye had secretly used Foresight on her. What he saw had completely shocked him.
He had seen Izumi receiving a strand of Toshinori's hair.
Seen her eating it.
Seen green lightning erupt around her body.
There was only one explanation. In the future, Toshinori Yagi would pass One For All to Izumi Midoriya.
Ever since then, both he and All Might had carefully observed her growth. And honestly, the more they watched her, the more obvious it became.
Her compassion. Her selflessness. Her intelligence. Her endless muttering and analysis about heroes and quirks. Her willingness to help others despite being quirkless.
Everything about her screamed hero material.
Toshinori himself had already become more and more satisfied watching her develop over the months. Someday, when her body became strong enough, he planned to reveal the truth about himself and One For All to her and let her inherit it.
And strangely enough, for the first time in history, All For One and One For All would not stand against each other as enemies.
Instead, both powers would fight side by side. Akira and Izumi. The future Symbols of Joy and Hope.
For the first time, Toshinori genuinely felt like the future would be safe after he retired.
Beside him, Sir Nighteye also looked satisfied, though he still noticed some flaws in Izumi.
"She still lacks confidence in herself," he muttered quietly. "And she's too shy when interacting with people sometimes. But experience will fix that."
He looked toward Akira and Izumi again just as both children stood back up to continue their training.
Then suddenly, Sir Nighteye's eyes glowed purple. Foresight activated.
For a brief moment, the present overlapped with the future.
Behind Akira stood an older version of him. A tall white-haired man with glowing red eyes and violent red lightning crackling around his body. He wore a black hero costume as an overwhelming aura radiated from him.
And behind Izumi stood an older version of her. Her green hair was tied into a ponytail while green lightning exploded around her body. She wore a green hero costume proudly as determination shined in her eyes.
(Image here)
Sir Nighteye slowly closed his eyes before smiling faintly.
"Give it to her during her second year of middle school," he said quietly.
All Might smiled as well while watching the two children continue training together on the beach.
For the first time in a very long while, both men truly believed that the future would be in good hands.