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Chapter Text

If there was one thing that had been drilled into Izuku Midoriya's mind ever since he was a kid, It was the cold hard fact that not all men were created equal…

Boom!

"Wow, Kacchan! That rock was huge! You shattered it like it was nothing!" A young boy with curly green hair cried out.

"Tch, that  was  nothing! Just wait till I see a bigger one, then you guys will see my real power!"

The four year old known as Katsuki Bakugo or "Kacchan" smiled devilishly as he looked down at his hands. He'd been practicing for months ever since his quirk manifested, and he couldn't be happier. His quirk was amazing. As a matter of fact,  he  was amazing. As long as he had this power, nothing would stand in his way. The boy was just about to look for something else to blow up before he heard the voice behind him speak again.

"You're gonna be an amazing hero one day Kacchan!" Izuku Midoriya said excitedly, his cheeks a light shade of pink out of happiness for his friend.

However, instead of taking the compliment and thanking the boy, Katsuki grew an enormous smirk on his face. A very big piece of information  coming  back to his attention.

"Hey, Deku! You're almost five years old, aren't you? When are you gonna go to the doctor to find out your quirk!?" Of course, the blonde already knew the answer to this, seeing as Izuku had confessed last week that he was quirkless.

The  green haired  boy's wide smile turned completely on its head in a heartbeat, and his proud demeanor fell as well, his shoulders slumping as he looked at the ground. "That's not fair Kacchan, I already told you guys I don't have a quirk…"

"Ahahahahaa! I know that you dumb Deku! I just wanted to hear you say it again! Ahahahahaaa!"

Seeing that their leader was getting quite a laugh out of the situation, the other two followers in the group decided to join in as well. After all, they cared a lot more about what Katsuki thought of them than that weirdo Midoriya.

With tears threatening to fall  down  his face once again, the small quirkless boy mustered all the courage he had and raised his head to meet the blonde. "Stop laughing at me Kacchan! If I try my hardest, I can still be a hero, even if I'm quirkless!"

*Boom*

…

…

…

Needless to say, that was the last time the green haired boy ever stood up to his childhood friend… if he could even still call him that. Nowadays, ten years later, things are pretty much the same, except arguably worse for poor Izuku. Seeing as he was now in his last year of middle school, everyone was buzzing about what they were gonna be when they grew up. And it wasn't a surprise to hear that everyone wanted to be a hero. Even a young quirkless individual.

"Answer the question Deku! Is what the teacher said true? Are you really gonna try and get into U.A next year!" Bakugo shouted fiercely at the quirkless boy. Class had just let out, and he would be damned if he wasn't gonna squeeze some answers out of this nerd now that he had the chance.

The nerd in question however could barely comprehend what was happening as he shook in his seat out of total fear. "K-Kacchan! I-I didn't m-mean for that to g-get out. D-don't worry, I'm n-not trying t-to compete with y-you or a-anything!" The boy finally stuttered out. It seemed that getting picked on for years of his life had taken quite a toll on the boy's personality.

"Well obviously, stupid! There's no chance you could ever compete with me! But that's not the problem! You better not even show up to the entrance exam, or I'll fry you! I'm gonna be the only one in this dump of a school to get into U.A, you got that? That's gonna be my epic hero story from my younger days. And I don't need a useless extra like you to get in my way, you got that!?"

"B-but K-Kacchan!" Izuku stuttered once again, trying to think of what to say back to his childhood friend turned bully. He was about to come back with the most compelling counter point he could think of, but he made the grand mistake of fidgeting with his notebook while he was thinking.

"What the heck is this? Another one of your crappy notebooks?" The blonde smirked as he snatched up the quirkless boy's property.

"Haha! Hero analysis for the future? Why on earth would you need something like that Midoriya? You're quirkless!" One of the two boys behind Katsuki laughed.

"Yeah! You'd be lucky to even become a police officer, even those lame guys have quirks! Hahaha!" The other follower added.

"K-Kacchan stop! Give it back! That means a lot to me!"

"Oh? It means a lot to you? Well, guess what? Being the only one in this school to get into U.A means a lot to me! So I think I'll hold onto this. I'll give it back to you after I get what I want, so you better stay away from U.A, got that!?"

Izuku wanted to respond, but he couldn't seem to find his voice in this time of high adversity. And to make things worse, he could feel himself quivering as tears made their way to the surface of his eyes.

This seemed to satisfy Bakugo enough for him to relent and start backing away. "Good, see you around you crappy Deku. I can't wait to read all of the nerdy crap you've written in here. That way it can actually help out a real hero, haha!"

"Wow! Great Idea Bakugo!"

"Yeah, you sure showed him! What a wimp!"

With that, the class was left empty and silent. The only soft sounds coming from Izuku slowly putting away his things and standing up from his desk. The boy took his time on his way home that day, shuffling steadily while looking down at the ground with his signature slumped shoulders. It felt like he'd been slumping like this more often lately. But who could blame him, he'd been taking some nasty punishment throughout most of his life, both mental and physical. And it always came down to one specific person…

Ugh, Kacchan,  Izuku thought, moping even more than he already was.  What did I ever do to you? Why can't you just leave me alone?

The quirkless boy was so lost in thought that he never noticed that he had walked into a small tunnel that he usually took to get home. What's more, he was especially caught off guard when the manhole cover in the center of the tunnel was blown off, only for a large shadow to come flying out of it.

"W-what!?"

Said shadow made its presence known almost immediately, standing much taller than the meek boy was what looked to be a giant slimy mud monster. And it didn't take a genius to know its intentions weren't good at all.

"V-v-villain!" Izuku shrieked as he turned tail and ran for dear life.

It was no use though, as the large green blob had already set its sights on the helpless teen. "Come here boy, you'll make a perfect meat puppet!"

Catching up easily, the dangerous villain wasted no time in wrapping it's slimy body around Izuku, doing its best to enter the boy's body in any way it could.

"Gah-mphhh!" The teen cried as he experienced the most uncomfortable situation of his entire life. The pain was truly indescribable, it wasn't sharp in any way, but it was urgent. More of a smothering suffocating pain. Like drowning, only ten times worse.

This is  really  it… I'm really about to die…  Izuku thought solemnly. In his final moments he did his best to picture everything that made him happy. Including his mom, his hero obsession, and his dream…

No! It can't end here! Not like this! He thought frantically

"Texas Smash!" A new invigorating voice yelled.

In an instant, a powerful gust of wind came flying down the tunnel, completely catching the mud villain off guard as it was thrown into the air and off of its victim.

Izuku however was still disoriented and missed how the newcomer quickly leapt into action and captured the creature into a plastic soda bottle

Texas Smash?  Izuki thought calmly as he blinked his eyes open from his position on the floor.  There's no way I heard that right. That would mean that the hero that just saved me is-

"I am here!"  The same powerful voice exclaimed, proudly standing in the disoriented teen's view.  "Are you alright young man? I appreciate you keeping that villain distracted for me."

Without wasting another second, Izuku's eyes shot open all the way and jumped to his feet as if nothing had ever happened. Excitement at meeting his idol taking over his whole body. "A-A-All might! It's really you! I can't believe this! I'm your biggest fan!"

"AHAHAHA"  The enormous man laughed oddly.  In fact,  enormous was still not a proper descriptor for the incredible size of the man. His  well built  form sporting a white collared shirt and some brown khakis.  "I thank you  young  man, I get that reaction a lot. Would you by any chance have anything I could sign for you? It's the least I could do for causing you so much trouble."  I wrapped that up faster than I thought. I have five whole minutes left, spending a few on this fan should be no problem at all.  The number one hero thought as his winning smile widened even more.

"W-what!? N-no! Please don't think that All Might! You were no trouble at all! This is the best moment of my life!" Izuku shouted for joy, the first part of his hero's question now coming to the front of his mind. "Oh and um…" He trailed off as he frantically searched his yellow backpack for his hero notebook. It would be legendary if he could get All Might's auto-

"Oh yeah… Kacchan took it…" The teen mumbled to himself dejectedly. "Sorry, All Might, I don't really have anything you could sign."

The large man never dropped his large grin, gently placing his hand on the boy's head affectionately. "It's no problem, young man, perhaps some other time. Until then, stay safe, and never forget to smile!"

Izuku's eyes widened as he watched his hero turn around and walk away without another word. No no no no no! I can't just let him walk away! This is my big chance! The boost I've always needed! I need to ask him!

"All Might, wait! I need to ask you something!"

Normally the pro hero would have ignored the boy with some sort of excuse to leave faster, but seeing as he still had a couple minutes left, the man stopped in his tracks and craned his neck to look back at the green haired boy. He felt somewhat bad about not being able to get his fan an autograph, so perhaps that's what urged him to stop and wait. "What is it, young man? I have places to be."

"I… I-I'm sorry to bother you All Might. I just, need to know something."

Turning around now to completely face the boy, the number one put on his signature smile and gave a huge thumbs up. Signaling he was ready for anything. "Let's hear it young man."

Joining his idol with a small smile, Izuku took a deep breath and began pouring his heart out. "All Might… All my life, for as long as I can remember, the only thing I ever wanted was for someone to believe in me… For someone to back me up and tell me I could accomplish my dream if I tried hard enough. I've never had anyone to reassure me, no friends, nothing. Even my mom doesn't believe in me. She tries to hide it, and of course, I still love her to death. But it doesn't change the fact I still need someone to tell me..."

Now feeling genuinely concerned, All might put a hand on the boy's shoulder to get attention again. "Say it boy, I'll do my best to encourage you, but that sounds like a lot of baggage that you're carrying around. That can't be healthy."

The green haired boy snapped out of his rant as soon as All Might spoke. He hadn't meant to go so off topic. With that, however, Izuku clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly, it was now or never. The answer he would get here would make or break his decision to become what he wanted most.

"C-can I be a hero like you even if I'm quirkless!?"

The pro hero stepped back with his eyes wide. He had somewhat expected that the question would be about hero work, but the whole quirkless thing came completely out of left field to him.

Quirkless?  They  still exist?  All Might thought before shaking himself out of his stupor. This boy was clearly still waiting for a response from his idol, it was best to not let him down…

But then again, was that even an option?

"Listen, young man, I honestly didn't even know that being quirkless was even possible anymore these days. They say that only twenty percent of the world is still quirkless, but from what I understood, that was all in the old generation."

Izuku was too stunned to speak, and there was no way he was about to interrupt All Might. But deep down, the pit in his stomach was telling him exactly where this conversation was going, and he didn't like it one bit. Push those thoughts away! I can do this, I can be a hero!

" Just the fact that you're standing here telling me all of this proves to me that you've had a hard life already. And I'm truly sorry for that young man, I  really  am."

Ok… So far this was a bit more pity than I was expecting. The boy thought cautiously as he gulped audibly for the moment of truth.

"But you can't become a hero, it's too dangerous for someone like you."

…

…

…

Izuku's blood ran cold as the words left his idol's mouth. What did he just say? He clearly heard wrong, right?

No, I didn't hear wrong, he said I can't be a hero. And if All Might says so, it's probably true.

As the quirkless boy stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide while his entire world crumbled around him, All Might was about to say something else to at least try to make the boy feel better. But before he could even open his mouth, he felt his time begin to slip away as steam began forming around his body.

Darn, what horrible timing. I can't just leave this boy like this, can I?

In the next moment, All Might watched as the young man in front of him fell to his knees and wept his eyes out in a truly heartbreaking manner.

Oh crap! I uh, I've gotta split, sorry kid!  The large man panicked at the awkward situation before him, jumping off onto a nearby building before finally reverting back to his true form.

Now looking a lot more skeleton-like, All Might looked down from atop the small building to the green haired young man still crying his heart out. In truth, he really did feel bad for the boy. But at the same time, this was for the best. He knew firsthand how dangerous the hero world was. And there was no place for weakness, that was for sure. "Once again, I'm sorry young man," All Might began, his voice not booming at all anymore. "I hope you can one day come to terms with the bad hand life has dealt you. I wish you the best"

With that, the lanky hero turned around and walked into the building and began down the stairs. In the end muttering something about being glad he made it out of there in time. The last thing he needed was a fanboy turned hater to spill out all of his secrets on the internet.

Izuku didn't know how long he sat there in that tunnel crying until he simply couldn't anymore. Heck, he didn't even look up from the ground until he saw the setting sun had caught his attention off on the horizon. And it was also at that point that he realized that All Might was long gone.

Forcing himself to stand up, Izuku did his best to hold back any more incoming tears from falling. It was odd to say, but it was almost easier now. Instead of sadness, all he really felt was empty inside. Which to be honest, wasn't much better.

The boy still couldn't believe All Might said the things he did. For the longest time, the man was like a ray of sunshine in his life. Something he could strive to be every day. Something that gave him light on his generally dark life. How could he just crush his dream like this?

With a heavy sigh, Izuku slumped his shoulders for what felt like the millionth time that day. It was official, he wasn't meant to be a hero.

And with that last thought lingering in his mind, he began trudging back home. It was getting late, and his mom would start to worry if he didn't get home soon.

"Shigaraki-san, please forgive me!"

"Just shut up already Kurogiri! I'm tired of your whining! What's done is done!"

"But the specimen sir! What will master say!? I don't deserve to be by your side any-"

"Master isn't gonna find out about this! Got it!? Now get out and start looking! We can still fix this!"

With that, the two shady men stepped out from what seemed to be a purple shadow at the end of a dark alley. Once both men were completely out, the shadow quickly faded and became a part of one of the men's bodies.

"Are you sure this is where you teleported it?"

"Y-yes Shigaraki-san, I can't apologize enough. I must learn to control this power properly."

"I already told you to stop that! I thought you Nomus were supposed to obey orders!"

"I-I apologize once more sir."

"I swear Kurogiri, I'll kill you right now if you apologize again, cause I am NOT IN THE MOOD! Master just finished making you, so you're obviously not gonna have that much control. So just shut your mouth and help me find the specimen!"

"R-right! I won't let you down Shigaraki-san!"

"Oh, believe me, you already have." The oddly pale man grumbled as he bent down and placed a cardboard box on the floor.

"Uh, S-Shigaraki-san, what's that? Is it something to help us track the specimen?"

"Ugh, if you must know, it's just me… Uh… Playing things safe. There's no guarantee that we're gonna find this thing, so it's best if I get rid of this. I don't need master to know I had such childish reasons behind my decision."

The purple shadowed figure decided to bite his tongue on asking any further questions to his superior. He knew well enough not to pry, especially when Shigaraki-san was being so vague.

"Very well then, shall we seek out what we came here for?"

A manic grin sprouted onto the pale man seemingly out of nowhere. "With pleasure!"

"NOT IN THE MOOD!" Came a loud and definitely angry cry from just around the corner. The sheer volume of the voice was enough to make Izuku both flinch and wince as the sound tore through the quiet night.

"W-what? What was that?" The meek boy asked shyly as he turned around and saw nothing. The sound must have come from one of those alleyways that he had just walked by.

Despite having every reason not to go and investigate what he had just heard behind him, Izuku found his legs moving steadily on their own towards the dark alley.

No! What am I doing? Today is already the worst day ever! I don't need to top it off with dark and scary places that could lead to death!

Suddenly though, the boy's train of thought was shattered when he heard footsteps and two voices right on top of him. This unfortunately is where fear started to set in permanently as he froze in place. This was certainly turning into a worse case scenario for the boy.

And it only got worse when the two menacing figures turned the corner and found the quivering boy shaking in his boots. Why did the universe hate him today!?

The phantom man seemed almost unfazed by the boy, but the pale one almost seemed to thrive off of the fear emanating from the teenager.

"Hehehe," The pale man laughed creepily. "Hey there kid, isn't it past your bedtime?"

Izuku was too scared to even cry out when the man reached out for him. All he could do was step back and fall on his butt as he scrambled back as far as he could, eventually pressing his back to the alley wall in fear.

"Hahahahahaa! Look, Kurogiri! He looks like he's about to crap himself! Now that's what I call a hero! Hahahahahaa!" The man laughed sarcastically.

The shadow man on the other hand did not look amused at all. After a few more seconds of the pale man's laughter, he leaned over and whispered something in his ear, making the man straighten up and gather a serious look on his face. "Right, Sorry Kurogiri, I just couldn't help myself."

Izuku held his breath as he watched the two shady men continue to walk down the road. The two seemed to be looking for something. And judging by how they were exclusively looking at the ground, it was probably something small.

But that was the last thing on the quirkless teen's mind at the moment. A lot more important things running rapidly through his mind.

Who were they!? Were they villains!? Why were they so scary!? Should I call the police!? No, I can't! That would make me even more late home! And mom's gotta already be freaking out! But I should still do something right! There's gotta be a hero around here somewhere! Why is my neck so itchy? Maybe I have time to warn a hero if I  hur -

…

Izuku paused as he backtracked through his insane musings. Normally his neck being itchy wouldn't be an issue… Unless the itchy part was slowly moving around on said neck…

Keeping surprisingly calm all things considered, Izuku slowly tilted his head up for any information he could find. And when he found what he was looking for, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He almost didn't catch it, but there, right above his head hung a minuscule thread of spider web practically glowing in the moonlight.

Ok, this is good, not as bad as I thought, it could have been a cockroach, now that would be  reason  for panic, just relax, spiders are fragile and very easy to spook. So as long as I just stay calm, I should be just fi-

"AH!" The quirkless boy yelled as he slapped his neck where the spider just bit him. "Dang, so much for that idea. Ouch, why did that hurt so much!"

Cringing as he gently plucked the dead spider from its spot stuck to his neck, Izuku brought it up to his eyes and focused on it. Hoping it wasn't some crazy venomous kind that would land him in the hospital.

Looking closely at the dead arachnid, the green haired teen could easily say one thing, he had never seen such vibrant colors on a spider before, that was for sure.

Before the boy had any more time to analyze the red and blue creature, he remembered how late it was and jumped up from his seat on the floor. "What am I doing, I've already wasted so much time! Mom must be worried out of her mind!" The boy stammered out, not hesitating to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone.

Well, if you could even call that a phone anymore.

No wonder I haven't gotten any worried calls from her, it must have gotten crushed to pieces when that slime villain tried to capture me. The boy thought dejectedly as he looked down at the scrap parts that used to be his phone.

Looking down at both of his palms, his broken phone remains in one hand and a dead spider in the other, Izuku could only think of one phrase that would fit this moment perfectly.

"This really was the worst day ever…"

Chapter Text

When Izuku finally reached his street and ran up the stairs to the apartment, two things were very apparent in his mind.

One, the fact that the police weren't on the property at the moment, which considering how worrisome his mother was, was nothing short of a miracle.

And two, was the fact that his head was absolutely pounding right now. And the rest of his body wasn't feeling too hot either. It was hard to describe, but it sort of felt like all of his organs were expanding inside of him, and it was making him feel really sick.

It didn't take the boy long to reach his floor at last and knock on the door. Not surprised at all when it was answered before he even got to the third knock.

"OH IZUKU!" A short and somewhat round lady screeched as she tackled her son in a hug. "My baby boy is alright! Where were you!? I was this close to calling the police! Do you know how worried I was!? I thought you had been kidnapped, or attacked, or-"

"Mom," Izuku gently interrupted, sighing as her intense mumbling made his head hurt even more. At least now he knew where he got it from, along with just how annoying it could be.

"I'm ok Mom, but I don't feel so great. I'll explain everything in the morning, ok? Right now I just need sleep."

"Are you sure!? I could make you something! Are you hungry? Thirsty? I could-"

The green haired woman was cut off by her son slamming into her with an enormous hug.

"Izuku?" Inko asked worriedly as she returned the hug without hesitation.

For the quirkless boy, things were confusing right now. And he didn't really know what his next step was. All he knew was that a hug is what he needed right now, even if it wasn't the kind he wanted.

No matter how badly he wanted to, he would not break down right here in his mother's arms. He didn't really know where he was at as far as his dream went, but he would figure it out later.

"Goodnight Mom," Izuku said shakily as tears threatened to fall once again.

Inko was frozen as her son detached from their hug prematurely and walked past her. "Izuku!? What's wrong? What are you not telling me? How can I help? What do you need!?"

The green haired boy froze at her last question right as his hand found the doorknob to his room. His mind thinking back to a few seconds ago when he could only feel a slight amount of comfort from his mother's hug.

I need someone to believe in me

"I need sleep, goodnight mom."

With that, the young man closed his door behind him softly, not wasting any time in stripping down into his underwear and collapsing onto his bed. Shivering sickly even under the warm covers.

What's happening to me?

The next morning when the boy woke up, he felt… Odd. And not necessarily in a bad way. But sitting up and wiping away the sleep from his eyes, the quirkless teen couldn't help but feel that something was off.

That was some of the best sleep I've had in years. I guess I was more mentally drained than I thought. The teen mused to himself, not wanting to even remember how horrible the previous day was.

After a quick yawn and a simple stretch, Izuku hopped up out of bed with some impressive spryness and stared at himself through the mirror that hung on his closet.

"W-what!?" The boy sputtered out as he looked at his shirtless form. He didn't sleep that well, did he? Since when does sleeping give you muscles!?

And as stupid as the sentiment sounded, there were indeed some curious changes that emanated from the boy's physique. To put it simply, it looked as though the green haired teen had put on about twenty pounds of lean muscle without doing so much as a single pushup. He wasn't huge by any means, but he was exceptionally fit, and boy did it show,

Seriously, what the heck happened!? I look ripped!

The boy took this crazy newfound muscle in stride as he flexed in front of the mirror with a small smile on his face. The boy wasn't used to good things like this happening to him, so he was gonna take his victories whenever he could, even if he had no idea how they happened.

He must have gone through at least twenty poses in the short span of five minutes. His last one wiping the small smile off his face as he performed it out of muscle memory.

"Izuku," his mom said from the other side of his bedroom door. "I hope you're awake, it's almost time for school."

The teen stood there in the mirror for a couple more seconds frozen in place. His eyes began to gloss over as he held up one arm in a very familiar victory pose.

With a heavy sigh, Izuku put his fist down and slumped his shoulders. He had a feeling that pose would never again bring him the same happiness it did before yesterday.

"Yeah Mom, I'm up, I'll be out in a bit."

After changing and getting ready for school, Izuku's demeanor was still looking down. It looked like the events that transpired the day before were still fresh on his mind. Something that his mother was now very aware of after taking one look at her son.

"I'm not all that hungry Mom, I think I'll just head out. I don't wanna be late."

Inko frowned at how sad her son looked as he walked past her to the front door. She was beyond worried for him right now. And to be totally honest, she had no idea what to say to him right now.

"Izuku."

Stopping right he opened the front door, the teen in question turned around, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Izuku, I trust you, and I want to give you the space you need. But I'm also worried… So please, promise me that you'll talk to me tonight. I know something is bothering you."

After a few painful seconds of trying to keep up his obviously fake smile, the quirkless boy broke and let his expression fall back into a look of despair. "Yeah, ok Mom, that sounds fair. See ya tonight."

Without another word, he walked out the front door and out into the morning sun, not so ready to take on another day. And it wasn't until he was right outside of Aldera Middle School that he heard a very familiar ring, signaling that he was now late.

Perfect, just what I needed. That's what I get for moping around the whole way. The green haired boy thought bitterly. Well, at the very least I get to avoid running into Kacchan before class starts, so I guess that's good. He thought again, trying to look on the bright side of things as he hurried his way into the school.

Just as he had thought, Izuku was able to avoid Bakugo's regularly scheduled morning harassment by being a few minutes late to homeroom. He knew the blonde would never try anything serious during class. Sure, the teachers here already gave him lots of leeway because of his impressive quirk, but Bakugo wasn't stupid. He would never push the limits of that leeway too far in any direction, he wasn't about to risk his bright hero future just for some petty bullying.

This same way of thinking however, was nowhere to be seen in the blonde haired teen when no teachers were around to see him.

"Gee Deku, I can't thank you enough for having such perfect girl handwriting. Makes all these stupid tips so much easier to read," Bakugo said with obvious sarcasm in his voice. He and his cronies had just sat themselves down at the quirkless teen's empty lunch table just in time to have some fun with him. They had missed out on it in the morning after all, and he just couldn't resist tormenting his classmate after spending the better part of last night reading through his shitty journal.

As the laughter of his two followers rang in his ears, the blonde bully only gained more confidence, raising the journal up and dangling it right in the boy's face. "So what do you say, Deku? You wanna explain to me why someone as pathetic as you needs all this information on heroes?"

Izuku winced a bit when his former friend's hand reached so close to his face. Even if it was just to make fun of him and tempt him by rubbing his own journal in his face, the quirkless teen still ended up flinching quite heavily, only drawing more laughs from the three boys in front of him.

"Hahahaha! I'm just showing you your notebook, you nerd! Why are you flinching like a coward!? Hahaha!"

When Izuku looked up timidly a moment later, his eyes widened a bit. Instead of responding immediately, he saw that Bakugo was turned around and laughing along with his two friends. And yet, he was still holding the notebook right in front of his eyes…

Maybe if I'm quick I can…

NO! He yelled to himself in his head, shutting down his wayward thoughts immediately. If he tried taking it back now, he would surely fail. All he would manage to do is anger his former friend. And that was not something that anyone wanted, that was for sure.

Just sit here and suck it up, that's what I've always done, and that's what I'll always do. If I'm quiet, maybe he'll leave faster.

The boy nodded at his pathetic plan and started to go along with it. However, he soon remembered a very important detail about why Bakugo even had his notebook in the first place. And soon, a slew of memories began invading his head.

"Oh? It means a lot to you? Well, guess what? Being the only one in this school to get into U.A means a lot to me! So I think I'll hold onto this. I'll give it back to you after I get what I want, so you better stay the fuck away from U.A, got that!?"

"But you can't become a hero, it's too dangerous for someone like you."

…

That's right… The answer's right in front of me… I can't be a hero, I know that now. So if that's that, then I can just tell him and get my journal back right?

But wait, if I don't wanna be a hero anymore, then why do I even need the notebook!? Ugh! This is so confusing! What do I want!?

In his big swirl of emotions, Izuku lifted his head up out of his thoughts and acted completely on instinct, reaching out quickly and grabbing a small corner of his hero notebook.

Bakugo instantly noticed the small tug on the piece of parchment and turned his head back with fire in his eyes and a smile on his lips. It was as if he had just gotten the correct answer to something he was waiting for.

"What do you think you're doing, nerd!? Let go of that right now before you piss me off!"

Almost simultaneously when the words left his lips, Izuku's soul left his body, losing his nerve completely and releasing the pressure on his fingers and letting the notebook go.

…

Or at least he would have if his hand wasn't stuck to it like glue for some reason.

"You wimp! I told you to let go! You think I'm playing around right now!?" Bakugo yelled, now standing up getting serious, as well as grabbing the attention of the whole lunchroom.

"Hehe, looks like Midoriya's about to catch another beating."

"Poor kid, when will he learn to stop messing with Bakugo?"

"Ha! Screw him! Kick his butt Katsuki!"

Izuku did his best to ignore the chattering around the lunchroom as tears swelled in his eyes in a panic. "K-kacchan, I-I'm trying! It's stuck, just gimme a second to-"

Before the quirkless teen could finish his desperate sentence, he felt a ringing in the back of his head. It felt extremely uncomfortable. Like there was something in his brain trying to tell him something.

With wide eyes and a sudden realization in his mind, Izuku quickly looked back up to the situation at hand to see that there was a fist coming at him. Courtesy of his blonde friend turned bully.

W-what? Why is it so slow? He thought with surprise written all over his features. It was almost like time had slowed down for a moment around the entire lunch room, and only he was at normal speed.

Either way, Izuku was timid, not stupid. So without another moment's notice, he craned his neck out of the way slightly while still holding onto his notebook. Making it so that Bakugo's fist would pass right by his cheek.

And as it turned out, this was exactly what happened. Except to everyone else, it just looked like Izuku had the reflexes of a seasoned pro hero.

Dozens of gasps were heard across the whole cafeteria as Bakugo missed his punch decisively. Not even he could believe what just happened. This was apparent when he took a few seconds to wipe the look of utter surprise off his face and reel his fist back to a resting position.

Now absolutely steaming with anger, the blonde boy's face was no longer sporting a competitive smile. Instead, his eyes showed pure hatred and fury as he opened his mouth to speak again with gritted teeth. "I'm only gonna say this one more time you useless Deku. Let go right now, or we're really gonna have a problem."

Shivering ever so slightly at the teen's words, Izuku tried once again to let go of his precious notebook, but to no avail. Even when Bakugo began tugging on it more and more, it only felt like his grip on it only tightened.

Still too confused and scared to speak, Izuku began to panic as he tried and tried again to let go. Unfortunately though, to Bakugo, these frantic attempts looked more like resistance than compliance.

"Alright! That's it!" Katsuki yelled as he quit playing around and began pulling forcefully on the hero notebook.

Izuku could tell immediately that his former friend was done with the games when his face began to strain as he pulled with all his might. The only thing that was still perplexing to the green haired boy at this point was why he wasn't being pulled out of his seat if his hand was stuck to the notebook…

Is… Is he really pulling as hard as he can? It looks like he is. But then why does it feel like nothing to me?

"Agh! You braindead nerd! Let go already!" Bakugo huffed, now putting a leg up on the lunch table for more leverage as he pulled even harder.

All of the sudden, Izuku's heart dropped as he heard a small, yet very distinguishable ripping noise coming from his prized possession. He looked up and noticed that a small corner of his notebook had begun to tear. "Begun" being the key word, because before it could get any worse, something inside the boy cried out, and out of nowhere, his hand came unstuck in a heartbeat.

"What the-woah!" Bakugo yelled as he gained full control of the parchment back, only to go sailing back and bumping into another table with all the force he was using before to pull. This would have been the end of things had he also not bumped into another student with lunch in his hands, causing them to drop a glass of orange juice right onto the explosive boy's head.

Sitting there, his head wet with orange juice, and absolutely sizzling with anger, Bakugo looked up with the eyes of a psychopath looking for his target…

Only for the spot where the quirkless teen once was to be empty.

No one in the cafeteria dared to laugh at the blonde haired boy. Even when he stood up and left the lunch room without another word, no one dared to speak for a good five minutes. One laugh, no matter how good was not worth getting on Katsuki's bad side, that was for sure.

"Hey, Katsuki! Wait up!" One of his followers said, following the blonde out of the cafeteria. "So what's the plan? Are you gonna find Deku and fight him?"

"Yeah," The third friend of their group added as he caught up to them. "He needs to learn his place, he can't do that kind of stuff to you and get away with it Katsuki."

Bakugo however, never responded to the two boys. Instead he was walking slowly while continuously looking down at the slightly torn hero notebook with a serious expression. Now that he was replaying the scenario of what just happened back in his mind, the blonde realized that Izuku had barely even said a word throughout that whole engagement. Something was up, that was for sure. And Katsuki was gonna get to the bottom of it.

Deku's never shown any signs of a spine like that before...

"Um, Katsuki?" One of his followers began again. "Did you hear me? Aren't we gonna get back at Deku?"

"Yeah! We should totally embarrass him in front of the whole school! That way we can get our respect back. I'm sure people will start talking bad about us after today."

"Tch," Bakugo spat, a snarl coating his features as he turned and glared at the pair. "Who gives a crap what those extras think of me. Do what you want, I couldn't care less about that useless Deku."

The two boys just stood there confused as they watched the boy walk off silently. What had gotten into him?

Izuku didn't know how long he ran for once he left the school, all he could think about were the events that had just transpired in the cafeteria. Crap! Kacchan is totally gonna to kill me tomorrow!

Before he could continue with this negative train of thought though, Izuku shook his head violently as he picked up speed in his sprint. No! Stop thinking about that! I have way bigger issues right now! Like why my fingers are all sticky now! Or what that ringing in my head was! And come to think of it… I've been running for a while now, why am I not out of breath yet!?

Eventually, the green haired teen came up onto an abandoned alleyway, slipping into it quietly and leaning against the wall. "W-what's happening to me?" What was going on? Did this have anything to do with why he looked so fit this morning? He figured that was just some fluke! He wasn't abnormally big or anything after all, and his school uniform still fit him fine.

So if that wasn't from taking so many beatings and running from Kacchan, then what was it?

Still clueless and looking for answers, Izuku looked down at his palm glumly. Because of this stupid hand of his he was probably about to get the beating of his life tomorrow.

"Why couldn't I let go? It took me almost having a heart attack about my notebook just for me to unstick myself," Izuku mumbled to himself. Squinting his eyes and getting a good look at the tips of his fingers.

"A-are… Are those tiny hairs!?" The boy practically screeched as he stared his hands down worriedly.

For a moment however, the boy stopped to think. These tiny hairs on the ends of his fingers rang a bit of a bell in his mind.

Ugh, I hate science! Why didn't I pay attention in biology last year!

Racking his brain, the boy stood there in the alley for a few more minutes before a lightbulb finally rang in his brain.

"Scopulae! The tiny hairs on the leg of a spider that help them grip onto things! Uhhh, and I think the smaller microscopic ones were called uhhh. Setlutes? No! Setules! Yeah! They're the reasons spiders can climb on walls with so much more than their body weight!"

Smiling at his proud little moment of intellect, Izuku took his sweet time in realizing exactly what he just said and what it meant for him.

…

Wait… Did I just say, spiders!?

In an instant, the memories of last light flooded into the teenager's mind. A very specific one about getting bit by an abnormally large, and oddly colored spider taking center spot among those memories.

That spider, I knew it looked weird! There aren't any blue and red colored species in Japan! So… Does that mean that a spider bite gave me a quirk!?

Izuku all of a sudden regretted tossing the dead spider in the dumpster the night before. He was sure it would have given him some really valuable information if he would have kept it and examined it a bit further.

Well, I could always go back to that alley and go dumpster diving…

But now wasn't the time for that, now was the time for answers.

With a look of new determination brewing, Izuku turned around and faced the brick wall behind him. He had ended up holding off his final decision last night on whether or not he could be a hero. But now, things were different, this wasn't a guaranteed chance just yet, but it was something. And he was sure as hell gonna test it out and see it through.

Carefully, the green haired boy reached out and pressed all five of his right fingers against the cold surface of the brick wall. When he budged them and they felt secure, he continued and placed his left hand slightly higher and pulled.

To his surprise, as well as utter joy, Izuku effortlessly pulled himself up and stuck to the wall completely. I'm doing it! I'm actually doing it! I have a quirk! He thought happily as tears surfaced in his eyes. So overcome by emotion, the boy lifted his hand, along with one foot this time, to try and continue climbing. But much to his surprise, the second his foot touched the wall and his hands let go to move up, the boy slipped off the wall and fell right back down into the alley.

"What the-" Izuku began in bewilderment as he looked down at his foot. Why did my foot slip? Do I not have any scopulae on my-

The meek teenager cut his thought off and slapped his forehead for his own foolishness. Of course his feet wouldn't stick to anything. His shoes were probably blocking the setules from grabbing anything!

And so, after rapidly taking off his shoes and putting them away in his backpack. Izuku began climbing the wall once again. Thankful for the fact that his setules were working through his socks as he climbed higher and higher.

When he reached the top, the boy shakily sat down on the roof, the realization of what he just did still not sinking in.

"I actually have a quirk. This is real, I'm not dreaming!" He mumbled as tears formed in his eyes once more. This was truly a dream come true! Sure, it wasn't the most flashy power out there, but it was something! Maybe after some training and some creative thinking he could make this useful for hero work!

Just as his brain was getting going with crazy hero ideas and cool ways to use this power, Izuku put on the brakes and stayed silent for a moment.

Ok. Hold on. Don't get ahead of yourself Izuku. There's still more questions here than answers. Like what that ringing in my head earlier was, and why I don't get tired from running for twenty minutes straight. Also, if that weird spider really did give me this power, can I really call it a quirk? Ugh, I guess I do need to pay that dumpster a visit. This is gonna suck, but I need answers.

After climbing down from the small apartment building and running around town for a bit, Izuku was easily able to find the alley in which he had the encounter yesterday. Not only was the sight of it still fresh on his mind, but it was also right in his path where he walked home everyday, which made things much easier.

Right as the boy arrived however, he noticed one very horrifying detail that shattered his big plan into tiny bits.

"No! The dumpster's empty! The trash collectors must have come and emptied it!"

With a heavy sigh, the super-powered teen sat down glumly right across from the big green dumpster. With nothing else to do, he let his eyes wander deeper into the alley. Surprisingly, it wasn't that much further. Just five or so meters from where he sat he could see that it led to nothing, a dead end.

Huh, that's weird. If this alley doesn't lead anywhere, what were those two creepy guys doing here last night? Izuku thought as a chill ran down his spine from thinking of those two again.

The boy was broken out of his musing though when his wandering eyes landed on a small cardboard box that was sitting against the wall deeper into the alley.

"Huh?"

Standing up and shuffling over to it for a closer look, Izuku examined the outside of it. Even going as far as to sniff the air around it to make sure he wasn't about to see a severed head inside.

When all of his tests came back clear, the green haired boy reached for the cover before stopping as he spotted some letters written in sharpie on the lid. When it became clear to the boy that squinting really hard would not help him read in the dark, he picked up the box and moved back to the front of the alley where the sun was shining, finally able to see three letters written sloppily on the lid.

"AFO? What does that mean?" Izuku mumbled to himself before finally quenching his curiosity and taking the lid off of the box. He already knew that whatever it was, it had to be substantial. When he picked it up a few seconds ago, it had a decent weight to it. Either way, he was about to find out.

When the teen opened up the cardboard box at last, he saw something quite unexpected. It was both something that he was very familiar with, while also completely unknown to him. How was that possible one might ask? Well, the answer was simple.

Comic books, the box was absolutely filled to the brim with comic books. Well, that and a few VHS tapes, all items having one thing in common. They were all labeled: Spider-Man.

"Spider-Man? I've never heard of this guy? Is he a pro hero?"

What the heck are these doing here anyway? Did someone throw them out? It would make sense since they're by the dumpster, but who would throw away such a big collection?

Izuku was no slouch when it came to the nerdy world of comics. He wasn't the biggest collector in the world, but he still had a decent amount of All Might ones. There were at least twenty different issues in his closet that he knew he had to have once he read them, but that was it. He wasn't some huge basement dweller or anything.

This stack inside the cardboard box however, now this was a collection. There must have been hundreds of comic books in here! Without even thinking, Izuku picked up what seemed to be the very first issue. It was labeled differently than all the other ones, and it was stacked very neatly at the very top of the pile.

"Amazing Fantasy #15" Izuku read out loud with a heavy accent. It was just now dawning on him that all of these comic books were in English…

This however, did not deter the boy at all from opening up the cover and reading the first panel. Sure, his English wasn't the best, but it was very above average for a Japanese person. Being a huge fan of All Might meant learning all about his time in America. And that included learning to decipher news stories that were all completely in English.

After a few minutes of confusion, the green haired boy quickly caught on that American comics were read from left to right and began scrolling through the first issue.

Page after page, Izuku's eyes widened even more. Was this some kind of joke? What was going on here? This boy Peter Parker was going through exactly what he was going through!

Or is it the other way around? Izuku thought before continuing his reading. He even managed to laugh out loud when he found out that this boy in the comics also had a loud and obnoxious blonde bully.

But the real juicy part came when the boy got his powers. This is where Izuku really buckled down and paid attention. He took note that the first power the boy in the comic displayed was being able to jump high and cling onto a wall to avoid a car. The boy then climbed all the way to the top and gripped a metal pipe, crushing it as if it were made of paper!

"What!? Jumping? Super strength? Can I do that?" Izuku thought out loud as he set the comic book down gently along with the others. He could feel in the paper that it was way older than the comics that he was used to dealing with, so he was gonna make sure to be extra careful with them.

Wanting to do a quick test to see if he could do the things that this comic character could, Izuku walked over to the dumpster and crouched down, not wasting any time in sliding his fingers underneath it and applying force. Much to the green haired boy's surprise, he didn't even need to exert himself all that much. With ease he picked up the empty dumpster, it felt completely weightless to him! This was incredible! Was he really this strong? How did he not notice this before? And how did he not completely destroy something by accident at school today?

Maybe I didn't really feel it since I'm kinda timid by nature...

Pretty soon, one thought led to another, and Izuku went wide eyed when he remembered his impromptu tug-of-war with Bakugo and how he wasn't even budging an inch against all of the blonde boy's strength. I can't believe it! I'm stronger than Kacchan!

Before he could get too excited though, the super-powered teen swiftly took his shoes off again and threw them to the side. Once he was ready, he crouched down once again, but this time, instead of moving his hands, he sprung up and jumped as high as he could.

For what felt like the tenth time in the last ten minutes, Izuku's mouth went wide as he soared through the air and looked down, he had to have been at least eight or nine meters in the air right now!

Izuku was right at the peak of his jump when he reached his hands and feet out and perched softly onto the wall. It looked like he was sorta getting the hang of this sticking thing. And not only that, but he could almost see the top of the building he was attached to. This was a five story building! And he just jumped almost three of those stories!

Doing his best to calm his heart rate, the green haired boy took a deep breath and urged himself to let go of the wall. However, unlike earlier today, his body obeyed and his hands and feet became unstuck.

With that, the teen landed on his feet with a small thud against the pavement. Wincing slightly as the only thing between his bare feet and the hard ground was the thin layer of his socks. That was beside the point though, he could work out something so trivial. The big thing to focus on was the fact that he finally had a way to be a hero!

Right?

In truth, there was still a lot of doubt in his mind, and rightfully so. He still had no one to believe in him, as well as the cruel words that still haunted his mind from his biggest hero.

That and the fact that this power was still a huge mystery to him. The only things he could link them to were this alleyway where a weirdly colored spider bit him. Well, that and now this mysterious box filled with American comics that somehow showcased a hero with all the same powers as him…

Oh well, one thing's for sure, I'm definitely taking these home and reading them some more. I'm sure no one will mind since they were left by the dumpster.

Shigaraki moped as he shuffled through the portal and sat down at the bar back at his base, his partner following suit and closing the portal. As much as he wanted to turn Kurogiri into dust right now, he held back. Losing the specimen wasn't totally his fault after all, he shouldn't have had the shadow man practice his powers in such a small place as this to begin with. Still though, he was really bummed that he wouldn't be getting his favorite hero's superpowers anymore.

Well, calling Spider-Man a hero would be a bit of a stretch since he was a fictional character. But still, he was still way cooler than someone like All Might and the rest of this godforsaken hero society.

In the end though, he was still very surprised that master had even granted him the spider in the first place. He knew that master could give quirks to pretty much anything, but he didn't really know if it inconvenienced him or not.

Either way though, he wasn't about to tell him flat out that he lost the thing. He had already dumped his stash of comics that he got from master's library in hopes that his intentions with the spider weren't too obvious. Now all he needed was for this whole thing to blow over.

Speaking of the wonderful man, there he was calling him right now…

Crap!

"Ehem, Uh, hello master, how are you today?"

"I am quite well Shigaraki Tomura. How about you? I trust that things went well with the spider I sent you?"

"Ah yes! Things are perfect! I've uh, actually stored him away for future use. You see I figured that I would use it to strengthen my ranks later on with other members. As you know, I am already quite satisfied with the strength of my own quirk."

"I see, very well. That is quite wise of you. And I also trust that Kurogiri is progressing soundly?"

"Yes master, he's been a great help. One of the most versatile quirks I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing!"

"Very good, I will inform you of any other Nomu's that make a significant breakthrough."

"Thank you master, I appreciate that."

Right when it appeared that the call was about to end and relieve the pale skinned man, the dark menacing voice on the other end spoke one last time.

"Ah yes, and one more thing, my young disciple."

"Y-yes master?"

"Please take good care of that specimen I gave you. I've had the power that resides in it for quite a long time. It's from my younger days, and I'm sure that I don't need to remind you how much those meant to me…"

Y-yes, of course, master, will do…" Shigaraki said with an audible gulp.

Chapter Text

Inko Midoriya was very particular when it came to Izuku. Before these past few days, she thought she had her son read down to a tee. Anytime something was wrong, she could usually get him to tell her what it was and that was that. But lately, Izuku was all over the place. First, he comes back insanely late from school with little to no explanation whatsoever. And now, just yesterday, he came back as happy as could be. She had never seen the boy display so much happiness and energy before. It was honestly alarming. That and the fact that she had gotten a call from the school last night that her son had missed the entire second half of the day.

Now it was early the next morning, and Izuku still looked quite energetic as he wolfed down his breakfast in only a couple minutes.

She watched cautiously as her son got up and wiped his mouth, a satisfied smile gracing his lips. " Bye  Mom! I don't wanna be late again!"

"Of course dear! Make sure you finish school today!" She said back as she watched his form disappear out the door.  What is going on with him? I thought only teenage girls were supposed to be this confusing!

Izuku walked to school with a little extra pep in his step today. He might not have been exactly overflowing with confidence now, but he still had a quirk right? Well, maybe not. After spending the better part of last night reading as many Issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as he could, he figured out a couple more things about his powers in general.

One thing was that they were probably just that, powers. It didn't make sense for him to have multiple quirks at the same time in the  exact  same way that Peter did. Even if he was just a fictional character, it just wasn't probable. This made the most sense to him for two big reasons.

One was the glaring fact that quirks obviously couldn't be transferred from person to person. He learned that the spider that bit Peter Parker altered his DNA  in order to  give him spider-like traits. And as crazy as that sounded, it was still more believable than giving a quirkless person a completely new quirk gene. Given what he knew about quirks, which to be fair, was a lot. That shouldn't be possible.

The second reason behind his theory was what he had just thought earlier, Spider-Man wasn't real. When the hero's name wasn't ringing any bells, the boy did an online search and came up with nothing. And considering that there was no hero society in the comics he was reading, it meant that it had to just be American fiction.

Either way, after school later, he was gonna stop by his local comic shop and ask one of the employees who worked there. Maybe they knew something that he didn't. He even brought an issue with him to show them in his backpack. If his memory served him correctly, it was issue #13. But that was beside the point, on top of the non-quirk status of his powers, Izuku cleared up one other big thing that had been bothering him.

In issue #2, he learned that the ringing in his head was called a  spider sense , and it was incredibly useful. It essentially warned him ahead of time whenever something was about to harm or affect him in any negative way. To him, that was easily one of his coolest powers considering it had saved his bacon the day before, but super strength was  definitely  a close second.

Another useful tip the boy picked up from the comics was that he could  apparently  heal his body much faster than a normal human could. Which he already knew was gonna come in handy.

One of these days I  really  need to go somewhere deserted and test out my powers at their full potential. Who knows? Maybe I can lift  up  an entire  semi truck ! And maybe my healing factor works on more than just wounds, maybe I'm immune to diseases too!

School mostly flew by that day for the young  green haired  boy. And as far as he could tell, things were ok on the side of his bullies as well. Bakugo and his friends never even so much as grazed him today. All he got was a dirty snarl from the blonde every time they made eye contact. Izuku figured he must have been biding his time before he went all out and murdered him, but for once, he wasn't worried. He had what he needed to defend himself now, so things were good now...

…

Ok, so maybe he was still a tiny bit scared of Kacchan, and maybe he wasn't as courageous as he thought he was… but could you blame him? One little good day doesn't necessarily erase a whole lot of bad ones.

Still  though, he  definitely  felt more sure of himself now that he had powers. But at the same time, he wasn't about to use them to get back at Kacchan either. He'd read about what Peter went through for not using his powers responsibly. And he was not about to make the same mistakes as him. One could even say that the lesson of responsibility was instilled into Izuku more firmly because of how big a fanboy he was by nature.

Wow, Spider-Man sure is growing on me fast! He's not even a real pro and I already look up to him!  Izuku thought to himself as he exited the school. He had  actually  let his mom know ahead of time what his plans were after school, courtesy of his backup phone. Except she thought he was going for some of his nerdy All Might merchandise, not to get an opinion on some comics he found in a random alleyway.

Yikes, just thinking of All Might now left a frown on the boy's face as he walked down the street in silence. He had looked up to him for so long only to be crushed without a second thought from the man.

But at least now I have a chance to become a hero!  Izuku told himself with all the strength he could muster.

The real question now was, did he believe it? Did he truly believe with his whole being that he could be a hero? He was inclined to say yes and move forward, but something stopped him, and he knew exactly what it was.  How? How can I do it? No one believes in me. Heck, I barely believe in myself! If I'm still scared of Kacchan at school, then how the hell am I supposed to become a hero!?

"Hiyaa!"

The boy was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a loud shout from down the street. It sounded like it had come from multiple people at the same time, like a synchronized cry.

Looking around and realizing where he was. The boy soon found out he was close to the comic shop, which was admittedly, a bit far from his house. He was somewhat familiar with the area, but he still took the time to look around and inspect the street he was on. There was a small coffee shop right on the corner, as well as a variety of other shops across the street from where he was standing. But those places weren't what grabbed his attention.

"Hiyaa!"

There it was again, and that was all the confirmation the  green haired  boy needed to walk across the street and peer into the open window of the small little fighting dojo. It was surprisingly roomy inside, fitting what looked to be at least fifty disciples as they practiced striking all together in perfect harmony.

The Sensei looked to be quite strong as well. And something about his orange hair looked very familiar to Izuku. He must have been an old pro, but he wouldn't know for sure until he consulted one of his notebooks.

"Hiyaa!"

The super-powered teen must have sat there for an entire half hour watching the students practice and hone their skills. It  really  got him thinking about all the tools heroes needed to have out in the field.  I guess that's another thing I'm gonna need if I wanna be a hero. I'm gonna need to know how to fight.  Izuku thought glumly, once again thinking ill of himself as he continued to watch how amazing all the students were.

How the heck was he supposed to get to a level like them!?

"Uhh, what are you doing?"

"Ahhh!" Izuku shrieked in a little higher of a pitch than he would have preferred as the new voice confronted him. Turning around, he saw that there was an orange haired girl giving him an odd look, as well as a tall indigo haired guy standing behind her somewhat timidly. Though that wasn't what Izuku first observed about the boy, No, what really got to him was the boy's school uniform.

That guy! He goes to  U.A !  But Izuku didn't have time to keep thinking because the girl was already talking again.

"You know you don't have to just watch right? Go in there and sign up. It's really friendly," she said with a winning smile.

"O-oh, uh, I uh, I-I don't think I uh…"  Is she talking to me? Why is she talking to me!? Why is a girl talking to me!?

After a few seconds of hearing some very heavy stuttering, the  orange haired  girl rolled her teal eyes and sighed. Why was she a magnet for these types of people? Maybe it was because she lived in a fighting studio, but she'd seen plenty of guys like this before. And much like the others, he probably wanted to join the dojo to get a little confidence boost. And hey, more power to him. It's what she had been trying to get her friend behind her to do for a long time, but Tamaki just wouldn't budge.  Oh well, at least I have the patience to deal with these guys.

"Seriously, It's fine, go right on in and sign up. Let's just say I'm close with the management here and they're good people. What's your name?" She said kindly once again, this time extending her hand for a friendly shake.

Izuku could barely form a coherent sentence in his mind right now, so he was damn sure that if he opened his mouth, things were gonna go south fast. But he couldn't just run away right here, right?

"Um… No! I just, I mean-sorry! I didn't mean  to-uhhh … I've gotta go!"

With that, Izuku took off as fast as he could in the opposite direction, leaving the girl hanging as she frowned and lowered her hand.

Turning a corner and breathing heavily, the  green haired  boy did his best to collect his nerves and stomp them out.  What the heck was that!? My first conversation with a girl and I  totally  messed it up! Ugh, why was that so hard!? I could barely even think! It probably didn't help that she was really cute too. Should I go and apologize?

Figuring that an apology was the best course of action, Izuku walked back around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when the two teens were still standing in front of the dojo, but what the boy didn't expect, was that the girl seemed to be chewing out the guy for some reason, what was that all about.?

Without another moment's notice, Izuku looked around quickly, when he was sure the coast was clear, he climbed up onto the small building neighboring the dojo. From there, it was only a small hop and he was in a perfect position, perching himself right over the two teens and getting an earful of their whole conversation.

"Ugh, don't even get me started on this Tamaki! You are an amazing student! And you're gonna be an even better hero someday! I don't understand why you keep doubting yourself!"

"I know, you say that all the time Itsuka, but you don't understand what I'm going through! Mirio has been so busy lately! It's only been a couple of days, but I barely even see him anymore! Something about some special training."

"And how does that affect you? Are you jealous or something!?" The girl huffed, she was  clearly  becoming irritated.

"No! Of course not!  Actually,  it's just the opposite! I'm unbelievably happy for him! It's just, sometimes I feel like I'm nothing when he's not around. I guess I just rely on his confidence rubbing off on me you know? He was the first person to ever believe in me!"

Izuku widened his eyes at the unexpected turn this conversation was taking. He knew that this was getting  really  personal and that he should probably just go, but something inside him kept him glued to his spot on the dojo's roof. So far this conversation had hit  really  close to home for him, and he wanted to see it through. Who knows? Maybe he could find a way to help this  obviously  timid natured  U.A  student.

"Oh my goodness, is that  really  it? Don't say that Tamaki! How many times do I have to tell you that you're amazing on your own until you believe me!?"

When the girl got no response, she simply sighed, rubbed her temples  and  hunkered down. "Alright, I'm tired of seeing you like this Tamaki, time for you to cowboy up and be your own best friend. You're not always gonna have someone that's there to believe in you! It sucks, but that's just life! It happens to everyone, so you know what you do? You get up, you don't take crap from anyone, and you believe in yourself! Who cares what someone else thinks!? As long as you believe in yourself, then you'll never be alone! Yes, Togata-san is your friend, but you shouldn't let him affect you this extremely. At the end of the day, you're the one that has to fight your own battles, not him, so believe in yourself, man!"

"I-I, I'll try… Thank you Itsuka, you're a good friend." The boy said shakily.

A small hint of a smile appeared on the girl's lips before she turned around and began walking into the dojo. "Don't mention it, Tamaki, I meant every word. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm already late for training. Talk to you later."

Once the  orange haired  girl disappeared behind the doors of the dojo, the boy dropped his confident smile in favor of slumped shoulders and a look of despair.

Aw man, Is that really what I look like all the time?  Izuku thought with a frown. If anything, he felt pity for the boy. He was going through something very similar himself. But one big difference that was just now sinking into Izuku was the conversation he just heard.

While the  U.A  student sort of just brushed it off as if it were just blind encouragement, Izuku began letting the words sink deep into his mind. Thinking about them more and more with every passing second.

" As long as you believe in yourself, then you'll never be alone!"

Izuku didn't know how many times he kept repeating that phrase in his head. All he knew was that each time he thought about it hit harder than the last, never failing to bring goosebumps to the surface of his skin.

"How could I have been so blind?" Izuku mumbled as he took the backpack off of his shoulders and opened it up. Before long, the  green haired  teen pulled out his copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #13. "This whole time, the answer was right in front of me…"

" Who cares what someone else thinks!?"

"I've had these powers for almost two days now… Why did I hesitate?" He mumbled once more, gripping the comic book in his hand tightly as tears surfaced in his eyes…

"I… I can do it… I can be a hero!" Izuku cried out to the sky, finally letting his emotions bubble over and tears slip down his cheeks.

Later that night, Izuku arrived home, a  never ending  smile gracing his lips as he entered his house and greeted his mom. He was thankful that it was a Friday so that he could stay up late planning his next move. He had stopped by the comic book shop and showed the owner his Spider-Man comic, and just as he expected, the very nerdy man had never heard of the  arachnid themed  hero before. Even after phoning a fellow comic lover from America, the store owner still came up with nothing. This along with his unexpected pep talk from the redheaded girl from earlier had convinced him of the next step he needed to take to becoming a hero. Now all he needed was a weekend to start planning things out and he would be set.

I  really  need to find a chance to go back and thank her.

"Thanks for having the food ready  mom , but I've got a lot of homework, so I'm gonna take this to my room."

"O-oh, well, I guess that's ok Izuku," the  frail looking  woman said softly. Staying silent for a moment before speaking up. "I-I… I'm glad you're feeling better Izuku. You look more sure of yourself somehow… D-did you u-umm, did you decide on a new career choice yet? I saw the forms you brought home the other day about high schools… And I think it's  really  brave that you were able to cross out U.A like that…"

Izuku froze in his tracks on his trek back to his room, stiffening up almost immediately as he felt his shoulders begin to slump.

" Who cares what someone else thinks!?"

Widening his eyes in realization, the  green haired  boy stopped his shoulders and reversed their movement, pushing them back and standing prouder than he ever had before in his life. With fire in his eyes and conviction in his heart, Izuku turned back to his mother, a determined smile displayed profoundly on his lips.

"Nope, that was a mistake  mom . I'm  definitely  gonna get into  U.A  next year! Just you wait!"

Without another word, the boy turned back around and walked right into his room  and  closed the door behind him softly, leaving his mother completely speechless.

I-Izuku… I… I've never seen you like this before. What's going on with you?

Conviction, he finally had the conviction to step up and do what he wanted to do with his life. That, as well as the means to get there. Now all he had to do was apply himself and make it all come true.

Thank you, random redhead girl! I'll never forget what you did for me today! You may not even know what you did, but that's ok, I swear I'll make it up to you one day! But for now, I'm  really  gonna do it! I'm gonna be the greatest pro hero ever, Spider-Man!

Chapter Text

Now that Izuku was all in on becoming Spider-Man, he needed to buckle down and prepare himself from multiple different angles. Normally he would have been weary of completely ripping off something as important as an entire hero identity, even if it was fiction. But considering that not even the biggest nerd he knew recognized his new red and blue friend, he would let it slide for now.

I really hope no one ends up recognizing me, I wouldn't wanna get sued or something…

However, soon the super powered teen shook himself out of the silly thought as he found the page he was looking for.

It was currently very early Saturday morning, the day after he made his awe inspiring decision that he could in fact become a hero. And right now specifically, he was standing on the ceiling in his room re-reading Amazing Fantasy #15.

"There it is, found it." He mumbled, biting his thumb gently as he read the panels over multiple times. The specific page he was on showed Peter Parker constructing some kind of support item for his wrists, his so-called "Web Shooters."

"Ugh," Izuku grunted, allowing his bare feet to unstick from the ceiling and landing on his floor softly. He had already read through the page a couple times, and nowhere in any of the panels were any parts or ingredients mentioned.

"Oh well, I figured the comic books wouldn't have all the answers. I guess I'm gonna have to use my brain for this part."

While it was true that Izuku was no slouch when it came to his intellect and grades, placing second in his middle school class right behind Bakugo. He knew that it wouldn't be sufficient for the kind of things he was planning.

Speaking modestly, his grades were completely unmatched in English, Japanese and History. But in order to create such a complex mechanism, as well as the chemical formula to produce the ammunition, his not so perfect Math, Physics, and Chemistry grades were gonna need a lot more effort put into them…

"Ugh, of course all three of my worst subjects are part of the things I'm missing. I'm gonna have to ask some of my teachers if they're willing to teach me extra after school."

The green haired boy was no doubt gonna dread that specific part of his plan. Especially when he was sure his quirkless status was gonna affect the answers of some teachers. But such a small obstacle was not about to stop him, not now after he finally had some confidence in himself.

I'll do it! It'll be worth it in the end, and I know I can pull it off if I study hard enough. Watch out Kacchan! I'm coming for your number one seat!

Just as Izuku was getting pumped up at the thought of the brand new challenge, another idea popped into his mind. One that he could start even sooner than Monday! Maybe he could go to a bookstore and buy some college textbooks! He was planning on going out today to test his powers fully anyway, he could easily make a couple stops along the way.

Hurrying to pick up his wallet, the green haired boy checked it with hope in his heart that he would have some spare change lying around, but to no avail… He was severely lacking funds…

"Darn, why did I have to buy that new All Might figurine last month," he said with a sigh.

Looking around his room and seeing all of his symbol of piece memorabilia, Izuku couldn't help but feel a little bit awkward about it. It wasn't that it made him mad to have to stare at it all the time or anything, but he would be lying if he said that it didn't feel kinda wrong.

Do… Do I really not like All Might anymore?

Pondering the question more deeply, Izuku did his best to take out his bias. At the end of the day, All Might probably didn't mean to be as cruel as he felt when he said those words to him. The number one hero was just looking out for his safety, and that was that, right?

Well, yes… But also no.

Sure, to All Might, that might have been the right thing to say. But to Izuku, no matter how good his intentions were, it didn't make it hurt any less. And now that he ended up with powers and a chance to rewrite his story, worshiping him like this just didn't feel right.

Reaching out gently to one of his more expensive All Might figurines, Izuku took it off of his shelf and looked at its perfect condition. It was still in the box, the very same box that it was put in when it was made. He was standing in his signature victory pose, as well as wearing his iconic silver age costume. It was a product that truly lived up to the name limited edition.

Dancing circles inside of his brain, Izuku was at an impasse. He knew for a fact that he could very easily sell this thing at the comic shop for at least ¥50,000, which would definitely be enough for some good quality textbooks and then some.

But now the only question was, should he do it? He remembered exactly when he got this figurine. It was from his mother back on his tenth birthday, which made it undoubtedly one of his most prized possessions.

Shutting his eyes tight and clenching his teeth, Izuku fought back the tears he knew were coming. He needed to be strong, he wanted to be a hero now, no more fairy tales! He finally had the opportunity to become everything he ever wanted, as well as the backing of someone who would always be with him; himself!

That's right! He believed in himself! And he had made a commitment! He would not break it on the very first day!

Winning the battle against his threatening tears, the super powered teen grabbed his backpack and placed the All Might figurine inside of it, along with a brand new hero notebook labeled #14.

With that, he got dressed and collected his things once again before walking out the door to his room. He had an agenda and he was gonna stick to it, even if it killed him.

"Alright then, hero analysis journal for the future #14, entry one: Spider-Man" Izuku mumbled what he wrote as he began his first entry in his new notebook. It was actually pretty handy not having to come up with a hero name. Without Spider-Man, he probably would've ended up naming himself some kind of lame variation of All Might's name.

Last night he had also begun his rough sketch of his hero costume. This was also rather effortless considering he didn't want to change up the comic version too much, it was really starting to grow on him. One thing he did want to change though, was the color scheme, but he was still undecided on what shade of green he should use.

Oh well, I can always think about that later, right now I should get to why I came here.

At the moment, Izuku was standing in a huge pile of garbage at his town's very own local junkyard. And by junkyard, he meant the hideous Dagobah Beach. Apparently this place had gone from a popular tourist attraction to a garbage dump in the matter of just a few years from people littering.

But this was the last thing on the green haired boy's mind as he stretched his body and prepared himself for what was to come. He was here for one reason, and one reason only; to find out the limit to his enhanced strength.

The sun was almost fully out over the horizon when Izuku finished his little warm up. And so not wanting to waste anymore time, the boy leapt off his pile of trash and landed on the biggest appliance he could find.

Inspecting what looked to be a giant security safe, the super-powered teen nodded in satisfaction and prepared to lift it. It was at least four times his size and looked dense as hell, so he was a bit more careful with this one. But much like his encounter with the dumpster, it was still pretty easy for him to lift off the ground.

"Hmm," Izuku thought as he looked around the ruined beach, the safe still comfortably in his hands. When his eyes found what they were looking for, he didn't hesitate to jump over to it with the safe on his back.

"Perfect!" Izuku said happily, placing the safe on top of a scrapped up car. It was missing all four of it's wheels and looked like it hadn't moved from this spot in years. But to the green haired boy's pleasant surprise, it still had a motor, which was visible due to the fact that it was lacking a hood to cover it.

Nice! With the motor inside of it, it should be close to its full weight! Which I'm guessing is around 1800kg, along with the safe, which should be another 500 or so kg. Now, assuming that the logic in the comics is sound, then the super strength comes from being able to lift multiple times my body weight, just like a spider can. And I read online that most spiders can lift between 150 to 200 times their own body weight, so let's just settle on 175 for the sake of balance.

Now, last night when I was doing my research, I also weighed myself for the first time since I got my powers. And I gained a considerable amount of weight, going from 48 kg to a whopping 60! So knowing that, all I have to do is multiply that by 175 and I have a rough estimate of my weight limit...

Ugh, I can see why I'm gonna need to get better at math now, this is so hard!

Little did Izuku know that he had been mumbling that entire time, much to the amusement of a blonde-haired, blue eyed individual that was now watching him on top of a pile of trash.

Rather than interrupting his train of thought however, the blonde merely sat back and watched as Izuku worked out the problem in his head and came to his solution.

"Got it! If my math is right, then my limit should be right around ten thousand kilograms!"

"Wow, that's pretty impressive!"

"Huh!?" Izuku jumped and turned, the new voice scaring the daylights out of him.

"Oh, sorry about that! I didn't mean to scare you!"

The super-powered teen looked the newcomer up and down, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. He had blonde hair combed back neatly, and blue beady eyes that came off as very friendly to Izuku. It was also obvious that the boy was physically strong, he had a presence about him that somehow just oozed confidence.

"Uh, no! It's fine! I just didn't expect anyone to be out here this early," Izuku started. "I guess, I-I just space out sometimes when I'm deep in thought.

"Haha! I understand what you mean, and I honestly didn't expect to see anyone out here either. I'm actually a little early for my regular training.

That caught Izuku's attention. "Huh? Training? What do you mean?"

All of a sudden, the blonde teen paled as though he had just given something crucial away. But he was fast to recover and respond to the super-powered teen. "Oh uh, it's just this training program that I started a few days ago. Which reminds me, my uh, personal trainer is gonna be here soon, and he's pretty strict about not wasting time, so if it's not too much trouble, do you think you could wrap up what you're doing? I really don't wanna disappoint him."

The green haired teen listened on with curiosity, pausing for a moment at the odd request that he was given. He knew that he didn't have to comply with it if he didn't want to, this was a public beach after all. But this boy had come off pleasant enough as far as he could tell, so he didn't mind humoring him.

"Oh, uh, sure, I don't mind. But do you think you could give a couple minutes? I really wanted to experiment with something at least once so I could get some data to work with."

The blonde boy visibly relaxed at the response he got, once again putting on his wide smile and shooting Izuku a big thumbs up. "You got it! I won't lie, I was wondering what all those numbers you were mumbling were about anyways. So let's see it. Is there any way I could help?"

Smiling at how kind the boy was, Izuku shook his head gently. "Heh, yeah, sorry again about my mumbling. And no, I think I've got it all worked out now. I was calculating a ballpark estimate for my uhh, q-quirk's strength limit, and if all the math is right, then it should be about ten thousand kilos." The boy stuttered, still not used to lying about his powers.

"Oh wow! That's amazing!" The blonde sprung up from his seat, genuine happiness written on his face.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty awesome. But now I have to test it. This car with this military safe on top of it should be somewhere in the range of two thousand kilos, which would be about one fifth of my supposed max. So now I'm gonna lift it up and see if it feels that way."

"Wow! You were running all those numbers in your head without a calculator!? You must be really smart… Uh…"

Realizing that the boy was waiting for his name, the super powered teen spoke up. "Izuku, Izuku Midoriya."

"Haha! Well then, nice to meet you Midorya-san! Mirio Togata at your service!"

Izuku's face remained blank as once again a bell rang in his head about the boy after hearing his name. But he quickly shook it off and responded as to not seem rude to the boy. "O-of course, likewise Togata-san."

"I meant what I said though, you sure are smart! It would have taken me years to run those calculations in my head. And the way you're testing your max is smart too! I would have just run up to big objects at random until I couldn't lift one anymore, hahaha!"

The green haired teen managed a small chuckle at Togata's playful banter, but before long, he got back to work. Opening up his notebook and preparing to mark down if his theory was right or not based on the coming results.

"Alright, here we go," Izuku said, stepping up to the car and crouching down into a power position.

Togata watched on with curiosity as well. While the boy was many times smaller than the object in front of him, it was obvious that he had some sort of strength quirk to make up for that. Either that, or he had just been blowing hot air this entire time.

But much to the blonde's surprise, after a few seconds of waiting, Izuku did in fact lift up the weight placed in front of him. And rather easily at that. Togata almost couldn't believe how effortlessly the boy transferred the weight onto his back, now holding all of it up above his shoulders and pressing it up over his head.

It was truly a bizarre picture, that was for sure.

But what Togata couldn't see, was what Izuku was feeling on the inside. And as much as he hated to admit it, the weight he was currently holding wasn't as light as it looked in his hands.

Wow, it's not really that easy anymore, but this definitely isn't my limit. I'd say that my ballpark estimate of 10,000kg is pretty accurate, and that's just what I can lift! I'm sure I could handle even more if all I had to do was hold it.

After a few more seconds of grunts and general discomfort for the green haired boy, he slowly brought the weight down before gently placing it onto the ground.

"Phew! Wow, that was awesome!" Izuku shouted in excitement. He just lifted a car! How cool was that!?

"Heck yeah it was! How was the weight? To me it looked like you barely even felt it!"

Izuku nodded, explaining the conclusion that he had already come to. "It felt good! It definitely wasn't easy by any means, but I'm sure I could go way higher, especially under stress. I'd say my original calculations are right on target."

Togata smiled, this had been an odd, but welcome start to his normally painful and rigorous mornings. And this boy was quite the character as well, he wanted to know more about him already! The blonde was just about to open his mouth to ask the green haired teen exactly what his quirk was, but suddenly, he felt a buzzing in his pocket, and dread filled his head in a matter of moments.

Taking out his cell phone, Togata opened the text message, already knowing who it was from.

I'm five minutes away, you better be there already warmed up.

The blank expression he was giving dropped like a stone, and it was obvious too, because even Izuku seemed somewhat worried.

"Uhh, Togata-san? Are you alright?" He asked, concern etched all over his face.

"Huh!? Oh yeah! I'm great! But uh, that was my trainer. He said he's on his way, and I need to be ready when he gets here. I'm sorry for doing this to you. I didn't wanna impede your training or anything…"

"Oh, don't worry about it, I got what I came here for," Izuku stated, happily picking up his notebook and collecting his backpack. "I can record the data once I'm out of your hair."

Togata's smile shined brightly, once more back at one hundred percent. "Thank you so much Midoriya-san! It was a pleasure meeting you! I hope we get to cross paths again some day!"

Izuku matched the boy's smile wholeheartedly, nodding in agreement. "Same to you Togata-san, and thanks for being so cool about letting me use my quirk too. I know some people are nitpicky about the law and stuff like that."

"Haha! Of course! Believe me, I find myself using mine when I can too."

If not for the time constraint that he was under, Izuku would have asked the boy what his quirk was in a heartbeat. But now was obviously not the time for that, he needed to show this boy the same kindness he had been shown. So for now, it was time to go.

Hooking his backpack around his shoulders and holding onto his notebook tightly, Izuku bent his knees and sprung up off the sand, easily clearing the beach and clinging onto the side of a building. Once he was secure, he began climbing up steadily, disappearing at the top once he reached it.

"Wow! What a cool guy! I really hope I run into him again! That sure is a versatile quirk!"

Izuku couldn't seem to stop smiling as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop on his way to the comic book shop. Not only did he just have a successful social interaction, but he also just lifted up a freaking car!

Oh yeah, I should write down what I learned! I can't still can't believe my limit is 10,000 kilos! That's insane! The superpowered teen thought proudly as he stopped on a rooftop and opened his notebook. He doubted he would ever forget such crucial information as this, but it was still a good idea to have everything documented.

While the green haired boy wrote down his newfound information, his mind wandered to the other thing that he was excited about for some reason. To most people, having a normal and fluid social interaction was just as easy as breathing. To him it obviously wasn't, but that still didn't make it worth celebrating over, right?

Finishing up his writing, Izuku closed his new notebook and put it down, instead bringing his focus onto his open palm. The more he thought about it, the more it confused him. He was absolutely sure that if he had met Togata-san just a few days ago, he would have been a stuttering mess.

So what was the difference now? He felt like he was in control of himself completely that whole conversation. Sure, he was caught off guard when the guy showed up out of nowhere, but he recovered almost immediately.

Did my powers somehow give me more confidence? Izuku thought as he squeezed his hand into a fist. Sure, he had joked about it the other day when he was just thinking about defending himself from Kacchan, but that was just in theory, he would never actually fight back right?

He had even said it himself, one good day doesn't cancel out a million bad ones.

Or does it? Especially if that one good day is really really good.

Oh well, there was no point in wasting time thinking about it. It wasn't like he would all of a sudden turn into a social extrovert overnight. Not that he wanted to in the first place. Being too timid may have had its downsides, but it was still who he was, and he liked that. He could afford to grow out of it a little of course, but he didn't wanna go too overboard and lose himself at the same time.

I guess it's just human nature to gain a little confidence when you get stronger. The teen shrugged off as he collected his notebook and leapt off the building once again.

Throughout all of these self esteem related thoughts, there was one thing Izuku was one hundred percent sure of.

If he was a sputtering mess after talking to a girl for the first time, even with superpowers. He did not wanna think about what it would've been like without them.

Electrical, civil, structural… Mechanical! There it is! The teen thought ecstatically, grabbing the textbook from the shelf and looking it over.

"Here it is! A college level mechanical engineering textbook. That should be everything."

Satisfied with what was in his hands, Izuku placed the book on top of his already existing stack and went to pay.

Waiting his turn in line, the boy couldn't help but bubble over at all the things he was gonna learn over the next year. He had no doubt that strengthening these subjects would really balance him out as a student. He was already well above average, but he wanted to be better, for multiple reasons.

Wow, I'm actually excited to learn about math and science for once. Izuku thought playfully, knowing full well that his new hero related interest in the subjects would only push him to master them that much more.

"Next in line please."

Stepping up, and placing his stack consisting of math, physics, chemistry and mechanical engineering onto the counter, the green haired teen pulled out his newly filled wallet and grinned widely at its contents.

As it turned out, that specific silver age All Might figurine had become quite rare in the last few years. So rare in fact, that its value had nearly doubled, giving Izuku the crazy payout of ¥85,000. And after hearing a number like that, it was pretty easy to let go of his small remaining attachment to it.

"Um, sir?" The lady behind the counter spoke up, getting the teen's attention. "Are you sure you want these specific textbooks? You look pretty young, and these are meant for college students that are studying just one of them for a focused degree. Are you sure you want all four?"

Never wavering for a second, Izuku only smiled and nodded his head. "Yes ma'am, I'm sure, thank you for your concern though. I know it won't be easy, but I know I can learn all this stuff!"

Ten months, that's how long I have. I'm way behind on both my brain, and my powers, but I'm devoted now, and I believe in myself! So watch out U.A, Spider-Man is coming for you!

"Ughhh," Izuku moaned groggily, doing his best to wipe the fatigue from his eyes as he worked in one of the textbooks.

It had been a solid first week so far from when he first purchased said textbooks. He had been working in each one of them diligently, solving every problem that each textbook presented him with, or at least trying to. Sometimes when a problem was too advanced, he would consult the internet on how to work it out. Which he felt was like every other problem in the physics and chemistry textbook. Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to add letters to math!?

Either way, he was still just as committed as when he first started, so he would persevere. Even if that meant losing a few hours of sleep everyday.

At least Tanto-sensei agreed to give me some more physics and chemistry lessons after school everyday. Maybe I can even ask him about all the stuff that confuses me in the textbook too!

Izuku shut his eyes again and yawned, satisfied with that thought. He would definitely be asking a lot of questions until he got the hang of things as far as science went. He was already lucky enough that he even accepted his request in the first place. His math teacher had denied him before he could even finish his pitch.

He would be lying if he said he didn't see that one coming though. Math class was typically where he got picked on the most, be it by Kacchan or anyone else. He had a feeling that his math teacher had it out for him.

Oh well, at least I'm getting help in both of my sciences, that's where I struggle the most anyway.

But just like any hero, Izuku couldn't grow complacent by just working on his mind, which is why he had begun going back to Dagobah beach in the afternoons for his own version of training.

He made sure that he wasn't interrupting Togata-san's training by checking one morning. And just as he expected, the boy was there. It seemed that his training consisted of cleaning all of the heavy junk off of the beach. As well as having his unusually skinny looking personal trainer chew him out when he was getting tired.

Izuku's training however, was a fair bit different… As well as more relaxed seeing as how he was all by himself. Which was honestly starting to seem more and more like a good thing. Sure, things got lonely sometimes, but he was never a social person anyway, so he was used to it.

His "Hero Training" as he liked to call it, was both, milking as much information as he could out of his comic books, and doing his best to replicate it.

Some days he would work on agility and acrobatics while moving. Which was interesting to say the least. He was no gymnast of course, but he was very much baffled when he found out how easy it was to do a flip once you got over the fear.

On other days, he would attempt to teach himself how to fight.

Which he wouldn't lie, was kinda hard by himself.

He was sure that to a more trained eye, his punches and kicks looked sloppy at best, but the way he saw things, he could make up for bad form with raw power behind his blows.

Which brought him to yet another setback, his own strength.

After wildly throwing punches and managing to accidentally destroy a metal washing machine with a single punch, Izuku quickly figured out that he was gonna have to hold back to avoid accidentally killing someone.

Maybe it wouldn't end up mattering much when he went up against a villain, but he certainly didn't wanna accidentally mess up another student when he got into U.A.

The boy found himself smiling at the way his brain was working now. He really did it, he truly believed in himself now. His first thought about something happening at U.A was when he got in, not if.

Patience and commitment, there wasn't anything a man couldn't do if he had both of those. He was ready, nothing was gonna stop him.

"Aw man, I still need to find time to go give that girl a visit don't I?" He complained softly, already putting that event off and throwing it to the back of his mind.

Pretty soon, the days started to bleed together for Izuku as he fell into a new schedule. Every day was essentially the same, but he didn't care. He knew with every passing day that he was getting closer and closer to his dream.

6AM: Wake Up

6AM-7AM: Read Comics

7AM-3PM: School

3PM-5PM: Science Tutoring With Tanto-sensei

5PM-8PM: Spider Training At Dagobah Beach

8PM-12AM: Textbook Work

Day in and day out Izuku pushed himself as hard as he could. Doing everything he could to both increase his brain power and get caught up on getting used to his "quirk." And after only a couple of months into his grind, both of those goals were seeing major improvements.

On the physical side, the green haired boy was starting to feel a lot more comfortable in his own skin so to say. He now had almost complete control over his setules, priding himself on how fast he could crawl in any direction now. He had even begun working on steadying himself on a wall with just his feet in hopes of being able to run up vertical surfaces too, but he still had ways to go until he had that much control.

On the side of his studies, he really felt like he was making significant progress everyday. It was like everything he learned was tying into his hero training. He couldn't count how many times he'd found himself getting all excited just for making a quick and correct inference when solving a problem just like Peter would. It sure was a great motivator.

On top of that, his tutoring at school couldn't have been going better. Not only was Tanto-sensei nice enough to help him with the parts of his textbooks that confused him, but he was also just plain nice in general.

"Wait, hold on. So the weight placed on a pendulum bob has no effect on swing speed?" Izuku asked, scratching his head in confusion as he waited for to answer.

"Correct, speed and acceleration are not dependent on weight when it comes to something swinging. However, it does heavily affect momentum, so don't forget to factor that into your calculation."

"Momentum! That's what it was! Thank you Tanto-Sensei!" The boy exclaimed ecstatically as he scribbled something down.

The older man couldn't help but smile warmly at the boy. In a way, he reminded him of himself when he was younger. "Haha, of course Midoriya-san, but I do believe that will be it for today. Time sure does manage to get away from us doesn't it?"

Izuku abruptly stopped his note taking to glance up at the clock, a small trace of a frown displaying on his lips. "W-what!? I could've sworn that we just got here!"

"Haha! That's what happens when you're passionate about learning Midoriya-san. I'm so glad you took initiative and decided to try and push for a perfect grade in my class. You really are a natural sponge my boy, soaking up everything I throw at you."

Smiling at the praise from the older man, Izuku rubbed his fingers together nervously. In all honesty, he had been waiting for an opportunity to speak with the man and show him some basic schematics for some web shooters that he had drawn up. The man had already gone above and beyond as far as physics and chemistry tutoring went. He sometimes even went as far as to explain how to read blueprints when he mentioned he was studying mechanical engineering.

"Um, Tanto-sensei? Do you mind if I show you something? It's kinda personal, but I thought you might have some helpful advice."

The grey haired man adjusted his glasses and looked at his student oddly. "Oh, well, I wouldn't say that I give the best personal advice Midoriya-san, I'm more of a facts and logic kind of guy. I'm not too good with feelings and emotions."

"That's perfect!" Izuku exclaimed, flipping to a specific page in his hero notebook and walking up to the teacher's desk. "Sorry, I guess I didn't really mean it's personal, it's just hero related. I've been working on this support item for a while now. I used what you taught me about blueprints and made a pretty good plan for a prototype. Do you think you could take a look at it for me?"

"Oh, good, if that's all it is, then of course Midoriya-san." said politely, taking the notebook and looking the open page over. After just a few seconds of examining the impromptu drawing, the older man widened his eyes at the design. Not only was it thoroughly detailed, but it also seemed practical and doable in a way. Although it certainly wouldn't be easy, that much was for sure.

"Oh wow…"

"So, um, what do you think?"

Looking back up at his student with still wide eyes, gave the boy his feedback. "What do I think? Midoriya-san, this is incredible! How did you come up with this!?"

"Oh, uh, y'know, just some Ideas I've had, gotta think outside the box! Heh."

"Hmm, a web-shooter? It's certainly weird, I'll tell you that much, but also very creative. You've got something big here Midoriya-san. If you ever need any help at all or have any questions when you get to manufacturing them, please let me know and I'll help out however I can."

"R-really!? Wow! Thank you so much Tanto-sensei! That would be incredible!"

"Haha! It's no problem son, just keep studying hard and I'll help you out with anything you need."

This is perfect! With Tanto-sensei's advice and help! I could probably start working on a prototype somewhat soon! He's right though, I can't slack off just because I caught a break, I've gotta keep studying hard and keep learning all I can!

The more the boy developed his mind, the easier certain answers were coming to him. And by the time a couple more months rolled around, he had begun to do some tinkering in his room.

"I think I got it! Finally!"

With very tired, yet very happy eyes, the super powered teen placed a bracelet like object onto his wrist and clicked it into place, letting it settle in as his excitement boiled over.

"This is so awesome! I finally finished the prototype! Now I just need to make the ammo!"

Without wasting another second, Izuku pressed his middle and ring finger into his palm, aiming the device on his wrist at a spot in his room where he had set up some empty soda cans. The cartridge that was currently loaded into the prototype web shooter was filled to the brim with water as a substitute since he was still working out the formula for his fluid, but it would do for now.

*Click*

"Huh?" Izuku questioned, looking down at the device and pressing the mechanism again with a little bit more force.

*Crack*

In the blink of an eye, the boy watched as a month of work went down the drain as water exploded from the cartridge and the main firing mechanism fell apart.

"No!" He yelled, taking the device off and inspecting it more closely.

No! The spinneret nozzle jammed up! I must not have made it wide enough! I was so focused on making it vacuum sealed that I completely forgot about fixing the custom adjuster!

Izuku groaned in frustration as he tossed the prototype gently back onto his workbench. Great, there goes another ¥30,000 thrown in the dumpster. Looks like it's back to the drawing board, I better let Tanto-sensei know that the first test was a failure. The boy thought to himself, glancing around the room and trying to locate what he would sell next.

Man, now that I look at it, this place has lost a lot of color…

For better or worse, this was a fact that really couldn't be avoided anymore. Gone was the red white and blue themed room that this place was just four months ago. Now it looked more like a workshop with a few All Might nick nacks here and there.

But hey, whatever paid the bills right? Experimenting was expensive!

"Next in line please."

"Uh, right."

The cashier looked curiously at the young man as he placed his peculiar items onto the counter. This was certainly interesting to say the least. And it only became even more so when the boy wouldn't look him in the eyes.

"Look kid, don't take this the wrong way, but why on earth would someone your age need… Liquid cement? Salicylic acid? Methanol? These are some serious chemicals you've got here. Are… Are you making drugs?"

"W-what!? No! Of course not! I-I… It's for hero stuff man! C'mon!"

Another couple of months had passed, and Izuku was still stuck on figuring out the mechanics of making a working web shooter prototype. So he figured he would move on to making the web fluid so he could get the easier part out of the way and tackle the harder part later.

But so far, things were not going so well…

"You've gotta believe me sir! I'm trying to manufacture my own support item, and this is the stuff I need. And… Wait a second, this is a chemistry emporium, pretty much everything in here can be made into drugs!"

The man behind the counter looked instantly surprised at the teen's rather bold response. And after seeing that he wasn't backing down or apologizing, he began scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Oh, uhhh, good point there kid, uhhhh, I'm sorry, that was out of line. That'll be twenty five thousand yen."

What! Twenty five thousand!? I'm already down to my last fifty! And I sold my last All Might poster yesterday! Crap! Izuku thought bitterly to himself, not even noticing that he just stood his ground and got his way purely from his confidence and wit.

Instead all the boy could think about as he reluctantly forked over the money was that U.A better cover all support item related fees…

"Ok, you can do this, deep breath…"

Two more months had gone by for the boy since then, leaving only two more until the U.A entrance exam. And the super-powered teen's journey had now brought him to one of the tallest buildings he could find in his area.

Which granted, was only like, eight stories tall, but still, it was definitely enough for a fatal fall.

One I would definitely not like to experience, so please work.

Izuku looked down at his wrists, they were locked and loaded with his brand new and shiny web shooters, along with web cartridges filled to the brim with one hundred meters of web fluid each. They were a bit bigger than the ones from his comics, taking up a lot more space on his wrists than he would've preferred, but they did the job all the same. They almost looked more like gauntlets than support attachments.

Getting to the point though, his new web shooters were why he was here standing on the edge of a building and looking out towards the sunrise.

Obviously, he had tested if they worked or not before coming up here. He made sure that they passed lots of different durability and stress tests before he even thought about risking his life like this. But now, he felt this was appropriate, he was more than satisfied with the results he got.

The web fluid was sturdy and had already proven to be more than capable of handling much more than what he weighed.

And the shooters themselves were anything but fragile. As he said before, they came out bulkier and heavier than he imagined, but this also gave them some extra strength and durability as well.

All in all, this was truly an amazing feat of intellect for the boy. With little more than a visual representation, he created something straight from a comic book in real life after eight months of work.

"Alright, here goes nothing," Izuku breathed, closing his eyes before falling forward off of the building.

He needed to be quick with this test, the last thing he needed was for someone to see him and for a hero to get involved. So after falling for about a second, Izuku threw his arm out and performed Spider-Man's signature pose, hearing the satisfying click of the spinneret nozzle opening and releasing the web fluid.

The moment that the white substance came in contact with the oxygen in the atmosphere, it quickly expanded and hardened all at the same time. Turing completely from a liquid, into a solid line of adhesive webbing.

"Yes! It worked!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs. As much as he didn't want to draw attention, the rush he was feeling right now was simply too great. He had never felt something so exciting and relaxing at the same time before. But something about the way the wind hit his face just brought utter joy to the boy's soul.

Before long, Izuku's web line clung onto the side of a building, stopping his descent immediately and pulling him in another direction.

Had he been a regular and non super-powered person, his arm might have ripped itself completely out of its socket from the force of the web line…

But he wasn't a regular person by any means.

"Woohoo! I'm Spider-Man! I'm really Spider-Man!" He screamed proudly, getting the attention of a few passersby as he swung close to the ground.

Lifting up his other arm and shooting another web line, Izuku couldn't stop smiling if he tried. Before long, he began wandering around aimlessly, and it was then that he heard a shrill scream come from behind him.

"Listen lady, it's too early for all this loud screaming crap. Just hand over the bag and no one gets hurt, alright!? C'mon, hurry up!"

A mugging? In the middle of the street? In broad daylight? This guy wasn't very bright was he? This was a scenario straight out of a comic book.

And I get to be the hero.

Without even thinking about it, Izuku felt his body shoot down into a nosedive heading straight for the street. This was a perfect opportunity to test just how sticky the adhesive in his webbing was.

*Thwip*

Landing with a small tumble roll to brace his fall, Izuku wasted no time in taking aim and firing both of his web-shooters at the unarmed man. Making sure to only hold the trigger for a second on each hand so a ball would fire out instead of a line.

When the pair of gooey projectiles pushed the mugger back against a building and stuck him there in place, the super-powered teen grinned as he crouched down into a fighting stance, preparing for anything that could come next.

But after a few seconds of not hearing his spider sense ringing in his head like he expected, he relaxed a bit and looked at the webbed up man on the wall.

To his surprise, the mugger seemed to be freaking out.

"Oh crap! Please, dont hurt me man! I-I, I just wanted a few quick bucks alright!? Please! I won't resist! Hell, I can't even move! I'm quirkless, please!"

After hearing that, Izuku dropped his guard without a second thought. That was something he didn't expect, but at least it did prove one thing.

Nice! It looks like I didn't have to sacrifice too much strength for more elasticity after all! If a normal quirkless person can't even move inside of them, then even someone more athletic like a villain should at least be slowed down!

The green haired boy would have happily continued his mumbling if not for the sudden sound of sirens in the distance ringing in his ears.

Police! Someone must have called them! I bet they'll have at least one pro hero with them too!

Standing and holding his place in thought for a moment, Izuku considered his options carefully. Technically speaking, he never broke the law, since he acted out of self defense for someone else, but he knew just as well as anyone that the definition of self defense and acting heroically without a license had a very inconsistent grey area between them.

On top of that, he had on some unregistered support items, as well as solid proof right on the adjacent wall that he had used them…

I can't risk them taking these away, not after I finally perfected them for the U.A entrance exam!

While it was true that making a prototype was the hardest part since he had to pave the way himself without any kind of guide to work with, he still didn't want to waste his resources on making another pair of these. He had the final blueprints copied down in great detail back at home, but making them again would also surely cost him a solid chunk of change.

Which was something he simply could not afford right now.

Now recovered from her panic, the woman who was on the receiving end of the failed mugging attempt stood up and walked over to the deep in thought boy slowly. She could practically see the dilemma written all over his face as the police sirens got closer and closer.

"Thank you so much for your help young man, but you should get going."

The boy was broken out of his thoughts by the woman's statement, not sure how to react as she continued.

"You saved me and I'm grateful for that, now go, I wouldn't want you getting into any trouble for quirk usage on my account. Everyone knows the laws are already strict enough."

Izuku was baffled as he looked at the older woman, should he do it? Should he take his chance and run?

"B-but ma'am, what will you tell the police? I'm sure they'll ask you what happened right?"

"Oh, don't worry so much, I'll just tell them exactly what happened. A brave young man stepped in and saved me with his quirk. Although, I'm not sure if my memory will cooperate with me if they ask me anything further. I believe the boy had red hair if I'm not mistaken. But who knows? I am getting old after all."

Instead of trying to speak, Izuku just took a moment to process everything he just heard before finally understanding what she was talking about.

Brave? Me? But all I did was test my web-shooters. My body moved on its own for the rest… Would she really lie to the police just to cover for me?

"B-but, what about him? They're gonna question him too," the green haired boy pointed out, directing his finger to the terrified man stuck to the wall.

"Quit your worrying young man, who are they gonna believe, the victim of the crime, or the criminal himself? You're overthinking this, just go before they get here."

"Oh, uh, right!"

"Hey buddy, wait!"

Izuku paused his quick escape in order to look back over towards the webbed up criminal.

"This stuff! It feels weird! It's like it's sticking to my skin more and more! How do I get out of this!"

"Oh, yeah, I designed it like that so it would get tighter the more you struggled, it's just the elasticity and the adhesion having good chemical compatibility."

…

"Uh… What?"

The green haired boy chuckled, rolling his eyes and jumping up into the air before releasing a new line of webbing and taking off.

"Don't worry! It dissolves by itself in an hour!"

Izuku walked up to the incredible building shakily, his nerves getting the better of him, forcing him to just stand there and watch.

Wow… U.A… It's so much cooler in person!

It was exactly one week to the day before the entrance exams began, and Izuku was here for a very critical step in his plan. One that was almost crucial for success.

He was here to register his web shooters for the entrance exam.

It was standard procedure, but it still made him nervous as heck. Especially when he found out that he would be getting told in person whether or not the school accepted his use of support items.

He understood that most heroes only used support items out in the field, which was why they were barred from things like the entrance exam, the sports festival, and even regular classes. But he really hoped that they allowed him to use his web shooters with the registry permit he applied for. It was really the only way to use them officially outside of the field. The school had to decide ahead of time if the support item in question was crucial enough to go without or not.

Walking straight into the main office on the first floor, Izuku timidly looked around for anyone that could help him. "Um, hello? Is anyone here?"

"I'm here dear, how can I help you?"

Izuku's widened as the new voice appeared around the corner. And if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't trying to stop an immense amount of blood from running to his cheeks, he would totally be geeking out right now.

"M-Midnight! Oh wow! It's really you! Um, I uh, sorry, let me start over, uh."

The R rated hero giggled lightly at the boy's obvious nervousness. She was used to this kind of reaction from pretty much anyone she met for the first time, so it was no big deal to her.

"Relax honey, it's fine, now what brings you to U.A? Here to sign up for the entrance exam? If you are, I'm afraid you're too late, we closed off registration yesterday."

"N-no, that's not why I'm here ma'am. I've actually already registered. What I haven't registered is my support item, I sent out an application last week and they told me to come in for the final verdict."

"Ahh, you must be Midoriya then! We've been wondering when you'd show up. Follow me, sweetie."

"Oh, uh, right."

Together, they walked behind the front desk and deeper into the room, going into a more private office that Izuku assumed belonged to Midnight.

Before long, the skimpy dressed hero began looking through some folders trying to find his name. Izuku took advantage of this silence to indulge his curiosity about something.

"So, uh, how did you know who I was right off the bat? Are there that few people that registered support items?"

Licking her lips when she found his name, Midnight opened the boy's file and answered casually. "You and one other boy were the only requests we got. His was a no brainer, we approved his immediately since he couldn't control his quirk without it. But you on the other hand, web shooters? Why do you need those?"

"Oh, um… I just feel more comfortable using my quirk with them, and they compliment it really well."

"Hmm, Izuku Midoriya, quirk: Spider. I suppose it does make sense. Does everything a spider can. But it says here your quirk is listed as a mutant type, that can't be right, you look just like a normal human to me."

Izuku did his best to hide the smile that tried to escape him at the woman's words. His idea on how to hide the fact that his quirk wasn't actually a quirk was one of his best ones yet.

"Oh yeah, about that, I guess I just got lucky with the rest of my body, but look," he said as he opened his palm and motioned gently for the woman to come closer. "If you look really closely at my fingertips, you'll see I have sets of scopulae just like spiders have on their legs. They're what let me cling to anything too, like a spider."

This seemed to be enough to convince the heroine, because as soon as he wrapped up his small demonstration, she nodded and brought her blue orbs back to his file.

"I see… Still, you're perfectly capable of using your quirk without these web-shooters of yours. And I don't want you to have an unfair advantage over other students just because you went and bought some fancy gadget from a support company. I'm sorry but-"

"Wait no! You've got it all wrong ma'am! I made these myself!"

"Wait, what!? Are you serious?" She asked in a mildly impressed tone. Show me, prove it."

All of the sudden, Izuku was really glad he decided to bring his two prized contraptions, along with his notebook where he drew the specs of the prototype in great detail.

After showing the black haired beauty everything he could about the pair of web-shooters, and even demonstrating how they worked, Izuku held his breath as Midnight scribbled something down in his file before looking back down at him at last.

"Alright… Given that you constructed these items yourself, along with the fact that they match the theme of the hero you're going for, I will allow you to register these items into our system. Please sign here."

"Wait, seriously!? That's amazing! Thank you so much Midnight!"

"Yeah yeah kid, whatever, just sign the paper so I can debrief you."

"Huh? Debrief me?"

"Yes, it's about using support items outside of designated areas, same as quirks. I'm required to give you this information now, so listen up. You are only allowed to have your support items out during the practical portion of the entrance exam. If you happen to pass the entrance exam and get into U.A, the same rules apply. Keep it out of sight and out of use unless class allows quirk usage, that's your green light, you got that?"

Izuku didn't hesitate to sign the sheet of paper and hand it back to her, listening carefully to what she was saying. "Ok, that makes perfect sense."

"Good, now take this, it's your proof of registration," she said, handing the boy a small slip of paper. "Show that to any teacher that questions your support item. If you lose it, come to the office and we can get you another one. And if you manage to get into U.A, come back here so we can stamp it again. Any questions?"

"Uhh, no, I think I'm good. Thank you Midnight."

"Alright, thanks for coming in today Midoriya-san. You've impressed me with your creativity, I wish you good luck in next week's test." She said with a wink as she walked out of the office.

That was the last thing Izuku was paying attention to though, he was way too excited right now about being able to use all of his powers and tricks to do the very best he could.

One more week, just one more week!

Chapter Text

This is it, this is my time to make my dream come true… All on my own. I can do this!

Right in front of him, Izuku stared down the doors of the prestigious hero school that he was being examined for today. This was it, this was the moment of truth. Just one week ago he had been here registering his prized pair of inventions for this very moment. And now it was time to put it all to the test. Everything he'd done in the last ten months brought him right here to this spot. And clearly, it was not time wasted for the boy, because he was feeling something that he was still getting used to experiencing.

Confidence.

With a competitive smile plastered on his face, Izuku began taking his first step towards the incredible building before the familiar tingling of his spider sense rang in his head.

Recognizing the danger instantly, Izuku quickly and smoothly leapt forward a few meters and turned around, seeing someone he hadn't thought about in quite a while.

Standing before him with his arms out in front of him in a failed attempt at a shove, Katsuki Bakugo glared daggers at him. Obviously at least a little bit shaken by his quick reaction.

"Kacchan…"

"Hmph," Bakugo began, bringing his arms back to his sides. "I told you to stay away, you crappy Deku."

"Y-yeah, you d-did Kacchan," Izuku wavered for a moment before clenching his fists and hunkering down. No! I'm not doing this again! C'mon! You're Spider-Man! Don't take crap from anyone!

"I know you did Kacchan," The green haired boy restarted, this time meeting the blonde's eyes. "But I don't care. I'm gonna take this exam and pass it just like I passed you back at Aldera."

The blonde's red eyes lit up with fury at that statement from Izuku. It seemed that he hadn't quite gotten over that very real fact.

A few weeks back, right after final exams, their homeroom teacher back at Aldera Middle School posted the last official grade ranking of the year for final year middle schoolers. And much to the astonishment of Katsuki Bakugo, the first spot in the school didn't belong to him, but to Izuku instead. It appeared as though all of the studying he had done over the last ten months had rounded his grades out quite nicely.

Back to the present though, Katsuki's blood was boiling over, and he honestly didn't trust himself not to blow his top and start fighting the super-powered teen right here and now. So without another word, he walked forward and bumped shoulders with Izuku. Blowing right past him and storming off into the school. He couldn't risk trying anything in front of everyone right here. He would have his chance to beat the nerd down later, he was sure of it.

Izuku on the other hand was on the verge of panic on the inside, finally letting out a huge breath that he had been holding. Did I really just say that to Kacchan!? How am I still alive right now!? What have I done!? He's totally gonna murder me!

After mumbling to himself for a few more seconds, Izuku looked up and found that the courtyard was now almost empty.

Crap! What am I doing!? I'm gonna be late! He thought frantically, taking off in a sprint for the school.

Was that really the U.A written exam? That felt way too simple! Izuku thought as he walked up to join the crowd forming at the starting line of the practical exam. He was wearing a green pair of track pants and a simple black long sleeved shirt.

They had all just finished the written portion of the entrance exam and were now moving on to the practical portion.

Alright, here we go, just attack the smaller robots and leave the huge one alone. Should be simple enough. The boy thought to himself, remembering the words of Present Mic from before when he gave the synopsis of this particular exam.

Finishing his adjustments on his web-shooters, Izuku rolled his sleeves down, hiding them from view and using his remaining time to observe the other examinees he would be testing with.

Present Mic said they would separate the people who knew each other, so I don't need to worry about Kacchan right now. I can focus solely on getting points.

As he looked around with curiosity, Izuku noticed a very wide variety of individuals. Some big, some small, some even with multiple limbs. It was safe to say that these were some of the best aspiring heroes in all of Japan. He was gonna have to watch his back out there.

Soon the super-powered teen's eyes landed on a boy with yellow hair and a streak of black running through it. What stood out to him though were the words that came out of his mouth loud enough for him to hear.

"Are you kidding!? That written exam was the hardest test I've ever taken! I'm really gonna have to try hard on this part or I'm screwed!"

Hard? Is he serious? There wasn't a question on there that was even remotely hard.

Shaking himself from his insignificant thoughts, the super powered teen focused up again and went back to scanning the crowd. Doing his best to try and spot any obvious quirks that he could gather information about.

Alright, that six armed guy looks like he's a mutant type, so he probably has a ton of tricks up his sleeve, I better watch out for him. And that boy with glasses seems to have mufflers of some kind protruding from his legs. Could it be some kind of speed or vehicle related quirk? That would be my best guess. And what about that fancy looking guy? That looks like a support item of some kind around his waist. He must be the one Midnight talked about, the one who can't control his quirk without it. Still though, I shouldn't underestimate him, maybe that belt enhances his quirk on top of giving him control.

Izuku's eyes continued to look around and gather information on his opponents. If his eyes glanced over someone who didn't have an obvious quirk that could be seen, he simply moved on to the next. This went on for a few more minutes until his eyes landed on an oddly familiar head of orange hair.

"W-what? No way… It's that girl, the one from-"

"WHAT ARE YOU KIDS WAITING FOR!? THE VILLAINS AREN'T GONNA ANNOUNCE WHEN THEY START! GET GOING!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the loudspeakers.

Being forcefully shaken from his thoughts, Izuku looked up to see that everyone was already running onto the city-like staging area and starting the exam.

"Crap!" He shouted, sprinting after them and leaping as high as he could to clear the pack.

As soon as the green haired teen was at the peak of his jump, he threw his arm out and pressed his middle and ring finger to his palm, shooting out a web line and beginning to swing when it connected with a building.

Now in the air and moving quickly through the training ground, Izuku smiled as adrenaline took over and wind began hitting his whole body. Swinging never failed to calm him down, and now was definitely a time when he needed it, because before long, he spotted his first villain bot.

Let's do this.

Staying true to his thoughts, Izuku wasted no time in crashing into a three-pointer with a swing kick. Detaching from his web line after impact and jumping up to avoid a metal arm that he detected with his spider sense.

Now standing on the ground, Izuku faced the pair of three-pointers and the single one-pointer that now stood in front of him.

Ultimately, it was the one-pointer that made the first move, running at him with an arm raised and ready to crush him.

But he never allowed that, jumping up on its head to avoid the attack before his spider-sense could even warn him. From there, he shot a web line with each hand at the two three-pointers respectively, pulling them towards him with all his might before leaping up and clinging to the wall of a building.

*Crash*

Looking down at his handiwork, Izuku smiled when he saw exactly what he had planned come to fruition. What remained of the three villain bots was a stack of robotic limbs and scrap metal as all three laid in a pile together, awarding the boy another seven points to his first three.

Yes! Perfect! That was so cool! I could totally see Peter doing something just like that! The boy thought with excitement, quickly swinging off in search of more points.

If there was one thing that Itsuka Kendo didn't expect from the practical portion of the U.A entrance exam, it was how easy it turned out to be. Sporting a very eager and focused demeanor, the orange haired teen was wearing a teal t-shirt and black leggings, cutting down robots left and right with both her skills and her quirk.

Come on! These robots are practically made of paper! The orange haired teen thought to herself as she crushed yet another one with her enlarged hands. Of course, she also already knew that the metal opponents would be relatively weak because of some inside information from Tamaki, but still, she at least expected more than this.

"Crap!"

Itsuka didn't hesitate to turn around and face where she heard the frustrated yell come from. Narrowing her eyes as she prepared for action again.

"Crap crap crap!"

Now being able to identify the angry shouts, the orange haired teen ran in the direction of the danger, her eyes taking in as much information as she could.

About twenty meters ahead of her stood a boy with slick blonde hair parted to one side wearing a black shirt and black pants. And it looked like he was frustrated by the fact that, at the moment, he was surrounded by three one-pointers and backed all the way into a corner.

Oh come on! They're one pointers! What the heck are you even doing here!?

"Oh well, more points for me," Itsuka said with a confident grin taking over her as she leapt up at the robots and enlarged her hands.

After that, it took very little effort to completely annihilate the three one-pointers, mentally adding the three points to her total tally.

"Wow! That was incredible! I can't thank you enough!" The blonde boy shouted a little too enthusiastically in her opinion. But nonetheless, she wasn't about to just completely ignore him.

"Yeah uh, sure dude, it's no problem, just-woah!" She began before stopping mid sentence as the boy ran up and shook her hand without any warning.

What's with this guy? Why is he so touchy?

Starting to get a bit annoyed, Itsuka prepared to tell the boy that he was invading her personal space when just as quickly as he began, the boy let go and backed away. The thing that still perplexed her though, was that he was now grinning almost… Evilly?

"Hmph, thanks for the help red. That's a pretty handy quirk you've got there," He said smugly before enlarging his hands in a very familiar way.

"What the heck!? Is that my quirk!?"

Rather than answering her, the blonde boy simply took off down the road in search of more villain bots. No longer seeing any point in talking to the girl anymore.

"Wow, leaving just like that? What a jerk," the girl huffed. Bringing her hands back down to normal size just before hearing more commotion behind her.

"Hey man! What was that about!? You stole my points!"

Itsuka turned around and yet again inspected the new commotion in front of her. This time it appeared to be a sharp red haired boy reprimanding a green haired boy as two three-pointers fell to the ground in front of him, a white string-like substance covering them.

"Oh! I-I, I'm so sorry! I-I must not have seen you! I was really starting to get into the zone, y'know?"

Although the red haired boy still didn't look too happy, he still managed to shrug off the boy's apology and give the other boy a thumbs up. "Yeah yeah, don't worry about it man, I understand. I'm glad you didn't do it on purpose, that kinda stuff isn't manly at all."

However, Itsuka stopped listening long before the red haired boy spoke, instead focusing on this green haired boy that was sure she knew somehow.

What the heck? Why do I feel like I've seen him before? Even his voice sounds kinda familiar…

"Hey! Watch out!"

Suddenly and out of nowhere, the orange haired teen felt something impact her stomach, pulling her both out of her thoughts and off of her feet as she was yanked forward.

Right as she landed back on the ground again, Kendo heard a crash right behind her, presumably right where she had just been. And as she took a moment to gather herself, she glanced down at her stomach to see a line of some kind of glue looking substance… Except, it was stretchy?

What on earth?

Figuring she could think about that later, the girl got up and recovered quickly, standing up and turning around just in time to see the same green haired boy shoot another line of his adhesive material out of his wrist and pull himself towards the robot with incredible ease.

"Huh, now that's a weird one alright," she said out loud to herself, referring to the boy's quirk.

After the boy smashed the three-pointer that had almost squished her, she made her way over to thank him.

That, and also to ask him how she was supposed to get this goop off of her. She had already made the mistake of touching it and now her hand was stuck.

"Hey, thanks for the save," she began, causing the boy to turn around as she gave him a warm smile. "I guess I wasn't really paying attention, heh."

When the boy only fidgeted to himself uncomfortably and didn't respond, Kendo awkwardly continued to try and keep the conversation going.

"Heh, so uh, yeah, also, do you think you could help me with this stuff you shot me with? My hand is stuck and I kinda need it for the rest of the exam."

This seemed to finally sober the boy up as he jumped up in embarrassment.

"Oh man! My webbing! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to handicap you by accident!"

"Woah, relax dude, It's cool. If you hadn't pulled me out of there I would've gotten crushed by a weak robot. Now that would have been embarrassing." She said with a bit of a chuckle. "Just tell me how to-"

"FIVE MINUTES LEFT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT!"

Everyone in the exam arena froze as Present Mic's voice died down, an uncomfortable silence falling over the battlefield. And rightfully so, because after only a few more seconds of dead silence, a ground shaking rumbling could be felt all throughout the staging area. Even knocking some of the lesser students off of their feet as it grew closer and closer.

"There it is! It's the arena trap! The zero-pointer!" A random student called out in panic, his knees practically trembling.

And true to his word, after another few seconds of waiting, said zero-pointer was clearly visible to everyone on the battlefield as it walked down the main street where a large number of examinees were gathered.

That thing is as big as a building! Izuku thought to himself frantically, even taking a few steps back out of pure instinct.

Before long, everyone was in complete panic. And Izuku did nothing but stand there and stare as a number of students passed him on their trek to run away from the enormous robot.

"What are the two of you doing!?" A sophisticated looking boy with glasses and dark blue hair yelled as he sped down the road, coming to an immediate stop in front of Kendo and Izuku. "It's unsafe to be in this area right now! We must evacuate! Hurry!"

"R-right," Izuku nodded in agreement. One look back at the orange haired girl's expression told him that she was in agreement as well, so that was all it took to convince him.

That is, until he heard someone cry out further down the road where the robot was coming from…

Turning around in a heartbeat, Izuku squinted and noticed a girl with short brown hair laying on the ground right where the giant robot's foot was going to be in the next thirty seconds or so.

Why isn't she getting up and running!?

Hey! Come now, hurry! We don't have much time!" The glasses-wearing teen insisted, this time grabbing a hold of Izuku's shoulder.

"Help! My foot is stuck! I can't-" The helpless girl began but to no avail. Not only was rubble covering most of her lower body, but she could barely talk without wanting to puke her guts out. All she could hope for now was that the robot would shut down before actually stepping on her. Which was likely, right? It's not like they would kill a student during the entrance exam. There was never any previous record of that happening…

Right?

Clenching his fists and shutting his eyes tight, Izuku felt his body begin to move before his brain could even give it commands. It was the exact same feeling as before when he went to stop the mugging a couple months back, acting completely on instinct.

"Hey! Where are you going!? Are you crazy!" The sophisticated teen yelled out, trying to stop the boy one last time.

It was no use though, because once Izuku got up to full speed in his sprint, he leapt as high and as far as he could, shooting a pair of web lines at opposing buildings and pulling himself the rest of the way effortlessly.

Itsuka watched in awe as the boy not only went in for the ballsy rescue, but how gracefully he flew through the air after detaching from his pair of webs. That was what he called them right? Webs? I wonder if that's his only quirk, because you need to have some crazy upper body strength to pull yourself around like that with just your arms.

The girl fell out of her thoughts just long enough to see the boy land with a casual frontflip before coming to the aid of the brown haired girl. But when it was apparent that the zero-pointer was gonna get there before he could rescue her, the boy ended up doing one of the craziest things she'd ever witnessed in her fifteen years of life…

The second Izuku landed on the ground in front of the girl, he immediately got on his knees and started digging through the rubble to try and get her out.

"Heh, thanks for trying to get me out of here, but it's too late. Don't worry though, I don't think they'd actually squish us. It is just an entrance exam after all," The girl said in almost a whisper, her stomach still bothering her and making ungodly noises.

For a moment, Izuku believed her and paused his panicked digging momentarily. She had a really valid point, he could already imagine the severity of the lawsuits that the school would face if someone who wasn't even a student at the school died during something as meaningless as an entrance exam.

But then, Izuku received a very convincing counter argument that made him flip the script and begin panicking again. And that counter argument was his spider sense, and as far as he knew, that never lied to him.

Crap crap crap! The boy thought with wide eyes as darkness enveloped the spot that he and the girl were both occupying.

Feeling ringing in his ears like he'd never felt before, and the ground shake like a magnitude eight earthquake was going on. All the boy could think about was his one and only option of getting out of this situation alive.

Needless to say, he chose it in a heartbeat.

Right as the foot was coming down onto them, the brown haired girl could do nothing but scream and close her eyes. Doing her best to embrace the darkness and hope that her death would be quick. But when she wasn't feeling anything at all, and instead heard the loud sound or metal being crushed, the girl opened her tear filled eyes and looked up to find something too incredible to describe.

Right before her very eyes, the plain looking boy who had come to save her was squatted down with the weight of the zero-pointer's foot pressed firmly on his shoulders and arms. Which was obviously a lot judging by the way the metal was bending where his hands and shoulders met it.

How could this even be possible!?

This was something Izuku was asking himself right now as well.

Yep, this is definitely above my weight limit. The boy joked in his head, doing his best to not focus on the pain. He didn't really know the logistics of why he was able to do what he was doing right now, but he figured he would find that out later. Right now he had better things to do, like trying to keep his spine from becoming a pool noodle.

Before long though, the zero-pointer buckled a bit before coming to a stop. Almost as if it couldn't move forward with something in its way like this.

Well, that's a relief, At least I won't get to experience its full weight…

As his attempts to lighten the mood in his own mind failed, Izuku felt himself begin to fatigue under the enormous amount of pressure. It had only been about twenty seconds or so since the thing had stepped on them, but to him it felt like an eternity as his body finally gave in a bit and he fell to one knee.

Looking the brown haired girl in the eyes, who by the way, had an expression on her face that couldn't have shown more fear or worry if she tried, Izuku did his best to smile in the midst of the gruesome situation. But he had a feeling that it ended up coming off more like a struggling face that showed immense pain.

Which was actually an accurate descriptor of how he felt right now.

Now having been holding this thing up for almost forty five seconds, Izuku saw the end draw closer as his vision began to blur. This was way too heavy for him, he needed a nap.

NO! He screamed in his head, shaking it violently in an attempt to keep himself awake. If I fall now, this girl dies. And I'm not gonna allow that! Come on! I'm Spider-Man!

Ok, calm down, he could do this. Peter had been in situations like this before and walked away. A really big one that came to mind was in Amazing Spider-Man #33. If Peter could push past his limits with his tenacity, then so could he!

Come on! I can do this! Push!

To the boy's absolute bewilderment, the robot's massive metallic foot actually began to budge upwards a little at his command.

But after taking a moment to look around, he found out that none of it had been his doing. Because all of the sudden, there was a familiar orange head of hair standing next to him with large hands pushing up on the weight as well. And doing a bang up job of it as a matter of fact, at least from his point of view. Wow, she got out of my webbing AND she's helping out with this much weight? She must be really strong.

Seeing his chance to get back on his feet, Izuku urged his burning legs to stand up and take on the burden once again. Grunting loudly as he pushed as hard as he could, this time with less pain since the weight was split between him and the orange haired girl.

Breathing heavily, said orange haired girl spoke in between large breaths as fatigue began setting in for her quickly. "I hope you know, you're crazy for doing this."

The boy couldn't help but give a small strained smile at her somewhat playful comment. The Peter in him that had been growing more and more not allowing him to stay silent. "Oh yeah? Well I guess that makes you double crazy for following me."

Not bothering to reply to his witty remark, Kendo instead brought all of her attention to not dying by straining even more against the weight on top of her. How the heck did he hold all of this by himself before!? We're splitting the weight right now and I'm already out of gas!

However, before either of the teens could plunge any further into their thoughts. The loud sound of an engine brought their attention to the entrance of the little roof that the zero-pointer's foot was making. Showing the tall form of the sophisticated teen from before as he crouched down and crawled towards the group of three.

"About time!" Kendo complained to the boy as he reached the center of the foot where they were. "I thought your whole schtick was about being fast!? Weren't you right behind me!?"

"Yes, I very much was, but I had to get some help first."

"Huh?" Izuku and Itsuka said in unison.

Before anyone even had the chance to blink, a whole slew of vines emerged from the ground.

Immediately getting to work, most of the vines came together to make one big green pillar that crushed itself into the robot's foot, easing up the weight on Izuku and Itsuka that much more. While a smaller group of vines began rapidly clearing rubble from atop the brown haired girl. Having her free in a matter of seconds.

"Perfect!" The blue haired boy shouted enthusiastically. Not hesitating at all in picking up the brown haired girl gently in his arms. "Now, can you two get out without the foot collapsing? How much of the weight are those vines holding?"

"Not. Much." Izuku strained through gritted teeth. He could've sworn that he was starting to see spots in his vision.

Kendo on the other hand didn't even bother replying. The grunts and groans she was giving out telling the blue haired teen all he needed to know.

"I see, that's not good. I'll have to go back out and see if anyone else has a strength quirk. It won't take long, I'll be ba-"

"No! Wait!" The brown haired girl said shakily from the boy's arms. "Just get to the exit and get ready to run. When you're ready, I'll touch it and make it weightless with my quirk. It won't be for long, and I'll throw up the second I touch it, but It'll give you two just enough time to escape. Got it?

Kendo only nodded, barely even listening as her muscles screamed at her to stop.

Izuku nodded as well, slowly and shakily lowering one arm from the robot foot and firing a web line at the sophisticated teen's chest.

"What on earth? What's this for?"

"J-just go!"

Quickly nodding and following orders, the speed enhanced boy crawled out from under the foot quickly, wasting no time in standing up and taking a track starting position. "Whenever you're ready!"

Nodding gently and holding her mouth shut, the brown haired girl took a deep breath, ready for all of the contents of her stomach to cover the ground as soon as she touched the enormous robot.

Reaching out and touching it with all five fingers, the girl instantly felt sick as her control wavered and her stomach began pushing everything out. "Go! I'll only be able to hold it for one sec-" She warned before the disgusting sounds of her regurgitation took over her.

The glasses wearing teen got the message though, putting everything into his thrusters and taking off in a mad dash.

As soon as Izuku felt the weight of the robot completely vanish, he wasted no time in grabbing the orange haired girl around the waist and tightening his grip on the web line.

"Shrink your hands down! It's gonna be a tight escape!"

And that it was, because as quickly as the weight left the giant robot, it came back just as fast.

Shrinking down her hands like she was told, Kendo shut her eyes and grabbed onto the boy with what little strength she had left. Feeling absolute relief when their bodies were dragged forward at an incredible speed until light hit her eyes.

"Ughhh," she groaned painfully from the ground, not even realizing that the boy had let go of the web and was lying right next to her.

"Oh goodness! Are you two alright!?" A girl with long and prickly green hair asked, standing over them with a worried expression.

The pair of teens never even bothered responding, opting instead for the sweet relief of sleep as their consciousness slipped away.

"WOOHOO! TIMES UP EVERYONE! HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH YOUR POINTS! CAUSE THIS TEST IS OVER!"

"Wow! What awesome talent we've got this year! YAHOO!" Present Mic screamed out. Only this time it wasn't on the loudspeaker for the students, but rather, for the judges and faculty that were currently occupying the viewing room.

"Tallying up final scores now Principal Nezu."

Said white creature stayed silent and motionless while he waited for the results to appear up on screen. Giving an innocent smile when the names began to display one by one with their tally of points next to them.

1st Place: Katsuki Bakugo

Villain Points: 85

Rescue Points: 0

2nd Place: Izuku Midoriya

Villain Points: 19

Rescue Points: 65

3rd Place: Ochaco Uraraka

Villain Points: 28

Rescue Points: 50

4th Place: Ibara Shiozaki

Villain Points: 36

Rescue Points: 40

5th Place: Tenya Iida

Villain Points: 52

Rescue Points: 23

6th Place: Itsuka Kendo

Villain Points: 25

Rescue points: 49

7th Place: Eijiro Kirishima

Villain points: 35

Rescue Points: 35

8th Place: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

Villain Points: 52

Rescue Points: 10

9th Place: Fumikage Tokoyami

Villain Points: 47

Rescue points: 10

10th Place: Mezo Shoji

Villain Points: 49

Rescue Points: 6

Many sounds of both surprise and approval could be heard among the staff of teachers as they read through the top ten. With one of the most ecstatic reactions coming from one of the hero course homeroom teachers.

"Haha! It looks like fate has smiled on me today!" The blood hero Vlad King laughed joyously. He was a tall and wide framed man with a red jumpsuit and white hair. He also seemed to be extra giddy for some reason.

"What are you going on about Kan?" A very tired and bored looking man asked with a yawn.

"Hmph," Vlad King smirked as he prepared to explain himself to his rival teacher. He wasn't really much of a bragger, but he did love indulging in some friendly competition every now and then. "Oh nothing Aizawa, I'm just extremely pleased with the results of the entrance exam. Would you like to know why?"

"Enlighten me," The man said bordley through the wrappings covering his neck.

The blood hero gritted his teeth at the uncaring attitude that his rival was putting up. He always did this! And it always managed to get to him! "I'm pleased because you're stuck with that kid in first place with zero rescue points! Sure, he may be strong as all hell, but I was watching him. He was practically throwing other students out of the way to get his points. And meanwhile, I'll be getting the well rounded gentleman in second place. Who might I add, risked his life and showed off an incredible feat of strength there at the end. Whew, I sure am glad I lost that coin flip with you yesterday!"

The other teacher known as Aizawa rolled his eyes at the new information that was brought to his attention. It didn't matter who was in his class, he would push them harder than anyone and still come out on top. Though he does have a point about this kid in first place. Doesn't really look like much of a team player. Dang…

As the two kept up their chatter and their playful banter back and forth, one specific teacher sitting in the back, who also happened to be a symbol of peace, was sweating profusely with a concerned look on his face as many wild thoughts bounced around in his mind.

That boy, Could it really have been him!? He told me he was quirkless!? No, no, I must be thinking of someone else. There's no way for someone to just randomly get a quirk. Unless…

With his eyes turned to saucers, All Might stood up with his fists clenched as tight as humanly possible. "No…"

When Izuku finally woke up and fluttered his eyes open, he was in an unfamiliar room. Just by looking at it for a few seconds, he could obviously tell that it was some type of medical ward, but that was about it. Was he still inside the school?

"Finally! It's about time you woke up."

Izuku jolted in his bed at the loud interruption to his thoughts, looking over to the source of the feminine voice he just heard.

"Did you know you mumble when you sleep?" Kendo jabbed playfully from her seat on a bed adjacent to his.

W-what!? What is she doing here!? The boy thought nervously as his mouth went dry. All of the sudden it was kinda hard to form words in his head…

"Well? Say something! You've said like two words to me since I met you this morning," the girl grumbled.

Izuku on the other hand was quite satisfied with all of the information he was just given. Taking time to work it all out in his head.

She said she met me this morning! That means she doesn't remember what happened last year! So she doesn't think I'm a weirdo!

Another crucial piece of information that the green haired boy picked up on was the fact that she had said this morning. Reminding him that it was definitely later in the day, the orange sunset in the window giving him confirmation.

Now he just needed the rest of the stuff in between…

"Uh, sorry, I-I guess I just don't talk a lot. I've been trying to get better at that. But if you don't mind me asking, where are we? And why are you here?"

The girl smiled warmly and stood up from the bed, still wearing the same thing as before, only now her shirt had a fair bit of white, splotchy residue around the stomach area. "We're in Recovery Girl's office, she brought us here because we passed out from exhaustion and she couldn't exactly heal that," she finished with a chuckle, meeting his eyes and seeing that he was looking at her stomach. "Oh yeah! And you totally owe me a new shirt! When I woke up this stuff was all melted into the fabric and wouldn't come off!"

Not even getting a proper chance to geek out when hearing about Recovery Girl, Izuku brought a hand up and scratched the back of his head uneasily. "Oh yeah, s-sorry about that, I-I designed the fluid to dissolve after about an hour. It should wash out though, I've tried it."

"Oh, that's a relief. I really like this shirt," she smiled before backtracking for a moment. "Wait, what do you mean you designed it?"

In an instant, Izuku's eyes widened, quickly patting his wrists and going into full panic mode when he felt the absence of his web shooters.

The girl seemed to pick up on this and put her hands up to calm the boy down, all of the pieces in her mind finally coming together and making sense. "Woah, calm down! Are you looking for your stuff? It's right there" She finished, pointing to a tray sitting at the foot of his bed containing both his backpack and his prized possesions.

Izuku wasted no time in jumping out of bed and collecting the tray, putting on his pair of spider gadgets right away.

Kendo observed the boy with curiosity for a moment before voicing her thoughts. "I was wondering what those were, do they help you control your quirk?"

Once his web shooters were properly fastened to his wrists, Izuku faced the girl and gulped. They were about the same height, which didn't do his confidence any favors as he opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Uh, no, when I said I designed them, I meant my webs. They're artificial, see?" He said softly, reaching out and showing the girl the device on his wrist.

Kendo eyed the bracelet like item for a moment, becoming more and more impressed once she saw how complex it looked.

"Wow, you made that yourself? Along with the sticky stuff? That's amazing!" She called out genuinely. She was also very much relieved that the stuff on her clothes did not come out of this guy's body. But of course, she wasn't gonna say that out loud. "What is it made out of? I'm guessing just a bunch of chemicals?"

"Heh, thanks, but it's not really all that complicated," the teen lied, scratching the back of his head once again as he shrugged off the compliment. "And yeah, just a few chemicals I managed to get my hands on. I don't wanna bore you with it though."

Nodding gently, the girl smiled again, satisfied with the little amount of information given. "Alright, that's fair. But I'm serious, dude, you must be crazy smart to invent something like that all by yourself."

"Yeah, that's actually one of the reasons the school let me register it in for the entrance exam. They saw that I had made them all on my own."

"I bet," she laughed, getting to another thing she was curious about. "But one more thing. If the webs aren't your quirk, then what is it? Some kind of strength enhancement I'm guessing?"

"Oh uhhh," Izuku froze as he tried to gather his thoughts for what felt like the tenth time since he woke up. Why did talking to girls have to be so hard?

"Uhh, are you ok?" Kendo asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Luckily she had the patience to deal with this because of Tamaki.

"Oh yeah! I-I'm fine. Spider! That's my quirk!"

"Huh?"

Ugh, why am I so stupid!? The boy thought to himself before taking a big deep breath and starting over.

"Spider, It pretty much allows me to do everything a spider can. Like uhhh… Here, maybe it'll be easier just to show you, check it out," He finished before jumping up and attaching to the ceiling with his arms and legs.

"Woah! That's awesome!"

Izuku couldn't help but grin a little bit at all the praise he was getting. He had never really been complimented genuinely before, so this was a very new and welcome feeling. "Heh, thanks," He replied. His cheeks turned a bit pink as he let go of the ceiling with his hands and hung only from his feet. Something about standing on walls and ceilings just felt amazing ever since he perfected his wall run a while back. That, and he was sure the blood running to his head would help hide his blushing.

"But wait," Kendo began again. "I guess that explains why you chose to make the webs, but how are you so strong? I saw you swing from them like it was nothing. Not to mention that huge robot that you were somehow able to hold up before I got there."

"Oh, well uh, I'm actually still confused about the robot thing too. See, I'm normally able to lift a hundred seventy five times my own body weight give or take, just like a spider. But that thing was way over that amount. I think that maybe since I was only holding it up and not lifting it, my limit was higher, but I don't know, that was still way too heavy."

Can my powers grow to new limits like quirks can when they're trained? Or were my emotions helping me push through just to save that girl? That would make the most sense since I've seen Peter do it a couple of times.

"Oh wow, I guess that explains that. I forgot that spiders are supposed to be crazy strong for their size."

"Heh, yeah, It's a weird quirk, that's for sure," Izuku shrugged off again, falling back on the floor and collecting his things. "So do we have to wait for Recovery Girl to come back? It's getting pretty late and I'm sure my mom is freaking out already."

"Ugh, tell me about it, my dad wouldn't stop texting me while I was waiting for you to wake up. And no, Recovery Girl said we could leave whenever. I just waited for you because of my shirt."

"Wow, how thoughtful," the super powered teen said sarcastically as he put on his backpack.

"There it is again! You're so weird you know that? One minute you're all shy and timid, and the next you're all witty and sarcastic. Weirdo."

Izuku couldn't help but laugh audibly at the girl's observation, glad that some lessons he'd been teaching himself from Peter were starting to show. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Hey, wait up! I still have to get my stuff!"

The walk to the train station for the teens ended up having quite the looming awkward silence for most of the time. Kendo would usually be the one to break it with a question of some kind about his powers, but Izuku would only give quick and short answers. Killing any chance to start a real conversation.

It wasn't until the two boarded the train that an interesting topic that they could actually discuss came up.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot to ask, but how do you think you did on the exam?"

"O-oh, well uh, the written portion was really easy," Izuku mentioned with an innocent smile.

This however, almost caused the orange haired teen to facepalm. "That's not what I meant, you nerd! I meant the practical exam! Y'know, the one that actually matters."

Izuku didn't know why, but this girl calling him a nerd didn't have nearly as much bite as when Bakugo said it. In fact, call him crazy, but he actually found it kinda endearing.

"Oh yeah, s-sorry. Uh, I'm pretty sure I only ended up with nineteen points. I had to stop a few times to save a couple of people."

"Yeah, I feel that. I ended up with twenty five, but I also stole some from some people I saved, so that was pretty lucky." She stated matter-of-factly, connecting some dots in her head about the boy's explanation. "Hey wait, I was one of the people you saved, thanks a ton! I almost forgot about that."

"N-no! If anything, I should be thanking you! If you hadn't shown up when you did to help me out with that robot foot, I would be kissing my spine goodbye right now."

The orange haired teen managed a decent sized giggle at the boy's figure of speech. "Yeah, I guess I did save your butt huh?"

Izuku managed to summon a grin to his lips at the thought of making her laugh like that before getting excited all over again. "Heck yeah you did!" He said, nerding out about the power the girl displayed. "Your quirk was awesome! Does your strength multiply when you grow your hands like that?"

Now it was Itsuka who was scratching the back of her head somewhat nervously. "Heh, yeah, something like that. I don't have the exact number like you do though. I can usually just tell if I can lift something by looking at it."

"That's so cool!" He said energetically as he scribbled information down in his notebook.

What the heck? Why is he writing stuff down? And when did he pull that notebook out? His backpack hasn't left his shoulders since we got on the train...

Abandoning the meaningless thoughts, Kendo just shook her head at the boy's antics. And before long, he began muttering what he was presumably writing down.

"Wow, you really are a nerd," she giggled lightly once again.

Coming up and out of his notebook, Izuku blushed a bit, but ultimately accepted the nickname with a nod. He really had no problem considering she wasn't saying it to actually make fun of him like Bakugo did. Plus, as much as he hated to admit it, it was kinda true, he was a nerd. That became all but certain as soon as he began enjoying studying over the past ten months.

"Yeah, I guess I am a nerd."

"Yeah, you definitely are, but that's not a bad thing. I bet you can come up with some awesome strategies if you like writing stuff down about random people's quirks."

Dang, was he really that easy to read?

Before the boy had a chance to respond, the orange haired girl looked out the window of the moving train and turned back around. "We're coming up on my stop, it was nice to meet you uhhh, oh my goodness, I never got your name!"

"I-Izuku Midoriya!" He sputtered out a little bit too fast.

Shaking her head at the boy's odd persona, the girl waved to the boy as she stood up. "Nice to meet you Midoriya, Itsuka Kendo."

"L-likewise Kendo-san," he replied as he felt the train come to a slow stop. "Good luck on getting your r-results."

"You too. Hope to see ya there!" She finished quickly, hurrying to step off the train before the doors closed.

Even after standing and staring at the door that she had exited out of for a solid five minutes, Izuku couldn't stop the same sentence from bouncing around wildly in his mind.

I just had a real conversation with a girl! And she doesnt think I'm a loser! This is the best day of my life!

All Might moved as fast as he could through the school in his weakened form. It had been a week since the entrance exams, and he had been putting off this conversation for far too long. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

"Nezu!" the sickly thin man yelled as he pushed right into the principal's office. He expected to only see the small director here in his main quarters, but instead he was accompanied by the two hero course homeroom teachers as well.

"All Might? What brings you here? We were just going over the final list of accepted students before sending the letters out," The small principal said casually. Gaining a pair of nods from the two teachers present.

"Perfect! I arrived just in time then! What class did Izuku Midoriya end up in?"

Even though the question was rather odd, Nezu allowed it, nodding for the blood hero to respond.

Stepping forward with a smug smile displayed on his lips, Vlad King answered the symbol of peace promptly. "That would be my class All Might, 1-B."

"I see…" All Might said with a hand coming to his chin in thought. This was not what he had hoped for at all. "Nezu, I need you to change that right away. I would not like to say why, but it is absolutely imperative to the safety of everyone that Eraserhead be this boy's teacher."

"What!?" Vlad King shouted in anger, directing a scowl right at the sickly thin man.

For a while, Nezu said nothing, opting instead to stare down the symbol of peace with an emotionless expression that could rival Aizawa's.

"Forgive me All Might, but could you possibly give us a little bit more insight on why this is so important? If you really wish to keep it a secret, I understand better than anyone. But could you at least outline the gravity of how important it is?"

…

"Right now it's not much, but I have a strong hunch about him being involved with some demons from my past," he said. Doing his best to be as vague as possible in front of the two hero course teachers. Nezu seemed to pick up on what he was saying though, because his eyes widened and showed emotion for a split second.

"I see..."

"Yes," All Might began again. "Not only can Eraserhead's specific skill set help with… Developing the boy. But I also wanted to test something out that requires his assistance."

"Very well then, Izuku Midoriya will be moved to class 1-A of the hero course at once." The principal said calmly, now fully supporting and trusting the symbol of peace.

"WHAT!?" Vlad King shouted in rage once again.

Aizawa on the other hand was still emotionlessly staring at the number one hero. What are you hiding All Might?

However, his thoughts were completely derailed when more of Kan's complaints rang in his ears.

"This is completely unfair Aizawa! If you get the number one AND the number two, then I get the next three on the list!"

"Fine by me, but that means I get to pick off of your plate too."

Needless to say, the second round of class picking did not go well for the blood hero...

Chapter Text

"Well done you two! I never thought that our school would produce two U.A hero course students! I'm sure that we helped prepare you for it immensely!"

"Tch, screw you," Bakugo grumbled.

" Yes sensei! Thank you for everything!" Izuku exclaimed right next to him with a curt bow. In all reality, he was lying through his teeth. This school had done nothing but bring him down every chance it got. But he wasn't about to start an issue now that he was done with this place.

Tanto-sensei is the only one who actually helped me. I need to go see him after this so I can thank him.

" Oh Katsuki, you're so funny!" The principal laughed, not even acknowledging the green haired boy.

Shaking his head with a small scowl on his face , the super powered teen promptly left the office. He had only come to school today so he could get his schedule that U.A had sent here, and he already had that. So he didn't have to stand around and be ignored.

He was apart of the U.A hero course now. Last year he may have been a pushover who stood there and took it from teachers and bullies. But not anymore.

Don't take crap from anyone!  The boy mentally scolded himself. Repeating the already ingrained quote of a person that he could finally put a name and personality to .

I wonder if we'll be in the same class? The boy thought curiously as he rounded a corner in the hall. He already knew that she made it in because of the leaderboard that was displayed in his acceptance letter. Apparently he had placed second among every examinee because of something called rescue points. And of course, he also noticed that Kendo placed sixth, guaranteeing that she got in as well.

He could still remember the overwhelming joy that flowed through him when he opened his entrance letter from U.A a few days ago. It was a hologram of his new teacher for class 1-A, Shota Aizawa

The boy put his thoughts on hold however as he spotted his favorite classroom in the entire school. Grinning from ear to ear when he met the older man's eyes right off the bat.

"Midoriya-san! I was hoping I'd get to see you before you left for good , congratulations on your entry into U.A !"

"Heh, thanks Tanto-sensei, but I actually came to thank you. All of the study hours you put in with me were crucial to me getting in at all. So thank you, I've never had anyone help me out like that before."

"Oh don't think so much of it my boy, it was my pleasure! It's my responsibility to help any student that comes in asking for it. I do have one question however , It was my understanding that you were quirkless. And when you came to me with those blueprints at first, I thought you were gonna try for the support department. So what's that all about? Were you hiding your quirk from the school?

When the super-powered teen hesitated to respond right away, the older man took the hint almost immediately.

"It's ok, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's really none of my business."

"T-thank you Tanto-sensei , I'm sorry…" He spouted awkwardly.

"It's no problem my boy , I wish you good luck in your new studies. And please, don't be a stranger! Come back if you ever want to talk. I would normally tell you to keep up with your science knowledge, but I know you will on your own. It was a pleasure teaching you this year Midoriya-san ."

Not being able to keep a small tear from running down his cheek, Izuku reached out and enveloped the man in a hug. Making sure to be extra careful not to crush the older teacher.

Looking down at the teenager hugging him, just rested a hand on the boy's shoulder gently. He wasn't really the best at showing emotion, but he appreciated the sentiment at least .

"There there now son, you better run along now . I still have some work to do around here. There's a new class coming in tomorrow after all."

Breaking away from the man awkwardly, Izuku did his best to wipe the tears from his face and nod. "Right, I-I'm sorry Tanto-sensei , I'll get out of your way."

"Thank you Midoriya-san, and once again I wish you good luck at U.A. Please don't hesitate to come and ask for any kind of science help that you may need."

" Thanks Tanto-sensei, for everything. I'll never forget how you helped me when I needed it most."

The older teacher smiled genuinely as he watched his prized student walk out of his classroom.  I wonder what his quirk is? I guess I'll have to pay extra attention to the sports festival this year.

Walking out of his former middle school, Izuku had a plethora of thoughts and emotions flowing through his mind. All of them to a certain extent boiling down to one thing he had hoped to hear from his beloved science teacher.

I mean, he didn't say it directly, but he believes in me, right? Should I go back and ask him? Would that be weird? Ugh, why do I even need him to believe in me anyway? I believe in myself now! I don't need anyone else's approval, just like Kendo-san said. I can-

"Hey, nerd!"

The super-powered teen was abruptly pulled from his mumbling thoughts when he heard the loud and angry call from a certain blonde haired bully across the courtyard.

Glaring at his target, Bakugo strolled right up the green haired boy with a look that demanded answers. Which was the only reason he had waited for his former friend in the first place.

"You better tell me right now how you cheated and got into U.A ! Because there's no way a useless Deku like you could get second place in a practical exam like that!"

Izuku could tell the boy was absolutely fuming. And if he didn't know better, he'd say that he was about to get his teeth kicked in.

But he did know better. And now, things were different.

"Kacchan, I didn't cheat. I… I can't tell you exactly what happened to me. But I promise you, I made it into U.A all on my own merit and my own power. I put in the work and the study time. So leave me alone already. I'm not the same Deku as before who always follows you around. We're on an even playing field now, so watch out, or I just might pass-"

Izuku never got the chance to finish his complete statement, his spider sense warning him of an incoming right hook coming from the blonde haired teen.

Nevertheless, he dodged easily.

As if to drive his point home and make his mark, Izuku grabbed Bakugo's arm as it passed by his head, holding it in place easily before delivering his parting words.

"As much as you've tormented me my whole life Kacchan, I don't hate you, and I never will. I've looked up to you in more ways than one over the years, but that ends here. I'm done being your punching bag."

With that, Izuku let go of the boy's arm and turned around , walking off without another word.

"HEY!" Bakugo cried out, making the green haired boy turn his head. "Get back here and fight right now! Or I'll blow this piece of crap to kingdom come!"

Moving his eyes up to Bakugo's hands, Izuku saw that he was dangling his old hero notebook with a look of malice in his eyes.

But much like the conversation beforehand, the super powered teen maintained the upper hand.

"Go ahead , I've already written down most of what I remember in my new notebooks." He said with an extra bit of casual energy, knowing it would piss the boy off even more.

As he walked away, Izuku tried to stifle some laughter that tried to escape as he heard sounds of utter rage behind him.

Haha! I finally got him! And on purpose this time! Peter is so smart ! Sarcasm does piss off opponents easily! What an amazing battle tactic!

In truth, he really did care about that hero notebook. Not only did having all of them provide sentimental value, but he also forgot a solid amount of information in that notebook.

Oh well, I can live without it , I had just started that one when he took it anyway.

Ok, shoes? Check, fancy new uniform? Check, web shooters? Check check.

He was ready , he was ready for his first day of school at U.A high school .

Well, technically, it wasn't really the first day of actual classes, only the opening ceremony. But still! This was gonna be epic!

Izuku excitedly placed his two prized gadgets into his bright yellow backpack. As much as he wanted to have them on twenty four seven , his mark I models were way too bulky for that. If he tried wearing them under his uniform jacket, it would look like he had bulging forearms.

Now that I'm more confident in my mechanical skills, I should work on designing a new, more slim pair of web-shooters. It would be handy to be able to wear them whenever without anyone noticing.

All of these filler thoughts however were shoved out of his mind instantly when he checked the time on his phone.

Crap! If I don't hurry, I'm gonna miss the train!

Still bustling with excitement, Izuku sprinted out of his room and into the kitchen. Startling his mom when he rapidly picked up and devoured a piece of toast.

"I've gotta go Mom. Don't wanna be late on the first day!"

"W-wait! Izuku!"

The green haired boy froze on his trek to his front door and turned back to his mother, bubbling excitement still very apparent in his demeanor.

"What's up Mom ?"

"Dear… I know you're excited about getting into U.A , but please don't get your hopes up too much. I know how badly you want it, but big fancy places like that don't usually take kindly to people who don't have quirk s… So watch your back please dear. I don't want you to get hurt."

A simple, "you can do it" would've been nice.  Izuku thought bitterly before mentally scolding himself.

His Mom had no reason to believe that he was capable enough to attend U.A. After all, he had never told her about his new "quirk," and she was just trying to look out for his safety at the end of the day.

Still though, she's seen how hard I've been working , she could've at least said she's prou d…

…

No, it's ok, I understand why she's worried. I would be too in her shoes. I'm not about to start hating my mom just because she didn't believe in me. I'll just treat her like everyone else , I'll make her believe in me! I'll show everyone I can become a hero!

Besides, it's not like she hasn't helped me at all this whole tim e…

"Will do, Mom! Thanks for the advice, and thank you especially for teaching me to sew! I would've never been able to finish my costume without you!"

"Oh… Well, good. No problem dear , have a nice day!"

With a curt nod and a powerful smile, Izuku took off out of his house. Making sure to close his door all the way before leaping off of his third floor staircase and landing swiftly on the ground below him.

"Here I come U.A !" He shouted to the sky, taking off into a dead sprint that left some nearby pedestrians questioning his speed.

"Uhh, yep, this is definitely it, class 1-A. " Izuku mumbled to himself, standing in front of the unusually large door. For some reason, he couldn't find it in himself to open it and step inside. He wasn't really all that nervous per se, but he was worried about one specific thin g…

Please let her be in my class, please let her be in my class, please let her be in my clas s…

Reaching out and gripping the doorknob tightly, Izuku gulped before opening it up and stepping inside.

"Wow! So you're that Bakugo guy! The one who got first place in the practical exam! That's so awesome dude ! Super manly!"

Grea t… Kacchan is in this clas s…

Turning around at the sound of the door opening, the red haired teen that was praising Bakugo jumped up in excitement when he locked eyes with Izuku. Not wasting any time in rushing over to him in a hurry.

"Woah! And you're that kid who ran in and stopped the zero pointer from crushing that girl! Wow that was the most manly thing I've ever seen! Sorry about freaking out at you over those stolen points! I kinda overreacted. What's your name?"

"Oh uhhh," Izuku stammered right off the bat. First off, he wasn't expecting to see Bakugo in the same class as him. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was already being complimented off the bat by a total stranger. These two factors in turn made for quite the brain shortage for the boy as he gathered himself for a response.

"I uhhh…"

"Haha! You're gonna wanna give him a minute. He gets flustered pretty easily sometimes."

Izuku's eyes shot up at the familiar voice as all of his senses turned up to the max.

It's her!

"Kendo-san! You're in my class!"

"Heh, yep, pretty lucky don't ya think? She smiled before turning towards the red haired boy. "Hi, Itsuka Kendo, nice to meet you."

Izuku quickly took the hint as well, introducing himself right after her. "Izuku Midoriya! Sorry for the delay!"

"Ahaha! No problem! Both of you are some of the manliest people ever! I was way too scared of that huge zero-pointer to even move ! The name's Eijiro Kirishima by the way!"

" Oh trust me, I was scared as heck too . I just went in so this weirdo wouldn't get himself killed." Kendo quipped with a bit of mock cockiness.

"Well, I can't really argue with that," the super-powered teen mumbled as he scratched the back of his head. "Again, I really am sorry about taking your points Kirishima-san."

"Hey, like I said man , water under the bridge."

Seeing that the conversation was coming to a close, Izuku took a moment to scan around the rest of the classroom. Obviously, he didn't know anyone except Bakugo, who was conveniently looking away from him with a scowl on his face .

Luckily, his little conversation with Kendo and Kirishima had gone unnoticed by the rest of the class. Most were divided up into smaller groups like his was so they could get to know each other a little better.

Heck, Izuku would've gone back to chatting too if his spider sense didn't begin to tickle him.

What the heck? I've never felt it ring so softly before.

"Oh wow! Is that really him!? The one who stopped the zero-pointer's foot!"

"Midoriya! Watch out! Dont -" Kendo warned as fast as she could.

But it was too late , before he could get over his sudden confusion, he found himself shaking hands with a slick haired blonde boy.

"Uhh, hi, nice to meet you. I'm-"

" Alright everyone, settle down." A bored voice echoed as a man in a sleeping bag hopped into the classroom.

…

…

…

"What? You've never seen a tired man before? Whatever, just put these on and head for the P.E grounds for your quirk apprehension test.

"Wait what !? Test!? We just got here!" A boy with yellow and black hair cried out in horror.

Izuku only looked over the P.E uniform before locking eyes with Kendo, both of them giving a small shrug before obeying the man along with the rest of the class.

Izuku wasn't gonna lie , he kinda felt out of place with his web shooters out in the open and clear as day on his wrists. It was one of the main reasons he liked wearing long sleeved shirts with them on in the first place. Regardless, he did his best to listen to whom he guessed was his homeroom teacher from his spot next to Kendo.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can begin the examinations. We will be doing the eight physical tests that you all did in middle school. Except this time, you're allowed to use your quirks, simple as that. I assume there won't be any questions."

But much to the chagrin of the neck wrapped man , a girl with black hair done up in a spiky ponytail raised her hand and waited patiently to be called on.

With a very elongated sigh, the long haired instructor called on the curious student stoically . "Yes?"

"Excuse me sir , but will we be making it to the opening ceremony still ? Wouldn't it be crucial for us to not miss orientation ?"

Rolling his bagged eyes, Aizawa spoke calmly and harshly at the same time . "This is your orientation, and this is what you will be doing today. If you don't want to take it seriously then go ahead. Just know that whoever gets last place here today will be expelled from the hero course."

…

"WHAT!?" The entire class yelled in unison.

"Good, I'm glad we understand each other. So no more questions. Lets begin with the fifty meter dash. Who wants to go first?"

What the heck? No explanation on what he just said? He just moves right on?   Izuku thought worriedly, his nerves rising a bit at the new risk that had been added .

More upset than him however was the black haired girl that asked the question in the first place. No one paid attention to that though , because soon the first student volunteer stepped forward.

"I will sensei !" The same slick haired blonde boy raised his hand frantically.

"It's Aizawa, and you sure are in a hurry aren't you? Are you on a timer or something?"

"Oh, right, Aizawa-sensei. And yes, something like tha t… Heh."

The baggy eyed instructor stared blankly at the boy for another few seconds before moving on and getting out his clipboard. "Alright, who wants to race against him?"

"I will!" A pink bodied girl called out enthusiastically. Wasting no time in lining up at the starting line next to the blonde.

"Alright, Neito Monoma and Mina Ashido, fifty meter dash. Ready? Go!" Aizawa shouted as he prepared both of his timers.

Ashido took off instantly, sliding across the ground on some kind of substance that was coming out of her shoes and picking up tremendous speed.

Monoma on the other hand was running at a normal human pac e…

What!? Does his quirk only give strength and not speed?  He thought to himself as he reached the halfway mark of the race. Panic was now beginning to set in for the boy as he threw caution to the wind and jumped as high as he could, reaching out with one arm and pressing his middle and ring finger to his palm.

…

Only for him to get ten centimeters off the ground and fall flat on his face in a heartbeat.

"Ahahahahaha!" The entire class laughed as the boy got up and finished the race in embarrassment.

"Mina Ashido, 5.31 seconds. Neito Monoma, 14 seconds flat."

"I made a mistake sensei ! Let me try again! Please!"

"I already told you, it's Aizawa-sensei. And no do overs , sorry. Who wants to go next?"

Unfortunately for Aizawa, most of the class was still recovering from laughing so hard at what they just witnessed . With Itsuka being the only one who knew exactly what just happened.

"Hahaha! He tried using your quirk Midoriya , that's what his quirk is , he copies the quirk of anyone he touches. Apparently it still needs some work though , hahaha! He even thought your webs were a part of your quirk like I did! Haha!" She explained in between laughs. For some reason, she was really getting a kick out of this.

"Oh… So that's why he did that with his hands…"

Well, I guess that confirms my theory about my powers. If he cant use them, then they must not be a quirk after all…

"I'll go, Aizawa-sensei." Izuku stepped forward, easily getting the teacher's attention considering he was one of the only ones not laughing.

"Midoriya, very well. Who wants to go against him?"

Kendo wiped a tear from her eye from her big and hearty laugh while she stepped forward to race Izuku, only to be shoved out of the way by an angry blonde haired boy who looked just about ready to explode.

"Hey!" She called out to him, only to be ignored.

"I'll take you on, you crappy Deku!"

"Bakugo, perfect. That gives us number one versus number two. Line up and wait for my signal," Aizawa instructed robotically.

Kendo watched the two boys line up while they glared at each other the whole time. What was up with that? Did they know each other? And did he call Midoriya a Deku? What was up with that?

But little did the green haired boy know that Bakugo wasn't the only one glaring daggers into him. Across the field near the finish line, Monoma was giving him a leer that could rival Bakugo's. Which in all honesty, was quite the impressive feat.

Taking his eyes off of his former friend turned bully, Izuku faced forward and prepared himself.  I can do this. I know I can do this, and that's all that matters.  He repeated in his head, successfully calming his nerves as he took a deep breath and took a starting position.

"Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo fifty meter dash. Ready? Go!"

In the blink of an eye, Izuku took off in a dead sprint as fast as he could. The all too familiar sounds of explosions ringing in his ear as he heard Bakugo hot on his tail.

If I keep running, he'll catch up.  The boy thought as he calculated the distance he was running in his mind. He was almost halfway to the finish line, a little shorter than he would have liked to pull off something like this, but he was sure he could do it if he used his arms to their full potential.

Here goes nothing.

With all of the momentum he had gathered in his sprint, Izuku pushed off the ground and leapt as far forward as he could, burning a good 20 meters or so in the blink of an eye before putting his arms up and firing two web lines at the ground beyond the finish line. And without missing a beat, the boy pulled as hard as he could on the two strands of web, sending him flying forward with both his own force, and the added force that the elasticity of his web fluid provided.

With his little web zip experiment a complete success, Izuku looked back to see that he had passed the blonde haired teen by a good margin. Making him grin like an idiot as he crossed the finish line feet first, landing with a clean tumble roll.

A moment later, Bakugo passed the finish line as well.

"Izuku Midoriya, 4 seconds flat. Katsuki Bakugo, 4.93 seconds."

"Yes! I did it!" Izuku pumped his fist proudly.

Bakugo on the other hand looked like he was actually about to burst this time, or at least he would have, if the teacher hadn't stepped in calmed everyone down.

" Alright alright, relax, who's next!?"

And just like that, the next two contestants lined up and prepared themselves to race. This went on until everyone had taken their turn so they could move on to the next test. With most of the class now keeping an eye out for the top two in the practical exam who were now proven threats.

"Next up, we have the softball throw…"

While Aizawa explained the rules and called up the first student . Izuku felt someone tap on his shoulder, smiling when he turned to see Kendo behind him.

"That was pretty clever what you did in that race of yours. I guess you won't be going home today huh ?"

"Um, n-no no! It was really nothing, trust me Kendo-san , all I really did was calculate my jump and how hard I could pull my own weight. Trust me, it was simple."

The girl chuckled a bit at the way he just word dumped everything. "Yeah, my bad, that sounds sooo simple." She said sarcastically.

*BOOM*

The pair cut their little sidebar immediately and looked up to see what appeared to a softball flying into orbit.

And to everyone but Izuku's surprise, it was Bakugo's cocky smirk on the back end of that throw.

"Whoa!?" Kirishima yelled in awe. "I can't even see it anymore!"

"705.2 meters. Impressive," Aizawa muttered.

Of all the class 1-A students, Kendo seemed to be the only one not impressed. "Think you can beat that one, nerd?"

Izuku audibly gulped before stepping forward and volunteering, his eyes getting ever more serious the closer he got to the designated circle.

"Number two again? Have at it." Aizawa encouraged, tossing the boy a softball.

Izuku stayed silent as he caught the ball and stared down at the circle he was standing in, an idea quickly popping into his head.

"Aizawa-sensei, do I have to stay inside the border if I jump?"

"As long as you land in the circle, I don't care what you do. Go for it."

Smiling confidently. Izuku wasted no time in jumping forward as far as he could, very similarly to his last one. Waiting until he hit his peak, the super powered teen cocked back his right arm and prepared to throw. Letting it rip when he was at the highest point in his jump.

Putting all of his strength into the throw, Izuku smiled as it vanished into the air almost instantly. Pausing his little celebration to turn around in mid air and fire a web line at the circle, allowing him to pull himself back and land on his feet with a graceful backflip.

…

"1,279 meters…" Aizawa choked out through wide eyes. What on earth was that?

Rather than freaking out again like they did with the surprise pressure that came with these tests. The entire class just stood there with absolute astonishment on their faces , unable to believe what they just saw.

"That… That's almost a whole American mile…" A girl with horns muttered aloud in very rough Japanese.

No one however, was more surprised than the furious looking blonde that was already red in the face and ready to explode.

In fact, he would've exploded had it not been for a student who spoke up and asked exactly what he was wondering.

"What the heck was that man!? What kind of quirk do you have!?" A small boy with purple orbs on his head asked in desperation.

Already having figured this would be coming, Izuku had prepared himself mentally to explain himself. But now that he was facing the crowd head on , he wasn't so eager anymore.

"Hah, uh yeah, uh. My quirk, it's called Spider. Basically, I can do anything a spider can. Like stick to walls and stuff, heh. It's weird since it's a mutant type so it's hard to explain."

The whole class looked at him like that was not enough information at all , with Kendo even shaking her head with her palm on her forehead.

Why does he suck at explaining his quirk so much?

Luckily for the poor boy, one familiar student cleared everything up for the rest of her class with her wide array of knowledge. "I see! Most spiders can lift up to multiple times their own body weight. So given that you're a mutant type, it would make sense that you would be given the proportionate strength of a spider."

Izuku was a bit taken aback by how informed the girl was.  She might actually give me a run for my money in the classroom.

"Yeah, exactly! It's just like that." He complimented, receiving only a nod from the somewhat serious girl. The very same girl who had asked Aizawa-sensei the initial question before all of the tests began.

"Wait a minute! That doesn't explain why he gets to cheat and use support items!" Monoma yelled accusingly as he spotted the items on the boy's wrist. If only he'd seen them sooner. It would've made his day a lot less embarrassing.

"I'm not cheating , I registered these. They're my web shooters and I made them myself. They wouldn't have let me use them otherwise," the boy responded calmly.

Walking up and grabbing the green haired boy's shoulder, Aizawa spoke. "I'm gonna need to see a registry note, Midoriya."

Izuku shrugged and casually reached into his pocket. Pulling out the little slip of paper and showing it to his professor.

After taking just one glance at it, Aizawa handed it back to him. Nodding in approval at what the boy said earlier. "Alright then, very impressive Midoriya , on all fronts. Keep it up. Now who's next?"

As the next student moved up to throw the softball. Izuku was pelted with questions as he walked back into the crowd. Most of which he just shrugged off and answered with simple responses. In all honesty, the attention was kinda suffocating , he had no idea how Peter thrived so much in outgoing situations like this.

One specific student who had his eyes wide with both hate and amazement was Bakugo. Even now that everything had been explained properly , he still couldn't comprehend how Izuku had such a strong quirk.

At the very least, the blonde held back his tongue for now. He had gotten his explanation at least, now all that was left was confronting Deku. And that could wait for later.

The rest of the tests went by relatively quickly, with Izuku's powers being perfect for dominating each one.

In the standing long jump, he had easily cleared the sandbox. Which in hindsight, wasn't all that impressive since most students did so as well , but it was still worth mentioning.

On the repeated side steps, only one student managed to best his quick feet. A small purple haired boy who used his quirk to bounce from side to side over the lines at an incredible pace.

On the grip strength test, he had somehow managed to destroy the small handheld device before it could even get a reading on him, leaving everyone in shock once again. The only other student who had the same outcome with their own grip strength device was Kendo, who crushed it to pieces with her enlarged hand. It went without saying that both she and Izuku were given max scores by Aizawa-sensei.

Next was probably the exercise that was least affected by quirk usage, the seated toe touch. In middle school, it was meant to display flexibility in students and test them on that alone. And flexibility wasn't really something that most quirks could affect in any significant wa y…

Needless to say though, Izuku's spider training had done him well in not only making him more agile, but also more flexible. Giving him the perfect amount of bend at the waist to reach all the way past his toes and scoring the most points possible.

The last two tests were ones that his spider powers were able to handle all by themselves . With the distance run leaving only him and the intelligent girl, Momo Yaoyorozu as the last two people on the track running laps.

Well, she wasn't really running as much as riding an electric scooter while she waited for him to tire out. Which by the way, was still a long time coming. He'd been going strong for almost an entire hour without even breaking a sweat in his steady jog. Even the boy with an ice quirk who was just gliding along a streak of ice had given up a while back, half of his body becoming frozen as he reached his limit.

"What is that? Seventy laps now? That girl is gonna run out of power in that thing before he tires out!" Ashido mentioned to no one in particular. Getting a hefty nod from the rest of the class.

"I'll say, she couldn't at least pick something cooler like a chopper? Why'd she go with a lame old scooter," Kendo added pointlessly.

Eventually, Aizawa sensei ended up stopping the two students at a hundred laps. Having seen enough to be satisfied and then some, the bored instructor simply gave them both max points.

It was the same story as well on the sit ups .

"Are you tired yet? I'm getting bored of holding your feet down!" Kendo complained from her spot on the floor in front of Izuku.

"S-sorry Kendo-san, but I feel fine!" And it was the truth. He had lost track at around sit up number two hundred and was just continuing until Aizawa sensei stopped him like on the distance run.

"Alright, that's enough showing off Midoriya , you're finished , three hundred sit ups . Everyone gather around while I count up the scores. I'll post them here in a minute."

Izuku gave a little half grin at his teacher's words before he noticed a hand in front of him, taking it without hesitation and pulling himself up with it.

"Thanks Kendo-san."

"Don't mention i-ahh!" She began before being pulled off to the side and away from the green haired boy.

After gaining her bearings again, the orange haired girl looked around to see that she was surrounded by most of the girls in her class, with the pink skinned girl and the invisible girl taking the lead and getting in her personal space.

"Kendo-chan! You were holding Midoriya's legs while he did his sit ups . You have to tell us, how amazing were his abs!?" Ashido asked slyly.

"W-what!?" Itsuka stuttered as her cheeks gained color.

" Oh come on! We know his shirt must have slipped up at some point! He did three hundred of those without even breaking a sweat! He must be absolutely shredded !" A girl who was completely invisible said dreamily. Although no one could really see her facial expression, it was obvious that she was at least pleased with her imagination.

"Guys! What the heck! I wasn't peeking at his abs like that! I'm not a weirdo!"

"Technically, not looking would make you the weirdo. We are girls after all, gero." An odd faced girl with her tongue hanging out mentioned.

"Ok, I am NOT doing this right now! Nope! I hate girl talk. Go get your gossip from someone else," Kendo finished and walked away. Trying her hardest to wipe the blush from her cheeks on her way back to Izuku.

"Kendo-san? What was that all about?"

"Don't worry about it , let's just go see our results," She said in a tone that came as more of a demand than a suggestion.

"Alright, everyone settle down, or I actually will expel one of you," The bored looking man muttered aloud, making the entire class look at him in confusion.

"Wait, what?" A yellow and black haired boy scratched his head as his mind danced in circles. "What does that mean?"

Meanwhile, many of the other students were already sighing in relief.

"It means he was lying about expelling last place, stupid," A purple haired girl with earphone jacks for ears stated. Attempting to catch the slower boy up.

"Correct, I may not have been completely honest with you all on that, but you deserved it. Don't ever take anything we do in this class as anything less than deadly serious. Got that?"

" Yes sensei!"

"Good, but that's the end of my rational deceptions for now , these scores are all one hundred percent genuine. So take them that way," He continued in his low, raspy voice while pulling out a phone looking device and pressing in some commands.

Before long, a blue projection appeared from the handheld device, showing a list of twenty names ranked from first to last.

1. Izuku Midoriya

2. Momo Yaoyorozu

3. Shoto Todoroki

4. Katsuki Bakugo

5. Itsuka Kendo

6. Fumikage Tokoyami

7. Eijiro Kirishima

8. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

9. Mina Ashido

10. Pony Tsunotori

11. Tsuyu Asui

12. Kojiro Bondo

13. Hanta Sero

14. Sen Kaibara

15. Yosetsu Awase

16. Kyoka Jiro

17. Denki Kaminari

18. Toru Hagakure

19. Neito Monoma

20. Minoru Mineta

" Oh thank goodness!" The last place student, Mineta yelled out flamboyantly, falling to his knees and looking up to the sky with tears in his eyes. "I would've been expelled if sensei wasn't lying!"

While some students had more extreme reactions like Mineta, for the most part, everyone else just nodded in satisfaction at the table of names.

"Nice, Midoriya! You got first! Can't really say I'm surprised after watching your performance, but still, great job!" Kendo mentioned genuinely. Getting a nod as well from Kirishima.

"Uh, t-thanks Kendo-san," Izuku mumbled back, still trying to digest the fact that he had beaten Bakugo outright once again.

And speaking of the angry blonde, his face was among the few dissatisfied looks that were spread among the class as well. His forehead vein couldn't possibly get any bigger right about now. He would be getting his answers alright, no matter how long it took.

You won't beat me again you stupid useless Deku!

Another student who wasn't looking too cheerful at the moment was Yaoyorozu, who looked on at Izuku with uncertain eyes that showed she didn't exactly welcome competition.

I'll just have to try even harder in class.

"Alright, that's it for today. Hit the locker rooms and change back into your uniforms. I doubt you'll make the opening ceremony, but you're welcome to try. See you tomorrow for our first day of class." Aizawa ordered in his monotone voice as he walked off the P.E grounds.

As all of the students nodded and made their trek back to the locker rooms, Aizawa sighed when he noticed the tall muscular figure waiting for him behind some bushes next to the school's entrance.

"Psst! Aizawa! Over here!"  The enormous man whispered loudly.

Rolling his eyes, the baggy eyed man continued walking, only being forced to stop when the larger man jumped in front of him.

"So? Did you do it?"  All Might asked curiously, his winning smile faltering for a moment.

"Yes, I did, multiple times, it didn't work."

"See! I told you! There's something fishy going on with that boy! He must have a connection to All For One! How else could he avoid your erasure?"

Aizawa had been given a rough outline about who this "All For One" was when he was given this task by the symbol of peace. And to be honest, his whole theory sounded like one big load of crap. But the principal had stepped in directly and all but forced him to go along with it, so here he was.

"Look All Might, I understand why you want to keep your condition, and this big villain a secret from everyone, but I don't wanna be dragged into any of this unless I absolutely have to. So can you please explain to me why my quirk not working on this Midoriya kid is such vital information?"

"Because it reeks of All For One! First this boy shows up randomly with a brand new quirk after being quirkless his whole life. And now it can't even be affected by your famous erasure!? This doesn't make any sense! And that's what makes me so worried!"

Still keeping an even face, Aizawa took his turn to speak. "Or… Just hear me out. My quirk doesn't affect him, because he's a mutant type."

"Huh?"

"Yep, he said it himself. And its common knowledge that my erasure doesn't affect those types of quirks. It's also common knowledge that mutant types are the class of quirks that scientists know the least about. So no matter how weird it may sound to us , developing a quirk later on in life could be a very real possibility for mutant types."

This left the number one hero absolutely speechless, giving the erasure hero the perfect opportunity to begin walking away. "Trust me All Might, I think it's weird too, so don't worry. Just don't do anything stupid and let the situation play out. I'm sure if we keep on watching quietly we can figure this thing out before taking action."

Watching the stoic man leave silently, All Might shrunk down to his true form, letting the words he just heard sink in properly.

Just watch quietly? Well, he had never been one to do anything quietly, that was for sure.   

Sighing somewhat exhaustedly, Izuku made his way down the winding hallways of U.A in search of a specific classroom. After their little surprise exam and the opening ceremony concluded, students were able to go around and get a little bit more familiar with the number one hero school personally. With many more tours and different orientations being offered to those who wanted them.

But right now, all of that was over and the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, something that Izuku was well aware of once he yawned for what felt like the third time in a row recently.

It wasn't until the green haired boy spotted the room he was looking for that he quickly jolted himself awake and began moving in its direction, his mind once again going over the checklist of things that he needed to collect.

See, one thing that the boy had paid extra attention to today during orientation, was the incredible fact that the school was footing the bill for any and all hero related support. Which was exactly the reason he had stayed behind after everything ended to come and visit the workshop in the support department.

Stepping right up to the large metal doors, Izuku knocked and waited for a moment , completely losing his breath when he saw who answered the doors.

"Whaddya need, kid? I'm kinda busy at the moment with a… Special student of mine." The unusually short man complained, a pang of metal falling down echoing in the classroom behind him. "Ugh, can't she go five minutes without touching anything?"

But Izuku was too caught up in his swirling thoughts to hear the man's muttered complaint , instead he was staring with wide eyes ready to burst from excitement. He would recognize that yellow helmet anywhere! And those caps on his fingertips as well!

"You-you're Power Loader! The Excavation Hero! Oh wow! I'm a huge fan! I studied the blueprints and designs of your power suit religiously when I was still learning mechanical engineering! This is amazing! You're really a teacher at U.A !"

Suddenly the noise in the background of the classroom came to a pause as Power Loader smiled widely at the newcomer's words. "Ahh, I see. You read my designs? And you understood them?"

"Understood them? I used them as a basis for my own project! It really is an honor Power Loader-sensei!"

Well, this was certainly a surprise. Who could this boy be? He was sure that he wasn't missing a student, unless that furball Nezu was pulling his leg and giving him an extra spot in one of his classe s…

Either way though, he was impressed , so maybe it couldn't hurt to at least hear the boy out.

"Cut the formalities kid , we're not out in the field , Mr. Maijima will do just fine."

"R-right! Forgive me Maijima-sensei !"

" Yeah yeah, whatever, so what are you doing here anyway? All of my support course classes are full. Are you from general studies or something?"

"Uh, n-no, I'm actually from the hero course. I came to talk to you about unlimited lab supplies."

"What!? Hero course? Shouldn't you be more worried about punching and kicking stuff than working in a shop? What's up with that, kid?"

"Oh, well uh, I actually made all of my own gear, including my costume."

Narrowing his eyes a bit , the excavation hero waited a moment, signaling the boy to continue.

"Right, well I uh , I was wondering if I could have some of the supplies on this list. It's just chemicals for the most part , I hope it's not too much trouble."

Taking the sheet of paper from the boy, Mr. Maijima looked it up and down with great detail.

Liquid cement? What in the world?

"Yes, I can confirm that we do have everything on this list, but you aren't a support course student, so I can't just hand them out to you willy nilly . What do you need them for?"

"Oh, right, uh, do you think I could um , come inside to a desk? I don't wanna get in trouble bringing these out in the hallway."

"Of course, go right ahead," The smaller man shrugged, keeping his eyes on the boy as he found a workbench and pulled something out of his backpack.

Izuku took a moment to widen his eyes in awe at the complexity of the workshop while he pulled out his prized inventions.

Now THIS is a workshop! I'd have to be filthy rich to afford something like this!

Another odd thing that Izuku noticed was the presence of a pink haired girl in the corner of the room staring him down with serious yellow eyes. It appeared as though she had been in the middle of tinkering with something in her little sectioned off corner of madness, but now all of her focus was on him, with a look that Izuku couldn't seem to read for the life of him.

Ok, that's kinda creepy.  Was his final thought before finally pulling out his pair of support items and clicking them onto his wrists.

" So uh, these are my support items Maijima-sensei . I made them myself and even got them registered for my hero classes."

"Yeah, I can see that kid, but what are they? Cut to the chase already." The small instructor said somewhat impatiently. In all honesty, he didn't expect much out of whatever those bracers were. This was a hero course student after all , and they weren't really known for using their brains too often.

"R-right! Sorry! I call them my web shooters. My whole quirk and hero persona is centered around being agile and spider like , so I created these to help me out with that. Do you mind if I demonstrate them for you? They aren't destructive."

Now paying a little more attention than before, the excavation hero answered immediately. His curiosity started to get the better of him. "Yeah, go for it kid ."

Smiling at the man, Izuku turned to see that the pink haired girl from before was also on the edge of her seat waiting for his showing. "Great! Here goes!"

*Thwip*

Firing a web line at the ceiling above him, Izuku didn't hesitate to pull himself up and hang from it upside down, showing off the weight that his web fluid could hold.

"If I hold the trigger down, It fires a web line, which I can use in battle, or even to support my weight and swing from…"

Before anyone could respond, Izuku brought up his other hand while holding himself up with the other, shooting a blob of webbing at the wall across the room.

"But if I just tap the trigger, it shoots out in more of a ball like consistency. Making it a perfect adhesive projectile!"

Now staring at the boy with his mouth agape, the excavation hero held his head, words evading him as he tried processing exactly what he just saw.

"Wow! What a super cute baby!" The pink haired girl yelled out as she ran towards the wall where Izuku had shot his web.

"Hehe, yeah… You took the words right out of my mouth Hatsum e … And here I thought hero course students were all brawn and no brain . What's your name son ?"

"Izuku Midoriya, sir!" The green haired boy stated happily, letting go of his web line and falling to the floor elegantly.

"Well then Midoriya, you sure do have something here. This is incredible! Are those completely mechanical? I don't see a single spec of light coming from those things."

"Oh yeah, I uh , I designed them like that. I didn't wanna get into anything electrical, otherwise they would have taken me even longer. Plus, I figured if I messed up on the waterproofing I would just end up ruining them anytime they got wet."

"That was a wise decision , nothing beats the good old classics. Tangling with the hazard of getting shocked is a whole new rodeo when tinkering with things. Good instincts."

"Heh, thanks Maijima-sensei," he said awkwardly, doing his best to shrug the compliment off and regain focus.

"Woah! That really is a strong adhesive!"

The two men turned to where the pink haired girl was and widened their eyes at the circumstance she was in.

"Mei! What did I tell you about touching random stuff you don't know about !?"

Izuku on the other hand just scratched the back of his head sheepishly at the girl's odd position. It seemed that she had gotten her whole arm stuck to the wall in her search to find answers. Which honestly, he was getting used to. It always seemed like someone's first instinct when seeing his webbing was to reach out and touch it.

"Ah crap," Maijima grumbled as his attempt to pull his student off of the wall failed. " Hey Midoriya, how do you loosen this stuff?"

"Haha, well, that's the thing. I created the formula to be as strong as possible while still maintaining as much elasticity as I could . So unless she has a strength quirk, she's gonna be stuck there for about an hour."

"An hour? What happens then?"

"That's about how long it takes for it to dissolve. I figured this would happen a lot , so I didn't make it permanent on purpose."

Widening his eyes yet again and nodding his head in approval. Mr. Maijima walked back to the boy and read over the list again, this time giving him a big thumbs up. "Wow! Alrighty then Midoriya , you've convinced me! I'll get you everything on this list, no problem! I'm guessing that these chemicals are for making that substance of yours ?"

" Yes sir!" The super-powered teen exclaimed cheerfully. Bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. "I already have the formula written down and memorized if you wanna see it as proof."

Chuckling slightly, the excavation hero opened up a cabinet and collected a large tray, promptly giving it to the boy with a winning smile. "Don't worry about it, kid, I believe you. Now come on, I'll show you to where we keep just about every chemical known to man. You can pick out what you need and be on your way."

"Really!? Thank you so much Maijima-sensei !"

"Hehe, it's no problem kid , I'm honestly surprised that you were even able to make that stuff on your own. The chemicals alone must have cost a fortune!"

"Yeah, they really did. Up until now I've been really trying to conserve my web fluid. It really hurt my wallet every time I ran out, hehe."

" Well don't you worry about that anymore Midoriya !" Power Loader declared, grabbing some keys off his desk and beginning to walk towards the doors. "We'll take good care of you here at the support department."

Izuku couldn't wipe the grin off his face if he tried. This was incredible.

Finally! No more empty pockets!

"Hey! Maijima-sensei! What about me!? I wanna get a good look at the web babies!" Mei complained from her spot on the wall.

"Ha! Well maybe this'll teach you to stop being so curious all the time! You heard Midoriya, you've got time out for one hour. And I don't think he's gonna sit around and wait," The instructor laughed as he walked out of the classroom with Izuku in tow.

" Aw man! Those babies were extra cute too!

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up groggily to the sound of his phone's alarm screeching painfully into his sensitive ears. Normally, the device was placed away from his head and on his nightstand while he slept, but last night had not been a normal night.

"Ughh," the boy groaned as he picked up his phone and shut off the alarm, his eyes shooting open all the way as he checked the time.

"Crap! That was my backup alarm!" He yelled out in realization, quickly getting up from his messy workbench and looking for his uniform.

See, since the super powered teen had just gotten a brand new set of chemicals from the U.A support department, he had immediately begun mass producing as much web fluid as humanly possible right when he got home yesterday. Which in all honesty, he loved doing, no matter how time consuming it could be. Mixing the chemicals and synthesizing the fluid mixture was easy enough, but actually getting the stuff into the tiny little capsules , now that took both time and finesse.

The only place that the green haired boy miscalculated was in his estimated time of quitting and going to bed. In which he obviously pushed it a little too far and overslept his first alarm for school.

Now fully dressed in his grey U.A uniform, Izuku rushed out of his room and quickly said goodbye to his mom. Once he was outside his apartment, he quickly finished snapping on his web shooters before perching onto the railing of the building's stairs.

I don't have a choice, I have to web swing to school. The train is already long gone, and class starts in twenty minutes!  The teen thought rapidly as he checked his phone one more time.

Izuku knew the risks of getting caught for quirk usage in public, but frankly, he didn't care anymore. He had gone out web swinging plenty of times before, back when he was still learning how to do it. Sure, he'd had a few close calls here and there where he had to speed up and hide to get a pro hero off his tail, but that ended up being more fun and thrilling to him than scary and cautioning.

It's not a big deal, after all, Peter breaks the law all the time just by being a hero in his world. What would he think of me if I was too scared to just web swing ?  Izuku thought comically to himself, a somewhat cocky smirk making its way onto his lips.

However fictional Peter Parker may have been, he was still like a mentor to the young green haired boy, and he wasn't about to shy away from something that the comic book character made look easy.

Making up his mind, Izuku turned around on his perch to face his apartment building, not wasting another second in jumping up and clinging to the wall above his door.

Once the boy had crawled up to the roof of his building, he immediately started sprinting, giving himself a running start before leaping off the building and beginning his trek to school.

This would never get old.

Walking through the gates of U.A at a steady pace, Itsuka Kendo was silent as a plethora of thoughts swam around in her mind. Most of which were centered around a plain looking green haired boy and his second absence in a row.

Not only was he not on the train this morning on the way to school, but yesterday when she had waited after orientation to walk home with him, he was nowhere to be found. It wasn't the biggest deal in the world to her, she just found it odd. The only reason she had even waited in the first place was because he was one of the only people in her class that she felt somewhat familiar with. Well that, and the fact that they took the same train to get home…

Maybe he took a different train today?

Before long though, the girl's thoughts evaporated as she heard an all too familiar sound come from behind her.

*Thwip*

Yep, just as she expected, when she turned around, there he was, the person she was just thinking about.

Detaching from his final web line, Izuku kicked off the arc and flew forward as fast as he could, riding this last bit of momentum for as long as possible.

Seeing that he was gonna end up a bit short of the campus, the green haired boy entered a headfirst dive and landed hands first onto the blue outline of U.A's main gate, pushing off with his arms and landing in a steady perch crouch right in front of the orange haired girl.

"Oh, hey Kendo-san," Izuku said casually with a bit of sweat on his face.

The girl on the other hand, was not so casual, looking around frantically and sighing in relief when she noticed they were alone.

"Midoriya!? What are you doing!? Are you trying to get in trouble!?"

Slowly unclipping and taking off his web shooters, Izuku's smile only grew, riding out the wave of adrenaline and confidence to the fullest. "Heh, can't get in trouble if I don't get caught."

Again, this only seemed to further confuse the girl as his demeanor did another sudden one eighty .  What is with this guy? It's almost like he's two different people!

Wasting no time however , Kendo matched his smirk, almost challenging the boy as she tried to one up him. "Hmph, fine, that's fair. I guess I'll just stop waiting for you after school if you're just gonna swing home every day now."

Instantly widening his eyes, Izuku's brave face faltered as nerves hit him like a truck. "W-what!? Y-you waited for me!? When? What are you talking about? Why did-"

"Haha! You should see your face right now!" Kendo laughed seeing his panicked expression.

"Huh?" Izuku responded, completely lost at the moment.

Rolling her teal eyes at the boy, Kendo quickly began walking towards the school again, motioning to the boy with her hand to join her. "C'mon, lets walk and talk, I'm already late enough thanks to that stupid train delay."

" Aw what!? The train had a delay!? I could've made it!" Izuku complained as he caught up with the girl.

"Haha! Is that why you swung to school? Gotta hand it to ya, that's gutsy."

"Yeah, I overslept a little. Got caught up making web fluid all night since the school gave me all the chemicals I needed."

"Oh wow! They're supplying you with chemicals? For free?" The girl inquired as they walked into the school.

"Yeah! Isn't it great? I used to burn through cash all the time on just raw chemicals, but the school said since it was for a support item, they would give me anything I needed. That's actually where I was after orientation yesterday, the support department. Sorry if I kept you waiting." Izuku said sheepishly while scratching his head.

"That's awesome dude. And don't worry about it, I'm just glad you didn't ditch me on purpose," she jabbed playfully.

"Of course not! I'll be there today, I promise!"

"Haha! Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it."

Just as the two wrapped up their friendly conversation, they arrived at the large door of class 1-A and stepped inside.

Still bustling around with chatter and background noise, no one in the class really took notice when the pair walked in together. There were still a couple minutes left until the bell, and everyone was pretty much out and about, so it was impossible to know which seats were taken.

"Oh good, looks like we weren't too late," Kendo remarked happily, earning a small nod from Izuku as he met a pair of red eyes from across the class.

Not backing down, the green haired teen matched the rival blonde's intense glare. Holding it for quite a while without so much as blinking.

After a while, Kendo noticed the boy's silence and looked over at him, growing curious when she saw that he was sharing a dirty look with Bakugo again. She was about to stomp out her curiosity once and for all and ask the boy what his relation to the blonde was, but just like yesterday, Aizawa-sensei came out of nowhere.

"Alright, settle down everyone, take your seats," he said in his normal monotone voice.

Itsuka shook her head in frustration before walking away from Izuku and finding the seat she had sat in briefly yesterday. She wasn't gonna forget about this, she was getting her answers, one way or another.

Izuku froze when he heard the voice of his instructor from behind him, breaking eye contact with Bakugo and looking around the room. It looked like even Kendo had already found a seat closer to the middle of the classroom, when did that happen?

"Well Midoriya? You want me to repeat myself? Take a seat. Look at that, there's an open one right behind your friend Bakugo there."

Of course the only open seat is near Kacchan, crap…

Class 1-A's first homeroom class passed by with very minimal commotion. The only thing that stood out to the students, was a promise made by Aizawa-sensei saying that their hero studies class after lunch would be quite eventful.

With that in mind, it was obvious that most of the class was on edge, especially with the dark and unreadable nature of their homeroom teacher. To them, anything was possible at this point.

Plus, it didn't help that their last class before lunch today was something dull in the form of math. But here they were, bored out of their minds as their math teacher gave out instructions.

"Alright class, I'm gonna keep things simple," the low and foggy voice of the pro hero Ectoplasm began in an even tone. "I know you all have already done that meet and greet crap in other classes, so let's skip that part. I'm Ectoplasm. I don't care if you call me sensei or not , just as long as you all shut up and pay attention."

The majority of the students nodded at the man's straightforward approach. They had already spent most of the day just messing around and learning each other's names and other types of first day nonsense. So, it was nice to have a small break from that.

Th is w as the collective thought among most 1-A students… That i s, until the prosthetic wearing hero revealed what they were doing today.

Dropping a stack of papers on his desk, Ectoplasm opened his mouth and dispensed out clones in order to pass out the packets in a quick and orderly fashion. Effectively impressing and confusing the students receiving them.

"As you can all see, my clones are passing out your preliminary math exams. You may begin as soon as you receive them, and you may leave as soon as you complete them. So hurry it up, I'm sure you all want some extra lunch time right?"

Most of the class didn't even bother showing emotion at the instructor's final question, still reeling from the fact that they were taking a test so soon.

"W-what!? A test!? On the first day!? What is this man!?" A yellow and black haired teen known as Kaminari thought out loud.

"Yeah! We haven't even learned anything yet! This is unfair!" Mineta complained alongside him.

Sighing deeply, the pro hero resisted the urge to grab the bridge of his nose, already seeing that some of these kids weren't so bright.

"Correct, you haven't learned anything yet, which is why this is a PRELIMINARY exam. It's supposed to show me where everyone is at in terms of knowledge in mathematics, which in turn will help me determine a proper pace to teach everyone effectively."

However, while many sighs of relief came out around the class, Kaminari was still looking totally clueless as to what the teacher was getting at.

"Uh, what?"

Getting promptly smacked across the head by one purple haired Kyoka Jiro, the yellow and black haired teen cried out in pain. "It's not for a grade lightning butt, now stop being an idiot!"

Seeing this, the prosthetic using teacher could help but chuckle at the antics of his new class. This was certainly guaranteed to be an interesting year.

"Very well then, please quiet down and begin."

As the class collectively put their heads down and began working, Ectoplasm looked around to try and observe what he could. For one, he saw the yellow haired boy from before practically pull his hair out while looking at a problem. This made the man chuckle a bit as he also noticed a red haired boy and an invisible girl show some signs of struggle as well .

The test wasn't designed to be impossible, but it sure as heck wasn't easy. He had made sure to put in a couple of problems that even a college level math graduate would have some trouble with.

Which was why he was so taken aback when the first exam was handed back to him only fifteen minutes into class…

The pro hero read the name at the top of the page and looked up to make eye contact with the boy. Was he serious?

Izuku Midoriya,  Ectoplasm thought to himself as the boy took a bow and walked out the door.

Looking deeper through the test, the pro hero made sure that he wasn't being pranked by being handed a blank test. But every problem that he looked through on any given page only left him more and more stunned. He didn't know for sure until he graded it fully later, but this boy was at least close to a perfect score!

With shock still obvious on his face, Ectoplasm brought his eyes back up to the class where most students were still focused on their tests. This was incredible, it looked like he already had a star pupil.

Only a couple pairs of eyes stayed up and looked at the door that Izuku just walked out of. One from an angry Bakugo. And one from an unsure Yaoyorozu.

Izuku sat quietly on the edge of his seat alone at his lunch table. He was, of course, very grateful to Ectoplasm-sensei for giving his class the opportunity to have extra time at lunch, but he didn't expect for the test to be so rudimentary. There only ended up being a couple of harder questions towards the end of the exam.

So now, here he was, sitting alone in a half empty lunch room reading comics with an empty bowl of finished katsudon off to the side.

Shaking away the insignificant thoughts, the green haired boy focused back up on the piece of literature in his hands.

Currently, he was flipping through Amazing Spider-Man #122, and re-reading this one always managed to get him to feel bad for Peter. In this specific issue, Peter had failed to save his girlfriend at the time, and as a result, she was killed by a villain out of pure spite.

The first time he had read this story, the boy had cried for hours. This of course, was back when he was still doing his spider training and burning through comics like nobody's business. The mysterious box he'd found had come with exactly 300 Spider-Man comics, counting Amazing Fantasy #15. Which really annoyed Izuku, because that made it to where the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man that was in the box was #299. And #299 left him on a HUGE cliffhanger regarding an alien symbiote breaking into Peter's home and scaring his wife, Mary Jane.

Halting his thoughts immediately, Izuku shook his head at his frustrations with the comics.  Ok, I need to calm down before I become some kind of super nerd.

Anyways, nowadays he would just re-read all of the comics to try and catch anything he might've missed through his first run. That, and he obviously loved seeing Peter's amazing adventures as well.

There was also the mystery of the three VHS tapes marked one, two and three that were also inside the strange box. But those had just been sitting in his room collecting dust these past ten months, because much to his disappointment, nowhere he went had a single VHS player in stock. He understood of course that it was dead hardware, but it still didn't make it any less crappy knowing there was something he was missing.

Either way though, he didn't get much more reading done after that, because his classmates were beginning to show up in the lunchroom at a steady pace, and more specifically, Kendo was now making her way over to him with a tray of food in hand.

Widening his eyes, Izuku scrambled to put away the delicate comic book, doing his best to look as casual as possible when the orange haired teen arrived.

"Sup, Midoriya, mind if I sit here?"

This caught the green haired boy completely off guard, leaving him staring blankly for a solid few seconds. He had assumed that she was just coming over here to ask him something, why did she want to sit with him? No one ever wanted to sit with him! Ever! Lunch had always just been his 'fantasize about heroes by yourself for an hour' time .

"Uhh, what?" Izuku squeaked out.

Looking at the boy oddly, Kendo spoke again. "Uh, do you mind if I sit with you?"

"N-no, sorry, I heard you. I'm just not used to anyone sitting with me at lunch… Are you sure?"

Giving the boy a blank look, Kendo sat down without another word, staring her teal eyes straight into his emerald ones for a few moments , as if trying to read him. He really could be confusing sometimes, but she was determined to figure him out. And she was sure that a big piece of that would come from information about a certain red eyed blonde boy.

Starting to feel uncomfortable from the silent staring, Izuku opened his mouth to try and break the silence. "Uh, Kendo-san? Is something wrong?"

Not missing a beat, the orange haired teen replied. "Nope," she said casually, placing some food in her mouth and chewing before talking again. "I was just wondering how you knew Bakugo, you two are always giving each other dirty looks."

"Oh…" Izuku choked out dryly, not really knowing how to respond to the sudden question.

…

…

…

Slightly surprised at how long the boy was taking, Kendo looked at him worriedly as he eyed the floor with a frown. "Forget I said anything, I understand if it's personal."

Making eye contact with her once again, Izuku felt remorse set in at his cowardice to tell the truth. Why was this so hard? It wasn't like it was some huge secret or something.

"N-no, it's ok Kendo-san, it's not that big a deal. I went to middle school with Kacchan, that's how I know him."

Kacchan? Deku? So are they friends? That's the only explanation for the nicknames right? Unless Midoriya is calling him that because of an inside joke or something.

Not able to hold in her curiosity, Kendo continued with her questioning. "Ok, but then why does he call you Deku? He seems way too angry when he says it for it to just be a cute little nickname ."

This time, Izuku saw the question coming, pausing for a moment before scratching the back of his head to try and play things off. "Oh, that? Heh, it's not a big deal, he's always called me that since we were kids. He just says it to make fun of me and call me useless."

This revelation made the orange haired teen stop everything for a moment , widening her eyes and putting her food down at the thought. "Wait, what? He meant that as an insult? He was just messing around with you though, right? Aren't you friends?"

When Izuku just stared down at his empty bowl in utter silence, Kendo slowly matched his expression, a frown making its way onto her lips. She understood now, loud and clear. But the big unanswered question now was how. How did someone as strong as Izuku let himself get bullied? She was very much on the verge of asking him and satisfying her curiosity, but she thought better of it. She had already asked enough about his private life, and she didn't wanna dig up any more bad memories for the boy.

"Ok, good," Itsuka began again after the long pause. This time sporting a big smile as the green haired boy looked back up at her. "Because he seems like a massive tool," she finished with a hefty laugh. In reality, she wouldn't have said anything if he had ended up being Izuku's friend, but now that she knew better, she didn't have to hold back any feelings whatsoever.

This brought a small trace of a smile back to the super powered teen's lips, even pulling a small chuckle from him at the girl's choice of words. "Yeah, I guess he really is huh?"

Happy to see that the boy was feeling a bit better, Kendo derailed everything and changed the topic of conversation. Hoping to see the boy fully forget about her previous nosiness. "So, what did you think of that math test we just took? I saw that you were the first to finish it."

"It was easy."

"Oh uh, well… Yeah, it wasn't that bad, I guess. A couple of those questions at the end though had me clueless. Those definitely weren't made for first years, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

Narrowing her eyes at the boy, Kendo saw that he was still staring down his finished bowl of food. He obviously still wasn't feeling too great, either that or he hated talking about math. What was something else she could say that could pull him out of his funk?

"Oh yeah!" Itsuka beamed, remembering something very important that was coming up. "What do you think the big surprise is for hero studies next period? Aizawa-sensei made it sound like it was serious."

This seemed to almost instantly perk Izuku up, allowing him to forget about his unknown mental dilemma and make eye contact with the girl. "Oh yeah, I was wondering about that too. It'll probably be intense. Like you said, Aizawa-sensei doesn't mess around, and he specifically told us that we would be surprised by who would be teaching us."

"Yeah, but don't get caught up on that too much," Kendo warned, stopping the boy's train of thought in its tracks . "Aizawa-sensei could just be lying to us like yesterday. For all we know, he could come back and be the hero studies teacher himself. I'll never trust what he says again."

This made him burst out in laughter , earning a beaming grin from the redhead across from him. "Yeah, that's a good point, I guess we'll see what happens. We just have to be ready for anything."

Sure, they were ready. Ready for an unknown teacher to come through the door and start ruffling some feathers. Ready for the most unexpected of scenarios that U.A could throw at them. Heck, they were even ready for Aizawa to come trudging in and declaring that what he said before was another rational deception…

But what they weren't ready for, was exactly what ended up happening .

" I AM HERE!"  A large and flashy man yelled as he burst through the class doors with an even flashier costume to boot .

"Woah! It's All Might!" Kirishima yelled enthusiastically, stating the obvious.

"No way! All Might is a teacher at this school!?"

"I knew it! So the rumors were true!"

"This is gonna be so cool!"

A year ago, Izuku would have been just as , if not more excited than his classmates to see the symbol of peace. But now, he wasn't feeling the excitement at all, even with the man wearing his iconic silver age costume.

In fact, the green haired teen was feeling something more along the lines of dread at having to face All Might again.

He's my hero studies teacher!? What are the odds!? I hope he doesn't recognize me, that would be an awkward conversation.

Aw who was he kidding, All Might probably saw hundreds of faces a day, there was no way he would remember some kid who claimed to be his biggest fan. That's probably what every kid told him.

Having cleared up the thoughts going off in his head to a degree, Izuku looked up again and listened closely. He still planned on acing whatever All Might had in store for them.

" AHAHAHA, settle down now my young students. Yes, it is I, All Might, and I will be your hero studies teacher this year."

The symbol of peace paused as the class cheered once again, waiting for it to die back down before speaking again in his signature booming voice.  "I'm glad you are all as enthusiastic about that as I am. I will be doing the best I can this year to teach each and every one of you all that I can. But that's enough of an introduction, don't you think?"  The pro hero asked rhetorically, lifting his hand and pressing a button on some sort of remote.

Everyone watched in awe as whirring noises began to emit from the wall of the classroom , opening up compartments holding an array of metal briefcases numbered one to twenty.

" On the wall to your right you will all find your hero costumes for today's class. Please collect the satchel with your corresponding class number and change in the locker rooms. We're going to Training Ground Beta!"

The entire class got up in an excited frenzy to collect their beloved hero costumes. Something that even Izuku joined in on as he collected his briefcase and joined a smiling Kendo, walking out of the classroom in a pair behind everyone else.

What the super powered teen didn't notice however , was the inquisitive stare that was on him the entire time, courtesy of a certain number one hero…

Izuku finished adjusting his web shooters as quickly as he could, even then he was still one of the last boys in the locker room after changing. It seemed that everyone was extremely eager to get started.

Fidgeting with the devices on his hands while he walked, the green haired teen began making his way out to Training Ground Beta, figuring he could finish up while he made his way out.

He was already clad in his hero costume, a very accurate representation of his fictional mentor's, with a few key differences.

The first, and most obvious, was the completely different color scheme.

Izuku had opted for two contrasting shades of green in favor of the classic red and blue. With a light cyan green replacing the red, and a darker green replacing the blue.

Another change that he couldn't really avoid was his two support items, clearly in view on his wrists. They were now fully adjust ed, bu t still in plain sight. He would have preferred to keep them hidden underneath his costume like Peter did, but that wasn't in the cards for him until he figured out how to make them smaller on his wrists.

Other than those small changes however , Izuku's costume was true to its comic counterpart, even if it did look a bit raggedy on behalf of his novice sewing ability.

Quickly doing his best to catch up to the rest of the class, Izuku was one of the last ones to gather around All Might, instantly spotting Kendo's distinguishable orange hair.

"Kendo-san!" Izuku called as he walked up behind her, making her turn to face him. The look on her face said it all as she looked him up and down and inspected his costume closely.

"Uhh, Midoriya? Is that really your costume?" She asked somewhat perplexed.

"Yeah! Isn't it awesome!? I made it myself!" He exclaimed happily, putting his mask on and posing in front of her.

Itsuka on the other hand had her head tilted to the side in a bit of confusion. She supposed that him making it himself was the reason it looked so… Patchy. But still, it did look a bit ridiculous.

Ehh, I guess with the mask on it does make it look a little cooler.

"Made it yourself, huh? Well, that's pretty neat, I definitely don't think I'm skilled enough for that," she said, gesturing down to her own costume.

Taking his mask off again and observing the girl's attire, Izuku couldn't help but think that it was the perfect embodiment of both simplicity and complexity all at the same time.

Draped over her body was a turquoise qipao that stopped down at her knees along with a black corset tightened firmly around her waist. She also wore a black domino mask over her eyes and turquoise flats that matched the rest of her costume.

Overall it looked very "Martial-artsy."

"Wow, your costume is awesome Kendo-san! It really fits-"

" Alright! Now that everyone is here, let us begin the Battle Trial!"  The symbol of peace boomed excitedly, interrupting the green haired teen and gaining everyone's attention.

Izuku locked his eyes with Kendo's, feeling better when he saw her nod at him in understanding.

Once he had complete and utter silence again, All Might spoke again while throwing out a signature thumbs up.  "Listen carefully young heroes, because today, we will be practicing something that every hero must know how to do correctly. Battling indoors!"

Many sounds of elation, confusion and even dread were heard from the class, but All Might continued his explanation nonetheless.

" Today's Battle Trial will have a bit of an American twist to it, with a search and rescue operation to secure a nuclear weapon!"  The number one hero shouted flamboyantly. Striking a pose and waiting for his students to be impressed.

Unfortunately, only crickets were heard from the audience, causing All Might to clear his throat and carry on.  "Ehem, uh ,  you will all be going head-to-head in pairs of two, one team as heroes and one team as villains. The heroes must either defeat the villains in combat and secure them with capture tape, or simply secure the nuclear weapon. Naturally, the villains will be doing the opposite, defending the nuclear weapon and taking down the heroes. Any questions?"

Now that everything was explained properly, everyone in class 1-A was showing pure enthusiasm at their coming trial. Even Mineta was pumped up, already going around asking girls to partner with him.

In fact, everyone was going around partnering up. Even Izuku found himself looking directly to his right at the orange haired girl with hope on his face.

Before he could open his mouth to ask her, however, the loud voice of the symbol of peace shut everyone's partner hunt down instantly.

" No questions? Good. Then we will begin drawing numbers in order to determine the pairs and the roles."

A collective groan rang across the street at the instructor's words as All Might reached in and began the drawing.

Not hearing his name for the first few draws, Izuku saw Kendo begin to listen for her name and turned away from her. He might as well use this moment to think about the coming assignment. In theory, this was the perfect test for someone like him. His powers weren't all that destructive to an indoor environment, and his well roundedness gave him the option to be both sneaky and loud when faced with the task of securing an objective. As a matter of fact, if he didn't know any better, this could've been a scenario right out of Peter's adventures, this was tailor made for him!

Now all he needed was some luck. He'd prefer to be on the hero team for obvious reasons. And he was confident that he could work with anyone in the class barring Bakugo, but since that was only a one in twenty chance, the green haired teen felt pretty good about his odds.

His timing was impeccable as well , because right as he finished wrapping up his thoughts, he heard his name boom from the symbol of peace.

" Next up is Team E, consisting of Izuku Midoriya and Itsuka Kendo. You two will be the hero team."

Hearing this, Izuku's neutral face immediately jumped up into a smile as he met her eyes, it looked like luck was finally going his way!

" And the villain team going up against them will be Katsuki Bakugo and Neito Monoma!"

And just like that, the super-powered teen's smile faltered…

Seriously!? I'm going up against Kacchan already!?

Quickly diving back into his head, Izuku took this new development in stride, calming his nerves and taking a deep breath. Realistically, he should be ok now, he already laid everything out to his former friend, and he had even beaten him yesterday several times in the quirk apprehension test, so why would this be any different?

…

…

…

Oh, who was he kidding, that answer was obvious, this time he'd have ten months of pent up rage coming at him in actual combat!

Can I beat Kacchan in a direct fight? I handled him in that little skirmish in front of our middle school a few days back, but this is different, he didn't use his quirk back then. What if I-

Izuku was shaken out of his thoughts by a hand touching his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the familiar teal eyes of his orange haired classmate right as she began speaking.

"Come on Midoriya, didn't you hear All Might? We're up first, let's go kick some butt!" She said enthusiastically, without a care in the world.

"Uh, yeah, let's uh, do it. " Izuku replied softly, following her to the entrance of the building.

"Alright, what's the plan, Midoriya? I know you've got something."

Izuku once again shook out of his thoughts and tried to get his head in the game, why was this bugging him so much?

Come on! Stop thinking so much! I thought I was over this!

"Uhh, Midoriya? Are you ok?" Kendo asked with some concern after his elongated silence.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Let's uh, let's get to planning! We don't have much time left!"

The orange haired teen narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously at his poor attempt to change the subject. But seeing as he was right about them having a limited amount of planning time, she let it slide. "Alright, let's hear it."

"Right!" Izuku began, bringing a finger up to his chin in thought. "Ok, well let's look at the obvious first. We're going up against Kacchan and Monoma-san, so this already isn't gonna be easy. Do you know if Monoma-san has already touched anyone?"

Going deep in thought for a moment, Kendo shook her head after a while. "No, I don't, he wasn't next to us when the teams were being picked."

"Hmm, well that's ok, that doesn't change much, because regardless of who Kacchan has as a teammate, I'm pretty confident he's gonna come down after me right away."

This got the girl's attention instantly. "You really think he would risk his mission like that just to settle the score with you?"

"Hah, are you kidding? He probably won't even think about the mission at all. I can almost guarantee we'll see him within five minutes of entering the building."

This made Itsuka pause for a moment while she digested this surprising information. What was up with these two?

"So, what's the plan? I'm sure we can take him down together pretty easily, don't you think?" Kendo asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know about that, Kacchan is really strong, we shouldn't underestimate him. Can you give me a full rundown of your quirk?"

The orange haired teen smiled at something familiar being asked of her, and responded without hesitation. "Of course! It's called Big Fist. It's pretty much exactly what you've already seen. I can grow my hands and increase my strength with them a lot. Really straightforward and boring, haha."

Izuku on the other hand was thinking the opposite as he analyzed and brainstormed ideas involving her abilities. "Hmm, alright then, so I'm guessing you prioritize fighting over everything?"

"Yep, exactly. I'm even a blackbelt in karate, so I work at my best in close range."

Izuku nodded, happy with that response as he formed a plan in his head . Seeing as she was a battle hero, he dismissed the idea of splitting up and sending her for the nuclear weapon alone. She could be a valuable asset against Bakugo if they double teamed him. This was perfect!

"Alright, I've got something. Here's what we're gonna do…"

"Alright you crappy extra, listen up cause I'm only gonna say this once! I'm going down there and taking down that useless Deku once and for all! Got it!? I don't give a crap what you do, just don't get in my way!" Bakugo yelled with his back turned to his teammate. He was almost the whole way to the exit of the room when he felt a hand on his shoulder stop him momentarily.

"Relax tough guy, you misunderstand me completely. What do you say I join you? I've got a bone to pick with Midoriya as well. We can crush him together!"

Despite not wanting any help at all in his personal endeavor, Katsuki couldn't help but smirk a bit at the slyness in the boy's voice.

Back with Kendo and Izuku, the pair were both sitting in silence as the last of the preparation period drained away. They were both already aware of what the plan was, having just gone over it twice to make sure they were ready. Now they just had to wait.

But while Itsuka was waiting calmly and eagerly, Izuku was a slightly different story. And the orange haired teen couldn't help but worry when the boy started mumbling incoherently again.

Ok, just calm down, I've gotten past this already. I'm not scared of Kacchan, I'm stronger than him now. There's no reason to be thinking about this so much. Everything is gonna go exactly according to plan. Just like I told him

before, I'm done being his punching bag…

Looking like he had gotten his mind in order, Izuku looked forward with fire in his emerald eyes, ready for the battle ahead.

However, the quick change in demeanor was not enough to stop Kendo from voicing her concerns.

"Alright, Midoriya, what's wrong? I know something's up; you've been mumbling to yourself this whole time."

Izuku barely caught what she said before she kept going.

"Is this about facing Bakugo? You can tell me. I'll understand if you're nervous."

…

"Well, kinda, but I think I'm ok now, I just needed to get my head straight. I thought I was done with this crap after I beat him in all those tests yesterday, but it looks like there's still some doubt there still."

Itsuka broke into a small smile at the boy's words. Happy that he was finally venting this stuff to her. She was expert on this type of stuff thanks to a certain third year, so she already had the perfect encouragement on deck for him.

"Good, just remember to believe in yourself, ok? He's just an asshole. Who c-"

"Who cares what someone else thinks, yeah I remember. Thanks Kendo-san!" Izuku finished for her and looked forward with a brand new hunger. It was as if he had just been reminded of something important, so important in fact, that he didn't even realize what he said until it was too late.

After the girl stayed silent for a while, Izuku slowly crept his wide eyes over her, only to see an emotion that he hoped he was reading wrong.

Realization.

…

"How… How did you know I was gonna say that?"

Izuku scrambled as he looked back and forth between the starting line and the orange haired girl.

Crap!

"Uhh…"

Suddenly though, the loudspeaker came to life and the familiar voice of All Might sounded through them.

" Alright teams! Your prep time is up! Enter the building and begin!"

Chapter Text

Izuku turned back to Kendo, not knowing what to expect from her. Her expression was completely unreadable to him, but after a few seconds of blankly staring, she finally locked eyes with him, and he could've sworn he saw a hint of anger in her teal orbs.

"Let's go, we're sticking to the plan. But you and I are gonna have a talk later, got it?"

Izuku gulped at the tone she used, she obviously wasn't asking. So with that, he had seen enough, cutting off eye contact and putting on his mask. "R-right, of c-course ."

Bakugo shuffled carefully through the halls on the first floor of the building as he looked for his green haired target. He knew Izuku could be crafty at times, so he was actually a bit thankful that he had someone watching his back as they walked.

Of course, he would never actually tell the slick haired blonde he felt this way. But still.

"We're almost to the entrance, so be ready for anything. If I know Deku, then he's gonna try some crappy strategy or something."

Monoma was extremely thankful for the heads up from his battle trial teammate, because with comedic timing, they rounded one last corner only to see the boy in question in quite the particular position.

Standing there in the narrow hallway alone, Izuku had each hand around a web line stuck to opposing walls. Waiting for them with a fully cocked back web slingshot.

Bakugo barely had time to widen his eyes in shock when a green blur flew at him with incredible speed. Only narrowly managing to dodge the human projectile with his reflexes alone.

Monoma however, wasn't so lucky.

Taking the full force of the body flinging attack, the slick-haired blonde was launched back with incredible speed, Izuku connecting with him feet first and shooting him straight into an opposing wall.

For a moment when Izuku landed softly back on the floor, he wondered if he'd gone overboard and really hurt his classmate. But those thoughts quickly vanished when the smoke cleared and something unexpected emerged.

It was Monoma alright, but he was… Silver?

"Hahaha! Is that the best you can do Midoriya? I barely felt that!" The boy mocked out loud, doing his best to convey to his classmate that his attack was weak.

In reality though, his thoughts were saying the opposite.

Gah, that hurt! He's really freaking strong! Shame I can't copy him since he's a mutant type…

Now finding himself surrounded by the silver boy and his former friend turned bully , Izuku sprung to life once again as his spider sense blared in his head.

"Die, Deku!"

Leaping up in order to avoid an explosion, Izuku wasted no time in sticking to the ceiling and starting up into a run. Smiling as another imaginary box was checked off in his mind.

Yes! The soles on the costume are perfect! Not thick enough to neutralize my scopulae, and not thin enough to hurt my feet from kicking or running.

Feeling again a familiar tingling sensation, Izuku turned around expecting to see Bakugo flying at him for some sort of reckless attack.

Instead, he was met with a blinding yellow flash coming his way.

Crap!

With the white eyes on his mask comically expanding in shock, Izuku leapt off the ceiling and onto the wall, stumbling a bit before continuing his run.

Was that…

"Hey! My quirk!" Kaminari exclaimed from his spot among his classmates. They were all currently watching the ongoing battle trial from the observation room, with only All Might having access to the contestant's audio.

"Wow, so I guess the rumors are true, that guy really can copy quirks," Awase said, stating the obvious. It seemed as though U.A was no different from any other high school as far as gossip went.

"How frightening. I wonder how that works, and if there's any limits to it," Yaoyoruzu began, adding on to her classmate's observation. "Either way, it's very unwise for Midoriya-san to be taking them both on alone."

"Nah, don't worry about that Yaoyorozu , Midoriya can handle em . I mean, just look at him, he looks like a natural out there with those moves. Pretty awesome reflexes too," Kirishima added on with gusto.

His similarly quirked classmate, on the other hand, had the opposite to say. Speaking up right next to the red haired boy.

"Are you kidding Kirishima!? Tch, you're way too easily impressed." Tetsutetsu grumbled. "If he couldn't shatter some crappy knock off version of my quirk, then he's not getting any recognition from me."

"Aw c'mon Tetsutetsu, lighten up a little," Kirishima replied lightly.

But when the steel quirk user only grunted and turned back to the screen with a snarl, Kirishima sighed and did the same, putting his mind back where it mattered and paying attention to the battle once again.

After that, no one else had anything too major to say, just small oohs and ahhs as Izuku continued to avoid blasts of electricity.

The only person in the room who seemed to be watching the battle with contempt rather than interest was the tallest man in the room ; All Might, who only stared down the giant monitor like it had personally offended him.

Izuku jumped once more as another bolt of lightning whirred by his head. It seemed as though his spider-sense wasn't in the mood to turn off at the moment, which was causing quite the annoyance in the back of his head.

Geez, now I know why Peter said he gets headaches from this, it really makes it hard to focus!  The super powered teen thought to himself, as he jumped back onto the ceiling to avoid an angry Bakugo's explosion.

This is how things had been going for the last five or so minutes. He would get out of range of his former friend's quirk, only to be forced back onto the ground in order to avoid Monoma's wild electricity. It was extremely obvious that the boy couldn't control the bolts of danger he was releasing down range properly, but in this case, that fact was actually helping him more than hurting him.

Grunting as he clung onto the ceiling again, Izuku did his best to try to use his brain, wincing as he felt something akin to TV static with all of the warnings he was getting.

Well, so much for our plan to ambush Kacchan, I wasn't expecting him to come after me together with Monoma-san. I hope Kendo-san adjusts to the situation before showing herself.

Izuku's original idea had been to use himself as bait so he could goad Bakugo into the fight he wanted. Then, when she saw an opening, Itsuka was supposed to come out and blindside him with a strong attack, hopefully knocking him out and ending it there. But now, those plans obviously weren't possible. Everything went straight down the drain as soon Bakugo brought backup . Now it was him who was being ambushed.

Well, now what do I do? I can't keep dodging forever, we'll run out of time!

For a moment, the green haired teen considered contacting his teammate through his radio with a small change of plans. If both of their enemies were down here fighting him, then she could probably sneak her way to the objective easily.

However, Izuku quickly shook that idea off. Kendo specialized in fighting, and they had already agreed on that being the way they would win this, there was no going back now.

Just as he was about to wrap his thoughts up, Izuku heard commotion begin behind him, and he simply couldn't resist slowing down and turning around to check it out.

"Bakugo, hold up!" Monoma called out suddenly, surprised when his teammate actually listened to him and halted his aggression.

"What is it, copy crap!?"

Monoma didn't know what made him wince harder, the malice and fury behind Bakugo's words, or the not so nice nickname that the boy had chosen for him. Regardless though, he said what he intended to say.

"We've been chasing him for a while now, but his partner still hasn't shown up! Do you think she went straight for the objective!?"

Bakugo's red eyes pretty much tripled in size when he heard his teammate's words. It was obvious that this particular scenario hadn't even crossed his mind, but it was definitely very possible…

Especially when Izuku was involved.

And speaking of the green haired boy, he was perched curiously on the ceiling while his enemies had their little strategy meeting, a small smile growing on his face as an idea came to mind.

"Hehe, welp , you got us! Good job Monoma-san, if my calculations are on point, Kendo-san should be securing the objective any second now."

"Tch, no way! You're bluffing!" Bakugo snarled.

Izuku did his best not to smile as he fell into his act a little more. He really shouldn't be enjoying this, but messing with his former friend was too fun when there was no threat of eating an explosion. "I'm not bluffing, Kachhan. Sorry to say it so soon, but it looks like I beat you again."

This clearly only poured gasoline on the raging flame that the red eyed teen was becoming, because soon he was glowering with rage.

C'mon Kendo-san, they think you're long gone, now's your chance!  Izuku pleaded in his mind , hoping his partner would make her move soon.

But he wasn't so lucky this time, because before long, Bakugo's rage poured over completely.

"Copy crap, stand back."

"W-what!? But what about the objective? We need to- "

"We need to get rid of this useless Deku as fast as possible! So stand back already! I'm gonna annihilate this whole hallway!"

The slick-haired blonde quickly shut his mouth and obeyed, turning tail and running back a good distance right as Izuku's spider sense went into overdrive.

What the heck? Now it's almost as strong as when I stopped the robot foot…

Luckily, or unluckily, the boy wasn't left in the dark about this new feeling for long. Because as soon as he looked back up at his former friend, he saw that his arm was raised and aimed directly at him. And it didn't take a genius to figure out that the pin the blonde was holding with his opposite hand was threatening a special kind of explosion.

The super powered teen was extremely quick to react and put all the pieces together, once again widening the white lenses on his costume when realization hit him.

Those gauntlets must be filled with his sweat! And with all of it concentrated in one area, the explosion it creates is gonna be massive!

Without wasting another second, Izuku sprung off the ceiling and began web swinging away from his opponent as fast as his arms would carry him. If he didn't find an exit to this hallway fast, he was gonna be toast! Literally!

The boy had just spotted an adjacent hallway and was rushing towards it when he heard a familiar voice cry out.

Turning around momentarily to face the battle cry, Izuku smiled when he saw Kendo's athletic form jump around a corner and slam Monoma into a wall. He couldn't tell if the boy had hardened to defend himself, but he didn't care. All of his senses were currently flooded with the happiness of his teammate showing up to help him.

Until he realized a very important fact.

She had only ambushed Monoma, and Bakugo was too far in front of her, she wouldn't get to him in time.

Crap!

"Die, Deku!"

*BOOM*

Itsuka turned around in a heartbeat at the ear piercing explosion that rang through the hallway. And the only way she could describe it, was a giant blinding flash of destruction consuming everything in front of her. It was only after she shook the initial shock that she realized her teammate had been completely enveloped in the enormous blast.

"Midoriya!" She yelled, spotting a sadistically grinning Bakugo and staring up towards him.

She didn't get the chance to get very far though, because suddenly, a cold metal hand wrapped around her wrist, and it wasn't being gentle whatsoever .

Kendo turned around wide eyed to see a shining Monoma with a nasty smirk on his face. She had seen him display his stolen quirks while she was waiting and watching, but she didn't think he could activate one in time to nullify her punches.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Gritting her teeth, Itsuka enlarged her other hand and delivered a precise karate chop to the top of the boy's head, or at least she would have if he hadn't let her go and jumped back.

Now that they were back into a neutral standoff, Itsuka narrowed her eyes as the silver shine dissipated from her opponent's body. What was he up to?

Why is he lowering his guard? And why didn't he shock me when he was holding my wrist? Can he only use one stolen quirk at a time?

Falling back into a perfect fighting stance, the orange haired teen allowed herself to smile with some new information on her side.

With her new theory in mind, Kendo jumped up at the boy with quick feet, easily getting into her range of comfort.

However, Monoma saw this coming and was ready with both a cocky smirk and a secret weapon.

"Ah, trying to get in close, are you? So predictable," he almost yawned as he dodged a quick jab from the girl. "I can see the logic in your thinking. Not only is this the perfect range for you to fight in, but it almost puts my long range lightning at a disadvantage, doesn't it?"

Itsuka gritted her teeth as he dodged another one of her normal jabs, his carefree and sarcastic attitude only annoying her even further.

"What's wrong? Nothing to say? Well then, if you won't ask , I'll just show you why you've made a mistake."

Bracing herself, Kendo took a defensive stance and got ready. She wasn't too sure how she was gonna be able to avoid electricity, but she would try all the same.

Suddenly though, instead of raising both arms like she had seen him do before , the slick haired blonde only raised an open palm before jumping at her with a flash of familiar orange light.

*Boom*

Just like that, before she could even comprehend what was happening, Kendo was eating an explosion and slamming back against the corridor wall.

Monoma wasted no time in taking advantage of her broken stance, hardening up again into metal and pinning her in place forcefully.

In all reality, this is where it should have ended for his big fisted opponent, his capture tape was only a flick of his wrist away and this would all be over. But naturally, he at least needed to give her some parting words, right? It was only right after such an amazing victory.

"Hahaha! I bet you didn't expect that explosion, huh? You didn't think I would leave myself without close range offense, did you? Ahahaha!"

When the boy noticed that his opponent was beginning to recover and stir, he leisurely reached for the capture tape on his belt with a grin like no other.

"Heh, finally, now I can go help Bakugo-san pulverize Midoriya. This is gonna be so much fun."

With the tape now in his hands, Monoma took one last smug glance at Itsuka, expecting her sweet anger that would only fuel his own confidence.

What he didn't expect to see though, was a smirk that matched his own in size.

"What on earth are you-"

In the blink of an eye, Itsuka's hands enlarged to their full size, quickly enveloping the boy in front of her and squeezing.

Hard...

"Aghh!" Monoma cried out as she squeezed his steel body.

"Heh, not so tough now, are ya?" Itsuka grinned, spitting some soot out onto the floor and lifting the boy higher. "I'll admit it, you got me good with that third quirk trick, but it doesn't change your biggest weakness. You can't use your copied quirks simultaneously, can you?"

When the boy's eyes widened in shock, Itsuka smiled wider and squeezed him again.

"Yep, I knew it. I was wondering why you turned off your metal body when you went to attack me, but now it makes perfect sense… It also makes what I'm about to do a lot more fun."

All of the sudden , Itsuka narrowed her eyes and focused, gritting her teeth as she began squeezing with all of her strength.

" Gaahhhh !" Monoma cried out in pain at the immense amount of pressure surrounding him. The metal was blocking a lot of the damage that would destroy his body, but it still hurt like hell.

"Heh, what's the matter? Just drop the metal and shock me! Oh wait, then getting squeezed wouldn't just hurt, would it?" Kendo muttered out sarcastically. It seemed that now she was the one making the jokes, and they were a lot funnier now too.

Soon, small, but very visible cracks were beginning to appear all over Monoma's body, and judging by the way he was screaming, it didn't feel very pleasant .

That was when Itsuka let up and held him normally, releasing most of the pressure, but still keeping him restrained in her hands. She wasn't completely cruel , after all, no matter how much Monoma deserved it in her eyes.

She was about to open her mouth and tell him to surrender to save her the trouble of pulling out her capture tape , but suddenly , a very familiar and furious yell reached her ears, causing her to look towards Katsuki and Izuku for the first time…

Izuku's eyes widened as the enormous explosion flew down the hallway towards him. He had been so caught up in seeing Kendo's surprise attack on Monoma that he'd completely abandoned his earlier plan of reaching the cover of a safer hallway.

Crap!

With the full power of one of Bakugo's gauntlets enveloping everything around him, Izuku dove the rest of the way towards the same adjacent hallway that he'd stopped short of, hissing in pain when he couldn't get away unscathed.

Tumbling to the ground in the new passage, Izuku took a moment to assess both the situation, and himself. Immediately noticing that his costume was now completely ruined.

Aw, man! It took me weeks to make this thing!  He thought hastily, annoyed with both himself and his opponent as he inspected the threads more closely.

He may as well have been shirtless now with the new 'adjustments' Bakugo had made involuntarily, because as far as his upper body went, the only fabric left covering it was a tattered left sleeve and both of his web shooters. He also decided to do away with the mask and toss it aside, since both of the lenses were tattered as well, leaving just a green rag with eye holes.

Wincing again, the green haired teen also noticed the moderate burns completely covering his right arm and parts of his chest, leaving the areas a sickly looking red color. Hell, even the web shooter on his right hand was singed black, and he guessed it was only functional still on account of its extra protective size.

Dang, that burned me more than I thought!

Shaking off his pained thoughts, Izuku focused on the task at hand once again. Now finally being able to see into the action packed hallway as the smoke cleared. He had somewhat expected some sort of announcement from All Might now that half the building was totally trashed, but nothing came, only dead silence. Forcing the super powered teen to focus up and get ready again.

Creeping up the corner, he tried doing his best to listen for his former friend, trying to find any sort of indication of where he could be.

"Ah, trying to get in close, are you?"

Izuku shuddered as the voice passed through his ears. That was unmistakably Monoma, and by the sound of it, it looked like he and Kendo were engaged in battle.

"I have to help her," Izuku muttered to himself, cautiously turning the corner and looking towards the pair in the hallway. He spotted them both quickly, they were squared up and definitely ready to begin fighting, just as he expected. What he didn't expect however , was for them to be the only two people in the destroyed hallway.

With perfect timing, Izuku's spider sense blared in his head with impeccable precision.

"Worry about yourself, Deku!" Bakugo snarled from behind him, pressing his palms into the boy's back and sending twin explosions into him.

Izuku winced again and he jumped away as fast as he could, but once again, it wasn't fast enough to get away completely unharmed, and he could already feel more burns flaring up on his backside.

"What's the matter, Deku!? You were so confident a few days ago! So fight back! Stop running and fight me!"

Facing his former friend with fire in his eyes, Izuku prepared himself. Not surprised in the slightest when Bakugo instantly made a move for him.

"DIE!" The blonde screamed again, lunging at the super powered teen with a signature open palm.

Izuku read it perfectly though, quickly sidestepping and grabbing the boy's gauntlet right before his hand could reach his face.

Ironically, this was the same exact position they had found themselves in back at their little scuffle in front of Aldera…

This time however , Bakugo wasn't gonna give up so easily, rapidly mimicking the attack with the opposite arm when he failed to escape his opponent's grip.

This didn't seem to phase Izuku at all , taking his former friend's actions in stride and swiftly catching his other wrist.

"Stop this, Kacchan. You're not stronger than me."

There was some unknown dread behind his words, which he still couldn't shake off for some reason.

As far as Bakugo went though, there was definitely no such remorse. Pure and raw aggravation would better describe the kind of energy he was giving off, some low growls even escaping his gritted teeth as he leered distastefully at the boy in front of him.

After a while of staring down Bakugo, Izuku came to the conclusion that the boy wasn't gonna back down from the standoff. He was gonna have to make a move if he wanted this to end, because there was no way he was gonna get overpowered.

The green haired teen was just about to push back against his former friend when his spider sense began ringing suddenly.

Looking around at his current situation, Izuku couldn't tell where the danger was. He had both of Bakugo's arms secured firmly, so what could he do?

When the blaring in his head didn't let up after a moment, Izuku adjusted his view downwards, figuring the incoming attack had to be coming from the blonde's legs since his hands were useless.

Unfortunately, this whole thought process by the green haired boy was some very severe oversight.

"DIE!" Bakugo screeched out, curling his fingers in and then out again, successfully sending out a slightly more ranged explosion.

And wouldn't you know it, that small bit of range gained was just enough to nick a green clad hero course student straight in the face.

"Gah!" Izuku shouted bitterly, rubbing his eyes as his vision blurred. He knew that Bakugo wasn't limited to only close range damage, but he figured that holding back his entire arm would hinder his ability to toss his sweat around.

Taking advantage of his enemy stumbling backwards , Bakugo jumped forward with another hand raised offensively. Now was his chance to do some damage.

Meanwhile, Izuku was having a full sensory overload, and it wasn't pleasant. Not only was his spider sense piercing his already aching head, but now his vision was blurry and his ears were ringing. So as far as mental suffering went, things couldn't get much worse.

Which was why he felt his body move all on its own, as if acting in a final act of self defense .

Right as Bakugo was coming down on him, he swiftly pushed the dangerous open palm out of the way and grabbed his opponent by the collar of his shirt.

With a look of absolute focus in his eyes, Izuku pulled back his free hand and prepared to deliver a blow at full strength to end this right here and there. His clenched fist and singed eyes looked almost angry as he prepared to release years of pent up rage with one single punch.

But right in the crucial moment when he was about to throw it, his state of blur and emptiness faded, bringing him back with an enormous amount of realization.

Bakugo seemed to notice this too, because once the green haired teen began to slowly lower his arm , he snarled once again and kicked out of his grip, propelling himself backwards by sending a pair of explosions right into Izuku's chest.

Now back into a state of neutral, Bakugo watched as Izuku fell to the floor almost lifelessly. Which would have normally made him happy, but this was clearly not what it looked like. He didn't look defeated at all. No, he simply looked lost in thought. As if this were some mere game that could be paused at any moment. Which only made the blonde's blood boil even more.

"Grr, why Deku!? What the hell are you doing!? Why aren't you fighting!? Are you really this pathetic!? Come on! We have a score to settle!"

But that's the thing Kacchan… We don't.

Inside Izuku's mind, he couldn't stop thinking about what had just occurred, and what it meant…

I… I almost killed Kacchan. If I hadn't regained myself and stopped that punch, he would be gone, just like that…

Was that just self preservation ? Or does my heart actually still have a grudge against Kacchan? I thought I already worked this out! I'm moving past it!

After another few seconds of mulling everything over, Izuku looked up again and couldn't hold back an audible gulp from leaving his lips.

There was Bakugo, right at the end of the hall, holding the pin of his other gauntlet. And it didn't take a detective to figure out he was aiming right at the super powered teen.

No.

"Alright, Deku. You don't wanna fight? I'LL JUST END THIS RIGHT HERE"

"Kacchan! S-stop! You almost blew up the whole building with that last time!" Izuku sputtered out as he looked around rapidly, trying to find anything that could help his situation. Sadly though , there didn't seem to be a close escape route this time. His little scuffle with Bakugo moved them around more than he anticipated, leaving the adjacent hallway he was in earlier far behind him.

Abruptly though, the green haired teen had a thought occur to him about the direction they went during their battle. If they went away from the hallway he had hidden in last time, then that meant they had to be closer to…

Kendo-san!  Izuku thought joyously as he spotted her a few meters behind Bakugo. She seemed to be looking their way, no doubt because of Bakugo's extreme volume when declaring his next move moments ago.

Another thing that the super powered teen noticed was the very unresponsive Monoma clutched in her enlarged hands, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief for his friend's situation, as well as get his mind churning with ideas.

He had to think fast though, because it was becoming very obvious that Bakugo was seconds away from pulling the pin and making his move. The only thing that appeared to be holding him back was the possibility of getting a response out of Izuku.

I can't run from it, it's too big of a blast, and cover is even further away than it was last time.

Doing his best to come up with rapid fire ideas, Izuku shot down one after the other, trying all he could to not show his frustration externally.

I could fire a web ball at his eyes. Peter does it all the time and it works wonders!

…

No, that won't work. Even if his eyes were covered, his blast would still be effective. He doesn't exactly need to be precise with a giant explosion…

"Hmph. Fine, stay silent you useless Deku. You won't dodge this one!" Bakugo screamed before gripping the pin on his gauntlet once again.

Closing his eyes in anticipation, Izuku awaited the horrendously loud alarm bell that would be ringing in his head any second now. He was out of options, he needed to do something, but what?

The boy was about to cut his losses and just start sprinting in the opposite direction, already cringing at how painful the explosion would feel in his ears.

*CLANG*

Stopping in his tracks at the unexpected noise, Izuku slowly turned his body to look at his former friend. Happy that his spider sense still wasn't going off, but also confused by its silence at the same time.

As soon as he laid eyes on Bakugo however, all of the confusion was cleared up.

"Ow! What was that!?" Bakugo complained, rubbing the back of his head with both hands where the very hard projectile hit him.

This was all well and good, except said projectile wasn't just hard, it was metal. And in fact , it wasn't even a projectile, it was a human being. Neito Monoma to be exact.

"Are you stupid or something!? If you use that attack again, this whole building is gonna come down!" Itsuka scolded, only appearing to make the raging blonde even more annoyed.

"Oh shut up and wait your turn, man hands!"

Izuku couldn't really describe what he was feeling right now. Relief? Worry? Pride? Itsuka had just totally saved his butt again, and there she was going head-to-head with Bakugo like he was just some other jerk on the street. It was… Impressive.

Another thing the boy noticed while the two argued, was something very very familiar about the way Bakugo's gauntlet looked from this angle. He was turned around, but not completely, showing a full side view of his big green support items… And from this particular perspective, they looked a lot slimmer than usual. Almost like…

Shocker!

Izuku instantly energized himself and urged his pain away.

He couldn't remember the exact issue he had seen this in, but he vividly recalled Peter exploiting a very obvious weakness in Shocker's gauntlets: Their own power.

Let's hope I have the aim for this.

"Kendo-san!" The green haired teen shouted out, getting both her and Bakugo's attention. "Take cover!"

"Oh no you don't!" Katsuki snarled, taking aim onto Izuku again and gripping the pin on his support item.

"What!? Don't you wanna fight him together!?" Kendo urged back, confused by his uncharacteristic behavior. Why would he defy logic like this?

"Just trust me!" Izuku smiled, jumping to the ceiling and running in the opposite direction of both of them. "Come on Kacchan! Weren't you gonna blow me away!?"

Instantly Itsuka knew he was baiting him, and it made her smile as she examined the situation with new realization.  Of course he has a plan. For a second, I thought he was just trying to show off or something .

Happy at the new turn of events, Itsuka turned and ran away as well. The last thing she saw before she turned a corner was the back of Bakugo as he cried out while releasing his attack.

"DIE!"

Right as he heard this, Izuku turned and unstuck his feet from the ceiling, making sure he was falling right as Bakugo pulled the pin on his gauntlet. From here he had a perfect shot of his target. And even though he was upside down in mid air , he would have to make do.

Otherwise, he'd better get used to calling himself Ash-Man…

The very moment Bakugo heard the satisfying click that came with the removal of his gauntlet's pin, a similar satisfying noise could be heard coming from his opponent's wrist as well, signaling the launching of a singular web ball.

And in the small one second delay that Bakugo's gauntlet took to release all of his concentrated sweat, one small gooey sphere of web fluid hit its mark perfectly. Coating the green support item's front side entirely.

Widening his eyes, Bakugo couldn't even let out an entire sentence before everything went white.

"Oh sh-"

*BOOM*

Swinging as fast as he could through random hallways, Izuku looked around for any signs of his partner. They needed to regroup. And while his little shocker trick had worked perfectly as far as stopping the blast from going outwards, he knew Bakugo wouldn't be defeated that easily, not by a long shot.

That explosion was massive… And instead of going forward where he aimed it, it all imploded on him. All that was good for though was getting away, I know for a fact that Kacchan's skin is resistant to explosions.

His mind was running a mile a minute right now , and he couldn't seem to slow it down. At the very least, his actions seemed to have saved the building from being completely ripped apart. He had no doubt that what Kendo had told Bakugo would have absolutely happened if his blast was fired off at full power.

And speaking of Kendo, he just about jumped out of his skin when he turned a corner and almost crashed straight into her.

"Kendo-san! There you are!" Izuku exclaimed breathlessly, starting to feel a bit of exhaustion creep in.

"Midoriya! That was epic! I'm glad you got out of there in time!" She said with a large grin, not noticing the burns covering his body until she got closer.

"Oh my goodness, are you gonna be alright?" She asked as she reached out to touch his shoulder before deciding against it. It would probably hurt more than help him.

Wincing one more time, Izuku nodded. Putting his game face back on since the battle wasn't over yet. "I'm fine, thanks for worrying Kendo-san. And thanks especially for distracting him at the last second. I wouldn't have gotten that idea without a few more seconds of concentration."

"Heh, it's no big deal. I just threw the closest thing to me, haha." Itsuka muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Well, thanks anyways . But now we still have to figure out how to beat Kacchan."

This caught the orange haired teen's attention, shooting him a small puzzled look. "You think he's still up? After a huge explosion like that backfired right in his face?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, Kacchan's quirk doesn't just allow him to create explosive sweat, it also makes his skin heavily resistant to his explosions. Otherwise, he would hurt himself really often with how destructive he is."

After hearing the detailed explanation . It dawned on Itsuka again that Izuku grew up with Bakugo, so he most likely knew everything about him. As well as the best way to approach the situation considering his active mind.

"Alright then, go over everything you know about him and let's make another plan. My quirk is completely at your disposal, Midoriya." Itsuka said encouragingly with a small wink. Surely this would be easier than their first plan since it was two against one now.

"R-right…" Izuku stammered. He was still new to positive encounters from other people his age. He briefly wondered if he had built enough trust with Kendo to earn her as a friend, but he quickly discarded that thought. He didn't even know what having a real friend even felt like. Plus, there were bigger things going on right now.

"Ok, I've got an idea on how to take advantage of his grudge with me. But you're gonna have to do most of the heavy lifting, is that ok?"

Not hesitating for a moment, Itsuka smirked. "Lay it on me."

Bakugo couldn't grow more furious if he tried. And it didn't help soothe his anger when he heard his teammate groan in unconsciousness from the floor once the smoke cleared.

And now, the topping on the cake , the very best part, was that Deku was gone.

This was gonna drive him insane.

The only redeeming thought that kept him from snapping was the solid fact that he would absolutely run into Deku before the exercise was up. His team was on offense, so they would have to come back and finish him off if they wanted to win, that was certain. There had to only be a few minutes left in the battle trial.

It only dawned on the spiky haired blonde a few moments later that Izuku and his partner had a very easy , and very accessible alternative to winning this thing…

Crap! The bomb!  Katsuki remembered as he turned around to begin sprinting, only to be stopped by an array of web balls.

After nearly getting hit with one, Bakugo dodged the others relatively easily. Though he had a feeling that they were never truly trying to hit him.

"Tch, so you decided to come back Deku. And you brought man hands with you too." Bakugo growled, bending his knees a bit and getting into a defensive stance. He wouldn't be caught flat footed this time. He was ready for any kind of plan they would come up with.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kacchan. Don't worry though, I'm finally ready to take you down." Izuku said somewhat darkly, getting a wide eyed response from not just Bakugo, but from his teammate as well. "Oh, and don't worry about Kendo-san, she's just here to watch. I'm gonna do this alone. And I'm gonna enjoy every second of it."

Bakugo growled again as he processed what he was hearing. What had gotten into Deku? He sounded... Almost sadistic…

"Midoriya, what are you doing!? This wasn't part of the plan!" Kendo reminded him, trying and failing to not lose her cool.

"I don't care about the plan anymore, Kendo-san. All I want right now is to get my revenge on this scumbag. So make yourself useful and just throw me at him as hard as you can. I'll handle the rest."

"Hell yeah Deku! Now you're speaking my language! Bring it on!" Bakugo cried out passionately, taking off into a sprint with his right palm charged up.

Kendo looked unsure about the situation, but nevertheless, did as Izuku instructed and grew her right hand, picking him up quickly before throwing him as hard as she could towards their opponent.

Izuku once again gained a twisted smile on his lips as he soared through the air, bringing back his own right arm to prepare for a collision with Bakugo's.

This was it, the moment of truth. And Izuku could almost foresee the moment of impact. Picturing his fist absolutely blowing his opponent's away with ease. And it is indeed what could have happened, had this all not been a ruse.

I'm sorry Kacchan, but I'm not ready to face you yet. I could seriously hurt you if my pent up anger were to get the best of me, and that's the last thing I want. I hope I can control my emotions enough to be able to fight you for real one day… Please forgive me.

Right as the two were about to collide with all their strength, Izuku maneuvered mid flight and avoided the blonde teen completely, flying right past him and firing two web lines back at him.

Before he even had the chance to turn around, Bakugo felt his arms being bound by a familiar sticky substance.

Izuku landed once the tension on his webs held up and stopped his flight. He wasted no time in planting his feet firmly and pulling back on his webs . Successfully holding his former friend back by the two web lines connected to his hands.

Not being able to turn around in his current position, Bakugo attempted to struggle out of his restraints, but it was no use, he was no match for Izuku's raw strength. His only option now was to try and burn the webs off his hands, but he didn't even get the chance.

"Kendo-san! Now!" Izuku cried out, sounding urgent despite not struggling to hold onto the blonde teen whatsoever .

Widening his eyes, Bakugo snapped his head forward, his head churning with realization as everything began making sense.

Deku… This was a part of his plan! No wonder he was so aggressive! That little rat!

Bakugo was forced to end his raging thoughts there, because before he knew it, a big fist was coming right for his helpless body, and the smirk on the attacker's face made it obvious this would be a finishing blow.

Sprinting up to Bakugo with fire in her eyes, Itsuka charged up her enlarged fist and let it rip, making sure to hold back enough to not seriously injure the blonde boy .

If it were up to her, she would have punched him straight to hell along with Monoma, but Izuku had specifically told her to hold back for his former friend's sake when they had discussed this elaborate acting plan.

Nevertheless, even with less than half of her power, Bakugo dropped like a sack of potatoes. A huge fist enveloping his whole body and shooting him back a few meters before falling lifeless to the floor.

Seeing that his plan was a total success, Izuku ran up to his former friend and inspected his unmoving body, Kendo joining him shortly after.

"We did it, Midoriya! He took the bait just like you said!" Kendo cheered when she got to him. It took all of her energy just to stop herself from pulling him into a hug. He seemed to be in a rather serious mood, so she held back and instead opted for staring down at Bakugo along with him.

"Yeah, I'm glad. Thank you Kendo-san. I'm grateful for your help."

Smiling genuinely, Kendo nodded at his response. She was about to open her mouth and tell the boy that it was his plan that won the fight for them, but fate had other plans, because soon, the angry blonde on the floor began twitching.

"Ugh…" Bakugo grumbled from his supine position on the cold ground.

It seemed as though Kendo had held back a tad too much on her finishing blow…

Izuku however, saw this coming. Instantly webbing the blonde-haired teen to the floor and reaching for his capture tape.

However, before the super-powered teen could secure the bindings onto him, said blonde had some final choice words for him.

"Useless… Deku…" Bakugo groaned painfully, briefly struggling against the restraints before giving up and falling back down. "You… I bet you thought that was pretty clever," he continued in a weak voice. "Just you wait, laugh it up while you can, because I won't stop Deku. I bet you've laughed at me every day for all these years. Hiding your quirk, knowing that you were always stronger than me… Well enjoy it, because I won't stop until I stomp you like the little rat you are…"

Izuku was frozen in place, squeezing the capture tape in his hand as hard as he could .

Is that really what he thinks?

"Kacchan I…". The boy began before stopping completely.

There's no point. He won't listen to reason right now. And even if he did, what would I say?

Knowing there was nothing he could say to fix things right now, Izuku just whispered out one last line to himself before crouching down and securing him with the capture tape. "I hate that things got so messed up between us…"

" THERE IT IS! IZUKU MIDORIYA AND ITSUKA KENDO ARE THE WINNERS!"  A powerful voice echoed through the loudspeakers.

"Woah… That was awesome!" Kirishima shouted out to the class as he watched the conclusion of the first battle test. "Midoriya and Kendo kicked some serious butt! Totally manly!"

"Who cares about that!? Did you guys see Midoriya's burns!?" Hagakure pointed out a bit worriedly, gaining nods from a few other girls in the class as well.

This was something a few others wanted to speak up about too, but Sero was quick to defuse the tension with another response to Kirishima. "Ehh, they were alright, I guess. Midoriya is a bit unoriginal though." The teen mumbled cheekily.

As more words were exchanged about the epic battle that had just taken place in front of them, it was quite obvious that most gossip was about the green haired teen and his special set of abilities.

But that didn't mean that his partner went unnoticed either.

Tetsutesu couldn't seem to get rid of the blank stare on his face. Still focused on the screen in front of him, the metal user replayed what he had just seen in his mind over and over again . Not only had that girl shattered through his quirk with nothing but her bare hands, but she also knew how to throw one heck of a punch…

As weird as it was to tell himself, there was something that really appealed to him about some rather manly traits that the girl had demonstrated…

One thing was for sure, he  needed  to talk to her when he got the chance.

The class went by relatively quickly after that, with most battles not taking anywhere near as long as Izuku and Itsuka's. Although one thing the pair did have to endure though, was an extra aggressive All Might when he and the class explained all of their mistakes.

Luckily though, the teacher couldn't focus on the negatives for very long, because many classmates were quick to point out just how well the two had performed together.

And of course, Izuku was the first to shrug off all the compliments and give the credit to his partner, who he claimed did most of the heavy lifting.

Kendo obviously denied this, saying that he was the one who came up with both plans that allowed her to take down both of their opponents.

Either way though, everyone was well beyond exhausted now. The school day was over, and a warm, gentle sunset had made its way comfortably onto the horizon. All was peaceful in the world at U.A. In fact, most students had already gone home hours ago.

Only one particular attendee was without peace as he slowly walked out of the enormous building. His name was Izuku Midoriya, and he was nervous as heck right now.

See, now that the stress of the battle trial had passed, a certain set of words that escaped his lips in the presence of someone very particular were crossing his mind again.

And it was really eating him up.

He knew Kendo would want answers on what he had let slip earlier, so to put it simply, he had waited back in the support department after school and waited for her to go home without him. She would have no doubt waited for him and confronted him, but now that a few hours had passed, Izuku felt a little more at ease as he walked out of the school building.

Which seemed to be a major miscalculation on his part.

"Hmph, so much for your promise earlier. I guess you  were  avoiding me."

Izuku felt a jolt go up his spine at the familiar voice coming from his right, pausing for a moment before turning in her direction shamefully.

And shame wasn't the only thing he was feeling either. Severe regret and sadness also panged in his heart when he saw that her face displayed a look of actual hurt.

"K-Kendo-san, I-"

"Why didn't you tell me that you had met me already?"

"I…"

"Did I read things wrong or something? Did… Did you not want to be friends?" She asked with a face that multiplied his guilt tenfold.

Izuku could feel it in his heart that a moment of truth was coming up. In front of him was an opportunity that he had to take if he didn't want to lose his first potential friend in a long time.

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad, why would she wanna be friends with me anyways ? There are way cooler guys in our class, why doesn't she hang out with them?

STOP! Stop that brain! I'm confident now! I know who I am! And I wanna be happy! She's the one who helped me become this way! I can do this! If I can defeat Kacchan, then I can do anything!

Taking a deep breath before looking the orange-haired teen in her teal eyes, Izuku grew a look of determination and prepared himself.

"Kendo-san, I'm sorry I hid who I was from you, I owe you an apology as well as an explanation for my actions," Izuku said sincerely and confidently, bowing his head to her and waiting for acknowledgment .

Itsuka however was taken aback by the level of severity and formality the boy was taking with this. Nonetheless though, she nodded for him to continue.

Taking another deep breath, Izuku began anew. "In truth Kendo-san, I'm not the same person I was when I first met you almost a year ago. See, due to some… Unusual circumstances, my quirk didn't manifest until last year. Or to be more specific, two days before I met you in front of that dojo."

Widening her eyes, Kendo tried to hold back and let him finish, but her curiosity got the best of her, forcing her to at least ask one question. "Oh my goodness! Are you serious!? Is that why Bakugo was telling the class you were quirkless all week?"

Izuku nodded solemnly, never breaking eye contact. "Yes… Like I said, my relationship with Kacchan is… complicated. And after today, it's gonna be even worse. As you saw today, he thinks I've been hiding my quirk from him all of our lives. So now he's even more spiteful."

"Wait, so you don't actually hate him? You still wanna salvage your friendship with him!? Why!? Why not just give him a good whooping and get it over with!? He's a bully!"

"I understand that, Kendo-san, but I… I've learned over the past year from someone special I have to be responsible with this power that I've been given. I went most of my life thinking I was quirkless and wishing I could be the best hero in the world. And my morals won't allow me to misuse this gift I've been given. I know it sounds weird, and I can't elaborate too much, but I've seen wisdom in the form of someone else, and I've learned so much from them. So while I may not forgive Kacchan for the way he treated me for years, I refuse to hate him. He deserves to know all of this stuff too, but I still haven't worked out how to tell him yet. I doubt I'll ever get the chance now."

"Wow… That's… Surprisingly mature, Midoriya. I'm impressed," she complimented, bringing out her genuine smile for all the world to see again. "And I guess that explains why he was even able to bully you in the first place. I thought you had your quirk the whole time, so it didn't make sense to me ."

"Heh, yeah exactly. And on the topic of my quirk, how I got the confidence to use it was all thanks to you, Kendo-san."

This again, took the orange haired teen by surprise.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Izuku chuckled a bit before explaining. "It's true, I don't know if you remember, but back when we first met and you told me to join that martial arts dojo, I had, uh… Never really spoken to a girl before…"

Izuku waited for her to get her chuckles out of the way before continuing.

"Ehem, anyways, I was a stuttering mess around you, and I was so nervous that I ran away. It was a confusing time for me. Like I told you, I had just gotten my quirk two days before that, and I didn't really know what to do. I wanted to use it to become a hero obviously, but I didn't have the confidence at all. Everyone around me was doubting me, hell, even my mom was doubting me. I had no one to believe in me, so I guess I just got lost in all of that negativity."

"It wasn't until I decided to go back and apologize to you for running off that everything changed. I saw that you were talking to that U.A student you were with and jumped up onto a building to listen. I know it's messed up and an invasion of privacy, but I'm so glad I did it, because everything you told that guy, was everything I needed to desperately hear ."

Widening her eyes more and more as he went on, Itsuka recalled the exact conversation that she had with Tamaki that day. It was still very fresh on her mind. And while the blue haired third year hadn't changed much since that little talk, she was glad to know that it at least had its intended effect on  someone .

"So yeah, after I heard you say that stuff to him, it sunk deep into my soul. And ever since then, I've had a much better support system, and I actually believe in myself more and more now. It was just like you said, I needed to be there for myself, because that's who I would always be with at the end of the day. Or at least, that's how I interpreted it."

This was so much for Kendo to take in, had he really been holding all of this back from everyone? She was about to open her mouth to at least say  something , but Izuku was dead set on closing his statement first.

"And so that's it. After that, I started to train myself with my powers, and it's all thanks to you. I eventually intended to go back to that dojo to find you so I could apologize and thank you. But I guess I was still too shy. And when I found you again at the entrance exam and you didn't remember me, I took it as the perfect opportunity to get a fresh start without you thinking I was a loser. Again, I'm truly sorry for deceiving you Kendo-san. I hope that despite what I did, you can forgive me and we can be… F-friends…"

After a few moments of silence, Itsuka smiled genuinely once again, seemingly growing tired of looking at the top of Izuku's head.

"You're such an idiot, Midoriya."

"H-huh!?" The super-powered teen sputtered out, raising his head to meet her eyes once more .

"Though I guess that does explain why your fighting style looks so crappy and all over the place. Looks like we'll have to fix that, won't we?"

Izuku didn't dare say a word, he was too confused.  So, she's not mad at me?

"But seriously, I'd love to be your friend. Thank you for clearing that up for me, I'm not mad. I actually think it's really sweet that you got so much out of just a few words from me. But just know now, that you aren't alone anymore. I'm here, and  I  believe in you." She stated slowly and genuinely, loving the way he was holding onto every word.

With a few more seconds of silence, Itsuka put out her hand out like she had so many months before. Only this time she wasn't just offering a friendly greeting. No, this time she was offering something that the green haired teen in question had only felt once before in his life.

Friendship.

With a heavy amount of tears falling down his face, Izuku took the hand eagerly.

She… Believes...

Chapter Text

"Wait, are you serious!? That sounds so dangerous!" Kendo screeched out to Izuku in the middle of his story. She was extremely close to bursting out into laughter, but she held back with a hand at her mouth as they continued their walk to school.

"Yep, it's true. And it worked wonders too," Izuku said somewhat smugly, placing his hands behind his head and looking up to see the approaching U.A building.

"I mean, I guess so, but still! That's totally stupid! Paying random kids to throw rocks at you was the best you could come up with to practice dodging!?"

"Heh, yeah. Believe me, once you take a few to the dome, you'll be dodging everything. It's a good motivator."

At that, Itsuka couldn't hold back anymore and let the floodgates out. Laughing vigorously at the boy's sarcastic comment. "S-sorry. It's just that the way you say this crap is just so-" She trailed off, laughter taking hold of her again .

Izuku smiled at her genuinely, not bothered at all by her laughter. In fact, he actually enjoyed it. Seeing her like this and knowing that he was getting better at his copied sense of humor was actually pretty satisfying to him.

Peter, you're the best!

It was just yesterday when he and Kendo had their big talk after school, and things were already proving to go beyond smoothly. He wasn't so sure about any other girls, but Itsuka so far had been extremely easy to talk to. And even more so now that he could officially call her his friend.

All in all, the boy was extremely pleased with the state they were in right now. And he couldn't help but continue his witty sarcasm all the way up until they walked into class together. He even had to nudge her with his elbow when they arrived just to calm down her giggles, because they appeared to be a bit late considering Aizawa-sensei was already at the front of the classroom.

Uh oh…

"Ah, there you two are, that's everyone." The man said in his signature even tone.

Izuku and Itsuka slowly stepped into the room and looked around uneasily, not knowing whether to bow and apologize for being late or just waiting for further instruction.

Luckily, their instructor took initiative and answered their mental questions for them. "You guys aren't late, I'm just here early for a quick announcement. Today's homeroom will be a bit different."

Both teens went wide eyed for a moment before sighing in relief. However, before they could even make a move for their seats, Aizawa-sensei surprisingly began his so called announcement right away.

"I'll make this quick so I can get out of your hair. Good job on the battle trial yesterday. You all took the big reveal in stride and performed quite well for the most part. I'll be going over the footage myself later to see what we need to work on. But for now, you all did well."

Before anyone could get excited about the praise, the bandage wearing man quickly started back up.

"Don't get a big head though… I also heard some rather… Violent rumors about one match in particular..." Aizawa said in a much more serious tone, eyeing Katsuki and Midoriya readily. "Seems you two got pretty passionate, huh?"

Bakugo seemed like he couldn't care less about the situation right now, only grunting and looking away from the baggy eyed man. But when the instructor's hard, quirk-erasing gaze shifted to Izuku, the teen looked much more uneasy.

Aizawa watched the boy gulp as he looked him up and down. There was still a very obvious patch of red skin on his cheek.

So the rumors are true, that match did take things too far. Damn it, All Might, what were you thinking? If I find out this has anything to do with that crazy theory…

After a pregnant pause, Izuku was just about ready to bow repeatedly in apology, but once again, his sensei was too quick to speak.

"Regardless, you all did your best, and I can't ask any more from that, especially since you're all ok."

A heavy sigh could almost be heard across the room as the tension fizzled out.

"But now, as for the reason I'm here early…" Aizawa said before clearing his throat, easily capturing the class's attention once more. "Today I will be leaving you all alone so you can decide on class representatives."

The Eraser hero could obviously tell that the class was speechless by his unexpected reveal, so he simply took this opportunity to give his final parting words. "I don't really care what you guys do to decide, just try to get it done by the end of the day. I'll need a main representative and a vice representative. That is all."

With that, the bored looking man made straight for the door, only pausing his walk when he was right beside Midoriya and Kendo. "That burn looks pretty serious Midoriya," He half whispered to the boy. "You should go and let Recovery Girl have a look."

"R-right, Aizawa-sensei! Thank you!" Izuku stuttered out, bowing immediately, not moving an inch until he felt his teacher walk by.

Itsuka, on the other hand, watched the scene with both amusement and mild worry. She had also suggested he go and see the healing quirked nurse yesterday after their big fight had ended. But he simply shrugged it off then too.

Of course, she now knew the reason, being in on some more private information. He had taken the time to explain this odd decision to her yesterday as well.

" These injuries are the first ones I've gotten that are actually somewhat serious. I wanna see how my healing factor reacts to them. I'm sure it has a limit, and I wanna get a good idea of where it is sooner rather than later."

Did she like him using his body like a ragdoll in search of scientific analysis? No. But he did have a point, and now that he had gone through with it, she was actually rather impressed at how much he ended up healing overnight. She hadn't seen under his shirt of course , but the red marking on his face looked like a mere fraction of what it was yesterday. Maybe he made the right call after all...

Itsuka would have loved to continue bouncing these ideas around in her mind some more , but now that Aizawa-sensei was gone, the entire class had erupted into pandemonium over the new available positions, easily sweeping away her deep train of thought.

"I would make an amazing class representative!" Monoma sounded out with a bit more cockiness than he intended.

"Yeah right! I want it! It would fit me perfectly!" Awase bit back , standing up as well.

"Pardon me, but I have to disagree with both of you. I believe I'm the one best suited for this position of responsibility." Yaoyorozu spoke up, throwing her own hat into the ring in the process.

It wasn't long after this that everyone else who wanted the job began standing up to make their voices heard. Some much louder than others…

"Uhh, Kendo-san, should we do something about th-"

"Everyone shut up!" The orange haired teen roared, taking charge and getting everyone's attention.

Well, that's one way to do it. I was gonna suggest something a bit more subtle, but this works too.  Izuku thought sheepishly before he heard his friend talk again.

"Jeez! You guys don't have to scream for this kind of thing. Why don't we all just vote or something? If we get this done quickly, we can just relax for the rest of class," Itsuka grumbled out, walking back to her seat and sitting down.

After another small moment of silence, one person spoke up to rebuke the big fist user's idea, and he wasn't trying to be polite about it at all…

"That's so dumb! Everyone is just gonna vote for themselves!" Monoma yelled, instantly getting the girl's attention again.

Itsuka didn't know why or how, but the tone in the slick haired blonde's voice always irked her in the worst way possible. And she hated it. It was like the opposite effect of what Izuku's voice had on her. It just always managed to piss her off.

And now was no exception, because as soon as the words crossed her ears, a forehead vein made its presence known and she jumped up out of her seat and gave him a hardy leer.

"How about instead of complaining like a little girl, you just shut up and try it!? Or is that too hard for you? If you want, I could knock you out like I did yesterday and we could vote without you. That's always an option."

Monoma couldn't help but let out a large gulp as a prolonged 'oooooh' was heard around the classroom. He tried his best to come up with some sort of comeback, but one of his fellow classmates began speaking first.

"Well, I like the idea! Anyone else?" Kirishima said with his easygoing smile, looking around the classroom for his answer.

"I love it! It makes everything nice and fair," Ashido agreed.

"Heck yeah! I already know who I'm voting for too!" Tetsutetsu proclaimed.

"Who cares what we do? Let's just get this over with," Kaibara said nonchalantly, kicking his feet up on his desk.

With that, everyone got to work on voting with little slips of paper and collecting them. And at the end of all the counting, one could say that the winner took it all by an absolute landslide.

"Oh wow…" Hagakure breathed as she finished counting up all the votes in the box. She and Ashido had volunteered to collect and count them all in order to present the results, but now she wasn't sure if she could gather herself in time to speak.

"Uh, Toru-chan? What's wrong?" Ashido asked awkwardly, seeing that the whole class was staring up at them waiting for the results.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry! Um, the winner just got way more votes than everyone else… So uh, with a total tally of five votes, the winner of the class representative is… Kendo-chan…"

"What!? Me!?" Kendo asked oddly, standing up from her seat.

"Her!?" Monoma yelled incredulously at the exact same time.

Sparing a moment to glare at Monoma, Kendo focused back towards the front of the class, voicing the biggest question in her head at the moment . "How did I get five votes? I didn't even vote for myself!?" She finished, shooting a hidden glance at her new green haired friend.

Tetsutetsu, whose seat was right next to hers, was about to open his mouth to express his confidence in her, but his similarly quirked classmate beat him to it.

"Are you kidding?" Kirishima began with a chuckle. "I'm surprised you didn't get more votes, Kendo. You're awesome!"

Turning to him in confusion, Itsuka craned her neck. "Huh? What did I do? I've barely spoken to half of you."

Once again, before Tetsutetsu could answer the girl's question with reassurance, he was beaten to the punch by the usually quiet Kaibara.

"Who cares about that crap. The fact that you could shut that cocky idiot up was good enough for me."

Kendo turned to the brooding boy with somewhat widened eyes. She never thought of it like that, but it made sense. Monoma probably wasn't the most liked guy in the class because of his attitude, and while what she did to keep him at bay moments ago felt normal to her, it probably felt like a big deal to everyone else. Heck, she wouldn't be surprised if those actions won her the election on their own .

"Hey! What do you mean cocky!?" Monoma glared at the spiky haired boy. Everyone ignored him though as Hagakure spoke up once more.

"Oh wow, it gets even weirder… We have a tie for second place. Both Midoriya and Yaoyorozu got two votes, meaning we need some sort of tiebreaker for second place."

While Yaoyorozu looked somewhat deflated that she didn't get more votes, Izuku appeared completely terrified.

"W-what!? Two votes? Why would anyone vote for me!?"

"Hahaha! Good one Midoriya! You and Kendo sure are funny sometimes," Kirishima joked again.

"Wait, that makes perfect sense Midoriya." Kendo looked towards him. "I voted for you, so then with yours that makes two, why is that a surprise?"

"Huh? You voted for me, Kendo-san? I voted for you!"

"Oh…" Itsuka tensed out awkwardly, not knowing whether or not to be flattered or confused by the situation.

Across the room, a particular amphibian quirked girl looked on at the situation. She didn't regret her vote, not one bit. There was always something oddly familiar that came with watching Izuku move around and talk. She couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but she was definitely intrigued.

"Welp, I guess we have to come up with something then. How about rock-paper-scissors?" Ashido suggested with a shrug.

"Nah, that's lame! They should fight or something! Now that would be cool!" Awase spoke up.

"Don't be foolish! How are we supposed to fight in a classroom?" Yaoyorozu argued, clearly looking more than a little nervous at going head-to-head with the green haired boy.

Meanwhile, Bakugo was doing his best to not blow a gasket at the commotion around him , muttering hushed swears under his breath from only getting one vote.

Finally though, after what seemed like far too much bickering, Itsuka stood up to take charge, only to be stopped by the hard gaze of her spider quirked friend.

Nodding to her, Izuku stood up and approached Yaoyorozu, the class going silent almost immediately.

What kind of challenge had he decided on?

"Y-Yaoyorozu-san…" Izuku stuttered out, clearly still not comfortable talking to the opposite gender.

And it wasn't much better on the other end, the female in question not meeting his eyes and looking unsure of herself in every way possible.

"I… I would like to concede the position…" Izuku finally blurted out.

…

…

…

"WHAT!?" Pretty much the entire class yelled.

"I… Forgive me? Did I just hear you right?" The creation quirked girl responded slowly.

Not backing down or growing timid, Izuku nodded fiercely. "I-I… I'm not cut out for this position, I'll just leave it at that. Congratulations."

While the girl's mouth was still wide open, Izuku promptly bowed and walked back to his seat, his mind running a mile a minute as he took his seat.

The truth was, he really did find the position interesting, as well as a great opportunity. And had he not been as self aware as he was now, he might have gone for it, especially now since Kendo would be the main representative…

But something about it felt wrong, he wasn't too sure what it was though . Was his confidence begging to fall short again? He was sure that holding a position like that would have required him to talk to everyone more, which he had to admit, didn't sound so great.

Still, he felt like there was another reason it didn't feel right, something almost instinctual. Perhaps he was even starting to pick up other subconscious traits from Peter without even knowing , like sticking to the sidelines and out of the spotlight whenever possible.

Oh well, either way, what's done was done, he couldn't go back anymore, and he didn't regret his decision. It was probably a really boring job anyway.

While the newly elected vice representative had her small celebration at her desk, the class's own main representative couldn't seem to stop her jaw from hanging.

What. The. Heck! What were you thinking, Midoriya!?

After coming out of her small daze, Itsuka smacked her forehead promptly. Not liking her new friend's decision one bit. Sure, she may be a bit biased, since she wanted a familiar face to be her partner, but still! What was wrong with him!?

She knew he had some confidence problems, but were they really that bad? She would have to talk to him about it later. Maybe he had some kind of ulterior motive, yeah, that was probably it.

With those last thoughts concerning the green-haired boy fading away, Itsuka stood up to address the class one last time. "Alright! That was nice and fast, now we have free time for the rest of homeroom!"

"Yeah!"

That day had gone by rather quickly at U.A , with class 1-A zooming past all of their morning classes, all of them feeling much shorter than usual because of the odd homeroom they had.

Right now, said class was filing into the lunchroom slowly, with some students already sitting down and eating.

Izuku happened to be one of those students, and it didn't take long for Kendo to spot his green mop of hair across the lunchroom sitting all by himself again.

She was right in the process of taking her first step towards the boy when she heard a voice call out from behind her.

"Hey! Kendo!"

The orange haired teen wasted no time and turned around, not completely recognizing the voice that called her.

When she finally laid eyes on him, he was walking up to her slowly, with some hands waving behind him at a crowded lunch table.

"Oh, uh, hi. You're Tetsutetsu, right?" She said rather meekly.

The boy just beamed though, happy that she had remembered his name. That had to count for something, right?

"Yeah, that's me, uh, listen, I just wanted to know if you, uh-you know, wanted to sit with us at our table… You-uh, seem p-pretty cool to me… I mean us! You seem pretty cool to us!" He finally finished, putting a lot more emphasis on his last statement.

Itsuka blinked a few times before processing what she heard. Not only was that a mouthful, but he also didn't really do the best at relaying a clear message to her.

Either way though, she understood clearly. After plenty of practice dealing with Tamaki and a bit with Izuku, she could decipher just about any kind of speech.

"Oh, I see…" Kendo began, not exactly knowing how to put this . Feeling even more guilty when she saw Kirishima give her a thumbs up from Tetsutetsu's table.

Turning around momentarily though, her confidence was quickly reinforced when she saw Izuku looking around for her almost worriedly.

Yeah, as if she would abandon him without a second thought.

"Sorry Tetsutetsu, I appreciate the offer," she said while bowing quickly. "But I already have a table. I'd love to get to know you guys more during class though! Sorry again!" She ended somewhat abruptly, walking off and finding her friend's table hurriedly.

This in turn, left the metal quirked student looking quite awkward right in the middle of the lunchroom.

"Oooh! Rejected!" Ashido giggled along with some other girls at the table.

"H-hey! It wasn't like that!"

"Don't worry about it man, we can always try again later," Kirishima reassured, getting up and patting his friend on the back.

"Um, Kirishima-kun? Did you mean that genuinely? Or are you just trying to make him feel better? I still don't fully understand the difference in some Japanese tones," Tsunotori asked with genuine confusion, getting more giggles from the girls and some heavy sighs from all of the guys.

Back with Kendo, Izuku seemed very much relieved when she showed up with a smile and plopped her stuff down at his table, quickly washing all of his worries away for the time being.

"There you are Kendo-san! What took you so long?" The boy asked innocently. Kendo hesitated for a moment, in the end deciding to just tell the boy the truth.

"Oh, Tetsutetsu asked me to sit with them at their table. I guess that's where the main crowd sits."

Izuku looked confused for a moment, not knowing what she meant, he hastily took some time to scan the lunchroom for the table she was talking about.

And it didn't take long for him to spot it either , spotting Tetsutetsu's sharp features easily. After scoping out the table's occupants, Izuku instantly understood what it was . Bringing his mood down a bit.

It wasn't just some table; it was  the  table. He'd found out that subtle difference all throughout middle school.

He easily recognized Bakugo sitting and eating quietly, keeping to himself along with that strong ice quirked kid. He also saw the brand new vice representative that he had conceded to not three hours ago…

"Kendo-san, why did you-"

"Don't even start with your crap right now Midoriya."

Widening his eyes, the boy turned back to her, surprised to find her face contorted in some pretty serious annoyance.

"W-what?"

"I know what you were gonna say," she began again. "You were gonna say some crap about how I should've sat with them or something. Well, I don't want to, I already have a friend, and I'm not gonna abandon him when he's all alone."

Shutting his eyes tightly, Izuku held back his wave of emotion. Why did this keep happening!? Why did his confidence always waver so much!? He couldn't keep on like this, he couldn't keep relying on Kendo to keep building him up like this, he needed to be strong on his own.

"R-right! I'm sorry I doubted you Kendo-san! Please forgive me!" He bowed, bringing his head dangerously close to the table.

Itsuka merely smiled though, glad that he dropped his argument so fast. He was getting stronger alright, even if he didn't know it.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, you're still in trouble, mister. Why the heck did you give away the vice representative job so easily? Having you as a partner would've been awesome!"

Raising his head with a sheepish look on his face, Izuku scratched the back of his head. Happy at least that the mood had turned playful for the moment.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I guess I just-"

* RIIIIING *

Jumping at the sudden noise invading his ears, Izuku stopped talking and looked around frantically. He instantly identified that the noise was indeed coming from the school and not inside his head, so at the very least there wasn't any imminent danger.

"C'mon Midoriya! It looks like everyone's evacuating!" Kendo called out, standing up and pulling him along and out into the hallway.

This turned out to be more of a mistake than anything else though, because as soon as they stepped out of the lunchroom, they were immediately sucked into a giant crowd of panicked U.A students, and saying they were packed like sardines would be an understatement.

Groaning at how hot and uncomfortable he was at the moment, Izuku did his best to shift through the crowd, but it was no use, they were all too tightly packed.

It looked like his only options right now were either to wait for the congestion to end or to think of another solution.

Not busy with anything else at the moment, the boy got to work on the latter, thinking deeply in order to find a way out of this already odd situation without totally humiliating himself.

"Ow!"

Breaking out of his thoughts abruptly, Izuku turned his head back to where he heard and now felt his orange haired friend.

…

…

…

Yep, there was no way he was getting back to thinking anymore, that was for sure. There, right behind him and pressed firmly into his back, was Kendo…

Not hesitating to face forward once again with a crimson colored face, Izuku straightened up like a board. He obviously knew her actions weren't voluntary, but it was still embarrassing . Especially when he could feel every single shift and movement she made.

Over behind him, Itsuka wasn't doing so well either, and had Izuku been a little taller than her, she would have buried her equally red face in his back to hide it forever…

Ok, stay calm, try to focus on something other than the fact that you're pressing your boobs right onto your friend's back. NO! I said don't think about that!

Wow… His back is actually pretty firm… I wonder if…

NO! What am I doing!? I am so messed up in the head!

…

Who knows? Maybe he doesn't even notice?  Kendo thought finally as she looked up at him, trying and failing to make herself feel better.

Although his thoughts were just as panicked, Izuku's brain was a bit less coherent than hers was at the moment.

Brain… Frying… Can't think… Peter… Help

"EVERYONE STOP!" A new voice yelled from up above the hallway, successfully catching everyone's eye.

"Why are we all acting like children!? We're U.A students! Start acting like it!"

"B-but, the alarm!" A general studies student pointed out.

"That alarm was just some reporters that opened the front gate! Look outside for yourselves!"

True to his word, the few people pushed up against the window confirmed the boy's story, making everyone calm down for his closing words

"See? That's more like it!" The boy said proudly, still hanging onto an exit sign for dear life.

"Hey, thanks a lot man! Who are you anyway?" A support course student asked with a thumbs up.

"Who, me?" The boy said with a smirk, pushing his glasses up from the bridge of his nose confidently. My name is Tenya Ida! Main representative of class 1-B!"

While most found his over the top revelation to be a bit hysterical, Izuku couldn't help but stare at the boy with a small smile on his face . He and Kendo were now at a comfortable shoulder length apart, so he quickly recognized the blue haired boy to be the same one that helped them out during the entrance exam. And with just one glance over to his friend, he could tell that she recognized him too.

Tenya Ida, huh? Looks like the other hero course class is gonna be pretty interesting too...

Chapter Text

"Aw, come on Kendo, we weren't  that  awesome, we just did what we could since our quirks were so similar."

The girl in question looked towards her red haired friend, smiling while rolling her eyes. "Oh stop it Kirishima, you're being too modest. You and Tetsutetsu made an awesome team. Watching you face off against Awase and Mineta was actually interesting. It really made me wonder which one out of the two of you can harden their body more."

Bringing up this apparently sensitive topic in her last sentence, Kirishima sprouted a fire in his belly, jumping up and preparing to declare how strong his quirk was.

Before he could get the chance however , he was promptly shoved away by his metallic counterpart, stealing his seat right next to Kendo and smiling proudly.

"Well of course it's me! His body just gets harder, but mine actually turns to steel! Pretty cool, huh?"

However, the orange haired girl couldn't help but sweat-drop slightly at the boy's actions, shaking her head dismissively as she looked around the bus.

Currently, all of class 1-A were on the way to USJ, a training facility that specialized in specific and special rescue scenarios. It was overall quite exciting , and everyone was currently donning their hero costumes for said event.

Well, all except for Izuku, who was sporting U.A's P.E uniform with his two web shooters and a utility belt accentuating it.

And speaking of the boy, he quickly became the object of Itsuka's attention for the moment.

She watched as he sat across from her, his eyes darting around the room awkwardly. It appeared as though he was having trouble getting into the same care free spirit as the rest of the class, his uneasy and shy nature preventing him from starting any conversations himself.

She would have moved over to sit with him in a heartbeat, knowing that he was getting more and more outgoing around her. But she kept getting flooded by their classmates with questions about her. And having already denied them at lunch yesterday, she felt she had to at least try to connect with the rest of the class.

Sorry Midoriya, guess you're on your own for now.

Luckily for her though, the boy looking awkward and worried was just his natural outer appearance, because on the inside, he was thinking up a storm.

Aw man, I was hoping we wouldn't have to use our hero costumes in class for a while, I still need more time to repair mine…

While the boy mumbled to himself quietly, he didn't notice one of his classmates move across the bus and take a seat right next to him.

Should I even repair it though? It got completely torched. I should still be able to do it. My sewing has gotten better since I first made the costume a few months back…

Hmm, maybe I should just make a whole new one. It's probably not even worth repairing the old one considering how tattered it is. And maybe this time I can borrow some materials from the support department to make it more durable!

"Hey, Midoriya-kun."

"Ah!" Izuku jumped, getting startled by the sudden voice pretty much right in his ear.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, gero."

"Oh no, it's my fault Asui-san, I just wasn't paying attention to my surroundings…"

After a very elongated and uncomfortable silence, Izuku cleared his throat and prepared to speak, his nerves only multiplying when he noticed some students were watching his interaction with his frog quirked classmate.

"Um, is there s-something you need from me, Asui-san?"

"Mmhm," she nodded slowly. "First off, please call me Tsu."

…

"Uh… Ok, n-no problem…" Izuku croaked awkwardly. In reality, he already knew this would indeed be a problem. He'd never so much as called someone by their first name, so there was no way he was gonna start using nicknames comfortably.

"And second off," the frog quirked girl continued. "I have a question about your quirk."

"Oh," Izuku sighed in relief. Finally, a topic he was actually comfortable talking about. "Go ahead then."

Nodding, the girl locked her abnormally large eyes with his green ones. "It's been a while since I met another animal species mutant type . Usually, they look at least a little bit like the kind of animal your quirk is based on. But you look completely normal to me. What's that about?"

Rather than panicking, Izuku took a deep breath and gave his classmate an even smile. He'd been getting more and more questions about his powers recently, and he was finally getting used to answering them on the fly.

"Oh, is that it?" The boy asked as he brought his hand up and motioned for his classmate to look closer.

"Gero?" She croaked, inspecting the boy's fingertips closely. "Are those… Hairs?"

Izuku nodded. "Yep, the way I see it, I guess I got pretty lucky with how I turned out. I'm sure it would be really horrifying for everyone around me if I looked like a giant spider," the superpowered teen said sheepishly.

"Wow, that really is lucky, gero . I hate to admit it but sometimes I do wish I looked less like a frog and more like a regular girl." Asui stated, voicing her inner thoughts and staring at the ground for a moment .

Sensing the girl's demeanor shifting slightly, the green haired boy quickly began shaking his head. Crap! That sounded horrible ! Now she's gonna think she looks like a freak!

"I-uh, don't worry Asui-san! You look fine! I didn't mean it like that, sorry! Your umm… Modifications actually look really cool! Yeah! They suit you!" The boy said somewhat frantically.

The frog quirked girl however quickly shifted her demeanor to a sly looking smile as she responded to the nervous boy. "Gero! Thanks for the compliment Midoriya-kun, that's so nice of you!"

Seeing her complete one-eighty shift in mood totally flabbergasted poor Izuku. So much so in fact, that he didn't even know how to respond…

W-what? Why did she turn happy like that so fast!? It's like she was never even sad at all to begin with! Was she just faking it and messing with me? Or did she just want me to compliment her?

"But seriously Midoriya-kun… Call me Tsu," the girl insisted more seriously than before.

The superpowered teen just sighed and shook his head, his brain a complete mess from all angles.

Why are girls so confusing!?

It went without saying that all twenty students of class 1-A were more than impressed as their sensei led them through the enormous compound known as USJ. Most were left utterly speechless at the sheer size of the place, and many 'ooohs' and 'ahhhs' could be heard at every new detail presented to them .

Izuku in particular could barely hold in his excitement. Whatever sort of exercise they were in for today was certainly going to be a memorable one.

However, his cheery demeanor was quickly halted into one of surprise when they made it deeper into the facility, the large presence of two famous pro heroes making themselves known to the group of students.

" Greetings my young pupils! Are you ready for an exciting day of hero studies!?"

Almost immediately, many cheers and shouts came from the crowd of class 1-A. It appeared as though the novelty of having the symbol of peace as their teacher had not worn off yet.

" Yes! Now that's the enthusiasm I like to hear!"  The large man beckoned on, managing to somehow rile up the students even more. So much so in fact that his presence had completely overshadowed the other popular hero that was teaching today. Although in all fairness, any hero would find themselves in the same position when put next to someone like All Might.

Wearing a puffy, white space suit and talking in a signature modulated voice, the space rescue hero Thirteen chose this moment to speak up. "Ehem, yes, I second that, it's good to see so much enthusiasm from our youth these days."

"Wow! It's really Thirteen!" An excited Kaminari exclaimed. "Being a student here just keeps getting better and better!"

And for once, much to her surprise, his purple haired classmate had no reason to disagree with him. "You can say that again," Jiro added, smiling along with the boy. "Today is gonna be fun!"

"You're right about that you brats, it will be fun, just not for you!"

" What!?"  All Might grunted, turning around and facing the interruption coming from deeper into the training grounds.

Much to his surprise, the symbol of peace had to blink multiple times to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him. But much to his distaste, what was in front of him was no mere illusion. It was reality.

There, down at the center of the training grounds were at least five dozen villains if not more, and they were all surrounded by what looked like purple smoke.

Tch, a teleportation quirk, how frustrating.  The number one hero thought to himself with a scoff. Things were already shaping up poorly and they hadn't even been there five minutes.  No matter, at the very least I still have a plethora of time on my hands. It seems that skipping patrol earlier was indeed a wise decision.

" Alright you brats! Prepare to die! After we're done here, no one will be left alive, especially not you All M-"

But the towering symbol of peace didn't even give the man a chance to finish, quickly grabbing the situation by the horns and taking action.  "Eraserhead, Thirteen, protect the students. I will handle this."

Aizawa looked like he wanted to protest, but in the end he kept his mouth shut. As much as he wanted to help clean up the trash that had invaded the school, he knew All Might was more than capable on his own. He also thought it wise to prioritize protecting his students, especially with a teleporting quirk on the field.

Also, even though he wanted to protest, the second the symbol of peace gave his orders he was off and flying down the training ground like the giant missile he was.

" California Smash!"  All Might shouted, shooting straight into the crowd of villains and causing a massive explosion, taking down a good chunk of villains as if they were bowling pins.

Standing up and dusting himself off, the number one hero sharpened up his gaze and patiently waited for the dust to settle. Not surprised at all to hear the sounds of weak groans and general discomfort from the fallen villains.

However, he soon found out that his ears could not always be trusted so strictly, because when the dust cloud finally dissipated, he was left looking at only a handful of enemies on the ground and incapacitated , while the rest of the group seemed to have totally vanished.

Well, all of them except what seems like their leader and… Whatever that is.  All Might thought to himself as he stared at a man covered in severed hands, along with what looked to be some kind of genetic monstrosity beside him.

"Hehehe, aren't teleportation quirks the best All Might? Ahahaha! Ahahahahaha!" Shigaraki cackled maniacally, not caring at all at how unhinged he must've looked.

This man is not well, I must stop him and whatever that horror next to him is before this gets out of hand.

" No matter! Not one student will be harmed today, villain! Because I am here!"

"W-what? Is this really happening!?" Ashido croaked out with a trembling voice"

"What do we do!? Is this some kind of test!?" Mineta screamed with an even greater level of panic.

"This is NOT a test!" Aizawa cleared up, bringing the class's attention back to him. "Everyone listen up, this is a real villain attack, these aren't the ideal circumstances to learn to keep calm, but the world doesn't care about that, so don't panic!"

"Y-yeah! Calm down guys . All might is here! He can totally take all those guys down!" Awase said somewhat shakily, most likely trying to convince himself more than his classmates.

"Things are never that simple," the underground hero continued after looking up from his phone. "Don't panic, but also don't let your guard down. This could get ugly real quick. It looks like they're jamming our cell phone signal somehow, they must be trying to isolate us."

This vocalized observation didn't do the students' demeanor any favors, especially the ones whose personalities were more on the timid side.

"This isn't good, Kendo-san," Izuku muttered under his breath, knowing only the girl right next to him could hear him.

Surprisingly, the super powered teen ended up being one of the few students in his class that  wasn't  breaking down in fear at the moment. Instead, his mind was moving a hundred miles a minute trying to figure out what was going on and why his spider sense was going haywire.

"Huh?" The orange haired teen shook her head, breaking out of her own stupor at the mention of her name. "What do you mean Midoriya? Is something wrong?"

Before Izuku could nod at her like he intended, the fruits of the tingling in his head made themselves known. And not even the pro heroes at the head of the pack were able to react to how quickly the cloud of mist enveloped around the big clump of students.

No!  Aizawa thought to himself in frustration as he saw the teleportation quirk manifest around the majority of his class.  I can't use erasure on it, his body must be blocked by this purple fog.

Without thinking, Izuku did the only logical thing his brain could think of, rather than attempt to jump out and risk saving no one, he chose instead to roughly shove the two people closest to him, quickly pushing them out of the mist right before everything went dark.

I hope one of them was Kendo-san,  the boy thought optimistically as he found himself falling with his spider sense on full blast.

"What's the matter All Might? Surprised you can't just mow this one down with one shot like you do with every other villain? Pathetic!"

Said symbol of peace ignored the oddly pale man in favor of focusing on his current situation. Which he did have to admit was turning out to be quite a bit more challenging than he anticipated.

At the moment he was locked in a standstill with this creature that the enemy called 'Nomu' and he was quite curious about how it was able to go blow for blow with One for All.

Does it have some kind of shock absorption quirk?

As the two titans continued trading blows, Shigaraki couldn't help but continue to chuckle to himself as he watched Nomu's masterful performance.

This is pathetic of me. If I were in my prime this would be over in no more than three blows!

He's really doing it master! He's going toe to toe with All Might!

"Ahahahaha! Yes! Fight! Scream! Destroy! End him Nomu! He doesn't know what a real hero is! A real hero is supposed to scratch, claw and struggle! That's what makes them cool! Not some godlike giant that doesn't have any weaknesses!"

If only you knew , All Might thought as he continued his struggle, doing his best to ignore the ever growing pain in his side.

"Ahhhhhh! Crap!" Monoma yelled as he found himself falling from the sky out of the dark mist.

Looking down below through terrified eyes he could see that he was about to land on the deck of some kind of cruise ship! And worst of all, he hadn't copied a quirk recently, meaning he was screwed!

"Monoma-san! Over here!"

"Huh?" The blonde haired boy questioned, quickly looking around for a voice until he spotted his frog quirked classmate falling a few meters above him.

The boy was just about to let out a not so polite comment about saving him, but it seemed as though Asui wasn't waiting for any sort of invitation, not wasting any time in stretching out her tongue and wrapping it around the boy.

"Ew! What the-"

"Could you please not complain? Gero." Asui stated as she reeled the boy back to her so they were now falling together.

"What did you just say!? I can't understand you!?"

Unwrapping her tongue from around the boy so that her speech wasn't impeded, the frog quirked girl repeated herself. "I said stop complaining, gero . At least now we're going to land in the water!"

Looking down and still struggling to open his eyes from the wind in his face, what the blonde haired boy saw almost brought him to tears.

"Ahh! There are villains in the water! We're still screwed!"

"Gero?" Asui mumbled out as she looked down to the water below. True to his word, there was indeed a handful of about six villains forming a circle in the water.

"What do we do!? I don't have a quirk right now! And those guys look like they have water quirks! They're gonna drown us! Or worse! They'll-"

*Thwip*

Monoma's delirious show of panic was quickly redirected to confusion when he felt something latch onto his costume.

"I got you guys! Hold on!" Izuku yelled, pulling his two classmates over to him so that they were now over the ship again.

Wasting no time listening to Monoma's new complaint about landing on the hard deck. Izuku shifted out of a nosedive and spread his arms and legs, making himself fall slower and rise above his classmates.

The ceiling is too high in this place, I won't be able to get a web line up there.  The boy thought, his mind moving quickly once again to come up with a solution.

Making up his mind, the boy began firing a multitude of web balls down toward the ship below, aiming to get them stuck right under where his classmates were gonna land.

While not exactly ending up with the result he was imagining , the impromptu 'web hammock' definitely sufficed, easily breaking the fall of two heroes in training.

Alright, they're safe, but now for me…  The green haired teen thought with a slight bit of uneasiness. In the past he'd trained to practice falling the way Peter did, but never at a height like this.  Note to self, I need to try and implement Peter's web wings into the mark II costume.

Keeping his body spread out and open as long as possible, Izuku waited until the ground was only meters away from him before shifting into a tumble roll, wincing as the majority of the impact was absorbed into his back.

"Midoriya-kun! Are you ok!?" Asui asked with urgency, not bothering to help her blonde classmate as he fell out of the bundle of webbing

The green haired teen however , would not waste time wiping away his classmate's worry, instantly kipping up to his feet after hearing her.

"I'm fine Asui-san, what about you guys?"

The frog quirked girl opened her mouth to remind the boy to call her Tsu, but the obnoxious blonde behind her had other plans.

"W-what are we gonna do!? There's villains everywhere!" Monoma stuttered out, not even caring that there seemed to be some webbing stuck to his butt.

Also, right on cue, voices could be heard overboard the ship, and it didn't take a detective to figure out that they weren't friendly.

"I think those three brats landed on board."

"Well then? What are you waiting for, idiot!? Start climbing!"

"Yeah! Those juicy bounties aren't gonna cash themselves!"

"B-bounties! Did he say bounties!? Their boss is rewarding them for killing us!?" The blonde cried out again, this time almost hyperventilating.

In response to this, Izuku just took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. By the look on his two classmate's faces, he was gonna have to be the level headed one here, which surprised him, since usually he was the one ready to rush back into his shell.

"Alright guys, listen up, we need to fight these guys off and get back to our classmates in trouble. Trust me, I'm freaking out on the inside too, but if you try to just focus on saving the class, it helps the nerves go away!"

Asui simply nodded, her eyes focusing on the boy as she gave him her undivided attention.

Monoma however looked a little more hesitant, but nevertheless, he too knew the urgency of the situation, so he just gulped and nodded as well.

"What's the plan, Midoriya?"

" Carolina Smash!" All Might shouted valiantly. Hitting the genetic monstrosity known as Nomu with a powerful cross chop .

On the surface, the attack seemed to have no effect, but All Might knew better than that.

Shock absorption ,  no matter how strong, has a limit like every other quirk, and I will eventually find it!

Without another moment's notice, All Might doubled down and prepared to launch another series of American themed attacks, but the opening of a misty portal behind him paused his action.

What?

As if the portal heard his inner confusion, a split second later, a giant vacuum of air, (or lack of it) began sucking in the symbol of peace. Almost like a-

Black hole! This is Thirteen's quirk!

While the terrifying effects of the space like quirk had no effect on his strong and thick skin, it also didn't allow him to move forward much, if at all. And even though it was only active for a second, that was all the leverage the Nomu needed to land a crushing blow to the Hero's abdomen.

" Gah!"  All Might grunted painfully as he doubled over and grabbed the creature's fist. It was currently dug in deeply into his weak spot, and if the fresh blood trickling down from his lips were any indicator, he was sure he'd be feeling that one for a while.

"Alright Monoma-san, please, tell me what quirks you have access to at the moment.?" Izuku asked politely, not trying to hide the fact that he was hoping for a quick response.

"Ugh, that's the crappy part! I haven't touched anyone since before we got on the bus. I'm quirkless right now! And to make it worse, I can't copy either of you two ! Why did I have to get teleported with two mutant types!"

Shaking his head in frustration, the super powered teen grunted as he went back to the drawing board. Also dually noting the new piece of information he'd learned about the boy's quirk.

Ok, that's a good side note, so my secret is safe. That mutant type cover story was genius!

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Izuku knew they were basically out of time.

Oh well, Time for plan B, Asui-san's quirk thrives in water, so we should just make the best use of that.

"Tch, I hate to say it guys, but I'm basically useless without my quirk, how about I just hide while you two fight?" He said almost pleadingly, clearly trying to salvage as much dignity as possible.

Asui looked uncertain at this request, but Izuku grew a small smile, clearly getting some sort of interesting idea.

"Hmm, you know what? I think I have a way for you to help  and get exactly what you want Monoma-san, and I think you'll like it! You've already seen me do it once before after all…

*Gulp*  I don't like the look on his face…

" Alright you punks! Which one of you pipsqueaks is gonna make us rich!" A villain with a shark fin on his head grumbled confidently as he jumped the railing and boarded the ship, his demeanor rapidly growing even more cocky as three of his companions joined him.

They looked around for a moment before spotting a sliver of green in the corner of their eyes.

"Up there! On the roof! C'mon guys!"

Not wasting any time, the four villains hastily climbed up to the small roof and assessed the situation. Not exactly understanding exactly what they were seeing when they got there…

There, about twenty meters in front of them was a blonde boy wrapped up in some sort of white cocoon. But that wasn't even the weirdest part, he was also being held back by a green haired boy on some kind of slingshot?

Uh oh.

"Ahhhhh!" Monoma yelled at the top of his lungs as he was sent flying right over the heads of the villains and off the ship at an incredible speed. Glancing back and catching a glimpse of the aftermath, he didn't want to admit it, but Midoriya's plan indeed worked to perfection.

All four villains thought he would be shot at them, making them all jump to the floor where they would be just one click away from being incapacitated thanks to Midoriya's webs.

That support item is so darn cool!  The blonde boy thought as he saw that the four villains were indeed all webbed up now.

With that over with, the blonde then went back to thinking about self preservation again. According to his green haired classmate, he wouldn't even feel the fall inside this gooey ball he'd made out of webs. But he was starting to doubt that. So much so in fact, that he began to think back to the joke the boy made right before launching him.

" Hehe, who knows Monoma-san, maybe if she's feeling gracious, Kendo-san will catch you with her quirk!"

Tch, yeah right she will! Screw both of you!

"Wow, that worked even better than I expected," the super powered teen muttered excitedly to himself as he checked out his handiwork.

"Hey! What the heck is this stuff? I can't move!"

"Yeah! Me neither!"

"It's that brat's quirk! He tricked us!"

"Haha! Don't worry boys, there's still two more of us, remember? This isn't over," the last of the four spoke out from his spot on the floor.

"No, this is definitely over, don't you guys remember? Three of us fell from the sky, and you've only seen two so far…" Izuku answered back with a very obvious bit of sarcasm.

"Wait, what!?"

Right on cue, a pair of unconscious villains were thrown over the railing and onto the deck, landing with a thump loud enough to garner attention.

Eyes widening, the four immobile villains began sweating profusely as the frog quirked girl hopped up onto the deck to join them all.

"You guys shouldn't have left these two behind, gero . They were pretty weak swimmers, so my quirk was a good match for them," the girl said with a wink. Although the evil doers couldn't particularly tell if it was aimed at them or her teammate…

"Crap." The four villains grunted together in unison.

Izuku on the other hand, reacted rather awkwardly to the girl's actions, scratching the back of his head and preferring to get back to other topics.

"Heh, uh, good job Asui-san," the boy muttered, walking over to the last two unconscious men and pressing his middle and ring fingers to his palm.

*Click*

Not surprised , the boy tried his other hand, only to get the same result.

Yeah, I figured, I used a lot to wrap up Monoma-san like a sushi roll…

Noting the interesting behavior of the boy, Asui observed closely as he discharged two casings from his wrists and reached down to his utility belt, not hesitating to refresh his creations with fresh web cartridges.

It's easy to forget that he made those himself… So cool!

Finalizing the adjustments and making sure his inventions were secure, Izuku looked up at Asui before shifting his focus to the battlefield beyond the water.  I wonder if everyone is alright…

"We need to get back to the others, Asui-san," he trailed off, hopping up and perching on the railing in search of a better view.

What he saw next however , gave him the opposite feeling of comfort.

No way…

Chapter Text

Itsuka Kendo had always prided herself on her fighting spirit and overall positive attitude towards life. Her general determination and tenacity were things that anyone would be hard pressed to find outside of the hero community. And just in general, it was always safe to assume that no matter what was thrown her way, she would at least find a way to wrap her head around it.

However, right now, she wasn't afraid to admit she was freaking out.

Everything had just been on a constant decline from the moment they had walked into this crazy facility.

Obviously, the biggest surprise factor was the villains themselves. As soon as they arrived, All Might took off and tried to take the fight to them, but that plan quickly fell through as soon as it formed.

Needless to say, the situation went off a cliff from there.

Great, just great,  Itsuka thought to herself as she enlarged her hands and ran up to a villain covered in purple spheres, introducing him to the floor as she tried to gather her thoughts.

First, that teleporting freak separates the class and spreads out the villains so All Might can't solo them. Then he comes back for seconds, bringing backup while also sending Thirteen and Aizawa-sensei to who knows where!

Grunting in both frustration and worry, the orange haired teen almost didn't realize her classmate was talking to her.

"Yeah! Great job, Red! We make a pretty good pair! Don't ya think?" Mineta said with a smirk, some obvious second meanings behind his words.

"Sure, but focus up, we took down the few that came for us, but more could be coming any minute," she reminded, keeping a sharp eye while holding in her nerves.

"You tell him Kendo-chan!" Tsunotori said from behind the two as she grew a new set of horns. It looked as though she already had some sort of issue with the small hero in training.

"Ugh, will you two lighten up? I swear, the hotter a girl is, the more troublesome her personalit y. Listen, I was scared at the beginning too! But relax, all these flunkies they sent after us are a bunch of pushovers! And All Might is here! Remember? He's totally kicking butt!"

Both girls rolled their eyes at the first sentence the boy muttered to himself, Kendo in particular was starting to understand why Yaoyoruzu mentioned such a negative first impression of the boy.

"Plus! We have Monoma-san going to get help, remember? Everything's gonna be fine!" The purple haired teen continued nonchalantly, even going as far as to yawn.

While not exactly agreeing with her classmate on the direct amount of danger they were in, she did have to admit that she found comfort in the fact that help was on the way.

Even if the person going to get it wasn't the best in her eyes…

Rather than think about the blonde though, Kendo smiled as she instead thought about how he got to them . Or rather,  who  sent him.

Monoma had quickly explained that Midoriya sent him back to the main entrance for a variety of reasons. First as a distraction for the villains they were facing, secondly so he would be safe, and thirdly so he could make himself useful with different classmate's quirks.

And while he didn't exactly use anyone's quirk to make himself less of a burden, the boy volunteered almost instantly to run out of the facility and go find help.

But hey, he still technically got all three objectives out of Monoma in the end. Pretty impressive.

And speaking of impressive, she really needed to ask the boy more questions when she saw him again. That was the third time he'd saved her! And even though this time wasn't life or death, she was still very curious about how he could almost see things coming before they actually happened.

Ironically enough, the boy surrounding her thoughts was also the very reason she was broken out of them a moment later.

"ALL MIGHT!"

"Huh?" Kendo, Mineta and Tsunotori all looked up in unison, their eyes widening as they saw Izuku flying through the air, noting that his speed was about the same as Monomas's.

"He's… Going straight for the bosses!? Is he insane!?" Mineta yelled, his fear apparently coming back with a fiery vengeance.

"Look!" Tsunotori pointed, her Japanese still sounding very rough. "It looks like All Might is cornered!"

Looking closer, it was obvious that this was the case, but not to any fault of the symbol of peace, it seemed as though the three main villains had teamed up to put him in a not so advantageous position.

"B-but, that's three against one! No fair!" Mineta yelled in a panic as he attempted to chew his nails through his yellow gloves.

This seemed to strike a chord with Itsuka, because she was quick to respond to the boy with a realization of her own. " It's just like Aizawa-sensei said, the world doesn't care about that…"

Gulping heavily, the purple haired teen was about to bite back at the girl for provoking his fear, but he didn't get the chance, because she took off in a dash for the heart of the facility .

"Hey! Where the heck are you doing!? Not you too, Red!"

But she wasn't alone, because a few seconds after her, Pony took off with impressive speed as well.

"C'mon Mineta-san! You wanna be a hero don't you!?" The horned girl yelled back, not really expecting or waiting for a response.

"S-stop it! Not like this! This is insane! You're both too pretty to die!" He cried out, both girls rolling their eyes again at the boy's maturity, or lack thereof .

Focusing back in, Itsuka was happy to have some kind of backup with her. She knew the task ahead would be a challenging one.

I can almost see the battlefield. C'mon All Might! You're the best around! You can do this!  She thought frantically. It didn't take long for her to catch her stride and begin sprinting, but somewhere along the way, her mind broke away from All Might and back to her green haired friend.

And Midoriya, you better not get yourself killed before I get there!

No way, this isn't happening!  The super powered teen thought to himself as he flew through the air, tightening his body in order to streamline himself.

The boy was on his way to a head on collision with three villains and one former idol. And it wasn't a hopeful sight in the slightest.

The large blue humanoid creature seemed to have All Might in a powerful hold from underneath, its left hand leaking with fresh blood from where it was digging into the hero's side.

What!? All Might is bleeding!? His skin should be basically impervious! They must have caught him by surprise. But still, that doesn't make any sense…

Realizing he was getting lost in thought, the boy shook his head and forced himself to focus.

Ok focus Spider-Man, All Might needs you. It looks like that huge monster is halfway inside that teleporting mist. And now that scary hand guy is approaching too! What's the plan…

…

Wait… Scary hand guy!?

" Agh!"  All Might choked out, spitting up more blood into the air as the grip of the Nomu tightened.

"Ahahaha! How do you like that , you fake!" Shigaraki cackled once again, very much enjoying himself as he approached the symbol of peace in his helpless position.

Crap, to escape this I'll have to use more power, I only hope it doesn't burn up all the time I've saved today.

"Prepare to die! You false symbol of peace!" The deranged leader cried out, reaching out with one hand and placing it firmly on the number one's elbow.

Instantly, All Might knew how dangerous the man's quirk was. Whether it was the sight of his highly durable costume being turned to dust, or the feeling of his skin going numb, he knew he was in trouble.

Getting ready to power up and break free at the expense of his body, All Might tensed up and gathered his energy. Preparing to cut loose and deliver an all out attack.

"ALL MIGHT!"

"Huh?" Both Shigaraki and Kurogiri questioned as they turned to the source of the newfound disruption.

Needless to say, both men were flabbergasted when a flying teenager adjusted himself in mid air and shot a pair of web lines at Nomu, pulling himself toward it at an incredible speed.

Those… Look like webs…  Shigaraki thought darkly, his instincts clearly reminding him of something that his mind couldn't quite catch up to.

Of the three men present however , none were more surprised than the symbol of peace himself.

" Y-young Midoriya!?"

Now propelled even faster by his arms, Izuku realigned his body, shifting from flying head first to feet first, no longer holding anything back considering his target was an 'All Might' level villain.

The boy's brain couldn't really fathom what was happening anymore. He was pretty sure he recognized the leader of this group of villains, but he had no time to worry about or process this, because All Might was in trouble!

When the boy finally did land his very own spider version of a drop kick , he surprised himself with the results.

Not only was he not used to putting all of his strength into one attack, but he also wasn't quite prepared for how solid his target would be.

What the heck!? How dense is this guy?  The super powered teen thought incredulously as he felt the impact in his legs.

While the sheer sturdiness of the creature was obvious after his feet made initial contact, Izuku's full power and momentum combined were easily enough to knock the monster back and out of the purple mist it resided in.

In the blink of an eye, All Might felt the grip of the monster vanish completely, easily allowing him to get back on his feet a moment later.

Turning to his student with a satisfied smile, the symbol of peace looked impressed as Midoriya stood atop of the Nomu.

Incredible, young Midoriya… I'm unsure if I should be impressed that you have the strength to knock down that monstrosity, or more so confused that it's you who's helping me…

Grabbing his left side with a grunt and dusting off his costume's residue on his elbow, All Might shrugged and took a fighting stance once again. Not hesitating to give his student a signature smile.

" Thank you, young Midoriya! I am ever grateful for your assistance. I only ask now that you stay on the defensive and allow me to handle this. This has gone on long enough."

Nodding at his teacher with a kind smile gracing his lips, Izuku aimed his web shooter downwards and gave the Nomu a healthy dosage.

"R-right! I'll stay out of the way!" The boy said slightly, the reality of the situation in front of him beginning to set in a bit.

I really just did that… Awesome!

"You bastard! That's my Nomu! How dare you sully his artificial body with that disgusting quirk of yours! Get that sticky white stuff off of him!" Shigaraki complained, his other ally, Kurogiri, now by his side as well.

While still trying to keep his head in the game, the green haired boy almost chuckled at the villain's choice of words. He already knew without a doubt that Peter would've had a field day with that comment.

" Young Midoriya,"  All Might boomed in his heavy voice, instantly breaking the boy's thoughts.  "Be very wary of that man with the severed hands all over his body. Do not let him touch you, I suspect he has some sort of corrosion quirk. Understood?"

"Understood All Might! I'll keep my distance."

The symbol of peace nodded to the boy, smiling even more when he saw him jump up and out of the way of the fight.

Hmm, perhaps I was too hasty to judge him…

" Texas Smash!"  The oversized man cried out as he pushed his fist through the air. He would have all the time in the world to think about his conspiracies later. Right now, it was time to protect his students.

"Shigaraki-san! Get closer! I can-" Kurogiri began only to be silenced by a ball of webbing hitting his head.

"What!?" Shigaraki yelled in frustration as he looked up to where the boy had jumped. He seemed to still be in midair, as well as far away from the action, but that didn't necessarily mean he wouldn't help.

It was at this point that the hand themed villain finally got a good look at the boy, and not just his appearance either. No, the particular detail that had his attention right now was the action the boy displayed with his fingers in order to rain hell on them with his projectiles…

They are webs… They're coming from the devices on his wrist…

However, the evil doer's internal revelation was cut short by the massive gust of wind from the symbol of peace's attack pushing them off their feet and into the air.

"Gah! No! Do something Kurogiri!"

"Agh! I can't Shigaraki-san, the wind is too strong!"

Landing on his feet with a small thud, Izuku observed as the villains were blown away, finally letting his thoughts settle on the man who appeared to be their leader.

I know that's him, I will  never  forget that day…

But what did it mean? Why were these people here at U.A? The boy doubted that they were here for him, that would be way too much of a coincidence.

I should report to Aizawa-sensei that I know these guys… It's the right thing to do…

But wait, then that might lead into more questions about my powers…

" Young Midoriya! Watch out!"

"Huh!?" The green haired boy jolted as he broke from his thoughts to a loud familiar ringing in his head.

Turning just in time to widen his eyes in fear, the super powered teen gaped as a large, blue fist came crashing down on his midsection, sending him flying down the battlefield.

" NO!"  The number one hero screamed angrily, not hesitating to take off and meet the genetic creation blow for blow.

"Tch, I knew those crappy webs couldn't hold Nomu!" Shigaraki grumbled as he regained himself, getting to his feet much quicker than his purple shrouded partner.

This kid… Who is he… I must know…

Izuku winced as he skidded across the floor like a stone skipped across a river, his arms protecting him as much as possible.

Agh, my ribs!  The boy moaned inwardly, his body creaking even more every time he met the pavement. For a moment it almost felt like his momentum would never end, but soon a sweet release was presented to him in the form of the lake within the facility, but even that was short lived .

Before the super powered teen could land somewhat comfortably in the water, a purple mist appeared before him, swallowing him up.

He couldn't see much through the mist, and even when it cleared up to show his new location, Izuku's world was still spinning much too fast for his sight to be of any use.

Luckily, the green haired boy had one sense that never failed him.

Snapping his eyes open, Izuku jerked as his spider sense unthawed his fuzzy mind, waking him up like an alarm clock and hyper focusing his brain.

Ok, I'm still moving so my momentum hasn't stopped, the teleporter just changed my direction, noted. But where am I…

The words died in his mind before they had a chance to consider being uttered.

Now standing a good ten meters in front of him with a familiar terrifying smile, was the leader of the villain group, his arm outstretched with his hand wide open and ready to catch him.

Crap! There's not enough time! I can't change my direction!

"Yes! Come here you little sh-"

"Shigaraki-san! Lookout!"

Suddenly a pair of horns came soaring out of nowhere, lodging themselves right into the villain's arm with a concerning sound of tearing skin.

"Ahh! What on earth!?" Shigaraki screeched violently as he stared down at his wound. The pair of horns had almost made it cleanly through his wrist.

For a moment, the evildoer appeared to be considering whether or not to pull the horns from his damaged appendage, but something quickly derailed his train of thought.

"Hiya!" Kendo yelled from behind as she delivered a powerful slap with an enlarged hand. It seemed as though sending people flying with attacks was the common theme today, because pretty soon it was Shigaraki skidding across the pavement.

"I've gotcha Midoriya!" The orange haired girl focused quickly on her flying friend, not hesitating to enlarge her other hand and catch the boy as softly as she could.

Landing as softly as one could inside a giant pair of hands, the super powered teen did his best to grin. "Ugh, Kendo-san, that was amazing…" the boy groaned out through very visible pain.

The big fist user matched his smile, gently placing her friend onto his feet before assessing his many visible bruises.

"It's no problem Midoriya, I owe you for all those times you saved me. Are you ok?"

"Hehe, yeah, I'm fine," he said, attempting to straighten up before wincing in pain. "That huge monster definitely broke a few ribs though. Gonna feel that one in the morning."

Itsuka briefly wondered how the boy could crack a joke right now with the condition he was in, but put that thought aside when another voice captured her attention.

"Hey, uh, guys? Sorry to interrupt! But I can't keep this guy busy for long!" Pony shouted as she ran in their direction. Her horns were now growing back at a slower rate, and she appeared to have a good amount of cuts riddling her body as well . Holding off Kurogiri by herself, even for a moment, had definitely taken its toll.

"He's not a good opponent for her," Izuku observed. "He can just redirect her horns right back at her."

Well, is he a good opponent for anyone?   Is what Itsuka wanted to ask, instead she just took on a fighting stance and prepared herself. "Well, now he's up against all three of us. Let's see how good those odds are.

Despite how grim the current situation looked, Izuku couldn't help but smile at his friend as he too adopted a fighting stance. "Thanks again for saving me, both of you."

As the pair prepared themselves to fight alongside their classmate, Shigaraki could be seen a little ways away picking himself off the floor with muttered profanities.

"Agh! I hate these kids!" The villain leader cursed under his breath as he assessed the battlefield.

The three students who had gotten involved were all currently confronting Kurogiri, if you could even call it that. Running around and just barely avoiding him was a more accurate description. But that didn't matter as much to the deathly pale man.

No, what really concerned him was the fact that the fight between his Nomu and All-Might was now reaching its climax, and it was very clear the creature was on the losing end.

" I will not allow you all to harm any more of my students!"  The symbol of peace shouted, his anger boiling over into his punches causing his opponent to falter.

"No! NOMU!" Shigaraki screamed to no avail.

Even Kurogiri stopped his assault on the heroes in training to pay attention, his surprise shown on his face as well.

With everyone's attention on the conclusion of the battle , All Might didn't hesitate to end things quickly.

" We must go beyond!"  The number one hero bellowed, his punches speeding their pace and his teeth gritting.

Having already fallen off tempo from the barrage of attacks, Nomu could do nothing but stand there and endure the cluster of earth shaking punches from the symbol of peace.

Said symbol of peace noticed this and quickly realized that the creature's shock absorption was at its limit, granting him a clear path to wrap this fight up .

" PLUS ULTRA!"  He shouted out with more passion than ever, reaching back with his right fist and preparing a finishing blow.

All around the battlefield, pairs of eyes were glued to the action, and none were more curious as to how the fight would end than Izuku Midoriya.

The boy really did try to look away from the action, after all, he should have been focusing on the task at hand, which was evading Kurogiri. But even the purple shrouded villain was gawking at the scene before him.

That's why the super powered teen was somewhat confused when his spider sense began going off with a villain in plain sight…

Already knowing what he needed to do, Izuku took action, shoving a very distracted Pony away from him and tackling Itsuka who was a bit further away in the opposite direction.

All before an enormous glacier came crashing through the battlefield right where they all stood a moment ago .

After that, everything blurred together. With loud sounds beginning to blare all around, the boy's senses overloaded as his head began to throb.

Welp, I hope I pushed Tsunotori-san far enough away from the ice. At least Kendo-san is ok…

Feeling the girl shift around under him, Izuku let his eyelids fall heavy for a moment and just relaxed, his mind moving a mile a minute trying to distinguish all the sounds around him through his raging headache.

He could have sworn at one point that he heard the glass from the ceiling take a massive hit, along with chatter and some explosions signaling the arrival of other students.

"Where the heck are all the villains!" A revved up Bakugo demanded to no one in particular.

Fluttering his eyes open at the familiar voice, Izuku noticed a frazzled head or orange hair directing its attention toward him.

"Darn it, Midoriya! How do you keep doing that!? Are you ok? You don't look so good," Kendo spilled out rapidly.

"What, this? It's nothing, I'm fine," he said nonchalantly, though it came out as more of a groan. In reality, the green haired boy couldn't help but feel touched at the genuine concern she was showing as she looked around for any sort of help. The girl must have found what she was looking for, because her face soon lit up like a Christmas tree.

Ignoring his dismissal, Kendo didn't hesitate to take charge of the situation. "Oh look, there's Aizawa sensei with some of the others! Do you think you can stay here while I-"

" I AM HERE!"

Suddenly appearing before the pair with a proud pose, All Might's unexpected presence got a small squeak out of Itsuka, which Izuku would have found cute had he not been waiting for an update on the current situation.

"All Might, that huge villain… Is it-"

" Fear not young Midoriya, for I have dispatched the issue. What is it you kids say these days? I raised the roof on him!"

Both teenagers looked at each other blankly as a singular sweat drop formed on their foreheads…

It was only when the dust finally began to clear out that everyone was finally starting to become visible. Aizawa, along with a handful of students stood a good ways away, not appearing to have seen them yet. But that wasn't who the trio was focused on.

Instead they all looked forward about twenty meters to the two remaining villains as a purple shroud washed over them.

Kurogiri and Shigaraki stood perfectly still as they slowly sunk into the dark mist, only the ladder reaching out and pointing a finger directly at Izuku once they were almost out of sight.

"I know your secret…"

Chapter Text

" GAAAH !"

Kurogiri flinched as his colleague continued throwing a temper tantrum, making a mess all over their secret base.

"I can't believe this crap! That scrawny little kid in the alley that day got the spider! This isn't fair!" Shigaraki wailed, lashing out on another piece of furniture.

"Shigaraki-san, perhaps you should calm down for a mom-"

"Shut your trap, Kurogiri! You're the one who lost the stupid thing and stopped me from killing him that day! Do you see what you've caused!"

The purple shrouded being gulped and stepped back nervously as his pale boss approached. "Sh-Shigaraki-san, please forgive me, we can stop this, we can seek the boy out and end him!"

Walking up to his subordinate and closing the distance to corner him, the hand covered villain could only glare deeply. "Yeah? And then what? Master will be all over us if we act without his orders! And if we kill him, the spider really is gone and unusable…"

Noticing that his leader's eyes had glazed over as he broke eye contact, Kurogiri instantly knew what he was thinking before finishing the train of thought. "Right… If we keep him alive, then Master can take the quirk back! You're a genius Shigaraki-san!"

"Tsk, you idiot, I outta kill you for how stupid you are."

"Huh?"

Breaking away from the dark misted villain, Shigaraki stomped back towards the bar and found a seat that he hadn't corroded away. "Having Master take back the quirk is a last resort, and even then it might get us killed for insubordination…"

Feeling the tension in the pregnant pause, Kurogiri merely stayed silent and waited for his leader to finish.

"Don't think so small Kurogiri, if we find out more about that darn brat, maybe he can switch sides willingly…"

Widening his eyes, Kurogiri couldn't help a smile from forming as the puzzle pieces all fell together in his head. "And that way we can say our plan was to give it to him all along!"

Shigaraki smiled devilishly as his purple shrouded friend finally got the picture, it was a top notch idea after all.

"Looks like we're watching the sports festival this year Kurogiri."

Shota Aizawa definitely considered himself someone who very much paid attention to detail. Often finding himself in the background, he was no stranger to staying silent, but that wasn't always a bad thing. It allowed for more listening and observation, which in turn strengthened his senses and overall gut feeling. He always trusted his gut, logic would always fail eventually, the attack on USJ just yesterday was proof of that…

Which was the primary reason he was full of brooding concern as he walked through the halls of the school with one destination in mind; the principal's office.

The students were all safe and out of danger, so that wasn't an immediate concern. Sure, he was slightly ticked off due to the fact that he couldn't help All Might with the bulk of the fighting yesterday, but everything ended well , so he couldn't complain. The school had even canceled school today in order to appease parents and keep them calm, so everything was under control now.

Well, mostly under control.

I should have been there.

As Nezu's office came into view, Shota shook his head at the recollection of statements from multiple students who witnessed the main fight, or at least the end portions of it. In basically all of the statements, one name continued to come up.

Izuku Midoriya.

Stepping inside the spacious office. Aizawa resisted the urge to sigh as he took a seat in front of the principal and next to a very skinny looking All Might.

Why do I feel like I already know what this is about…

"Alright, let's get this over with," The underground hero began with a small yawn. "What's so important that we needed another one of these super secret meetings?"

"Do not take this so lightly Eraserhead, this is serious. I think my suspicions have been confirmed." All Might stated seriously, all but leering at the erasure user.

Aizawa noted that Nezu was staring forward silently with no reaction at all. "Just cut to the chase already, I get it. This is a big deal." The underground hero beckoned.

All Might stared for a bit longer before clearing his throat and continuing. "As I just told Nezu, I heard our mystery villain say something quite interesting to Young Midoriya just before he and the teleporter disappeared. Without hesitating for even a moment, he pointed at us and said word for word;  I know your secret ."

Silence hung in the air for a solid minute as the words sunk into the teacher. In fact, even Nezu seemed to be processing still, and he'd already heard the story once.

"Was anyone else there to witness this?" The small creature began, breaking the thick layered silence.

All Might didn't seem to appreciate his curiosity however . "Yes, another student, young Kendo, I believe. Is my word not enough, dear friend?"

Nezu kept his straight face and ignored the sarcastic bite from the number one hero, replying without an ounce of hesitation. "I see, this is most unfortunate. I do not wish to bring any suspicion to our theories by snooping around and asking another student. We will need to tread carefully here no matter what we decide to do."

Grunting slightly, All Might nodded, turning now to Aizawa who had yet to even react to the news shared over a minute ago.

"Well, this certainly got interesting…"

Turning his attention to the underground hero now as well , Nezu raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean Aizawa? You have something?"

Looking up from the floor for the first time. Aizawa let out a long sigh. "I agree All Might, that is indeed very concerning."

Feeling like someone was finally on his side, the symbol of peace burst into a wide grin as his fellow teacher continued.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not for the reason you think."

Looking even more confused now, All Might was about to open his mouth when Aizawa cut him off.

"You said he pointed at all of you, so yes, it's possible that he was pointing directly at Midoriya, and we should definitely be on high alert when it comes to him. But that isn't the only possibility. What if he was pointing at you, All Might?"

Nezu's eyes instantly widened, a rare show of emotion that was quickly swallowed up by pure indifference once again.

All Might on the other hand was gritting his teeth as if he was stumped on a frustrating riddle that he just couldn't find the answer to.

Regardless of their facial reactions, it was the principal who reacted verbally to the comment first. "I see, I had not considered this option. That would indeed be a terrifying scenario. I commend you Aizawa, it would be good to prepare for this as well ."

"Tch, thats… Thats impossible. No one knows my secret…" All Might choked out through gritted teeth.

"Except us..."

"Why, you!" All Might stood up, gritting his teeth even more.

"Relax, All Might." Aizawa paused, putting his hands up calmly in an attempt to mellow out the scrawny symbol of peace. "Like I said, it's not like we know for sure." Aizawa reminded the man, hoping to pacify his irritated state. "Your theory about Midoriya could still be true. If anything this just motivates me even more to keep my eyes on him. His actions yesterday proved at least that he's on our side firmly for now. But that can all change in an instant."

This seemed to stabilize the mood of the room momentarily, but not for long. Not if Nezu had anything to say about it.

"You're right Aizawa, about both points. In my opinion, both could be right, but both could also be very wrong. I've been holding back a very important piece of information that you both must hear."

Both men turned their full attention to the white furred creature, not daring to interrupt even once.

"This morning we found evidence that our security breach on Tuesday was more than just reporters… A class schedule was stolen. And they knew just where to look. It appears that we officially have a mole, whether we know who it is or not…"

All Might wasted no time in practically jumping up in place, taking the honors of speaking first. "There! That's proof! We need to find Midoriya and arrest him. I have a friend in the police who can get all the truth out of him in no time!"

Aizawa stood slowly from his seat as well, making heavy eye contact with the symbol of peace. "All Might, you need to calm down, stop acting like a child. We don't have all the facts yet. We need to- "

"Don't have all the facts!? Then let's interrogate him! Nezu just admitted that there's a mole! How can we not follow up on this information!?"

"While I agree with your urgency All Might, Aizawa is right, we can not make a rash decision. If the boy is guilty, then revealing that we know right away is not for the best."

All Might grunted to himself and turned away from the two men, running a frustrated hand through his wild blonde hair.

Aizawa on the other hand, kept his composure as he thought to himself, his eyes narrowing in suspicion more and more.

This doesn't make sense.

"Nezu, if I may, I believe that our best course of action is to just remain vigilant for right now. Something just isn't adding up."

Both Nezu and All Might now had their full attention on the tired looking teacher. Neither of them looked very agreeable at his suggestion.

"What do you mean Aizawa?" Nezu questioned. "While I agree that All Might's proposal is too rash, yours is on the opposite side . Could you be more clear?"

"It's just, think about it. This doesn't add up. Why would the villains go through all this trouble to plant a mole, only to give up his identity themselves?"

The principal merely nodded, appearing to have already considered this possibility. All Might on the other hand looked stunned, obviously showing that he hadn't thought about this as deeply as his other two colleagues.

"I want to keep this school safe as much as you two do, but we can't go around making too much noise about things like this. It has to be handled silently and discreetly, just like underground hero work."

After another few moments of silence, Nezu spoke. "Very well," He stated with a nod of approval. "Aizawa makes an incredible point. We will continue to stick to the shadows. Both of you will keep very close eyes on Midoriya. But no action will be taken without my knowing, is that understood?"

All Might knew Nezu was directing that last comment at him, and it aggravated him to no end. He knew that both men had valid opinions, but he just knew in his gut that something about Midoriya was fishy. One thing was certain , he would get his answers one way or another.

With a stiff nod, All Might rose and exited the room with a sharp slam of the door in his wake.

Leaving the remaining two heroes in a comfortable silence, Nezu couldn't keep his curiosity at bay.

"Aizawa, what is your true opinion of the boy, without any of this conspiracy?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Of course."

Taking one more deep breath, the tired man spoke. " I'll admit the kid has rubbed me the right way so far. He's strong but also modest, I'd even go as far as to call that modesty timidness sometimes. I don't know him very well yet, but he's easily one of my top students. And I would be lying if I told you that I want him to be the traitor, because I don't. Especially not after the guts he showed yesterday."

Nezu took a moment to dissect the information he was given, looking as though he was staring into the teacher's very soul.

Out of nowhere, though, a bright smile appeared on his small and furry face. "You are a good teacher Aizawa, I'm grateful to have you on my staff. You may take your leave now. Thank you for your time."

Nodding without another word, Eraserhead got up and walked out, leaving the principal alone with his thoughts.

My oh my, what are we going to do with you Izuku Midoriya. I hope your teacher is right about you…

Itsuka Kendo winced as she took a kick directly to her stomach, falling to a knee as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Hmm, I'm proud of you for wanting to train so fast after what happened yesterday Itsuka, but I'm shutting it down. Your mind is clearly elsewhere."

Wincing slightly as she attempted to stand back up, Itsuka responded defiantly. "No way Dad, I'm not done yet."

Needing no more convincing than his daughter slipping on her own sweat and falling back onto the mat, the man known as Itaru Kendo smiled as he finalized his decision. "Hah, yeah, you are through. I've never beaten you that easily in sparring. And we aren't even using our quirks. Wipe down the mats and hit the showers. I have another class to teach in half an hour."

Blowing hair out her face with a pouting huff, Itsuka sat up and watched her father walk away.

He's right? What's wrong with me?

The girl played dumb, but she knew exactly what was wrong. She wouldn't say it outright, but something about yesterday was really eating at her, Or better said,  someone.

She just couldn't help that Midoriya was such an intriguing person, and if she had a handful of questions for him before, well, let's just say that now that handful had turned into a truckload.

What was he thinking attacking the villains head on like that? He was usually so much smarter and careful about his decisions. And what about those creeps that attacked the school? Who were they? And why did they tell All Might they knew his secret, what was that about?

Ugh, this is so annoying. I'm gonna kill that kid when I see him tomorrow! Taking up all this space in my brain like this, I'll show you!

Wait a second, I'll show you…

All of the sudden , a lightbulb went off in the orange haired teen's head about something she had already mentioned to Izuku. Something that could give her the perfect excuse to talk to him!

Wow, I sound like some love sick teenager.

"Dad! Hold up!"

Turning around, the very muscular and orange haired man had his disciplined expression blank once again. "Yes dear ?"