Chapter 2
"So that's about it. I battled a villain and most of my internal organs were destroyed." All Might said raising his shirt to reveal a gaping scar on his left side to the younger boys. After the shock had left Izuku and some energy returned to Hayato: the number one hero decided to explain his sudden change in appearance, comparing it to someone flexing at a pool, and his time in the form everyone recognizes being limited to three hours a day from his near fatal injury. "Sorry you boys had to see me like this, I understand it must bother you."
"Actually, not really." Izuku said speaking up for the two of them. "You've been our hero for years and knowing that even the best hero to exist has his own kind of low point is refreshing for some reason. But anyway, All Might, can you answer my question from before?"
"Oh...if a Quirkless person can become a hero? I'm sorry but I cannot say, 'even without power, you can be a hero'." All Might said hiding his blue eyes with his hair. Izuku grit his teeth and looked down nodding, understanding what his idol meant, while Hayato looked away, disappointed by his answer. "I must be off, please don't write about this online or in any way. I would really appreciate if this wouldn't find its way into the outside world." All Might said as he made his way to the exit of the roof. He made his way downstairs before hearing the door slam open.
"Is that really all you can say to him?!" He looked up to see Hayato at the top of the stairs, beginning to vibrate. "He risked his life to be able to ask you that question, he's dreamed his whole life of being someone just like you! Saving people with a smile on his face, a fearless smile that gives everyone hope they'll live to see tomorrow, it's been his life's goal and you're just gonna stand there and tell him he's better off being a cop?!"
"I'm sorry but this job isn't for someone like him-"
"Screw that! He might not be faster than a bullet, he might not be stronger than a train, and he might not be able to jump over a building in one go...but Izuku's got the heart and courage to be a real hero! You're the person who inspired him, so why would you tell him that he has no chance to be a hero?!" Hayato asked walking down to face his hero.
"I never told him he has no chance, I said that I cannot say that he can be a hero without power. It should be a given thought." All Might said stopping Hayato in his tracks. "What I witnessed in that tunnel was something else, you risked your life to save him but you didn't notice why the villain caught him in the first place. Normally, a civilian would keep running as fast as their body could take them to safety and where a hero could see a villain was after them. Instead, when that villain attacked you and slammed you against the wall, he stopped running and started heading towards you even if it meant he could get taken by the villain so that you would have the chance to escape. I just assumed that he wasn't willing to show off his quirk but to know he didn't have one, that was a moment of pure heroism to me." All Might explained walking forward to the boy and placing a hand on his shoulder. "And you? You remind me of someone I was once really close to, someone who jumped to the defense of his friends almost immediately. Now I'll see you boys around but I must hurry and turn this villain in to the authorities." All Might said patting his pocket, only to feel that it was completely empty inside. He frantically searched every pocket in his pants only to see that they were all empty. "Shit!"
"What happened?" Hayato was answered by a loud explosion and the two looked out a nearby window to see a colossal cloud of smoke in the distance.
"When your friend grabbed me before, he must've knocked the villain out of my pockets and he escaped. How could I have made such a rookie mistake?" All Might said beginning to run downstairs. Hayato ran back to the roof to get Izuku, only to see his Quirkless friend was missing again.
"Damn it, Izuku!"
Meanwhile where the smoke was coming from, the Sludge villain was laughing as he was surrounded by fire and a crowd of civilians stood not too far away, watching him in fear.
"What's the matter heroes? Too afraid to get involved?"He asked looking at the colossal woman and the man who looked like he was made of wood standing in front of the crowd.
'Damn it! I can't do anything without possibly hurting that boy!' The wood hero thought as he focused in on what was currently in the middle of the Sludge: a familiar ash-blond boy trying his hardest to breathe while his arms were being used to shoot explosion after explosion everywhere.
'Fuck this asshole! What the hell was he doing in that random soda bottle in that alleyway?!' Katsuki struggled to get control of his arms, or even close his hands to stop the explosions.
"Now now, you know you can't move your body as long as I'm in control of it." The villain said moving an eye close to Katsuki's face.
'Fuck you! I swear, I want to blow your fucking ass to pieces right now!'
"Kacchan!" Katsuki moved his eyes towards the crowd to see Izuku standing near the front, looking at him in pure horror.
'Deku? What's this shit nerd doing here?'
"Kamui Woods and Mount Lady?" Izuku said noticing the gigantic woman shrink to the size of the wood man as they turned their attention to each other.
"Mount Lady, I need you to focus on evacuating these citizens and getting them as far as possible. I'll try handling this villain and rescuing the boy."
"But I thought your quirk wasn't that effective against him, especially with all the fire around...shouldn't we wait for back up?!" Kamui Woods looked at the fire in the area before back to his blond teammate.
"Sometimes being a hero means putting your own body at risk." Hearing what the wooden hero said, Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
'This is my fault...I knocked that villain out of All Might's pocket and now Kacchan is being used to cause all this damage. I couldn't get to Hayato fast enough and I almost wound up like him, but Kacchan...I can at least try to save Kacchan!' Izuku dashed past both heroes and jumped over and under the debris keeping him from reaching the Sludge villain. As he reached him, he extended his arms into the sludge, grabbing Katsuki's collar and pulling his nose mouth free.
"Deku?! What the fuck are you doing?!" Katsuki yelled finally getting oxygen into his lungs.
"You looked like you needed help! I wasn't gonna stand by and watch you die!" Izuku yelled smiling in fear at his childhood bully before seeing the villain turn his attention to him.
"You again? Well not that HE's not here to stop me, I wouldn't mind using your body either." The Sludge villain said as he forced Katsuki's left arm to aim an explosion at Izuku's head.
"Haven't you heard? Don't look at bright light without protection!" Izuku yelled pushing Katsuki back and himself to the floor, making the explosion instead hit the Sludge villain's eyes, effectively blinding him.
"Damn it! I'll kill you!"
"Are any civilians hurt?" Kamui Woods and Mount Lady turned around, hearing the iconic voice known across all of Japan, and shook their heads in response. They took a step back and let All Might, back in his muscular form, step forward to face the villain. 'You risked your life to save that young man, you incapacitated that villain using his own weapon, how can I deny that someone like you can become a hero?' Katsuki and Izuku looked at the number one hero in surprise as he suddenly appeared before them and effortlessly pulled the former from the Sludge and threw both towards the heroes behind him. Kamui Woods thrust his arms arms forward, causing them to become long tree branches, catching and wrapping around the two boys and pulling them towards him. "Now, you. I'm gonna make sure you go away for good!" He pulled his arm back as blood began to stream from his mouth. "Detroit...SMAAASH!" He thrust his arm forward as strong as he could creating another blast of wind that blew up the villain yet again, but this time the air pressure created changed the weather and it began to rain: extinguishing all the fire in the area.
"You think Bakugo's gonna be pissed you helped him?" Hayato asked as the two made their way to the Midoriya home. Following All Might's second victory against the villain: Katsuki and All Might were both interviewed by the press reporting on the incident, the former being praised for his bravery and resilience while the villain had him in his clutches by them and the heroes responding to the incident, while Izuku was being scolded by Mount Lady and Kamui Woods for getting involved when he shouldn't have. Hayato arrived minutes afterwards and the two decided to make their way back to Izuku's home to have dinner with his mother.
"Hey, Deku." The two turned around hearing Katsuki's voice to see him walking up to them. "Don't expect me to thank you or owe you for helping me out. If I had an ounce of control over myself, I would've left that bastard in pieces."
'Here comes the insults.' The two thought as they saw Katsuki grit his teeth.
"But, I partly take back what I said today in class. You've got something heroic in you, you bastard. Just make sure you stay out of my fucking way." Katsuki said pushing past the two of them, continuing to his own home, leaving the two looking at him in surprise. "And the next time you talk to me that way, Speed Freak, I'll kill you."
"Did Bakugo actually just thank you?"
"I think he did." Izuku said before feeling an arm wrap around his neck.
"Good job today, I'm seriously proud. Everybody else might not see it, but you were a real hero to me today." Hayato said ruffling his hair.
"It wasn't just you who saw it." The two watched as someone else appeared in front of them. This time, it was All Might still in his muscular form, running right in front of them.
"A-All Might?!" Izuku asked in shock as the hero began to laugh. "How did you get away?! All those reporters were interviewing you right now!"
"That was easy! Why? Because I am All Migh-" He reverted back to his near skeletal state, spewing blood from his mouth, making Izuku scream. He wiped the blood from his lips and looked at the two. "Young man, I come with an explanation, thanks, and an offer." Izuku looked at the two confused as Hayato let him go and took a step back. "As I had explained to your friend before, what I said wasn't meant to discourage you. Anyone can be a hero, Quirk or Quirkless, everyone has the potential within them to be a hero. Is it normal or safe for a Quirkless person to be one? Definitely not, having a Quirk reduces the danger the job brings. Seeing how you ran into danger today, without a second thought, reminded me of my younger days. I guess you could say that you re-lit the flame dying within me since my injury, that's why I risked lowering my limit to be able to save you both. And for that, I thank you."
"Y-You're welcome! But it was my fault for even making you drop him in the first place. It was my frustration of being Quirkless that made me say all of that and get in the way of your hero work." Izuku said looking down at the ground. He felt something hit the back of his head and turned around to see Hayato had thrown his hero notebook at him and was pointing to the man in front of him.
"But it was because of the timid and QUIRKLESS you that I was able to act and see firsthand: your heart and courage. The top heroes always have stories from their school days, and they all share one thing in common: that their bodies moved before thinking." Hearing this, Izuku's lips began to quiver and his eyes began to water and he hung his head down, hearing his mother apologizing for him being quirkless in his head. Hayato smiled seeing tears begin to stream down his best friend's face as he clenched his uniform shirt. "The same was true for you too, wasn't it?"
"...yeah..." Was all Izuku could let out as he quietly sobbed in front of both of them. All his life he waited to hear these words, and to hear them come from his idol felt like a dream for him but he knew that this was reality, that his dream could actually come true.
"I'm sure of it: you can become a hero." Izuku dropped to his knees and continued sobbing while All Might looked at Hayato, mentally shrugging. "And for that, you are worthy of inheriting my power." Both boys looked at the hero in surprise as he took a step forward towards Izuku.
"What?"
"Inheriting your what?"
"Listen, young man. You need to decide whether or not you'll accept my power!" All Might said pointing at Izuku, uncontrollably spewing blood as he did.
'Wh-What is All Might saying?'
"My power, young man. The press called it 'Super strength' and a 'boost' while I avoided talking about it during interviews with a joke. Why? The Symbol of Peace, All Might, had to be a natural-born hero. But young men, I'm going to tell you the truth." All Might explained before extending his arms to the side and looking up towards the sky. "My Quirk was passed on to me like a sacred torch."
"Your quirk was..."
"...passed onto you?"
"That's right, and now it's your turn." All Might said lowering his arms and turning his attention back to Izuku.
"W-Wait! Wait a minute! It's true that your Quirk is a mystery, anytime you go online you'll see conversation over conversation about it. But I don't know what you mean about inheriting a quirk..." Hayato facepalmed and All Might sighed as Izuku began doing his trademark muttering due to his confusion.
"Izuku, dammit."
"I may hide a lot of things, young man, but I don't lie!" All Might yelled snapping Izuku out of his trance. "The power to transfer power...that's the Quirk I inherited!" All Might yelled extending his hand forward as it began to shine brightly. "I was crowned with 'One for All.'"
"One for All...?"
"That's right. One person cultivates the power and passes it on in a cycle that continues from one person to the next." All Might said as his hand stopped shining. "It's the crystallization of power that spins together the voices of everyone who needs help with a courageous heart."
"Why are you...Why are you giving me something that sounds so amazing?" Izuku asked looking at his hero confused.
"I've been looking for a successor. And then once I saw you in action, I thought it would be alright for you to inherit it. You were just a Quirkless fanboy but you more heroic than anyone else back there." All Might explained making Izuku's eyes begin to water again. "But it's up to you, though. What'll you decide?" All Might asked only to see the boy wipe his eyes and stand up.
'He said all of those things to inspire me, he told me his biggest secret, why would I turn him down?' Izuku looked at his hero and nodded, now with determination burning in his eyes. "I'll do it."
"That's what I'd hoped you'd say." All Might and Hayato said smiling at Izuku.
"Excuse me sir, how much do you charge to move garbage?" Hayato asked eating his breakfast, watching Izuku attempt to pull a fridge while All Might sat on it in his muscular form. It had been two days since Izuku accepted becoming All Might's successor, and now they were at the garbage filled "Dagoba Municipal Beach Park" to build up muscles for the new One for All inheritor. Izuku gave a fake laugh before collapsing, after spending over five minutes attempting to pull the fridge. "Considering how well you've done it, I'd say cheap."
"If you could move it even a little, this would be a little easier." All Might said as Izuku regained his composure.
"B-But you weigh 274 kilograms don't you?!" Izuku asked looking at his idol in shock.
"No, I've lost weight, I'm only 255 kilograms in this form now."
"Yeah, can't you see just how skinny he is now? He went from bodybuilder to in shape dad-bod." Hayato said opening one of the nearby broken appliances and throwing his trash inside.
"But, couldn't we just go to a gym if this is to build up my body?!" Izuku asked as All Might jumped off the fridge. This sort of training was All Might's suggestion after explaining that an unprepared body would explode if it were to receive One for All.
"We could, but moving this trash has a completely different meaning as well. You see, I spent some time on the internet and I found out that trash has been building up on this beach for many years." All Might said as he knocked the side of the fridge, leaving a giant dent on the outside. "You see, heroes today are all for show. But the basics of being a hero is community service." He slammed his hand on the top and began pushing down making it begin to compress. "So, you will be moving and cleaning all the trash here, as step one of your training." Izuku and Hayato looked at him in shock as the fridge became more and more flat. "And clear the horizon for this part of the beach!" He flattened the fridge entirely under his hand, blasting away the trash behind him to reveal the sunrise.
"Clean...this...all of it?!" Izuku asked seeing the mountain of garbage surrounding them.
"Young Midoriya, you want to go to U.A., right?" All Might asked looking at his new disciple.
"Yeah, because you went there! So I figured if I'm gonna be...then I might as well...and U.A. is definitely the way to go!"
"Once a hero otaku, always a hero otaku."
"But, as I said: becoming a hero isn't easy when you're Quirkless. And U.A.'s hero course is the hardest one to enter."
"So in the ten months until our entrance exam, I have to have my vessel ready!" Izuku said realizing what All Might was trying to say.
"That's why I came up with this, my Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan!" All Might yelled taking out a stack of papers, handing it to Izuku. He quickly looked through the papers, reading it as quickly as possible.
"Even sleep schedules are set here."
"Frankly, this is a super hard schedule. Can you follow it?" All Might asked making the boy nod.
"I always knew I had to work harder than anyone else, I have to otherwise I'll never be worthy of your power." Izuku said before returning to move more garbage. All Might then turned to Hayato who sat watching videos on his phone.
"Young Hayato, you're not off the hook either." All Might said grabbing the phone.
"But I'm not getting your power! Why do I have to move these?!"
"No, but I don't need a foresight Quirk to see that you two will be partners. So I took it upon myself to ask another speedster for advice to make a training regimen for you." All Might explained as the two of them walked away from the garbage and to the actual beach. "So before I explain it to you, explain your Quirk to me."
"Well my Quirk was given the name 'Breakneck,' and how it works is that my body uses my electrolytes to create what my grandpa called a 'Kinetic-Zone' that surrounds my entire body like a sort of suit. Depending on my electrolyte levels, I can go from being as fast as an Olympic runner to being as fast as a bullet. But the faster I go, the faster my electrolyte levels go down." Hayato explained grabbing a rock and throwing it at the water, watching it skip over it.
"And that vibrating you did when we met, that's the Kinetic-Zone?"
"It's what I look like when I activate the Quirk."
"I see, so your love for dairy, and why your breakfast was yogurt and a banana, is because of this ability?"
"Yeah, I always do my best to keep my levels as high as possible."
"Well then, this is going to be your training." All Might said using his foot to make a line in the sand as the two walked back towards the nearby pier. "That line is 30 meters away."
"Really? I can cross that like nothing."
"But, you have to cross it in under two seconds." All Might said before quickly returning to the line and taking out a stopwatch. "Ready?!"
"Bring it, old man." Hayato said getting into the starting position again, beginning to vibrate.
"GO!" All Might pressed the button on the watch and watched as Hayato lunged forward, appearing in front of him seconds later.
"That was definitely under two seconds."
"Wrong, that was 4.5 seconds." All Might said showing the time on the watch making Hayato groan in defeat. "That bullet speed, that's what you COULD achieve if you put the work in to train your quirk. And once you pass the two second mark here, we'll increase the distance further and further until you can go faster than you ever imagined." All Might said placing a hand on Hayato's head before turning to see Izuku struggling to move giant tires. "Both of you will accomplish what seems near impossible right now, as long as you both put your faith in me and yourselves."
Chapter 3
Toshinori Yagi, known worldwide as All Might, walked down to Dagoba Beach. It was 6 A.M on February 26, the day his disciples would be taking their entrance exam to U.A. High, and he began reminiscing about the past 10 months. Izuku Midoriya, the boy who would inherit his Quirk, had made amazing progress. The boy who could barely pull a fridge ten months prior, was almost done cleaning the garbage from the beach. By the first month, he had grown accustomed to his new sleep schedule and his new diet. He spent every moment that he wasn't moving the trash on the beach doing some sort of exercise: whether it was a hundred pushups from the moment he woke up, bicep curls as he studied and did his homework, or using a hand grip in class. He had seen this boy who could rival him in his "true" form become a fit and muscular young man. However, he had doubts whether or not he was ready to accept his quirk. Only time would tell if he was finally ready.
Hayato Kiryuu on the other hand was a different case, while Izuku had quickly grown accustomed to his training regimen: the original training plan was built for someone with a different kind of speed quirk than his. When he learned Hayato was a speedster, he reached out to the hero, Ingenium, for advice to help build his plan, but within the first week he realized that he overlooked what Hayato had told him about his Quirk: he cannot maintain his top speed for long due to it draining his electrolytes. Ingenium's Quirk and Hayato's could be viewed as two different racehorses: with one made for running long distance and the other made for bursts of speed, and he could never reach the goal he had made for him because his body couldn't keep it up. So once he managed to fix the plan for him, Hayato began to improve as the new exercises he made him do, helped him to maintain his top speed longer while also increasing how fast he can go.
"I hope those boys are ready." He said to himself before hearing a loud scream. He ran forward, pinpointing it coming from the beach, only to see it was his successor standing at the top of the remaining tower of trash, sweat dripping from his face and body while Hayato sat at the bottom of the tower in a similar way. "Oh...Oh my...oh my...GOODNESS!" He blew up into his muscle form seeing every last bit of litter that once plagued the beach was now gone, even from other parts of it than where he instructed him to clean, and the sunrise clearly visible. Izuku fell forward and All Might ran forward to catch him before he hit the ground. "Well done."
"All Might...I did it..." Izuku said weakly before Hayato made his way down to them.
"And you, Young Kiryuu?" All Might asked putting Izuku down. Hayato reached into his pocket and took out a speedometer and handed it to the hero. "Amazing!" This speedometer was a special one that All Might had asked for, that would clock Hayato's fastest speed and for how long he maintained it whether he held it or Hayato did. And currently it read 150 KM/H and that he kept that speed for 8 seconds. "You've come far, Young Kiryuu. But now, it's time for Young Midoriya to inherit the powers of One for All, once and for all."
"How do I get your power?" Izuku asked excitedly as his energy slowly but surely came back to him. All Might chuckled and reached into his hair, pulling out a strand and holding it forward.
"Eat this." Both boys looked at him with a mix of confusion and disgust, making their idol break into laughter. "Well you need to take in some of my DNA, and this is the only thing I could think of since you boys need to go and get ready. Otherwise, you'll be late for your exam!"
"Well...through the lips and past the gums..." Izuku gulped as he reached for the strand of hair and put it in his mouth, attempting to swallow it at once. Instead it got caught on the saliva on his tongue and halfway down his throat so he began to violently cough while Hayato went to get him a bottle of water.
"Wow...I'm finally here." Izuku said as he stood in front of U.A. High, mentally preparing himself for their entrance exam. He took a deep breath as he quickly relived the past ten months and clenched his fists, remembering how he spent hours every morning moving the garbage off the beach and even helping Hayato with his exercises.
"Don't stand in front of me or I'll kill you, Deku." He turned around seeing Katsuki walking towards him and he began to frantically wave his arms around.
"Good morning! Let's both do our bests and hope we make it in!" By the time he finished, Katsuki had already walked past him and was nearing the entrance. Izuku decided it was time to stop standing around and get a move on, before taking one step and tripping on his own leg. But before he hit the ground, he felt himself stop mid-air and looked to see a girl with brown hair with her hand on his arm. She helped him stand up straight and brushed some dust off him before giving him a reassuring smile that made him blush slightly.
"Sorry about that, it's my Quirk and I know I should've asked you, but I didn't want to see you fall since it's bad luck, you know. You're here for U.A.'s exam right?" All Izuku could reply with was a nod. "Me too! Let's both do our best!" She walked away towards the entrance leaving Izuku there blushing.
"Statue Hero: Izuku, let's go." Izuku snapped out of his trance feeling something grab his shoulder, to see Hayato next to him and pulling him to the entrance.
"It's the Voice Hero, Present Mic! Wo-" Izuku was cut off from having one of his fanboy moments by Hayato quickly covering his mouth with his hand while both of them and Katsuki sat together, listening to the explanation of their practical exam.
"For once, I'm fucking glad you did that." Katsuki said earning an agreeing sigh from the speedster.
"As it says in the application requirements, you listeners will be conducting ten-minute mock urban battles after this!" A blond haired man with his hair spiked up into an arc wearing what looked like punk rock clothing explained as the screen behind him went from showing the U.A. logo to showing seven different areas on it. "After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, okay?" Silence. "Okay?!"
"In other words, they won't let you work with your friends?" Katsuki said noticing that on his ticket and on Izuku's, both of them had different test locations with the former being sent to Battle Center A and the latter being sent to Battle Center B.
"Y-You're right, even though our numbers are consecutive: we're assigned to different battle centers." Izuku said noticing that his ticket was 2234 and Katsuki's was 2233.
"Yeah I got sent to C." Hayato said noticing that he got sent to a different battle center as well.
"Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You earn points for each of them based on their level of difficulty. Your goal is to use your Quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains. Of course, attacking other examinees or anything unheroic is prohibited." Present Mic explained even further as the screen showed a pixel version of him attacking the fake villains.
"May I ask a question?!"
"Yes!" Present Mic pointed at one of the people sitting in front of the three, letting one of the lights shine down on him to reveal a blue haired boy wearing glasses holding up a piece of paper.
"On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint then U.A., the most prominent school in the country, must be disappointed in themselves! We Examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes!" He turned around and pointed towards the three, mainly at Izuku. "In addition, you over there with the curly hair! You've been muttering this whole time! It's distracting! If you're here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately!" To this, Izuku hid his head in shame while everyone else began to laugh.
"...sorry..."
"At least he kept it as quiet as possible, you're talking louder than our proctor down there and his Quirk amplifies his voice, so what's your excuse? Sit down before you embarrass yourself more than you tried embarrassing him." Hayato said quickly jumping to his best friend's aid making everyone redirect their laughter towards the other boy.
"Okay okay, Examinees 7111 and 2235, relax. Thanks for pointing that out, the fourth kind of villain is worth no points. It's an obstacle so to say." Present Mic explained as the symbol for the fourth villain appeared on screen. "There's one in every battle center and they go crazy in narrow spaces. They're not impossible to defeat but not something you should try to, I recommend you all try to avoid it. That's all from me, before you go let me just present you with our school motto: Go beyond, Plus Ultra!"
"Mock battles...how can everyone be so confident? Aren't they nervous? They even have equipment to go with their quirks!" Izuku said looking at the crowd in front of him. But then he remembered that both Katsuki and Hayato were taking their exams nearby as well, so he slapped his cheeks to snap himself out of his trance. He looked forward and noticed the girl from that morning standing in the front taking deep breaths. But before he could go towards her to thank her, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see the boy who called him out earlier standing behind him in what looked like a marathon runner's outfit. 'He's here too?!'
"That girl appears to be trying to focus. What are you doing here? Are you taking this entrance exam to mess with everyone else?" The boy asked glaring at Izuku. He began shaking his head and waving his arms frantically to deny the accusation.
"N-N-No! That's not true!" He looked to see the crowd smiling at how he was being reprimanded by the other boy. "I just want to thank her for helping me out this morning from an embarrassing situation, that's all."
"And that friend of yours, the disrespectful one?"
"O-Oh! Hayato meant nothing rude by it, he's just always been like a protective brother to me since we were young." Izuku explained before they heard Present Mic yelling.
"START! Come on, there's no countdown in being a hero! What's that saying? The die has been cast? Get a move on, kiddies!" The gates opened and the crowd ran inside to start gaining their points. As Izuku ran inside, he remembered what All Might had told him once he managed to swallow his hair: the Quirk should be in his system after two to three hours and that using it will have physical repercussions. Then suddenly the wall next to him shattered and from it, a green robot burst through and towards him.
"One-pointer?! Damn it, it's coming right at me!"
"And that's a point!" Hayato laughed as he ran right through a one-point enemy at his exam field. He fell back slightly, feeling light-headed, before reaching into his pocket and placing a handful of raisins in his mouth. "Can't stop now, I just hope Izuku hasn't frozen in place yet."
'I'm frozen in place!' After having been saved from the previous one-pointer by another examinee, Izuku continued ahead to try to gain some points himself, but every villain he came across was either already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed. But once he had arrived to the area where the most examinees were, the zero-pointer Present Mic had told them about had appeared, destroying the top floors of the buildings in front of it and throwing it towards them. Most of the examinees, including the boy from before, began running away while Izuku stayed where he stood, as if he was frozen in place.
"LESS THAN TWO MINUTES LEFT!"
"Only two minutes?! I don't even have a single point yet!" Izuku yelled as he finally felt some feeling in his legs to run away. At least that was the plan, until he heard someone cry in pain. He looked forward to see the cloud of dust subsiding and the girl from before trapped under the debris.
'...it's my Quirk and I know I should've asked you, but I didn't want to see you fall since it's bad luck, you know.' The very words she told him that morning when she saved him from falling, were playing on repeat in his head. So in that moment, instead of running away from the zero-pointer: Izuku made a break towards her. But the next thing he knew, he was flying up into the air and towards the robot's head as he balled his hand into a fist.
"SMAAAAAASH!" He threw his arm forward and into the robot's head, completely destroying it and the damage began a domino effect all across its body as everyone below watched him in shock. And unbeknownst to all of them: they were being watched on camera by the faculty of the school who all of them, save for All Might who was there watching as well, they all looked as he obliterated the robot in one hit with the jaws of most going agape while the others cheered. 'It...it activated! I have a Quirk now!' Izuku's glee was quickly cut short as gravity now took effect and he began to plummet down to the ground. As he did, the adrenaline left his body and he now felt the pain of both his legs shattering from the jump, and his right arm shattering and even being cut from the punch, and now all of them were flapping in the wind as he fell to his doom. 'Damn it! All Might warned me about this! I need to break my fall in some way. A Detroit Smash! If I aim a punch at the ground, I should be able to create enough air pressure to cushion my fall...but if I do it too early or too late I'm going to die! Damn it, Hayato where are you when I need you?!'
Meanwhile, Hayato and his fellow examinees were dealing with their own zero-pointer as well as a swarm of one, two, and three pointers that was now crowding them all together. He looked up seeing the zero-pointer was beginning to crush buildings and fling the debris making him take a step back.
'All Might once told me of a hero that was so fast that he unraveled a tornado...what if I push myself as fast as possible to make one, it wouldn't be strong enough to destroy that thing but it should be enough to block the debris and clear up some of these things?' Hayato looked around seeing everyone else trying to make a dent in the swarm to escape but to no avail. He balled up his hands into a fist and got into a starting position, activating his quirk as he did. 'I don't have a second to even think if it's gonna work, I'm just gonna have to try!' Hayato took in a deep breath and began to run around the crowd of examinees as fast as he could, feeling the wind begin to kick up. After a few seconds, he felt himself begin to slow down before he reached into his pockets and threw in all the snacks he could. "I don't have a second to waste!" He pushed himself, harder than he ever had in the past few months, and began to try to run faster and faster around the crowd who looked at him in amazement as the wind began to spin with him, until they were all protected by a wall of wind that was picking up the debris and robots and throwing them around at the swarm of robots and at the zero-pointer beginning to destroy it. But after about thirty more seconds, the wall diminished, and Hayato slid out of the circle he was running in, without a shred of energy left in his entire body.
'No time to lose! SMA-' Izuku winced feeling like he slapped mid-air as he was only meters away from the floor now, only to stop right before he did. He looked to the side to see the very girl he risked his own life to save floating on a piece of a villain struggling to put her hands together.
"A-And...release..." She pressed her fingertips together and almost immediately, both her and Izuku touched the ground. As soon as she took a breath, she covered her mouth feeling extremely nauseous, only to end up vomiting on the floor.
"I need a point...but I can't move..." Izuku said to himself, trying to move with only his left arm.
"AND TIIIIME'S UP!" Izuku looked up in horror hearing Present Mic announce the end of their exam before hitting his head on the pavement.
"I didn't even get a single point. Damn it!" Izuku said as he felt tears begin to well up. He moved his head slightly, hearing the crowd around him talking about what he had just done.
"Wow, he took that thing out in one hit!"
"But if he had a reinforcement Quirk, then why does he look like that?"
"He should've just run away, what was the point?!"
'They're all missing the point, he didn't jump in the way to try to score points. He did it to save that girl.' The boy from before thought to himself as he studied the now heavily injured Izuku, the broken zero-pointer in the background, and his savior currently regaining her composure on the robot part she was on. 'He jumped without hesitation and I...would've done the same thing if this wasn't an exam! Wait...exam.' The boy clenched his fist, trying to reassure himself that he would've done what Izuku did, before the realization hit him.
"Good job everyone! I'll give you all some candy for doing such good work right now, but first let me attend to this young man." A small elderly lady wearing medical gear walked past the examinees and towards Izuku who was mentally beating himself up for not getting a single point. 'His Quirk did this to him? It's almost as if his body wasn't used to it.' She bent forward and gave the boy a kiss on the back of his head, making his legs and arm glow green as inside them: the bone shards came together and quickly healed back to normal.
"Who is that old lady?"
"That mademoiselle is the backbone of U.A. She's the school's licensed nurse, the Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl. She's the only reason this school is even allowed to have such a dangerous exam." A blond haired boy wearing a bedazzled shirt and a colossal belt around where his navel was located introduced Recovery Girl to the group as she gave the girl who helped Izuku some gummy bears.
'Wait, of course! If that's the case then that boy...' The boy looked at Recovery Girl and Izuku and nodded his head as it finally dawned on him.
A week following the exam: Izuku sat in his living room following dinner, using his hand grip while his phone was in his other hand, with a look of disbelief evident in his eyes as he thought that he had blown his one chance to enter U.A. and become a hero. He knew that he had barely passed the written exam from scoring himself but the zero he got from not destroying anything else but the giant robot cancelled out the score he had received on the exam. Not only that, he had been trying for a week to get a hold of All Might to talk to him but to no avail.
"Izuku...honey...is Hayato alright?" His mother walked up to him and placed a hand on his head, lovingly running her hands through it, snapping him out of his trance.
"He's fine, he's waiting on the results."
"I see, they should be here today or tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah..."
"The fact you even took that test makes me proud of you, Izuku. I only hope that both of you make it in." She planted a kiss on her son's head and walked out to get the mail as Izuku turned on his phone screen, seeing a picture of him and Hayato from Halloween over ten years ago, with both of them dressed as All Might. When he had left his practical exam area: he found out about what Hayato did, making the mini tornado to protect his fellow examinees from the attacks in the last two minutes, but such a risky move without the practice had completely left him without electrolytes in his body and all Recovery Girl could do was give him fluids to replenish at least some of them to protect his heart and muscles. He put his hand grip down and looked at his slightly scarred fist now, clenching it as tightly as possible.
'I let you down, All Might...I let you down, Hayato...I'm sorry.'
"Izu-Izu-Izu-Izuku!" He snapped his head to the left hearing his mother call his name only to see her sprawled on the floor with a letter in her hands. "Th-They're here!" Izuku stood up and hesitantly grabbed the envelope from his mother's hands, taking it to his room and place it on his desk. He gulped and ripped open the letter, only for a small disk like object to fall out and light up.
"I'm here as a projection!" He pushed his chair back seeing the light form into a screen with All Might wearing a bright yellow suit in front of the U.A. logo.
"All Might?! But this is from U.A. isn't it?!"
"I had a lot of paperwork to do that wound up eating up all my time, I'm sorry I couldn't contact you. Actually, I moved to this town to work at U.A." Izuku looked shocked as on the screen, a hand appeared motioning for All Might to speed things along. "I have something I need to tell him. It'll push everything back. Okay then I got it. Even if you passed the written exam, you got zero points on the practical exam...so that means you didn't pass."
"I knew it..." Izuku hung his head down and grabbed his pant legs in defeat, feeling his eyes well up.
"That is, if that was all there was to it. I'd like to show you something." All Might took out a remote and turned on a nearby TV screen, showing the girl who had helped him that day walking into a room.
"Excuse me..." The girl said walking up to Present Mic.
"She came directly after the exam to negotiate with us!" All Might explained pausing and then continuing the video.
"Um, the boy with green curly hair and freckles...is it possible for me to give him some of my points?" Izuku jumped slightly hearing her request. "I heard him saying that he needed to get at least one point, so I figured he probably didn't get any..." Hearing this, Katsuki's insults about him being useless for being Quirkless from when they were growing up replayed in his mind. "At least the points he missed out on for saving me...he saved me and got himself hurt doing it! Please, he deserves at least that much as a thank you from me!"
"Now not only do you have a Quirk: you inspired that girl, the same way you inspired me all those months ago, probably even the same way you inspired Young Kiryuu as children." All Might paused the video again and turned his attention back to the camera/Izuku. "The entrance exam wasn't graded on just how many villains you destroyed either!" Izuku jumped up again as All Might resumed the video.
"I'm sorry but even if you ask, you can't give him your points. But don't worry, there's no reason to give him any."Present Mic said pausing the video yet again.
"What kind of hero course would reject someone who's willing to risk their lives to save others? This is a job that requires doing just that and doing the right thing! You were also graded on: Rescue Points! They're points given to you by a panel of judges. It's the other basic ability that we at U.A. look at!" All Might yelled before the screen showed the scoreboards, revealing Izuku came in the top ten on the test. "Izuku Midoriya, 60 points!" Izuku's eyes widened seeing the points as a photo of the girl appeared. "And Ochaco Uraraka, 45 points!" All Might looked at the camera and gave a thumbs up towards his disciple. "You both passed."
"This is...unbelievable..." Izuku said as his lips began to quiver and the tears from before began streaming down his cheeks, this time from happiness.
"Come, Young Midoriya. This is your hero academia!" Izuku nodded and looked at his action figure of All Might and the photo of him and Hayato again, this time with pride.
"Hey Speedy, you up?" Hayato sat up in bed, his body still partly sore from his exams, as his grandfather walked into his room with the same envelope in his hands.
"What's this?"
"Your acceptance letter, what else?" The elder Kiryuu said before running his hand through Hayato's hair. "I'll be sure to call your parents and let them know."
"I haven't been accepted yet...I find out once I open this envelope." Hayato said as he opened the letter. He found the projector and placed it down before the projection started for him.
"I'm here as a projection!" Hayato and his grandfather were taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Number One Hero on the projection. "I hid the truth from you both but I actually came to live in this town as the new Heroics teacher at U.A. But that's not why I'm here, I'm here to talk to you in regards to your scores for your exam. You passed the written portion but that practical portion? It was incredible. The last time I had seen moves like that was when I trained under the retired hero, Gran Torino. But especially, those last two minutes, that was a sight to behold. I saw your potential in that cyclone. No, it wasn't a big one, and it definitely wasn't something worth writing home about...but the way you did it was heroic. You risked your body giving up on you to create a wall of wind that would not only protect your fellow applicants, it would use the enemy against themselves." All Might explained as he played the video they had recorded of what Hayato had done, pointing out how the wind was knocking the debris back into the zero-pointer and into the robots around them as well as other robots into one another. "That was amazing, and all together you gained 30 villain points, and 40 rescue points!" Hayato clenched his blanket tightly, feeling tears beginning to stream down his face as well. "You passed. Now come, Young Kiryuu. This is your hero academia, and I look forward to seeing you and Young Midoriya grow into amazing heroes."
"What was that you said, you hadn't been accepted yet? Well how's that for an answer?" Hayato's grandfather smiled as he pulled his grandson in for a hug while he happily cried into his chest. "I'm so proud of you."
"I did it...we did it..." Hayato grabbed the back of his grandfather's shirt tightly feeling himself begin to cry harder as all the years of protecting Izuku and reassuring him that he would be a hero, had finally caught up to him.