Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku didn’t mind the bullying. Really, he didn’t. The soppy, singed notebook in his hand didn’t affect him in the slightest. The burning sting on his skin and the smell of smoke emanating from the bull horns on his head meant nothing to him.

So why were his hands shaking?

Izuku huffed, shaking his head, hoping it would work like an Etch-a-Sketch and rid his head of the bad thoughts. It kind of worked. 

As Izuku made the walk home, the words Kacchan had spoken rang in his head, “If you wanna be a hero so bad, take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a real Quirk in your next life!” Izuku’s hands gripped tighter on the straps of his backpack, letting out a half-hearted laugh. If only Kacchan knew.

Izuku hated his act.

He kicked a stray rock, watching it roll and bounce across the cement. Izuku followed it, stopping at the grate underneath the bridge before kicking it again, watching for a second as the rock tumbled, then following after it once more. 

Izuku took one step, extremely confused when his second didn’t meet the ground. Then he couldn’t breathe. 

What the fuck?

Izuku’s hands moved of their own accord, clawing at the slimy substance that was blocking his airways. A gargling voice sounded from the slime, “You'll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in, kid!” Izuku kicked and clawed, fighting for any breath of air he could manage. 

“It'll be easier for both of us if you don't fight back. It will only hurt for a minute. You'll feel better soon,” the warbly voice crooned. Izuku gagged as he felt slime slide down his throat. His kicks slowed; Izuku was barely making impact with the liquid anymore.

Izuku’s hands fell as liquid filled his lungs, feebly grabbing for any purchase, “Thanks for the help. You're a real hero to me, kid.” A hero? Hah. What a joke. As Izuku’s lungs burned, he thought of his mom. He regretted that he couldn’t say goodbye, that he’d have to join his dad all too soon. Izuku’s vision darkened and he couldn’t feel anything but the liquid being forced inside him.

I’m sorry, Mom.

The next thing he knew, Izuku was throwing up on the sidewalk. His insides and throat burned as he retched slime, taking gasping breaths in between each expulsion of the liquid. Only after he could finally breathe again did he notice the figure next to him. 

“Hey! Thought we lost you there!” All Might grinned, one hand hovering over a pocket while the other floated close to Izuku. 

Izuku blinked for a second, then yelped as the reality of the situation dawned on him. 

All Might stood in front of him.

All Might had saved him.

Izuku’s mouth gaped as he tried to find words to say. Before he could say anything, the man started talking again, “Well, looks like you're moving around all right. Sorry about that back there, didn't mean to get you caught up in my justice-ing. Usually I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe, but it turns out this city's sewer system is pretty difficult to navigate!” All Might laughed, “Anyway, you were a big help. Thank you! I've captured the evil-doer!” All Might gave Izuku a thumbs-up and a wink, his grin never leaving his face.

Izuku floundered around, looking for his backpack and notebook, “I, uh-” he stopped when he noticed the man’s signature filled an empty spread of his journal.

“No need to thank me, young man!” All Might patted the pockets of his pants where the slime villain now resided in plastic bottles, “Well, I've gotta get this guy to the police so they can take care of him. Stay out of trouble; see you around!”

Izuku didn’t know why, but he felt the need to ask All Might… something. Anything, really. He reached for the hero, grabbing his cargo pants to get his attention, “Wait-”

A scream was ripped from his mouth as wind whipped around him. Izuku held on for dear life, fingers clutching at the fabric. All Might whipped his head around to face Izuku, “Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?! Let go! I love my fans, but this is too much!”

Izuku shook his head, “We’re… too far up! I’ll die!” He managed.

All Might paused at that, “That’s… a good point. Just keep your eyes and mouth shut until we land.”

Izuku nodded and shoved his head into the hero’s leg.

It seemed like forever until they landed. Izuku released the hero’s pant leg, standing on the roof with shaky legs. He took in a few gasps, lungs still burning from the incident with the villain.

“All right, well I really better be off now-”

“Wait!” Izuku interrupted All Might. His outreached hand trembled. Izuku took a breath and looked at the roof beneath him, his tail nervously twitching behind him. Izuku donned his persona again, shuffling in place and running his hands together, “I- my Quirk is… it changes. Every month, it switches to a different Quirk. The… the kids at my school keep- keep telling me I can’t be a hero… but,” Izuku took a shaky breath. He needed to sell this, “I want to be one. I guess… asking you is like my chance at hearing the truth… so…” Izuku used the roughness of his throat to crack his voice, “Is there any chance that I could be a hero? Like you?” Izuku finally looked up.

All Might was gone.

All that remained was a thin screen of smoke and a skeletal man, blood dribbling out of his mouth as he coughed.

Izuku blanched, opening his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. 

Not All Might wiped the blood from his mouth and stared at the kid with dull blue eyes. He sighed, “I didn’t want anyone to see this.”

“Wha-” Izuku stuttered, “What do you mean? What- who? All Might…?”

The skeletal man nodded, “Think of it like the guys at the pool who suck in and flex and all that. That’s what this is like.”

Izuku shook his head, “But- I don’t understand?” Words died on his lips as soon as they were given breath.

The man- All Might- sighed and lifted his shirt, “Don’t go telling your friends or the media about this, you hear me?” Izuku gasped at the cracked and irritated skin. He was no stranger to scars, and this was an old, but extremely damaging wound. All Might sat back on the railing, exhaling an exhausted breath, “Happened about five years ago. My respiratory system was basically destroyed. I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out, and it can't be fixed.” The man paused and sighed again, “Right now, I can only do hero work for about three hours a day. Rest of the time,” All Might motioned to his skeletal body, “this is what I look like.”

Izuku gaped, then asked, “Five years ago… did Toxic Chainsaw manage… that ?”

All Might laughed humorlessly, “You know your stuff, kid. No. This fight wasn’t televised. Wouldn’t have been good.” All Might frowned, “I’m the Symbol of Peace, always smiling. Imagine what it would do to the world to see this done to me.” A moment of silence, then, “You wanted to know about being a hero. From what I’ve heard, with a Quirk like yours? No. It’s too risky. You’ll end up worse than me.” All Might pushed open the door, “Be realistic, young man. Go into the police force or something, they still manage to help plenty.” 

Izuku stared at the door as it clicked shut. An explosion sounded in the distance. 

Izuku sat on the railing and grinned as he watched lights flash and listened to the ruckus of a fight, his feet kicking over the long drop.

He really should have thanked All Might, not only did he solidify that Izuku would never be a hero, but he also told Izuku some very helpful information.

Of course, the hero didn't deserve gratitude. If anything, this just made them even.

After all, All Might was the reason for his dad’s death.

Chapter Text

Deciding he didn't want to take Bakugou's advice, Izuku walked away from the edge of the building; after all, he had important information to share. 

And leaving like that would break his mother's heart

So, he walked down the stairwell and onto the streets. He ignored the sounds of explosions in the distance as he hurried home.

"Mom, I'm home!" Izuku exclaimed as he opened the door to his apartment.

Inko looked up from the computer she was sitting at, raising an eyebrow, "And where have you been, young man?" Inko asked, her joking tone laced with concern.

"Oh, I was just walking home when I almost suffocated to death and then proceeded to meet the Number One Hero. So you know, the usual."

Inko's expression soured at his words.

"But," Izuku continued before she could say anything, "I learned something very interesting. " 

Inko didn't look any happier at the addition, but she did wave her hand at Izuku, signaling for him to continue, as she got up and walked towards the kitchen sink.

"Did you know," Izuku started, leaning forward, "All Might has a crippling injury that has greatly affected his so-called 'justice-ing'? Now the Number One Hero can only maintain his 'hero form' for a few hours."

Inko’s eyebrows raised, “Oh? Now how’d that go and happen?”

Izuku shrugged, boosting himself to sit on the countertop as he spoke, “Happened around the big Toxic Chainsaw fight. He said it wasn’t televised, but didn’t give a name.” Inko nodded, the non-answer Izuku gave being enough of an answer that the two of them could guess what had happened. Izuku snatched an apple from the fruit basket next to him, taking a bite and talking around it, “Left a pr’y nasty sca’.”

"Did it, now?" Inko said.

"Yup," Izuku said, popping the p, "And you remember how your… 'sources' said All Might was going to be working at UA this year, right?" Inko nodded. "Well, I was thinking that I could get into UA and gather more info about All Might."

Inko sighed, "I really don't want to get you involved in this business." She picked up the first-aid kit from the cabinet, sat next to Izuku on the counter, "Come on, let's get those injuries taken care of."

"Okay," Izuku said, as he let his mom look at the burns and bruises.

"Did he really burn your horns?" Inko asked, eyebrows twitching with annoyance.

"Yeah… but I don't mind," Inko raised her eyebrow, "Really, I don't!"

"Well, if you're a hundred percent sure you want to go to UA, you're going to have to learn how to defend yourself first. If you don't, you'll get yourself killed," Inko chided. She treated Izuku’s burns with gentle hands as Izuku chomped on his apple. Izuku absently thought about how lucky he was to have a doctor as a mother with his tendency to get into “accidents.” 

“Well…” Izuku started, swallowing his latest bite of fruit before looking up at his mom slyly, “Last I checked my mom was a pretty infamous villain.” Izuku sing-songed the last three words, pointing his half-eaten apple to accentuate them.

Inko sighed and put a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, “Look Izuku, I really want you to think about whether or not this is something you want. Being a villain isn’t something I want you involved in. I mean, you’re not even in highschool yet, and what if-”  

“I want to be useful, Mom!” Izuku leaned forward, nearly falling off the countertop. The interruption surprised both himself and Inko. He took a deep breath before continuing, “I want to know I’m being useful…”

“Useless Deku!”

“I don’t want to be a burden! I can finally do something for you.”

“He can’t do anything right.”

“I can help. Please Mom, let me help! Let me prove that I can be useful!” Izuku pleaded. A beat of silence hung in the air as Inko thought.

“Give me a day or two to get a training plan set up for you,” Inko conceded, letting out a sigh as she gave her son a smile.

“Thank you, thank you!” Izuku exclaimed, wrapping his mom up in a hug, “I promise I’ll work hard and do my best!”

Izuku lay on his bed, scrolling through social media as he hummed the tune of the latest song he got stuck in his head. As he scrolled through the latest hero drama (apparently Endeavor’s PR team needed a raise), a notification popped up, managing to catch the young info-hungry boy’s attention.

Sludge Villain Attacks Student in Alleyway

Earlier tonight, a young middle school student was attacked by a vicious villain. Heroes on-scene managed to save the boy, but with complications. Were the heroes too late to fully save this young boy?

The article continued to describe how the heroes there weren’t able to help faster than they had due to their Quirks not being suited to rescue the student (Izuku called absolute bullshit on that). After skimming the article, Izuku went back to scrolling on social media, leaving the hero drama for another day, and instead seeing if there was any content surrounding the student being attacked.

Post after post commented on the attack (from praising the student to condemning the heroes, it seemed the Internet was fully split on the situation), but eventually, something caught Izuku’s eye. 

A post with a photo attached, claiming to be from an eyewitness of the attack. Izuku smirked at the photo. He would recognize that blast of blond hair anywhere.

Katsuki Bakugou.

He wouldn’t usually wish harm upon someone, but Bakugou sure as hell deserved it. Izuku was about to scroll away, look for something else to read, or maybe even go to sleep, but then, something in the photo caught his eye. All Might. Not him saving Bakugou, no, that title went to another hero (probably a good thing for Endeavor’s PR team. Less work for them). It was All Might, in his civilian form.

Standing there .

Doing nothing .

Izuku turned off his phone, placing it on his bedside table.

Number One Hero my ass.

Chapter Text

When Izuku had agreed to training with his mom, he hadn’t expected to be sat down that weekend to an itemized list and schedule, lining out a dietary plan and Quirk training plan along with the expected fitness plan. Izuku scanned the plan, eyebrows raising as he realized how well thought out the entire thing was, taking into account his current shape and slowly increasing in intensity as time went on, all the way up until the next year, ending when the UA exams began (with an additional page filled with instructions for upkeep after the exams passed. Inko had mentioned that was just in case the classes at UA didn’t do enough for him).

Izuku gaped at his mom, “I-”

“It’s too much isn’t it? Ah, I’m sorry, Zuku, I just got a bit excited, I think.” Inko clasped a hand around her cheek, “If it’s too much, I can always whittle it down. I know it must be overwhelming, but I just-”

“No, Mom! It’s great!” Izuku beamed, “I just… with your reaction and All Might being there, I wasn’t sure what your plan would be. Now that I think about it, this does make sense. You’d want me to be in as good of shape as possible, and everything on here is catered towards me so that that can be possible, especially seeing as I’m going to try and go into the UA. That doesn’t quite explain these extra blocks, though. Maybe they’re for-?”

“Those are optional patrols,” Inko interrupted Izuku’s mumbling. Izuku’s gaze darted up to meet his mother’s. His eyes were wide as she continued, “Well, I figured, if you’re going to be going to UA, you might as well get some experience in the field beforehand, just so you know what to expect. It wouldn’t be until a bit later on in the program, though. And only on non-school days. We can’t have you tired out when you go to-” Inko was stopped by Izuku’s small body crashing into her. 

“Thanks, Mom,” Izuku smiled into his mom’s shoulder, allowing small tears to fall.

Inko smiled as she pressed her face into Izuku’s hair, “Of course, Zuku.”

Izuku’s mom was ruthless.

Izuku didn’t know what his mom was on when she made the training plan, but if this is what she thought was beginner level, Izuku was not looking forward to higher levels. Hell, he was barely able to get through the warm-up run!

The boy heard a chuckle, then a water bottle was offered to him. Izuku took the bottle, draining it with greedy gulps as Inko smiled at him, “Doing alright so far?”

Izuku let his gasps for air in between drinks answer for him.

Inko laughed, “You’re doing great, Zuku.” She patted him on the back, “We’ll have a bit of a break, then continue, alright?”

“Sure,” Izuku managed, his breath finally coming back, “a bit of a break, then back to dying. Got it.” He gave a shaky thumbs-up as he took another swig of water.

Inko chuckled at her son, a loving reaction to the sarcastic nature she may or may not have passed onto him. (Izuku knew the truth. She was a sadist. A demon! She laughed at his pain, at his incapability. He’d show her! He’d be the best work out-er ever!)

Izuku jumped up from the bench (he barely managed to peel himself off. He swore the sweat coating his clothes stuck him to the bench like glue) and turned to his mother, handing her water bottle back, “Alright, back to it!”

Inko smiled (viciously), “Alright, let’s head in. The weights await,” Inko chuckled.

Izuku wanted to melt back into the bench.

He wasn’t going to live, was he?

After the first few days, Izuku started getting used to the rigorous training from his mother. Even if he was getting used to it, he wouldn’t lie, he craved the break days. The bit of respite he got away from his mother’s insane training regimen was like a taste of heaven.

His mother’s katsudon was no different.

At Izuku’s request, Inko had created a loose dieting plan (she continually assured him it was simply a suggestion and he was in no way obligated to continue if he ever wanted to stop). Due to this, Izuku’s favorite meal was now reserved for special occasions. Izuku’s mom had insisted she make katsudon for the start of summer break. 

Izuku wasn’t about to stop her.

Despite his mother’s insistence that he get out of the kitchen and do “kid stuff” while she cooked, Izuku grabbed a cutting board, knife, and onions. Inko’s objections quickly died out as Izuku chopped up the ingredients.

Izuku grabbed the pork, deciding he would like to push off cutting the onions as long as possible, “So, Mom, I had a question.”

Inko spared a quick glance from where she was washing the rice, “And I have an answer.”

“Would it be okay if we pushed Quirk training up a bit?” 

“Hmm…” Inko mused, throwing the now-clean rice in the rice cooker as she thought, “Well, yes, we could, but why do you want to?”

Izuku transferred the sliced pork to a plate, setting it on the counter for his mom to take over, “Well, I was thinking, since my Quirk is so volatile, it might be better to start actually intensely training with it sooner rather than later. Like, if it changes so often, it’d probably be better to start training it early on, right?”

Inko hummed, thinking over Izuku’s words as she cooked the pork, “You aren’t wrong… but I don’t want to overwork you.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Izuku insisted, sighing with contempt as he started the onions, “I’ll let you know if it’s too much, and we can go from there? Please?” Izuku winced as fumes from the onion wafted towards his eyes.

“If you’re sure you can handle it, then I don’t see why not,” Inko conceded. She moved to wash her hands, pausing to plant a kiss on the top of Izuku’s head.

Izuku grinned despite the tears that threatened to spill due to the onion fumes, “Thanks, Mom!”

Eventually, through tears and frustration, Izuku managed to finish cutting the onions. Izuku swore he’d never touch onions again (Inko laughed and pointed out that the past three times Izuku had cut onions, he had said the same thing, and yet, here he was. Izuku decided to ignore her.) and Inko finished the katsudon alone, forcing Izuku to leave the kitchen. 

It didn’t take long for Inko to finish supper, and Izuku was sure that it was the best katsudon he’d ever had.

Izuku shifted his backpack anxiously, staring up at the large UA gates. The fins on his ears flick nervously as he takes in a shaky breath. Today’s the day. The UA entrance exam. After months of training with his mom, Izuku was confident he could pass, but that didn’t stop his heart from pounding wildly in his chest. He stared at the gate a bit more, then, after realizing that he probably looked a bit strange standing there for as long as he did, Izuku trekked forward.

Izuku took deep breaths, running through what he had studied as he walked towards the entrance. The written exam would be first, so he had to make sure he remembered everything he had gone over. Izuku had been sure to study the night before, as well as throughout the past week. 

As Izuku walked, lost in his thoughts, Izuku’s foot hooked onto a step. His entire body froze as he fell, a single thought now in his mind, Ah. So this is how I die.

To his surprise, Izuku’s head never hit the sharp concrete step. A high-pitched “Release!” sounded, and the weightlessness that Izuku had been experiencing dispelled. Izuku’s arms shot out to steady himself as gravity took hold once more. He looked up to see a rosy cheeked, brown haired girl pressing her fingers together and looking at him. She smiled, “Ah, I’m glad you’re okay! Sorry I used my Quirk on you without permission, but I thought it’d probably be bad luck for you to fall before the exam.” The girl rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

Izuku stared at the girl for a beat, then spoke up, “Oh, uh, thank you! Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Izuku trailed off as he realized what just happened. He had fallen on the steps of UA in front of everyone . Izuku’s face heated up, and he was sure he was bright red. He buried his head in his hands and groaned, “You should’ve let me fall and die. I tripped in front of everyone, ugh! How embarrassing!”

“Wha- no it’s ok! It’s not that bad!” The girl put her hands out in a placating gesture, “There aren’t all that many people out, and you didn’t actually fall, so I don’t think anyone will pay it any mind!”

Izuku nodded, allowing himself to raise his head from his hands, “Thanks again. Sorry, I just think I’m really nervous,” Izuku laughed dryly. Realizing he hadn’t yet introduced himself, Izuku holds out a hand, “It’s nice to meet you! I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“Uraraka Ochako!” Uraraka shook the extended hand, “Good luck on the exam! We should probably head in now, don’t want to be late!”

“Ah- right!”

Izuku and Uraraka entered together, neither talking much as they approached the school. Both got their assigned rooms for the written exam, then said their goodbyes as they went their separate ways. Izuku hoped she’d do well and get in.

The written exam went well, Izuku thought. He was prepared for the questions, both the typical fundamentals and the heroics based questions. The only issues he really had were with English. Izuku despised English. Something about the language just didn’t make sense to him. He did his best on the test, but knew he likely wouldn’t have the best score on the English portion.

A small break was allowed after the written portion of the exam. Some examinees talked amongst themselves, others ate, many went to the bathrooms, and lots went on their phones. Izuku was part of the group that ate, enjoying the black sesame cookies his mother had packed him. He glanced around for Uraraka a few times, but didn’t see her. 

Eventually, the examinees were called into a room. It was huge, a stage up front and seats lining the area in front of it in an amphitheater style. Izuku was somewhere in the middle in both row and individual seat. Izuku sat down, one of the first to arrive. As other examinees filed in, a familiar burst of blond hair caught Izuku’s eye. Ah. Right. Kacchan was applying to UA as well. After Inko started training Izuku, she insisted he stand up for himself at least a little bit. Due to his new defiance, the bullying died down a little. Kacchan was the only one to keep the same intensity, if not up it a bit. 

Kacchan searched the rows, apparently finding the correct one. He lifted his eyes, red meeting green as Izuku made eye contact. The blond glared. They must have arranged seating by middle school . Izuku thought as he glared back. The spiky haired boy huffed as he broke eye contact, sliding into the row, taking his seat next to Izuku. Neither party looked at the other for the duration of the time, the tension thick enough without them acknowledging each other’s presence. 

Luckily, the awkward silence was broken fairly quickly. The lights in the auditorium suddenly dim, bright spotlights illuminating the stage. The red curtains fly to the sides, revealing none other than the pro hero Present Mic himself. 

The explanation of the practical exam was fairly simple. Destroy as many robots as possible in the allotted time (more difficult robots offered more points). Avoid the 0 Pointer, an obstacle, not something meant to be beat. Present Mic attempted to get audience participation, though their energetic voice ended up being the only one to echo throughout the auditorium. 

Izuku let out a small sigh of relief when Kacchan turned to take a different bus. Thank Kami he wouldn’t have to take the practical along with the explosive boy. The bus ride wasn’t anything special. Other examinees talked amongst themselves, some sat alone, and others looked like they were about to throw up. Finally, after what Izuku thought was much too long a ride, the bus arrived at the examination area.

Examinees filed out, crowding around the entrance to the testing facility. Izuku wrung his hands nervously, taking in deep breaths as he ran through a game plan, eyes scanning the other test takers. Izuku’s eyes landed on rosy cheeks framed by brown hair. There! Someone at least a little familiar! Izuku decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to wish the girl luck, so he started to weave his way through people, fins twitching in discomfort as he bumped into others.

Izuku let out a surprised yelp at a sudden rough hand on his shoulder, spinning around to both get the unwanted touch off him and to face the perpetrator, “You really should not be distracting others!” A dark haired boy stood before Izuku, a stern look on his face. Izuku recognized the clipped way of speaking and rigid hand motions. This was the boy that had interrupted the presentation to ask questions.

“Oh, well I-” Izuku started, but he was quickly cut off.

“Look at her! She is obviously trying to focus!” The boy reprimanded, “Are you trying to ruin her chances at doing well in the exam?”

“No! I just-”

Izuku was interrupted by a different voice this time, “Go!” 

The examinees stood and gaped up at the voice, uncertainty filling the air. After a beat, Izuku started to move.

Another beat passed before the voice, Present Mic’s voice, sounded again, “What’re you all waiting for? There are no countdowns in a real fight! Go, go, go!”

Izuku trekked the fake streets, searching for robots. His Quirk, Pisces, at the moment, wasn’t exactly useful for an exam like this, so he needed to rely more on strategizing than Quirk use. 

Luckily for him, he had the power of information on his side.

Izuku glanced down at his watch, taking a sharp right to face the small group of 2 Pointers that the watch showed. A quick tap on his watch allowed Izuku to take down the robots with no effort, allowing him to move to the next group with ease.

Seeing as he wasn’t technically allowed to have the information that he had, Izuku tried his best to hide it. If he just so happened to be in a camera’s blind spot when he overrode the robots’ code, well, then nobody else needed to know. Izuku ensured most of his fights looked believable, a dodge here and there, but he allowed himself to take a few down with little to no effort.

Part of Izuku wondered if he should have found a way to get the locations of examinees onto his watch along with the robots. As it was, it was a gamble as to whether or not he would get the elusive rescue points from an encounter ( honestly, UA, if you want a secret mechanic in your exams, either switch up the exam once in a while or at least try to get the information off the Internet , Izuku thought), but Izuku was sure his combination of combat and rescue points would be enough, even with the unknown factor. 

The exam wasn’t anything special, just “fighting” robots and saving the occasional examinee. A glance at his watch told Izuku that the streets were mostly empty, save a stray robot here or there. Izuku frowned. Going to the robots was too risky, it might tick off one of the examiners, especially since Nedzu himself worked for the school and was likely watching. 

Izuku didn’t have much time to dwell on his next course of action, though. The ground rumbled and examinees ran past Izuku, shoving others out of their way. Feet planted to the ground, Izuku whipped his head around, looking for an explanation. Luckily, one examinee gave it to him, “It’s the 0 Pointer! Run! It’s huge!” she cried, grabbing the arm of a shell-shocked boy nearby and pulling him along with her. 

Izuku turned as the rumbling grew more intense and blanched at the sight before him. The green robot dwarfed the buildings nearby, towering over ten story buildings. Even with all the research he had done, Izuku never expected the 0 Pointer to be this big! Izuku swallowed and turned to follow the crowd. The sounds of struggling found its way to Izuku’s ear. The green haired boy stopped and scanned the area, gaze landing on the pop of pink on Uraraka’s tracksuit. 

Izuku felt his feet plant to the ground, stopping him in his path to escape. Izuku breathlessly watched Uraraka struggle to push debris off of herself as his thoughts streamed through his mind. She’ll be okay, this is just an exam. I could lose points if I do something reckless. I should leave. I have the points to pass. This is an unnecessary risk I shouldn’t take. I… Izuku feels himself step forward as his thoughts trail off.

I have to help.

Izuku’s feet pound on the uneven asphalt of fake road before he registers that he’s moving. The freckled boy urgently pressed his back against the large rock pinning Uraraka to the ground, grunting as he pushed with all his might, body trembling under the effort.

“M-Midoriya?” Izuku heard the girl mumble. She attempted to twist around to face the boy, but Izuku noticed a wince, then her efforts ceased. “G-Go, Midoriya! Leave while you can!”

Izuku’s efforts were obviously not working, so he backed up with a labored breath. His eyes glanced to the approaching 0 Pointer.

They were running out of time.

Decidingly ignoring Uraraka’s pleas, Izuku moved so she could see him, “Uraraka! Do you think you can reach that rock?” 

Uraraka’s pained expression turned to one of contemplation. She twisted one way, her efforts futile. The other way was no better. “It’s no use, other debris is in the way. I already expended most of my energy, I can’t float much more.”

Izuku’s hand flew to his mouth, covering it as he quickly thought aloud, “Neither of us can move it. The most preferable situation would be someone else with a suitable Quirk, but no one else is around.” Izuku scanned his surroundings as he thought, the rumbling of the ground an unfortunate reminder of his and Uraraka’s impending doom. As Izuku examined the area, muttering under his breath what he could see, his eyes landed on an object.

Bingo .

Izuku darted to the damaged robot shell, grabbing the long, slim, and thick piece of metal, quickly examining the item. Perfect. 

Izuku ran back to Uraraka, shoving the metal piece under the giant rock. He grabbed a smaller rock, wedging it under the metal piece, effectively making himself a lever. “Uraraka! I’m going to try and lift the rock a bit. If you can, crawl out from under it when the pressure on your legs lessens!”

Uraraka watched the boy, a surprised, and somewhat perplexed look on her face. The brunette quickly recovered, “R-Right!” 

Izuku took a deep breath, not allowing himself to look up at the 0 Pointer he was sure was right next to them at this point. The boy pushes with all his might on the makeshift lever, pressing his body weight into the metal piece. Izuku scrunched his eyes closed, his entire focus centered around lifting the rock as much as he could.

Someone grabbing his arm snapped Izuku out of his focus. The boy allowed himself to be dragged when he recognized the person as Uraraka. The girl urgently pulled Izuku behind her, though the freckled boy could see a wince of pain flit across her face whenever a foot met with the ground.

Izuku didn’t have much time to think about that, much less act upon it, as the 0 Pointer’s massive appendage collided with the road right behind the pair, where they had been standing just moments prior. Izuku yelped as debris flew towards them, ducking in an attempt to dodge the flying bits of rock and metal. 

It took only a few long seconds for a horn to blare throughout the testing center, signaling the end of the exam. Uraraka immediately dropped to the ground at the sound, a distressed expression on her face as her body heaved with breaths. Izuku fights the urge to join the brunette on the ground, instead bracing his hands on his knees as his labored breathing echoed Uraraka’s. The two stayed like that for a few seconds, Izuku being the first to speak, “You alright?”

Uraraka huffed a small laugh, swiping a hand on her forehead, disrupting the hair plastered to her skin, “Yeah, I think so. My legs hurt like a fresh sunburn under hot water, but I’m sure I would’ve been worse off if you hadn’t helped.” Despite her tired state, Uraraka smiled up at Izuku, “Thanks, by the way.”

Embarrassed warmth crept through Izuku’s ears. The short boy rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, “Of course! I know it was just an exam, and you probably would’ve been fine, but I don’t know, I couldn’t just leave you there!” Izuku attempted to explain, an amused smile spreading on Uraraka’s face as he talked. Izuku lets out a small, awkward laugh, “Besides, you saved me from eating shit at the entrance, so, I guess we’re even now.”

Uraraka laughed, “You’re funny, Midoriya. I hope you make it, you’d make a great hero!”

Izuku stared at the girl for a little, then allowed a small smile on his face. “Thanks.”

Izuku stopped his resentment from showing.

I know.

Chapter Text

Izuku got in.

He knew he would, but that didn't stop his grin when he saw he had gotten the top score out of all the examinees.

He had gotten 34 villain points and 44 rescue points and ended up beating Bakugou by just one point. And oh boy, that felt good.

So there Izuku was, on a train headed to UA. He adjusted his hold on his backpack as he continued to scroll through the news. There wasn't really anything interesting except a few car crashes and a small robbery. Just as he was about to click on a link to an article about the robbery the loudspeaker on the train called out his stop.

He went down the steps of the train and headed out of the station toward his new school. From the subway it only took him about five minutes to arrive at the gates, as Izuku looked around, he could see the occasional student standing with their heads tilted upwards, mouths agape, staring at the towering building before them. Instead of following suit he continued trudging onward, everyone who had applied to this school already saw it once, Izuku just didn't see the point of standing there looking like a fish out of water.

Izuku walks up to the entrance, the door about three or four times his height and enters the school. After a while of wandering the school looking for the 1-A classroom, he decides to just follow the sound of yelling. As Izuku always says, where there's yelling, there's Bakugou Katsuki. 

As he approaches the door, about four times his height. Izuku whistles, damn are these doors huge, but I suppose they have to be like this to accommodate for people with mutant quirks that make them huge. Though the doors are pretty skinny. 

Izuku reached his hand out, grabbed the handle and turned it. As he opened the door the sound of yelling crescendoed and Izuku noticed that it wasn’t just Bakugou who was screaming, but a blue haired boy with glasses too. 

"How horrible! Putting your feet on this desk is disrespectful to the people who made this desk and the upperclassmen who have used it before you!" The boy with glasses reprimanded as he chopped his hands in front of his body, fast enough that Izuku thought he might actually cut through the air.

"Hah?" Bakugou said with his nose scrunched up in disgust, "I'm gonna destroy you, you piece of shit!"

The other boy gasped, "How dare you threaten me, that is very villain-like!" He took a deep breath, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Tenya Iida, and I am a graduate of Somei Academy!" Iida stuck out his hand as an attempt to shake Bakugou's hand.

So pretentious…

"Somei… so you're a damn elite, hah?" Bakugou's glare fiercened and he seethed, "I’m going to destroy you! Ya hear me?"

Iida gasped, "How dare you! First putting your feet on your desk and now threatening other students? How un-hero-like of you."

Bakugou rolled his eyes, they had landed on Izuku as he did. His face morphed into one of surprise, as if he didn’t believe Izuku could actually have made it into the school. Iida noticed that Bakugou’s attention was elsewhere now and turned to see where he was looking, he perked up when he saw Izuku and marched toward him, arms and legs stiff as he did, “My name is Tenya I-”

“I know,” Izuku interrupted, he didn’t want to hear that whole spiel again. “I heard you.”

Then the tall boy continued speaking, preaching about how apparently Izuku knew the ‘true reason behind the entrance exam’ or something. Izuku wasnt really listening, he didn't want to hear some hero-hopeful talk on and on about how heroic Izuku was. But Izuku had to admit, it was funny, especially when you considered just how wrong he was. 

Just as he was about to interrupt Iida a high pitched female voice spoke up, “Oh, it’s you! The plain looking boy (ouch) that saved me!” Izuku turned around to see the girl, Uraraka if he remembers correctly, a brunette with pink cheeks and pads on her fingers and with a blinding smile on her face, “I’m glad you were able to make it in, and we're in the same class too! I can't wait, this is going to be so fun! Oh wow, you look different! Since when did you have horns?”

“Uh… we-” Izuku froze as Uraraka squealed, she must’ve seen the guy who had been laying on the floor for about a minute by that point in time.

“If you're here to make friends, get out.”

As the man spoke Uraraka scurried to her seat as Izuku walked over to his seat, the seat right behind Bakugou Katsuki. Bakugou glared at him but Izuku chose to ignore it in favour of sitting down.

The homeless man then stood up and shedded out of his yellow sleeping bag of a cocoon; as he walked up to the whiteboard he grabbed a blue expo marker. He wrote ‘Aizawa’ on the board in surprisingly neat handwriting. Snapping the lid back onto the marker he pointed to the single word on the board with it, “My name is Aizawa Shouta and I will be your homeroom teacher.” Looks of disbelief crossed the students’ faces but their teacher paid no attention to their shocked faces and pulled out a PE uniform from underneath the podium, “You will all get changed into your PE uniforms and meet me at the field outside of Gym Gamma. There will be lockers in the changing rooms that will have your name on them, if you do not find a PE outfit in there or it doesn't fit, go bother Nezu about it. Don’t complain to me.”

Class 1-A watched in a mix of confusion and shock as their teacher walked out of the classroom, tossing the PE uniform he was holding over his shoulder and onto the floor. The door slammed shut, knocking Izuku’s peers out of their stupor and they all rushed to get out of the room. Izuku watched as everyone clambered their way out of the classroom and into the hall, not wanting to get stuck in the jumbled mess of people he waited for everyone to get out of the doorway before following them all to the locker rooms.

Izuku stood near the field for about 5 minutes before anyone else arrived, except for the teacher and Iida; Iida being there didn't really surprise Izuku, he seemed like a stickler for being early to everything. Iida asked him about things like what he thought about their other classmates or things like that, but Izuku only half-heartedly answered his questions, uninterested in talking to the boy who spoke like AI.

When all the students arrived, saving Izuku from Iida's pestering, Aizawa announced what they would be doing, “You all will be doing a quirk apprehension test; like what you did in middle school but with the ability to use your quirks.” 

Cheers broke out among the crowd, Izuku groaning on the inside. Of course they'd do quirk assessments the day his quirk was the least useful. Aries, while not useless in a combat situation, is pretty useless for something like a quirk assessment. As he was thinking the pink girl's voice rose above the rest, “This is going to be so fun!”

As soon as the words left her mouth Aizawa's eyes turned red and Izuku felt a part of him disappear. The class fell silent, and something clicked in Izuku. “Fun?” Aizawa glares, “Well then, I suppose whoever gets the lowest score is getting expelled.” Izuku's classmates gasped but Izuku was busy thinking. The red eyes, the feeling as if something was missing, the scarf. How did he not see it before?

“Erasurehead…”

Aizawa's eyes darted to Izuku when he said this, “Didn't expect anyone here to know who I was… but yes, I'm the underground hero, Erasurehead.” A few gasps ran through the class as if they weren't expecting someone who looked like him to be a hero, which was fair. “Regardless, it doesn't matter athe the moment.” He tossed a ball to Izuku and gestured to a white circle on the ground, “You got first in the entrance exam, so use your quirk to throw this ball as far as you can.”

Izuku cursed inwardly. He figured Aizawa would have to know about how his quirk works, it was all on his student file, so why did it have to be him to go up, of all people? He groaned as he walked up to the circle, the gears in his head turned. Putting his hand to his face he bit down, blood pooling on his fingertips. Gold circled his ram horns in thick strings, thinner gold threads forming around the bite marks. Before the threads could fully stitch the skin up Izuku put the ball in the injured hand and threw the ball, he used his uninjured hand to cut the threads, the gold stands released a tiny blast as they broke. 

He heard his classmates gasp slightly as they witnessed his display. The ball flew a decent amount, splatters of blood behind it. Izuku shook his hands out, glancing at the hand he bit. It wasn't terrible but it certainly wasn't ideal. The original bite marks were significantly wider and the area looked burnt a little, no more gold forming to fix the wound. Just a side effect of breaking the strings. 

Izuku grinned at Aizawa who, frankly, looked exhausted as he held up a device in his hand. 57.8 meters. Decently above average. Good enough to beat some of his competition, like the invisible girl and the guy with purple balls on his head. People who had quirks that likely wouldn't help them much either.

Aizawa went on a spiel about using the most of your quirk, saying how thinking outside of the box was before he turned to Izuku, “but hurting yourself is no way to solve your problems.” He gave Izuku a reprimanding look, a look that made Izuku feel like a kid who just broke a very expensive china set that was passed down for generations. He rubbed his hand against his neck sheepishly “Haha… oops?”

Aizawa rolled his eyes, “Just don't hurt yourself on purpose again.” He turned back to the class, getting out another ball, “Now, Katsuki Bakugou, your turn.”

Izuku walked back to the class, going past Bakugou who glared at him, resentment full in his eyes. 

“See you after school… Deku.”

Izuku shuddered a bit, the hatred in Katsuki's voice clear. Gosh… he hated how Bakugou made him feel. Sure, Izuku could beat him up on a good month, but now? No way. Izuku joined the class, ready for the day to be over.

After what seemed like thousands of tests, they were finally done. Izuku had calculated where he should be and he placed himself at least above the invisible girl. Honestly, he felt kind of bad for her. With her quirk she didn't stand a chance.

“Here are your results,” Aizawa announced with little bravado, the scores appearing in a hologram in front of them. He started from the bottom. It didn’t take him long to find his name, he was 18th, above Hagakure and Mineta. The two he figured wouldn't do well from the beginning. Hagakure looked as distressed as an invisible person could look until Aizawa grinned a shit eating grin, “No one's getting expelled. It was purely a logical ruse to get you all to try your best.”

The girls, and a few guys, cheered at the news, more people joining in on the cheering when Aizawa announced class would be dismissed for the day. They all got their gym clothes off and headed back to the room, grabbing their things and leaving. Izuku glanced at the cheerful crowd, his eyes landing on Katsuki who was glaring right back. He turned as Izuku's eyes landed on him and Izuku followed right behind.

God. He really hated school.