The world held its breath as they saw a young seventeen-year-old girl standing in front of the symbol of peace, the only person that was willing to protect the man who dedicated his life to the people of Japan...the people of the world.
You held calm, steady, and firmly with your two training katanas in an X-formation. You stood tall and strong with the world's brightest smile to quell your fears deep inside. The remnants of blood mixed with your tears had stained your cheeks, but that didn't stop you at all. For some reason, the people who watched you around the world had a flicker of hope that maybe...just maybe...today would be the day the symbol of peace could finally pass the torch to the next generation.
Katsuki, Izuku, Shoto, Mitsuki, Masaru, Aizawa, Shinso...
...the President of the Hero Association, the Secretary of Defense, Mirio, Endeavor, Rei...
...every person who ever believed in you, who saw you as someone who had the talent to become a hero...they were watching you now and they were cheering you on, throats burning, with everything they had.
This was your test, this was what the Oracle knew was going to happen. He wouldn't have sent you off just to be a sacrifice to All for One...not when the souls of all of those who died lifted you to where you were today. You didn't come here to be a sacrifice to buy All Might some time. No, you came here as an ex-mercenary, a hero from U.A. High, and as one of All Might's most precious students.
Even All Might needed to be saved, and you were the only person fearless enough to do it.
"(Y/n)! What do you think you're doing?! Get out of here before he kills you! I-...I can't protect you!" All Might grunted out in pain. You noticed the helicopter in the sky and a few reporters far out on the boundary of the battlefield with Endeavor and the medics who worked with Best Jeanist and the other heroes. They couldn't make out the quiet conversation, but if you yelled loud enough, their mics could pick it up.
All Might watched as you stood so proudly in front of him, just turning your face enough for him to see your bright smile. His heart skipped a beat when he watched you, tears springing to his sunken in blue eyes when you took upon the image of his own Master, Nana Shimura. He felt like a teenager again...one too weak to stop All for One from killing the person he loved most. He felt like he was watching it with his own eyes all over again.
"It's alright, All Might. I am here this time to protect you. To keep this symbol of peace alive. It's not just you anymore, this fire burns in all of us who want to be a hero. I feel it in my heart that I was meant to stand here...I was meant to protect you now." The way you spoke with such ease...even All Might had to fight the rock that seemed to lodge itself in his throat.
"(Y/n)..." Tears billowed down All Might's sunken in cheeks...fear holding his heart with an iron grip. He watched his teacher die...now his student stood before him because he was too weak to stand back up.
"To smile bright so the world knows everything will be okay. To proudly stand tall with confidence to say 'I am here'...these are the things that make a great hero, right All Might? Well, I'm smiling bright...you'll be safe because I am here." All Might was choking on the tears as he saw the spirit of his Master within you, your smile reminding him of his loss and greatest failure.
"Ahh Miss (y/n)...you were foolish to return here. Now that I can drain you with All Might too weak to stand in my way, I'll finally become un-killable." All for One chuckled to himself with this sense that he already won, as if you wouldn't stand a chance. Maybe he was right and you did put the final nail in your coffin...but there was something inside of you that reeked with confidence that you made the right choice.
"You don't have the luxury of speaking my name." You growled loudly, enough for the news agency to pick up what you were saying. You were broadcasted around the world, Katsuki watching in absolute terror over your every move. No matter how fast he could get to the battlefield, it would still be too slow to save you if anything happened. He was powerless and the thought scared him more than anything in his life. Despite this, he hung onto your every word as the rest of the crowd did. They all wanted to know who you were, and why you decided to risk your life to protect the world's most beloved hero.
"I am the Phantom Hero: Astral of the Shini Mountain Village. I've dedicated my life to finding the man responsible for the death of my family and the massacre of my village, and here you stand in front of me. I didn't let you take away the boy I love. I didn't let you take Best Jeanist. If you think I'm going to let you kill the closest man I have to a father, then you're mistaken." Your voice echoed on TVs across all of Japan, All Might's breath hitching in his throat at the word father. He felt parental love before, but now he realized why this truly killed him inside.
He was terrified to lose the only family he had.
"Astral, you say? Fitting, considering I am the one responsible for sending your family into the stars. Would you like to see them again?" All for One threatened. You grit your teeth, tightening the X-formation with your swords.
"They will have to wait because I'm not dying today." You charged towards All for One, teleporting behind him with your swords raised in the air to attack. All for One shot a blast of air your way, but you already were gone once again with a sword stabbing into his torso. It barely seemed to go in, the villain sending an arm down to snap the sword in half. You quickly retreated, watching how you left nothing more than a flesh wound.
"Good attempt Astral. You caught me off my guard and injured me more than your beloved father. Well done. Now it's my turn." All for One picked up your broken blade and shot it towards you faster than the eye could see. You deflected it in the air, using your quirk to get closer to him once again. He filled his sleeves up with air and expelled it quickly to throw you away from his body, but you were already activating ghost. The fluidity of your quirk usage along with your tenacity impressed everyone who watched you.
"Go Astral!" "Fight hard Astral!" "Stay strong!"
People you never met were screaming your name, cheering for you as you stood up against a man just as powerful as All Might. Katsuki watched you with a shaky smile and warm tears flooding his eyes. He was so beyond proud of you. He never felt an overwhelming admiration for another hero besides All Might, but at this moment, you were his hero too.
"GO (Y/N)!" He screamed out until his throat went dry, Deku looking over at him and following suit.
"(Y/N)!" Kirishima, Iida, Shoto, Momo...they cried out your name in cheer.
And then in horror.
All for One waited until you let go of ghost to attack him again, snapping your second blade just to ram it through your gut. You gasped out all of the air from your lungs, blood filling the space in your mouth.
"NO! (Y/N)!" All Might screamed out your name, barely able to move forward to get to you. You teleported away from All for One and back to All Might, just to spit out more blood on the ground as you sliced into your hands to pull the blade out. Endeavor started to sprint closer to the battlefield to try and pull you out of there. He wasn't about to watch a teenage girl die doing the job he was supposed to do. He couldn't look Shoto in the eyes knowing that he just let the girl he loved die in front of him. You couldn't think, your mind was cluttered in fear and panic as you held your wound with blood pooling through your fingers.
"Katsuki...I'm so sorry." You knew he was watching you right now...he was watching you die and couldn't do anything about it.
"Please, God, don't fucking take her from me. PLEASE. Don't fucking take her. Anyone but her." Katsuki's voice cracked as he barely was able to voice out the closest thing to a prayer he has ever said. Midoriya shakily put a hand on Katsuki's shoulder to comfort him and for once, your boyfriend allowed it.
"Deku...What am I supposed to do? What can I FUCKING DO?!" Katsuki called out to the green-haired boy who felt just as horrified and scared for you as everyone else in the crowd. Deku swallowed the lump in his throat that never seemed to go away no matter how much he tried. How could he tell Katsuki, who never asked him for anything in his life before, that they were both completely helpless? Kirishima placed a hand on Katsuki's other shoulder, tears springing into his own red eyes. You always believed in him, even when he didn't believe in himself. You were there for him when he felt he wasn't good enough, when he cried at camp surrounded by endless notecards that felt like they were written in another language. Now, all he could think about was wishing you would be able to be there with him one more time...even if it meant he'd have to repeat Japanese History over and over again.
Iida watched you, remembering your lecture that hit him so close to home when you rescued him from Stain. You stood fearlessly in front of him, ready to sacrifice yourself to stop the villain that paralyzed his brother. He never told you, but he was eternally grateful to you for putting the Hero Killer away...for saving his hands from the blood he was going to stain them with. If only he had one more chance to tell you.
Shinso who loved you like a sister and blamed himself for all of this was kneeling in front of his parent's urns, praying with his forehead on the ground and tears streaking down his cheeks. He begged his parents, begged the Shinto Gods to keep you alive.
The world held it's breath as All for One raised his hand once more, ready to shoot out his quirk sucking tendrils to rid your body of all its spirit.
"You had a good run Astral. Goodbye." He spoke, shooting the black vines forward.
"You will be tested soon, to see if you are worthy. The world needs a hero...the only one who can truly determine your future is you."
All Might's scream fell on deaf ears as you felt the heat of your last sheathed blade by your side. Without thinking, you gripped the Masamune blade hilt in your hands as if you mastered it. You smiled as the world slowed down for you, your eyes now blind from overusing your quirk.
"I told you already. I'm not dying today." With the sound of a lightning strike, you unsheathed the blade, a beam of bright golden erupting straight into the sky. Earthquake level shockwaves emitted from your position in front of All Might, the hero holding his scrawny hands in front of his face to hide the bright light.
Your whole body glowed a glittering gold like the sun, the fractals of starlight in your hero suit glimmering like diamonds as the power from the blade encompassed your entire figure. The wounds that littered your body began to close and heal from your chi rushing to the surface as energy from the earth radiated from you. Both of your eyes were gold, the whites and all, with glowing gold mist trailing upwards near your temples.
You gripped the blade that chose you in your hands as the new symbol of light within the ever brewing darkness of villainy, and there was not a single shadow that could ever dull your shine.
"What...what is this?! You should be dead!" All for One grunted out in annoyance and shock over your newest form. This was not One for All...it was different. It was something else. After all, how could All for One ever know that you were the only person able to wield the only legendary blade with a quirk of its own?
He kept throwing his tendrils at you, but you sliced them in half as they came close...the black vines dissolving from the beams of golden chi that coated your blade. Your stomach was flipping in your gut as if you were falling from the sky...clearly, whatever this energy was that was stored within the sword could only be used for a short period of time. The feeling was unlike anything you've ever experienced before...as if immortality was at the edge of your fingertips. You kept slowly walking to All for One, knowing that you probably had seconds left before you couldn't conduct this energy in your body anymore...but you already made your mark.
The world stood still in absolute awe as both you and All for One charged at each other...the man as strong as All Might reaching with his left hand to rip your heart out of your chest.
Katsuki held his breath, clutching his chest as he watched as both you and All for One ran past each other, freezing in your spots after the lunges. You sheathed the sword back into the holster, your body losing its glow and you falling to your knees as all of the air left your lungs. All for One was not as lucky...spirts of blood-soaked his rotator cuff and shoulders as his left arm fell onto the ground, completely cut off. His screams of agony were cut off by the rest of the world who cheered for you...where you hindered All for One just enough for All Might to deliver the final blow.
"YEAH! ASTRAL!!"
"YES! SHE DID IT!"
Katsuki let go of his breath as he choked on his sobs, seeing that you were alright...that you were alive. The rest of your class celebrated with screams and cheers as you slowly stood up, Endeavor rushing to your side as fast as he could. All Might finally found the energy to return to his full-figured form so he could take advantage of a distracted All for One.
"Endeavor! Get her out of here!" All Might called out to the flame hero.
"I'm already on it!" The man growled as he finally made it to you, picking you up in his muscular arms to carry you to safety. He turned off his flames for once, yet his body still felt hot like a campfire. You were completely blind at this point...only able to use your ears and sense of smell to figure out what was happening. The scent of campfire just like Katsuki radiated off of Endeavor, his warmth was so comforting and soothing that you just wanted to fall asleep...but there was something missing...your favorite scent of caramel.
"Thank you, (y/n)." All Might whispered as he prepared his final hit on All for One to finally take him out for good.
"Endeavor...will he...will he be alright?" You barely were able to release your voice from its chamber in your throat. For the first time in his life, Endeavor found himself smiling at the thought of All Might...at the thought he might have done something right as a father by rescuing the girl his youngest son had clearly begun to love.
"Yeah. It'll be alright. Thanks to you, the old bastard actually will win this one. Rest up (y/n)...you're a hero." You didn't wait for permission as your eyes shut and your body finally began to fade out of consciousness. Endeavor felt your head fall slack against his chest, his arms tightening around you a little more just as he used to do with his daughter when she was young. His heart stung in his chest...maybe...maybe if he didn't push his kids so much...if he didn't pressure his wife for the perfect child...maybe they could have been someone like you that was braver than the number two hero himself.
The world saw a flicker of hope in your golden aura they basked in like sunlight ...that maybe the pedestal All Might had always occupied since his insurgence may hold more than just one symbol of peace.
A change was beginning to happen...and thanks to you, even Endeavor had a hero.
~~
A/N
Please enjoy this fanart by TheRealWater !
Their character's name is Hotaru Tanaka!
P.S. The story is still going on so don't worry, I know the chapter title might have scared some of you.
Let me know how you liked the chapter!
-v4k