Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Uraraka entered the DVD into the player and went back to her sit. No one knew where it came from, but they all wanted to know what might be recorded on it. It was Mr. Aizawa’s turn to watch over them and he got dragged by his eager students into movie night. It’s not so bad, he will probably just fall asleep in the middle of it.

“Everybody’s ready?” Uraraka asked and her class made confirming noises. She pressed play.

….and paused after 3 seconds.

“Deku?!” she turned to the boy next to her, along with the others.

Because on the screen there was a little kid who was clearly little-Midoriya, crying.

Everyone talked together, asking the poor boy some very good questions such as why is he on the DVD, where is it even from and why was he crying.

“I-I don’t know! I have never seen this before!” he leaned his head in his arms in panic.

“That’s enough!” Iida got up to shut the chatter after seeing the distress of his friend. “If Midoriya says he doesn’t know what this is all about then he doesn’t. We will probably get our answers if we continue watching. That is, if this is ok with you, Midoriya.” He put his hand on his shoulder.

“I…I guess?” he answered with a small voice. It would be a lie if he says he wasn’t as curious as the others.

Uraraka gave him one last look to make sure he was ok with this before pressing play again.

“That’s mean, Kacchan. Can’t you see he’s crying? If you keep going, I-I-I’ll never forgive you! “ Little Midoriya shouted, standing in front of another crying kid.

Midoriya’s blood froze. He knew exactly when this event happened.

The camera’s angle changed to show three little kids, the one in the center was undoubtedly Bakugou.
“Even though you’re Quirkless…you’re pretending to be a hero, Deku?” Little bakugou said with a smile as he and his friends both prepared their quirks.

Uraraka paused again.

“Quirkless?!” asked Kaminari.

“But Midoriya isn’t quirkless…” said Ashido.

“Dude, why were you so mean to him?! That’s so unmanly.” Kirishima asked Bakugou.

Bakugou got up. “Tch, what is this stupid movie?!” He went to Midoriya and held him by the collar of his shirt. “Admit it, Deku. You planted this DVD here!”

Midoriya raised is hands in front of his face, frozen completely. As many dangerous situation as he’s been into, Uraraka never saw him as scared as in that moment. “I swear I didn’t, Kacchan! I-I don’t know how it got here or who filmed this!”

Aizawa immediately separated them. “Enough. Learn to behave yourself or I’ll send all of you into your rooms and movie night will be cancelled.”
He’s definitely not getting payed enough for this.

“I’m out of here.” Scoffed Bakugou. “Call me when you morons choose a movie that doesn’t have Deku in it.” He walked away.

“Yeah, maybe it’s not the best idea to watch that?” asked Uraraka, looking at Midoriya who still looks like he just saw a ghost.

“Whatever happened there it’s clearly a matter between Midoriya and Bakugou and we shouldn’t pry.” Said Yaoyorozu.

“But we can’t just let it be! Bakugou has clearly bullied Midoriya.” declared Sero.

“And what’s the whole “quirkless” thing?” asked Hagakure.

“Like Yaoyorozu said, as concerned we are about our friend, that doesn’t give us the right to pry in his past against his will. We can ask him about it later and let him decide if and what he wants to tell us.” Said Iida.

The rest weren’t happy about it but had to agree.

Uraraka tried to turn off the TV but instead… the video started again?

small Midoriya recoiled back as small Bakugo and his friends lunged at him.
Cuts to sun shining and small Midoriya is seen laying on the ground on his back.

“Uraraka!” scolded Iida.

“I-it wasn’t me! I tried to turn it off, I swear!” She handed him the remote and let hi turn it off himself but it didn't work.

Currant Midoriya’s voice narrated:” All men are not created equal. This was the reality I learned about society at the young age of four. And that was my first and last setback.”
The view of a beaten up toddler Midoriya switched into an older version of him, probably at middle school, running in the streets.

“Ok so we can’t turn it off, we can’t get the DVD out and we can’t unplug the TV.” Yaoyorozu summed up the situation with a hand on her chin as Midoriya’s friends all hugged him.

“Then what are we suppused to do?” Asked Jirou.

“It seems like the only solution we have right now is watching?” she replied, defeated.

“Maybe it’s somebody’s quirk?” wondered Todoroki and even the possibility of a new mysterious quirk wasn’t enough to stop Midoriya’s moping.

Midoriya ran to a scene with a Giant Villain
“That’s a huge villain!”

A theme song began.

Midoriya fall on his back completely red as his character on TV tried to reach All Might.
His friends crowded around him and waved on his face to make sure he was enough air they would have missed the next part if it wasn’t for Sato.
“Guys look! It’s us!”

The screen filled with colorful pictures of the different classmates, each posing next to their name written in English letters, as an electric guitar playing in the background.

“How…?”

“That was SO COOL!”

“It’s a show? about us?”

“That’s actually pretty Incredible.” said Shoji as they all watched the theme song.

“SUPER incredible!! Man, I didn’t know we look this cool when we fight!” Kaminari clenched his fists.

“But how?!” Ojiro asked again, holding his hair.

Kirishima sprinted out of the common area and knocked on Bakugo’s door. There was no replay. He knocked again “come on, bro! you gotta see it! it’s a TV show about US!”

He heard a grumble in respond. Kirishima sighed:”ok man, I’ll call you when they’ll show you do something badass, alright?”.
No answer.

Kirishima came back to the common area. “So, what did I miss?”

“Not much, TV-Midoriya was explaining about quirks and heroes origins. Our Midoriya is still passed out from shock.” said Sero.

“What, don’t everyone already know that?” Kirishima asked.

Sero shrugged, “I don’t know man, we don’t understand anything of what’s going on either.”

“the profession that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight. That profession is….”
The villain was causing harvoc in the middle of a crowd of civilians. He ripped a large portion of an electricity pillar that was about to crush a bunch of standbys but then…

“Oh, it’s Death Arms!” Said one of the civilians.
“He carries out justice through his great physical strength–The Punching Hero!” added another.

A line made of water separated the crowed from the scene. “Everyone, this is dangerous. Stay back, stay back!” the hero warned.
“The rescue specialist, Backdraft, is here, too!”

“That’s a lot of exposition, people don’t normally talk like this.” Noted Jiro.

"But man, turning into a monster’s an amazing Quirk. What did he do?” someone asked his friend, Midoriya was in the back, trying to get a view of the scene as well but was too short to see anything well.
“He stole someone’s bag and went out of control when he was cornered. Some amateur. Stole someones’ bag and then got himself cornered.”
“A Quirk like that, and he’s a bag snatcher?”

Midoriya tried to pass through the crowed to get a better view of the battle as another hero joined the scene, cheered by an excited group of fangirls:”You can do it, Kamui! “

For the first time since if all begun, Eraserhead commented:”This is exactly why celebrity-hero culture is so dangerous. Those people are here, risking their lives for a show.”

“Get away!” the villain yelled at Kamui who jumped to stop him. Midoriya finally found a place in the crowed where he can see. “Who’s fighting?” he asked, excited.
The wooden hero swung away from the villian’s jab, using his lengthened arm as a vine.
“Kamui Woods! The young and talented rising star!” he answered his own question.
The man next to him smiled, “You were the one asking, but you gave a perfect commentary, kid. You’re a fanboy, aren’t you?” he pointed at him.
“Uh, well…” the boy blushed.

Tsuyu chuckled “once a fanboy always a fanboy. Ribbit.”

“Huh?” asked Midoriya who finally woke up after fainting. He watched the TV along with everyone else, but looked more like he was staring through it instead of processing what’s going on on the screen.

The camera followed the fight between Kamui and the giant villain, filming in angles and quality you can only see on movies.
“Illegal use of powers during rush hour and robbery resulting in bodily injury. You are the incarnation of evil.” Kamui declared.

Jirou giggled:”Dramatic, much?”

“It really does feel like a movie.” Uraraka said, and then hugged Midoriya who sat next to her: "with Deku as the main protagonist!” the boy looked like he was ready to faint again.

“Yeah why IS Midoriya the main character?” asked Kaminari.

“I think it’s clear none of us have the answers to any of our questions about this dark mystery and that asking them again will not help. All we can do is watch.” Said Tokoyami.

“Besides, Midoriya would make a great protagonist…” murmured Todoroki.

Kamui’s arm grew and expended, shifted into different branches.
“Oh, here it comes!” cheered Midoriya.
“Show us something flashy, Tree-man!” the man next to him joined.
“Pre-emptive…” the boy started.
“ …Binding….” continued Kamuri
“…Lacquered Chain Prison!” they finished together.
The brunches grew from his arm and lunged to the villain, about to imprison the villain but then-

“Canyon Cannon!” a giant woman kicked him right before the brunched reached their target.
The villain fall from the force of the hit. The camera showed the shocked faces of Midoriya and the civilian, and then the confused heroes.
“Huh?” Kamuri asked no one in particular, his vines still ready to attack.

The giant lady landed gracefully and held her arm to the villain she just knocked over, offering him to get up.
Lines of paparazzi appeared taking pictures of the new heroine.
“Today is the day of my debut! My name is Mt. Lady. A pleasure to make your ass-quaintance.”

A few of the girls groaned as Mineta looked like he was ready to jump at the TV, hearts in his eyes.
“I thought you hated her.” Kaminari asked, amused.

“She’s a demon but she’s a hot one…” Mineta answered, drooling.

“You are impossible.” Yaoyorozu murmured, her forehead rested on her hand.

Even more paparazzi appeared, and everyone cheered for the newest hero.

“Sh-she got the credit.” mumbled Kamuri, still shocked.

The narrator explained, “Along with the superpowers came an explosive increase in crime. As the country was stuck in the slow progress in drastic law reforms, courageous people started performing heroic acts from out of comic books. Guarding against superpowers and defending against evil. Heroes were soon accepted by the public, and it was established as an official position. Based on their performance, they are paid by the government and gain renown among the masses.”

“In a system where being flashy and popular determinate your worth, it’s easy to forget the purpose that should be the top priority of every single hero: protect civilians. It’s one of the reasons why you learn “hero ethics”. So once you go pros, you won’t let anything distract you from it.” Said Aizawa.

“Yes Sensei.” they all answered, but Mineta murmured ‘why does everything have to be a lesson…?’

Midoriya pulled out his notebook and muttered to himself: "Gigantification, huh? She looks like she’ll be popular, and it’s an amazing Quirk, but thinking about the damage to the city that’ll go hand in hand with that, its use might be limited? No, but whether or not she can control the size…. “

“Hey Deku, for how long have you been writing those notebooks?” Asked Uraraka.

“Umm, ever since I wanted to  be a hero, which was in kindergarten… At first it was just drawings and then I learned how to write.”

“That’s so cool, Deku!”

“Uh, thanks, Uraraka.”

“Hey wait, you’re taking notes? You wanna be a hero? That’s great! You can do it!” said the person who stood next to Midoriya during the villain attack.
Midoriya lit to those words like a light bulb.
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

Title sequence-Episode 1: Midoriya Izuku, origins.

Everyone looked at Midoriya again, who squeaked and tried to disappear into his seat.

Scene: Aldera Junior High

“Hey, that was your school, right Midoriya?” Asked Iida.

Midoriya nodded slightly.

A class of middle schoolers sat at their desks and listened to their teacher lecturing. If you looked well enough you could see Midoriya’s head resting on his desk at the third line.
“Since you’re all third years, it’s time for you to think seriously about your future. I’ll pass out handouts for your future plans now, but…you’re all…pretty much planning to go into the hero course, right?” He tossed the papers he held in his arms.

“Is everything in your life this dramatic, Midoriya?” asked Jirou.

“Well, It’s a fact that you have to have drama for a good show, n'est-ce pas?” Asked Aoyama.

“Yes!” The entire class sans Bakugou and Midoriya cheered and activated their quirks.
“Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks! But using your powers at school is against the rules!” the teacher tried to calm the eager teens down.

“Teach! Don’t lump us all in the same group. I’m not gonna be stuck at the bottom with the rest of these rejects!” said Bakugo. leaning with his legs on the desk and his arms behind his head.

“Was he always this arrogant?” wondered Shoji.

“Where IS he, anyway?” asked Sero.

“In his room, I tried to call him back here but he didn’t want to come.” replied Kirishima.

“That was uncalled for, Katsuki!“ his classmates raged.

“You all should shut up like the extras you are!” he hissed.

“How does he have any friends?” asked Sato.

“He can actually be pretty nice in his own way, once you learn to see past…well, that. Right Kirishima?” asked Ashido.

“Totally, those days his remarks are all bark and no bite.”

“Are you two aware that if Bakugou was here you two would be dead now, right?” asked Kaminari.

"Oh, if I remember correctly, you want to go to U.A. High, right, Bakugou?” Asked the teacher.

“U.A.? That national school?!”

“It was in the top 0.2% this year, you know!”

“Their acceptance rate’s always really low, too!”

Middle-Schooler-Midoriya, the same as his counterpart in real life, covered his head and tried to make himself smaller.

That’s exactly why you guys are just extras!” Bakugo stood at his desk. “I aced the mock test! I’m the only one at this school who could possibly get into U.A. I’ll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero! My name’ll be inscribed on the list of top earners!”

“While his attitude is disgraceful, his passion is certainly inspiring…and he did get in UA eventually.” Iida noted, thoughtfully.

“But he wasn’t the only one, Midoriya did as well.” added Todoroki.

“Why did he think he’s the only one who could get in?” Asked Uraraka.

Sero chuckled: "Because it’s Bakugou.”

“Oh yeah, Midoriya wanted to go to U.A., too, right?” The teacher remembered. Midoriya raised his head from his desk slowly, still looks like he’s wishing like the ground can swallow him whole. The students stared at him quietly for a second before bursting into laughter, causing him to flinch in fear.

“Huh? Midoriya? No way!”

“You can’t get into the hero course just by studying!”

“Th-They got rid of that rule! There’s just no precedent….” He tried to protest weakly.

“Hey, what’s so funny about that?!” asked Uraraka.

“Their reaction is indeed very odd… Especially considered that Midoriya did get in…” said Tokoyami.

Bakugou went to his desk and exploded it, causing him to fall on the floor.

“Hey, Deku! You’re below the rejects! You’re Quirkless! How can you even stand in the same ring as me?”

“Uraraka, pause the video.” ordered Aizawa.

“I can’t! it doesn’t-” her words cut off when surprisingly she did manage to pause.

Aizawa got up and walked to Midoriya, who from the way he looked at him you could have thought he was looking at a dangerous villain instead of his teacher.

“Midoriya. You claim to have no idea where this footage came from but that’s not what I’m asking. I want to know if what happened here happened in real life as well.”

Everyone were silent as Midoriya looked around, trying to find ways to escape the situation but with no use.

“I-I, well, it’s not that it didn’t happen but it wasn’t, it’s not-”

“Midoriya. Yes or no?”

“Yes.” he admitted, looking at the floor.

“I see, I will have to have a conversation with Bakugou and your middle school teachers tomorrow.

That seemed to break the green-haired boy from his freeze.
“No! please don’t, Sensei! it was a long time ago! Things changed, Bakugou did.”

“That’s no excuse. I can’t excuse any student of mine of this kind of behavior. Has he ever got punished for his actions? By any of your teachers?”

“Well, not really but-”

“Then it’s settles. I will have a talk to both.”

“Please, Sensei, I don’t want to cause any troubles!”

“It’s not troubles. It’s my job. No matter what happened between you two, his actions were not the actions of a hero.”

“But-”

“I will not continue this discussion.”

A moment has passed where Midoriya accepted his fate in defeat. Then, the video started again.

“No, wait, Kacchan! It’s not like I’m trying to compete with you or anything!” He scooted back against the wall. “Believe me! It’s just that it’s been my goal ever since I was little. And well…I won’t know unless I try…” His voice was shaking.

“Whaddya mean, unless you try?! Are you taking the test for fun?! What the hell can you do? You’re Quirkless!” Bakugo shouted, the view changed to see him and the class around him as ominous shades, all surrounding and mocking Midoriya.

“Is that why you were so scared when we first met?” Uraraka asked quietly.

“Yeah bro, you were pretty stressed for like, the first month” recalled Kirishima.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, ribbit.” added Tsuyu. “You could have told us, we’re your friends.”

“Yeah… I know. I just wanted to leave all of that behind me.” he said quietly, suddenly very interested in the texture of the floor.

“It’s ok, Midoriya. We don’t have to talk about that again if you don’t want to.” said Jirou.

“But we’re here for you, if you ever need us.” Added Iida.

Midoriya teared up a bit. “Thanks guys.”

12:02, somewhere in the same city.

A woman screamed, a man burst from a store and yelled:” Thief! someone!”

A humanoid Sludge-monster ran quickly, money bills falling from his stolen bag.”Catch me if you can!”

“Hey I know who’s that!” cried Kirishima.

“The sludge villain incident…” said Yaoyorozu .

“Huh? There’s no hero around.”

“Normally someone would come right away.”

“This guy’s taking advantage of the chaos from this morning.”

There are tons of people around who don’t know what to do with their Quirks.”

“There’s no end to them.”

A conversation between 2 civilians occurred while in the background you could see a familiar skinny figure walking out of a grocery store. The figure grew larger and more muscular.

“All Might!” Kaminari exclaimed.

Jiro flicked his head gently:”Yeah, we know it’s all Might, now shut up and let us watch.”

“There is an end.” The figured declared and stepped into the sunlight. The three civilians immediately turned around.
Why?”

The sludge villain looked behind, eyes widened.

“Because I’m here!”

Scene: Classroom, end of the school day.

“The incident this morning is all over the headlines! I wanna hurry up and go home so I can write it down in my notebook.” Midoriya was about to put the notebook at his bag, only for it to be snatched from his hands.

“We’re not done talking yet, Deku.” Said Bakugo.

“Katsuki, what’s that?” asked a kid who came from behind.

“Huh? “Hero Analysis for the Future?” his friend read out loud the title.

“Seriously?”

“Midoriya…”

They both laughed.

“I-It’s fine, isn’t it? Give it back!”

“That’s just painful to watch…” said Shoji.

Bakugou exploded the notebook and Midoriya screamed.

“That’s mean…” he stammered.

Bakugou threw it out the window.

“WHAT?!”

“Bakugou I swear to god-” Jirou threatened.

“So that’s why your notebook was so burned?” Asked Uraraka.

“Guys, seriously, it’s fine.” Midoriya tried to clam his friends but with no use.

“Most top first-string heroes have stories about them from their school days. I want the shine of being able to be called the only student to make it into U.A. from this mediocre city junior high school. I mean, I’m a perfectionist.”  explained Bakugou.

Midoriya was shaking.

“He’s so petty…” commented a kid.

“Seriously, that’s his reason?” Asked Ojiro.

“Petty indeed…” Tsuyu remarked.

Bakugou rested his half-quirk-activated hand on Midoriya’s shoulder.

“So anyway, don’t apply to U.A., nerd.”

“He’s lucky he’s not here now or else I would have punched his face.” Uraraka was boiling.

“If he didn’t think Midoriya could even make it, why bother threatening him?!” added Iida.

“Um…can I go?” Midoriya almost-whispered, he looked sick.

“Of course you can go, Deku!”

“Do you want us to join you?” asked Todoroki.

“We’re sorry we put on this DVD, we had no idea.” apologized Yaoyorozu.

“It’s fine I just-I have to go.” He left the room.

“Poor Midoriya…” said Hagakure.

“Yeah, man. I can’t imagine going through this, then having to watch this again with your entire class…” Said Kirishima.

“Do you think we should go after him?” suggested Tsuyu.

“I think it’s best we leave him alone for now, we can talk to him about it tomorrow.” said Todoroki.

Bakugou and the two boys were on their way out of the class.

One of them said on his way out: "Come on, you could at least say something back.”

“Don’t say that. He’s pathetic. He still can’t face reality.” answered his friend. 

“Shut up!” Yelled Uraraka and threw a pillow on the screen.

“Uraraka!” Iida scolded.

“what? It was a weak throw…”

At the door, Bakugo sneered: If you wanna be a hero that badly, there’s a quick way to do it. Believe that you’ll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a last chance dive off the roof!”

“BACKUGOU YOU’RE A DEAD MAN, DO YOU HEAR ME?!” Uraraka got up and was about to run to his dorm but was hold in place by Iida.

“Girls aren’t allowed to go to the boys’ dorms!” He declared and then added quietly, only for her to hear: “Aizawa’s here, tomorrow we’ll get him together after school, ok?” She nodded fiercely.

“Well, I’m a boy.” Todoroki said in his usual apathetic voice.

“Enough.” Aizawa’s capture weapon made everyone go back to their sits. “The matter with Bakugou will be taken care off by myself.”

Midoriya faced Bakugou and was seemed like he was about to say something.

“What?” Bakugo made explosions with his hands. 

Midoriya’s confidence faded.

Scene: outside of school.

“Idiot! If I really jumped, that would mean you instigated a suicide! Think before you speak!” he ranted.

“Do you think he really-” Ashido was terrified.

“No way…” murmured Sero.

Midoriya stopped walking as he saw his notebook with fish surrounding it.

“That’s not fish food, stupid. That’s my notebook…” He grabbed the notebook.

“Stupid… Stupid bastard…” Midoriya looked at the notebook as the scene faded into a flashback.

Chapter Text

scene: flashback- Midoriya’s house.

4 years old Midoriya run into the kitchen holding an action figure of All Might.

“Mom! Mom, the computer!”

“Awww!” the girls cooed.

“Petit Midoriya was adorable…That is to say, Midoriya is also pretty adorable now.” said Aoyama.

“Again?” a green haired woman asked amusingly as small Midoriya jumped in place.

“Is that Mrs Midoriya? They look so much alike.” said Ojiro.

“Hurry!”

The camera switched into what seemed to be Midoriya’s room, covered in posters of All Might.

The kid moved restlessly in his chair as his mother found the video.

“Jeez, you’ve probably added ten thousand views just by yourself, Izuku. It’s too scary for me. I can’t watch it.”

The kid smiled a smile too big for his face, his eyes shined as the video started.

“Too cute. Ribbit.”

Current-Midoriya narrated: “That was an old video. A disaster that happened a long time ago. The video of a hero that debuted right after that.”

Terrified people stood behind burning ruins. A man shouted into the camera “Can you see that? He’s already saved a hundred people! That’s crazy! It hasn’t even been ten minutes! That’s crazy!”

Kid-Midoriya looked excitedly as a man rose from the ruins, carrying at least 10 people and laughing warmly.

“He’s laughing!” cried the civilian.

Kid-Midoriya gasped, looking so happy he might burst.

“It’s fine now, why? because I am here!” declared the hero with a big smile.

Dramatic wind blew Kid-Midoriya’s hair when his smile somehow grew even bigger.

“Ugh, my heart. Remind me to beg Mrs. Midoriya for baby pictures when this ends, ok?” asked Ashido.

“He’s so cool! Once I get my Quirk, I wanna be like him, too! HAHAHAHAHA!”

His mother’s smile at the door changed to a worried expression.

Scene: Flashback- a doctor’s office.

“You should probably give it up.” The doctor advised.

Kid-Midoriya gasped in shock, dropping his All Might figure.

“That’s…is something wrong with him after all? Most of the other kindergarteners’ Quirks have already manifested… He’s the only one…” Mrs. Midoriya trailed off and rested her hand on her son’s shoulder.

“Excuse me, but you’re fourth generation, right ma’am? May I ask about your Quirk?”

“Yes, of course. I can pull small objects to me.”

She pulled All Might’s figurine to herself slowly as a demonstration.

“My husband can breathe fire.”

“Normally, by age four, he would have manifested one of those Quirks, or some combination of the two. In the past, when the superpowers first started showing up, the results of an early research study were published. It became common practice to see if the pinky toe was missing a joint or not. When parts of the body aren’t used, they’re deemed unnecessary. People who didn’t have the joint were thought to be a newly evolved form.”

The camera showed Midoriya’s foot x-ray.

“You can see by looking at this x-ray that Izuku has two joints. It’s unusual to see that these days, but that means he has no Quirk.”

“But how?!” asked Sato.

“Midoriya said those events really happened but that’s impossible…” said Todoroki.

Scene: Flashback. Midoriya’s house.

Soft music played in the background as Kid-Midoriya watched the video again in his dark room.
“Mom…. He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they’re in…. He’s such a cool hero…” he said in a small voice.

Kid-Midoriya turned around in his chair to face his mom, she sniffed and her eyes were filled with tears when she saw her son’s own tearful eyes.

“Can I…be a hero, too?” he pointed at the screen.

“I can’t this is too sad!” said Ashido and covered her eyes.

“Oh, Midoriya…”  Yaoyorozu empathized.

“All this time and we had no idea-” mumbled Iida.

Mrs Midoriya slowly approched her son and hugged him, collapsing onto her knees. “I’m sorry, Izuku! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

They both cried.

“What a depressing story…” said Mineta.

“But it didn’t end like that, ribbit. Midoriya is here at UA, after all.” reminded Tsuyu.

“No, that’s not it. That’s not it, Mom. What I wanted you to say back then was…” Current-Midoriya nattered.

Chapter Text

The episode started with flashbacks to little Midoriya watching All Might’s video, then at the doctor’s office.

‘even if it’s true.’ he thought to himself. 

More flashbacks to Bakugo and the other classmates mocking him in middle school.

“Yeah we already saw this” Kaminari said in bordem.

‘Even if that’s what they all think’ 

flashback of his mother hugging him and tearfully apologizes.

“No, that’s not it. That’s not it, Mom.” he narrated.

‘I…even so, I’

Back in the present, Midoriya asked, “Even if I don’t have a quirk, can I still become a hero?”

Dramatic music played in the background.

The hero stopped in his track.

“Can even someone without a Quirk be like you?”

He turned around to look at the boy.

Midoriya closed his eyes like he’s waiting for a blow.

“Without a quirk?” All Might asked, and then gasped. He shook and groaned as he started to blow off steam.

“Oh no, holy shit, godammit…”

Midoriya went on and didn’t seem to notice the steaming hero.

“It might’ve been because I don’t have a quirk, but I’m always made fun of… maybe that’s why… I don’t know… but I think saving people is super cool.”

“He’s so pure…” said Ojiro.

“But what’s going on with All Might?” asked Aoyama.

“Saving hero with a fearless smile. I want to be the greatest hero, like you!” Midoriya raised his head to look at All Might, as the steams dissipated to reveal a skeletal figure standing in the place where the muscled hero once was.

Uraraka paused the video and the kids gasped.

“Wait…he knew?!” asked Ashido.

“I’m having a breakdown, what else hasn’t Midoriya told us?!” Asked Sero.

“What has he told us?! is his name even really Midoriya?!” asked Kaminari.

Aizawa got up. “You are yelling too much and it’s giving me a headache, if I have to silence you one more time movie night is over and I will find a way to take away this DVD for good.”

Everyone sat down quietly, Uraraka resumed the episode.

Midoriya screamed loud enough the entire city must have heard him.

The theme song played.

“This is still so so cool…” Kaminari clenched his fist.

“I wonder when they’ll finally show us.” said Hagakure.

“If this show follows Midoriya, I assume it will be when he makes it into the UA.” Yaoyorozu replied.

Scene: somewhere in the city.

Next to a tattoo shop, the Sludge Villain woke up inside the bottle.

“Urgh, where am I? What happened?”

“Shit.” Jirou cursed.

“Language!” Iida scolded.

“Pfft, you can scold me when you can get Bakugou to watch his language.”

“Oh yeah! That bastard… If it wasn’t for him, I’d be out of town already." The villain ranted as the events of before came back to him."

“Technically, if it wasn’t for Midoriya All Might probably might have managed to avoid this tragedy and get this villain to the police.” said Tokoyami.

“That shouldn’t matter. That was a bad place for containing him in the first place and All Might shouldn’t have been so careless. He admitted himself that his mistake has caused the problem child to get involved in this fight in the first place.” Said Aizawa.
The class really felt bad for All Might knowing the scolding he will hear tomorrow.

Nearby, Bakugou and his two friends walked back from school.

“Hey, Katsuki, aren’t you and Midoriya childhood friends?” asked one of the kids.

“You went a little overboard today.” added the other.

“Pfft, now you remember to step in?” Mocked Uraraka. “Where were you before?” Iida put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

“It’s his fault for getting in my way.” Bakugou hissed and kicked the bottle that laid in front of him, the cap popped away from it, letting the content spill on the ground.

“Oh no…” mumbled Koda.

“Don’t let it get to you.” Bakugou’s friend tried to comfort him.

Bakugou remembered Midoriya’s words in the class, 'It’s just that it’s been my goal ever since I was little. And well, I won’t know unless I try…’

Bakugou blew up the can in his hand. “He’s an idiot dreaming like a child. Just watching him pisses me off!”


“Anyone else thinks that maybe giving the boy with anger issues the power to explode everything in sight was not the best idea?” asked Mineta.

“Then, why don’t we go to the arcade for a change of pace?” asked one of his friends. “You’ll come too, right, Katuski?”

“Yeah” he agreed.

“Then let’s go to the one in front of the station, there’s a lot of prey there.” offered the second friend. Meanwhile the camera showed the sludge moving towards the unsuspecting teens.

“You’re terrible.” the first told him.

“Prey?! Did he mean girls?” asked Ashido.

“Boys are the worst.” Said Jirou.

“What?! If we get caught, it’ll end up on my record!” Bakugou yelled.

“So that’s what bothers him about this suggestion, ribbit.” scoffed Tsuyu.

His friends took one step back and pointed behind Bakugou as the sludge grew taller with every second.

“Hey!”

“Hey look"

He turned around.

“An invisible cloak with a great quirk!” the villain exclaimed and Bakugou’s eyes widened in horror.

Title sequence-  Episode 2: What It Takes To Be A Hero

Uraraka crossed her arms and grumbled:”I almost feel like he deserved what was coming for him…”

Kirishima asked her: ”I know Bakugou was a huge jerk but isn’t that a bit too harsh?”

Uraraka shrugged: "I said almost.”

Scene: on top of the building.

Midoriya screamed.

“Y-Y-You’re deflating…!” He looked around him to find where All Might had gone to. “Wait, up until now… Huh?! Fake? A fake?! You’re so skinny!”

“Oh, Midoriya.” Ojiro shook his head and smiled fondly.

“Ok to be fair it is pretty hard to believe.” Noted Kirishima.

“I am All Might…” said the thin man and then spitted some blood.

“No way!” Midoriya screamed again.

“Wait, hold on. I don’t get it.” said Sato. “We know that All Might lost his powers was was forced to retire after Kamino Ward. We also know that he looked this way before when he wasn’t a hero, since we saw him walking around school in this form even before. But spitting blood? that can’t be normal. And it looks like he wasn’t in control on when to turn back, either. Something is wrong here.”

“You sound a lot like Midoriya now, ribbit.” said Tsu.

“Oh, am I?” he asked sheepishly. “Sorry…”

“No, you had some good points. I guess the only thing we can do now is keep watching and hope we can get some answers.” said Yaoyorozu.

“You know how the guys at the pool are constantly flexing and posturing? it’s like that.” all might explained and a vision with his metaphor accompanied the explanation.

“No way!”


“I think Midoriya is having an existential crises.” said Shoji.

“I mean, same.” said Ojiro.



“I-it can’t be! All Might is fearless…He saves everyone with a smile.. He’s the greatest…"

”That’s indeed an existential crises.”  Tokoyami confirmed.

“Turn down your hero worship a bit, buddy.” Kaminari suggested.

“I guess that shows us that truly no one’s perfect.” Tsu Concluded.


All Might sighed. “A fearless smile, huh?” he sat down.

Midoriya recoiled as the camera shifted, showing a big, ugly injury scar under All Might’s shirt.

The class gasped and flinched as well.

“Ouch!”

“No way!”

“Aw…that must be hurt-”


“Now that you’ve seen me like this, young man, make sure you don’t write about it online, even accidentally. It’s an injury I got
from an enemy’s attack five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. ,I’ve become emaciated from repeated surgeries and the aftereffects. Right now, I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day.”

“wow…” said Koda.

“I had no idea…” said Hagakure

“None of us had.” noted Todoroki.

“Midoriya had.” Kaminari corrected.

“That’s horrible.” said Uraraka.

“That can’t be…” Midoriya was horrified.

“Five years ago… Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?” he asked.

“You’re well informed.” All Might raised his fist. “But a punk like that couldn’t defeat me. This fight was not made public to the world. I asked for it not to be made public.”

The camera showed the people underneath them, walking and living their lives without fear.

“I will save people with a smile! The Symbol of Peace cannot be daunted by evil.” He stared at his hand and clenched it.“ I smile to show the pressure of heroes, and to trick the fear inside of me.”

Midoriya gasped.

All Might looked right at him. “Pros are always risking their lives. I cannot simply say, ‘you can become a hero even without power.’“

Midoriya froze in shock.

“I see.” he said, heartbroken.

“Ok that was cruel.” said Kaminari.

“Poor Deku…that was his dream! how could All Might say that?” asked Uraraka.

“I can’t believe it.” said Eraserhead. “This man has finally done the cruel but necessary thing to do.”

“Sensei, with all due respect, Midoriya is clearly heroic-” Iida tried to protest

“Iida, do you know why I expel as many students as I do?”

“Because…they don’t have potential?”

“Because being a hero is dangerous. The people out there, they get hurt, some get killed. It’s not a game, it’s not a movie where everyone get what they deserve. You kids, of everyone should know that best. As much as I tried to protect you you had to face more than most people at your age had to. Having a dream is not enough, having passion and compassion, while necessary, can’t make you a hero alone. You have to have something that will help you survive out there. Would you rather All Might to tell him that he can be a hero, to get him all worked up and ready only for him to get killed in his first day in the field?”

No one answered. It was hard to accept but they couldn’t argue with the lecture. Still, they couldn’t help but think about how many people there were out there like Midoriya, who with the right powers can do great things, if only they had the chance.

“If you want to help others, then you could also become a police officer. They’re often teased because they get villains delivered to their doorstep, but that is also a fine occupation.” All Might walked away and paused at the roof’s door.

“It’s not bad to dream. But you also have to consider what’s realistic, young man.” The hero closed the door behind him, leaving Midoriya on his own on the top of the roof.


“This show should be named “Izuku Midoriya and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” said Sero.

“Yeah, if I wasn’t going to hug him before, I definitely am now.” said Hagakure.

“Midoriya wouldn’t want our pity.” said Todoroki.

“Yeah but, come on man, you have to admit that this is rough.” Kirishima tried to reason.

“No, Todoroki is right. Deku did get in eventually! we don’t know how, or how he got a quirk, but he had to deal with hardships his entire life and he never gave up. Not on his dreams, not on his friends and not on anyone he tried to save. He didn’t just sat there and felt sorry for himself so neither should we!” said Uraraka.

“Well said, Uraraka.” complimented Iida.

“Yeah! going through all of this and still making it this far? that’s so manly.” agreed Kirishima. After a little pause he added, "I am still going to hug the crap out of him, though."

In the stairs room, All Might reached to his pocket, “Now, I need to quickly get this guy…” But found nothing. He looked through the window to see smoke.
“Don’t tell me…”

“So containing a villain in a bottle in your pocket wasn’t the best idea! who could have seen that coming?” Asked Jirou.

On the roof, Midoriya heard an explosion and saw the smoke rising from somewhere in the city.

“A villain! What hero will go to the scene?” he ran to the scene but then stopped in his tracks as All Might’s harsh words echoed in his mind.

“I cannot simply say, ‘you can become a hero even without power."

The enthusiasm left his body as he started walking away, accepting his fate.

All Might ran as fast as he could, observing the crime scene behind a crowed of people.

The shopping center was burning as people ran away screaming. Three heroes immediately arrived at the scene, one of them was Death Arms. They watched helplessly as in the middle of the flames, the sludge villain stood, covering something.

The camera zoomed in to show Bakugou completely trapped in the villain’s slimy body.

“A child was taken hostage?!”  Death arms asked, then pounded his fists. “You coward!” he cried as he ran through the villain.

The hero leaped and punched, but gasped as his fist just sunk into the slime “what is this? I can’t grab hold!"

The villain pushed him away, making him crush onto a wall.

“Death arms!” the two other heroes rushed to his side.

“Crap!” one of them cursed as he avoided a slimy jab crushing the spot he stood at a second ago.

The villain chuckled, "Don’t come near me!”

Bakugou struggled as hard as he could and got his mouth free from the villain, "I won’t let sewage like this swallow me!” explosions shot in his body.

"You little-”

The ground shook as explosions covered the entire area.

“Still think Bakugou deserved that?” asked Kirishima.

“Oh, come on, I said almost!” Uraraka protested. “Besides, he was such a huge jerk to Deku, I can’t just ignore that!"

"I know, but I still wouldn't wish it on anyone."

“What power! I’ve hit the Jackpot” the villain gushed. "With this Quirk and power, I can get revenge on that guy!”

“’That guy’? as if there’s anyone who doesn’t know All Might…” said Sato.

“While Bakugou’s power is strong, his fighting spirit is his best quality. Not many of us could struggle for this long.” said Tokoyami.

Chapter Text

Cops separated the crowed and the scene. One of the people asked, "Woah, what's that?! Could he be a big-shot villain?”

The woman next to him gasped,”She's here! The rookie hero, Mt. Lady!”

The people cheered as the giant heroine made her way to the area but then stopped as she figured she’s to big to get inside. “W-Wait... I need there to be at least two lanes!”

Kamuri Woods grabbed as many people as he could in each of his arms and run away from the fire, ”I'm not good with explosions! I'll leave it to someone else for today!”

Backdraft shot water in an attempt to put of the fire, ”Thanks for that. I have my hands full fighting the fire. The fire truck's not here yet?” he asked. When no one came, he checked how the other heroes are doing, "How are things over there?”

“He's sticky and hard to grab, and a child with a strong Quirk is struggling against him. Thanks to that, it's a minefield.” Death Arms reported.

“It's hard to do anything against this triple play!” added one of the other heroes at the scene.

They had to dodge as Sludge villain attacked once again.

“Crap!”

“It’s no use!”

“There's no one who can take care of this at the scene right now! All we can do is wait for someone with a more suitable Quirk!”

“Let's hold back the damage until then!”

“Don't worry, I'm sure someone will be here soon! I feel bad for that child, but he'll just have to bear it a little longer.”

“Damn it!” Death Arms cursed. “If only I had enough power to blow this guy away!”

“Poor Bakugou...” said Yaoyorozu and Jirou wordlessly took her hand.

“Hey, doesn't it look kinda bad?” Noted a person in the crowed.

“Yeah, no shit.” said Sero and Iida sighed knowing he can’t censor everyone all the time.

“You can do it, heroes!” another one cheered.

All Might stood behind them, still panting from his sprint, and took a look at the situation.

The hero gasped as he remembered Midoriya clinging to his leg. “It was back then! I was too distracted by my time limit!  pathetic...” he grasped his shirt where his scar was. “Pathetic...”

The scene changed to Midoriya walking in the streets looking at his notebook. It was open in the page of Kamui woods. A sketch of the hero covered one page as notes were written in the one next to it such as ‘best at holding back damage’ and ‘so cool!'

Then, the words of his classmates came back to him.

‘He still can't face reality, even though he's already a third year in junior high.’

Midoriya flipped the page to the one with Mt. Lady. Some of the notes with her were ‘Gigantification! 20 m?!’, ‘Canyon Cannon'. Next to her drawing you could see the words 'Huge!’ and ‘Sexy’.

“Ah-ha!” Mineta exclaimed. “I knew it! I knew I wasn’t the only one here who can appreciate when a woman is sexy. But when I do it you call me a pervert, well, who’s the pervert now?!”

The girls groaned.

Momo said, Tiredly,”Mineta, there is a difference between noting that a woman is sexy and the things you do.”

Hagakure added, “Yeah, the day where Midoriya tries to look below our skirts you can talk, alright?”

‘It's time for you to think seriously about your future.’

Another flip, this one is All Might’s autograph.

'You also have to consider what's realistic.'

Midoriya closed the notebook. On the cover is says ‘Hero Analysis for the Future’.

‘Even a top pro said it.’ he said to himself, his eyes filled with tears.

He sniffed. ‘Don't cry! You knew, didn't you?’

“Aww....” said Uraraka.

“Midoriya...” said Ojiro.

“The reality. You knew. That's why you were trying so desperately. You were averting your eyes, not looking at reality.”

Suddenly something exploded.

Midoriya looked up and turned to the direction where the sound came from, ‘Is this where the explosion earlier was...?

His expression turned sad and tired. ‘Hang on, does that mean I came out of habit without noticing?’ he wondered. 

He crossed the road, trying to get a look at the scene despite his inner voice’s protests. ‘Stop it. It'll just feel meaningless right now.’

Then he noticed the sludge villain.

“Why's that guy here?! Did it get away from All Might?!”

“Did he drop it? If he did...Then it’s my fault!” the realization hit.

One guy in the crowed asked, "Why aren't the heroes doing anything?”

“They can't.” The man next to him replied. “Apparently the villain caught a junior high schooler. It's been like that for a while.”

‘Caught...? It's been like that for a while? How can they bear that suffocation? I thought I'd die after a few seconds.’ Midoriya covered his mouth and shook at the reminder. 'wow...!’

“Anyway, wasn't that villain the one All Might was chasing earlier?” someone asked.

“All Might? No way! He's here?“

“I think I saw him earlier.”

“Seriously?!”

“Then what's All Might doing?!”

All Might stood behind them, clenching his wound. “Pathetic...”

“It's my fault...!" Midoriya shook. “He can't do anything! All we can do is wait for someone with a more suitable quirk! Do your best! I'm sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“This show is depressing...” said Hagakure. 

“Help will arrive soon... Someone... A hero... will soon...”

Both Midoriya and All Might waited helplessly, All Might cursing himself over and over while Midoriya is wallowing in self blame. No one knew what to do, how to help.

And then Bakugou struggled just enough to move his head and open his eyes. Looking straight at Midoriya. His big red eyes were filled with horror and despair.

Midoriya gasped.

The notebook dropped on the floor.

And before anyone could blink the boy lunged straight to the monster.

"NO WAY! Oh crap, sorry Sensei but- it was HIM!!!” Kirishima stood up. “The boy who rushed to help Bakugou was MIDORIYA!”

“No way!” yelled Kaminari.

“No one said that in the news!” said Ashido.

“And after being bullied by him for so long...” said Shoji.

“And he didn’t even have a quirk.” added Todoroki

All Might and the heroes in the scene gasped.

Death Arms reached his arm,” Idiot! Stop! Stop!”

“That brat...”

“Deku...”

Bakugou and the sludge villain both noticed the kid.

“Does this boy have a death wish?!” Asked Sero.

“You’re asking as if you just met him.” Said Todoroki.


“Why did I run out? what am I doing? Why?!” Midoriya asked himself.

“Those are some very good questions, Midoriya.” Said Jirou.

“Die in an explosion!” the villain shouted and shot explosions at him.

“Jokes on you, Midoriya spent most of his life dodging explosions.” said Kaminari.

“That’s pretty sad, Kaminari.” Ssaid Tsuyu.

“I am using humor to cope.”

“It’s not even your trauma!” Ashido argued.

“I am a very empathetic person, alright?!”

‘What do I do? What do I do at a time like this?’ he freaked out.

“Nice to know I’m not the only one who’s screaming internally in crazy situations...” said Sato.

Then the scene flashed to the image of Midoriya’s notebook, specifically, to the page with Kamuri Woods. ‘Pre-emptive Binding Lacquered Chain Prison, Quickly stretch out arms (vines)’

‘page 25!’

“Don’t tell me he has them memorized.” said Sato.

“Come on man, it’s Midoriya. Of course he has them memorized.” Sero replied.

Midoriya threw his bag that hit directly in the villain’s eye, making his grasp on Bakugo slip long enough for him to cough and pant.

“Kacchan!” Midoriya clawed at the slime in at attempt to free his classmate.

“Why are you here?!” he yelled at him.


“Way to show gratitude, Bakugou.” said Uraraka.

“My legs moved on their own! I don’t know why, though!”

“Midoriya’s behavior is a mystery even to himself...” said Tokoyami.

"I think there were various reasons.” current-Midoriya narrated.

As he run, voices echoed around him.

‘You should probably give it up.’

‘It's my fault...’

‘how can you even stand in the same ring as me?’

‘unless I try...’

‘Kacchan!’

‘it’s been my goal...’

‘I’ll do my best!’

‘He saves everyone with a smile...’

The screen went dark. Midoriya narrated. ‘but at that moment...’

Midoriya looked at Bakugou and said in tears,”You looked like you were asking for help...”

All Might gasped.

‘Pathetic...pathetic...’ he said over and over as he suddenly grew bigger and stronger.

“Don't get in my way!” the villain whipped towards him while all the heroes rushed forward to save the boy.

“He'll die in vain! Is he suicidal?!”

Something blew and smoke covered the area.

Midoriya shielded his head and readied himself for the blow... and then opened his eyes as he realized it never came.

“I really am pathetic.”

Midoriya gasped as he saw All Might holding away the villain when the smoke dispersed. “All Might..."

“Even though I admonished you, I wasn't putting what I said into practice!” the hero replied. By sheer force, he ripped his arms away from the sludge that tried to yank them in.

Midoriya looked at All Might with bright eyes as the man shouted, “Pros are always risking their lives!” blood dripped from his mouth.

“All Might!” the villain cried and swung at him. The number one hero swung his own fist and yelled, "Detroit Smash!"

A wind blew, strong enough to make the villain fall apart and put away all the fires. All Might held the two kids with one arms so they won’t be blown away as well.

When the wind quieted, Everyone were staring at All Might who was steaming and panting.

For a moment, no one said a thing.

Then a person in the crowed noticed something, "huh?”

“Rain?” a woman asked as drops started falling from the sky.

“Don't tell me it's from the wind pressure just now?”

Midoriya and Bakugou lied on the floor, looking at the cloudy sky above them.

“He made clouds...?” Death Arm wondered as All Might wiped the blood from his mouth corner.


“So All Might have been fighting like this for years...when he was in this state...” said Todoroki.

“And Midoriya was the only one who knew." said Iida.

“Not just Midoriya,” said Aizawa. “Ever since he started teaching at UA, the entire teacher faculty knew as well, along with a few chosen people.”

“Why has he kept that a secret?” asked Hagakure.

“This ridiculous man made himself a goal of being the symbol of peace. Perfect, Untouchable, Invulnerable. If he revealed that weakness, the symbol would be tainted and villains and criminals undoubtedly will take advantage on this situation.”

All Might got up and his theme music started playing. The moment of shock has passed as everyone cheered.

“With just his right fist, he changed the weather!”

“That’s amazing!”

“That’s All Might for you!”

No one noticed as his foot stumbled a little before he raised his fist in his familiar victory pose, grinning.

Current-Midoriya narrated, ‘After this, heroes collected the scattered sludge, and safely delivered it to the police.’

“Jeez, there's a limit to how rash you can be!” scolded Death-Arms. 

“Oh, you have no idea.” Uraraka giggled.

“ There was absolutely no reason for you to put yourself in danger!”

'I got majorly scolded by the heroes, but Kacchan was praised.’

“This is so unfair...” Sero grumbled.

"That was amazing toughness! And that Quirk! Once you're a pro, please come to my agency! You'll definitely be an excellent sidekick!”

Bakugou listened to the praise but wasn’t seemed pleased.

After the mess was cleaned, the scene changed to a sad Midoriya walking home slowly.

The freckled boy was lost in thoughts, 'I wanted to apologize to All Might, but he was still getting interviewed...I'll try sending him a message on his website when I get home.’

“Deku!”

Midoriya stopped as he heard a familiar voice. He turned around.

“K acchan...?” He asked as the blonde boy ran to his direction.

“I hope he’s here to say thank you and sorry.” said Sato.

“The day Bakugou says either of those things will be the day I will eat my fancy hat collection.” declared Kaminari.

“Why do you have a fancy hat collection again?” Asked Jirou.

“I am allowed to have hobbies, Jirou!”

Bakugo panted for a few seconds, then clenched his fists, “I never asked for help! and you didn’t help me! Got it?!”

“Oh, come on!” Sato booed.

“Told you.” Kaminari said.

“I was fine by myself. ,You're a Quirkless failure playing without a full deck! Don't think you can look down on me! Are you trying to make me owe you?”

Uraraka facepalmed, "why is he like this.”

Tsuyu concluded, ”Bakugo seems to have troubles with showing any form of vulnerability, by accepting help from anyone, especially Midoriya, he thinks he’s showing weakness.”

“Don't look down on me! You damn nerd!” Bakugou yelled an then stomped away.

“It seems like you’re right, Mon amie, I wonder what made Bakugou adopt this world view?” mused Aoyama.

Midoriya watched him leave, confused. "Toughness"...’ he thought.

He sighed and then smiled sadly. ‘It's just as Kacchan said. It's not like I accomplished anything, or changed anything. But, I'm glad.’


”Midoriya is a good person.” Koda said quietly. “I am glad he’s at UA.”

‘Now I can think of a realistic future...’ he turned around and started walking again when someone shouted.

“I AM HERE!”

Midoriya screamed as All Might passed him quickly and blocked his way.

“A-All Might?! Why are you here? You were surrounded by reporters until just now...”

The hero laughed and posed, “Getting away from them was a piece of cake. Why?” he asked, then answered his own question. “Because I am All Migh-” The speech got cut off as All Might spitted blood and turned back into his skinny form, making Midoriya scream yet again.

After coughing and wiping his mouth, All Might started again, his TV-personality gone with his muscles, " Young man. I come with thanks, a correction, and a suggestion. If you hadn't been there...If you hadn't told me about your life... I would've turned into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. Thank you.”

“That can't be...” Midoriya protested. “It was my fault in the first place. I got in the way of your work, and I said all those impertinent things even though I'm Quirkless...”

“That's right. It was because it was none other than the timid, Quirkless you at the scene that I was able to act.”
Midoriya’s mouth opened in shock as he took in the pro’s words.
“Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of their stories have one thing in common, Their bodies moved before they had a chance to think.”
Midoriya’s eyes brightened.

His face twisted, his hands moved to his chest and his knees trembled.

‘For some reason, I remembered my mother's words.’ said the narrator.

‘I'm sorry, Izuku! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!’ Midoriya bit his lips and cried as he recalled the memory.

“That was true for you, too, wasn't it?” Asked All Might.

Midoriya broke, sobbing, ”Yeah...”

‘That's not it, Mom. Back then, what I wanted you to say...The words I wanted to hear were...’

The boy kneeled down, face covered in tears.

All Might watched him with a serious face, as wind dramatically blew his hair in front of the setting sun.

He then said the words Midoriya wanted to hear so badly: “You can become a hero.”

Midoriya cried even harder.

Dramatic music played.

'Dreams can become reality.' the narrator summed up, then added after a pause, ' By the way, I forgot to mention that this is the story of how I became the greatest hero’

The episode ended.

“The greatest hero?” asked Shoji.

Uraraka shrugged, ”I can believe that.”

“This explains so much but I somehow have even more questions than before!” Ashido gushed.

“Do you think any of this really happened?” asked Sero.

“I don’t know if it will be weirder if it’s real or if it isn’t.” said Hagakure.

“So that’s why All Might and Midoriya are so close.” said Todoroki.

“That was...so freaking manly” Kirishima wiped his tears.

“Who knew a show about Midoriya can be so good?” asked Mineta.

“When it’s all ends I will have to lay down and question everything for a while.” Said Jirou and the rest made sounds of agreement.

The next episode was about to start and no one even thought to suggest not to watch it.

Chapter Text

‘The number one hero, All Might.’ The episode began with narration. Age unknown, Quirk unidentified. He dashed onto the scene of the hero world and received unwavering popularity based on his ability.’

different news articles and merchandise of All Might appeared on the screen.

'Ever since he appeared, the once critically high rate of crimes committed by villains decreased year after year.’ a diagram titled: “National Police Agency Investigation Number of Crimes Committed by Villains” accompanied the explanation.

“Midoriya, we already know that.” Hagakure complained tiredly.

“Who is he explaining this for, anyway? if there’s someone who doesn’t know about All Might they must be living under a rock.” Kaminari asked.

“He does make a pretty good narrator though, they should cast him in the next documentary about All Might’s life.” said Kirishima.

‘and his existence itself became a deterrent. He became the Symbol of Peace in both name and reality.’ a little kid looked at the shining statue of All Might with bright eyes.

‘and that man said to me-’

“You can become a hero." said All Might’s voice.

Tears dropped on the floor as Midoriya remembered all the people in his life who told him that he has no chance, that he should give up. he clenched his chest and couldn’t stop sobbing.

‘I’m sorry Izuku!’ his mother’s words that stayed in his head for years popped up again.

‘I wanted someone to tell me that. And then, the person I most admired said those words to me. Can anything be more shocking than this? More than this…?'

“You are worthy to inherit my power.” All Might spread his arms with his palms raised to the sky.

Everyone spoke in the same time

“Wait ,wait, hold on-”

“Come again?”

“Did he just say ‘inherit my power’?”

“how does that make sense-”

“That makes complete sense.” the chatter stopped after Tsuyu’s words.

“Think about it, ribbit. Midoriya’s quirk hurt him many times, as if he wasn’t used to it. Despite that, he made immense progress this year alone. Of course, it surely has to do with the things he learned here in UA but if he had it since he was four like the rest of us you would expect him to have at least some control over that in the beginning of the year. Also, All Might and Midoriya spent more time together than a student and a teacher normally would and seemed familiar with each other since the beginning. Add that to Midoriya’s timid personality that comes in direct contrast with his strength and the conclusion is obvious.”

Everyone just stared at her for a moment, not saying a word.

“I am only disappointed at myself for not connecting the dots earlier.” the froggy girl added after a second of thought.

“But Tsu, since when people can pass on quirks?” asked Uraraka.

“And how did Midoriya use his quirk while All Might was still active?” added Iida.

“And if-” started Ashido but then got cut off as Aoyama got up.

“Ça suffit!” He cried. “If you’ll continue to speculate like this, you’ll spoil the entire show! As unusual as this record is, it’s still on movie night! And it will take all the glamour out if you can just guess every detail.” 

“Weirdly enough…Aoyama has a point.” said Yaoyorozu.

“Merci, Yaoyorozu.”

Midoriya’s sobbing stopped and he slowly raised his head, looking as confused as the class was. He tilted his head slightly and made a confused noise.

The theme song began. 

“Oh, come on! don’t switch to the theme song! we need answers!” booed Kaminari.

“I thought you were happy seeing yourself on the screen.” Noted Tokoyami.

“Inherit your power?” asked Midoriya, his nose and eyes are still stuffed from crying.

All Might laughed, and this laughter sounded very different from his trademark laughter.

“What’s with that face?” he asked.

Then, he took a few steps towards the kneeling boy. “It’s just a suggestion. The real show starts after this.” He raised his finger. “Listen, young man. You need to decide-”

And then pointed right at him, spitting blood. “whether or not you will accept my power!”

“his gestures are very theatrical, even outside of his usual persona.” Tokoyami noted.

“All Might is All Might with or without his muscles.” said Ojiro.

‘Wh-What is All Might saying…?’ wondered Midoriya, still not processing the offer, as All Might wiped his mouth.

“I’m talking about my power, young man.“ he answered his un-asked question.

“Lol, is he a telepath?” asked Kaminari.

“No, Midoriya is just the type of person who wears his heart on his sleeve.” replied Yaoyorozu.

“Which again raises the question of ‘how the heck did he keep all those secrets all this time’?” asked Sero.

“The tabloids called it “superhuman strength” and a “boost,” and I constantly dodged the question during interviews with a funny joke. Because the Symbol of Peace, All Might, had to be a natural-born hero.” All Might confessed, now serious again.

“But young man, I will tell you the truth.” He rest his hands behind his head and then spread them, looking up. He was surrounded white light.

The class leaned forward, their thirst for answers burning.

“My Quirk was passed on to me like a sacred torch.” a vision of himself in his hero outfit appeared behind him.

Midoriya stared at him with wild eyes, looking as if his entire world view just shattered, "It was passed on to you…?”

“That’s right. And next, it is your turn.”

“Poor Midoriya, that’s a lot to take in.” said Hagakure.

‘Poor?! He’s not poor!” Mineta protested. “He’s lucky! do you know what I would be willing to give for what he was just offered?! With that kind of power, I will have a full harem!” fire burned in his eyes.

“Well, fortunately, you didn’t receive this offer.” Uraraka said dryly.

“W-Wait! Wait a minute!” Midoriya moved his hands in confusion.

image of a blog titled 'Summary of what’s known about All Might’s Quirk’ appeared on the screen.

‘It’s true that your Quirk is something hotly debated as one of the world’s greatest mysteries. So much so that not a day goes by when I don’t see someone talking about it online.”

The image changed to Midoriya standing in front of a colorful background, pointing to his head with his eyes spinning. “But, well, I don’t really understand what you mean by inheriting or passing on a Quirk…” The word ‘mutter’ appeared over and over the more he talked, covering the entire screen, his voice becoming more and more distant, ”I’ve never heard of anything like that before, and it’s never even been conjectured in the debate. Why is that? Is it because since the dawn of history, a Quirk like that was never confirmed? In the first place, it’s…”

“OMG that’s exactly what it feels like every time he does that!” Uraraka gushed.

“You always start with denial, huh?” All Might deadpanned.

“Nonsense!” He yelled and the muttering stopped.

“Wh…?!”

“I may hide a lot of things, but I don’t lie! The power to transfer power… That is the Quirk I inherited!”

He put his hand in front of him, facing up. It light up as if he was holding a star in his palm. “I was crowned with “One For All”!

"One For All"…” Midoriya repeated, astounded. 

“That’s right.” All Might confirmed.

“One person cultivates the power and passes it on to another person, who also cultivates it and passes it on.” The screen showed a colorful light ray shooting in space and then bumping into a dot of light in a different color, which then shoots to a different dot, over and over.

Then, the screen shows All Might again, holding the imaginary light that glows in all the colors. It is the crystallization of power that spins together the voices of those who need help” The light turned off and All Might closed his hand to a fist. “With a courageous heart.”

“Why are you… Why are you giving me something so great?” asked Midoriya.

“I have been looking for a successor. And then, I thought it would be all right for you to inherit it. You are just a Quirkless hero fanboy, but you were more heroic than anyone else back there!”

Midoriya gasped, then started crying again.

“Never mind! Well, it’s up to you, though.” All Might slammed his own head.  “What’ll you do?” he asked.

‘He said so much to encourage me, and even told me his secret… Is there…? Of course there isn’t…’ Midoriya quickly wiped away his tears and stood up

He reached a conclusion,‘There’s no reason for me to turn him down!’

"I’ll do it!” the boy replied with a determined expression.

“An immediate reply. That’s what I thought you’d say!” All Might approved.

'But it was no easy task to receive his power.’ Midoriya narrated.

Title sequence-Episode 3: Roaring Muscles

“Of course he said yes, it was his dream his entire life.” said Kirishima.

“Isn’t that a big responsibility to give someone? Especially a middle schooler...” said Sato.

“Midoriya has always acted as if it was his responsibility to carry the world’s weight on his shoulders and save everyone, it’s no wonder All Might chose him for this.” said Todoroki.

“He’s kind of like All Might himself.” said Shoji.

“You know, I don’t think Deku would have ever given up on being a hero. Even without All Might. He would have found a way.” said Uraraka.

“I think you are right, Uraraka.” agreed Iida.

Scene: Dagoba Municipal Beach Park. 
Two days later - Early morning.

“Ooh, I was there once!” Ashido exclaimed, “apparently it used to be a dump but then someone cleaned it up.”

All Might sat on a big fridge in his muscle form, hugging his knees. The fridge was tied up with roped that were connected to Midoriya, who groaned as he tried to drag it with all of his power, but with no use.

 “Hey, hey, hey! This is such a comfy fridge to sit on!” All Might teased. Midoriya then slipped from the ropes and landed on his face.

“Jeez, All Might. Isn’t that a little too much?” asked Hagakure.

“And it doesn’t even look like he had his quirk at this point.” Kaminari added.

“If you could move it even a little, it would be a little easier.” All Might advised as Midoriya raised his head from the floor, groaning. He turned around to face All Might.

“Well yeah, I mean, you weigh 274 kilograms, right?”

“No, I lost weight, so I'm only 255 kilograms now, in this form.” he replied without a trace of irony, and Midoriya sighed.

“Anyway, why am I dragging trash at the beach park?” the boy asked, looking at the endless piles of trash around them.

All Might laughed. “It's 'cause, you know, you're not a proper vessel.” he took out his phones and took multiple pictures of the sand-covered kid laying on the floor.


“ok, that’s just cruel!” Jirou booed.

“Never took All Might to be the mocking type.” said Todoroki.

“What you're saying now is the opposite of what you said before!” Midoriya jumped as he noticed All Might taking pictures of him, and then screamed.

"I'm talking about your body.” All Might clarified, still taking pictures.

Midoriya stopped screaming and looked at All Might, confused.

“My Quirk, One For All, is the fullest physical ability of many people gathered into one.” The hero explained. “An unprepared body cannot inherit it fully.”

“The limbs will come off and the body will explode.” a picture of Midoriya’s limbs ripping away from his body with the sound effect “KABOOM” appeared in order to emphasize.

"The limbs will what?!” The boy shook his head to get rid of the image "Then... I'm picking up trash in order to train my body...?” 

“Yes!” All Might confirmed, then added,” But that's not all. After some research on he internet yesterday, I discovered that part of this beach park's coast has been like this for many years.” All Might lightly tapped the fridge, but that had enough power to make a hole in it.

“Yeah... For some reason, because of the currents, objects drift here a lot, and people take advantage of that to hide their illegal dumping... The local residents don't come near here, either.” Midoriya reassured, anywhere he looked, there was just more garbage, you couldn’t see even a bit of sand.

“Heroes these days are all after the showy stuff. Originally, being a hero meant doing volunteer service.” All Might used one hand to press down on the fridge, crushing it casually while explaining, “Even if people called that boring or whatever. You can't waver from those roots. You will restore the horizon for this whole section! That is your first step toward becoming a hero!” the Fridge blew into shards, revealing the view of the beach in the place where it used to be.

 “My first step...?” Midoriya echoed, looking around dumbfounded “Clean... this... All of it...?!”

Ashido made a frustrated noise and put her head in her hands,”There’s no way Midoriya cleaned this entire thing!”

Kaminari lied down,”I think if I’ll find ONE more secret about Midoriya my head will explode.”

“Same, bro.” Said Kirishima, "Even though, this is manly as hell.”

"Young Midoriya, you want to go to U.A right?” All Might asked.

“Yes...” He replied quietly and again louder, “Yes!”

“Because it's where you went! So if I'm going to go... I thought... it would definitely have to be U.A...” Midoriya put his hand on his chest, staring dreamily.

“You’re a go-getter fanboy!“ All Might exclaimed, making Midoriya blush, his shirt was a simple T-Shirt with the words “ALL M” written largely on front.

“But I've told you this before. It's not something you can do without a Quirk. It's sad, but that is what the reality is. And U.A.'s is the hardest hero course to get into. In other words...”

Midoriya finished his sentence, “In the ten months until U.A.'s entrance exam, I have to complete my vessel!”

“He started training only 10 months before the test? man, no wonder he had to do something so big.” said Jirou.

All Might turned to face him again “That's where this comes in!“ he tapped a group of papers he was holding in his hand. “I came up with this "Aim to Pass American Dream Plan"!”

“I am pretty sure none of this is related to America in any way.” said Ojiro.

Sero shrugged, “Every hero has their thing. All Might’s thing is America.”

“It's a training plan to help you finish cleaning up the beach.” The screen showed papers with things such as “meal menu” and “weekend schedule”.

“I'll have you follow this in every aspect of your life!” the man declared proudly.

Midoriya flipped through the pages, looking astounded,”Even sleep is included...”

All Might leaned closer to Midoriya and whispered to his ear, "Frankly, this is a super hard schedule. Can you follow it?”

“Of course...“ Midoriya held the papers in his hands like he was holding a treasure map. His grin was a little scary, showing that there was no stopping him now. “I have to work many times harder than anyone else, or else I can't do it!”

All Might nodded approvingly.

upbeat music started playing as the narrator resumed, ‘And so began my ten months of hell.’

“Training montage!” Uraraka gushed.

Midoriya groaned as he tried to pull a far-too-heavy locker cabinet.

All Might yelled Orders, now in his skinny form, “Carry that to the park entrance! Put it in the truck!” 

‘Depending on size and shape, the muscles I have to use are completely different! I see... This is...!’ Midoriya talked to himself as he run, carrying a tire in one arms. He looked tried and sweaty, but determined.

“Run! Run! Ten months will be over before you know it!” All Might goaded.

Midoriya fell down again.

“Let’s become athletic!” All Might shouted and Midoriya got up again and continued to run.

“Wow...he was really out of shape back then.” said Sato.

“He indeed changed a lot.” Iida agree.

Scene: "Aldera Junior High"

A teacher read from his notes as Midoriya sat in the class, looking exhausted. “Let's see... With the appearance of superpowers, the Building Standards Act was revised, and the Minister of Land-”

Midoriya zoned out, ’This is tough... Ten months of this, huh?’

The camera shifted to show a new page in his notebook titled, "Proposed Independent Training Menu"

“And that’s how Midoriya’s addiction to working out has began, such a lovely story.” said Kaminari.

“Midoriya, you can’t keep overworking yourself! You’ll get hurt!” Yaoyorozu scolded.

‘it'll be hard if I don't finish by a week before the exam...’ he started filling the blank page.

‘Which means, there are 294 days left... Taking into consideration a sufficient recovery period if I rest for two days in between, that gives me...’ Midoriya tapped a finger on his mouth as got lost in his thoughts, the background changed as the word ‘mutter’ appeared over and over.

‘..about 5 days of real training even if I'm efficient... I can get in about five hours of training morning and night, so that's 490 hours...’ Midoriya didn’t notice that he was talking out loud, making his classmates look back at him, looking both surprised and amused.

“Oh no, he’s doing that again...” said Mineta.

"Also, that beach cleanup doesn't work out any specific parts of the body, if I don't work out my whole body equally, then there's no way I'll make it. Bodybuilding to create a body able to adapt to any situation... Literally intensive training to become a hero... All Might can't stay and watch me the whole time...’

Even the teacher stopped his lecture and just stared with an open jaw at the boy who was completely in his own world. 

‘All Might can't stay and watch me the whole time... If I don't do as much efficient independent training as I can, there's no way I can catch up the way I am now... Anyway, I'll have to cut-’

The teacher lengthened his arm and hit his head, waking him up from the trance. “Midoriya, hey!” The teacher called

The green-haired boy gasped and covered his mouth. He looked up to see his classmates and teacher smiling mockingly.

“Did your encounter with the villain make you go crazy?” the teacher teased.
The classmates around Midoriya snickered “it's presumptuous to think of getting into U.A. like that." he rebuked .

“That was just low...” said Jirou

“It’s shameful of a teacher to bully his own student.” agreed Iida, then earned a few gasped, since he never condemned an authority figure before.

‘Plus, I have to study for the entrance exam.’ Midoriya remembered.

The students were gossiping and chuckling, all but Bakugo who sat there annoyed.

Scene: Dagoba Municipal Beach Park

The upbeat music resumed, as well as the montage. Small moments flashed at the screen:

Midoriya pushing two wheels on top of each other, each as big as he is, All Might gesturing him to hurry up.

Midoriya panting as he run while the sun was setting.

Midoriya showing his mom the new dishes All Might gave him, asking her to make them for dinner.

“That’s Midoriya’s mom? she put on some weig-” Mineta couldn’t finish the sentence because an elbow was pushed to his ribs.

Midoriya eating the food.

“That dish is actually great for gaining muscle mass.” Ojiro noted.

Midoriya staying up late, sitting in front of the computer and writing in his notebook.

“Go to sleep, Deku!” cried Uraraka.

Midoriya pushing a large safe. It’s hard but he’s making progress.

All Might pointing on a paragraph in one of the papers, a serious expression on his face.

Midoriya being almost crushed by large weights, All Might rushing in to help.

Midoriya dripping sweat, doing push-ups.

Midoriya sleeping with his eyes open in class, his hand writing by itself.

Midoriya eating his dish voraciously, then asking for more, his mother blinking in surprise.

Midoriya going for a run during the evening.

Midoriya panting and dripping sweat then puking on the sand. All Might shaking his head and spreading his arms.

Midoriya’s feet dragging into the sand, as he fruitlessly tries to push away a rusting truck in the heavy rain. All Might signing.

“All Might this is a freaking truck.” said Sero.

Midoriya swimming in the sea back and forth, being observed by All Might in a swimming suit in his muscle form. The beach is clean enough at this point so you can see a few girls with hearts in their eyes approaching the hero.

Midoriya lifting weights, Midoriya loading another wreck onto the same truck, that is now clean and working again.

Midoriya writing in class as his other hand squeezes a training device underneath the table.

“That’s what I call ‘plus ultra’! have you ever seen in your life something this manly?” Kirishima beamed.

“Kirishima, that’s called ‘overworking’. It’s not healthy!” Ojiro said.

“He does seem to push himself very hard...” said Iida with concern.

Midoriya being crushed under All Might’s weight as he carries him along the coast.

“I have a feeling that if Recovery Girl had seen it, All Might would be dead right now.” said Kaminari.

“Don’t worry, she doesn’t have do.” Aizawa deadpanned.

The music ended and the screen went black.

Chapter Text

The music faded into quiet forest sounds and All Might rode on a scooter along the road, while Midoriya run to keep up with him, carrying a heavy metal wreck on his shoulders.

The picture got blurry as Midoriya started making more and more distressed sounds.

The sounds stopped with a small “bang”.

All Might stopped, then turned around.

“Hey, hey what’s wrong?” he asked In disapproval. “There are only three months left!”

Midoriya was laying on his face, the wreck resting next to him.

“And I thought Aizawa Sensei was tough...” Kaminari mumbled. 

“Is that a challenge, Kaminari?” the teacher asked.

“No, Sensei!”

“You won't make it! Wanna give up? Wanna take it easy and rest today?” All Might’s harsh voice asked as Midoriya fruitlessly tried to get himself up from the floor.

All Might’s eyebrows rose and his jaw opened as he realized: ”Overwork...?”

Midoriya kept tried to pull himself forward, now by pure will, since he had no energy left in him.

“The "Aim to Pass American Dream Plan" was adjusted with your body in mind to make sure you'd make it in time for the entrance exam... You haven't been sticking to the plan, have you?” All might asked harshly.


“Please save this disaster kid, All Might.” begged Ojiro.

“Midoriya’s soul craves heroism the same way other people crave air and I crave the dark embrace of the night.” mused Tokoyamai, which made everyone to just stare at him for a moment.

'And I thought I was the melodramatic here...’ thought Aoyama.

“Overdoing it will have the opposite effect!” he scolded, “Don't you want to get in?”

“I do...” said Midoriya’s muffed voice, his face was still on the floor. “But I can't just get in... I have to work a lot more than other people...or I won't be able to catch up...“ he was shaking as he finally managed to get himself up from the floor.

He struggled with every movement but he raised his head up look at All Might, "I want to be like you. I want to become the greatest hero, like you!"

“That’s the same boundless determination that caused him to break his already broken arms in the sports festival...” Todoroki murmured In awe.



Midoriya’s previous words ringed in All Might’s ears as he realized just how serious the boy was, ”Saving people with a fearless smile. Like you...!”
‘He’s already looking far into the future, huh?’ he mused.

All Might’s muscles expended and he easily picked the dead-looking boy from the floor, “You go-getter fanboy!” He exclaimed foundly. “I like that! But if that's the case, then you really can't rush things now. But I understand your feelings. Leave it to this old guy to adjust your plan!”

“You’re not old, All Might...” Midoriya protested weakly.

The hero just laughed his cordial laughter.

“I understand Midoriya’s point but it hurts to see him damaging himself like this.” said Iida.

“We might need to keep a better eye on those two, ribbit. They’re far too similar in their lack of self preservation.” determined Tsuyu.

Scene: Takoba Municipal Beach Park, February 26.

All Might got out of his truck to the empty parking lot, it was dark outside.

‘And then, it was 6 a.m. on the day of the entrance exam.‘ Midoriya’s voice narrated.

He started walking towards the coast...and then he heard a roar.

Midoriya stood shirtless on the last pile of collected garbage, dripping sweat in front of the rising sun. His torso was ripped with muscles and he roared, loud and wild.

“I am going to watch that training montage every time I lose motivation...this is the manliest thing I have ever seen.” Kirishima had stars in his eyes.

All Might hurried to the coast, looking around in awe, “Hey, hey, hey... He even cleaned outside of where I told him to! Seriously? There's not even a speck of dust left! Seriously?!” The beach was shining brightly in the sunlight, he couldn’t believe his eyes as every piece of sand was clear. Small waves crushed on the coast.

All Might’s theme started playing. 'He finished at the last minute! More than perfectly!’

‘Oh my... Oh my...’

“..goodness!" he grew muscles and said the last part out loud.

“This beach is so beautiful, we should all go there next summer.” said Hagakure.

“It will be so fun!” said Ashido.

“Look how proud All Might is!” said Sero.

“And he has every right to be.” said Yaoyorozu.

The class gasped as Midoriya lost his balance from exhaustion and fell down from the tall pile.

All might immediately rushed to catch him, his smile didn’t look any different than usual but you could sense the pride beaming from him as he looked at the boy in his arms, ”good work.”

“All Might... I did it...” Midoriya’s voice was hoarse and a tired smile decorated his lips. “I did it!” he repeated, disbelieving.

“Yeah, you surprised me, you entertainer! Teenagers are amazing!“ All Might let Midoriya down. The green haired boy stumbled into standing, eyes still closed from fatigue.

All Might raised a phone to his face, “Here, take a look.”

On the phone’s screen there was a familiar picture, Midoriya tried to process what he sees, ”This is...”

 “It's you, ten months ago.” All Might finished the sentence. The crying boy in the picture looked small and scared, completely different than the one standing in front of him.

“So that’s why he took those pictures!” Hagakure realized.

The camera zoomed on Midoriya’s upper part, that was covered with muscles. “You did good. You really did!“

A few classmates looked away, blushing.

"The mirage of it is finally just barely visible, but you have certainly become a suitable vessel!” he spread his arms and the camera’s view shifted to show just how much trash was collected.

“And he finished right on time, too. It’s the same day as the exam.” Shoji noted.

“But he was exhausted! How did he manage to take the test in that state?” asked Ashido.

Midoriya smiled a wary smile and looked at his shaking hand, “I feel like I'm cheating...”

“Midoriya, my man, this is so not-cheating that if you touch someone who ever cheated at anything a black hole will open from the contrast and suck inside the entire universe.” said Kaminari, which gave him a few odd stares.

“You have been watching too many science fiction movies lately.” determined Jirou.

“I mean, he does have a point. Why would Midoriya feel like he’s cheating after working so hard?” wondered Iida

“You did all this for me... I'm too blessed...” his voice was choked from tears.

All Might laughed and said in his mind. 'What're you saying after all this time...It was your own hard work.’

But out loud he just patted the boy’s shoulder and teased, "We'll have to fix those leaky eyes of yours. Now, it's time for the award ceremony, Izuku Midoriya!”

“Yes, sir!“

All Might plunked one of his golden hairs and hold it up, "Something that you receive because you're lucky and something that you are given because you are recognized are different in essence. Take that to heart. This is power that you earned because of your own effort.”

Midoriya stared in awe and tears filled his eyes again, as dramatic music was playing. Then his eyebrows furrowed and his hand closed to a fist.

‘I took the reality that would be surprising even in comics in my hand...' he narrated as All Might handed him the shining hair.

“Eat this.”

The dramatic music stopped immediately.

“huh?”

The class snickered.

“Gross!”

“Why?!”

“Oh Gosh, look at Midoriya’s face!”

“I guess it makes sense, considered that quirks are a part of someone’s DNA. Midoriya will have to get All Might’s DNA somehow.” Yaoyorozu mused.

“But it’s so gross, Yaomomo!” Ashido whined.

“I mean, it’s better then the alternatives, right?” Todoroki shrugged, “It’s not as bad as consuming his spit.”

“Todoroki no...”

“It doesn't really matter what it is as long as you take in my DNA.” All Might explained awkwardly.

Jiro fist bumped Yaoyorozu for getting it right.

"It's too different from what I imagined!” Midoriya yelled.

"Now, there's no time! You'll be late for the exam!” All Might goaded.

“Come, come, come!“

The camera shifted away from them during that exchange, instead focusing on Midoriya’s familiar red snickers.

“What IS up with those snickers?” asked Kaminari.

“They’re a fashion disaster.” agreed Aoyama.

“I think they’re nice. They’re so... Deku.” mused Uraraka.

“Um, guys? Are we going to ignore the fact that Midoriya got his quirk on THE DAY OF THE ENTRANCE EXAM?!” asked Sero.

“That’s insane...” Ojiro said.

“Not as insane as running straight to a villain with no quirk and attacking him with your freaking bag.” said Kaminari.

“Or cleaning an entire beach all by yourself...” added Tsuyu

“I think I finally understand why Aizawa as been calling Midoriya ‘problem child’ this entire time.” concluded Hagakure.

Scene: the gates of UA, 08:40.

A big sign next to the door read:’U.A. High School Entrance Exam Location'

Midoriya made it to the gate, panting from running all the way. ‘I made it...’

He stepped though the big gates, grasping nervously into the strips of his school bag. ‘In the end, I didn't have time to test out the power I received from All Might.’

Midoriya covered his mouth and looked sick he remembered eating the hair, ‘I swallowed the hair, but did I really receive his power...?’ he wondered.

“Outta my way, Deku!” snapped a familiar voice.

“Kacchan!”

“Don't stand in front of me. I'll kill you.“ his eyes were dead-serious.

“M-Morning. L-Let's both do our best...“ Midoriya flinched back and stuttered. He moved his hands in front of his face randomly like he doesn’t know what to do with them.

“It’s like anger is his only emotion.” Uraraka sighed.

“It makes every time Midoriya flinched when Bakugo was around so painful when you know the context...” Yaoyorozu said.

Bakugo ignored him and kept walking,  Midoriya watched him as he walked away, surprised. 

Around Bakugou the kids whispered,

"Hey, isn't that Bakugou?”

“The one with the sludge villain?”

“Oh, he's the real thing!”

‘Ever since that day, Kacchan didn't do anything to me.‘ Midoriya realized.

“I think maybe it’s his version of an apology...” said Mineta.

Midoriya sighed and relaxed his tensed body, ‘I was just scared of him out of habit!’

He shook his head and took a deep breath. 'I'm different from before!' he turned to look at UA’s golden symbol. “Remember these past ten months! Take the first step...to being a hero!” Midoriya took one step, gaining confident....and then lost his balance and fall onto the floor!

....Only that he never hit it.

Midoriya realized he was being held in the air by a brown haired girl.

Uraraka immediately paused the video.

“It’s me! It’s me!!!!” she shouted.

“You’re on TV, ribbit.” Tsuyu reassured.

“He’s lucky you were there, he already fell on his face many times this episode.” said Jirou.

“I’m glad I met him...” she said.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Midoriya just realized he was floating and moved his legs in panic.

The girl gently put him down, clapped her hands together and sent him a sweet smile, “It's my Quirk. Sorry for using it without asking first. But it'd be bad luck if you fell, right?” she asked. Midoriya just blinked at her.

“Aren't you nervous?” she added.

Midoriya squeaked and blushed but didn’t say any real words.

“Let's do our best. See ya!" she waved him goodbye.

Midoriya stared at her back for a moment and then realized, ‘I talked to a girl!’. The words "Didn't actually talk" sparkled on the screen.

“Pfffft” Ashido laughed.

“Man and I thought I was hopeless with girls!” said Kaminari.

“’didn’t actually talk’, I love the editing in this show!” said Kirishima.

“You are very cute, Ochaco.” said Tsuyu.

Uraraka blushed.

“He was kind of a mess, but it didn’t looks like you noticed.” said Jiro.

“I thought it was just nerves from the exams...”

“I mean, you’re not wrong, he was definitely nervous about the exam.” said Kirishima and then added, "But I think it also has to do with the fact that a cute girl just talked to him.”

Uraraka squeaked and put her head in her knees, ”...it’s not like that.” her words her muffled.

She quickly started the video to avoid any more discussion.

Midoriya shouted with joy.

“You were saying?” asked Kaminari, who just stole the remote.

Yaoyorozu came to the rescue, “I think this also has to do with the fact that you were probably one of the first people to be nice to him.”

“He definitely didn’t receive a lot of kindness...yet offered it freely.” said Todoroki.

Jirou snatched the remote from Kaminari and handed it back to Uraraka, “we will do everything we need to make up for this lack of kindness.” she decided.

 Scene: "U.A. High School Hero Course-Exam Orientation"

Inside the auditorium a line of lights turned on in the sealing. A very big image of the UA symbol was projected on the screen. 

A blonde man in flashy clothes and sunglasses stood in the center of the stage. He spoke up, “welcome to my show today!"

He lifted his arms and shouted in English, "Everybody say "hey"!”

He put his hand next to his ear and waited to hear the crowd...only for no one to say a word.

His hands shook as he tried to wave it off. “What a refined response.”

“Then I'll quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exam!” he decided.

“Are you ready?” the odd man shouted in English. “Yeah”

The crowd stayed silent once again.

“Poor Present Mic, we could have been a bit more enthusiastic.” said Hagakure.

“No.” said Aizawa, a small rare smile on his lips. “It’s funnier this way.”

Midoriya practically sparkled as he gashed “It's the Voice Hero, Present Mic! Wow...! I listen to him every week on the radio. I'm so moved! All the teachers at U.A. are pro heroes!”

“Shut up.” Bakugou cut him off.

“Those sparkles are almost as shining as mien~” said Aoyama.

“As it says in the application requirements, you listeners will be conducting ten-minute mock urban battles after this!“ the voice hero continued as the screen behind him changed. The words ‘you are here’ were written in a text box from the bottom of the screen and 7 lines were drawn from it, each to a different English letter from A to G.

“You can bring whatever you want with you. After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, okay?”

No response.

“OKAY?!” he asked louder this time.

Bakugo and Midoriya who sat next to each other both looked at cards they had in their hands.

“In other words, they won't let you work with your friends, huh?” Bakugou realized.

Midoriya looked at his card.

‘Exam Ticket’
‘Examinee No.2234′
‘Test Location Battle Center B'

Then at Bakugo’s.

‘Exam Ticket’
‘Examinee No.2233′
‘Test Location Battle Center A' 

“Y-You're right. Even though our examinee numbers are consecutive, we're assigned to different battle centers.” Midoriya replied.

“Don't look. I'll kill you.” Bakugou warned, causing Midoriya to recoil. “Damn, now I can't crush you.” he added while Midoriya looked terrified.

The picture on the screen changed to a block of buildings. Present Mic continued the explanation. “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.” Three kinds of robots appeared on the screen tagged ‘1P’, ‘2P’ and ‘3P’.

A small pixelled animation started playing of Present Mic defeating different kinds of robots and earning points, like in a video game, “Your goal, dear listeners, is to use your Quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains. Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited!”

“May I ask a question?” spoke a voice from the crowed.

“Okay!”

A spotlight turned on and lighted the person in the crowed as he talked, "On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint, then U.A the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes.” The boy was tall and solemn, he pointed at a page in his hands that had 4 kinds of robots.

Uraraka paused. “Iida!!” she beamed.

“From your first moment on your screen it’s clear you’re the class president type.” said Sero.

“W-well” Iida fixed his glasses, "I was pretty nervous, so I made some unflattering assumptions back then.”

He turned around and pointed at Midoriya;“In addition, you over there with the curly hair-”

 Midoriya pointed at himself, surprised.

“-You've been muttering this whole time. I t's distracting!  If you're here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately!” his glasses shined.

Midoriya covered his mouth and thought, ‘I'm sorry...’ as a few kids snickered next to him.

“Yeesh, bro.” said Kirishima.

“It was three lines behind you, how did you even hear that?” asked Ashido.

Iida pushed his shirt collar away, "As I said, I was very nervous that day, looking back I realize my words may have been overly harsh.”

Present Mic pushed his hands down in order to calm down the teens, ”Okay, okay, Examinee Number 7111, that was a great message” he gave him a thumb up.

Another robot silhouette appeared on the screen. “The fourth type of villain is worth zero points.” Present Mic pointed out, “That guy's an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle center--

The pixelled animation showed Present Mic walking in the exam-city’s streets as he bumps into a giant robot. His character quickly run away. “An obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it, either. I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it.”

The tall boy bowed down, “Thank you very much! Please excuse the interruption!” he sat down and the spotlight turned off.

“Now that’s the Iida I know.” said Sato.

“I see... It's like the obstacles you avoid in videos games, huh?” A boy whispered.

“The whole thing is like a video game.” replied the boy next to him.

“That's all from me!” summed up Present Mic.

“Finally, I'll give you listeners a present--our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said "A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes." Go beyond.” he winked and then shouted, “Plus Ultra!” the same words appeared on the large screen.

Midoriya smiled and looked at his ticket with bright eyes as Present Mic said: “Now, everyone, good luck suffering!”

“He’s such a showman.” murmured Aizawa.

Aoyama nodded, solemnly, “I can only aspire to be at his level.”

Scene: Battle Center B, U.A Hero Course Entrance Exam.

'I-It's time to do it.’ thought Midoriya. He was standing at the end of a large group of other examees behind a very large door that leads into the fake city, waiting for it to open.

Both the browned haired girl and the glasses wearing boy were in his group, they stood there determined. ‘It's time to give everything I got from my training with All Might these past ten months. I will become.....the hero I always dreamed of being!’ Midoriya decided and then slapped himself with both hands to stop himself from shaking.

The episode ended.

Surprisingly enough, the next episode didn’t start immediately. The words “play next” were written on the black screen and under them the familiar ‘start’ triangle button icon.

“Does every episode have to end on a cliffhanger?” Complained Hagakure.

“it’s how they make sure you’ll keep watching.” explained Ojiro.

“I wasn’t in that group...is that mean they won’t show me?” asked Kaminari.

“I was there.” Aoyama sparkled happily.

“Do we even need to watch the rest?” asked Todoroki, “I mean, we all know what happened next.”

“Obviously!”

“Duh!”

“Of course!”

A few classmates answered together.

“I mean, we’re on TV!! It’s a show about us! how can we NOT watch it?” Hagakure asked excitedly.

“I wonder how long this is...” asked Shoji.

“And how did it even get here? how was it even made?” asked Ojiro.

“Black magic, obviously.” Tokoyami said flatly.

“Are we going to watch this entire thing without Midoriya and Bakugou? it doesn’t seem fair...” asked Tsuyu.

“I’m actually not sure how I feel about Bakugou right now...” said Sato.

Then Aizawa got up, ”I think that all of you should go to bed. I assume none of you want to be late to school tomorrow.”

“Of course, Aizawa-Sensei! It is very important for us to get enough sleep to have energy to go through our day! We can watch the other episodes at another time!” Iida agreed.

“But I really wanted to see me...” Hagakure murmured.

“ooh! Next time we should bring snacks!” beamed Ashido and clapped her hands.

“No one is going to believe us when we tell them about this.” said Kaminari.

“You are not going to tell this to anyone.” said Aizawa.

He went to the DVD player and took out the DVD, that worked now for some reason.

“Since I know you’re all mature and responsible enough to keep secrets, I trust that none of you will say a word about those records or the things you saw today. I will keep this thing for now, but I will bring in next time so you can continue to watch. However, I will be present during the entire time and if I find out any classified information made it’s way into someone it wasn’t supposed to reach, there will be harsh consequences.” his eyes glowed red.

“Have I made myself clear?” he put the DVD inside his pocket.

“Yes, Sensei.” they all answered.

Good, he thought. Aizawa sighed as he walked away from the dorms, tomorrow he’ll have many needed conversations to do.

Chapter Text

Hizashi Yamada’s used to kids zoning out in his class, but this was ridiculous.

It was the first period and while he can understand that his students may not be morning-people, it was like none of them was present in the classroom.

Some started whispering the moment he turned his back to them, some were just lost in thought, but almost all of them kept sneaking glances to the empty seats of Bakugou and Midoriya.

Apparently, they were asked to stay a bit for today with their homeroom teacher but Hizashi had not idea why.

So after the third time he asked a question about the text they had just read and no one could answer, he decided that was enough.

“Iida, can you please tell me what is up with your class today?” he asked him, since he knew that boy can’t lie to a teacher even to save his life.

“Uh, I, um”, the class president pulled his tie, clearly stressed. Everyone else were staring at them, so now they decided to wake up, huh?

Hizashi felt a little bad about it but kept pressuring:”Does this have to do with Bakugou and Midoriya?”

Iida went pale, but didn’t say a word.

Then, Yaoyorozu came to the rescue:”We were told not to tell, Sensei.”

Hizashi looked at every single one of them, most were averting his gaze, but no one broke.

The teacher sighed, then looked at the paper in his hand:”In that case, we will just have to read this text again .” he said tiredly, accepting that he’s not going to get anything done with this class today.

He will just have to ask Shota about it.

*************************

Shota Aizawa was tired.

It wasn’t anything new, he was always tired. But just thinking about confronting 4 different people about innormorous secrets he had to find out about from a magical TV show made him want to curl back to bed.

He told Bakugou and Midoriya to stay in the dorms for today, at least til he finish talking to them. Needless to say neither were happy about it, but they didn’t argue.

Midoriya seemed terrified but that wasn’t surprising. What was, was the fact that Bakugou seemed pretty scared as well, though he did a better job hiding it.

He decided to start with Midoriya, since all the things he found out about were directly related to him in one way or another.

Shota asked him if he would rather talk in his office, or if he preferred to do so in his own room.

“I, uh, don’t really want to see anyone now…” admitted the green-haired boy.

His room was it, then.

Midoriya sat on his bed and Shota sat in the chair in front of it. The teacher wasn’t even a tad surprised when he found out the room was practically an All Might shrine.

He looked at Midoriya, who looked like he was about to be executed. Shota wondered if there was any way to make this any easier.

When he couldn’t find one, he decided to cut to the chase,: ”Since you left early I should fill you in on what we have seen last night. I still have no explanation how this record of said events exists but I am sure it couldn’t have been your doing and that you would rather to keep it as a secret. We have watched 3 ‘episodes’ in a TV show format narrated by you, which includes the events that led to the entrance exam. Among them we have seen your diagnose as quirkless, the poor treatment you received as a result, your meeting with All Might, and your training under his wings before inheriting his quirk, ‘One For All’.”

Now the problem child looked like he was already executed, his face lost all color and he started muttering uncontrollably, his face hid in his hands,:”I messed up, I messed up I messed up, I failed All Might...I forgot it happened this day, I am going to be kicked out I-”

He gasped for air as Shota’s hand rest on his shoulder,: ”you haven’t messed up and you aren’t going to be expelled.” Midoriya’s eyes widened in shock, “All Might has gave you a responsibility no child should have, then asked you to keep it a secret from everyone else. Even me. Am I wrong?”

“N-no but, I had to keep it a secret! All Might said it can be dangerous for the people who know it a-and I didn’t want people to know our connection and blame me for not earning my place here…” Midoriya stuttered, looking at his lap.

“Problem child, I am your teacher. What is my job as your teacher?” the erasure hero asked.

“T-to teach me…?” he replied, dumbfounded.

“Yes, but also to protect you. As long as you are a UA student you are under my care and I am here to help you to the best of my abilities. But keeping the fact that you have had your quirk for less than a year now and just started to learn how to master it, or that you used to be bullied by Bakugou, the same person I kept teaming you up with in an attempt to get you to finally get along, do you realize how it makes it harder for me to do my job?”

Midoriya looked guilty but still tried to protest,: “I could do it by myself...I got better control in my quirk and Kacchan isn’t so bad anymore.”

“That’s not the point. Just because you could do it by yourself doesn’t mean you should have. The scars on your arms, your relationship with Bakugou, the one I always thought of as two equal rivals-”

“We are rivals!” Midoriya cut his speech, he was shaking but went on, “I worked so hard for him to see me as his equal instead of a pebble on his road a-and I am not going to give up on that just because I used to ...I used to be…” he couldn’t bring himself to say the last part.

“That’s not what I meant.” said Shota, his tone gentle. “I am not saying you’re not equal rivals now . I am saying that from what I saw, for years he has harassed you while you had no ability to defend yourself. Sometimes with the backup of a group, or of the environment you both grew up in. That wasn’t rivalry, it was bullying.”

Midoriya looked miserable, but he wasn’t denying what Shota said.

“I want you to know that it wasn’t ok. Quirkless or not, no one deserves to go through what you did. Midoriya I…” he took a deep breath: ”I saw the time he suggested you will jump off a roof.”

The boy flinched.

“If I had known that, he would have never made it to UA. We have a very clear policy of zero tolerance for bullying here.”

Midoriya gasped, ”You can’t expel Kacchan!”

“We can’t have a hero who thinks this is an acceptable way to treat people, even if he sees them as beneath him. And I know what I’ve seen is probably just a small part of everything he’s done. It wouldn’t be fair for anyone to reward this behavior and especially not for you.”

“But he’s changed! He- he was young so he did stupid things because everyone told him it was ok, he didn’t know any better! He worked so hard for it, he’s going to be a great hero one day, don’t you see his potential? If it’s really about me, don’t I get a say in it too?”

Shota paused for a moment, Bakugou definitely has potential, and he hated expelling kids with potential. However, he couldn’t just let it go so easily. ”Do you really believe he deserves a second chance?”

“Yes.” there was no hesitation in his answer. “The hero course won’t be the same without him. He helps me get better every day.”

He sighed, but knew that if he wants to make this kid start trusting the adults in his life, he should show him he deserves that trust. “I will take that into consideration. However, expelled or not, there will be consequences to his actions, and same for your junior high school. Also, we are going to have a talk in All Might.”

Midoriya went pale again but before he could protest Shota said: “I am going to make it clear that the secret was revealed in circumstances that were out of control and you are not at fault here. I have also made sure the class won’t say a word about it to anyone.”

“They know too…” Midoriya looked like he was about to faint as he realized.

“Yes, and I know it’s not what you wanted, I am sorry you had to have it revealed to us against your will, But I will make sure that there will be no lasting damage from it.”

Shota got up from his chair and started walking to the door, “You can go back to class now, or stay in for today if you want to.” he said but then stopped at the door, saying one more thing before leaving: ”And, Midoriya? I know it’s hard for you but you are going to have to learn to trust me with your problems.”

The boy stared at him after he left, trying to process the conversation he just had.

*****************

Katsuki hasn’t really gone to bed that night. He means, he had, but his curiosity got the better of him. A show about them? What was Shitty Hair talking about?

So he stood in the corridor, far enough not to be seen but close enough to hear. He hasn’t heard everything from the TV, but he heard the reactions.

And they gave him anything he needed to know.

A big part of him wanted to blast off all those extras for the way they dared talk about him when he wasn’t there, but a bigger part knew he was done for.

He saw Deku’s agitated face from his hiding place when he went back to his dorm, he was small in a way he hasn’t seen him since middle school.

He heard them shouting about the things he did, gasping when the secret of “One For All” was revealed to them. Stupid Deku wasn’t even there to stop them from finding out, some “secret keeper” he was.

But well, neither was Katuski. He was too late when he heard them talking about ‘passing on a quirk’ and figured there was nothing he could do to stop the reveal. He failed All Might. Again.

But Katsuki knew that it was the least of his problems. He wasn’t stupid, he knew things here were different than in middle school. There were already rumors in the news that he was villainous ever since he was kidnapped by the league, so learning he hurt their precious little nerd so much, no one would doubt that anymore.

Then Aizawa-Sensei said he wanted to talk to him and Deku and well, he was ready to pack his things.

He tried not to let anything show when his teacher went inside his room, he didn’t want any of the extras to give him nasty looks before he gets expelled so he rathered it to happen in there and not in the office.

“Bakugou.” Aizawa greeted in his usual dry voice.

Katsuki hasn’t replied.

Aizawa sighed, “I don’t know what do you know about what we watched last night but-”

“I know everything, just get to the point.” Bakugou cut off his speech. No need to drag it out.

Aizawa didn’t react to the interruption, “I know about what happened between you and Midoriya during middle school. This behavior was in no way acceptable and there are will be consequences for that. I spoke to Midoriya before and-”

Katuski couldn’t take it anymore, ”So what the fuck are you gonna do, huh? Expel me? Go ahead.” he couldn't meet his eyes.

This time, the teacher has reacted to the interruption: “Mind your language, I am not planning on expelling you today but that can still change so sit down and let me speak.”

Huh?

Bakugou blinked.

“Like I said, your behavior was unacceptable and in no way fit of a hero. It’s clear Midoriya has long, lasting damage as a result from your treatment and it’s only by luck and his own choices that nothing far worse happened.”

‘Something far worse’....

Bakugo still remembers his words that day.

‘if you wanna be a hero that badly, there’s a quick way to do it. Believe that you’ll be born with a Quirk in your next life and take a last chance dive off the roof.’

But he never meant it, not really. Deku was just a part of his life. Annoying, surely, but still a part. And if there was one thing consistent about him was that no matter what he did to him, he would always bounce back. Katsuki pushed him away, but he came back.

He started throwing insults years ago, trying to make it clear that they weren’t friends anymore since this stupid kid wouldn’t take a hint, but he was still there, with this dumb smile and hand reached to help him get up every time he fell.

He blasted him with his quirk? Deku just went back to school the next day, like nothing happened.

He told him to jump off a roof? Deku responded by rushing in to a villain while he had no powers and trying to help him yet again.

When Katsuki saw him in the UA entrance after he made it clear he better not stand in his way again, he wasn’t even surprised.

It was just who he is.

So he never really stopped to think about the ‘what if’s.

What if Deku had a limit to how much he could take?

What if he had taken his words a bit too seriously?

What if…

Thinking about Deku not being a part of his life anymore, not because he left, but because he just wasn’t anymore…

“I can see you finally begin to understand.” The hero said.

“H-he wouldn’t have.” said Katuski, he refused to believe it. “Deku’s stubborn as heck.” He wasn’t happy about it but decided to censor himself for now.

“I know you didn’t think he would actually do it, and thank god, he didn’t. But that doesn’t change the fact that he could have. He had to live in a discriminating society in a school which saw him as invisible, suffering daily harassments from you. Someone he thought of as a friend. Those things leave a mark on you, and not just the physical ones from your quirk. And that, Bakugou, is definitely enough for a person to snap. He could also have chose a different approach, becoming resentful of the hero society and work against it.”

Katsuki laughed. “If you think Deku could have been a villain, you don’t know him at all. The nerd has dreamed of being a hero his entire life.”

“You would be surprised of how many villains started the same way.”

Katsuki sighed, ”I hurt him. I know I that. And I know I shouldn’t have, I’m not making excuses for that crap. So why are you not kicking me out?” he honestly wanted to know.

“If it was just me you would have had your stuff packed already, but it’s not just me here.” He paused for a bit, and then continued, “Midoriya asked me not to. He thinks you deserves a second chance.”

The blonde teen scoffed, “Of course he did…”

“And that boy needs to know he will be listened to here. Too many times he carried something no one should deal with alone, especially not in his age, because he didn’t trust the adults around him to help.”

“One For All…” Katsuki realized, since there was no point hiding it now.

“Yes, that’s one example. But he wants you to stay here so this time I am going to consider his feelings.” he said and just of course Deku saved his ass. It made him mad, how is it that he never gives up? Not even on him, even though he must know he deserves it.

“But just because you’re not expelled doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences for your actions. You are forbidden from using your quirk anywhere near Midoriya for the next foreseen future, for once. And you are going to take anger management lessons, I will make sure of that. Also, if I’ll hear that you’ve done anything like what you used to again, you’re done here, is that clear?”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Good. Then this conversation is over, you can go back to your class now.”

************

Izuku actually did want to stay in for the day. In fact, he also wanted to stay in tomorrow, and for all the days after that.

But he knew he couldn’t avoid it forever.

So he got ready and started walking to class.

They know. They know everything.

They saw him cower beneath Kacchan’s burning hand on his shoulder, they saw him curling against a wall begging for mercy, they saw him being laughed at by everyone else.

They know he was quirkess.

They know his powers are borrowed, powers he struggled so much to make his own but will they ever see it that way?

Maybe they’ll think he’s a cheater. Just an quirkless imposter who tricked his way into the hero course and tried to act like he belonged there.

His steps were heavy, dreading what will come next.

But Aizawa told him he wouldn’t be expelled, and All Might also wouldn’t let it happen, so it shouldn’t matter what they think, right?

He has been dealing with it since he was 4, he can do it again.

The thought made tears form in the corner of his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away.

‘Maybe it would be different here’

a small hopeful voice made its way into his mind.

‘They were pretty understanding before you left.’

Sure but how much have they seen after that? And maybe they were just hiding what they really thought about him because they didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Izuku opened the classroom’s door 5 minutes before the first period was over...and immediately got crushed with hugs.

“Midoriya!” They all yelled, smothering him with affection.

“Huh?” he asked underneath the pile, dumbfounded.

They got off of him, which helped him breath better now that his lunges were no longer crushed. Present Mic looked as surprised as Izuku felt.

“You’re ok!” yelled Uraraka and raise her hands.

“You are ok, right?” Iida made sure, holding his shoulders.

“Um, yes, I-I guess.”

“We know, Midoriya. We know everything.” Said Yaoyorozu, a small, sad smile on her lips.

“That’s very nice.” Said Present Mic, “But can anyone explain to me what’s going on?”

Everyone stared at him for a minute, they all seemed to forget he was still there.

When they haven’t said a word, he sighed. “ Fine. Class dismissed, then.” he said, defeated. The voice hero muttered on his way out,”Some English lesson it was...those kids and their secrets…”

He closed his door behind him.

Then the chatter started again.

“I can’t believe you got your quirk from All Might! It’s so cool!” cried Hagakure.

“Called it.” said Tsuyu,

“And I can’t believe Bakugou has done all of this to you! You should have told us, Deku!” said Uraraka, gripping her fist in his hand with fire burning in her eyes.

“I’m sorry I hid all of this from you...I know you must think I’m pathetic now-”

“Pathetic?! Dude, are you kidding? I’ve never seen anything as manly as you rushing in to save Bakugou that day! And then you cleaned the entire beach!” Kirishima’s eyes brightened and he gave Izuku a strong and enthusiastic handshake, “You’re basically, the definition of heroic.”

“I, what? no!” Izuku protested. “I was just a quirkless fanboy who got lucky enough to catch the attention of All Might, so I’ve done everything I could to deserve it. I’m not anything special.”

“Midoriya. You have been keeping up with the rest of us despite having your quirk for less than a year.” Todoroki deadpanned, “That’s incredible.”

“All Might passed you his power because he recognized you were made of a true hero material. You deserve that power, Midoriya. And you made it your own.” said Iida.

“I…” He started crying, why is he always crying? “I don’t deserve you guys… You know I was quirkless, and you know I kept this and so many things from you, and that’s your reaction?” his voice broke.

“We don’t care that you were quirkless.” Ojiro said gently. “It doesn’t make you any less than who you are.”

“And we know you had to keep All Might’s source of power a secret.” Added Ashido.

“We won’t tell a soul. Nos lèvres sont scellées.” promised Aoyama.

Izuku was now crying harder. As much as he changed those last few months, a small part of him always feared that if the truth will be revealed, his friends won’t look at him the same way. But now that they know, they’ve been nothing but supportive.

“We’re sorry we made you feel like we would look down on you if you told us.” Uraraka looked regretful. “You’ve always been so amazing, Deku. You deserve to know that.”

“No, it’s not your fault. I should have known you were different. You were always there for me, I love you all so much.”

Yaoyorozu offered him a tissue box, but not one she made. She knew he tended to cry easily so she always had one with her. This knowledge made him need the tissues even more.

They all hugged him again.

“I’m actually glad you know.” Izuku confessed after calming down for a bit, “It was pretty hard to keep it from you for so long.”

“We’ll do everything we can to help, we promise.” said Shoji.

The chat went on, And Izuku shared some funny stories he had about the 10 months he spent training with All Might, beaming while everyone were listening with interest.

And Then Kacchan opened the door.

Chapter Text

When Bakugo arrived to class, everyone went silent. They just stared at him. 

Deku was the first one to speak, "Kacchan! Is that mean you're-" 

"I'm staying." he cut him off, but avoided his gaze. Instead, he shot an angry look for the rest of the class, "what are you all staring at, idiots?" 

He went to his desk and threw his bag at his seat. 

Ochaco lifted her chin a bit and stepped forward, looking directly at Bakugo. "We know what you've done to Deku." She said. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" 

He narrowed the distance between them, getting dangerously close. "I say that you should mind your own business, Round Face." 

Rage flashed on her face. "That's it. You're going down, Bakugo!" she pushed him.

At least 5 students rushed to diffuse the situation. 

"Uraraka, no!" Deku gently restrained her. "Please, it's ok." 

Wisely, he avoided her hands, so she couldn't use them to float him away. That didn't stop her from trying. "It's not ok, Deku! He hurt you so much!" 

Iida tried to reason with her, "You can get suspended, is it worth it?" 

"YES!" 

Meanwhile the entire Bakusquad tried to restrain Bakugo, who surprisingly enough wasn't trying to blast them off when struggling to get out of their grip. "Get off me you fuckers!".

When he finally broke free, Ochaco was ready to continue the fight but Bakugo just left the classroom, slamming the door close. 

Kirishima hurried after him, "Bakugo, wait!" 

Ochaco was furious. She chose to direct that fury first at Iida. "Why haven't you backed me up? I thought we agreed on this."

Iida looked down. "I did, but then I thought about this. Aizawa-Sense watched the same thing we did, and he talked to Bakugo about it. He probably already punished him. And Midoriya didn't want us to attack him either."

"But Deku forgive everyone ! And Aizawa didn't even expel him! And you've seen how he reacted when he arrived, I bet he's not even sorry!" 

Deku put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with a sad smile. "Thank you for wanting to protect me, Uraraka. Before you, I never had a friend who had my back like this. But I don't want you to get hurt because of me, I can protect myself now." he then looked at the door. "And I can handle Kacchan. He's not the same way he was in middle school, I don't want to reopen old wounds."

Ochaco's heart hurt, she bite her lip, "That doesn't mean you have to forgive him."

"I know, and I'm still not sure I do. But I don't want a revenge. I just want… A new beginning. Where both of us just do the best we can to become heroes, the way we used to dream about when we were little. Is that alright?" 

She pulled him in for a hug. "Of course it is. I'm sorry, Deku." She buried her her into his shoulder.

He petted her head. "It's alright, Uraraka."

***************

Eijiro run after Bakugo, who quickly stomped away from the classroom. 

"Bakugo, wait!" 

"Leave me alone, Shitty hair." he hasn't even turned around. 

Eijiro caught up with him. "Please, I just want to talk." he touched the angry boy's shoulder and made him face Eijiro. 

"Don't want to hear it. I don't care what you, or any of the other extras think!" Bakugo snapped.

"Well, too bad!" Eijiro snapped back. "Because we care about you! You're my friend, Bakugo. And yes, Uraraka shouldn't have started a fight like this but I'm not going to let you to just storm away from your problems."

Eijiro didn't even get to blink before Bakugo grabbed him from the collar of his shirt. "Who the fuck do think you're saying is running away?"

Eijiro didn't even flinch, he looked right into Bakugo's red eyes. "You." he released himself from the grip." Look, the class is pretty hostile to you right now and honestly, I get it. What you did was, pretty messed up, man. And… I've always kind of looked up to you but I have to know… do you even feel bad about it?"

Bakugo scoffed. Then, after a moment, he looked right at him, and looked in a way Eijiro rarely saw before: vulnerable.

"I told him to kill himself, Kirishima." he said, then laughed. It was a dry, desperate sound, Bakugo clenched his hair, looking at Eijiro with a crooked smile. “I should have been expelled. He-he asked them not to. I told him to kill himself and he begged for me to get a second chance. How fucked up is that?”

Eijiro didn’t know what to say to that.

But Bakugo didn’t wait for an answer. “No matter what I did to him, he just wouldn’t give up. No matter how many times I told him that I don’t need his help, that I was stronger than he could ever dream to be and that I didn’t need his pity… ”

He sat down, knees curled up against his chest. “He could have died and it would have been my fault . I pushed him around and Aizawa said it could have been enough for him to actually do that.”

Eijiro sat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “Yes, and it’s messed up, but he didn’t . He’s here now, to annoy the crap out of you and offer to help you whether you like it or not.” He tried to send him a comforting smile. “If he asked for you to stay it must means he wants you to have a second chance.”

“But I don’t deserve a second chance.” said Bakugo. And Eijiro knew that if Bakugo was anything, it was fair. He wouldn’t take anything he doesn’t feel like he’s earned.

Eijiro smiled at him. “Then...maybe you can try to deserve it? What has Aizawa-Sensei told you?”

“That I need to go to anger-management lessons.” He said with disdain.

“I dunno, sounds like a good idea, bro. Go to those lessons, apologize to Midoriya, try to be better.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes, “Not that it would help much with the other extras. Why are you even here? Why do you care?”

“Because we’re friends man, even if you don’t want to admit it. And friends look after each other. Even if they make mistakes. And the rest of the class...I think they’ll be a little cold to you for a while but overall it’s Midoriya’s decision whether to forgive you or not. And if he’s ok with you they’ll be too.”

The bell ringed, indicating that they break is over.

Eijiro patted Bakugo’s back, then stood up. “Come on dude, let’s go back.”

Bakugo hasn’t said a thing, but he got up as well.

***************

Toshinori didn’t know what to expect when Aizawa said that they need to talk, but he knew it had to be important.

He also didn’t expect young Midoriya to be there, maybe the boy got himself in troubles again? It was an open secret at this point that he and young Midoriya were practically close, even if people didn’t know why exactly. So maybe Aizawa thought he should know about the boy’s situation. This would also explain the nervous look on the hero student’s face, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Toshinori hoped it wasn’t anything too serious but knew that whatever it may be, he would be there to support his boy.

“Hello, Yagi.” greeted Aizawa as he and Midoriya entered the room.

Toshinori shot the two a smile, hoping it could calm the kid’s nerves. “Hello Aizawa, I understand that you wanted to talk to me about something, does it have to do with young Midoriya here?”

“Yes.” he replied shortly, then closed the door behind him.

Aizawa went to sit in front of All Might, gesturing Midoriya join them.

Midoriya burst, talking so quickly it was hard to follow. ”I am so, so sorry All Might! I didn’t mean it, I should have stayed that night, I could have avoided this! I will do everything to fix this, I promise. I failed yo-”

He then got cut off by the teacher besides him, who thankfully made things clearer. “As a result of circumstances outside of anyone’s control, the source of Midoriya’s quirk got revealed to his class and I. This is in no way Midoriya’s fault, but we thought it would be good to let you know.”

Midoriya winced. He was shaking as if he was waiting to be yelled at.

“Oh dear, that is pretty surprising.” said Toshinori. For some unknown reason he was more worried about Midoriya’s state than One For All's secret, for the moment. “May I know what those circumstances were?”

Aizawa replied, drily as always, “This is none of your concern.”

But Toshinori wasn’t going to have it. “Consider the fact that this about my successor and my used-to-be quirk, I think this is very much my concern.” he let a trace of anger reach his tone.

Aizawa sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he managed to tell All Might with a completely straight face one of the strangest things he’s heard. Midoriya hasn’t contradicted his speech once, but looked incredibly guilty the entire time.

“I see…” Toshinori said in the end of it, trying to make sense of the entire thing. “So this, DVD, is now in your place?”

“Yes.” Aizawa confirmed.

“And no one has any idea where did it come from?” he made sure.

“No.”

“And now the entire class knows.” All Might summed up. He started to get why Aizawa looked so tired. “This is unfortunate but I can see that it was just an accident. I don’t blame you, my boy.” To that, young Midoriya exhaled for maybe the first time in the last few minutes.

“Seems like I am going to have a talk with them on how serious this matter is and why it should stay a secret.” he continued.

“I already have. No one will say a word if they want to study here next year as well.” Reassured Aizawa. “But that leads us to the second topic: why have you kept this a secret from the teachers as well?” he gave him a sharp look.

All Might started sweating, “We-well, you see, I thought the less people to know, the better. Principle Nezu and recovery girl know, but only them. I didn’t think it was vital for anyone else to know.”

Aizawa paused. Then, he repeated what Toshinori just said, “You didn’t think. It was vital, for the people in charge of this boy’s hero training to know he only had his quirk from the start of the school year?” The words were so sharp they felt like knives.

Toshinori sweated even more, “I-I, never imagined he would struggle controlling it so much! I thought I could handle mentoring him myself.”

“ugh, you two are far too similar. You are giving him a bad example, Yagi. Don’t you get that this is a far too large responsibility for one person? One kid? Pressuring him to be the ‘next symbol of peace’ when he hasn’t even graduated high school?”

“But I want to be the next symbol of peace!” Midoriya intervened in the conversation for the first time. “I always wanted to save people like All Might, and then I got this chance, so I want to make it worth something. People are scared, I want to give them hope. And All Might has been a really good mentor, I got a lot better since the first time I used One For All and I continue to improve. I can do it.”

Toshinori felt his heart warming when he heard those words. Ever since that first day, he knew there was something about this kid. And he keeps being proven right again and again.

“All Might got one thing right, problem child.” Aizawa said. “Your heart is so big you would have managed to get yourself in dangerous situations to save people regardless of what anyone told you. At least now you have the powers to probably-not-get-killed while you’re there. I am only mad because I could have helped you better if I knew.”

“You also have to consider that young Midoriya could have been blamed of receiving a special treatment if the teachers knew our connection. I knew he wanted to prove his worth by himself.” All Might argued.

“No one here in UA gets or gives special treatment. Had Midoriya not showed a potential to be a hero, I would have kicked him out in the first day.”

All Might grinned in victory. “So you admit it! You admit he has potential!” he pointed at him.

Midoriya turned red, and then redder when Aizawa said, “I have. I thought I made it clear.” Then he added, “Let’s say that from now on, you two are going to tell me everything related to this quirk and any troubles you have with it, is that alright?”

The boy’s head turned to all might with a questioning expression, waiting to get a permission. “I agree if that’s what you think is best, my boy.”

Then, Midoriya turned to Aizawa:” Then I will. Thank you so much, Sensei.”

All Might could see a hint of a smile on the dark haired man’s face, but it was soon erased when he looked at him again. “That’s good, but I am still not done with you, Yagi. Can you please explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to contain a dangerous villain inside a plastic bottle you put in your pocket? Or why your first instinct to finding out a kid is stuck to your leg is trying to get rid of him mid air? ”

“Wha-”

*********************

Shota reported the events to the principal, who approved all of his decisions after hearing his reasons.

Only one thing was left: What to do with Aldera Junior High.

Of course, what Shota wanted to do was confront them about the information he had but he can’t exactly tell them where he got it from.

Principal Nezu gave him a sinister smile when he raised that problem, seems like at least this problem will be taken care of.

*************

After school, everyone were gathered in the central room. They all looked at Izuku, who stood in front of a board.

“So, I have a few theories on where this DVD came from if you would like to hear them.” he said.

“Please do, I have so many questions.” said Ojiro.

Izuku pointed out to the first point on his list: Time Travel.

“My first theory was that this DVD came here from the future, considered that I have no memory of narrating any of this despite it being my voice. Maybe, a time travel quirk let me send this message to the past, for us to watch together and learn from our experiences.”

“Is that mean you’ll really be the ‘greatest hero’?” asked Ashido while Kacchan scoffed.
“As if!” he replied.

Izuku got flustered.”I don’t k-know? Maybe? I mean, I want to hope but I can’t say for sure a-and all of you are pretty amazing as well and-”

“Midoriya. Breath.” Said Jiro.

He took a deep breath and went on.:”However, it doesn’t explain many things. Even if a quirk was used to record my memories somehow, there were scenes where I wasn’t even present, along with the inner voices of other people and some animation effects. Which leads us to the second theory.”

He pointed on the board. “Alternative universe.”

“Isn’t all of that a little too sci-fie?” asked Hagakure.

Kaminari shrugged. “I mean, at least it’s an explanation.”

Yaorazou tucked her hair behind her ear. “While alternative universes are a popular concept in the science fiction genre, the idea came from real science-based theories. The universe is infinite after all, there may be countless of “alternative versions” of us out there. However, no one ever found a proof to those theories.” 

“Thank you for explaining this so well, Yaorazou.” said Izuku.

“Wait, so there’s an alternative universe where we’re just a TV show characters? or...actors, or something? That’s mind blowing.” said Sato.

“But if that DVD is from an alternative universe, how did it even arrive here? And why?” asked Uraraka.

Izuku shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe there’s a quirk that can transfer objects from alternative dimensions? That could be so cool. The possibilities are endless.”

“In other words, you have no answer.” Todoroki said flatly.

Izuku started sweating, “No, not really…”

“Wait.” Said Tokoyami. “There’s still my theory.”

“Oh, right.” Izuku pointed at the last sentence on the board: Black Magic.

“Seriously?!” asked Mineta.

“I don’t actually know enough about it, I wrote it because Tokoyami insisted. So I’ll just let him explain from now on.” Izuku sat down, passing the pointer to Dark Shadow who held it in his mouth.

“Black Magic can explain it all: The mysterious DVD that appeared out of nowhere, containing secrets known to few, the TV and remote who got stuck just when we wanted to stop watching. This DVD came to us from an alternative realem-the dark one. It’s purpose is to force us watch our lowest moments and relive them.”

Everyone just stared at him for a while, til Tsuyu noted:”But no one’s forcing us to do anything. We choose to watch that.”

Tokoyami hasn’t lost his cool. “curiosity is both man’s greatest ally and his greatest enemy.”

Then, Kacchan decided he had it. “CAN YOU NERDS STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS STUPID DVD?! Who cares where it came from?! It’s here now and we can either watch it or not.”

Shoji petted his chin. “Actually, we probably should talk about what we should do next. We all agreed to continue to watch the show, but it was without Bakugo and Midoriya. We need to make sure they’re ok with it.”

Everyone’s eyes turned first to Izuku, who got nervous as a result. “I-I mean, I was pretty overwhelmed before but if the show will be about the events since I got into the UA I should be good? Also I don’t really want to be the reason why you won’t get to watch something you like. And if the show is from my perspective you all will get to see how amazing you are, because that’s how I see you.”

“Aww, Deku!” Uraraka hugged him.

Iida smiled at him as well. “We appreciate your permission, Midoriya. I hope you could see how amazing you are as well.”

“What about Bakugo?” asked Todoroki, and everyone’s gaze turned to Kacchan now.

He got up from the couch. “Tch, as if I care what you morons do in your free time. But don’t expect me to watch this nonsense as well. I have better things to do.”

“Then it settled.” said Iida. “We should tell Aizawa our decision.”

Chapter Text

At Saturday, everyone (but Bakugou) prepared for movie night. There were snacks, sleeping bags in case they get too tired to go back to their dorms (though Iida insisted that they should at least brush their teeth before falling asleep) and most importantly: Aizawa. Who, as promised, brought the DVD.

“Are you sure you don’t want to watch an actual movie or something?” the teacher asked, but he knew it was no use. “I see enough of you at school hours I don’t need to watch a show about you as well.”

Their eager smiles were enough of an answer to that question, so he just put the damn thing in the player.

Midoriya had the remote this time. He pressed play.

“U.A. High School's hero course. A training school for those whose goal is to acquire h the necessary qualifications needed for pro heroes.” Midoriya’s familiar voice narrated.

“Oh great, more exposition.” deadpanned Jirou.

“It’s still feels so weird to hear and watch myself like that…” murmured Midoriya

“Among similar courses across the country, theirs is the most popular and most competitive, a nd their acceptance rate is less than one in three hundred every year.

The hero who refused a National Honor Award--

The number one hero All Might.

The hero who resolved the most incidents in history--

The Fiery Hero Endeavor.

The winner of the Best Jeanist award eight years in a row--

Best Jeanist.”

“ Remind me why this is an award again?” asked Tokoyami.

"Some people should just be celebrated for how good they look in jeans." said Aoyama.

“Graduating from U.A. is a requirement for becoming a great hero. And so I also tackled the U.A. entrance exam. I will take...

the first step toward my dream of becoming a hero!”

The theme song began.

“I wasn’t able to process it before but you guys were right, we do look pretty cool while we fight.” Midoriya admitted and was followed by a few cheers and pats on his back. They all knew how embarrassing all of this was for him so they’re glad he can not only watch but to enjoy it as well.

Upbeat music started playing. A shot of 7 fake cities was filmed from the top, each was a different battle center. Then, zoomed on one of them- Battle Center B.

The group of examinees stood behind the giant door, you could hear their astounded chatter.

“What is this?”

“It's like a city!”

“They have more than one of these on the school grounds?”

“U.A.'s amazing!”

“I remember seeing UA for the first time, it feels like years ago…” recalled Uraraka.

“pfft yeah, it’s easy to get used to how ridiculously huge this school is.” said Sero.

The camera focused on Midoriya, wearing his training outfit from this morning. He looked incredibly stressed.

A flashback appeared of Present Mic explaining the rules to the exam.

‘Mock battles’...echoed Midoriya in his mind.

the boy took a looked at the other teens who were taking the test, they haven’t looked stressed at all.

‘How can everyone be so confident? Aren't they nervous?’ h e wondered.

One of them was Shoji, who admitted, “Actually Midoriya, I was pretty nervous as well at that time, you’ve just seen me from the back so you didn’t notice.”

“Oh.” Midoriya replied.

“I think we were all nervous back then.” said Uraraka with a sweet smile.

‘They even have equipment to go with their Quirks…’ his internal monologue went on as he noticed a blonde boy with a confident smile wearing a belt.

Midoriya’s expression softened, now that he knew what the belt was really for.

Then, he spotted the brown haired girl in the crowd.

‘Oh it's the person I met at the school gates! The nice person!’

Ashido awwed.

‘She was assigned to the same battle center huh? Oh yeah I have to thank her for earlier.’ 

“Midoriya you’re too pure.” said Ojiro.

Midoriya walked slowly to her direction but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the glasses wearing boy. He flinched. ‘He’s here too?!’

“That girl appears to be trying to focus.” he said as the camera zoomed on the girl, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

“See? I told you you weren’t the only one who was nervous.” she said encouragingly.

“What are you doing here? Are you taking the entrance exam to interfere with everyone else?” the boy scolded.

“I’m so sorry for interfering that day!” Midoriya bowed to Iida, Uraraka and the rest of the class.

Iida straightened the boy’s posture “No need. I was nervous as well that day and took it on you. That was unfair of me to do so and I deeply apologize for that.” He bowed instead.

Midoriya got flustered. “N-no, it’s fine, you were right anyway, I should have let you all focus.” He bowed again.

Since Bakugou wasn’t here for the moment, Jirou took it upon herself to put an end to this. “Neither of you is angry and you’re both very sorry, we get it, ok? Now can we please keep watching?”

They both got up and said in union, ”Yes, sorry!”

“N-N-No of course not…” Midoriya said in panic, waving his hands.

“That guy's the one who was about to trip in front of the school gates right?” one of the teens asked.

“The one who winced after being called out.” A boy added.

“At the very least we have one less rival to worry about huh?”

Midoriya cringed hearing that.

“Lucky for us.” They all thought, as the word ‘lucky’ sparkled at the top of the screen.

‘I feel like the others think they lucked out because I'm here…’ thought Midoriya, as if reading their minds.

“I don’t think those people consider themselves very lucky now.” said Todoroki, which made Midoriya smile.

“I completely agree.” said Aoyama then added, “On a non-related note, I must say I approve this show’s graphic design.”

“Okay start!” declared Present Mic, who stood on a top of a high tower. Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.

“What's wrong? There are no countdowns in real fights!” He asked, his voice as loud as with a megaphone.

“He’s right, you know.” said Aizawa, which the others sarcastically thought was very helpful.

“Run run! The die has been cast you know!” He goaded.

“Huh?” Asked Midoriya, then turned around. “Huh?”

He noticed he was the only one there.

“What?!” he yelled, as everyone sprinted forward.

“I... I'm behind already!” he realized as he hurried after them.

Title Sequel: "Episode 4- Start Line"

“A fitting name.” said Tokoyami.

‘I'm behind!’ Thought Midoriya, running as fast as he can.

‘Calm down calm down. It's fine. It's fine!’

The scene changed as he remembered Dagoba’s beach.

‘I have All Might with me.’

As if on a sign, All Might burst open the door.

“Sorry I’m late!” he yelled but then quickly lowered his tone as he realized he may be interrupting.

“All Might, are you watching with us too?” asked Koda.

“Yes!” He confirmed cheerfully. “Aizawa filled me in so I asked if I can join and he said yes.”

“You wouldn’t accept a ‘no’ anyway.” Aizawa said flatly.

All Might sat behind with the rest of the class, and was offered popcorn by Ashido, which he politely declined.

“You haven’t miss much, All Might.” said Yaoyorozu.

Midoriya’s features twisted and he closed his eyes as something made its way down his throat. He looked nauseous.

“Oh, I remember that!” All Might babbled.

“All right! You swallowed the hair right?” asked the hero.

Almost everyone in the room made grossed-out sounds.

“I can’t believe you actually did that!” Kaminari friendly-punched him in the shoulder.

“That’s so gross.” said Hagakure.

“It was necessary.” said All Might.

Midoriya himself looked sick.

The green-haired boy looked at his hands, as if expecting to see power rushing in them. “I don't feel any different though…” he said when nothing happened.

All Might laughed, “Of course not! What do you think the stomach does?”

He turned to look at a cloak in the beach-park. It showed the hour 06:15.

“Well you'll feel something in two or three hours.”

“But All Might, why have you only passed him your quirk the day of the test? Couldn’t you do it at least a week before?” asked Uraraka.

The man rubbed the back of his head. “This quirk was hard enough for his body to deal with when I passed it to him, I didn’t want to risk doing that before he completed cleaning the beach.”

“Has a week really made that much of a different?” asked Yaoyorozu.

“If he wouldn’t have completed it, would you not pass him your quirk even at the morning of the test?” asked Kirishima.

“I-” started All Might when he was cut off by Aoyama.

“The answer is clear here, les gars.” said Aoyama. “It was to create a dramatic impact.”

The classmates were very confused, but no one argued.

Midoriya sighed. “I'm so nervous…I need to hurry back take a shower and eat breakfast.” He put on his bag.

“You have become a proper vessel but it was one that was made in a hurry.” said All Might. ‘You didn't even get to take it for a test drive… Prepare yourself for the physical repercussions it'll have on your body.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, so now you’re telling him that?” asked Ashido.

“It could have been useful to know beforehand.” noted Iida.

All Might looked awkward and Aizawa smiled, looking forward to watch him being sassed by teenagers for the rest of the series. He did bring it on himself.

“I don't have time to explain in detail so I'll just tell you this.”

The scene changed back to Midoriya running in the fake city, as All Might’s word followed him.

“When you use my Quirk One For All, squeeze your buttocks (Real-Midoriya cringed at this part) and yell this inside your heart--

"S--"

The words got cut as a robot crushed right in front of him.

“Wait, I thought it was the part with the beach.” Yagi said, confused.

“No, it was a flashback, All Might.” His successor explained patiently.

“Ah.”

Midoriya rushed forward but stopped on his tracks while noticing the robot.

‘One point!’ he recognized the type.

“Target acquired. I'll kill you!” yelled the robot in a mechanic voice.

“It sounds like Bakugou.” said Sero and earned a few giggles.

‘It's coming! It's coming! It's coming!’ Midoriya freaked out as the robot lunged towards him. His legs were shaking but haven’t moved a bit. 

Why can't I move?!’ he got panicked.

The robot was about to hit, but Midoriya was still frozen like a statue.

‘Idiot why?!’ he cursed himself in his mind.

Midoriya winced and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the hit with tears in his eyes.

A sparkling ray of light pierced through the darkness and ripped the robot into shreds.

“Thanks for distracting it!” said a voice with a tad of a foreign accent.

Midoriya opened his eyes and turned to the voice’s source. ‘A laser?!’ he was shocked.

The camera showed a boy wearing a decorated white hoodie. Around his waist there was a big belt with a light at its center.

“C'est moi! C'EST MOI! mon dieu, j'ai l'air fabuleux!” Shouted Aoyama. He was so excited he switched completely to French.

Midoriya smiled at him. “Yes, you really caught me by surprise there. You were really cool.” He admitted and Aoyama beamed even more, since it came from him.

‘Merci! We made a good team.” The blonde boy said, moving melodramatically. He then added more quietly, like he was sharing a secret. “But I don't think we'll meet again.” He winked. “Adieu!”

The mysterious kid was gone before Midoriya could even process the conversation. ‘We won't meet again...?’ he wondered.

“Seems like you were wrong there.” said Midoriya and Aoyama shot him a sparkly smile.

“I was never more glad to be wrong.”

“Six minutes and two seconds left!” Present Mic announced and Midoriya panicked.

He looked around but only saw burning metal ashes.

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!” He started running immediately.

“I didn’t know the exam was so stressful for you.” said Yaoyorozu sympathetically. She was pretty glad she didn’t have to take it herself.

“Yeah…” Midoriya scratched his head awkwardly. “I was a mess that day.”

“You actually amazed all of us by the end of it.” Reminded him Shoji.

Midoriya laughed. “It really wasn’t that impressive.”

“Are you kidding? you sav-” Uraraka argued but got cut off by Aoyama. 

“No spoilers!”

“Aoyama you were literally there.” reminded him Ojiro.

“I wasn't." Todoroki spoke up. "I want to see what happened."

“Points…” Midoriya muttered frantically, running around and only seeing wrecks. “I need points fast!”

He got out of an ally to an open area and stopped in his tracks. In front of him stood multiple kids in a sea of fuming robot parts.

The teen once again spotted the brown haired girl. ‘The nice person!’ he recognized.

The girl run with a daring look on her face, touching multiple robots with the pads of her fingers.

The robots rose to the air, weightless.

The girl closed her eyes and closed her fingers together, sweating from effort.

“Release!” she cried, and robots crushed around her, breaking to pieces. She rest her hands on her knees and panted.

She looked around her and said to herself. “That’s twenty-eight points...!” , then moved on to find more targets.

‘What? twenty-eight?’ Midoriya looked lost.

An engine activated from a different part of the area, the tall boy jumped and crushed a robot with just one kick, his hair floating while he muttered, “Forty-five points!”

“Forty-five?!” Cried Midoriya.

All Might laughed and patted the kid’s back. “You really were a mess! It’s pretty amusing to watch, actually. Well, back then I couldn’t really laugh because I was too busy worrying about you but now it’s like seeing your baby pictures.”

Midoriya turned red.

Iida tried to cheer him up, “Don’t worry Midoriya. You were actually quite cute as a baby.”

The boy looked even worse now.

Midoriya looked around him, desperately looking for one target he can take.

He heard the other kids chatter.

“That's thirty-two!”

“That one's mine! Don't take it!”

“It's first-come first-served!”

‘The number of enemies is decreasing fast!’ he realized, more stressed with every second passing. ‘Oh no!’

The Camera showed the teachers observation room. Cameras followed each of the examinees (the french kid was posing to his).

A voice the class already recognized commented. “the examinees have not been informed of the number of villains or their locations. They have a limited amount of time in a vast area. They have to draw the villains out from there.”

A tall, masked boy with six arms attached to each other by a web of skin stood on a building roof. He appeared on one of the screens as the voice explained. “Information gathering ability to understand the situation before anyone else.”

Another screen showed the glasses-wearing one. “Mobility that can be used in many different circumstances.”

The french teen used his laser to wreck another robot while looking straight to the camera. His confident smile not leaving his lips. “Discernment to be able to stay calm in any situation.”

“And pure combat ability.” A screen showed Bakugou, panting and laughing in a field of metal ashes.

“Man, I’ve been there. Bakugou moved like a beast!” said Kirishima with his sharp-teethed smile.

“You weren’t too bad yourself, weren’t you ranked second in the end of that?” asked Ashido.

Kirishima chuckled. “Yeah…”

“These basic abilities needed to keep the peace in the streets are turned into points in this test.” The voice belonged to a short rat-like creature, sitting in one of the observant chairs.

“Doesn't this year's group look promising?” asked a feminine voice.

“Well we can't know for sure yet.” someone else replied.

A cover opened to reveal a big red button. It was marked with the words ‘Yaruki switch’.

“Their true test is still to come.” a hand pressed on the button.

“If there’s one thing movies taught me is that you can never trust the big red button.” Kaminari said, insightful.

Smoke spread everywhere as something big rattled the fake city.

The anti-gravity girl covered her mouth and looked nauseous but removed her hand when she heard something approaching. She gasped.

Everyone stood there in awe and stared at the direction of the smoke. 

Window glasses shattered as a machine wheeled past them. Ominous music started playing.

Midoriya looked up, shocked, as a shadow covered the area where he stood.

A robot much larger than the rest, taller than a building appeared from the smoke. It had a square head covered with 8 red dots which looked like eyes. It crushed a building’s top with one of its huge human-like hands.

The scene flashed back to Present Mic’s explanations, “An obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it.”

Midoriya squeaked, his eyes wild. ‘Isn't it a little too big?!’ he wondered.

Hagakure nodded (even though no one could really tell). “That cute video game tutorial hasn’t explained just how big that thing was.”

The robot closed his hand to a fist. It punched the ground in front of it, the force of the hit creating wind that made teens shield their face.

Midoriya stared at the approaching enemy, frozen.

A group of examinees quickly passed him, none giving him any attention as he found himself falling on his back.

“An overwhelming threat. How people act after they've seen this shows their true nature.” All Might’s voice narrated. Everything slowed down for a second as the engine-boy passed fear-struck Midoriya.

He looked right at him.

Then he kept on running, and everything went back to its usual speed.

“I am deeply ashamed of my behavior that day.” Said Iida with a regretting expression. “I was nothing like a true hero. I only focused on the test, blind to everything else around me.”

“You’ve grown a lot since that day, young Iida.” told him All Might. “I am proud of the person you’ve become.”

Iida removed his glasses and wiped his eyes, his voice broken. “Excuse me, I just have something stuck in my eye…”

Midoriya didn’t even look at him as he offered him a tissue, which Iida gratefully accepted.

Midoriya turned around with frightened tears, trying to crawl away from the threat. “This isn't funny! I have to run away! I'll get points as I run…”

he moved as fast as he could but barely passed any distance. “Shoot shoot shoot I'm still at zero points!”

“Less than two minutes left!” Present Mic announced.

“Two minutes?!”

“I’m getting stressed just from watching it.” said Sero.

“It wasn’t your lucky day, Midoriya.” said Tsu.

‘It'll be wasted. Everything All Might gave me…’ Pictures from their months of training flashed on the screen, tense music played in the background.

‘...will be wasted!’ Midoriya realized, his eyes still tearful.

“Ow!” someone uttered, a leg was covered in rocks.

The music paused.

Midoriya turned around.

The camera focused as half buried beneath a building’s ruins, was the same girl from before.

‘It'd be bad luck if you fell right?’ her words ringed in his ears as he remembered her act of kindness.

The girl struggled to crawl away, but wasn’t strong enough to get away from the weight crushing her leg.

Midoriya stared at her with an open jaw and hunted eyes.

A traffic light collapsed as the robot kept on his path of destruction.

An upbeat music played as Midoriya rushed.

“There is absolutely no merit in taking on that faux villain.” said All Might, as Midoriya made his way back to the robot.

“But that creates the opportunity…”

the camera revealed Midoriya’s legs underneath the clothes. They were covered in red veins of light as One For All began to activate.

‘for it to shine brightly…”

A red lightning flashed as Midoriya leaped from the ground.

The girl gasped as she looked behind her, wind blowing her hair.

“...and rise to the surface.” the teachers leaned back in their chairs, witnessing the events.

Midoriya made a fist, that got quickly covered in the same veins of light.

His sleeve was ripped and now his entire arm was glowing.

The robot’s hand went down to crush him, but it was too slow.

Midoriya rose up, quick as lightning, with a determined look on his face.

All Might’s voice echoed from their time at the beach, ‘Squeeze your buttocks…’

Midoriya repeated the next part as well, ‘and yell this inside your heart--’

Midoriya threw a glowing fist and screamed “Smash...!”

“Woo!” Ashido cheered.

With that one punch, the robot’s face was wrecked, and it lost it’s balance. Explosions shot around it as it fell back.

The girl’s jaw dropped, along with all the other teens.

The entire class was shocked, and All Might smiled fondly.

The camera focused on All Might’s smile.

“That's right. It rises to the surface. The most important qualification of a hero--”

The rat creature cheered as All Might's full figure was revealed to the camera, sitting with the rest of the teachers. “The spirit of self-sacrifice!” he completed his speech.

Midoriya looked dumbfounded, his punching arm burned and his knuckled ripped. He was still high in the air.

“That was so freaking cool!” cheered Kaminari.

“So manly!” Kirishima agreed.

“Oh please, I bet he just did it to get the girl.” scoffed Mineta and then got hit by Tsuyu.

“It’s interesting to see what happened, since Yaoyorozu and I never got to hear that story.” said Todoroki.

“It all was just a blur…” said Midoriya. “I just knew I had to do something and a moment later I was falling down with three broken limbs.”

“Wait, THREE?!” asked Hagakure.

“Dude. How are you still alive.” asked Sero.

“Ura-” Midoriya started but was cut off by Uraraka, who shot a knowing smirk to Aoyama.

“Wait and see.”

“Now you get it!” the boy beamed at her.

Chapter Text

Mid air, Midoriya realized something.

‘The conditions are the same as when I tried to save Kacchan. But it's different. This time-’

He looked at the damage he caused. The robot laying crushed on the floor.

The class knew what was different this time.

This time he had the power to make a difference.

But the boy himself didn’t have time to finish his self reflection because Present Mic announced,  “One Minute left!”

Midoriya came back to earth.

And not just metaphorically.

The boy screamed as he started falling down from way-too-high.

His mind was racing.

‘Wait this is All Might's power. I'm able to jump this high now.  Landing should be a piece of cake-cake-cake-cake…’

He realized he couldn’t feel, not to mention move, 3 of his limbs.

"Break"?!

All Might’s words ringed in his ears.

‘You have become a proper vessel but it was one that was made in a hurry.  Prepare yourself for the physical repercussions it'll have on your body.’

‘Oh yeah! I'm such an idiot!’ Midoriya cursed himself as he realized.

“All Might you could have explained it much better before the exam.” Yaoyorozu criticized.

“How was I supposed to know he would jump 500 meters high and break 3 of his limbs? I thought I explained it clearly enough.”

“How could you have known?” Sero giggled. “It’s freaking Midoriya. ” He said like that was enough on an answer.

“Sero it wasn’t All Might’s fault-” Midoriya started protesting but got cut off by All Might.

“No, he has a point. While I wasn’t sure just how much it would affect you, I could have elaborate on the possible risks.” he admitted.

‘A mere ten months was just barely enough time.’ thought Midoriya.

He pictured a glass overflowing with water. The glass could contain the water without a single drop spilling, but the pressure was too much-it got cracked.

The class winced at the image.

“I hope you got a better glass since then.” said Todoroki awkwardly.

“I have, thank you.” Midoriya smiled at him.

‘I can just barely hold this borrowed power. I was being conceited for a second!’

The ground became closer and closer to him, as tears left his eyes, raising up instead of falling.

‘I've only been given the right to stand at the start line!’

He closed his eyes and groaned in frustration.

‘Think! What to do? What to do?!’

‘Detroit Smash!’ a plan popped up. ‘If I aim that move at the ground...!’

But then he remembered. ‘Both my legs and my right arm are broken.’

‘I only have my left arm! And the timing- If I'm too early or too late I'll die! Even if I succeed I still won't have any points! If I break my left arm there's no way I'll pass!’

“I appreciate your dedication to the exam but I think staying alive might be more important, ribbit.” said Tsu.

He only had a few seconds left before he hit the ground-and no plan.

The only thing he could do was scream.

“R.I.P Midoriya.” Kaminari looked at him sadly and rest his hand on his shoulder. “It was nice knowing you bro.”

Midoriya laughed. “I was actually sure I was going to die. It was like, the scariest that happened to me. I mean, before all the villain attacks and stuff.”

Todoroki reached his hand forward, then paused. He looked uncertain. Then before having a chance to regret, he gently rest his hand on Midoriya’s shoulder.

Midoriya turned around and sent a warm smile to Todoroki.

Todoroki was pretty sure he did something right.

And then everything paused with the sound of a slap.

The anti-gravity girl hit his face right in the last second, just in time to stop his fall.

Midoriya breathed loudly and opened his eyes when he found out he wasn’t dead.

“Release...” The girl uttered, and both she and Midoriya safely landed on the ground.

Then she threw up.

“You saved me that day.” he told her, looking at her fondly.

“Only after you saved me.” she replied.

“Oh my god you guys are just the cutest!” burst Ashido and ruined the moment.

Both blushed and looked away from each other.

“I'm safe…” Midoriya whispered with a hoarse voice. ‘No...she saved me.’ he raised his head from the ground to look at her.

‘Is she all right? She looks uninjured at least...? I'm so glad…’

The girl rested on a wrecked metal piece, looking exhausted but safe.

Midoriya clenched his unharmed hard to a fist, trying to move himself forward. ‘And… thank you!’

“If I can just get one point…” he uttered.

“Time's up!”

“Ouch…” said Ojiro.

“Has anything in your life ever been easy, Midoriya?” asked Kirishima.

He just shrugged.

A siren was heard, indicating the end of the test. The camera showed the state of the other examenes. Most were exhausted, some satisfied with their score.

Midoriya himself was weeping.

And then he fainted.

The screen went black.

Midoriya laid down on the floor, unconscious. He has 2 twisted legs and one burned arm.

Around him, people started to talk. But now they were saying different things than before,

“What was that guy?”

“He suddenly jumped at the obstacle.”

“He seemed to have a reinforcement-type Quirk but that was unusual…”

“But if he had such an amazing Quirk, what kind of life did he live that made him so jumpy?”

The screen showed all the times Midoriya jumped or flinched while interacting with others. 

His class felt so bad, now that they knew the answer to that question. Many times before, they themselves wondered the same thing.

“Maybe he was acting to trick others?”

“But it doesn't look like he gained anything from doing so.”

“Anyway there's no mistaking that he's an amazing guy.”

The engine-boy observed the situation. He was irritated at the conversation of his peers.

‘They're missing the point.’ He thought. ‘Didn't they see? He jumped out to save that girl.  He was aware of the remaining time his own safety, and the points he needed to pass… And even so he did not hesitate at all!’

He remembered the moment he saw fear-struck Midoriya laying in the robot’s path, and did nothing.

‘If we had not been in an exam...of course I would have done the same!’ he bit his lips and clenched his fists.

Then he paused.

‘Wait. "Exam"...? Of course...?’ He rubbed his chin.

‘Wait a minute.’

“It was that moment that Iida knew, he fucked up.” said Jirou and Kaminari looked at her like she quoted sacred verses.

“What?” she looked at him irritated. “You’re not the only one who’s heard of memes, Kaminari.”

“It was indeed that moment that I knew I screwed up.” Iida admitted, as Jirou and Kaminari’s interaction passed over his head.

“Okay good work.”

A short elderly woman made her way to the scene. She was wearing a medical-themed hero costume. “Good work, good work.” she greeted the kids. “Here you go. Here are some gummies.” she took something out of her pockets and handed it to a confused boy. 

It was, unsurprisingly, a few gummy bears. “Eat some gummies.” she told him.

“Thanks.” he bowed.

Then she moved to another kid, giving them some gummy bears as well. “Yes yes you too.”

“Thanks…”

“That mademoiselle is the backbone of U.A.” said the French boy.

“You have a way with fluttery, Aoyama, but you were not wrong.” said Tokoyami.

“Merci. While I’m not a hero expert like Midoriya, I’ve done my own research before signing up UA. She saved countless lives in her long career.”

Sero chucked. “She looks so nice here, you almost couldn’t imagine how strict she can get.”

“She is nice, you guys just get into too many troubles.” scolded Yaoyorozu.

‘Oh dear you were hurt this much by your own Quirk?’ she wondered. ‘It's as if his body is not used to his Quirk yet.’

“But I thought she’s always knew.” said Midoriya and looked at All Might.

“Well, not exactly. I filled her in after the exam results arrived. If anyone knew before that, there could have been a doubt that you earned your place here.”

“Oh.”

“But you couldn’t fill me in.” Aizawa said judgmentally.

“I already said I was sorry!”

The woman’s lips stretched and she planted a kiss on the unconscious boy’s head.

“W-what was that?” asked one of the examinees.

“U.A. High's licensed school nurse…” the blonde kid replied. “The Youthful Heroine Recovery Girl!”

Midoriya’s injuries started to glow as they magically got better. His arm went back to it’s rightful color and his legs were no longer twisted in unnatural angles.

“Her Quirk is the super-activation of healing ability. U.A. can only go through with such a reckless entrance exam because of her.” he explained.

“Yeah, we get it, you’re a suck up.” said Mineta.

“Excuse-moi for being taught to respect my elders and being polite to the woman who can heal us from nearly-fatal injuries.” Aoyama said coldly.

“Let's finish this quickly. Is anyone else injured?” asked Recovery Girl.

The glasses wearing teen was still deep in his thoughts. ‘I see! If this exam is set up like that… Then he's…’

He never completed his sentence, and the screen went black.

“I get the need for drama and all but am I the only one who feels like there are too many cliffhangers here?” asked Ojiro.

Scene- Midoriya’s house. One week later, night time.

A fish’s dead eyes stared at the camera.

“Izuku?” his mother asked worriedly.

The camera zoomed out to show Midoriya holding the fish with his chopsticks, staring at it with an empty smile and the same dead look in his eyes.

“Poor thing, you really thought you failed.” said Ashido sympathetically.

“Not that I don’t think you deserved it Midoriya, but how exactly did you pass if you couldn’t get a single point? Have they made an exception for you?” asked Yaoyorozu and Jirou shot Aoyama a sharp glance before he could even open his mouth.

“Not exactly…” said the green haired boy.

“Speaking of which, I’ve always wondered how some students passed their exam.” said Todoroki. “For example, what about you, koda?” he titled his head in question.

Koda hided behind a pillow he was holding while suddenly all the attention focused on him.

“It’s ok Koda, you don’t have to tell us.” said Uraraka gently.

Koda started signing and Todoroki nodded.

“Huh? what did he say?” asked Sato.

Todoroki translated. “He said that mice love living in cities, even fake ones. He asked them to chew on the robots wires and that’s how he deactivated them.”

“Huh, that’s pretty cool!” said Hagakure.

“Oh, how about you Hagakure?” asked Uraraka.

The invisible girl shrugged. “You can’t hit what you can’t see. It was pretty easy, actually.”

Kaminari looked at Mineta: “Hey you never told me how you got in, dude.”

“I mean, they just said we had to immobilize them, not destroy. So I just...threw my sticky balls at them to attach them to walls til they couldn’t move.”

“See? I told you your quirk was strong.” said Midoriya. “You passed an exam only few did.”

“Izuku? Izuku?” she repeated the question til her son came out from the trance. “Hey are you alright? Why are you smiling at the fish?” she looked concerned.

“Oh sorry! I'm fine!” he quickly reassured her, and went back to eating his rice.

After dinner, his mother washed the dishes while Izuku sat on the couch. He pressured on his small training device with his hand, but still stared blankly into space.

He narrated in his head. ‘From self-scoring I know that I just barely passed the written exam. But that was cancelled out by the big fat zero in the practical exam. And ever since the entrance exam I hadn't been able to contact All Might.’

Izuku closed his eyes and sighed.

His mother used her quirk to get herself a blue notebook, then turned around to look at him.

“The results should arrive today or tomorrow right?” she forced a smile.

“Yeah…” he murmured.

“Jeez I think it's amazing that you even applied to U.A.!” she said, trying to cheer him up.

“yeah…”

He narrated. ‘I didn't even tell my mother about what had happened with All Might. I kept that secret so he could continue being the Symbol of Peace. There was no way I could tell anyone not even my family.’

“Not even your own mother?” asked Uraraka.

“I couldn’t.” said Midoriya sadly.

“And now we all found out...” Todoroki rubbed his chin. “All Might has retired, is that mean you can tell her now?”

Midoriya looked down. “I hate doing that but, she’s already so worried about me. She almost didn’t let me come back to the UA after the training camp… If she knew that the reason I have a quirk is All Might? She would blame him for me being hurt. So I don’t think I should tell her…”

All Might added, sympathetically. “She was actually very understanding, especially after we talked. But we really can’t be sure how she would take the news, and it can put her in danger. It is hard to hide things from the people you love.” 

“Yeah…”

Izuku started lifting a weight with one of his arms, still lost in thoughts. ‘All Might! After you saw potential in me I'm sorry I didn't live up to it But I did what I thought was right.’

Yagi looked at him softly. “You’ve never failed me, my boy, not even once. Even if you wouldn’t have made it to the UA I would have still being proud of you for what you did.”

“Thank you, All Might!”

His blank expression became more and more upset, ‘All Might you-’

The door was opened.

“Izu-Izu-Izu...! Izu-Izu-Izu... Izuku!” his mom stuttered. She handed him an envelope. “It's here! It came!

The camera zoomed on an envelope sealed with the UA logo.

Scene: Izuku’s room.

Midoriya Inko walked back and forth in the corridor outside of Izuku’s closed door. It was clear she was worried and tensed.

In his room, Izuku sat in the dark, in front of the closed envelope. He just stared blankly into space for a few seconds, before ripping it open. Not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer.

Inside, he found no letter. Instead there was a small metal circle, that started projecting a recorded message.

All Might, in a yellow suit and his muscle form appeared in front of him and yelled: “I am here as a projection!”

Izuku jumped in alarm.

“All Might?!” Izuku asked. He glanced between his ripped envelope and the projection. “Wait this is from U.A. right...? What?”

All Might’s theme played from the video, as the hero started explaining. “I had to do some paperwork that took some time so I couldn't contact you.” He coughed to his fist. “I'm sorry.” He bowed, then went on. “Actually I came to this town to work at U.A.” 

Izuku leaned forward in his chair. “Huh? All Might is working at U.A.?”

A finger tapped on the man’s shoulder, then, when he looked at the direction it came from, it started moving in a spinning motion.

“Hm? What is it?”

He started having a one-sided conversation with the person outside the frame.

“Wrap it up? But there is something I must talk to him about…” he argued.

The hand moved again.

“It's going to push everything else back? All right. Okay.” He gave up and cut to the point.

Izuku swallowed, waiting for him to got on.

“Even if you passed the written exam you got zero points on the practical exam.”

Izuku’s eyes widened.

“Of course that means you didn't pass…”

‘I knew that.’ he thought.

‘I knew that…’

‘I knew that but…’ he started sobbing.

The boy clenched the fabric of his pants and bit his lip. ‘It's so frustrating…’

Then, All Might continued. “If that was all there was to it.”

Izuku slowly raised his head to look at the projection again.

“I am an entertainer as well!” he said.

“All Might. Are you kidding me?!” asked Ashido.

“That was an unnecessary delay.” said Tokoyami.

“It was pretty cruel, ribbit.” added Tsuyu.

All Might raised his hands awkwardly. “I was just messing with him a bit.”

All Might took a remote and turned on a small TV screen next to him. “First take a look at this video!”

The brown haired girl appeared on the screen, wearing her middle school uniform.

“Excuse me um…” she said.

‘The nice person?’ Izuku recognized her immediately.

“They filmed me?” asked Uraraka.

“Of course, they filmed everything.” said All Might.”

“Can I just point out that Midoriya’s first nickname to Uraraka was ‘the nice person’?” asked Hagakure. “Like, how adorable is that?”

“She was nice and I didn’t know her name…” said Midoriya, embarrassed.

“She came to negotiate directly in person after the exam!” revealed All Might.

“Uraraka you are so sweet!” said Yaoyorozu.

“You care about everyone so much.” Tsu agreed.

Uraraka blushed. “I had to do something…”

Izuku looked surprised and the video got paused.

“Negotiate what?” asked All Might. “Keep watching and find out!” He started it again.

“Jeez and I thought Aoyama was dramatic.” Jirou facepalmed.

“I think that if there’s one thing we learned this episode, besides that Midoriya and Uraraka are cute as heck, is that All Might is a real Drama Queen.” said Kaminari.

“What’s a drama queen?” asked Todoroki.

“All Might.” answered Kaminari, not helpful at all.

“Oh.” said Todoroki.

“Hey, do you know how much I had to work with TV?” asked All Might. “The symbol of peace has to be charismatic and attention captive, so the viewers will believe you when you promise you’ll keep them safe.”

“Which is why I’m an underground hero.” Aizawa said dryly.

“Um the person with curly hair and freckles…” said the girl, demonstrating with hand gestures to help her explanation. “Do you know who I'm talking about?” she asked the person in front of her, who was Present Mic. “Um... kind of plain-looking…” she added.

Izuku opened his mouth when he realized. ‘It’s me!’

“Lol, poor Midoriya.” said Sero.

“There are nicer ways to describe someone.” said Ojiro.

“Ahh! I’m sorry” Uraraka turned red.

“No no, it’s ok!” Midoriya reassured. “I was surprised you even remembered me back then.”

“Is it possible for me to give him some of my points?” she asked. “I heard him say ‘If I can just get one point’, so I thought maybe he was still at zero points...At least the points he lost because of me…”

Izuku watched in shock.

“He saved me! Please! Please! Please!” She begged.

Izuku got up from his chair.

All Might paused the video.

“In addition to now having a Quirk, your actions spurred others to act.” he said.

A very small smile formed on Izuku’s lips.

“The entrance exam the other day was not graded only on villain points!” the hero revealed.

The boy gasped, and the video started again.

“Even if you ask to you cannot give him your points.” said Present Mic, then petted her head.

“Anyway there's no reason to give him any female listener!”

All Might stepped in front of the TV screen. “How can a hero course reject people who save others and do the right thing?” he asked. “Call that lip service? Bring it on!”

Izuku’s jaw dropped as he listened to the hero’s speech.

“This is a job that requires risking one's life to put that lip service into practice!”. A new category got revealed to Midoriya when All Might announced: “Rescue points!”

All Might’s speech continued: “And they're given by a panel of judges.”

The camera showed what happened in the observant's room after Izuku defeated the robot. Multiple hands were raised, each holding a sign with a number. All of them but one gave the score “10”.

A rank showed the name “Midoriya Izuku”, placed seventh.

“It's the other basic ability we at U.A. look at!”

Izuku couldn’t believe his ears as he heard All Might announce: “Izuku Midoriya- sixty points!”

Then he added: “And Ochaco Uraraka forty-five points! You both pass.”

Midoriya’s eyes watered and his lips trembled. “This is too crazy…” he wept.

All Might offered his hand to the camera, looking directly at him. “Come Young Midoriya. This is your hero academia!”

“Yes sir!”

“Oh so that’s how the show got its name…” said Hagakure.

Midoriya dried his tears.

The camera focused on his little All Might figure as he narrated, ‘After receiving a lot of help, my life changed and will continue to change.’

‘And now my dream high school life is about to begin!’

“Well, my boy, how’s your dream high school life has been so far?” All Might teased.

“Great.” he answered sincerely. “Thank you so much!”

“Even with all the villain attacks?” asked Ojiro.

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. “That was less great…” he admitted. “But I wouldn’t trade this year for the price of the world. I learned so much and got a chance to fulfill my dream...and I made real friends.”

“Awww!” they all cooed.

“You know,” told him Tsuyu, “You’re really good as an anime protagonist, Midoriya.”

Chapter Text

“The cumulative results for the practical exam are out!” someone announced. On the board, the 10 people with the highest score were ranked.

The camera focused on the first place: Bakugo Katsuki, with 77 points.

“I can't believe he got first place with no rescue points.” a teacher commented.

The scene flashed to Bakugou’s entrance exam as another teacher explained, “The faux villains acquire their targets and draw near them.”

“Wait hold on.” said Kirishima and got up. “Midoriya can you pause?”

“Sure, but I’m not sure it-oh never mind it works now.”

“Thanks, bro!” he yelled on his way to the dorms.

Kirishima knocked on Bakugou’s door, “Hey man, I know you said you don’t want to watch it but I’m just saying that you’re on right now, wrecking some robots and looking badass so...”

No reply. Again.

Kirishima shrugged, “Ok then.” he said and went back.

As he came back, Ashido asked him, “No luck?”

He shook his head. “Nope. He’s being a real edgelord right now.”

“Well it’s his loss. Play the video, Midoriya!”

“In the second half, as others were slowing down, he used his flashy Quirk to keep bringing them close and then counterattacking. It's the result of his toughness.”

Then, the camera focused on someone else’s rank and the first teacher said, “In contrast, there's the 7th place student with zero villain points.”

“They’re such...opposites. Like, from the very beginning.” said Hagakure.

“Yeah.” Kirishima stretched his arms behind his head. “Almost like they were destined to be rivals.”

"It's what I've been saying this entire time!" complained Uraraka.

“There have been other examinees who took on the large villain in the past,” the other recalled, and the scene flashed to Midoriya’s exam. “but it's been a while since I last saw someone blow it away. But to suffer such a serious injury from his own attack… It's like he's a young child whose Quirk just manifested.”

The camera focused on a man with long, messy hair who was leaning on the wall and listening the conversation.

“Yo! It’s you!” noted Sero as Midoriya paused the video.

20 faces turned to look at the man, who seemed as indifferent as he was in the video. He still wondered how the heck anyone even got this footage.

“You didn’t seem very impressed.” Noted Tsuyu.

“That’s because I wasn’t.” he replied.

“You know him, he’s never impressed.” said All Might in a teasing tone.

“I am if I see anything that’s actually impressive. Which hasn’t happened yet.”

The theme song played.

Jirou covered her head with a pillow. “Please. I can’t watch that again. What’s with anime and a 90 seconds long theme song?!”

“I thought you loved music.” said Sero.

“I have limits too, Sero.”

Midoriya knew that rewinding and fast forwarding didn’t work here, but pausing didn’t work either sometimes so maybe if he tries now-

He fast forwarded the theme song.

“What-Midoriya, how did you do that?” asked Sero.

Midoriya shrugged, looking as confused as the rest of them.

“Maybe the remote likes him.” Mineta joked.

“Remotes aren’t living objects, Mineta.” Todoroki reminded him.

“Are we sure this one isn’t, though?” asked Kaminari, looking suddenly spooked. “I mean, sometimes it works, sometimes it’s not…”

“Either way I am just glad we could skip the theme song.” said Jirou. 

“Aw, but I like the theme song…” Koda mumbled.

Scene: Takoba Beach, night time.

All Might stood at the beach in his skinny form. The waves hit the shore quietly and the stars were shining in the clear sky. He seemed to be the only one there.

Midoriya narrated. ‘The night after I opened my acceptance letter, that person contacted me.’

All Might turned around to the sound of footsteps, as he noticed Midoriya.

“All Might!” The boy exclaimed, his eyes leaking again.

All Might spat blood. “Who's that?!” he asked in panic.

“All Might?” A woman asked. She stood far from them but close enough to hear Midoriya’s yelling.

“No way! Where?” her friend got excited.

All Might winced.  He whispered, “Repeat after me: ‘I had the wrong person.’"

“Oh, I had the wrong person!” Midoriya waved his arms frantically.

“Aw, what?”

“I was hoping to see him…”

Midoriya and his mentor sighed in relief.

“You’re pretty bad at this, Midoriya.” said Shoji. “No offense.”

"How did you even keep all those secrets from us this entire time?!” asked Kaminari.

Midoriya shrugged with an awkward smile.

All Might raised his hand. “Congrats on getting accepted.”

Midoriya high fived him with a shy grin. “Th-Th-Thank you very much!”

“That’s adorable.” said Uraraka.

“Just so you know, I didn't tell the school about my connection to you.” said the hero.

“Huh?”

“You're the type that would think that's cheating, right? I wasn't one of the judges.” he reassured.

Midoriya bowed. “Th-Thank you for your concern!”.

Then, he smiled when he remembered something. “But I was surprised to find out that you were a teacher at U.A. So that's why you came here, huh?” he asked and began listing information like a teacher in a lecture. “I mean, your agency is in Roppongi in Minato, Tokyo at-”

“Stop that!” Midoriya froze in his place as All Might cut him off.

“I couldn't tell anyone before the school announced it.” The hero explained, his back turned to Midoriya as he watched the waves. “I just happened to be offered a job from U.A. when I was searching for a successor.”

‘I see. He was originally planning on choosing one of the students.’ Midoriya realized.

He looked at his hands with a frightened expression. ‘One of the students gifted with an amazing Quirk.’

“Wait, hold on. You could have chosen one of us?!” asked Mineta.

“You wouldn’t have stood a chance anyway.” Tsuyu said flatly.

“You can’t know that!”

All Might rubbed the back of his head as he said, “Well, more likely one of the third years but-”

“Mirio!” Uraraka guessed.

“How did you know?” he asked.

“I mean, he is one of the ‘Big Three’ and you two are pretty similar.”

“Yeah, he’s a huge fan of yours.” added Kirishima.

“Then why didn’t you choose him? No offense, Midoriya.” asked Sero.

“Well, I haven’t even met any of the students til the beginning of the year, even though I heard good things about Mirio before. But then I met young Midoriya and everything just fell into place.”

“All Might.” said Midoriya, a vulnerable expression on his face. “Have you ever regretted it? Choosing me?...”

All Might didn’t show a trace of hesitation when he answered. “Not even once, my boy.” He smiled warmly.

Midoriya returned a smile of his own, that lit his entire face.

They both stood there for a little, staring at the coast, before the boy admitted. “My body broke with one kick and one punch of One For All. I can't control it at all.”

“That can't be helped.” explained All Might. “It's like if you asked a person who suddenly grew a tail to do a trick, they wouldn't even be able to control it.”

“Wait, did you know that would happen?!”

“Well, there wasn't any time… But it turned out alright. It turned out "all might"!"

All Might received a red-eyed glare from Aizawa. “You are the most horrible teacher I’ve ever met.”

“I mean, young Midoriya seems to turn out well-”

“He could have died, Yagi.”

All Might picked two cans that were laying on the sand.

“Seems like someone littered the beach again. Right after Midoriya worked so hard to clean it.” said Todoroki.

“Yeah…it’s pretty annoying.” said Midoriya. “But it’s not even close to the way it used to be before and I saw other people clean the beach besides me.”

“Right now, you're either at a hundred percent or zero. But once you can control it, you'll be able to you'll be able to adjust to what your body can handle.”

“Control?” asked Midoriya.

“The more you train a vessel, the more you'll be able to move the power freely.”

The mental image of the cracked overflowing glass changed into a different glass, tougher and taller than the other one.

All Might easily crushed the two metal cans between his fingers. “Like this.” he said, now in his muscle form.

Midoriya’s expression changed to a more serious one as he took in the explanation.

“Wait, is that All Might?!” The person from before exclaimed

“No way! When did he get here?!” asked his friend.

All Might sweated.

“Let's go, Young Midoriya!” he started to run.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

A few kids facepalmed.

“How are you so bad at this.” asked Jirou.

They both run across the beach as All might thought, letting the mental image appear on the screen, ‘The flame I passed on to you is still small, but in the future, it'll be exposed to wind and rain and grow even bigger. And then, I will slowly become weak and disappear, and I will finish my job.’

“You are not going to disappear All Might.” Midoriya said, determined.

“Yes, just because you’re no longer a pro doesn’t mean you’re not a symbol of Hope anymore.” said Iida.

“We’re glad you’re still with us, All Might.” said Todoroki.

Yagi smiled warmly to the words of his students.

‘Yeah, that's deep.’ All Might thought to himself.

“I mean, it was, but you kinda ruined the moment.” noted Sero.

Title sequence: Episode 5- “What can I do for now”

“The soundtrack here is actually not bad.” Jirou commented. “I just wish the theme song was shorter.”

Scene: Midoriya’s house, April, morning time.

“Izuku, do you have tissue?” asked Inko Midoriya, as her son was busy packing his bag.

“Yeah.”

“And your handkerchief? What about your handkerchief? Your hanky?” she made sure.

"Yeah, Midoriya . Do you have your hanky?" teased Mineta and Midoriya winced. 

“I have it! I'm going to be late.” He answered, slightly irritated.

He got up and put on his bag. “I have to hurry.”

“Izuku!” his mother blurted, right as he was about to leave the house.

“What is it?!” he turned to face her.

Inko smiled softly, her eyes shining from tears and pride.

“You're really cool.” she said.

Izuku blushed, taken aback from her words.

‘That was the beginning of my high school career.’ he narrated.

His face lighted in a big smile as he opened the door. “I’m off!” he declared.

“Your mom seems sweet…” said Koda.

“Yeah, she is.” Midoriya smiled fondly. He should call her tomorrow.

Happy and calm violin played in the back as the camera showed the city’s view. Then, it focused on the school building.

‘The acceptance rate for U.A. High's hero course is less than one in three hundred every year.’ the boy narrated.

‘Other than the four people admitted through recommendations, 36 are admitted through the regular exam.’ he explained, as he hurried to the class, wearing his new school uniform.

‘Those 36 are split into only two classes,18 with in each.’

The boy muttered nervously as he tried to find his way to his new classroom. “Class 1-A... 1-A... This place's too big...”

“Imagine if you got sorted into class B1.” said Kaminari.

“Don’t even joke about it!” Uraraka lifted a warning finger.

“Why? They seem pretty nice. Besides Monoma I mean.” said Shoji.

Uraraka rolled her eyes like it was obvious. “Because then he wouldn’t be in our class!”

Midoriya tilted his head slightly at her. “We could have still been friends.” he tried to reassure her. “But I’m glad I’m in this class.” he looked at his friends.

“I hope so, it wouldn’t have been the same without you.” she admitted.

“Looks like someone got a crush…” said Kirishima, who was answered with a death glare from Uraraka and a blush from Midoriya. “But for real bro, I’m glad too.”

“Thanks Kirishima.” said Midoriya, and then rubbed his chin, “I wonder what other people could have been our friends but aren't because we’re not in the same class. Maybe we should try to get to know them better.”

“Tetsutetsu is pretty cool.” said Kirishima.

“Kendo is very smart.” said Yaorouzuro.

“Shiozaki is so pretty…” Kaminari added dreamily.

“Didn't she kick your butt in the sports festival? She’s way out of your league.” said Tsuyu.

“I let her win!” he insisted.

He noticed the sign. “There it is!”

Midoriya stood in front of the classroom’s door in awe, which was about 4 times his size. “The door's huge! Is it for accessibility...?” he wondered.

Midoriya took a deep breath and grasped his bag strips, “The elite chosen from the huge number at the exam…”

A mental image appeared in his mind of Bakugou and the glasses boy, both intimidating. ‘I hope I’m not in the same class as the scary peopl-…’

Midoriya bowed. “I’m sorry for thinking such things about you!”

“No, no. I’m fully aware that the impression I left that day wasn’t the best. I’m grateful for you for giving me a second chance.”

“N-no I-”

The classmates exchanged tired glances.

“Nope, we are not going over this again.” Jirou stole the remote and started the video again.

Midoriya shook the images from his head and opened the classroom’s door.

“Don't put your feet on the desk!” scolded the glasses wearing boy.

“Huh?” scoffed Bakugou.

Uraraka giggled. “I think you may be jinxed, Deku.”

“Don't you think that's rude to the U.A. upperclassmen and the people who made the desk?” the boy tried to reason with him.

“Nope.” the blonde replied, a mocking smile on his lips. “What junior high did you go to, you side character?” he asked. 

‘The top two?’ Midoriya sweated from the doorway, clearly unhappy with this development.

“‘side character’ gets a whole new meaning now that we’re in a show…” said Ojiro.

“Wait hold on, are we side characters?! ” Kaminari got up.

“My whole life is a lie…” Aoyama hid his face in his hands.

Ashido giggled, “Is that mean Bakugou is also a side character? it’s so ironic…”

“If he heard that he would blast everyone in this room.” said Sero, horrified.

“How did you even become a main character? Like, what’s your secret?” asked Hagakure and shook the freakled boy.

Todoroki shrugged, “That’s because he’s All Might’s son.” he said confidently.

"What?" asked All Might. 

Midoriya spread his arms. “Todoroki you just watched 4 episodes about my life! How exactly am I All Might’s son?!”

“I didn't say you were his biological one.”

Midoriya’s jaw dropped and he stared into space, blankly.

“Midoriya? Midoriya?” Iida waved his hand in front of the boy’s face, receiving no reaction.

“Todoroki I think you broke him.”

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean to…”

“Can we start the video again before my existential crises gets even worse?” asked Yaoyorozu.

“W-” The boy started and then paused. He rest a hand on his chest and started over. “I attended Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida.”

“Somei? So you're a damn elite, huh?” Bakugo said with disdain. “Looks like I'll have fun crushing you.”

“"Crushing"?” Iida got taken aback.

Then, the real Bakugou walked into the common room.

He shot one glance at his classmates. “You extras dragged All Might into this too?” he shook his head. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

“Hello, young Bakugou.” greeted All Might. “Would you like to join us?”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “As if, I’m only here for a nightly snack.” He made his way to the kitchen.

“That's cruel. Do you truly aim to be a hero?” asked Iida.

Bakugou scoffed.

Then, Iida turned around and noticed Midoriya at the doorways. 

“You're…” he started, recognizing him immediately.

Everyone else’s head turned to the doorways at that, looking at their new guest.

“Ohh! it’s us! It’s us!” beamed Ashido.

“Oh, um…” Midoriya winced and blushed, averting everyone’s gazes.

“Good morning!” Iida greeted and walked towards the green haired boy. “I am from Somei Private Academy. My name is--”

“I heard!” Midoriya cut him off.

“Wow, you were really scared of him.” said Sato.

“Uh…” blurted Midoriya.

A closet door closed with a slam.

“Did you idiots just finish all the snacks?!” Bakugou yelled.

“Actually there’s sti-” Sato started but got an elbow in his ribs from Kirishima.

“Yes! There are no more snacks left. How unfortunate.” the boy said, not even trying to hide his smile.

Bakugou rolled his eyes and made his way through the kids.

“Move, Shitty hair.” he demanded and sat next to the redhead, who beamed.

He snatched a popcorn bowl and growled as he took a handful and shoved it in his mouth.

“I'm Midoriya. Nice to meet you, Iida.” he said nervously.

“Really, Deku again?” Bakugo asked with disdain. Then he got shushed by the people around him.

“Midoriya, you realized there was something more to that practical exam, didn't you?” asked Iida.

Midoriya seemed surprised.

“I had no idea…” he closed his eyes. “I misjudged you!”. He averted his gaze and looked regretful. “I hate to admit it, but you are better than me.”

A sweat drop appeared on Midoriya’s head. “Sorry. I actually didn't realize anything.”

“Now you know I had no idea what I was doing the entire time.” Midoriya said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his hair.

“That makes your actions even more heroic.” said Iida.

“Oh, that curly hair! You're the plain-looking one!” a familiar person beamed.

"Again, Uraraka?" asked Ojiro. 

"sorry!" 

“You passed, just like Present Mic said!” she said but her words became background audio to Midoriya’s own thoughts as he looked at her.

‘It's the nice person! She looks good in a uniform…’

“aww, do you really think so, Midoriya?” teased Ashido.

Midoriya turned red.

“You know, I think she would have loved to hear that, ribbit.” added Tsuyu.

“Kill me. Please.” said Midoriya, his head hidden behind his knees, as Iida pets on his back.

Uraraka stared at him and wondered if he really meant that, and how would she feel if he did.

“-Of course you did! Your punch was amazing!” she continued and punched at the air to imitate him. “Break! Break! Break!”

Midoriya turned red. “Oh, well, um, it was thanks to you going to speak with him directly that I, uh…”

“Huh? How did you know about that?” she wondered.

“Oh, uh, that's because…”

“Because All Might is a drama queen.” said Todoroki in a straight face, making Kaminari grin.

Bakugou observed them, irradiated.

The scene flashed.

 “I can't believe we have two students from our school matriculating into U.A.!” said a middle school teacher, as Midoriya and Bakugou both stood straight.

“Especially you, Midoriya. It's a miracle!” Midoriya blushed when he added.

After school, Midoriya groaned as he got shoved into a wall by Bakugou.

Everyone glared at him.

Bakugou held him by the collar. It was just them in a hidden ally.

If stared could kill, Bakugou would have probably dead from Uraraka’s.

“What dirty tricks did you use to get in, huh?!” he yelled.

"’The first student from his school to go to U.A.’" said Bakugou as he rattled Midoriya.

A shield was formed by angry students to separate Bakugou and Midoriya.

“What?! I’m not going to do anything to him!” he protested.

“My future plan has already been torn to pieces. I told you to go somewhere else!” he castigated.

Bakugou’s rage changed into surprise as he felt a hand gripping his own, trying to get him off Midoriya’s shirt.

“Kacchan.” said the timid boy.

“Someone told me…’You can become a hero’...That it was because of my own effort…” he blurted.

“Th-That's why…” he straightened his gaze, staring directly into Bakugou’s eyes.

“I'm going...!” he declared. His face was intense with emotions.

The class cheered and clapped, making Midoriya blush and Bakugo scoff.

“Way to go, Midoriya.” said Ojiro.

“You finally stood up to him!” added Hagakure.

‘How dare he defy me?’ frowned Bakugou, now back in the present. ‘Something's definitely up.’

“I wonder if today's just the entrance ceremony and orientation? I wonder what our teacher's like?” babbled the girl, as Midoriya covered his head still red.

“Aren’t you nervous?” she asked.

‘So close…’ he thought.

“God, you are hopeless.” said Mineta.

“And you aren’t any better, Uraraka!” Kaminari scolded. He gestured to the boy on TV, “Look how obvious he was! how did you not notice?!”

“Guys, can you stop embarrassing them?” asked Momo.

“Fine.”

Then, a man with a stubble appeared on the camera. He was sideways, inside some sort of a yellow cocoon.

“Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends.” he uttered.

The class cheered at his appearance.

“Stop.” said Aizawa.

Midoriya gasped as he noticed the source of the voice. Just outside of the classroom, was laying a yellow sleeping bag. 

“This is the hero course.” said the man, who was looking like he just woke up. He opened the zipper of his sleeping bag and took out a jelly bag, which he started drinking.

Iida, Midoriya and the girl jumped in alarm.

‘S-Something's here?!’

The man got up and stepped out of his sleeping bag.

“Okay, it took eight seconds before you were quiet. Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough.” he was wearing black clothes and wrapped in a strange scarf. His voice was monotone an devoid of all emotion.

‘A teacher? Which means, that person's a pro hero, too?’ Midoriya wondered.

The camera zoomed on the man, whose eyes were clearly sleep deprived.

‘But I've never seen a hero who looked that worn out before.’

“That’s because I have to deal with teenagers on top of dealing with criminals.” said Aizawa.

“I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Nice to meet you.”

The entire class gasped and Midoriya thought what they all probably did at the time. ‘Homeroom teacher?!’

All Might laughed. “Quite of a first impression you left there, Aizawa.”

“I did not agree to participate in this show in any way.”

Aizawa took something out of his sleeping bag. It was a school training outfit. “It's kind of sudden, but put this on and go out onto the field.”

The kids just blinked, dumbfounded.

The scene cut to the sight of a book titled "Teacher Directory".

The camera zoomed out to reveal All Might in his familiar yellow suit and his skinny form.

‘The U.A. system does not follow the beaten path.’ he mused, looking a little worried. ‘Depending on the homeroom teacher, even the first day can be…’

“A Quirk assessment test?!” The class completed the sentence. They were in the field, wearing their new training uniforms and looking at their teacher. They all seemed pretty nervous and confused.

“What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?” asked the brown haired girl.

“If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events.” the teacher replied. “U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are.  That's also how the teachers run their classes.”

“Like expelling their entire class?” teased All Might.

“precisely.” replied Aizawa without a trace of irony.

The kids got taken aback.

“You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right?” he asked, then added.

“Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks.” He presented the class his phone screen, that had a list of different test categories such as ‘50-Meter Dash’.

His lecture continued as the camera showed clear shots of each of the students.

“The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks. It's not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is procrastinating.”

Then, he turned to Bakugou. “Bakugou, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?” he asked, and everyone looked at the blonde boy.

“In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?”

“67 meters” replied Bakugou.

“Then, try doing it with your Quirk.”

Bakugou stood inside a marked circle. Aizawa told him, “You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up. Give it all you've got.”

Bakugo stretched, holding the ball in his hand. “Then, well...”

He took one step forward and thought as he prepared himself. ‘I'll add a blast to the pitch.’

“Die...!” he screamed, and blew the ball with all of his might.

‘Die?’ echoed Midoriya

“Yeah Bakugou, even the ball has to die?” teased Kirishima.

“Everything has to die.” he replied. “Including you if you won’t shut up.”

Bakugou and Aizawa both watched as the ball landed. It was far away, small like a dot in the sky.

“Know your own maximum first.” said the teacher, and checked the result in his smartphone. “That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero.”

“Drinking game: every time Aizawa-Sensei says the word rational you take a shot.” Kaminari suggested.

Iida made chopping movements with his hands. “We are still minors and are not allowed to get drunk!” he scolded.

Kaminari shrugged. “It can be a shot of water.”

Iida rubbed his chin and mused, “It is important to stay hydrated.”

He presented his phone screen to the class, the result was 705.2 meters.

Everyone gasped.

“705 meters? seriously?” muttered a kid with messy blonde hair and a black lightning mark.

“Ohh! It’s me! I finally said something!” gashed Kaminari. “Also, you nailed it bro!” he grinned at Bakugou.

“What's this? It looks fun!” a pink girl clapped.

“Yes! I got a line.” Ashido cheered and raised her fist.

“We can use our Quirks as much as we want! As expected from the hero course!” a boy with black hair and odd looking elbows closed his hands to fist.

Sero put his hands on his waist, “Now we just need Kirishima to say something and the whole squad is here.”

The camera focused on Aizawa’s face from the side, he was half hided by his hair. "’It looks fun,’ huh?" he echoed. You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?”

“I think you know now that the answer is yes.” said Sero.

“I can still expel you all. It would make my life a lot easier.”

The kids looked worried and the man grinned.

“All right. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion.”

“Huh?!” Everyone cried.

Chapter Text

At the teachers lounge, All Might leaned into the table.

“Aizawa, huh?” he mumbled, looking at the man’s file. It contained his picture and other details such as his full name and his hero name.

“He'll be facing a lot of suffering from the start.”

A few kids giggled to that.

The unimpressed teacher seemed to stare directly at Midoriya, who was freaking internally.

‘Punished with expulsion?! Oh no... This is bad... In all eight tests?’ He looked at his shaking palm. ‘I can only use One For All at either a hundred or zero percent. I can't control it yet…’

Aizawa's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "We're free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students.”  He removed his hair from his face to reveal his sleep deprived eyes and a mad smile. “Welcome to U.A.'s hero course!”

Some students looked stressed, some looked determined and some smiled, ready to take on the challenge.

‘A huge test on the first day of school?’ Midoriya sweated. ‘What am I going to do?!’

The brown haired girl protested, “The Last place will be expelled? But it's the first day of school! No, even if it wasn't the first day of school, this is too unfair!”

“Natural disasters, big accidents,” said the man, and the picture flashed to Bakugou being trapped by the sludge villain. “And selfish villains.”

“Calamities whose time or place can't be predicted. Japan is covered with unfairness. Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations. If you wanted to go talk with your friends at Mickey D's after school, too bad. For the next three years, U.A. will do all it can to give you one hardship after another. Go beyond. Plus Ultra.”

The class became serious as they took in the lecture.

“Overcome it with all you've got.” he pointed at the kids in front of him, inviting them to get closer.

Iida took out a juice bottle and pondered, ‘This is too serious to be hazing. However, this is the best of the best. There is no choice but to do it.’

‘This isn't all I've got.’ thought Bakugou as he stretched.

The gravity girl clenched her teeth and closed her hands to fists.

“All right, demonstration's over. The real thing starts now.” said the teacher.

Test 1: 50-meter dash

A robot started the race. “On your mark… Get set…”

“Go!”

The starting shot was fired and Iida and a girl with green haired lunged forward.

Iida crossed the finish line in an instant and the robot declared the result: 3.04 seconds.

The green haired girl made it shortly after, leaping on all four.

‘For 50 meters, I can only go up to third gear…’ the boy mumbled.

Then the camera zoomed on his face and the picture froze, making him look like he came out of a comic book.

“Tenya Iida.” A disembodied voice narrated. “Quirk: Engine.”

“Wait, is that…” asked Shoji.

The camera focused his shins, which looked unnaturally-firm and had six exhaust pipes stuck out of each. They were still smoking.

“As you can see, his legs are fast.”

“Oh my god it is!” said Hagakure. “Present Mic is narrating us! Or, at least Iida.”

“Woah, it feels like a comic book.” said Sero.

“Well, he's like a fish in water.” said Aizawa. “It'll be worth seeing what others do.”

The green haired girl appeared again, her hair was tied in a blow. As she turned around you could see a long tongue sticking out of her mouth. 

“Ribbit.” she croaked.

Her name and result was written on the screen: Tsuyu Asui, 5.08 seconds.

The camera moved to the brown haired girl, “Lighten up my clothes and shoes…” she talked to herself as she touched her outfit with her finger tips.

The picture froze as the Present-Mic narrator announced: “Ochaco Uraraka. Quirk: Zero Gravity!”

“Aw, you didn’t get an introduction, Tsu.” Said Uraraka.

“It’s alright Ochaco, I don’t particularly mind.” she reassured her.

The bot started the race and Uraraka run as fast as she could.

“She can nullify the gravitational pull of any object she touches. However, if she goes over capacity, she'll get really nauseous.”

A flashback appeared of her throwing up after saving Midoriya at the entrance exam.

A boy with a tail crossed the line and soon after so did Uraraka, with the results of 5.49 seconds and 7.15 seconds.

‘Oh, but that's faster than I was in junior high!’ Uraraka laughed and released her quirk.

A familiar blonde kid smirked to himself and stood behind the starting line facing it backwards.

“Everyone, you're not being creative enough.” he said, “I'll show you what it's like to be allowed to use your Quirk!”

The race started and the boy shot a laser beam from his belly that launched him backward quick as a lightning.

“It was pretty creative, Aoyama.” complimented Iida.

“I know right?”

The picture paused as his hair blew in the wind and the narrator announced, “Yuga Aoyama. Quirk: Navel Laser! He can shoot a laser from his bellybutton. He's limited by the amount of time he can shoot continuously.”

The beam stopped after a second, making Aoyama fall onto the floor. By the time he got up, the pink girl already passed him.

Aoyama hid his head behind his knees: “Why do I always lose to you, Ashido?”

Ashido petted his back and grinned. “There, there. I guess I’m just too good. But you weren’t that bad yourself, just need to work on your time limit a little bit. Besides, at least you got that character introduction thing.”

“I did...I looked good didn’t I?”

“You looked great.”

“5.51 seconds” the robot announced Ayoama’s result, who was now dirty from hitting the ground.

“If I shoot for more than a second, I get a stomachache.” Aoyama explained to his classmates, sparkling like nothing happened.

‘What the heck?’ they all thought.

“You know, young Aoyama.” said All Might. “One thing I’ve always liked about you was your ability to keep your cool no matter what happens. Even when things look rough, you never stop twinkling.”

Aoyama looked like he was torn between fainting from shock and exploding in glitter.

“Is that how you always feel, Midoriya?” he mumbled.

“Huh?”

‘Looking at the upper limit of your Quirks and the room for growth in each result, it becomes clear what you can and can't do.’ thought Aizawa, as the next race was about to start. It was between Bakugou and Midoriya. Midoriya looked nervous and Bakugou looked focused.

‘That will connect to the creativity needed for you to survive.’

“Explosive speed!” yelled Bakugou and used his arms to create an explosive force that will drive him forward.

A mad grin covered his face and he didn’t even acknowledge when he passed the finish line, just kept moving forward. His result was 4.13 seconds.

“Katsuki Bakugou. Quirk: Explosion!”

“Aw, come on. Bakugou gets a quirk narration and I don’t?” whined Ashido.

“You’ve got a problem with that, extra?” he growled.

“Look at the picture they used for him.” said Kirishima. “I think it perfectly captures who he is as a person.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Shitty hair?!”

Midoriya passed shortly after with 7.02 seconds.

“Nice, Deku! It’s faster than I was. And you didn’t even use your quirk.” said Uraraka.

“Hey, Midoriya, what result do you think you can get now with your quirk?” asked Todoroki.

“Actually, I’m not sure...” he admitted.

“You should check that when you can, ribbit.” said Tsuyu.

Bakugou opened his palms, and smoke rose from them. “When I use both hands, the force disperses…” he said.

Then, looked at the panting boy besides him. ‘Deku is…’ his thought trailed off.

Midoriya himself contemplated, ‘There are seven more tests. I'm sure everyone will use their Quirks to produce some extraordinary results.’

He lifted his gaze to the indifferent teacher, and got even more stressed. ‘On the other hand, I have this power that will break my body if I use it once.’

The world seemed to be closing in on him as his mind raced. ‘Even if I have the image in my head, when I have to actually use it…’

All Might’s advice came back to his mind and the scene flashed back to the night at the beach, “The trick to controlling it is…” The hero paused shortly, before throwing his hands to the sided and declaring, “feeling!”

“Wow, that's All Might for you!” the boy crowed.

All Might punched at an imaginary enemy, “You've already pulled out the 100%.” he said.

“It destroyed me, though.” Midoriya reminded him.

“But now that you have, it'll be easy.”

“Well, that was a lie.” said Jirou.

“You should've already grasped the feeling. What was it like?” he asked.

Midoriya struggled as he tried to describe, “It was like a "bzzt" or a "whoosh"... Um… I know!” A ding sound was heard and a mental image popped, “Like an egg put into a microwave!”

“Come on, that’s the best you could’ve come up with?” asked Kaminari.

Midoriya spread his hands “that’s what it felt like!”

Bakugo scoffed, “He’s a nerd, what do you expect?”

All Might spit blood from the shock, “That's boring, but unique!”

“Mr. All Might, no offense but I’m pretty sure that the fact that you’re still alive is a medical miracle.” said Yaoyorozu.

All might barked a laughter but got cut off by a cough. “I am well aware, young Yaoyorozu.”

“If that's the image you have, then lower the wattage, or shorten the cook time. Anything's fine, just focus on the image of the egg not exploding.”

Deku’s mouth opened slightly as he pondered All Might’s explanation, ‘The image...?’

“You have three weeks until school starts. Keep focusing on that image.” The hero tapped on his temple. “It won't happen overnight, but I'm sure you will be able to do it someday.”

The flashback ended and Midoriya came back to the present, determined to put into use what he has learned.

Test 2: Grip strength

Midoriya closed his eyes and squeezed a small device. ‘The image of the egg not exploding…’ he focused, then flinched as the picture of his broken limbs came back to him.

The device beeped. 56 kg.

“Wow!” the boy grinned.

He then heard a yell.

“540 kilograms? What are you, a gorilla?”

Midoriya lifted his gaze to see 2 of his classmates gashing over a boy with six arms.

“Oh, an octopus?”

“Octopuses are sexy.”

Midoriya looked at his result again, now with concern.

"That was actually a great result, Midoriya." said Sero.

He scoffed, "For a quirkless person, I guess."

"Hey, that's not true." said Hakagure, "I have a quirk and I didn't even get close. Come to think of it, my quirk wasn't good for any of those tests. I was really scared of getting expelled..."

"I thought you figured out by now that the test wasn't about results." said Aizawa, "It was about using your quirk creatively in different circumstances and knowing your own limits. And you did, which is why you passed."

Test 3: Standing long jump

Aoyama and Bakugou used their quirks easily, achieving incredible results, while Midoriya jumped normally.

He got up from the ground, frustrated, ‘control...’ he muttered.

Test 4: Repeated side steps

A short purple haired kid used 2 piles of purple balls to bounce quickly pass the boundaries.  

With every passing test, Midoriya looked more and more nervous.

"I am pretty proud of that result." said Mineta, "Even though I got really dizzy afterwards..."

Test 5: Ball throw

Uraraka threw her ball and it flew far and high. They waited for it to land...and waited…and waited…

Eventually, Aizawa showed them the result, that was just the infinity sign.

“Infinity?!” everyone gasped.

“Yo, I can’t believe Uraraka really launched a ball into space. That was super manly.” said Kirishima.

“Do you think it’s still out there?” asked Sato.

“It’s very likely.” said Iida.

“That's amazing! She got "infinity"!” exclaimed the boy with the messy blonde hair, and the kid next to him smiled in awe.

'This is bad. It's not something simple that I can just do right away.’ Midoriya thought, he closed his eyes. ‘Everyone's leaving at least one amazing result…’

It was his turn now, he looked at the ball in his hand. ‘All that's left is this, the long-distance run, sit-ups, and the seated toe-touch. It's now or never. At this rate, I'll be last.’

“It doesn't look good for Midoriya if he continues like this.” stated Iida.

“Huh? Of course not. He's a Quirkless small fry, you know.” Bakugou pointed at Midoriya.

“Quirkless?! Are you not aware of what he did in the entrance exam?”

“Huh? ”

“Oh, right! Bakugou had no idea Midoriya got a quirk. You must have been so confused.” said Ashido.

“And you haven’t watched the previous episodes with us, so you still don’t know what he did, do you?” asked Sero.

“Do I look like I care?” asked Bakugou.

“So this giant robot came up and-” started Kaminari.

“Like I said, don’t care.”

Aizawa paid no mind to the conversation. Instead, he was focusing on the green haired kid.

‘It's about time, huh?’ Midoriya decided. The things his mom and idol told him flashed in his mind.

‘Izuku! You're really cool.’

‘You can become a hero.’

Midoriya moved his arm backwards, gaining a momentum. His arm got covered in the same glowing veins.

‘I'll definitely become one!’ decided Midoriya, throwing the ball with a fierce expression and all of his might.

Aizawa’s eyes closed, and then opened again. Wide and red.

The ball landed less than a second after, about 50 meters from where Midoriya was standing. His arm was still in its natural color.

“46 meters.” the robot declared.

Midoriya froze in place, shocked.

He then got up, and looked at his arm, confused. “I was definitely trying to use it just now...” he muttered.

Gray fabric strips floated in the air and someone said  “I erased your quirk.” 

Midoriya turned around and gasped.

The kids all stared at the man in front of him, who had glowing red eyes, a standing hair and was surrounded by floating strips of what used to be his scarf. “That entrance exam was definitely not rational enough.” he said.

“Take a shot.” Kaminari said quietly but got a light elbow in his ribs from Jirou.

“Even a kid like you was accepted.”

“Not scary at all...” mumbled Ashido.

“Seems like I’ll have to try harder then.” her teacher replied.

“You erased my Quirk?” asked Midoriya.

Then, he looked at the yellow goggles that were hang on the man’s neck.

“Those goggles... I see! You can erase other people's Quirks with your Quirk just by looking at them.” The screen showed the image of a man sitting on a rooftop in front of the moon. His hair and scarf were floating in the wind, and his eyes were covered by yellow goggled.

“The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!”

Sero tsked his tongue, “Took you long enough, I thought you were the ultimate fanboy.”

Midoriya got flasrated.

“Sero, none of us recognized Eraserhead that day.” Reminded him Tsuyu.

“I know, Midoriya’s just too easy to poke fun at.”

The kids all talked simultaneously.

“Eraser? I don't know him.”

“I've heard of him. He's an underground hero.”

All Might was standing behind the corner, observing the scene. ‘He doesn't like media attention because he says it hinders his work. That's right, Young Midoriya. He and I don't get along.’ he thought.

“On a second thought, I think we get along quite well.” said All Might.

“We are definitely not.” Aizawa replied dryly.

“If you say so.” All Might shrugged with a smile.

The teacher narrowed his eyes, “From what I can tell, you can't control your Quirk, can you?”

Midoriya got taken aback.

“Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?” The man asked sharply.

“Th-That's not my intention-” the boy protested but got cut off as the strips got wrapped around him and pulled him forward, right in front of Eraserhead.

“Whatever your intention, I'm saying that's what those around you will be forced to do.”

The camera focused on All Might as the speech continued, “In the past, there was an oppressively passionate hero who saved over a thousand people by himself and created a legend. Even if you have the same reckless valor, you'll just be decked and turn into a useless doll after saving one person. Izuku Midoriya. With your power, you can't become a hero.”

The class winced.

“Sensei, I respect you and your teaching methods but wasn’t that a little too harsh?” Yaoyorozu squeaked.

“Poor Midoriya, being told something like that after everything he’s been though...” said Ashido.

“No, guys, it’s ok.” Midoriya reassured. “He was right, I couldn’t keep hurting myself if I wanted to become a hero.”

“Yeah but, he could have been more...gentle, about it.” said Sato.

Internally, Aizawa winced as well. Back then he viewed it as the cruel but necessary thing to do. He preferred ending the kid’s dream rather than having him killed in the field. But knowing what he does now? He made him believe he was a burden on the people around him, the way he believed he was the entire time. He held him to everyone else’s standards despite it being the second time he ever tried using his quirk. If he only knew…

Midoriya’s eyebrows furrowed and he gritted his teeth, but didn’t answer.

The kids behind him watched with interest. 

Aizawa turned off his quirk and released Midoriya from his capture weapon.

Midoriya looked at the ground, eyes hidden behind his hair.

“I've returned your Quirk. You have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with.”  

“It looks like he received some advice.” Iida remarked while rubbing his chin.

“Probably just telling him he's expelled.” replied Bakugou.

“Wait, you didn’t hear what he said?” asked Midoriya.

“Not really, we were too far.” Tsuyu answered.

“Are you worried about him?” Aoyama asked Uraraka, then put a hand on her shoulder.

“I'm...not at all.” he reassured.

Uraraka tilted her head, “Who are you...?” she asked.

“Why would you touch a girl you don’t even know?” asked Hagakure.

“Je voulais la rassurer.” he said. “I forgot touch is less common here unless you know someone really well. Was I being creepy?” he faltered.

“Don’t worry Aoyama, I was just a little confused.” Uraraka smiled.

“What should I do? Which should I choose?” Midoriya muttered.

Aizawa used eye drops and observed him critically. ‘Will he incorrigibly prepare for an honorable defeat here by using all his strength, or become intimidated and settle into last place? No matter which he chooses, he has no potential.’

‘I still can't control my power. Should I let everything I can do hang on this one throw? Even All Might said that it wouldn't happen overnight.’ thought Midoriya. Then, he decided. ‘This is no good! If that's my only choice, then I just have to go all out!’

Aizawa wasn’t impressed. ‘Zero potential.’

Midoriya took a long swing, his expression as fierce as before. Time moved in a slow motion as he thought ‘It's just as Mr. Aizawa says. At this rate, there's no way I'll become a hero.’

“Hey, hey, is he serious?” asked All Might.

'I have to work a lot harder than other people! That's why, with all my strength… I'll do what I can right now!’ The ball was a split second before leaving his hand, but just then, the veins appeared again. Now not on his entire arm, but only the tip of his finger.

“SMASH!” he shouted and launched the ball into the sky.

Everyone followed the ball with their gazes, shouting and gasping.

Midoriya gritted his teeth and sweated. ‘It doesn't hurt as much as before…’ he realized.

The camera zoomed on his hand, that was completely functional besides a single finger.

The ball landed, with the amazing result of 705.3 meters.

“Mr. Aizawa...” said Midoriya, and clenched his hand to a fist. He bit his lips in pain but also smiled proudly. “I can still move!”

Aizawa revealed his teeth in what may be a smile. ‘this kid…’ he thought.

“I haven’t seen anything impressive” All Might repeated Aizawa’s words from earlier with a mocking tone. “Well, how about now?” he grinned.

“I just decided that keeping him may not be a waste of my time.” he replied dryly and All Might knew it’s the best he could get from him.

‘I came because I was worried, but what the heck, young man?!’ All Might beamed from his hiding place. ‘You still couldn't control your power, but you also couldn't become incapacitated. So, you propelled the ball at the last point of contact by sending the power of One For All to just your fingertip, minimizing the injury while maximizing the power...! What the heck, young man?!’

The camera focused on Midoriya, who was still biting his teeth and holding back his tears from the pain.

‘You're so cool!’ The hero gashed.

Midoriya immediately turned at All Might with a shocked expression. “I. You. Y-you said that I-” he started panting, holding his throat.

“Breath, Midoriya.” Iida pat him on the back.

Midoriya collapsed on the couch.

“All Might, you know you can’t just say those things to him!” Uraraka scolded. “You know he’s sensitive!”

“I said it in my own head!” All Might spread his arms.

Tokoyami shook his head and rest his hand on the unconscious boy’s forehead, “I don’t think we should keep breaking him like this.” he stated.

“This is my fault, I started this.” Todoroki said regretfully. “Midoriya is going to be broken and this is my fault. I shouldn’t be around him.”

The kids around him chuckled.

“I don’t understand what’s so funny about it.” he frowned.

“Don’t worry, Todoroki.” Uraraka said between giggles, “We all want you around, including Deku.”

“Hey is that the show’s credits?” asked Hagakure and pointed at the TV, which not all of them noticed.

“Aww, look. It’s Midoriya’s hero costume design.” said Ashido. “How long do you think he had it?”

“Since kindergarten.” answered Bakugou, looking away from them.

The credits song had pictures of All Might, then of Midoriya running under a sky-filled stars. Then of him as a toddler playing with All Might’s action figure, to which a few kids awwed.

“I can’t believe you shit-brains make me watch an entire show about stupid Deku. ” grumbled Bakugo.

“Come on, bro. We’re having fun.” exclaimed Kirishima, and got an eye roll as a replay.

But despite his complains, Bakugou didn’t leave.

Even he didn’t really know why.

Chapter Text

The next episode began with a short replay of the last scene; Midoriya launching a ball and makes everyone gasp, then him proudly flexing his hand to show that he can still move.

“He got over 700 meters?!” a boy asked.

“Finally, a hero-like record!” Uraraka jumped

“His finger's swollen! There was the entrance exam, too. He has a strange Quirk…” mused Iida.

“It's not very stylish.” noted Aoyama.

Bakugou’s jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes were wide, ’Wh-What's with that power?! Everyone's Quirks manifest by the age of four. This is unthinkable!’

Kirishima laughed. “Man, this face is priceless! Hold on, I’ve got to take a picture of this.” He reached to his pocket and took out his phone but it got slapped off his hand by Bakugou.

“Take this picture and you’re a dead man."

‘But in reality…’ the words ringed in his mind.

‘S-Someone told me..."You can become a hero"...That it was because of my own effort…’

Bakugou’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ he wondered, creating small explosions with his hand. “Hey!” he lunged at him. “Tell me what's going on, Deku, you bastard!”

Midoriya screamed and his hair stood on end.

gray stripes immediately shot at the blonde boy and restrained him before he got to Midoriya.

Bakugou struggled against the restrains. He choked, “What the--? These cloths are hard..!”

“They're weapons for capture made of carbon fiber woven together with metal wire made of a special alloy.” explained the teacher.

“Jeez…” Midoriya tensed as he scolded. “Don't keep making me use my Quirk over and over.” his eyes glowed red, “I have dry eye.”

‘It's such a waste, since his Quirk is so amazing!’ everyone thought.

“Wait, all of us thought the same thing? what are the odds?” asked Sato.

“And it’s not the first time either.” added Kaminari. “Maybe we have a telepathic connection?”

The camera zoomed at Aizawa as he was holding his capture cloths with his quirk activated. The picture froze in a comic-like effect.

“Damn, he looks so cool!” blurted Ashido. “It’s not fair…”

“U.A. High's homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, Shota Aizawa. He can erase the Quirks of those he looks at. The effect goes away when he blinks!” disembodied-Present-Mic narrated.

The teacher turned off his quirk and released his capture scarf, saying with the same bored tone, “We're wasting time. Whoever's next, get ready.”

Midoriya started to walk away, taking small steps and keeping his eyes on Bakugou the entire time. As if he was scared to be attacked.

“Is your finger all right?” Uraraka asked with concern.

“Oh, yeah.”

Bakugou hasn’t moved from his spot. He was growling quietly.  He shot a glance at the distracted boy. ‘Until a little while ago, he was just a pebble on the side of the road.’ he thought bitterly.

The scene flashed.

Small-Midoriya appeared. He had a wide smile.

Some kids awwed again.

Midoriya blushed, “Is that really necessary?” he asked.

Hagakure put her hands on his shoulders and looked directly to his eyes. “Midoriya, you were so cute. So cute .”

“Uhh…”

Ojiro gently tried to move her away from him, “Let’s not harass Midoriya, alright?”

“But-but... cute. ” she sent her hands forward, making grabby hands movements.

“I know, I know.”

“You're so lucky, Kacchan. Your Quirk's so cool!” said small-Midoriya. He was following Small-Bakugou. Midoriya carried 2 water bottles and Bakugou carried a butterfly-net. “I hope I get mine soon, too.”

“Ok, but can we at least take pictures of baby-Bakugou?” asked Sero, who then received a growl.

“No matter what Quirk you get, you'll never beat me.” replied small-Bakugou, with a smug smile.

“Never mind, I don’t want it anymore.” said Sero and received even a bigger growl.

Small-Bakugou’s smile faded into current-Bakugou’s angry expression. ‘A pebble...on the side of the road!’

Title sequence: episode 6- Rage, You Damn Nerd

“Yup, Bakugou definitely named this one.” said Jirou.

The class spitted up to pairs. One person in the pair did sit-ups while the other kept their legs stable.

“Wait, pause.” said Kaminari. “Do you all see that?”

“See what?” asked Midoriya.

“Aoyama is looking right at the camera.” he said, pointing at the screen.

“Oh my god, he is!” said Ashido, then turned to Aoyama and spreaded her arms, “How?! there wasn’t even a camera to look at!”

“Aoyama has a second quirk. He’s aware of the fourth wall.” stated Todoroki, which made everyone stare at Aoyama.

“...are you?” asked Ojiro.

Aoyama smiled, clearly enjoying the attention. He decided to stretch the silent just a little bit more before shrugging, “I just always pretend like there are cameras everywhere and pose accordingly, nice to know it turned out useful.”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, “If you say so…”. He decided to keep an eye on him, he may have even more secrets than Midoriya.

“I still have so many questions…” Yaoyorozu leaned her head in her hands. “But I don’t want to think about it anymore, let’s just keep watching.”

‘After that, I fought against the pain as we finished the rest of the fitness tests.’ narrated Midoriya. The tests were sit ups, Seated toe-touch and long distance runs.

“Ouch…” Ojiro winced sympathetically. “How did you hold on?” he asked.

“I have a high pain tolerance.”

Midoriya dropped on the floor. He was sweaty and panting and he winced from pain and exhaustion.

Later, everyone gathered around Aizawa. “Okay, I'll quickly tell you the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test. It's a waste of time to explain verbally, so I'll show you the results all at once.”

Midoriya stood in the back, still in pain. ‘The person with the lowest total score will be expelled. The only result I had that was any good was in the ball throw. For the rest of the tests, I did terribly because of the pain.’

Aizawa tapped on his phone and a big hologram appeared. It was a list of names, ranked.

Midoriya slowly peeked open his eyes. He searched for his name. He couldn't find it so he looked lower, lower, til he found it: in the last place…

‘Last place will be...expelled?’ he couldn’t believe it. After all his hard work, everything he did, and he’s out on the very first day?

Aizawa turned off the hologram. “By the way, I was lying about the expulsion.”

Everyone blinked.

“It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks.” he explained, his teeth revealed in a wide-smirk.

“What?!” the kids screamed, Midoriya looked like he was having a stroke.

Everyone groaned.

“That was pretty manipulative, Sensei.” said Tsu.

“It was so cruel!” Sero threw his head back.

“Poor Midoriya.” said Iida. “You must have been so tensed about that.”

“I was, it was not good for my heart.” he confirmed.

Aizawa smiled a bit to his students’ reactions. Both the one on TV and the one in front of him.

A girl with a back ponytail reacted calmly, “Of course that was a lie. It should've been obvious if you just thought it through.”

A few kids gave her a side eye. ‘I didn’t notice…’

“I disagree, Yaoyorozu.” said Iida. “We are taught to trust authority and U.A is a unique school. On top of that, Aizawa is strict enough and could have actually go through with that. It was reasonable to assume he was telling the truth.”

“I guess you’re right…” she said. “It just sounded too harsh to be true…”

“That was a little nerve-wracking, huh?” asked a black haired-boy.

The redhead next to him clenched his fist and smirk. “I'll take up the challenge anytime!”

“My first line!” cheered Kirishima. “And it’s a manly one!”

“With that, we're done here. There are handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom so when you get back, look over them.” said Aizawa and the class was over.

Midoriya sighed in relief.

“Midoriya-” he lifted his head when he heard his teacher. “Have the old lady fix you in the nurse's office.” he handed him a note. “Tomorrow will be packed with even more rigorous tests. Prepare yourself.” he walked away.

‘I got through this for now, but there was too much that I couldn't do. I'm starting from last place. I have a lot to learn from here on out in order to get closer to what I dream of becoming!’

“Aizawa, you liar!” All Might accused.

On the couch, the man snickered.

“All Might. So you were watching? Too much time on your hands?” he teased dryly.

“"A rational deception" you said? April Fools was last week.”You punished a whole class of last year's first-years with expulsion. You cut those you judge to be without potential without hesitation. For a man like that to take back his words-That must be because you also felt the potential of that kid, right?” he pointed at him, victorious.

“"Also"?” Aizawa asked. “You seem to be supporting him quite a bit.” he noted with a small grin.

All Might’s finger dropped.

“All Might, your ‘dad’ is showing.” teased Kaminari.

“Is that how a teacher should be acting?” he started walking away again.

All Might stuttered, “T-That’s deflecting! you were deflecting the subject!”

“His potential was not zero. That's all it was. I will always cut those without potential. There's nothing crueler than letting a dream end midway.”

“You know, kids. He admitted to me the other day that he did see young Midoriya’s potential…in kinder words than ‘non zero’” said All Might with a smirk.

“I deny all of your accusations.” Aizawa replied, now with his back turned to the blonde.

All Might watched as he left. ‘So you're being kind in your own way, huh, Aizawa? But we don't really get along after all.’ he mused.

Scene: outside of U.A’s gates.

Midoriya’s arms dangled besides him as he walked back home. His back was bent and his eyes were half closed.

“I'm so tired…” he mumbled.

An arm rest on his shoulder. He turned around.

“Iida?” he flinched a bit.

“Is your finger healed?” the boy asked.

“Yeah, thanks to Recovery Girl.” he showed Iida his bandaged finger, which he examined closely.

A flashback started.

Midoriya watched in awe at his newly-healed finger. “Wow, it's healed! But I suddenly feel very tired…”

“My Quirk can only stimulate a person's healing ability. Healing requires stamina.” Recovery girl explained sweetly. “If you keep getting major injuries, you'll use too much stamina and end up dying instead, so be careful.” she handed him a small candy.

“I'll end up dying instead?!”

‘I can't just keep getting help from others. I have to hurry up and learn to control my power.’ Midoriya thought to himself, as Iida tried to strike a conversation.

“I was really taken in by Mr. Aizawa. I even thought, "This is the best of the best" and such. I didn't think a teacher would encourage us with a lie.” he disapproved.

‘I thought Iida was scary, but he's just earnest.’ Midoriya mused.

“Hey! you two!” someone yelled behind them. They turned around to see Uraraka running towards them, “Going to the station? Wait for me!”

“Uraraka?!” Midoriya spluttered.

“You’re the infinity girl.” noted Iida.

“Infinity girl is actually a pretty good hero name, ribbit.” said Tsu.

Uraraka hummed, “It is. But I like ‘Uravity’’

“This is a good name too.” she smiled at her.

When she caught up with them, she introduced herself cheerfully, “I'm Ochaco Uraraka.”

She asked the boys in front of her, “Um, you're Tenya Iida, and you're Deku Midoriya, right?”

“"Deku"?!”

“Huh? But during the fitness test, the boy named Bakugou said-”

“Deku! You bastard!” a small Bakugou caricature appeared, explosions coming out of his palm.

Kirishima giggled.

“What’s so funny, bastard?!” asked Bakugou and accidentally made himself look a lot like the caricature. Kirishima hid his snicker behind his hand.

“-right?” she asked.

“Uh... my real name is Izuku, but D-Deku is what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me…” he tried to explain awkwardly.

“An insult?” asked Iida.

“Oh, is that right? Sorry!” said Uraraka. “But "Deku" sounds like the Japanese word for "You can do it!" so I kinda like it.”

Without missing a beat, Midoriya yelled, “I'm Deku!”

The class laughed.

“Oh, Midoriya.’ said Kaminari.”

“What? Why are you laughing?” asked Uraraka which caused another wave of laughter.

“This show was a mistake…” mumbled Midoriya, completely red.

“Midoriya?!” asked Iida. “You're accepting it too easily! Wasn't that an insult?”

Iida smirked. “Looking back, the answer is clear...”

“Answer? What answer?” asked Uraraka and shook Iida gently, who was unfazed.

“Iida, come on, tell me!”

“Don’t worry it’s not important.”

“It's like a Copernican Revolution…” muttered Midoriya.

“‘Co-pe’?” Uraraka asked.

“The Copernican Revolution was a change of the belief that Earth was the center of the universe. Using observations and math, Copernicus was one of the first people to come to the conclusions that Earth and other planets were actually resolving around the sun, instead of vice versa.” explained Yaoyorozu.

“Oh, I think I heard about him.” Uraraka rest a finger on her chin, then she tilted her head. “But what does that have to do with Deku?”

Bakugou groaned. “Nothing! Deku’s just a nerd.”

“Oh...” Uraraka was still a little confused but accepted the answer. Midoriya sent a grateful look to Bakugou, which in return scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Soft and happy music played in the back as Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka walked home together. Midoriya narrated, ‘There are so many things I can't do. I have to work hard and do my best. But, All Might, I can at least be happy that I have friends, right?’

The music ended and the scene changed to All Might, staring at the hero outfit he held. ‘You don't have time to relax, young man. The real thing starts tomorrow.’

The screen went black.

“That’s pretty ominous.” muttered Sero.

The U.A school building appeared, and after that Midoriya’s classroom, as he narrated, ‘The curriculum of U.A. High's hero course: Regular required classes, like English, in the morning.’

“Which of these English sentences is wrong?” asked Present Mic, who stood in front of a board with four different sentences in English.

‘So normal…’ the kids thought, and Bakugou added ‘So damn boring.’

Seems like the teacher sensed their tiredness, because he yelled “Everybody, heads up! Let's get this party started!”

Midoriya looked at the board and reached a conclusion. ‘The relative pronoun is in the wrong place in number 4!’

The shot changed to the cafeteria.

‘Lunch is at the main cafeteria, where we can buy gourmet food for reasonable prices.’

“White rice is great comfort food, isn't it?” someone asked. He was wearing a chef outfit with a big white hat that covered most of his face. A metal pipe stuck from under it, and seemed to be connected to his shoulder. In the background the words: ‘Cook Hero-Lunch Rush’ were written in big letters.

Each of the trio seemed to have a different reaction. Iida seemed confused, probably trying to figure out where exactly the hero’s face is, and how it even looks like.

Midoriya gasped and covered his mouth, in awe of the chance to speak to the hero.

While Uraraka just enjoyed her food. “Yeah.” she agreed.

‘And then, in the afternoon, we finally have…Hero Basic Training.’

“I am…”

 Midoriya beamed as he heard the familiar deep voice.

“...coming through the door like a normal person.” announced All Might as he went through Class A-1’s door.

“Nothing about you is the same as a normal person’s” said Aizawa.

All Might patted his back and laughed. “Why, thank you.”

The kids recognized him immediately, excited chatter started.

“It’s all Might!”

“Wow, he really is a teacher!”

“That's a costume from the Silver Age, isn't it?”

“Its style is so different, it's giving me goosebumps.”

“I teach Hero Basic Training. It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. You'll take the most units of this subject!” All Might explained.

He flexed with his back turned to the class, then suddenly turned around, holding a card with the word ‘BATTLE’ written in english. “Let's get right into it! This is what we'll do today! Combat training!”

“Combat...”

“...training.”

Bakugou started to repeat the sentence and Midoriya finish it. Both had almost the opposite reactions. While Bakugou smiled widely, Midoriya seemed nervous and worried.

“And to go with that are these!” The hero pointed at a corner, from which a cart with numbered cases rolled into the room. “Costumes made based on your Quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started.”

They all cheered.

"Oh! I remember that, putting on my costume for the first time. it was such an amazing feeling." said Ashido.

"Yeah, It was that time when it hit me 'Oh man, it's real. I'm actually going to be a hero.''' said Sato.

All Might smiled, "I love young herolets. Everything is so new and exciting for you, like little ducklings."

“After you change, gather in Ground Beta!”

“Yes, sir!”

Chapter Text

All Might waited in front of the door to Ground Beta, and the hero students appeared.

Tough music started playing and as they walked, the camera zoomed on different parts of their new costumes.

All Might said, “They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies. Be fully aware… From now on…”

The class was fully revealed. They were shining in the sunlight, each of them unique and heroic in their own way. 

“...you are heroes!”

“That's great, everyone. You all look cool!”

“My costume was exactly the way I imagined.” Tsuyu smiled.

“I know, right?” asked Sero. “Those support companies really know what they’re doing. How did you guys choose your costumes?”

Ojiro shrugged. “I mostly rely on material arts, so I thought the clothes meant for that would fit the most. Never really thought about it more.”

“Dark Shadow likes the dark...he’s comfortable under the cape.”

“Oh? And I guess that has nothing to do with you liking black capes as well?” Kirishima teased.

“perhaps…”

“Ok but can we talk about whatever Todoroki’s first costume was?” asked Ashido. “No offense but you looked like a cyborg. And not even in the fun way.”

“...I thought it fit the aesthetic.” Todoroki mumbled.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, Ashido, but if you’re going to insult someone else’s costume I have to mention that the colors in yours clash horribly. And fur? sans déconner?” teased Aoyama.

“Oh, you’re on, you knock off of a knight!”

“Knock off?!”

“Well,” Kaminari intervened. “Whatever you all say, I think mine and Jirou’s costume match. We’re both so punk.”

“Kaminari, you wouldn’t know what punk is even if it bites you in the butt.” Jirou deadpanned.

They all started to argue and Aizawa was just about to put an end to this but then someone stood up and a small voice spoke.

“...I think all of your costumes are really great.” said Koda.

And just like that, the fight was over.

“Now, shall we begin, you zygotes?”

The scene changed.

An envelop appeared on the screen.

Midoriya narrated, ‘The clothing allowance. Before we enrolled in U.A. High, we submitted our Quirk registration, physical measurements, and desired designs so a support company under exclusive contract with the school could prepare state-of-the-art costumes for us. It's a wonderful system.’

In the envelop there were 2 pages, one with sketches of armor’s parts and description of the desired costume, and one with a picture of Iida and his measurements.

“Hey, that’s my form.” Iida pointed out.

A different form appeared. It had a sketch of a costume with 2 hand grenades, a belt and sunglasses. It was accompanied by the text ‘"Something intimidating!!"

The kids exchanged knowing smiles but didn’t say a thing.

The last form had a sketch of a princely-style costume with the text "Style for a man who can't stop sparkling."

3 Weeks ago- Midoriya’s house.

“I need to go to city hall to get my Quirk registration for the clothing allowance.” Midoriya sat on the couch, looking at a letter. “But I'm already registered as "none"...

Oh, what should I do...?”

He called All Might.

“Quirk registration?” the man asked. “Oh, you can update that.”

“Really?”

All Might laughed from the boy’s surprise. “Everyone is examined and registered all at once  when they enter elementary school and junior high, right?”

Midoriya nodded to the question despite it being a phone call.

“But there are cases where people discover their Quirks aren't what they thought they were. So you're allowed to update it once or twice.”

A picture of a woman appeared on screen, she was lifting a finger and water seemed to get out of it. She was accompanied with the text "Sends out the water from her body".

Then the animation changed slightly to show that the drops actually coming from around her, and not from her. The text changed to "Turns moisture in the air into water".

“They won't accept outrageous changes, but if you had "none" before, it's probably fine. And by "probably," I mean I'm sure-”

“I'm home!” a woman declared.

Izuku winced and tapped on his phone. “Oh, I hung up by accident! I'll have to apologize later.”

His mother opened the door and he greeted her, “Welcome back!”

“Hey, Izuku.” she reached for something in her bag. “Congrats on getting into U.A.!” she pulled out a green jumpsuit. “I might've jumped to conclusions, though.”

“A jumpsuit?” he asked.

“It's not much as it is now, though. When you'd dozed off while studying, I happened to see your notebook.” a short flashback of her coming to check on her son and bring him a meal, finding him asleep on the table, on top of his notebooks.

“What?”

A distant expression covered her face. “The terrible thing I said kept bothering me. I gave up back then.” The scene flashed to her hugging her toddler-son as he cries and crying as well.

“But you didn't give up. You kept chasing your dream, didn't you? I'm sorry, Izuku. I'll support you openly with everything I've got from now on!” she gave him a tearful smile and handed him the jumpsuit, which he took with a determined expression.

‘These are my mother's feelings. What'll I wear if not this!’ he thought as he made his way to Ground Beta. ‘Even if it's not the most convenient or state-of-the-art, it's fine. This is my costume!’

“Deku, that’s so sweet…” said Uraraka.

“You have a good mother.” approved Todoroki.

“I know…” said Midoriya. “It’s true that I wished she said something different back then, but I never held it against her. I am grateful to have her as my mom.”

“You’re such a mama’s boy.” Kirishima ruffled the boy’s hair. “it’s so manly.”

“Oh, Deku?” a smile appeared on a familiar girl’s face.

“Uraraka!”

He winced and blushed when she gashed at him, “that looks cool! Really down to earth.”

The background around her sparkled and Deku got a look at her full costume. “I should've written what I wanted…” she rubbed the back of her head. “Mine ended up being a skintight bodysuit. It's embarrassing…” Midoriya covered his mouth and blushed deeply, seemingly at a lost of words.

“Aw, Midoriya. You should have just let her know you thought she looks good.” Ashido scolded. “Right, Uraraka?”

Both kids blushed and stuttered at the same time.

“What, are you saying you don’t think she looks good?” she teased, having way too much fun.

“O-of course not!” Midoriya waved his hands. 

“Well, then tell her.” Aoyama crossed his arms. Everyone were now looking at Midoriya with anticipation.

Midoriya sweated, and looked at Uraraka, who was red as well. “I-I think you look good in your hero costume. Not-that-you-don’t-look-good-without-it, I-I MEAN, you look good in any clothes! Of course, clothes don’t really make the man even though that’s what All Might said, not that All Might was wrong but-” Midoriya started to mutter while Uraraka seemed to stop being able to breath.

“Why are you doing this?” Shoji asked Ashido and Aoyama, who both had wicked grins.

“Because those two are hopeless and need a little push” said Ashido while Aoyama nodded. “Also, it’s pretty funny.” he said.

Shoji decided that day to never let class A-1 know anything about his love life.

“OH, FOR GOD’S SAKE!” Bakugou screamed. “No one gives a fuck about what you think about Round Face!” He grabbed the remote from Deku’s hand and pressed play.

All Might hummed as he saw Midoriya in his new outfit. Little arrows pointed at his green ears, then about All Might’s hair turfs. The same arrows pointed at the the white part of his helmet, then at All Might’s trademark smile.

The hero covered his mouth to stop himself from bursting in laughter. ‘So obvious.’

Midoriya turned around sharply, “You knew?!”

“I mean...it was pretty obvious, Midoriya.” said Tsuyu.

The boy groaned.

“Now, it's time for combat training!” All Might announced.

A boy in an armor suit raised his hand, “Sir!”.

‘Oh, that was Iida. He looks cool.’ though Midoriya as he examined his outfit.

“This is a battle center from the entrance exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?” Iida asked.

“No, we're going to move ahead two steps!” All Might lifted two fingers in the air.

“Most of the time, fighting villains takes place outside,” as he spoke, a recap of the fight with the giant villain in episode one appeared on the screen. “But if you look at the total numbers, atrocious villains appear indoors at a higher rate.” Midoriya became more serious as he remembered the sludge villain’s attack in the tunnel.

“Imprisonment, house arrest, backroom deals-In this society filled with heroes, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows! For this class, you'll be split into villains and heroes and fight -on- indoor battles.”

Asui Tsuyu, the frog girl, tilted her head in question, “Without basic training?”

“This is a real battle to understand those basics! However, the key this time is that there's no robot you can just beat up.”

“How will wins and losses be determined?” asked a girl with a black ponytail.

“Can we beat them up anyway?” asked Bakugou.

“Will the punishment be expulsion like with Mr. Aizawa?” asked Uraraka.

“How shall we be split up?” asked Iida.

“Isn't this cape crazy?” asked Aoyama

“I'll answer all your questions!” All Might reassured them, he was a little overwhelmed.

“You never answered mine.” Aoyama reminded him.

“Now listen here.” he opened a notebook that looked very small in his big hands.

“A script?” asked Midoriya.

A video-game-like animation appeared to demonstrate as All Might explained, “The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout. The heroes are trying to dispose of that. The heroes need to catch the villains or get the nuclear weapon back in the allotted time. The villains need to protect the nuclear weapon for the whole time or catch the heroes.”

"Those video games animations are pretty cute." said Hagakure. "Not at all stressing, unlike the actual exercise." 

"Hagakure you know very well how intense video game tournaments get in the dorms." said Kirishima.

“The situation is very American!” noted Midoriya.

“Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!” All Might took out a box with the word ‘lots’ written on.

“They're being decided so haphazardly?” asked Iida.

“Pros often have to create makeshift teams with heroes from other agencies, so maybe that's why?” Midoriya suggested.

“I see. The discernment to look ahead...Please excuse my rudeness!”

“It's fine. Let's do this quickly!”

Team A were Midoriya and Uraraka and Team D were Iida and Bakugou.

“Wow! It must be fate!” Uraraka cheered. “I’m counting on you!”

“Seriously?!” Midoriya got stressed. “I have to speak properly, or else-”

“The first teams to fight will be…” All Might pulled two balls from two boxes and revealed them to the crowd. “...these guys!”

Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida and Bakugou all gasped as All Might announced, “Team A will be the heroes, and Team D will be the villains.”

“All Might, Are you sure those lots were random?” Yaoyorozu narrowed her eyes.

“Indeed, it was just a fun little coincidence.” he replied.

“Everyone else, head toward the monitor room.”

“Yes, sir!”

Midoriya stared at his feet as the rest of the kids left. He lifted his head to look at Bakugou, who in return sent him an intense glare, making him avert his gaze. Midoriya clenched his fist to make it stop shaking, he raised his eyes from the floor and fixed them on Bakugou once more, this time with an intense glare of his own.

Bakugou’s expression became surprised for a few seconds, then angry.

“Villain team, go in first and set up! In five minutes, the hero team will break in, and the battle will start!”

“Yes, sir!”

The hero team waited outside of a building as the villain team were about to get inside. Before they did, All Might stopped them. 

“Young Iida, Young Bakugou,” he said. “Learn to think from the perspective of the villains. This is pretty close to a real battle. Go all out. Don't be afraid to get hurt.”

“Yes, sir!” Iida replied.

“If things go too far, I will stop it.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You did not stop them and never will. Your self preservation skills are terrible and you’re teaching them the same thing.” Aizawa scolded.

“It was my first day as a teacher! I got scolded enough by you and recovery girl to learn my lesson.” All Might protested.

Aizawa raised one eyebrow.

"Also, you are not the one to talk about self preservation, you left the hospital one day after got got injured."

"It was unnecessary for me to stay there any longer."

"The bandages that covered you say otherwise."

During the explanation, Bakugou’s attention was on Midoriya instead. He gritted his teeth.

Inside the building, Iida walked to the fake nuclear weapon. “Even if this is training, it pains me to become a villain.” he confessed. 

He examined the large rocket. “So our job is to protect this?” he asked, then knocked on it. “It's papier-mâché.” he stated.

But Bakugou’s head seemed to be elsewhere, as he didn’t even look at Iida or the weapon.

“Hey!” he asked from the other side of the room, “Deku has a Quirk, right?”

"You saw that extraordinary strength, didn't you? It appears to carry a lot of risk, though… However, you seem to be especially angry when it comes to Midoriya…"

Bakugou twitched. Iida’s voice got more and more distant as Bakugou saw red. ‘Did he dare trick me?! That damn nerd!’ his eyes were murderous and a crooked, wide smile spread on his lips.

Midoriya reflexively leaned back when he saw Bakugou’s murderous expression. A few other kids exchanged nervous glances.

Outside of the building, Uraraka and Midoriya were looking at a piece of paper.

"It's a lot of work to memorize the building's floor plan." the girl said. Then her cheerful smile appeared again as she noted, "But All Might is just the same as when he's on TV. Unlike Mr. Aizawa, it looks like there's no punishment, so we can relax and-" she gasped when she looked at Midoriya, who clenched his paper tightly and was covered in sweat, despite that the exercise has yet to start.

"You're not relaxed at all!" she cried.

"Well, it's because…" he uttered, "we're up against Kacchan...And there's Iida, too, so I feel like I need to be on guard…"

"I see. Bakugou's the one who makes fun of you, right?" she asked sympathetically.

"He's amazing."

A short flashback appeared, with Bakugou from middle school declaring with full confident, ‘I'll definitely surpass All Might and become the top hero!’

"He's a piece of work, but his goal, his confidence, his physical strength, and his Quirk are way more amazing than mine."

"Damn right they are." said Bakugou.

"But that's why right now…" Midoriya put on his helmet, his eyes brightened with intensity. "I don't want... to lose…"

Uraraka blinked, then smiled in understanding. "A fated battle between men, huh?" she asked

Midoriya blushed and stuttered once again, "Oh, sorry, this isn't your problem, Uraraka."

"Midoriya you were this close to talking normally to a girl." said Jirou disapprovingly.

"He will get there someday." said Kaminari.

"It is! We're a team, aren't we?" she raised her fist, "Let's do our best!"

Midoriya smiled and nodded.

"Now, let's start the indoor person-to-person combat training with Team A and Team D!" All Might’s voice rang. He was in the monitor room, able to watch the teams on cameras and talk to them with a microphone, the class was there with him.

"Okay, everyone, you all should think as well." the hero instructed the classmates in the monitor room.

‘Young Midoriya! Here, you are no more than a single student. I'll grade you strictly, without playing favorites.’ All Might fixed the earbud in his ear and held a board and a pen in his hands. He was ready.

"We never got to hear what went on during the exercise." Noted Sato, "I think it’s pretty cool we can do it now."

Uraraka and Midoriya got into the building from an open Window.

"We've infiltrated successfully!" she whispered.

"There are a lot of blind spots, so let's be careful." he replied.

secret-mission-music played in the back as they both sneaked with their back stuck to the wall. They looked around them wary, ready for anything that might come.

‘I still can't control One For All,’ thought Midoriya as they were walking, ‘so I can't use it against anyone...If I use that on someone, it'll kill them. We just have to do it with the power I have now and Uraraka's Zero Gravity. I've got to use my head…’

Midoriya looked around the corner and signed Uraraka to follow as he saw that the area was clear.

‘Those notes on indoor battles... battles in tight spaces…’ The mental image of his notebook appeared in his mind, ‘Remember!’ he ordered himself.

His line of thoughts got cut off by Bakugou who suddenly leaped at them from behind a corner.

Midoriya barely dodged and jumped on Uraraka to shield her from Bakugou’s explosive punch.

He got up immediately, "Uraraka, are you all right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She gasped when she noticed the ripped part of his mask. "Deku?"

"It's just a scratch." he reassured her.

Both kids tensed as the smoke spreaded and Bakugou stood in front of them. A big hole was at the spot Midoriya used to stand on.

"Come Deku, don't dodge."

Midoriya stood up, "I figured you'd come for me first."

"A surprise attack from the start?" in the monitor room, a girl with red marks on her face asked.

"Bakugou, that's cheating! A surprise attack isn't manly at all!" A boy with spiked censured

"A surprise attack is a strategy, too." All Might corrected. "They're in the middle of a real battle right now."

"Midoriya avoided it!" The pink girl cheered.

"There goes Bakugou!" a boy with messy blonde hair exclaimed.

"I won't do so much damage that this fight gets stopped, but I'm gonna get close!" Bakugou lunged at Midoriya and threw a punch, but never hit his target.

Midoriya threw his arms around Bakugou, gripping him tightly.

Bakugou yelped in surprise.

"Wow, he's like a martial arts master!" Uraraka cheered.

Bakugou could barely make a few explosions before Midoriya threw him onto the floor.

‘What's with this guy?’ he blurted right before his head hit the ground. ‘Did he read my moves?’

The kids in the monitor room opened their mouth in surprise.

Midoriya panted heavily, looking at the boy that was laying on the floor. "Kacchan...You usually start with a big right swing."

"I learned since then…" the blonde muttered.

Bakugou got up.

"How much do you think I've been watching you?" The other boy asked.

Bakugou turned around, looking at him questionably.

"Not sure if it’s cool or creepy." said Kaminari.

"Creepy as fuck," said Bakugou.

"N-no it's not!" Midoriya protested.

"Creepy or not, it did help him outsmart you." Iida reminded the angry boy.

"He just caught me by surprise!"

"You mean, more surprise than you attacking him from behind?" asked Jirou.

"Shut up, Earphones!" he barked.

"I wrote an analysis for all the heroes I thought were amazing in my notebook. In the notebook you blew up and threw away." Midoriya continued.

"I actually think what you do is flattering." said Todoroki, who got a grateful smile from Midoriya.

He raised his head to look straight at Bakugou, he was injured and sweaty but his eyes shined bright."My 'Deku' isn't always going to mean 'useless'! "Kacchan, my 'Deku' means 'You can do it!'" he shouted.

Uraraka gasped as she remembered what she told him the day before, ‘But "Deku" sounds like the Japanese word for "You can do it!" so I kinda like it.’

"So that’s why you chose it as your hero name." said Ashido. "It’s actually really cool!" 

"Taking what was meant to be an insult and wearing it as a badge of honor…" Tokoyami rubbed his beak, "Not bad." 

Bakugou got up preparing to attack, and Midoriya got into a battle stand.

"Deku…" he spit.

A short flashback of a little shaking child came back to him. 'If you keep going, I'll never forgive you!' the child said back then, on his face the same frightened but determined expression he sees now on the boy in front of him.

‘Even though you're scared…’ he made a few small explosions, which made Midoriya shake a little more but still not back down.

"That's what I hate about you!" he screamed.

The episode ended.

"That’s it?" asked Jirou. "It feels like not much happened."

"There were a bunch of flashbacks this episode, along with explanations of things we already know. This left less room for the plot to advance, ribbit." said Tsuyu.

"You should tell that to the show makers, Midoriya." said Sero, his arms behind his head.

Midoriya just looked at him with a very confused expression.

"Maybe Aoyama should tell them." suggested Todoroki.

"pardon?"

"Wait, hold on," said Ojiro. "Bakugou, what did you mean by ‘That's what I hate about you’?" 

They looked at Bakugou with anticipation.

"Get off me, Tail. I don’t feel like being interviewed." he replied.

They let it be for now, but Midoriya thought he understood. What got Kacchan pissed off was his perserverense. How he didn’t fit the image of the world Kacchan had in head. Midoriya was quirkless, therefore he was nothing. But as passive as Midoriya became over the years, he never let himself be nothing. Quietly, he kept hoping, kept going. And he even achieved his goal. And it confused Kacchan, maybe even scared him.

The thought made an odd sense of pride spread in his chest.

Chapter Text

The next episode started with a 90 seconds recap of the events of the previous one.

“Really, this shit again?” Bakugou booed.

“Are you sure we’re in the right episode?” asked Ojiro.

“Something tells me this show wasn’t really meant for binge watching...” Uraraka said with bordem, her chin resting on her palms.

They skipped the theme song.

The episode started with Midoriya narrating, ‘Because Kacchan and I lived in the same neighborhood, we've known each other since we were little.’

Small-Midoriya seemed afraid as he stood in front of a broken gate. Signs were written besides it, saying ‘No trespassing’ and ‘You can't go in there!’

In front of him stood small Bakugou and his friends. The kid pointed forward and declared “Let's go kill the enemy!”

“Okay!” the other kids cheered.

Midoriya seemed uncertain about it, but answered as well, “O-Okay...!”

“trespassing is very illegal.” Iida said solemnly.

Kirishima smiled a little, “Dude, they were like 5, haven’t you ever done silly mistakes when you were young?”

Iida opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again.

“I mean, it is Iida we’re talking about here, I don’t think he ever even thought about doing something illegal.” said Sero.

Iida started to sweat.

‘He was the type who could do anything he tried his hand at, a rascal who led the group of neighborhood kids. Good or bad, Kacchan was full of confidence, and I thought he was so cool.’ the kids followed Bakugou’s steps. Midoriya stood there for a moment, watching Bakugou’s confident walk. Then, a big smile covered his face and Midoriya passed through the gate as well.

“You are a natural leader, young Bakugou.” said All Might. “You will do great while using this trait when becoming a pro.”

Bakugou didn’t react to the praise, his head was full of thoughts.

‘But...after his Quirk manifested, it accelerated him down the wrong path.’

The first scene of the show flashed again, of Bakugou using his quirk with his friends on crying Midoriya who tried his best to defend another kid.

The show came back to the present, Bakugou yelled as he prepared for battle, “Even though you're scared...That's what I hate about you!”.

‘All men are not created equal. This was the reality I learned about society at the young age of four.’

Title Sequence: Episode 7-Deku vs. Kacchan

Iida’s voice was heard though the earbud, “Hey, Bakugou! Give me your status! What happened?”

“Just shut up and defend.” the blonde replied. “I'm really angry right now!”

“I'm not asking about how you feel!” he said impatiently, then, he heard a clicking sounds. “Hey! He hung up…” he mumbled.

“Going off on his own like that…What is wrong with him?! Jeez!” the blue haired boy clenched his fists and groaned.

On the monitor room, the redhead boy asked, “What was Bakugou saying? Can't tell with just the cameras in a fixed position and no sound.”

“I knew this battle was intense, but it’s completely different when you can actually hear what they’re saying.”

“He's talking to his partner over the small wireless radio.” All Might pointed on the one in his own ear. “You can bring that plus the building's floor plan,and this capture tape! Once you wrap this around your opponent, it shows that you've captured them.”

The pink girl glanced at the timer, there were 13 minutes left. “The time limit is 15 minutes, and the heroes don't know where the nuclear weapon is located, right?” she asked.

“Yes!” the heroics teacher confirmed.

“The heroes are clearly at a disadvantage here!” she pointed out.

“Heroes should be able to turn the tables on whatever predicament they're in. Besides, didn't Mr. Aizawa tell you, too? You know-” he raised his finger and the kids smiled in realization.

All Might raised his fist, “Here we go-”

“Plus Ultra!” they all cheered together.

“Hey, I think it was the first time we said it together as a class.” said Sato, “it's pretty cool.”

Then, Aoyama noticed something that was going on on the screen, “Monsieur, Bakugou is-”

All Might got his attention back to the exercise.

Bakugou sent his hand backwards and opened his palm.

Midoriya reacted immediately, “Uraraka, go!”

The girl run without missing a beat, as Bakugou lunged at Midoriya. “Looking away? You must be sure of yourself.” he taunted, aiming a kick at the green haired. Then, he noticed as a white string got wrapped on his leg. “The capture tape--?!”

In Midoriya’s mind, one of his notebooks appeared. ‘Hero Analysis for the Future- notebook 10, page 18!’

The page was titled : "Erasure Hero- EraserHead". Multiple notes were written underneath and on the next page there was a drawing of the hero.

The scene flashed to the time Bakugou got restrained by the teacher’s scarf, which likely gave Midoriya the idea to use the capture tape to do the same.

‘I'm glad I got to see Eraser Head's moves in person!’

Midoriya tried to sneak a glance at the man behind him without being noticed, to see his reaction. But as usual, his face didn’t betray a thing.

Aizawa wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Usually he was irritated by fans and unnecessary attention to his work, though he must admit that the information the kid gathered about him when he couldn’t have been older than 13 was pretty impressive, considered how he works under the radar most of the time. And how he could recall his notes perfectly under the pressure of a battle and use them in his strategy, is it possible he had a photographic memory? Either way, it kind of made him...proud.

‘What's next?’ Midoriya’s thought process seemed to be as fast as Bakugou’s movements. ‘If it's Kacchan, he'll be impatient and swing with his right again!’ Bakugou's punch once again hit the wall as Midoriya dodged his attack.

‘I was right!’ Midoriya realized, stunned, and Bakugou shot him a shocked and furious look.

Bakugou cursed himself in his heart for being so easily read.

“That guy's amazing!” said a muscular boy in a yellow suit in the monitor room.

“He's not even using his Quirk fighting against the guy who finished first in the entrance exam!” added another.

‘He was always good at reacting quickly in a crisis.’ thought All Might, remembering the sludge monster. ‘He spent years writing his notes and internalizing them. That fanboy knowledge is now paying off as it propels him forward.’

"Go Fanboy-Midoriya!" cheered Ashido.

"Weaponize your geekness!" added Kirishima.

In the building, Midoriya was panting. ‘He kicked first this time to keep me from predicting his moves. He's being cautious now.’

Bakugou shot his hands back, about to use his explosions to lunch forward, but Midoriya didn’t give him a chance. He just ran away.

“Come back here, Deku!” the blonde raced after him.

‘I can't get close to him as easily anymore. I need a plan.’

Bakugou reached an intersection and couldn’t see Midoriya in any direction, so he just chose one of them. Bakugou walked and walked but Midoriya was nowhere to be seen.

Eventually he got sick of it, “Hey!” he yelled, “You tricked me, didn't you?! Was it fun tricking me all this time?!”

“Tricking?” asked Ashido.

“Huh?! You've got a flashy Quirk there, don't you?!” Midoriya heard his voice echoing in the metal halls, as he kept running.

“Bakugou, you didn’t really think Midoriya just hid his quirk from you all this years, right?” asked Yaoyorozu.

The boy growled.

“To be fair, Midoriya suddenly developing a quirk out of nowhere is pretty impossible as well.” said Shoji.

“Yes, but, just hide it from him? Why would he even do that?” asked Sero.

Bakugou just got up.

“I hope you’re all aware that you’ll die the next hero class.” Bakugou sent a glare so intense at the kids around him that it sent chills down their spines.

“Try and get me with it!” the angry student dared, creating explosions in his palms. “'Cause I'm better than you!”

“He seems real angry. It's scary!” said the boy with the messy blonde hair from the monitor room.

“I can now confirm that he was angry and that it’s very scary.” said Kaminari and sneaked a nervous glance at him.

‘I had heard from Young Midoriya that Young Bakugou thinks well of himself, but this is too much.’ All Might decided.

Bakugou blasted open another door, but Midoriya was nowhere to be seen.

Somewhere else, Midoriya was curled in a corner. His mind raced with thoughts.

‘He completely ignored Uraraka and shot at me. I knew it. If they were going to send an advance guard, it would've been better to send Iida, who has more mobility, and I'm sure Kacchan knows that. That probably means he's running wild on his own, and the two of them aren't working together. In the first place, our chances of winning are lowest if we have a head-to-head battle with those two.’

a small chibi animation appeared to present Midoriya’s thought process.

Uraraka, Midoriya and Bakugou stood at one place titled ‘current location, while Iida and the weapon were in a different place titled ‘villain hideout’.

‘If Uraraka and I both went to the hideout, that's what would happen,’

Bakugou’s character followed Uraraka and Midoriya resulting in an explosion.

‘and even if the two of us stayed here to fight Kacchan, we're in danger of running out of time. T his is fine. All that's left is for Uraraka to find the weapon and Iida, and then I'll head over for a 2-on-1 fight. That's how we can win.’

‘That's assuming I can beat Kacchan, though. It's fine.’ Midoriya stared at his fist, sounds like he tries to convince himself of that.

“Insert ‘this is fine’ dog comic here.” joked Kaminari.

‘As long as I'm careful of his palms, I can do this.’

Bakugou's voice echoed in the halls, frighteningly close to Midoriya. “Where are you?! You damn nerd!”

Midoriya’s lips narrowed, ‘And I forgot to tell you, Kacchan-’

The scene flashed back to the time in middle school, where Bakugou pushed Midoriya to a wall, ‘It's not like I'm trying to compete with you or anything! Believe me!’ he told him back then.

Midoriya’s eyes became dangerous, as he thought, ‘I take back everything I said!’

“Yeah!” Uraraka cheered.

Bakugou’s steps was the only sound heard for a few seconds. His mind was still occupied with thoughts.

‘My 'Deku' means "You can do it!'’ he remembered, and repeated the same mantra, ‘He's just a pebble!’

The scene flashed back.

“Wow, Kacchan!”  said the freckled kid, as he saw Bakugou bouncing a ball effortlessly.

“This is easy!” he replied.

Then Midoriya tried, and fell down.

“Ow!” he rubbed his aching head.

“Izuku, you really can't do anything, can you?” mocked Bakugou

“That’s not nice...” mumbled Koda.

Another flashback.

Bakugou pointed at a bucket with Midoriya’s name written on it, and explained.

“You can read the characters for 'Izuku' as 'Deku,' you know.”

The other kids stared in awe.

“Kacchan, you can read?” one asked.

He smirked, “You can't?”

and added “And "Deku" means someone who can't do anything!”

“Really?” the others asked.

“Stop that...” asked Midoriya, who was no longer smiling.

“so that’s how you got your nickname?” asked Uraraka with sympathy.

Midoriya nodded.

‘Why don't you know?’ kid-Bakugou wondered.

In the next one, the group of friends exclaimed in surprise as a stone Bakugou skipped over the lake multiple times before sinking.

“Kacchan, how many times did yours skip?” asked a kid.

“Seven!” he answered proudly.

“Wow!”

“as expected!”

“So...you just always were the best at everything?” asked Mineta.

“Took you long enough to figure it out, grape balls.”

“What about you, Deku?” he asked the boy who stood in the other side of everyone else, with the confident smile of someone who already knows the answer.

Midoriya’s expression fell, and he tried to hid his blush as he replied, “Z-Zero times...”

The rest laughed at that.

‘Why can't you do it?’ the blonde child questioned again.

"Some kids just develop faster than others, and everyone have things they're better or less good at." said Yagi, "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Midoriya chuckled bitterly, "Wish someone said that to my elementary school friends."

"Friends aren't supposed to act this way, Midoriya." said Tsu, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"It's ok, Tsu. It was in the past. I am alright now." he smiled, but it was fake. As much as he wanted to move on, those things still hurt him years later.

Bakugou was now standing in the kindergarten, sparks coming out of his hands as everyone else were gasping and cheering.

“Wow!”

“Lucky!”

“That's so cool!”

“Wow, that's an amazing Quirk!” praised a kindergarten teacher.

“It really is!” agreed the other, “It's a flashy Quirk just right for a hero. Right, Katsuki?”

And that was when kid-Bakugou realized something. ‘Oh, I see! I'm amazing! No one is as amazing as I am!’

“That explains a lot.” said Todoroki.

“Like what, IcyHot?!” he barked.

“Your ego, for example.”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN EGOTIST, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?” Bakugou grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“And your intense need to prove you’re better than everyone else.” said Todoroki, unfazed.

“That’s because I am better.”

Todoroki shrugged.

“I swear to God if there were no teachers here you would be dead where you stand.”

The day in the park crossed his mind again,

“You're so lucky, Kacchan.” said Midoriya. “Your Quirk's so cool! I hope I get mine soon, too.”

“No matter what Quirk you get, you'll never beat me.”

‘He's just a pebble!’

“Bakugou, Have you heard the story about the giant who got defeated by a pebble?” asked Todoroki.

“That’s it, teachers or not, you’re dead! ” Bakugou started chasing Todoroki around, who actually seemed like he was having fun, if you knew how to read him.

“Todoroki, please stop teasing Kacchan!” begged Midoriya.

Todoroki ducked from another punch, “I’ve been told that light teasing is common between friends.”

“WE’RE NOT FRIENDS!” Bakugou raged.

“Come on, stop fighting you two, you’ll ruin movie night.” begged Ashido, who glanced a nervous look to Mr. Aizawa who looked like he was done.

“As if I care about that!”

“Young Bakugou, I ask you to stop chasing young Todoroki, Todoroki, please apologize to young Bakugou.” asked All Might.

Bakugou paused, partly because it was All Might who asked and partly because the promise of an apology from the proud two quirks user.

He smiled maliciously, “ Well , you’ve heard All Might, half n’ half. Say you’re sorry.”

To his surprise, Todoroki didn’t bat an eye before saying simply, “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings, Bakugou.”

Bakugou sat down, pretty confused. He expected a lot more protest.

"Now you, Bakugou." 

"What." 

"you can't just attack people because they made you angry. Apologize to young Todoroki." 

"Like hell I will!" Bakugou growled. 

Then Aizawa intervened. "Bakugou. The things we have seem here today along with your general attitude is not acceptble and I thought you already know it. If I was wrong there's an easy solution to that." 

Bakugou's anger got replaced in fear from the implication. "I'm sorry, Todoroki." he forced the word out. 

Todoroki seemed satisfied with that. 

"Good. And I want you to know that those incidents will not be tolerated anymore in my class. This was your very last warning." 

Midoriya was surrounded by the other kids, all chattering and staring. 

“Hey, did you hear?” whispered a kid. “Deku doesn't have a Quirk.”

“What? Really?” asked another.

“Yeah, it's called being "'Quirkless.'"

“That's so lame.”

“Too bad for him.”

“He's so weird!”

A few giggles were heard.

“Don't worry about it, Izuku.” The teacher said sweetly.

But Midoriya just stood there, seemingly dissociating from the situation.

Bakugou stood away from the crowd. He looked at Midoriya and smiled, ‘You're the least amazing, Deku.’

Midoriya was messing with his phone during those scenes. Trying his best to not look at the screen, block away the hurtful words. Ignore the heavy feeling in his chest.

‘It’s in the past. it’s in the past.’ he reminded himself.

Iida and Uraraka moved to sit a little closer to him. Offering him silent support.

The group of friends walked on a big log above a lake.

Bakugou walked in front, making small explosions with his palm. The rest of the kids trailed after him as he sung, “♪ Forward march, members of the Bakugou Hero Agency! ♪”

And then he slipped.

Bakugou fell down into the lake with a big splash.

“Kacchan!” cried a kid.

“Hey, are you okay?” another asked.

Only the third hasn’t seemed worried, “He's fine. Kacchan's real strong! See?”

Bakugou rose up, shaking the water from his hair.

‘I was fine.’ narrated current-Bakugou.

“Hurry up and get back up here!” 

“'Kay, no problem!” the blonde smiled.

‘Nothing was wrong!’

Bakugou turned around when he heard steps splashing in the water.

A small arm reached out to him.

“Are you all right? Can you stand?” asked Midoriya with a concerned look.

Bakugou just stared at him, ominous piano music played and everything seemed to go slower than usual.

“It would've been bad if you hit your head.” he went on.

And then Bakugou snapped, ‘Don't look at me with that face!’ he growled.

“You looked like you were asking for help...” said Midoriya after running straight to the sludge villain.

‘Stop it...!’

Back at the present, Bakugou walked in the maze with a murderous expression. ‘I'm… I'm better than him!’

Uraraka paused the video.

Everyone stared at Bakugou for a minute, even Midoriya lift his head from his phone.

Bakugou broke the silence, “What? Stop staring at me like this!” he snapped at them.

“Bakubro...” Kirishima tilted his head, “Are you serious?”

“I know you’re proud, Bakugou, but this is a little overboard.” said Hagakure.

“If you fuckers won’t stop being so fucking weird I swear I-”

“Why were you so mad?” asked Ojiro. “About Midoriya, he just offered to help you.”

Bakugou got taken aback, “I-Because he acted like I was weak. I am not weak! I am much stronger than he is! I’ve always been!”

“Tsu said this is how you think but I don’t get it.” said Uraraka. “How is Deku offering your help makes you weak?”

“What do you mean how? are you really that stupid?” he looked around again, trying to get confirmation to what seems to be obvious, but only finding confused faces. “He was quirkless. He was Deku. I was, and still am, better than him in every possible way, and this bastard thought I needed his help. That a little fall would be enough to take me down.”

“Young Bakugou, everyone needs help sometimes, even heroes.” said All Might.

“Not you! You’ve always fought on your own! If you’re really strong, you don’t need anyone. It’s obvious.”

All Might gave him a crooked smile. “And you see where it got me.” he gestured on his skeletal body. “I got hurt too. But trying to be this invulnerable hero, saving everyone by myself...I had to hide that.”

Bakugou bit his lips to hide his pain as he remembered Kamino Ward, “Well, I will be better than you! I don’t need help, I don’t need anyone!”

“it's ok to accept help, Bakugou. That doesn’t make you weak.” said Tsuyu.

“Stop! Just… Shut up! All of you!” 

Chapter Text

No one said anything for a moment, til Bakugou got sick of the silence, “Well, what are you all staring at, are you going to watch the stupid show or not?”

Midoriya was still a bit rattled, but he continued the episode. 

Uraraka peeked behind a corner, into the room with the hidden weapon. ‘Found it. Now I just have to tell Deku and hide until he gets here.’

She was about to report her findings but stopped as she heard Iida muttering. “Bakugou is a natural at being bad, but that fits this training perfectly.”

“Are you calling me a villain, four eyes?” Bakugou growled but was smart enough to restrain himself this time.

Iida cough to his fist and replied, “Well, not a villain, but you have a bit more aggressive attitude than the average hero-”

“Oh so now I’m bad because I’m not a robo-nerd like you?”

“Bakugou, that’s not what I said!”

“Tch, as if I care what any of you extras think.”

Iida looked at him with regret, but didn’t know what he could say to fix that.

“Then I must also devote myself to being a villain. That's right. This is another trial to turn me into a man who will not bring shame to the Iida family. Become a villain!”

A deadly serious expression spread on his face as he decided, “Be dyed with evil in order to become a hero!”

Iida turned around with a dangerous look in his eyes as dramatic music played in the back.

“I am...

...extremely evil!.”

a visual of his face behind the mask mirrored his actions. The words "Bwa-ha-ha-ha" were written next to him as he attempted to make an evil laugh.

‘He’s taking this so seriously!’ Uraraka snorted from her hidden spot.

And so did the rest of the class.

"Oh, oh man. This is priceless." said Sero.

“I wonder how many similar things we missed in those exercises for not being able to hear the audio.” said Tsu.

“Yeah, All Might! Why only the teachers get to hear the audio?” asked Kaminari.

“Because it’s not necessary for you to hear it.” replied Aizawa.

“Aww, no fair.”

The sound alerted Iida to her presence. “Have you arrived, Uraraka?”

She jumped in alarm. Then, she awkwardly stepped into the room.

Iida put one hand on his hip and pointed at her. “I knew that you would come here alone the instant Bakugou ran off by himself.” He made a few teatrical hand movements as he went on, “Your Quirk allows you to make the objects you touch float. That is why I put away all the things on this floor before you arrived. Now you cannot play your little tricks! You have blundered, hero!”

The kids burst in laughter again.

“Why didn’t you tell us about your acting skills, Iida?” asked Jirou.

The boy pulled his shirt collar, “Umm, I-it was just for the exercise.”

Ashido jumped in front of him with a far too wide smile. “Iida, Iida! You have to do a villain impression again. Please.”

Iida raised his hand in a karate-chop pose, completely red. “I shall not.”

“You were pretty good there, I got genuinely scared for a little.” said Uraraka.

“Thank you, Uraraka.” said Iida, still awkward. “I just tried to do my best for the exercise.”

“I bet not even Bakugou can do better.” she said slyly.

“Is that a challenge?! I could make a better villain than all of you."

“Bakugou you just got upset over being accused as a villain .” reminded him Jirou.

Bakugou wanted to comment on that but was out of words.

Uraraka sweated and looked helplessly at the situation, “He's starting to look... like a villain...!”

She whispered to her radio, “Deku!”

“Uraraka! How's it going?”

“Iida found me. Sorry!”

Iida kept laughing in the background.

“Where are you?”

“The middle of the fifth floor.”

Midoriya looked at the ceiling, “Almost directly above!”

The timer in the monitor room showed 6 minutes as Midoriya thought ‘We probably don't have much time left, either. If we run out of time, our opponents win! I can't...I can't lose this fight!’ he decided.

The green haired got up and prepared his capture tape, waiting for Bakugou to arrive.

Midoriya turned around in alarm when he heard a beeping sound.

Bakugou stood behind him nonchalantly, and raised one of his graduate gloves.

“They're loaded.”

“Kacchan.”

“Why won't you use your Quirk?” he asked, his voice calm but with a dangerous glimpse to it, like a match that’s being held too close to a dynamite.

“Are you saying you can win even if you don't use it? Are you underestimating me, Deku?”

Midoriya stretched his capture tape, trying to stop himself from shaking. ‘I have no choice but to do it. I can do it. I can!’

“I'm not scared of you anymore!” he declared.

Bakugou’s growl changed to a grin as he raised his loaded glove, “With your stalking, you probably already know, but my Quirk, Explosion, lets me secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from the sweat glands on the palm of my hand and make it explode.”

“Bakugou, you’ve known Midoriya since kindergarten, why did you explain to him how your quirk works?” asked Jirou.

“‘Cause I felt like it. Got a problem with that?”

Bakugou aimed his gloves at Midoriya with a twisted smile.

“If they made this the way I asked, then these gauntlets will store the nitroglycerin inside them, and...”

Bakugou rest his finger on the glove’s safety pin.

All Might gasped, “Young Bakugou, stop! Are you trying to kill him?!”

“If I don't hit him, he won't die!”

Bakugou pulled out the safety pin.

A giant explosion filled the entire hall. All Midoriya could do was shield his face with his arm as the explosion blew a hole at the building’s outside wall and shook the entire area.

Everyone just stared at Bakugou again.

“Are...Are we going to talk about that time where Bakugou tried to actually kill Midoriya?” asked Sero.

“One day you kids will be the death of me.” said Aizawa.

“I wasn’t going to kill him!” protested Bakugou. “I have better control at my quirk than that. And I thought that if his quirk is so strong he can deal with some explosions.”

“That’s not even a real excuse, he could have died, Bakugou!” said Uraraka.

“I was so shocked, I was sure you were done for, bro.” said Kirishima.

“Yeah, how did you survive that, Midoriya?” asked Kaminari.

“I don’t know myself… I just ducked in the last second. Survival instincts maybe?”

“Midoriya we all know you don’t have those.” said Tsuyu.

“Protagonist shield.” said Aoyama, which made everyone stare at him for a second.

“That makes...too much sense for me to be comfortable with.” said Ojiro.

“This is supposed to be a class!” said the redhead boy in the monitor room.

“Young man! Young Midoriya!” cried All Might.

Scared panting was heard on the floor of the now wrecked corridor. “Is that... even allowed...?” he whispered in a rasped tone. He was covered in sweat and bruised and a part of his costume was now ripped but besides that he seemed alright.

Bakugou stepped from the spreading smoke. He giggled in awe. " Wow...The more that's stored in these gauntlets, the stronger the blast.”

His other graduate blinked in red to show that it’s loaded as well. Bakugou walked over to Midoriya who leaned on the remains of the wall with a terrified expression.

His voice was filled with maniac glee, “Come on, use your Quirk, Deku… I'll force you to surrender even if you're at full strength.”

“You’ve got some serious problems, Bakugou.” said Mineta.

“You’re the last one who gets to lecture anyone, grape piss!”

Iida started yelling through his radio, “Bakugou, answer me! Did you do that? What in the world did you do? Explain yourself!”

Uraraka decided to use this distraction and started to run towards the weapon. ‘If we retrieve the weapon, we'll win!’

Iida noticed after a few seconds and spreaded his arms to stop her, “I won't let you, hero!”

She leaped into the air, ‘We need to touch the weapon itself for it to count as being retrieved.’

‘Can she make herself float now, too?’ wondered Iida and activated his engines.

“Release!” Uraraka yelled and was about to leap on the weapon, but in the blink of an eye Iida pulled it away from her path and she crushed onto the floor instead, her helmet falling from her head.

“Maybe you should look into getting a better helmet, Uraraka.” suggested Yaoyorozu.

"Yeah, I think this one is more for aesthetic purposes..." she agreed.

“Your Quirk is not a threat if you cannot touch anything. I'll hold out until time runs out!” Iida laughed again.

Ashido whined, “But Iida, you have to show us your impression again.”

“s'il-vous-plaît, class representative.” begged Aoyama as well.

“Applying social pressure on someone is very unheroic of you.” he scolded them. “Why do you even care so much about hearing it, anyway?”

“I mean, it’s pretty funny. And I think it’s cool you got so into that, like with everything else you do.” said Jirou.

“Yeah, aren’t heroes supposed to make people happy?” asked Kaminari. “Like in the music show we put on.”

“Guys, please leave Iida alone.” begged Midoriya. “Don’t make him do something he doesn’t want to.”

It quieted the nudging for now.

Uraraka groaned as she got up from the floor. ‘Deku's trying so hard, though!’ she thought.

“You also tried really hard.” said Midoriya.

“Hey, hey, what's wrong, Deku?” mocked Bakugou. “I didn't hit you, so you can still move, can't you? Come and get me!”

‘The explosion shot out.’ Midoriya realized. ‘He had his costume made so that his Quirk would work even for long distances’. “Uraraka, what's the situation?”

“Deku!”

“Ignoring me again?” asked Bakugou. “I can't believe him!”

“Sir, you should stop them! That Bakugou's really crazy! He's gonna kill him!” begged the redhead.

“For the last time, Shitty hair, I wasn’t going to kill him. I was just going to hurt him a lot.” said Bakugou.

“No.” said All Might.

Bakugou’s early words came back to him.

‘I won't do so much damage that this fight gets stopped, but I'm gonna get close!’

‘If I don't hit him, he won't die!’

The hero thought, ‘Strangely enough, part of him is still sane.’

“All Might, what in those words made you believe that Bakugou is still partly sane?” asked Todoroki.

“Can it, bastard.” sneered Bakugou.

“Well, I could see that he didn’t actually intended to kill him-”

“That’s what I said!”

“Just that he was very determined to win and didn’t have the capability to realize the possible damage of his attacks.”

“Hey!”

‘I don't know if it's small-minded or what, but anyway…’

“Young Bakugou, the next time you use that, I'll stop the fight, and your team will lose.” All Might warned.

“Huh?” asked Bakugou.

“To attack on such a large scale inside is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting. That is a foolish plan for both heroes and villains! You will lose a lot of points for it!” he explained.

Bakugou groaned in frustration.

‘As a teacher, I should stop this. However…'

“Go to the pillar by the windows!” Midoriya instructed in his earbud. “Over and out!”

“Fine, then!” Bakugou yelled, “Let's fight it out with our fists!” he used his explosions to lunch himself towards the surprised boy.

‘It's no good. I can't dodge it!’ realized Midoriya.

He clenched his hand to a fist, ‘A counterattack… Watch the timing…’ in a split second Bakugou noticed the fist and realized what Midoriya was about to do.

‘Now!’ Midoriya swang but his fist hit empty air as Bakugou blasted his way to the air, leaving smoke in the place he was. Bakugou landed behind Midoriya and shot an explosion to his back.

The pink girl gasped.

"What was that just now?“ asked the redhead.

Behind them, a boy half covered in ice narrowed his eyes. “He doesn't look like the type to think, but he's more subtle than I expected.”

“Excuse you?” said Bakugou.

“What? I just said that you were smarter than I expected.” replied Todoroki.

“This is not a compliment!”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean?”

The scene played again in slow motion as the ice covered boy explained, “He changed his course in a blast that doubled as a smoke screen and then did it again immediately.”

“Getting in a clean hit while fighting against inertia requires fine lateral adjustments to the power of the explosions.” added the girl with the black ponytail.

The kid with the messy blonde haired sighed, “He's too talented... Too talented... Ugh…”

“Hmpf, took you long enough to figure out.” said Bakugou.

Midoriya touched his smoking back as he heard Bakugou shouting, “Look, here I come! It's your favorite right swing!”, Midoriya didn’t even get to turn around before Bakugou punched him in the back. He screamed in pain and lost his balance, but before he fell down, Bakugou grabbed him by his arm.

“Deku! You are below me!” he lifted the green haired and threw him onto the floor.

Midoriya’s eyesight blurred in pain. In the few seconds after he hit the ground he realized, ‘He's not going to give me a chance to think. I couldn't do it after all...He's too strong...I have no choice but to use it...’

The hand that held the microphone shook in front of the All Might’s face, it was clear that he was in a deep conflict.

“This is a lynching! He can capture him for this exercise by just wrapping the tape around him!” cried the pink girl.

“Those are not the actions of a hero.” a boy with a bird’s head commented.

The boy with the messy blonde hair scratched his head awkwardly, “I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing, too, but in terms of combat power, Bakugou is definitely a ball of natural instincts.”

Bakugou smiled as he watched his classmates realized for the first time just how strong he is.

"You shouldn't be proud of that." said Tokoyami as he saw his smile. "Yes, you were strong and smart, but also cruel and impulsive."

Bakugou growled, "I know that, ok?! Do you think you're the first fucker to give me that speech?"

‘I should stop them.’ thought All Might. ‘But...I don't want to stop them, for his sake!’

Aizawa considered scolding All Might again, but thought that Recovery girl must have done that already.

Midoriya barely found the strength to run, using all four.

“He's running away?” asked the girl.

“That's not something a man should do, but he has no choice.” noted the redhead and then paused. “But something's strange…Why...?”

In the building, Bakugou finished the question, “Why won't you use your Quirk? Are you underestimating me?!”

Midoriya stood with his back to the wall, as Bakugou approached. “No…” he replied, his head was down.

“You've been like this ever since we were kids...Have you been underestimating me like that since then, you bastard?!” continued Bakugou.

“Bakugou, it’s so clear that he admired you, how could you think he looked down on you?” asked Yaoyorozu.

Bakugou scoffed, if they don’t understand now they never will.

“That's not it…” said Midoriya, the events of his entire childhood passed in front of his eyes in that second.

“You're…” Midoriya lift his head, his eyes were filled with tears. “You're an amazing person, so that's why I want to beat you! I want to win and surpass you, you idiot!”

Bakugou got even madder to that, “Don't look at me like that! You damn nerd!”

Both of the hero students lunged forward, head to head.

‘These are the first passionate emotions he's shown other than "I want to be a hero!" I'm sure this is necessary for you to arrive at the future you're looking at.’ thought All Might.

“So that’s why you didn’t stop them.” said Kirishima. “I was so scared at least one of them is going to die, most likely Midoriya. No offense bro.”

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head and smile sheepishly, “none taken. I was already used to being afraid to get killed by Kacchan at this point.”

“I knew this battle can help you two grow as people, rivals and heroes. But I was also scared there may do irreversible damage if this keeps up.” said All Might. “Though I was more scared for young Bakugou…”

“What?! you thought I was going to lose?!” screamed Bakugou.

“No, it’s not that!” All Might waved his hands, “It’s just that Young Midoriya still wasn’t able to control One For All at this point, and getting a direct hit from One For All at its 100% can kill anyone on the spot.”

“I-I would have being able to dodge! Or blow his face before he hit me!” he protested.

“Bro, Did you even see what he did to that robo-” said Kaminari but got cut off.

“I DON’T CARE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM!”

Midoriya activated One For All and his arm glowed in the familiar red veins, “Detroit…”

Bakugou created explosions in his palm.

“I said, this looks bad! Sir!” the redhead kid said urgently.

The two teens seemed to activate all of their power for this clash, and All Might broke, “Both of you, sto-”

But he didn’t get to finish his sentence before Midoriya shouted, “Let's go, Uraraka!”

“Okay!” she replied and clung to a pillar in the room.

“There's still no way I can beat you one-on-one...But-”

Bakugou shot out his explosions at full force as Midoriya swung his fist.

“...Smash!”

But not at Bakugou’s direction! Instead, Midoriya aimed for the ceiling and crushed it to bits….and all the windows and the ceilings of the floors above.

“Bakugou, logically there’s no way you would have been able to dodge that.” said Iida.

Bakugou scoffed.

A hole in the floor of the weapon room was created. In one of the corners of the remaining parts of the floor stood Uraraka, still hugging the pillar. In the other one, stood Iida next to the nuclear weapon.

“What the--?” asked Iida.

“Sorry, Iida!”, Uraraka activated her quirk and carried the pillar in her arms.

“Improvised special move, Comet Home Run!” The air pressure from Midoriya’s punch made small parts of the building’s wrecks shoot into the air, which Uraraka swung with the pillar towards Iida.

“You call that a home run?!” screamed Iida as the cermet pieces made their way to him.

As he was distracted, Uraraka leaped above the hall in the floor. She released her quirk and landed right on the weapon.

“Retrieved!” she declared in a relieved smile.

“No! The weapon!” screamed Iida, strong enough to be heard from the entire building.

Iida fixed his glasses, “I am still in awe for how smart you two are.”

“No, it was Deku’s plan…I just did what he said.” Uraraka said modestly.

“We worked together. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without you.” Midoriya rest his hand on her shoulder.

“Yes, you worked together as a team, which was the point of this exercise.” said All Might.

“I tried to tell you that, Bakugou, but you didn’t listen to me.” said Iida.

“Well, Midoriya was there.” said Hagakure. “Midoriya for Bakugou is like the color red for a bull.”

“Which I kind of counted on, to be honest.” said Midoriya.

“Technically, it’s the movement of the fabric that makes bulls mad, not the color itself.” said Iida.

“Tch, this was a one time incident. You won’t see this happening again.” said Bakugou.

Bakugou looked up, and when he realized what happened, he twitched in anger.

“From the start, you were…” he boiled, “You are underestimating me, aren't you?!”

“I wasn't... going to use it…” admitted Midoriya, his voice rasped from pain.

Bakugou started to get mad now that his accusations were correct when Midoriya continued, “Because I can't use it…” the smoke dispread to reveal Midoriya’s burned arm. “Because my body can't handle the impact… Mr. Aizawa said so, too…” he could barely utter the words but struggled to finish regardless, “But...this was all...I could think of…” Bakugou noticed Midoriya’s other arm, the one that got hit by his explosions. It was burned as well.

Bakugou stared in shock from all the new information, still trying to process what just happened.

The timer run out, the kids stared at the screen shocked as well.

All Might took a deep breath.

“Hero team…”

Midoriya lost his conscience before the end of the sentence.

“...wins!”

“That. Was. So. Manly!” beamed Kirishima. “The fights and the strategy and the explosions and the comet home run attack, it was just so cool!”

“It was intense even without the audio, but a lot more with it, ribbit.” said Tsu.

"It was pretty long though." Said Jiro. "I mean, the exercise was just 15 minutes long but here it lasted an episode and a half."

"Well, there were lots of flashbacks." said Ojiro.

"As ususal..."

"I think it was cool." said Sero. "They make our lives look pretty awesome."

"We are heroes in training, of course our lives is awesome!" said Kirishima.

Bakugou sat there with a frown, his mind in the past and what he would have changed if he could.

“Bakugou, you keep saying how Midoriya underestimated you but the truth is, you lost because you underestimated him.” said Todoroki.

“It was a one time incident.” Bakugou insisted.

“We will see about that.” Midoriya dared.

“Heck yeah we will!” he said with both anger and happiness.

Chapter Text

The episode started with a 2 minutes recap of the events of the previous episode.

Multiple groans were heard simultaneity from the classmates.

“Another recap?” asked Jirou.

“We just saw this!” Ojiro gestured with his hands on the TV.

“Midoriya try to skip it.” suggested Sato, and it worked. Including the theme song. Midoriya was pretty irritated that he couldn’t skip all the painful flashbacks but could skip the recaps and theme song.

“Hero team...wins!” announces All Might.

Uraraka slid down from the weapon onto the floor, nauseous and exhausted.

“Uraraka!” Iida immediately dropped the villain act and started rubbing her back.

Bakugou stared blankly into space as he tried to process what just happened while Midoriya lied on the floor, unconscious.

The kids in the monitor room stared in shock at what was going on on the screens and no one said anything for a moment.

Until the kids with the messy blonde hair finally asked, “What the heck? The losers are practically uninjured. and the winners are on the ground.”

“They lost the battle, but won the war, huh?” asked the bird-headed kid.

“This is training, though.” reminded him Tsuyu.

A robot willed into the building to evacuate injured Midoriya.

“To the nurse's office.” ordered All Might who was now at the building as well.

“I know.” replied the robot.

“Isn’t that like, his one job? to evacuate students to the nurse office?” asked Hagakure. “You didn’t have to remind him that.”

“More like evacuate Midoriya to the nurse.” joked Sero.

“I don’t get hurt that much.” protested Midoriya. “Right…?” he added awkwardly.

No one said anything.

Kirishima put his arm on Midoriya’s shoulder, “the important thing is that you believe it.”

Then All Might paid his attention to Bakugou, who stared at his right hand, sweating and twitching.

‘My right.’, thought Bakugou. ‘Deku predicted it. On top of that. he found a way to win the exercise.’ his mental-voice trembled.

“I think Bakugou had an existential crises.” noted Ashido.

“Welcome to the club.” said Ojiro.

Midoriya’s words echoed in his mind, ‘You're an amazing person, so that's why I want to beat you! I want to win and surpass you, you idiot!’

Bakugou started shaking. His vision blurred and he gasped for air.

‘Does that mean... even if we fought all-out.. Deku would completely beat-?’ his stream of thoughts paused when All Might rest a firm hand on his shoulder.

Midoriya considered mocking him for a moment but quickly dropped this thought. “It’s ok, Kacchan.” he said instead. “I had many panic attacks before.” he smiled warmly.

Midoriya was not surprised by the answer he received, “Shut up!”

“Come back, young Bakugou.” he said in a gentler tone than usual. “It's time to review the results. Whether you win or lose, looking back and learning from your experiences is a part of life.”

“It’s true, bro. Loses only make you better.” Kirishima said sweetly.

Bakugou grumbled something quietly but didn’t snap at him.

Title sequence-Episode 8: Bakugou’s starting line.

“Hey, this episode is about you, Bakugou.” said Ashido.

“Whatever.”

The results were written on the screen in the monitor room: Team A- Win. Team D- Lose.

“Well, even if I say that, the MVP for this battle was young Iida!” announced All Might.

Iida looked at him in surprise. “Huh?!”

“It's not either of the winners, Ochaco or Midoriya?” asked Tsuyu.

“Hmm, well. Why is that? Does anyone know?!” asked All Might, dramatic as usual.

“Yes, Mr. All Might.” the girl with the black ponytail raised her hand.

“That is because Iida adapted the most to the context of the training. From watching the match, it appears Bakugou acted on his own because of an obviously personal grudge. And as Mr. All Might said earlier, it is foolish to launch a large-scale attack indoors. In the same way, taking into consideration the damage he received. Midoriya's plan was also rash. As for Uraraka, she let her guard down mid-battle and her final attack was too reckless. If she treated the papier-mache as a real weapon, she would not have been able to do something so dangerous.” She explained calmly.

“Yaomomo why are you so smart?” whined Ashido, “Gimme some of your smart juice PLEASE.”

“Uhh…” uttered Yaoyorozu.

“Yeah Yaomomo, pretty please? We really need it.” Kaminari begged.

“I mean, I can tutor you if you want.” she suggested.

“Hey! I already tutor you, dumbasses.” said Bakugou.

“Bakugou, you don’t understand.” Kaminari said solemnly, “We need all the help we can get.”

“Oi quit being so dramatic, Pikachu.”

“Iida had prepared for his opponent's arrival and assumed it would be a fight over the weapon which made him late in responding to the final attack.”

Iida’s expression changed from shock to a smile, that only grew with every word that came out of the girl’s mouth. He sparkled with joy and clenched his heart.

Uraraka started clapping and cheering. Quickly the rest joined her.

“Woo!”

“You go, Iida!”

Iida blushed and waved his hands, “Y-you are clearly overreacting!”

“No we’re not!” said Uraraka. “You rocked this exercise. Be proud of yourself.”

The glasses wearing boy smiled shyly.

“The hero team only won because they took advantage of the fact that this was training. They were practically breaking the rules.”

Everyone stared at her once she finished her long explanation.

All Might chocked, ‘she said more than I expected.’

“Yaomomo is so smart even All Might got taken aback.” said Jirou.

Yaoyorozu blushed.

“W-Well, young Iida also has parts of him that could be more relaxed. but well, that was correct!” he gave her a thumbs up.

“We should always start with the basics to develop depth of learning. We must strive to devote ourselves wholeheartedly. Otherwise, we cannot become top heroes.” she declared, her hands on her hips. She showed confident and determination.

The camera focused on her face and Narrator-Present-Mic announced, “Yaoyorozu Momo! One of four students admitted to the hero course based on recommendations!”

“You gave us one heck of a first impression.” said Kirishima with a smile.

“Yeah, the impression of a suck up bitch.” added Bakugou.

“Hey, leave her alone!” said Jirou.

“Don’t worry Yaomomo.” said Tsu, “Bakugou is just jealous that you’re taller than him, ribbit.”

“I’m not!”

“All right everyone, let's change locations and start the second match. Tackle this training after thinking about what we just talked about.” said All Might. Meanwhile Bakugou still had a blank look on his face.

“Yes, sir!”

“Match two! Duo B are the heroes! Duo I are the villains!”

“Ohh! It’s our match, Ojiro!” beamed Hagakure.

“Didn’t we lose after one minute, though?”

“Yes but still! We’re on TV! It’s so cool!!”

The ice-covered boy and six-armed boy stood outside of a building while a tailed-kid stretched in front of the fake weapon, preparing for battle.

“Ojiro!” a feminine voice was heard. “I'm going to get serious! I'll take off my gloves and boots, too!” said the invisible girl.

“Oof, all of you have such cool costumes and all I have is boots and gloves and I take them off too. No fair…” said Hagakure.

Midoriya tapped on his chin, “Mirio has a costume made of his own hair, so it can passes through with him when he activates his quirk.”

Hagakure appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.

“He has WHAT?!” she screamed.

“A costu-”

“I heard what you said! And you didn’t even think of telling me! I COULD HAVE HAD A COOL COSTUME THIS ENTIRE TIME!”

“But Hagakure, you don’t even need a costume.” said Kirishima.

Ashido rolled her eyes, “Of course she needs a costume.” she lifted her fingers to count, “Besides of helping her feel like a hero, A costume can protect her from some injuries, protect her feet as she sneaks and shield her from weather conditions.”

Everyone stared at her for a moment.

“What?” she asked.

Kaminari looked at her with betrayed expression, “You’re so smart!”

“No I’m not! did you see my grades?”

“You spoke just like Yaomomo now! You’re so much smarter than I am...”

“I just said obvious things! Everyone know what clothes are for!”

“Enough, you two.” said Yaoyorozu. “You both are smart, and grades don’t determine how smart someone is.”

“Easy for you to talk.”

“No, it's true. For example, you may not get the best grades but be an incredible Naturalist, which is someone who understands nature, like Koda. Or you can have a high musical intelligence like Jirou. Being good with people, at art or even at sports, requires some sort of wisdom. The education system just only measure people by how 'smart' they are in certain things. Also, maybe you just have different ways of learning. Some people are visual learners, some are Auditory learners, we just need to find the way right for you.”

Everyone stared at her in awe.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away..." she blushed.

“O-Okay.” said Ojiro awkwardly.

‘Hagakure, that's the correct decision as an invisible person, but that's not great for a girl, morally speaking.’ he thought.

“You can't look, okay?” she asked in embarrassment.

“I can't see you anyway.”

“I am watching a girl undress...this is a dream come true.” said Mineta and got punched by three different girls in the same time.

“Can you stop being gross for five minutes?!” asked Jirou.

“Now, let’s start the second indoor person-to-person combat training match!” exclaimed All Might.

The timer started and the sixed armed kid  entered the building.

He spreaded his arms and morphed the hands into ears.

The comic-effect focused on his face as Present Mic announced, “Shouji Mezou! Quirk Dupli-Arms! He can create replicas of his own body parts on the tips of his tentacles.”

“Ugh, everyone get quirk-narrated but me. when will be my turn?” asked Ashido.

One of Shoji’s hand-ears morphed into a mouth as the ice-boy walked to him.

“One in the hall on the north side of the fourth floor. The other is somewhere on the same floor. They're barefoot.” he reported.

“I thought your quirk was cool ever since the entrance exam.” said Midoriya.

“Thank you.” Shoji replied.

“Hey, Shoji. Why do you sometimes use your hands as mouths instead of your regular mouth?” asked Uraraka.

“Sometimes it’s hard for people to understand what I say when I talk because of the mask. And it’s easier to see when I smile.”

“Oh.”

A second mouth was formed and replied to the first, “The invisible one is coming to ambush and capture us, huh?”

The ice-boy didn’t react to the news. Instead, he walked forward. “Go outside. It's dangerous.” he warned.

Shoji made a surprised noise.

“I'm sure our opponents intend to fight a defensive battle, but that does not matter to me.” he said and with a single touch on the wall, he froze the entire hallway.

Shoji got out of the building and gasped as he saw it completely frozen.

“I didn’t even get to do anything…” mumbled Shoji.

Two footprints were visible on the ice floor on the the weapon’s room.

“Owww. My feet!” uttered Hagakure.

“Invisible boots would have been useful that day…” said Hagakure.

Ojiro struggled to get free of the ice at his feet as well. “Th-This Quirk is!”

The sound of broken ice and footsteps approached the hidden room.

Ojiro moved to a fighting pose as the ice-boy walked calmly through the door.

“You can move if you want.” he said with a small smile, “but the skin on your feet will come off, so you won't be able to fight your best.”

In the monitor room, the kids were shaking and leaning to each other because of the cold.

“He did not cause any damage to his teammate or the nuclear weapon, and on top of that, he weakened the enemy.” All Might reported, his voice was impressed and trembling from the cold.

“He's so strong!” someone exclaimed.

Bakugou looked at the screens, stunned.

“Todoroki you’re way too strong.” Sero shook his head. “How fair is that?”

“Yeah, the first exercise lasted an episode and a half and this one was over in a minute.” said Kirishima.

“Hero team wins!” shouted All Might as the ice boy touched the weapon.

Ojiro clenched his fist in regret.

In a second, a wave of heat spreaded from the ice boy’s hand and melted all the ice that covered the room.

“Heat?” Ojiro asked in shock.

Hagakure's feet splashed in the hot water that used to be ice, “Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!"

“See why I need an invisible costume?” she asked in anger.

“Sorry.” the boy said coldly as electric guitar played in the background. “The difference in our ability was too great.”

“Not sure if it was badass or smug.” said Kaminari.

“Both.” said Sero.

“Todoroki Shouto!” narrated Present Mic. “He's another one of the four admitted to the hero course based on recommendations. His Quirk is Half-Cold, Half-Hot. He freezes with his right and burns with his left! The range and temperature of his ability is unknown?! What is he, a monster?!”

“That’s rude, TV-Present-Mic.” said Uraraka.

“Real Present Mic can be rude too sometimes…” said Sero.

“Don’t worry, I don’t mind.” said Todoroki.

“W-Wow!” burst a boy in a yellow hero suit.

“What's up with that Quirk?” asked the one next to him.

“As expected of someone who got in through recommendations.” noted Tsuyu.

“All right, everyone gather round for a review of the second match. Next, we will begin the third match!” said All Might, while Bakugou stared somewhere distant.

“Yes, sir!”

Bakugou bit his lips.

The next match was in battle building C, upbeat action music played in the back as a boy was smirking behind his helmet.

“Woah!” said Sero. “It’s me now!”

“The music is pretty awesome.” smiled Jirou.

The boy shot tapes from his elbows and quickly made the room look kind of like a spider web. His teammate hardened his hands with a sharp smile and they both stand to guard the weapon.

“Oh, man!” beamed Kirishima, but then his expression fell. “It doesn’t show how I accidentally cut all your tapes...sorry again bro.” he rubbed his head.

“Hey it’s ok dude, it was ages ago.” Sero cheered him up.

The bird headed boy walked in the dark corridor, his cloak moving around him dramatically. He paused and an ominous shadow came out of his cloak.

Next to him, Tsuyu climbed a wall and croaked as she observed the scene below her.

“You two were so cool!” said Uraraka.

Yaoyorozu blocked the door with metal bars as a short purple-haired kid ogled her uselessly. The girl sent him a dark glare that made him jump in alarm.

“If my teammate was anyone but Mineta…” sighed Yaoyorozu, and Jirou rest her hand on her shoulder in silent sympathy.

The next girl had earphone jacks connected to her ears. She closed her eyes and plugged one of them into a nearby wall. She looked at her teammate and gestured with her finger up.

The boy walked towards the camera with a smug smile as electric sparks got released from his palm.

“Wow!!!!” Kaminari grasped his hair in excitement. “This is. So so cool. And the guitar in the background, man!”

The boy with the yellow suit roared and moved to a fighting pose. He was tall and muscular.

His teammate stood next to him and looked pretty intimidated.

“Sorry, Koda. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sato said awkwardly.

“N-no, it’s ok. Don’t worry about it.” he replied.

Aoyama’s purple sparkling cape floated behind him as he walked in the corridor. His permanent smile on his lips as usual.

“You never told me and I’m still waiting for an answer. Is this cape gorgeous or what?” asked Aoyama.

“Or what.” sneered Bakugou.

“I said-”

“I heard you.”

“Don’t listen to him Aoyama.” said Uraraka, “Your cape is gorgeous.”

“Merci, Uraraka.”

Behind him the pink girl slid on a grey liquid. She jumped in excitement and splashed it everywhere around her. A few drops fell on Aoyama’s cape and melted holes in it.

He groaned and she apologized sheepishly.

“Be careful where you splash your acid!” snapped Aoyama.

“I already said I was sorry!”

“Sorry won’t fix my cape!”

In the monitor room All Might wrote notes about the matches, his smile getting wilder with each passing student.

Chapter Text

A whistle blew in the end on the exercise.

Everyone was standing outside in front of All Might who beamed at them, “Good work everyone! We didn't have any major injuries other than young Midoriya, either! You guys took this on seriously! You all did a good job for your first training!” he gave them a thumbs up.

Tsuyu raised her hand, “To have such a proper class after Mr. Aizawa's class-” his grinning face as he revealed no one was going to be expelled flashed in the kids’ mind.

“-it's kind of anticlimactic.”

The rest nodded in agreement.

“Aizawa, I am afraid you traumatized the kids.” said All Might and scratched his head.

“I am aware of that.”

“We're free to have proper classes, as well! Well then, I must review the results with young Midoriya! Change and return... to the classroom!” he shouted the last part as he used his quirk to rash away from the scene, which blew a strong wind in the faces of his surprised students.

“I would ask you to chill your melodrama but I am aware it will be fruitless.” said Aizawa.

Yagi laughed loudly, “Asking me to chill is like asking a leopard to change his spots.”

“Or asking Midoriya to stop breaking his bones.” teased Ashido.

“I’m trying!” protested Midoriya.

The electricity-user was the first one to speak, “All Might's amazing!” he grinned.

“Why was he in such a hurry?” wondered Ojiro.

“So cool…” added a short boy.

As All Might run, his mind wandered to the angry boy in his class. ‘Young Bakugou… is a mass of pride.’ He thought. ‘and there's nothing more fragile than a heart that's swelled to bursting.”

“Did you just call me fucking FRAGILE?!” asked Bakugou.

“No, he called your ego fragile.” Todoroki clarified and Bakugou wanted nothing more at that moment then to blast his face off. 

‘As his teacher, I must counsel him well. But right now…’ he started steaming and urgently made his way into the ‘stuff only’ elevator.

All Might quickly pressed the closing button and leaned on the elevator’s door, panting. And just in time, too, since he transformed back a second after.

‘If I teach a class I barely have enough time. Shit!’ he thought with frustration.

“All this time you felt like you had to hide your secret from us…” said Uraraka.

“I can assure you that we would not have thought any less of you if we had known.” Iida bowed.

“Even demi-gods are mortal.” added Tokoyami which earned him a few odd looks.

In the nurse office, an old voice scolded firmly, “The school year has just begun, and he's already been in here three times! Why didn't you stop him, All Might?!”

“I apologize, Recovery girl.” said Yagi.

That seemed to make the small woman angrier, “What are you apologizing to me for? On top of his total exhaustion, he was here just yesterday.” she looked at the unconscious boy on the medical bed, one of his arms was wrapped in bandages and the other connected to an infusion

“I can't treat him all at once. I did first-aid treatment already, so after the IV is finished, we can only wait for his body to heal slowly overnight. Jeez. I know he's your favorite and that you passed on your powers to him, but doesn't mean you should spoil him!”

“There is nothing I can say to that.” All Might rubbed his head.

“Because I wanted to consider his feelings, I hesitated to stop the training match.” he admitted, then his tone became sharper as he added “Even so, will you please not talk about One For All so loudly?!”

Recovery girl wasn’t impressed, “Yes, yes, Mr. Natural-Born Hero. Mr. Symbol of Peace.”

A few kids giggled.

“Recovery girl is taking no nonsense from anyone.” said Ashido.

“A true role model.” agreed Aoyama.

All Might kept his solemn tone, “My injury and this form of mine are common knowledge among the U.A. teachers and a certain group of pros. But the secret of my Quirk, One For All, is known only to you, the principal, my close friends, and young Midoriya.”

Recovery girl’s scoff softened as she said, “I know it's not like you want to rest on your laurels at the top. But is being a "natural-born hero" or the "Symbol of Peace" really that important?”

Soft piano music played in the back, “If I no longer am, then the superhuman society will be seized by evil. This is the responsibility of those of us with this power.”

“You had so much pressure on you, All Might.” said Tsuyu sympathetically.

“Don’t worry, young Asui. It’s the life I chose myself and I am satisfied with me choice.”

“Is Midoriya going to do the same?” asked Ojiro.

“As if the next symbol of peace is going to be Deku!” yelled Bakugou.

All Might sighed, “I was counting on it, but I don’t want him to have to go through what I had.” he looked at Midoriya, “I want you to have a better life.”

“I knew what the risks were before I accepted One For All, All Might.” said Midoriya. “I will do what I have do in order to save people.”

“You are not going to get yourself killed trying everyone, problem child.” said Aizawa and decided he will teach this kid to have a healthy sense of worth and self preservation even if it’s the last thing he’ll do.

“I don’t want to! but if I have to -”

“You matter too, Midoriya.” said Shoji.

Recovery girl sighed and let herself smile to her former student’s idealistic words before scoffing again, “If that's the case, then it's even more important for you to learn what it means to guide someone!”

“Yes, ma'am.”

The screen faded to black from the shot of the sleeping boy.

The piano music continued to play as a short recap of everything Midoriya has been through played. It ended with him standing up to Bakugou in the damaged building, his eyes scared but intense.

“My "Deku" isn't always going to mean "useless"! Kacchan. My "Deku" means 'You can do it!"

Midoriya slowly woke up and found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed, injured and connected to infusion. He tried to close his eyes again only reopen them once he noticed the clock’s quiet ticking.

“It's... late afternoon?” he asked no one in particular.

A small face leaned in front of him.

“Are you awake?” asked Recovery girl.

Midoriya was startled in surprise.

The sky was covered in orange as Midoriya left the nurse’s office. One of his arms was covered in a cast and the other in bandages, and he looked exhausted.

The boy sighed ‘I ended up skipping my afternoon classes... Mr. Aizawa's gonna wrap me in those bindings again…’

He opened the classroom’s door and was surprise to be greeted by a sharp smile.

“Oh, Midoriya's here!” the redhead kid beamed at him. Immediately he was surrounded by a group of excited classmates.

“Good work!” said the redhead, “Man, I don't know what you were saying during the match, but you were fired up!”

“I can't believe you fought evenly with Bakugou, who was first in the entrance exam!” said a boy with black straight hair.

“You did a good job dodging!” cheered the pink girl.

“You guys did that in the first match, so the rest of us had to give it our all, too.” added a tall kid.

“You were far from elegant, but—” Aoyama popped up but got cut off by the pink girl, “You did a good job dodging!” she jumped in excitement.

“H-Huh?” Midoriya blushed, surprised from the sudden attention.

“I'm Kirishima Eijirou!” the redhead introduced himself, then pointed behind him, “We're all going over the training together right now.”

“You all were so friendly even though we just met…” said Midoriya

“Why wouldn’t we be?” asked Kirishima, confused.

“No reason it’s just that I wasn’t really used to it.” he smiled awkwardly.

‘Oh, right.’ Kirishima thought sadly.

“I'm Sero Hanta.” the second one introduced himself.

“I'm Aoyama Yu—” he started but got cut off again, “I'm Ashido Mina! You did a good job dodging!”

Aoyama shot her a glare.

“What?” she shrugged, “he was really good at dodging.”

“I'm Asui Tsuyu. Call me Tsu.” asked the frog girl.

“I'm Sato!” said the tall one.

Midoriya didn’t know what to say, “Um. Er—”

“I'm Mineta!” a short kid suddenly jumped in front of the group.

“I am Aoyama Yuuga. I am a man who never stops shining.” the french student tried again but wasn’t heard over his chattering classmates.

Aoyama grounded and buried his head in his knees.

“Sorry... um, désolé, Aoyama.” said Ashido genuinely.

Aoyama lift his head from his knees in awe. “Do you know French?” he asked.

“Well, not really.” she smiled awkwardly, “But I picked up some words from you and google translate. I thought it would help you feel more at home here.”

Happy tears formed in his eyes as he sparkled, “Merci, Ashido! Vous êtes gentil et un bon ami!” he wrapped his arms around her. She patted his back, both happy and awkward.

In the distant, a boy with a bird’s head groaned, “You're too loud.”

Iida run to him immediately and started waving with his hands, “Tokoyami! That desk is not a chair! Get off immediately!”

“It's not that big a deal, is it?” asked a girl with earphone jacks connected to her ears.

“Wh—?!”

“What's with those hands, anyway?” added Ojiro.

“You people…” mumbled Iida and then yelled even louder than before, making chopping hand movements, “I cannot condone actions that disrespect the desks the great men and women who are our upperclassmen once used!”

“You're too loud.” growled Tokoyami.

This conversation pulled the attention of the Midoriya and the group that he chatted with, who looked awkward and amused.

‘Iida never wavers, does he?’ thought Midoriya.

Then, the electricity-user kid entered the door, holding a pile of books. He turned to the girl behind him, “Hey, Uraraka, wanna grab a bite to eat sometime? What do you like?”

She thought for a moment, “Mochi-” but then she noticed Midoriya and immediately dropped the conversation.

“I just want a cute girl to notice me…” whined Kaminari, “is that too much to ask?”

Mineta nodded, “I get you, man.”

“Wait, Deku, she didn't heal your injuries?” she panicked as she saw his cast.

“Oh, uh, it's because of how much stamina I have, and…”

“Huh?”

Then, Midoriya noticed one empty desk in their classroom. “Um, Uraraka... more importantly…”

“We all tried to stop him,” she said, “but he went home just now without saying anything.”

Without missing a beat, Midoriya sprinted out of the class.

“I can’t believe Midoriya chose Bakugou over Uraraka.” Kaminari shook his head.

“I kind of do, enemies-to lovers, you know?” answered Sero and they both giggled.

“What?!” asked Midoriya, completely red.

“What the fuck are you two even talking about?” asked Bakugou.

“Oh, nothing…” Kaminari waved it off.

Bakugou’s words came back to him as he made his way to the school’s gate, ‘ Hey! You tricked me, didn't you?! Was it fun tricking me all this time?! You have got a flashy Quirk there, don't you?!’

He run out of breath when he finally located Bakugou.

“Kacchan!” he started to run towards the blonde. “Kacchan!” he cried again, and this time Bakugou finally turned his head to look at him.

“Huh?” his tone was chilling, and Midoriya stopped in his tracks.

Then, he hesitated, his lips trembling. ‘It's a secret I didn't even tell my mom.’ he thought..

‘But…’

“There’s one thing,” he said, “I feel like I have to tell you.”

Everyone turned to look at Bakugou.

“Huh?”

“No way…”

“My Quirk...is something I received from someone else.” he admitted.

“You knew?! ” asked Uraraka.

“What happened to ‘you can’t tell anyone?” asked Ojiro.

“I, um-” Midoriya stuttered.

“Huh?”

“I can't say who I got it from, though!” he quickly added. “I won't say.” he insisted.

“But... it's like a story out of comic books, except it's true. On top of that, I still can't control it properly. It's just a borrowed power that I haven't made my own yet.” Bakugou’s blank expression changed to anger as Midoriya went on, “That's why...I tried to beat you without using it. But in the end, I couldn't win and had to rely on it. I've still got a long way to go. That's why...That's why! One day, I will make this Quirk my own, and beat you with my own power!”

At the end of his speech Bakugou looked at him in shock and Midoriya suddenly realized what he just said, ‘I just came to tell him I didn't trick him. What am I-?’

“I can’t believe this entire time none of us knew besides Bakugou .” said Hagakure.

“What do you expect, Deku’s shitty at keeping secrets. Which is why you all know now.” said Bakugou.

“I didn’t tell you everything...” said Midoriya. “I just felt like I owed you an explanation.”

“You didn’t owe him anything, Midoriya, but it’s your right to tell people. It’s your power, isn’t it?” asked Todoroki and gave him a meaningful look.

“Not really, at this point it was just borrowed.”

“Maybe it was then, but you made it yours, just like you said. So now it’s up to you what to do with it.”

“I can’t just tell everyone, though!” he protested.

“I think I was too harsh with you, actually.” admitted All Might. “Even I told some of my closest friends. You have me for anything you need, but I realize now that anyone, including great heroes, deserve a support network. I don’t want the word to be spread out because it can attract the villain’s attention, but a numbered few probably wouldn’t be so bad.”

Midoriya looked him in awe, he realized that now that his closest friends know he feels that the burden on his shoulders has lessened.

Aizawa looked satisfied, seems like the man took his words to heart.

Then Bakugou snapped, “What the hell is that?” 

He turned around to fully face him, his voice was shaking as he went on. "’Borrowed power’? You're talking nonsense. What are you trying to do, make me out to be more of a fool than you already have? Huh?! What are you trying to say? Today, I lost to you! That's all it was! That's all!”

“ Bakugou admitting he lost to someone?!” gasped Ashido.

“Seems like it physically hurt him to say it, though.” noted Jiro.

“As I watched the ice guy, I thought, "I can't beat him"!” he admitted.

Todoroki turned to look at him, his expression blank.

“Go die in a hole, half n’ half.” Bakugou sneered at him.

“I didn’t say anything.”

‘it is foolish to launch a large-scale attack indoors.’ Yaoyorozu’s critisim flashed at the screen.

“Damn it!” he clenched his forehead, “I ended up agreeing with what that ponytail girl said! Damn it! Damn it, damn it!” he looked at the floor and stomped with anger,

Then, he lifted his head, “Hey, you too, Deku!” he yelled, his eyes filled with tears, “I'm just!

I'm just getting started! You hear?! Here, I will become number one!”

Midoriya’s surprise turned into understanding and determination, as Bakugou started to walk away again.

“You won't beat me again, bastard!” he declared on his way, wiping his tears angrily with his sleeve.

“Did-did we just see Bakugou cry? ” asked Ojiro.

“If you have anything to say about me say it to my face , Tail!” Bakugou snapped.

“No- I didn’t mean it like that-”

“He just meant that it was super manly! right, Ojiro?” asked Kirishima, and Ojiro nodded. “You just declared you will suppress your rival! Do you realize how cool it was?”

“Stop feeding his ego, Kirishima. It’s already big enough.” said Jiro.

“I will tie your ear jacks together, headphones.” he threatened.

“Crying is nothing to be ashamed off, Bakugou!” said Iida.

“Yes. I mean, Midoriya does that all the time.” added Sero.

“No!” Hagakure scolded him, “This is literally the worst thing you could have said to him!”

“I’M NOTHING LIKE WIMPY DEKU!” barked Bakugou.

“Told you.” said Hagakure.

“Seriously, bro.” added Kirishima, “Crying just show you care. And caring may be one of the manliest things there are.”

“I didn’t ask your opinion, Hair for brains.” said Bakugou but he was a lot calmer now.

Midoriya released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Then he heard a voice exclaming, “There he is!”.

Midoriya was blown away by the force of the wind from All Might’s quirk as he passed him and reached Bakugou.

“Young...Bakugou!” the hero put his hand on shoulders. “Just so you know, pride is important. You definitely have the abilities needed to become a pro. You still have a lot of—”

“Let go of me, All Might. I can’t walk” Bakugou cut him off.

The boy tilted his head and looked at his face. The hero noticed an unwiped tear in the corner of his eye, but that didn’t seem to affect the boy’s tone as he said, “I'll become a hero that surpasses even you without you telling me!”

“Huh?” he removed his hands from his shoulders. “Uh... Right.”

‘He's gotten over it.’ the man thought as he looked at him walking off. ‘It's hard being a teacher...’

In the classroom’s window, 3 girls stood over the window and observed the scene.

“What was that?” asked Ashido.

“Y-you saw?!” asked Midoriya.

“Yeah, sorry Deku.” replied Uraraka.

“We just saw you trying to talk to Bakugou and then him yelling at you. We didn’t really understand what was going on.” clearfield Tsuyu.

“The fated battle between men.” Uraraka replied, serious.

“It looked like Midoriya was just giving excuses one-sidedly, though.” noted Tsu.

“The fated battle between men!” she insisted.

“What do you have to with this, anyway?” asked Bakugou.

“I just knew you were destined rivals.” she replied.

“Kaminari, I think Uraraka can join your ‘watched too many movies’ club,” said Jiro.

“Don’t forget about Aoyama,” said Ashido.

“Oui” he agreed.

‘Kacchan's fuse has been lit.’ thought Midoriya. ‘That doesn't change what I have to do. I just have to chase after him!’

Then All Might turned to his successor, “Young Midoriya! What were you talking about with young Bakugou?”

“Um, we were, uh…”

“Hmm. I'm so curious. Why don't you tell me in detail?”

“U-Um. a-actually...”

the episode ended.

“You know, I think the biggest reveal of this show isn’t even One For All.” said Uraraka. “It’s the fact that Bakugou actually admitted that he lost and that some people are stronger than him.”

“Tch, I was a beginner , round face. I’m not dumb enough to expect to be the best overnight. I’m going to work my ass off for it.” said Bakugou.

“That’s...surprisingly mature of you.” she admitted.

“Whatever. Anyway, I had enough of this show. I’m going to bed.” said Bakugou and got up.

“Actually, I’m tired too.” said Yaoyorozu, “Perhaps we should continue this at another time?”

“Aizawa fell asleep about five minutes ago.” Yagi gestured at the teacher who was curled in his sleeping bag.

“Good thing we brought our sleeping bags, then!” Said Ashido.

“Think we can convince Bakugou to come back and have a sleepover with us?” asked Kaminari.

“He already watched the show with us, we shouldn't push our luck.”

“Good point.”

Uraraka was already curled in her sleeping bad when Iida shook her, “no, none of you can sleep yet. You have to go brush your teeth.”

“But Iida…” she whined.

“No buts!” he said firmly but then, the glasses wearing boy spread his hands and smirked, “Actually...go ahead, little heroes! Sleep away! And then the germs will damage your teeth until there’s nothing left! We’ll see how well you can fight when you can’t even eat! You bring your own doom! Muhahahahahaha!”

The impression was received with a wave of laughter and praise.

“Fine, I’ll go brush my teeth.” said Uraraka with a tired smile.

Chapter Text

The next evening, Bakugou was sitting on the couch and messed with his phone while everyone came to watch the show. He did nothing to acknowledge them but he also didn’t walk away.

“Who’s ready to watch ‘My hero Academia’?” gashed Ashido.

“It’s more about Midoriya’s hero academia than yours, you know.” noted Sero with his hands behind his head.

Ashido waved him off, “The latest episode was about Bakugou and we all appeared in the theme song-”

“Yes, but mostly Midoriya.” he reminded.

“Can you please stop crushing my dreams?” she snapped, then shrugged. “Either way, Midoriya’s cool. He deserves this.”

“Actually,” Midoriya peeped, “I would rather not get this much attention…”

“Yes,” Mineta agreed. “Give me the attention! I would get so many babes if I was a TV star!”

“Mineta, Aizawa said no one other than us will watch this and none of the girls here will ever date you, ribbit.” Tsu deadpanned.

Mineta grumbled.

Yagi arrived on time this time, and Midoriya stuttered, “All Might! A-are you sure you want t-to watch this show again? I’m sure you have better things to do-”

“Nonsense! What way is better to spend my time than with my successor and favorite class?”

“I can think of a few ways.” Aizawa said drily while Kaminari asked “wait we’re your favorites?”

And so when everyone got comfortable in the common room, Midoriya (who everyone but Bakugou agreed should have the remote) started the next episode.

This episode started with the theme song.

“C-can we not skip it this time?” peeped Koda and looked shyly as Jirou.

“Oh, yes, of course.” she seemed surprised at first, then smiled. She was glad Koda was comfortable enough to ask for things.

Midoriya stood at the UA’s gate, whimpering in fear.

“Wow, how shocking.” Bakugou said sarcastically as he raised his gaze from the phone screen then came back to it after a second.

“Be nice, Bakugou!” Uraraka scoffed.

A microphone got shoved into his face, “Hey, you!” a feminine voice called. “How are All Might's classes?” The voice belonged to a woman in a sea of reporters, all armed with microphones and cameras, and all surrounding the boy.

“Ugh, the press.” groaned Aizawa. “And to ambush students, disgusting.”

“You know it’s a part of the hero life, Aizawa.” said All Might nonchalantly. “It’s best for them to learn how to deal with that now rather than when they’re already pros.”

“I guess you’re right…” the teacher replied, clearly not happy with it.

“Uh, excuse me, I have to go to the nurse's office!” uttered Midoriya before running away.

“Will you tell us about what the Symbol of Peace is like as a teacher?” the reporter demanded to surprised Uraraka.

“Wh-What he's like?” she echoed, “Um...He's very muscular!” she flexed her hands to demonstrate.

Uraraka facepalmed. “Amazing answer, I know.”

“If it helps you feel better I don’t think most of us would have given a better one.” said Ojiro.

“What do you think of All Might as a teacher?!” the reporter asked Iida, who didn’t lose his cool and replied, “He made me recognize anew that I attend an educational institution

that is the best of the best. Of course, his dignity and character go without saying,

but we students are constantly able to see his humorous side. It is a unique opportunity