Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mom always said that my birth was strange. That when I came out, I was only an emerald gem. She told me that everyone was confused. But a few minutes later, my gem glowed and I formed around it. From then on, I was her little precious gem.

The doctor's found out that my 'body' was just a hard light construct. That my actual consciousness was in the gem embedded in the center of my chest.

As a kid, I was bullied a lot, because it was a useless and girly quirk. My best friend Kacchan became one of my biggest tormenters after he got his quirk at the age of 4. Though he never said it was girly, he always called it and me worthless and useless.

I was always told that I had no chance at becoming a hero.

When I turned 6 was the first time I poofed.

"Do not fear. Why? Cause I am here!" Izuku ran around fighting pretend villains in his new All Might pajamas.

Inko was pretending to be a damsel in destress like she had done so many times before.

But this time was different...

"I will save you citizen!" He jumped off the couch imagining he was flying. He stumbled as he landed, having mistimed the jump. As Izuku fell, he heard his mother scream before there was a sharp pain on his head.

"Izuku!"

Bang

...

Poof

"Izuku!"

She took my gem to a quirk doctor soon after, seeing as there was no body for a hospital to heal. After Mom was told I was fine and that my body just had to reform she took me home and placed my gem in a basket lined with blankets.

It took my body a week to reform.

Mom made herself sick with stress.

After the next 3 poofs, she stopped bringing my gem to the doctors. And after 2 more after that, the basket became my gem basket permanently. It sits on my nightstand, ready to be used when I poof.

Even though I can't die, everyone still says I can't be a hero.

I decided I would prove them wrong.

I started analyzing heros and their quirks.

Some of my favorites include All Might (of course), Present Mic (I listen to his radio show every morning), and the ever elusive Eraserhead (he's an underground hero, not much is known of him).

Though for some reason, I feel like I should really hate the #2 hero Endeavor. I don't know why. Maybe we'll find out in a later story arc.

I wish I had a quirk like All Might. It would make my life so much better.

Little did I know, I wasn't too far off.

Chapter Text

All men are not created equal.

"That's mean Kacchan! You're making him cry! I won't let you hurt him anymore!"

I learned that at the age of 4.

"Pretending to be a 'hero', Deku!? You don't even have a useful quirk!"

That was my first and last setback.

Izuku ran down the street towards the train bridge a villian was on. The villian was big and looked like a bipedal shark. Izuku just knew heros would be here soon to save the day.

"Wow! That's a huge villain!"

He was right. Death Arms and Backdraft were soon on the scene. One catching falling debris that probably weighted more than several hundred pounds; the other ensuring the safety of the crowd that had formed to watch.

It all began a long time ago in the city of Qing Qing, China. News of a baby that radiated light being born had spread. Soon, similar cases were popping up all around the world.

There was never an answer for why this was happening. But it was. The 'unusual' became the 'normal', and 'dreams' became 'reality'!

Of the planets population, about 80% developed unique abilities called 'Quirks'! We have entered a new age: A society of superhumans.

And in this world whirling in chaos... A new profession, that people only thought possible in comics, has been brought into play...

HEROS

"Go awaaay!!!" The shark man yelled at the newest arrival, Kamui Woods.

"What happened?" A bystander asked another.

"An amateur, stole a purse and got himself cornered."

"A quirk like that and he's just a petty purse snatcher?"

Another civilian was on his phone, "I'm sorry boss... A villain appeared and smashed the train... I don't know when I can get into work..."

Closest to the fight were fan girls, "YEAH! GO GET 'IM KAMUI!!!"

Kamui does a subtle pose, "Asult and battery, robbery, and unlawful use of quirks during rush hour traffic! You are the incarnation of evil!"

Izuku promptly starts to fanboy. "It's Kamui Woods! So this is the new hero rising star! He's a capture hero with that signature move of his. Popular with women and children alike. He'll be in the top 50 in no time." At this point he started to mumble a little while absentmindedly digging through his bag for his hero analysis notebook.

"Hehe, I know what you are kid... You're a fanboy aren't you!?" A man with crosses sticking out of his bald head asked Izuku.

A dark green blush appeared on his already green tinted skin. "O-oh, umm, h-hehe."

He was saved from having to answer by Kamui speaking. "Now it is time to take you to the proper authorities!"

"Show us what you got, tree guy!" The man next to Izuku yelled.

"Ah! Here it comes! His ultimate move! PREEMPTIVE..." Izuku started

"BINDING..." Kamui continued

"LACQUERED CHAIN PRISON!" They both yelled as the hero started to preform the maneuver.

...

Which was stopped when a giant woman (wink wink) jump kicked the villain.

"CANYON CANNON!"

"This villain is great for my debut! My name is Mount Lady and you can leave the rest to me." The newly dubbed Mount Lady said

That seemed to knock everyone out of their shock. Photographers and reports started filing in rows. "Money shot. Money shot. Money shot." It was honestly a little creepy.

"She's getting all the credit?" Kamui looked defeated, on his knees with his head hung.

The appearance of quirks was quickly followed by an increase in crime. And while nations busied themselves with making new laws to compensate for quirks, men and women everywhere took inspiration from comics and donned the mantle of heros.

They began to patrol the streets of this new world and defend Innocents from evil. And suddenly with the swell of public opinion, heroism gained rights as an official occupation!

And due to their various acts of greatness, they obtained income from the state and renown from the people!

"Gigantification, huh... Well, she sure has the quirk and attitude to be popular, but there's a bigger chance for property damage and would need more room to fight. Of course that's a moot point if she can control her size." Izuku mumbled while he flipped to a new page in his notebook and started drawing the debuting hero.

The cross head guy noticed, "You taking notes!? Aiming to be a hero huh? I'm sure you'll be a great one!"

Izuku's smile was as bright and pure as the sun. " Yes sir! I'll do my best!"

Izuku's fine day took a turn later when his teacher started talking about their future.

"Listen up! You're in your last year of middle school! It's time you started thinking seriously about what you want to do with your life!"

Izuku already knew this would be bad. He kept his head down and hoped attention didn't get drawn to him.

"I'm supposed to be handing out forms on your desired course in life!"

Oh no, the teacher never missed a chance to have a bit of fun, usually ending up with Izuku being made fun of.

"But why bother? You all want to be heros, don't you?" Immediatly all the students erupted into cheers using there quirks to be louder or bigger to get attention. "Yes, yes, your quirks are all wonderful, but it's against the rules to use them during school!"

Then a voice shot out from the middle of the classroom. One that filled Izuku with dread. "Sensei! Don't lump me in with those nobody's! You can't compare me to these losers' weak-ass quirks! Mine is much more fit for a hero!"

The class obviously took offense, "you've got a big mouth, Katsuki! You're not that much better than us!"

"Don't kid yourselves, you damn extras!"

The teacher then butted in, "Oh yeah, Bakugou's aiming for UA High, isn't he?"

Whispers were heard throughout the room. "You mean that national level academy?" "It's it's entrance exam difficulty rating supper high?" "Yeah, and it's hyper-competitive."

Katsuki stood up on his desk. "I aced the mock test, and with my quirk I'll definitely get in! I'll be the only one in this school to get in! And I'll surpass even All Might!" He yelled with a smug look on his face.

"Now that you mention it, didn't Midoriya want to go to UA as well?" Bakugou seemed to freeze, while Izuku flinched. He knew what was to come.

Silence...

Then laughter.

"Midoriya!?" "There's no way!" "You can't get into heroics with studying and good grades alone!"

Izuku's skin was becoming a paler green by the second. Still, he felt the need to defend himself. "I can do it! I may not have a flashy quirk, but I can still do it!"

Boom!

"Eat shit Deku!" You can probably guess who said that. Izuku fell back from his desk and started scooting back until he hit a wall. "Forget having a weak quirk, you have a useless one! So where do you get off putting yourself on the same level as me!?"

He was trapped. He had put in a huge effort to not poof in school, to not let anyone know what he could do, and he didn't want all that work ruined now. He had to defuse the situation. "H-hold on... That's not it... Hold on, Kacchan... I-its not like I'm trying to compete with you! Never! It's just... I've wanted to be a hero since I was a kid and... And... You never know till you try..."

"YOU NEVER KNOW TILL YOU TRY!!? YOU'D BE A WORTHLESS HERO!!! WHAT CAN A SHITTY NERD LIKE YOU ACCOMPLISH!?"

So, defusing the situation didn't work...

12:02pm in that very city

A gelatinous murky glob raced down the street as screams were heard.

"Stop him!" "Robber!" "Who is that!?"

The villain ran into several thing in his way but he seemed to just flow around them like water. Nothing slowed him down. "Go on, try and catch me! You can't even touch me!!"

A tall skinny sickly looking man exited a grocery store only to face the villainous act going on.

"Don't worry. I'm sure a hero's on their way." One crowd member started. "He's probably taking advantage of the commotion from earlier today. Guess some people are just plain evil."

The skinny man started to inflate to look like a form very familiar to most.

"There's no end to them!" Another said

"Yes, there is. You know why? For I am here!!" There was a broad ever present smile on his face.

After the final bell at the school

As everyone left the classroom making after school plans, Izuku was scrolling through his phone looking at news reports on the incident that morning. 'Today's fight was really popular. There's so much here I can make notes on. I better hurry home so I can get on that.'

As he picked his notebook up to put it away, it was swiped from his hand. "Ah!"

"We're not done yet, Deku!" Bakugou had a nasty look on his face. Izuku felt like this 'conversation' was going to end badly.

Bakugou's lackies came up. "What's that, Katsuki?" Fingers asked.

"Hero Analysis For The Future... Haha, seriously? There's no point Midorya!!" Wings added.

"Please! Give it back! It's mine!" Izuku's pleas went unheard. Katsuki held his notebook in one hand and raised the other. He could almost feel his heart shattering knowing what would happen next.

Boom!

As he thought, Bakugou punched the notebook causing an explosion that engulfed his precious notes. "Aaaaaah!!!" Luckily the book seemed intact. It would take a bit of rewriting considering it was literally smoking. "You...!"

"You know what all the top heros have in common? Everyone knew they were destined for greatness from the start!" Bakugou threw the notebook out the window. Yup, that definitely take some rewriting. Especially if it managed to land in the koi pond. "The same can't be said for you!" He got up close to Izuku's face putting a hand on his shoulder, burning it slightly. "What I'm saying is, forget about UA, nerd.

Izuku trembled as Katsuki let go and started walking to the door.

"Oh man... After so long, he still hasn't grown a backbone." Wings said looking back.

"Even as a senior in middle school, he still can't face reality." Fingers concluded

Bakugou stopped walking to look back at him. "Hey Deku! If you really want to be a hero so bad, there might actually be a way... Believe you get a good quirk in your next life... And take a swan dive off the roof!!"

Izuku looked at him with a strange mix of scared and furious on his face. Katsuki set off an explosion in his hand. Izuku went stiff looking at the floor and waited as they laughed and left the room.

Chapter Text

Izuku left the building to try and find his notebook. 'You dumbass, you can't just tell people to go and do that... What if I actually had jumped? You'd get in so much trouble... Though, I guess not, since it's not like I'd really die from it... Huh, looks like I really guessed it with the koi pond.'

"Go away, you dumb fish. That isn't food."

I used to be obsessed with this one video. It was old footage of a huge disaster... And an amazing hero's debut.

"Ha ha ha! Never fear! Why!? FOR I AM HERE!"

"He's soooo cool!! When I get my quirk, I wanna be just like him!!"

Coincidentally, I got my quirk the next day.

"You should just give up, you stupid Deku! There's no way you can be a hero with that useless quirk!"

And that night, after ruthless bullying by my classmates, I sat in front of the computer watching that old video crying.

"Mommy? He always saves everyone with a smile... Cuz he's a super awesome hero. Do you think I can be a hero like him? Even if other people say I can't?"

"Oh Izuku! I know you can! You'll be the best hero ever!"

After that, I decided to prove the world wrong. That you can be a hero with a useless quirk.

On Izuku's walk home, he happened to enter a small tunnel under a bridge. 'Man this would really be bad if a villain appeared.'

A villain appeared.

'Why does the universe hate me? I was just trying to be funny!'

The slime monster's eye's turned towards him. "Well, what do we have here? A medium sized flesh suit... You should do nicely."

"Wha- hmp!" The villain wrapped around Izuku and started stuffing smile in his mouth and nose. Luckily though, it didn't enter any other places.

The sludge started speaking with his grotesque mouth. "Don't worry kid. It will only hurt for 45 seconds... Then, it'll all be over. Heh, you're my hero kid!" Izuku tried to grab hold of anything he could reach, but couldn't grip anything, the villains body just slipped through his fingers. "You can't grab me! My body is fluid!"

'Can't breathe!! I'm dying! Am I dying? Somebody please! Help!! Why me...' soon he felt the familiar sensation of poofing. 'Thank goodness! So this won't kill me! At least this guy won't get my bod- IS THAT ALL MIGHT?'

POOF

"TEXAS... SMASH!"

Toshinori couldn't believe what just happened. He defeated and captured the villain in soda bottles, but the kid that was being suffocated just disappeared. All that was left of him was an emerald laying on the ground.

"Damn! I was too late! And that kid payed the price! Damn... This is always the worst part of the job... I better call Tsukauchi." All Might looked on in despair. It wasn't often, but civilian casualties that they couldn't save were a part of every hero's life. It had cauesed many new hero's to quit much too soon in their careers.

Just as he had gotten his phone out to make the call, the gemstone started to glow and rise from the ground. The glow formed humanoid shapes, going through several before stopping. The light then got more pigmented until the form was as colorful as it was when it was wrapped in the villains clutches.

The boy was alive.

What the fuck?

Whatever, the boy was alive and that's all that matters.

"ALL MIGHT! Oh gosh! It is you! I thought I saw you before I poofed, so I reformed as fast as possible!" Izuku started mumbling, almost forgetting what had just happened. "That was the fasted I've ever done it too. You're probably wondering how I did that. You see, my body is a hard light construct that has the anatomy of a normal human, so anything that would be fatal for a human just makes me enter my gem to heal and mumble mumble mumble mumble-"

'Okay' Toshinori thought. 'So that gave me some pretty good info on what just happened but now he's too quiet for me to hear.'

"Thank you for explaining that to me, but I really must go now." All Might said.

"Wha-? Wait! I have a question to ask you!" Izuku shot up to a standing position. His question was really important.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have time for questions!" All Might stretched, getting ready for take off.

"Really? You can't stay?"

"Pros must battle against villains and time itself."

'Wait... I need to ask...'

"Now then, be sure to keep... CHEERING ME ON!" All Might shot off like a rocket into the sky. It wasn't until they we're already in the air that he realized he had an unexpected passenger. " Ehh!? Kid!? What the! Let go! There's such a thing as too much enthusiasm!"

"I-if I let g-go now... I'll fall!"

"Oh, you're right!"

"I really need to ask you something! It's important!"

"Okay, okay! Just close your eyes and mouth!" Izuku did just that and waited for them to land. What he didn't see was All Might cough and wipe blood from the corner of his mouth. 'Shit!'

After a minute, All Might landed the pair on what looked like an apartment building.

"My whole life flashed before my eyes..." Izuku squeaked

"That was very dangerous! You could have gotten hurt!" All Might sighed. He didn't have time for this. "Listen... I really have to go now, so I want you to get home an relax after the day you had."

"Wait! Please!" Izuku yelled

"I can't!" All Might was a bit frustrated at the boy for not understanding.

"Can someone with a useless quirk be a hero!?... Can someone with a useless quirk... Be like you!?" Finally... Izuku finally got to ask his question.

All Might stopped. "Useless?" He muttered in confusion. He then grunted as his time finally ran out. 'Damn... It's too soon... Damn it!...' Lucky for him, the boy across the roof didn't seem to notice as steam plumed around them.

"Everyone makes fun of me for my useless quirk... I can't really do anything, but I want to be a hero... I don't really know why, I just want to save people. To be the best person I can be... I want to save people with a fearless smile! I want to be a pro hero!... Just like you!" Izuku finally looked up from his rant...

To see a skeletal, unhealthy looking man who's only similarity to All Might was the blonde hair.

... "Aaaaaah!!! Whaaaaaa!?!? Buuuuuu!?... You shriveled up!!! Eh!? You mean? All this time... Wha!? You're an imposter!!!" Izuku.exe stopped working.

Toshinori did not looked amused. "I can assure you I am All might." As he said that blood started to spray from his mouth.

"Eeek! It can't beee!!!" Izuku was simultaneously scared to see and grossed out by the blood.

Toshinori desided to put it in simpler terms. "You know those guys at the pool who are always flexing to look buff? It's like that."

"That kinda sounds like the opposite of truth!"

Chapter Text

Izuku walked down the stairs from the roof of the building feeling a little downtrodden. 'If All Might was injured like that, the how would I fight villians with my stupid quirk?' He thought.

He then remembered what All Might said less then 5 minutes ago.

"... And for the record, I don't think your quirk is useless. From what I observed, you can recover from career and life threatening injuries without a scratch. Many pros would be jealous of that." He touched his side for emphasis

All Might heaved a sigh. "Look kid... I'd prefer it if you choose a safer career, maybe a cop or something... but if you're so determined to be a pro hero, you'll need some major strength and combat training. It will be hard, and giving it you're all won't be enough, so you'll have to give 110% at all times!"

"If you do this... You can be a hero!"

All Might left after saying that and it had taken him a few minutes so get himself together, even as he walked he was still wiping tears.

As he made it outside a huge explosion went off. The smoke didn't look to far away, so after a few seconds of contemplating, Izuku took off running.

'No way! Him!? How!? All Might caught him though! How could he have escap-

"Ehh!? Kid!? What the! Let go! There's such a thing as too much enthusiasm!"

"I-if I let g-go now... I'll fall!"

'He must have fell out of All Pocket... It's all my fault!' Izuku squeezed in between people to get a better view of what was going on.

As he neared the front, he thought about the pain of being suffocated and hoped no one was going through that. But as he looked up...

'Kacchan!?' Katsuki suddenly looked at him and he saw pain and fear in his eyes.

He didn't think. He ran. He ran towards the villain that captured his friend. Izuku vaguely heard the pros call for him, but he didn't care. He pulled off his backpack and threw it at the slime blob, hoping for a distraction at least.

He got more than he hoped for when his pencil case hit it in the eye. When Izuku made it to Katsuki he tried to scoop the slime off, to do anything that would free his friend... But it was no use.

"Deku!? What are you doing!?" Bakugou yelled

"You looked like you needed help!" Izuku said as tears welled up in his eyes.

Just as the villain was about to hit him, All Might was there. And after a Detroit Smash, it was all over.

Izuku was in shock at what occurred. He heard the pros scold him for being reckless and praise Kacchan for having such a good quirk.

Though the real fun started on his walk back home.

Chapter Text

“Deku!”

Izuku turned around to see Bakugou stomping towards him.

“I never asked for your help! I didn’t ask for anyone to save me. Especially some little worthless rodent like you! I was doing fine on my own!” Katsuki sneered, glared down his nose before turning and walking away.

Izuku continues his walk home thinking about his actions. ‘He’s right though. I didn’t do anything. That’s ok, because now I will definitely work on my strength to become a better hero!’...

… And All Might was suddenly in front of him. “I AM HERE! GIVING THOSE REPORTERS THE SLIP WAS EASY AS PIE FOR ME, ALL MIG-” He spewed out blood turning back into his true form. “Kid, if you’re willing to listen, I have a few things to talk to you about.”

Izuku got home much later than usual that day. “Izuku, honey, I saw the news! Are you ok? Did you poof? Do I need to call your doctor!?” Mamadoriya was always like this. After the first time he poofed, she became even more worried and overprotective. She thought that if someone knew Izuku’s quirk, that they’d try to steal his gem while he was incapacitated. She made sure that no one knew the true nature of his quirk except them, the doctor that evaluated his quirk and his personal doctor, who was someone they knew they could trust.

“I’m okay Mom… Actually… I have some stuff to tell you.”

“WHY ARE YOU SITTING ON THE FRIDGE!? YOU JUST TOLD ME TO PULL IT TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE! HOW CAN I DO THAT IF YOU'RE SITTING ON IT!?”

“Because you aren’t a good vessel yet, my boy!”

“YOU SAID I WAS YESTERDAY!”

All Might hopped off the fridge and walked towards Izuku. “It’s your body! Think, all that strength in a body that doesn’t have the muscle to hold it. Your limbs would be blown off!”

“Ahh!” Izuku paled and looked around. “And in order to build up the strength to hold One For All I’m… Cleaning up trash?”

All Might sighed and put his hand on the top of the fridge. “I used to come here all the time. Now it’s a dump… As you move the trash, the different items of different shapes work different muscle groups. So to get the sufficient muscle mass…” He started pushing the top of the fridge down. “YOU WILL RESURRECT THIS BEACH’S HORIZON!”

Beautiful…

There was no other way to describe it…

Izuku decided then that, yes, he would in fact bring back this view.

“I'll definitely clean this beach! And you are right, this is a good workout to build strength and mass. Wait, do I even need the strength or just the mass? Does the strength make it so One For All works or do I just need the muscle mass to contain it? Even so, that doesn’t really affect me since I would just go into my gem and regenerate… mumble… mumble…”

All Might rubbed the back of his head with an uncomfortable look on his face. “Well kid, you got me… I think it’s just the muscle mass that’s technically necessary, but you need to build up strength to get mass.”

Izuku looked at All Might, then at the ground, then back at All Might, then looked down at his gem with a thoughtful expression. He stood up, “I’ll be right back.” He stepped over the crushed fridge and got to his knees in the sea water.

Toshinori had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

Izuku belly flopped. Face down in the water and took a big breath in, inhaling as much salt water as possible. He then poofed.

All Might understandably freaked out. rushing to the water and flailing to find the emerald, lest it be lost to the sea. He fortunately found it before anything bad happened. He made his way onto the sand and rested against the stone wall that separated the road from the beach. After a quick look around, finding no one, All Might deflated.

Toshi looked at the gem resting in his hands. “What am I going to do with you?”

After about 2 and a half hours, Izuku finally reformed. After the scolding of a lifetime about not thinking things through and almost giving an old man a heart attack (“You’re not old, All Might.”), Toshi got a good look at Izuku.

“Where did all this muscle come from!?” He grabbed Izuku’s shoulders and spun him around a few times. He then poked Midoriya’s bicep hesitantly, as if expecting it to pop like a balloon.

Izuku beamed, “That’s why I did that! See, when I retreat to my gem, I have the option to choose what I look like when come out! But, it takes a lot of time and concentration, so I usually just let my body do it’s own thing. After calculating the mass I would need to have and figuring out a way to make it look natural, I poofed myself. Now , while I don’t actually have anymore strength than normal, I have a body that can contain your quirk. This way we can spend more time teaching me to use One For All, rather than making my strong enough to contain it.”

He had this look on his face; puppy dog eyes that were basically asking ‘Did I do good? Are you proud of me?’

All Might rubbed his hands down his face with a sigh. “While I’m glad that you were smart enough to find a way to make your training better… PLEASE TELL ME BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO DROWN YOURSELF! YOU SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH!”

“As for your new body, yes, I now believe it is suitable to house this quirk. Now listen up! There is a difference between pure luck and something you earn out of work, determination and willpower. So be prepared, for I may be giving you One For All now, that does not mean you won’t be working your ass off for the next 10 months to have rightfully earned it.” All Might reached up and plucked a single hair from his head. “With that being said, EAT THIS!” he shoved the hair right in Izuku’s face.

A hair... Izuku was just told to eat a hair…

“Hell no.” Izu said is such a deadpanned voice that Toshinori face faultered.

“What!? You need to take in some of my DNA for me to pass on One For All! So you have to eat the hair!”

“No way in hell. If all I need is your DNA then spit in my water, I’ll drink from a straw you already drank from, I’ll even drink some of your blood, but I will not eat a hair.”

All Might was seriously deciding if having a successor was worth the headache this kid would bring. (He knew he was already attached to the boy though.) “Fine, give me your water bottle.”

It was still kinda gross, but it was a lot better than eating a damned hair in Izuku’s opinion.

“Now, you said that with your new muscle, you don’t actually have the strength to back it up, so for now we will work on that. I have set up a training plan made specifically for you. we’ll have to tweek it a bit considering today's events, but I expect you to stick to it exactly as it’s written from now on.” All Might pulled out a stack of papers with the words ‘Aim To Pass! American Dream Plan!’ written on it.

The next 6 months were brutal, but Izuku would not take this opportunity for granted. He stuck with it. Through the rigorous training, the small batch of overworking he had done to himself, even the several poofs from unexpected falling garbage mounds. He stuck with it through it all.

The only thing was… One For All never showed itself. They had tried everything. Trying to do a Smash didn’t work. Meditating to try to call upon the power didn’t work. Eventually Izuku forced himself to eat the hair to see if that was the reason it didn’t work. It wasn’t.

At some point they decided to sit down and brainstorm about what could possibly be preventing the quirk from working for Izuku. After an hour of nothing productive All Might thought it was about time to say something, before Izuku had a panic attack from thinking himself unworthy.

“My boy, it’s time to think that maybe One For All isn’t working for you because of the quirk you already possess. Your body isn’t physical, so it may not take to this new quirk we’re trying to force on it. But do not fear! For even if this doesn’t work out, I am proud to be your mentor, and will continue being so no matter what. I’m sure you’ll be a great hero! I mean, just look at the progress you've made!” As emphasis, Toshinori knocked his fist against a pile of trash to show that Izuku was more than halfway done cleaning the beach.

Just then the aforementioned pile of trash groaned and shook. Then items near the top fell off right above Toshi, who had already used all 3 hours of is buff form.

“ALL MIGHT!”

There was a flash of green

Chapter Text

There was a green light.

A big green shield suddenly materialized above the two. It had 2 circles cut out of the sides and in the middle it had an emerald just like the one on Izuku's chest. All throughout it had an intricate design etched into it.

All Might and his successor could only stare at trash hit the curved surface before sliding off. The shield soon flickered before disappearing completely.

“I didn't know you could do that, my boy!” Toshinori said, looking at the boy next to him.

Izuku promptly went off on a tangent. “What was that!? I've never done that before! How did that happen!? Could I do that this whole time!? Why did that only happen now!? That's so not cool!”

All Might looked shocked. “Never!?... Hm… !... This is… It has to be… One For All! It didn’t give you powers like it did for all the past users. It must be because of the quirk you already possess!” He got into a thinking pose. “Okay. From now till the UA entrance exam we will be changing your training! It would be dangerous for you to not know the full extent of your quirk, so we will put off cleaning the rest of the beach until you know what you can do with it.”

Thus was the start of Izuku’s training from hell 2.0.

The first week was spent trying to make the shield again. It took a while to figure out that it was connected to Izuku’s want to protect and save people. But after that realization, it became very easy for him to focus on that feeling.

After being able to consistently create the shield was the process of making it last more than a few seconds. It took a few weeks, but he got it eventually.

Then Toshinori decided that it wasn’t enough until his shield could withstand a smash. That was a fun month full of pain, blood, being flung into the ocean, poofing, and running away from civilians who thought they heard All Might’s voice coming from the trash beach.

Yeah, Izuku’s doctor was not happy that month.

Next came changing the size of the shield to fit all kinds of situations. That was a nice reprieve from all the chaos of taking All Might’s punches. It was also surprisingly easy, so that reprieve didn't last long.

The hardest part was changing the base shape of the shield. It took a lot of concentration, and the results, more often than not, ended up with impractical and strange shapes. Though Izuku is now able to make his shield into a triangle, square and a long but thin oval.

After all that, Izuku thought he was done, so he showed up ready to finally get back to cleaning the beach. Therefore it was a surprise that when he reached the sand, the Pro Hero Sergeant U.S. was standing in front of him.

Sergeant U.S. is an American Pro. His quirk is magnetism and his weapon is a circular metal shield that he can control. He is known for his patriotic attitude, American color scheme, and the stars and stripes on his suit.

You can imagine Izuku’s panic when the pro suddenly flung his weapon at him. He threw himself to the side bearily evading the attack and yelled out to Toshi, who was standing not to far away for help.

“No can do my boy! I called Sergeant U.S. in to teach you how to use a shield for combat. It’s one thing to block attacks, but you will never be able to take down a villain if that’s all you can do! Now pull out your shield and fight. I know you learn better through experience!”

And thus began training from hell 3.0.

And if Izuku’s doctor was mad before, she was downright pissed this time. And his poof record was broken with more poofs in the first week than his entire life.

But if there was one thing he took away from training with Sergeant U.S., it was ‘If they hurt you, hurt them back. If they kill you, walk it off.’

All that left him with just enough time to clear the beach just before the entrance exam.

Soon enough Izuku stood at the gates of UA wishing All Might had given him more advice than just ‘Good luck!’.

But considering he tripped as soon as he got in the courtyard, he figured today would have the exact opposite in the luck department.

‘Guess I’ll poof then…’ Izuku thought as his inevitable hug with the floor drew closer.

He felt something touch his back, and suddenly he was floating. A cute girl then helps him turn rightside up, “Are you okay? Sorry for using my quirk on you, it’d be a bad omen if you had tripped.” She went running inside saying she didn’t want to be late for the exam.

“Get out of my way, Deku!” Bakugou roared, stalking past.

“Oh, Kacchan! G-good m-morning!” Izuku stuttered. Katsuki didn’t do anything else and just headed in the doors.

Less than 10 minutes later, everyone taking the test was gathered and seated to do the written portion and be told the directions for the practical exam.

The written test was easier than Izuku expected, but he still wrote the questions and answers on a blank paper so he could take it home and see if he passed that part immediately. Now everyone was getting the rundown of the rules of the physical aspect by the pro hero Present Mic.

Izu started muttering immediately. “So we’re fighting robots. Thinking like a video game, the one pointers would be Gompas, the two pointers would be Kappa Troopers, and the three pointers would be Mallet Boys… And assuming the passing score is around 40 (No clue it that’s right) then the best course of action would be to destroy any robots I see. Hm, but there is a fourth robot on the handout that says that it’s zero points… Maybe a boss like Bewser, or a stage obstacle like a Thwack… it might be best to stay away and look for other poin-”

“-AND YOU! YOU’VE BEEN MUTTERRING THIS WHOLE TIME AND DISTRACTING THE OTHER STUDENTS! PLEASE SHOW SOME RESPECT!”

“AHH!” Izuku flinched at being called out like that. The terrifying blue haired boy’s words prompted people to start giggling and Katsuki, who he just noticed was sitting next to him, scoffed. “Sorry!”

Present Mic took the interruption in stride. “Thanks for the segue examinee number 7111!”

‘So it is like a Thwack..’ Izuku thought after the pro explained that the fourth robot was worth zero points and that it was better to avoid and go after targets that get you points.

“Now everybody do your best, PLUS ULTRA!” With that, everyone loaded onto the buses towards their designated fake city.

Izuku was nervous as he stood at the walls of the pseudo city. Looking at the others, he tried to analyze the quirks he could see to calm him down. He saw a guy with six arms, a blonde with a metal belt around his stomach, and…

The girl that helped him earlier!

‘She’s here too! I should thank her for catching me.’ Izuku thought as he started making his way over. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. Looking at the person attached to the hand he saw the scary dude who called him out earlier.

“That girl appears to be concentrating! You should leave her be and not obstruct her like you were planning!”

“No, no! I wasn’t… I’m not…” Izu felt the eyes of almost everyone on them. ‘Why do I feel like everyone’s already counting me out?’

“AND START!” Present Mic’s voice sounded through the loud speaker, dumbfounding everyone. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? THERE’S NO COUNTDOWN IN A REAL FIGHT!”

Izuku turned around and saw everyone already making a run towards the gate. He started running as fast as he could, thinking up a strategy along the way. ‘That’s no good, I won’t get any points, if everyone’s already defeated them all… Everyone is likely to congregate in the middle of the city because that’s where all the bots will probably be… But if I head around towards the back and brake every bot that I encounter, then I might be able to get enough points with minimal interference from others.’

With that in mind, he took a slightly different path than most of the others. It wasn’t long before a one point robot ended up in front of him. It’s surprise appearance shocked him still as it headed towards him. A bright blue laser shot it down before it could hit him though.

Turning he saw the Blonde teen from the gate. “Merci! We make a good team with you as my decoy! But I would not count on our paths crossing again! Adieu!” He exclaimed before shooting off.

‘Damn, I can’t freeze up like that again!’ Izuku shouted in his head. He continued looking for robots after that.

His plan may have been a mistake. He didn’t run into nearly as many robots as he thought he would. The one’s he did run into though, were easy to deal with. All he had to do was either throw a shield to cut them in half, or deflect the blasts back at them like he did the Guardian lasers in Breath of the Wilderness (A Legend of Tetra game he likes to play on the Swap.)

After getting 7 points he came upon a fellow competitor in trouble. The belly button laser kid that destroyed that first one pointer was kneeling down clutching his stomach surrounded by 3 one pointers.

Izuku lept into action. Materializing a shield he threw it at a robot, destroying it and ricocheted to hit destroy another. He then got in front of the teen and made another shield in time to hit a beam back at the last bot mangling it as well. He turned to the boy. “Looks like our paths did cross again.”

“Oui. Thanks for saving my perfect body from certain doom.” Izu helped the boy up.

They made there way to the center of the city as 3 minutes left was called.

Soon the ground shook as a giant robot entered the arena. It was the zero pointer…

It kicked up dust and crushed buildings in its wake. Everyone started running away.

As Izuku turns to leave with them, he saw heard a feminine voice. “Ow!” Looking over his shoulder he saw the nice girl stuck under some rubble. He had to think of something!

He got it! “Hey, blonde laser dude! I need your help to save her!”

The boy looked Izuku over. “I normally wouldn’t risk it, but I owe you one after you saved me. What do you need from me, mon Ami?”

…

“Are you sure about this?” The teen said from where he was laying on the ground belly up.

“Yes. Just shoot your most powerful laser as soon as I’m above you.” Izuku had a shield out and ready.

Izu then jumped over the blonde with his shield below him. A bright blue light shone before he was rocketing up till he was just above head height of the robot. Moving his shield to above his head, he expanded it until it had the diameter of a bus.

He threw it with all his strength. The shield cut cleanly through the robot making it fall backwards to the ground. He beat it. The girl was safe.

He was falling…

He prepared to poof and the ground got closer and closer.

Slap!...

Suddenly he was floating less than a meter from the pavement.

“And release!...” It was the nice girl! She had managed to get free, and floated on a bots head to stop him from hitting the ground.

As the girl puked, Izuku got up to run and find more points. “Come on! There has to be a few more robots around here! I Can't get in with only 10 points!”

“AND TIME’S UP!” Present Mic yelled.

“No!”

Later that day, Izuku was at his house checking his answers for the written test that he had taken down on the blank sheet.

Sigh. ‘I got a passing score on the written portion, but that means nothing with my pitiful score in the practical… I can’t even get into contact with All Might to tell him I failed him.’

“I guess I just wasn’t meant to be a hero.”

Chapter Text

If you love this story and want to get the next chapter as soon as possible, then you'll read this.

Please if you have any ideas about how the quirk apprehension test with Aizawa on the first day should go, please tell me! I have writers block and I can't think of anything.

Anything helps. Any ideas on just the first day of UA are appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply! I hope to get the next chapter out to you guys really soon!

Chapter Text

One week of tears, angst, and smiling vacantly at his dinners later, the letter from UA finally arrived.

Inko Midoriya came scrambling into the living room where Izuku was weight lifting. “Izuku! It’s here! It’s here! The letter from UA!” She sat next to him and handed it over.

The sat in silence as Izuku worked up the nerve to open the letter. Eventually his curiosity won out and he tore the envelope open. A small disk flung from the package and rolled an the coffee table before stopping. It started glowing and a holographic screen appeared above it.

“I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION.” All Might’s face took up the whole screen before he stepped back.

“Wha? All Might? What’s going on?” Izuku looked on in confusion as his mother looked shocked.

“I apologize for not being able to contact you sooner, there was a lot of paperwork i had to do. See, a while ago Principal Nedzu of UA asked me to teach the heroics class. As for your test results…”

Izuku looked down, knowing what was coming.

“You did exceptionally on the written exam. At the practical part… with only ten villain points, you failed.”

‘I knew it… I’m never going to be a hero…’ Izuku thought. Tears started to well up in his eyes as Inko held one hand to her mouth and had the other rubbing his back in confort.

“It’s okay, my precious gem. Don’t worry, I think the entrance exam for Shiketsu is the day after tomorrow… You’ll surely get in there.” His mother told him, trying to cheer him up, though she knew it wasn’t much on a consolation.

“BUT WAIT! There’s more!” A TV popped up behind All Might as he turned to gesture at it.

The cute girl from the entrance exam showed up on screen. “Uhh… Excuse me…”

All Might paused the video. “After the exam ended, this young lady showed up to talk to the test proctor!”

The video continued. “You know the green boy with the emerald necklace?” Izuku stilled as he realized she was talking about him. “Can you give him some of my points!? He said that he only had 10 points! But he saved me! He’s a true hero and deserves to be in the hero course!” The girl looked both determined and desperate.

“Oui. Give him some of mine as well. That way all of us get it. Please.” The navel laser guy leaned against the doorway behind the girl and Present Mic. The video paused again.

“Your actions, rather than your quirk, has touched the hearts of people.” All Might said. Tears started working their way down Izuku’s face. Inko was crying at this point as well. People thought her sweet boy was a hero! “And lucky for you, the judges were looking for more than just flashy quirks and destroying robots!”

The video started again and Present Mic patted the girls head. “Sorry little listeners, but you can’t share points. Even so, the little guy is doing just fine on his own.”

All Might threw his hands up. “UA would never reject an examinee that saves his opponents! That is the job of a hero! To save people, even at the cost of their own lives! That is why there is ‘Rescue Points’! The judges watch heroic actions and award points. IZUKU MIDORIYA: 66 RESCUE POINTS! OCHAKO URARAKA: 45 RESCUE POINTS! YUGA AOYAMA: 15 RESCUE POINTS! With that, Izuku Midoriya, you place 2nd overall with 76 points!”

“You passed, my boy! WELCOME TO YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!”

“ALL MIGHT!!” Izuku yelled as he got to his hero, who waited on the beach that he spent so much time cleaning. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Did someone say All Might?” The two heard from the distance.

“Ahh!” Toshi made a sound of surprise, blood spurting from between his teeth. “Quick kid! tell them you were mistaken!”

“Oh! Right! SORRY, I MADE A MISTAKE!” Izuku turned back to All Might after yelling to the people on the dock. “Sorry All Might. Speaking of, is there anything I can call you to avoid that happening again?”

“Oh, that’s right.” All Might dropped his first into his open hand. “I never have told you my real name, have I? Well, when I’m in this form, call me Yagi Toshinori. But back on topic, congrats on passing. And just so you don’t go thinking i rigged things to help you get in, I wasn’t on of the judges and i never told anyone about you. You got in all on your own.”

Toshi put up his hand for high five. Izuku look at it for a moment before sweeping it to the side, giving him a hug instead.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.” Izu’s voice was muffled by his shirt, but All Might was touched all the same.

It’s the first day of high school. Izuku looked at himself in the mirror after donning his UA uniform. The color didn’t look the best with his green skin tone and he spent 20 minutes trying to get his tie on correctly (which it still wasn’t), but he couldn’t be more happy.

Inko seemed more nervous then her some somehow, constantly asking if he’s got everything. She was currently trying to push Izuku’s gem basket in his hands as he insists that they were only really doing orientation today and that he didn’t need it.

Finally he was putting on his bright red shoes and about to head off.

“Izuku!” His mother called.

“Yeah mom?”

“You look super cool right now, my gem.” She had the proudest look on her face. mist building up in her eyes.

Izuku gave her one last hug before running out the door shouting over his shoulder. “Thanks Mom! I’ll be back before you know it!”

Inko smiled and shut the door. She picked up a picture frame before turning to the phone, dialing the number of her husband abroad to tell him the news.

‘Where’s class 1-A? This place is a labyrinth.’ Izuku thought

He finally found the giant door and hoped he wasn’t in a class with kacchan and the scary kid weren’t in his class.

The door opened.

“GET YOUR FEET OFF THE DESK, THAT IS DISRESPCTFUL TO YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS AND THIS PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL!”

“FUCK OFF YOU TWO BIT EXTRA!”

‘Oh great, just my luck!’

Bluette looked offended then resigned, “I suppose we got off on the wrong foot, My name is Tenya Iida from Soumei Academy and I-”

“Soumei!? Well aren't you an eletist!? Explains why you have a silver spoon shoved up your ass!”

“Wha!?-” The newly dubbed Iida got a glimpse of a green figure out of the corner of his eye and decided that the current conversation was going nowhere. He walked over to Izuku, who tensed up.

“Hello, I’m Iida Tenya from-”

“I-I heard. I’m M-Midoriya. Nice to meet you…”

“You were able to figure out the true nature of the entrance exam. I must say, you are better than me. I apologise for my actions back then.”

Izuku was stunned, “Wait a second, I didn't know about the rescue points! I spent the last week depressed because I thought I didn't make the cut! I just wanted to help people…”

Iida looked at Midoriya with a newfound admiration.

Katsuki glared at them. “Deku…”

The door swung open behind them. “Ah! Green boy! Looks like you made it in as well! I'm so happy!”

The navel laser kid came up and joined the conversation. “Oui. By the way, my name is Aoyama Yuga, make sure you remember it.”

The girl looked surprised, “Oh! I never told you my name either! I’m Uraraka Ochako!”

“M-my name is Midoriya!”

Izuku couldn’t help but think being in the same class as these two made being in a class with Bakugou worth it. Maybe even made the beating he got after Katsuki found out he was going to UA worth it.

The three continued to talk till the door opened. “If your here to socialize, get out.”

Izuku stared at the thing outside the door. ‘A giant yellow caterpillar just talked!’ he thought.

The lump stood up and unzipped what they all realized was a sleeping bag. “It took you 8 seconds to quiet down, not good enough. I’m Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher.” He then pulled out what looked like a gym uniform from the sleeping bag. “Put these on and head to the field.”

Chapter Text

“Whoa! Midoriya-kun, is that part of your quirk!?”

I look to my side to see a boy with spiked up red hair looking at my uncovered chest. Specifically my gem.

We're all in the locker room changing into the gym uniforms like Aizawa-sensei told us.

“U-um, Yeah.”

“How much do you think it’s worth? It looks like you’d get a lot of money for it.” I look to my other side. There was a blond boy with a black streak with his head way too close to my chest.

“I-I don’t really want to think about that. I’m already afraid that someone would want to pull it out of me and I need it to survive!” By now I was hugging myself with the thoughts of villains and dealers pawning off my gem and making me jewelry swirling in my head.

“Dude! That’s so unmanly! You shouldn’t say that! It would be like telling Present Mic to sell his voice box!” The red headed boy yelled at the blonde. (Now I’m curious of what would happen if someone got Present Mic’s voice box put in them. Would it still have the quirk even if it was a different person?)

I quickly finish getting dressed and leave before the conversation goes anywhere else.

“Today, instead of orientation, you’ll be having a quirk apprehension test.” Aizawa-sensei said

A quirk apprehension test?

“This school gives freedom to the teachers to teach the way they feel is the best. To do that, I need to see what you can do with your quirk and where you can improve. Therefore you will be doing a softball pitch, standing long jump, 50 meter dash, endurance run, grip strength test, sustained sideways jumps, and a seated toe-touch. You did all these in middle school where you were banned from using your quirks. But this isn’t middle school; you're at UA now, to train to be pro heros. Meaning you will be using your abilities to the fullest.”

My mind was racing. How would I use my quirk to help me in these tests. My thoughts were interrupted by Aizawa-sensei.

“Bakugou! You placed first in the entrance exam. What was the furthest you've pitched a softball in middle school?”

Kacchan did his usual scowl. “67 meters.”

Aizawa-sensei tossed him a ball “Use your quirk this time, just don’t leave the circle.”

Kacchan got in position, pulled his arm back, and…

“DIE!!!”

I could practically hear everyone questioning that in their heads ‘Die?’

The small phone-like device in our teachers hand beeped. He showed everyone the screen.

705.2 m

It makes me wonder how far I would get flung if he blasted me at full power…

“Oh, and the one in last place gets expelled.”

The first trial was the 50 meter dash. I saw many of my classmates do very well here. Especially Iida-kun, who has litteral engines in his legs, and a girl with a swirled ponytail, who made rocket powered roller skates.

I was doing the dash with Kacchan.

I decided to pull a trick from Breath Of The Wilderness: called shield sledding. When the shot rang I ran about 15 meters to build up speed. I jumped, doing a fancy side flip, pulled out my shield and landed on it.

I slid past Kacchan just barely and over the finish line.

4.05 seconds

Kacchan looked a bit pissed and confused, so I don’t think he saw my shield.

Next was the grip strength test. The octopus arm guy that I vaguely remember from the entrance exam got 540 kgw. I’m glad he was able to get in the hero course. I took one of the machines and squeezed with as force as possible.

156 kgw

Huh… That was more than I expected. I wonder when I got that strong… I decided not to tell anyone my score.

Standing long jump… I can’t take a running start. I guess I’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way. I got further than predicted, but still not far compared to my classmates.

Then it was sustained sideways jumps. I don’t even want to mention that one.

“INFINITY!”

We had moved on to the pitch test. Uraraka-chan just went, and let’s just say her zero gravity quirk was very helpful.

It was my turn now, and I was slightly nervous. I could hear Kacchan and Iida-san arguing about if my quirk was useless or not.

I stepped up to the pitcher's circle thinking of how I was going to get a good score for this one.

I could just throw the ball, but even with my strength the result wouldn't be too good.

Maybe I could throw the ball and send a shield to hit it midair to give the ball a boost.

I thought back to my training...

I got it!

I'll make my shield long and skinny and hit the ball with it like a baseball bat!

I nod to myself and ready my stance.

The bright green glow from my gem penetrated the air. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the shape of my shield.

I felt the weapon forming and reached for it. Grabbing it, I pulled it from confines of my gem.

...

...

...

...That...

... That is not a shield...

"Is there a problem?" Aizawa-sensei must have noticed my stupor.

"Uh... Sort of?.. You see, I've only recently found that I can make shields with my quirk... I've never made a war hammer before..."

Said war hammer was, of course, different shades of green. A long handle with an almost cartoonish head and a large star in the middle. A guard under the head that looks a large smile. And wrapping the handle was a light green ribbon with a tail extending from just below the head that ended in odd, bunny ear like shapes.

"A lesson for hero's: take the situation, no matter how bad, and turn it to your advantage." Aizawa-sensei said in a deadpan, but if you looked closely, you could see that he was interested in what would happen.

"Right!"

I don't need to scrap the baseball bat idea, this actually makes it easier. And possibly more effective.

Here I go.

I tossed ball as high as I could to give me enough time to position myself.

Wham!

I actually hit it!

I watched I soar through the air, much farther than I anticipated.

Aizawa-sensei looked at the device. Then showed it to the class.

711.4 meters

YES!!!

“DEKU!!!”

Chapter Text

“DEKU!!!”

A blonde and explosive blurr came running towards the pitcher's circle. Sparks flew from Kacchans hands as he made his way towards me. Just as he was in front of me, white tape like cloth wrapped around Katsuki and his hands weren’t producing mini explosives anymore.

“Bakugou! Any assault on a fellow classmate or the staff will not be tolerated. Stop now or I will be forced to expel you!”

Looking around my once childhood friend, I saw Aizawa-sensei with red eyes and floating hair staring right at Kacchan.

I know who this is!

My teacher is Eraserhead!

“Eraserhead! You’re Eraserhead! Oh gosh! My teacher is a pro hero!”

Aizawa-sensei looked at me. “Impressive. Underground heroes try to stay out of the public eye.” He let go of Kacchan and pulled out some eye drops. “Now quit making me use my quirk. It gives me dry eye.”

“Okay, here’s everyone's results.” 

I close my eyes and pray that I'm not in last place. I worked so hard for this, I can’t get expelled now.

I slowly opened my eyes.

6th!

I got sixth place! I’m not expelled!

“Oh, and the whole ‘expulsion’ thing was a logical ruse.”

“WHAA!?” Was the general consensus.

I took a better look at the scoreboard. 

1st-Yaoyorozu Momo

2nd-Todoroki Shoto

3rd-Bakugou Katsuki

4th-Iida Tenya

5th-Tokoyami Fumikage

6th-Midoriya Izuku

7th-Shoji Mezou

8th-Satou Rikkidou

9th-Ojiro Mashiro

10th-Kirishima Eijiro

11th-Asui Tsuyu

12th-Ashido Mina

13th-Uraraka Ochako

14th-Aoyama Yuuga

15th-Kouji Koda

16th-Sero Hanta

17th-Kaminari Denki

18th- Jirou Kyouka

19th-Mineta Minoru

20th-Hagakure Tooru

 So Uraraka-san, Aoyama-san, and Iida-san all got in the top 15. That’s great! They must have worked really hard!

I walked over to the three of them. “You guys did great!” I said as we started walking back towards the changing rooms.

“You did very good as well, Midoriya-san! Adapting to an unexpected situation like you did was inspir-”

I tripped. For the second time on UA grounds. And Uraraka was to slow to catch me this time.

“Ugh!” My face hit the dirt. Iida picked me up by my underarms and set me back on my feet in front of him. I sputtered, trying to get the dirt out of my mouth. “Ptff gross.”

Aoyama’s hand on my chest prevented me from continuing the walk. “Mon ami! Your necklace! It’s Filthy! Here, Allow me.” He pulled a glittering microfiber cloth out of nowhere and proceeds to polish my gem. He stopped after a moment. “Mon ami… That’s not a necklace… You…” I started to sweat thinking he was going to stop being my friend because of my weird anatomy. “You are fabulous! To have an actual emerald in you!? You are beautiful!”

Now my sweat was for a different reason. I don't take compliments very well. “U-Um! Th-Thank you, Aoyama-kun! But you’re more beautiful I’m sure!”

“You’re too kind, Mon Éclat!” I’m not to sure what that means.

“Wow! I didn’t know that was a part of your quirk!?” Uraraka said

“I, too, thought that was a necklace. I apologize as I was about to warn you of the dangers of wearing loose accessories during physical activity.” Iida said in an almost robotic voice.

“D-Don’t worry about it! It's not like you could have known! I never really told anyone my quirk…” I put my head down and restarted my walk off the field. I missed my new friends look at each other in concern.

“Ah, I’m exhausted!” Kacchan had been staring at me all day, with that, using my quirk this morning, and the nerves of it being the first day, it was hard to pay attention…

English with Present Mic was the only class that I was fully awake for… and that's cause he yelled almost everything. They must have sound proofed his classroom...

Now the day has officially ended and everyone was on they’re way out of the building. Just by looking around I could tell that no other class did anything as… different as my class did. Many looked either bored, or had lingering amazement on their faces.

As I reached the front gates I was debating if I should take the train or get a bit more exercise and jog home.

The choice seemed to be taken out of my hands as Iida called out to me. I had the feeling he would insist walking with me to the train.

“Midoriya! I’m glad I caught you. I would like to apologize for my earlier behavior once again. And should you need anything i will be there to help. It would be an honor to be considered your friend.”

“Yeah!” Uraraka’s voice came from behind me. “Let’s all be friends! Okay, Deku?”

“U-u-uh… W-why did you call me that?” I know where she heard that name. Kacchan yelled it in front of the whole class. I’m curious as to why she would me by that though.

“O-oh! Isn’t that your name? That explosion guy called you that… Was that not right?” Uraraka looked alarmed

“... Oh! That’s right! I never did tell you guys what my given name is! Let me start over… I’m Midoriya Izuku! I’d love to be friends!”

We walked to the train together and talked the whole ride until everyone got to their stop.

“Mom! I made friends today!”

Chapter Text

Sorry for getting everyone's hopes up, but this isn't a chapter.

As you all know, the hero studies 'heros vs villains' team battles are next... And I need a costume design for Izuku.

I had one before, but looking back at it, it's basically his actual suit from the anime/manga. Not that that's a bad thing, I just kinda want a unique costume for him, different from his actual one.

I know that this is a lot to ask from you, but I also know some of you are really invested in this story and like to draw.

So, if any of you have any ideas for his suit and are willing to let me use them, I'd super appreciate it. But if you don't, that's completely fine too.

If you want to send a picture of the design, my email is     [email protected]     and anything sent will be linked to in the next chapter, unless you ask me not to.

If you have a costume idea, but can't/don't want to draw it, you can put it in the comments of this chapter.

 Thank you for your time and help with everything so far! I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds in asking this of you.

I love you all! 🥰😘

Chapter Text

“I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

Liar…

The school day at UA started out as any other school would. ‘Normal classes for any and all required academics. English with Present Mic, Math with Ectoplasm, and Social Studies with Snipe.  We also had Modern Hero Art History with Midnight, and Literature with Cementoss. Then it was lunch with Lunch-Rush as the main (and possibly only) chef. 

The afternoon was when the day really picked up, because that’s when we had… Foundational Heroics Studies!

Which kinda leads us back to where we left off… With All Might coming into the room like a normal person… Not.

He had burst through the door, grabbing it’s frame to lean inside to strike a ‘cool’ pose. Don’t judge me. I’ve been working with this man for about a year now, I reserve the right to make fun of him. The fact that he's wearing his silver age costume doesn’t help his case.

“TODAY WE WILL BE DOING BATTLE SIMULATIONS! SO EVERYONE,” All Might clicked a remote and hidden columns extended from the wall. There were cases in the panels with numbers on them. “THE SUITS AND GEAR YOU PUT IN REQUESTS FOR HAVE BEEN FILLED! PLEASE GRAB THE CASE THAT HAS YOUR SEAT NUMBER AND WE’LL HEAD TO THE MOCK CITY THAT YOU WILL BE TRAINING IN TODAY!”

Everyone immediately did just that. I suppose getting your costumes for the first time would be pretty exciting. I, however, already had my suit so the only thing in my case is support items and additional protective gear that I had put in a requisition for.

As soon as OFA and my quirk combined, I told Mom about it. That night we sat down and looked over all the hero suit designs I had made over the years. When we came upon one we both liked, she started making it right away. Even when I told her there were people that could make our suits and that she needn’t go through the trouble, she was adamant that she make mine. She said it was so she knew I had a part of her with me as I did hero work.

I stopped trying to convince her after that.

Looking into the mirror and seeing my costume on for the first time was making everything about this feel more real. It was like all of the training and studying finally caught up with me.

As I gaze at my reflection, I took in the details of the suit I'm wearing. The bottom layer is a dark green form fitting jumpsuit with long sleeves. Directly over that I have an armored chest piece to protect my gem and shorts so I’m not wearing just a skin tight one piece. My belt has a buckle that mimics my gem and several pouches to hold supplies. Over everything I have on a cropped short sleeve jacket that has a jagged collar. And lastly my boots were green with red accents and went to the top of my shins.

I snap back to reality to find that I’m alone in the locker room now. ‘Oh! I better go catch up with everyone!’

I walked out of the corridor into the light of the mock city. It was nerve wracking to see everybody in their costumes. They looked so cool! And Dangerous...

“Izuku-kun! Your suit looks great!” Uraraka voice came from behind me. I turned around “I wish I had explained mine a little better… it came out a bit tight…”

Why more compliments?! “A-ah! Tha-thank you Uraraka-chan! A-and you look great! your costume really suits your quirk!”

“He’s right Mon Cher! That outfit makes you positively glow, but not as much as moi.” Aoyama looked over to me. I could see that his eyes zoned in on my chest and narrow. “Mon Éclat… Why do you hide your emerald like that?”

“O-oh… I… just want to make sure it’s safe…” 

“ALRIGHT STUDENTS! IT IS TIME FOR THE TRIAL OF BATTLE! NOW AS YOU ALL KNOW, VILLAIN CLEANUP IS USUALLY SEEN IN THE OPEN. BUT STATISTICALLY, MOST ACTS OF VILLAINY ARE COMMITTED INDOORS! THAT IS WHY YOU WILL BE SPLIT UP INTO ‘HERO’ AND ‘VILLAIN’ TEAMS. THEN YOU BE PLACED IN ONE OF THESE BUILDINGS FOR A TWO-ON-TWO INDOOR BATTLE.”

There was an uproar as several students questioned the activity. Which was fair. Having half of the hero class pretending to be villains probably wasn’t the best idea for the first foundational heroics session. But I trust that All Might wouldn’t put anyone in danger.

“OKAY! LET’S ALL QUIET DOWN SO I CAN EXPLAIN THE OBJECTIVE. THE GROUPS WILL BE PICKED RANDOMLY. THE BACKSTORY OF THIS EXERCISE IS THIS, “TWO VILLAINS HAVE STOLEN A NUCLEAR MISSILE FROM A GOVERNMENT FACILITY! THEY HAVE HIDDEN THEMSELVES IN A FIVE STORY BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY. TWO HEROS HAVE GOTTEN WORD OF WHERE THE VILLAINS ARE AND HAVE CONVERGED ON THE BUILDING. THE HERO'S OBJECTIVE IS TO CAPTURE THE VILLAINS IN CAPTURE TAPE. OR YOU CAN TOUCH, AND THUS, RETRIEVE THE MISSILE WHILE CAUSING AS LITTLE DAMAGE TO THE SURROUNDING CITY AS POSSIBLE...”

All Might held up the aforementioned capture tape.

“THE VILLAINS HAVE FIGURED OUT THAT THE HEROS ARE ON THEIR TAIL! THEY HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO PREPARE FOR THEIR ARRIVAL. THE VILLAINS OBJECTIVE IS TO STOP THE HEROS FROM GETTING TO THE MISSILE WHILE AVOIDING CAPTURE FOR TEN MINUTES!”

That was fine. I already know the quirks of my classmates, so devising a plan shouldn’t be too hard…

The teams were set as follows.

A Team: Midoriya Izuku and Tokoyami Fumikage

B Team: Todoroki Shouto and Shouji Mezou

C Team: Yaoyorozu Momo and Jirou Kyouka

D Team: Iida Tenya and Bakugou Katsuki

E Team: Aoyama Yuuga and Ashido Mina

F Team: Satou Rikidou and Koda Kouji

G Team: Mineta Minoru and Kaminari Denki

H Team: Uraraka Ochako and Asui Tsuyu

I Team: Hagakure Tooru and Ojiro Mashirao

J Team: Kirishima Eijirou and Sero Hanta

This was great! Tokoyami has a really versatile quirk! This could actually work out for us!

All Might then picked up a bag and pulled out two tokens. “THE FIRST MATCH WILL BE TEAM A AS THE HEROS AND TEAM D AS THE VILLAINS!”

Well that’s not ideal…

Soon enough, Tokoyami and I were standing outside of the structure that was set as our battle arena. It’s a five story building, so there was a lot of space for Kacchan and Iida to hide the bomb. Iida is too smart to hide it on the first floor though, and with how destructive Kacchan’s quirk is, floors three and below would be unsafe incase of a collapse. Floors four, five, and the roof would be the best bets. Then again, villains wouldn’t ‘hide’ a nuclear missile on a roof where it can be easily seen…

So the fourth or fifth.

I look at the windows of those floors to try and see any hints to where they might be. No, No, No, No… There! That light is on! That was probably Iida so it’s not dark enough for Tokoyami to sneak up on him.

“Those were good deductions, Midoriya-san. So that room on the fourth then?”

“AH! O-OH! I was mumbling wasn’t I? Oh gosh, that’s so embarrassing. And dangerous… what if a villain I’m fighting hears me? I need to fix that…”

“As much as I’d like to stay and talk like this, the round started while you were thinking. However, I am glad I didn’t stop you. Those mutters help immensely.” Tokoyami said as he turned to walk in the front entrance of the building. I grabbed his cloak before he could.

“Tokoyami-san! It might be better to use the fire escape. Kacchan will be waiting for me to go so he can attack. If we want to avoid as much property damage as possible, we’ll want to go around him.” I explained to him as I let go of his costume.

“Right.”

With that, we moved to the metal stairs on the side of the building and made our way to the fourth level.

We finally make it into the building after a minute of climbing. The hallway looked as you’d expect from the outside and we could see a light from a room farther down the hall. There was our objective.

I stopped Tokoyami from continuing down the hall by pulling him into the room to our right. I could tell he was a bit confused, but I was busy looking out the open window.

“Midoriya-san?”

“Okay, Tokoyami-kun, I’ll need you to go distract Iida-kun while I shimmy down the ledge to the rooms window and get the bomb. I believe that he’ll be expecting me to be confronting Kacchan, so he won’t question my absence.”

“Right. I’ll give you as much time as I can.” Tokoyami replied as he turned and started down the hall. I could have sworn I saw his manifested shadow give me a thumbs up as they disappeared around the corner.

I climbed out the window and started towards the room.

It takes time and patients, but I get to my entrance just as I hear Iida call for backup. I need to finish this quickly.

I creep in the room and am proud to say Tokoyami doesn’t give my position away. Iida is zipping around the room throwing kicks and punches where he can, but the shadow is keeping him from doing any damage to my teammate or the surroundings. I can also hear explosions from down the hall.

The booming soon became thundering footsteps popping of Kacchans reflexive angry use for his quirk. At that, I ran up behind Iida and summoned my hammer.

A few things happened at once. The sudden light alerting Iida of the danger from his back. Kacchan making it to the door of the room. Tokoyami jumping out of the way and towards the bomb after seeing what I was planning. Me, swinging my hammer at Iida.

Iida, who had turned around by now, was sent flying backwards nearly slamming into Kacchan. He would have crashed into him too, if Kacchan hadn’t made a small explosion that sent him off course.

With the villain team being on the side of the room without the bomb, and us being on the side with, I made a shield big enough to span the room, preventing them from reaching us. And with that done, Tokoyami sent his shadow to secure the bomb.

I could see the enraged look on Kacchans face as All Mights voice came over the intercom.

“THE HERO TEAM WINS!”

“NOW, CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHO HE MVP OF THIS MATCH WAS?”

We were all sitting in the control room after the battle. Iida had changed out of his costume and is sitting with an ice pack against his chest. Apparently, I need to work more on my strength with my hammer. After a few minutes of me freaking out and profusely apologizing to him, we were lined up so the other students could critique our performance.

Yaoyorozu was the one to speak up. “Midoriya-san was, sir. He made excellent plans and avoided potentially damaging and unnecessary fights. He made good decisions and worked well with his teammate.”

“CORRECT! YOUNG MIDORIYA WAS THE LYNCHPIN OF THIS PARTICULAR BATTLE! THAT’S NOT TO SAY THAT THE OTHERS WEREN’T AMAZING IN THEIR OWN RIGHT! TOKOYAMI FOLLOWED THE PLAN EXACTLY AND MANAGED TO HOLD IIDA-KUN OFF. IIDA-KUN GOT INTO THE MINDSET OF A VILLAIN, A USEFUL SKILL TO HAVE WHEN TRYING TO STOP THEM. AND BAKUGOU-KUN ACTED LIKE A TRUE VILLAIN, WILLING TO PUT HIS PARTNER IN HARM'S WAY TO INCAPACITATE THE HEROES! WELL DONE!"

The rest of the day went pretty normally, for a hero course that is. I got a lot of compliments on my performance during the battle, however, not everyone was as happy with their results. Ojiro felt bad about not trying to stop Todoroki and everyone could tell that Kacchan was tense, but I couldn’t think of anything to tell him that wouldn’t make him angrier.

Chapter Text

I’m rewriting Precious Gem! Chapter 1 is already posted for those who would like to check it out. It’s called ‘Precious Gem: Repolished’.

Some plot points will be changed, some just reworded or elaborated on.

Please head over and read it!

https://archiveofourown.info/works/58490623/chapters/149002855

Chapter Text

I am man enough to say that I might never work on this fic again. I've just lost inspiration and motivation to work on it.

I apologize to everyone!

However! I have decided that I would not mind someone else picking up this fic with permission and the stipulation that I am allowed to continue the fic if I ever want to. (I don't want to orphan it as I might want to work on it in the future).

If you are interested in picking up this fic, please let me know and we can talk about it. I will also be handing over all of my notes for it to whoever picks it up.