Chapter 1: Trial and Error
Sweat poured down Izuku Midoriya's chin, as he crouched over trying to catch his breath. With the sun about to set, he knew his training for the day was about up.
"Not good enough," Izuku surmised as he stood tall again to regain his stance.
It had been nearly ten months since the incident with Kachaan in the classroom. With only a day to spare before the exam, he knew it was going to be a close call on whether or not he would get into UA.
Three cinder blocks stood on top of trashcans about 10 feet from Izuku in the alleyway. A little behind that stood an entire pile of charred and broken down cinder blocks.
"Two minutes, that's all I can do right now," he assessed as he began to charge at the targets.
With a small jump, a force from the base of Izuku's feet caused him to leap around 20 feet high. Now above the cans and with a loud outburst, he threw out a vicious punch that sent the two cans to each side flying towards each building and the middle one was completely crushed by the direct force of the boy's hand.
"Ughh, it's so hard trying to balance out the combination of these quirks," he complained as he assessed the damage of the cinder black he had incinerated. "I was just trying to give it a force push to compress it, not melt it."
Flashback
"Okay, okay, I'll be in room 3 shortly," the doctor assured the nurse as he hurried down the hallway. "Just make sure you have his x-ray scans in there."
"Yes sir," the nurse replied, holding a hand full of documents in her hand. The labels read "quirkless" and "dormant quirks" as some patients were filed in the former category, the others in the later.
As she quickly sorted through the files while going down the hallway, she suddenly fell to the floor, the files completely scattered. Looking up, it didn't appear as if anything caused her sudden collapse.
"You always fall for that," a male nurse laughed as he suddenly appeared in the spot that the woman fell at.
"Very funny Eric," the woman responded as she stood back up with a coy smile. "Just because you can disappear and reappear doesn't mean you can go using your quirk all the time."
"Yeah, yeah," the man quipped back as he looked the woman up and down. "So, uh are you coming to my party later?"
"Maybe, it depends if I get done with my shif-," her words went cut off by an amplified voice.
"Sharon, where are my scans for room 3," the doctor bellowed out from the end of the hallway.
"Coming right away sir," the woman replied as she hastily picked up the scans scattered along the floor to put back in the files.
"Here, let me help you," Eric offered, randomly putting exams in files. A scan that read "MIDORIYA, IZUKU" that was in a "dormant quirk" file mistaken got shuffled and swapped into a "quirkless" file as the young male nurse was more focused on trying to check up the curvy nurse that really help her. The damaged was done as the mistake wasn't cause by the nurse preoccupied with her own files.
"Sharon…my scans," the impatient doctor nagged with a heightened tone as the girl quickly rose to her feet, taking the files in Eric's hands as well.
"Thanks Eric, I really gotta go though," she stammered as she ran down the hallway. "Coming sir!"
Handing the file to the old doctor headed into room 3, the nurse quickly got out of sight as he took the scans of a "BAKIN, ISOBE" out of the "MIDORIYA, IZUKU" file unbeknownst to him.
"Finally," the glasses wearing doctor murmured to himself sliding the x-ray into the slot of the wall, illuminating the bones. Observing it closely for a second, the doctor slumped in his seat with an indifferent look on his face.
"Sorry, kid, it isn't going to happen," he voiced to the mother and the little green haired boy sitting on the exam table. "You see this is Izuku's pinky toe, and it's got two joints, not one. When quirks appeared in the world, scientists made the connection between a user's pinky toe and a quirk user. Most people with quirks have one joint in their toe, making them more streamline."
"Oh, I see," the mother responded sadly while patted young Izuku. "I'm sorry, Izuku."
Flash Forward to Present Day
"I have never forgotten that day that I was told I didn't have a quirk. After the presentation in our kindergarten class, I never really tried to summon my quirk, because of the results at the doctor's office. When I got to a fight with Kachaan at school, I told my mother what happened, and she was just as shocked as I was. Yet, she thought it was an aberration…told me not to get my hopes up. So, after staking up all my theories, I went back to the doctor's office…"
Looking at his phone, Izuku called it a day and headed back to his home. The sun set as the fatigued boy threw his backpack over his shoulders. Looking down at his hands again, he attempted to use his quirk, but as expected nothing happened.
"2 minutes, then I can't use it for 10 minutes," he concurred as he began to walk. "That's what he said. I definitely have a better control of my telekinesis side than my thermal manipulation side of things."
*begins to start muttering* With the telekinesis I can force push my body to jump, punch, and kick with great effectiveness albeit a time limit. However, with the thermal abilities I have, I can only slightly burn things or incinerate it completely. Is it because I have seen my mother use her quirk and I am around her, therefore I can summon that subconsciously better? If that was the case, should I just go watch someone like the number two hero Endeavor in action to get a better feel for my heat?
The boy jolted up from his rambling to see he had made it to his home. Taking a deep sigh, Izuku walked towards his front door. He had not told his mother about refinement of his quirk nor his results from the doctor's office that he had a dormant quirk that came to him around the age of 12.
He wanted to prove to her among others like Kachaan that he could become a hero. He wanted to tell her when he got the news that he had made it into UA, that way she could realize his dreams could become a reality.
Walking inside he headed to his room and closed his door. Tomorrow was the big day; he knew that better than anyone. He sat there reading the instructions of where to go for the written portion of the exam as his favorite clip of All-Might played in the background.
"I'm going to do it," he reassured himself. "I'm going to be just like All-Might. I've got to continue forward with a smile on my face no matter what."
With a big grin, Izuku let out a mighty All-Might laugh. Suddenly, he heard a light knock on his door.
"Izuku, honey," a soft spoken woman said from outside the door. "I know you have a big day tomorrow, so I just wanted to tell you good luck."
A slight silence occurred as the young boy's face changed from one of happiness to one that was perplexed. As he was trying to put his words together, so many emotions ran through his head.
"Thanks, mom," the boy blurted out in a late response as the shadow underneath the doorway disappeared.
Will it be enough? Will all my training and hard work with this newfound power be enough to show people I have what it takes? No matter what my doubts are, I have to give it my all tomorrow!
The following day: UA entrance exam
Holding his head high, Izuku Midoriya gazed at the school's front gate. It was everything the young man expected and more as he looked at the H shaped high school.
"This is it," he reassured himself taking steps towards the entrance. However, to his surprise he was shoved aside by a forceful shoulder check from behind.
"Get outta my way, nerd," Katsuki roared as he moved past Deku. The red eyed boy had the same fierce determination on his face as he always did. Izuku lowered his head as his confidence wavered a bit.
Although he had gotten a grasp on his quirk, he was no where on the level of Kachaan. He had an amazing ability and despite his hot headedness, he was far from just brute strength and no brains.
I am not defenseless. Yeah, right. I just caught him off guard. If he had known, he probably would've countered easily.
"Yeah, alright sorry Kachaan," Izuku replied as he watched his childhood friend nudge past some other UA hopefuls. "Wait, Kachaan! You're going to knock someone over being that rough!"
As soon as Izuku voiced that, he witnessed Kachaan pushing past a young girl who off balanced and not paying attention with her back turned to the bullying menace. The girl suddenly fell over face first, but as soon as she was about to hit the ground, Izuku had launched himself 20 feet forward in an instant to catch her.
"Oh, clumsy me, I must've not seen that boy come through," the young, brown eyed girl laughed as she was helped back to her feet by Izuku. She was a rather cheerful, lively girl to Izuku as he was more so staring than responding to her.
"Thanks so much, I'm Ochaco Uraraka," she interjected as she flashed at bright smile at Izuku. "Anyways, we should probably get going! Good luck in there!"
As the girl left with a joyful smile, the young boy's face grew ever so red.
HOLY CRAP I JUST TALKED TO A GIRL
Finally, sitting down at his seat in the auditorium, he looked to his right and there was Kachaan ever so menacing. He never understood why their friendship turned into such a, well not a friendship, but he had always admired Kachaan's tenacity.
The lights hit the stage and an extreme fauxhawked, glasses wearing man came out. With a big speaker fixture wrapped around his neck, it had to be no other than the Pro Hero, Present Mic.
"GOODDDDMORRINNGGG UA HOPEFULS," Present Mic blared into the crowd full of absent minded students. "LETS HERE HOW PUMPED YOU CAN GET!"
To his surprise everyone was rather quiet; he even thought he could hear crickets chirping.
"No callers in today, huh," he injected with indifference as he continued on with his rehearsed speech. "Well gather around listeners, I've got free VIP tickets to this year's UA freshman hero course!"
"Oh my gosh, it's really him," Izuku squealed from his seat trying to contain his excitement. "I listen to his talk show on the radio every week! I can't believe they really have pro heroes here at UA! I wonder if All-"
"Shut the hell up you damn nerd," Katsuki threatened as he shot a death stare at Deku.
As Izuku refocused his face to contain the inner fan boy he had, the Pro hero on the stage continued talking.
"ALL you got to do to earn your tickets is to call in to your designated district and take out some big bad machines," Present Mic shouted as he pointed to the projection screen that showed the point values for the machines.
It showed the point scale of 1, 2, and 3 for machines scaling from smallest to biggest. However the biggest one had a point total of 0.
Izuku looked down at his assigned district which read 2 then over at Kachaan's. The boy's face lit up with shock as he was stunned to see the same number assigned to his childhood friend.
"Yes, I'm going to crush you DEKU," Katsuki boasted with a devilish grin. "I hope you got a good look at the campus because it'll be the last time you'll see it."
Izuku put his head down again to show submission yet to Kachaan. Deep down he knew he didn't stand a chance. But then that same spark that hit him when he confronted Kachaan ten months ago ignited yet again. Putting his head up with as fierce of a look as possible and with his fists clinched, Izuku looked right back at Kachaan.
"No, Kachaan, I actually like it here," he chimed back. "I have what it takes to be a hero, and I'll do whatever it takes it get in!"
Katsuki showed a look of shock, only for a millisecond, before switching to his fierce, fiery personality yet again. "Who the hell do you think you are, you little insect! YA BASTARD I'LL KI-"
"Excuse me with the ruckus up there, but some of us are actually trying to pay attention," a young student wearing glasses lectured as he robotically waved his arms at the two that were causing a scene. "Now if you two don't mind, I'd like to hear what our speaker at this fine academy has to say for the rest of our practical exam. Sorry sir, please continue."
With the eyes of the whole crowd on the two boys, Izuku slunk back down in his seat, while Katsuki couldn't have more opposite meeting everyone's glaze eye to eye.
"IF YOU WANT A SHOW, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE," Katsuki roared as he got his palms open and ready to cause trouble.
"QUIETTTT DOWNNN LISTENER," Present Mic screeched causing the young man to slam back in his seat due to the amplified voice. "Sorry, unfortunately we're not taking callers right now! Anymore trouble and I may have to block ya!"
With Katsuki gritting his teeth, he slumped back in his chair knowing the ramifications to go head on with a pro in this atmosphere. For now, he'll have to play by the rules to get in.
"As I was saying, take down these big bad villains and you'll rack up a huge high score," Present Mic shouted point to the projection once again. "Callers on the top of the charts will get a VIP pass to UA high to go right to the hero course! Oh, I'd avoid that huge 0 point sucker; it's just a one hit wonder with no value! Now if you're ready to go, meet me outside. LET'S GET ONE MORE, GO BEYOND!"
"PLUSSSSS ULTRA," the sea of students finally roared with some enthusiasm.
As the students filed out, Izuku made his way to his designated district assignment. Looking up, it was rather massive for just a practical exam. But then again this is UA, the nation's top hero training academy so it did make sense.
Scanning around, the young man looked a little nervous at all the applicants that looked confident warming up, some even had gear to go along with their quirks.
Two minutes. That's all I can use. If the exam is 10 minutes will it be enough to get me in? Should I use it at the start? Or rather towards the end when everyone will be fatigued? What if Kachaan just tries to make sure I don't get any?
"Deku, I don't know why you even showed up, but I guess you're going to have a front row seat to watch my path in becoming the greatest all time. Just stay out of my way or else."
"But Present Mic said we can't attack other applicants," Izuku rebuttled trying to hide the fear on his face.
"BEGGGGAAAANNNN"
The two looked up at Present Mic who was standing on a tower giving a waving signal to begin. "There are no countdowns to a real battle! GO GO GO!
Immediately the students surged towards the city, Katsuki and Izuku trailed just a bit behind. I can do this, this is why I am here. To prove that I belong!
The first robot appeared in front of the two boys, but as soon as Izuku could react, Katsuki exploded his way forward.
Izuku put his hand up to cover his eyes as the smoke from Katsuki's hands had covered the area around him.
"I told you to stay away from me, you loser," Katsuki roared as he fired several explosions at the robot's body causing the head to fly off high above the two.
"Kachaan, I wasn't in the way," Izuku shot back as he began to stand his ground.
"DEKUUUU!"
"NO, KACHAAN, like it or not, I'm going to be here!"
"NO YOU DAMN NERD, WATCH OUT!"
"Huh," Izuku questioned as he saw Kachaan not shouting because he was angry, but more because he was warning him. However, by the time Izuku had looked up, it was already too late.
The head of the robot was falling at a rapid pace and before Izuku could ready his quirk, the boy dodge to his left but was still hit by the machinery.
Really? After all that training? Everything I did, was it all for nothing? It can't end like this.
Feeling woozy, he tried to stay upright, but his legs began giving out on him, the world around him was spinning and all he could see was Kachaan shaking his head.
"That loser, same old defenseless Izuku," Katsuki scoffed at the unconscious kid on the ground before taking off to take on other foes.
Sounds of quirks going off left and right entered the ears of the green haired boy still on the ground. Above all of that, he could here Kachaan's voice and quirk the loudest.
"THAT MAKES 77 POINTS FOR ME, SERIOUSLY ARE ANY OF YOU LOSERS ACTUALLY TRYING," Kachaan bellowed exploding another 3 points for the exam.
"Hey, take it easy dude," one student said trying to reason with Katsuki.
"Yeah, leave some for us," another girl cried out trying to obtain some points for herself.
As Izuku sat up, his vision became clearer and clearer. He rubbed his head and gazed around at all the destruction around him. Numerous robots scattered across the ground broken and destroyed. Looking up, he saw Kachaan with a maniacal look on his face with countless machines around him destroyed with smoke coming from them. What raw power.
WAIT! How long was I out?! Is there enough time to get any points?! What if Kachaan destroyed all the machines?! I'm going to fail!
"TWO MINUTES LEFT"
Izuku rose up as he looked at Present Mic who bellowed that down from above. As he assessed his surroundings, he saw buildings behind Kachaan and the others begin to crumble from above.
A zero painting covered the arms of a monstrosity of a robot towering over some of the largest buildings in city. Students began running away as Izuku looked at it with awe.
Holy crap, that thing is huge! Too bad it doesn't give out any points, I should go find some other enemies, I have enough time to use my quirk.
As soon as he gathered a game plan, he watched as Kachaan was shoving people aside to get towards the zero pointer, but was surprisingly shoved down by a steel quirk user.
"WATCH IT, YOU COWARD," Katsuki hissed turning his attention towards the steel student rather than the huge monster. As he was preoccupied with getting revenge the zero pointer lunge a huge attack at Katsuki.
Izuku seeing all of this knew that Kachaan would be crushed if it made impact, so without thinking, he raced towards the machine, and used the force in his legs to shoot up towards its face.
With one powerful punch, Izuku launched the behemoth back, crushing its head. The robot fell back into the ground as the boy realized he jumped higher than he anticipated.
Oh, crap, I wasn't thinking! What do I do? What do I do? Think!
Izuku was now free falling towards the ground, but remained calm. "I still have time," he assessed. Quickly, the boy scanned to see a busted seat from a destroyed car from below.
With one quick motion from his arm, the seat flew towards the place that Izuku was going to land. With another quick motion from both of his fists, he hurled two punches threw the air, which created a deep impact on both sides of the ground beside the seat, but reduced his speed greatly. And finally, the boy landed on the seat, unharmed.
"Safety first, huh," he laughed as he got up to run towards Kachaan. "Hey, Kachaan are you okay? I couldn't just watch that thing crush you."
"I didn't need your help you moron," Kachaan bellowed, clearly enraged. "How the hell did you do that?! What the heck do you do to yourself?! I'll kill you, you bastard! You don't get to look down on me!"
"Ka-Kachaan, stop I've got to get points before it's too late," Izuku cried out as he ran, desperately trying to find a robot with point value.
A two point robot appeared in the distance, and immediately Izuku lunged as it with the force energy in his legs. Now at the base of it, the young man put out his hands, and the thermal energy from his fingertips melted the body.
"Again," Izuku sighed as he looked down at the destroyed machine. "I was just trying to malfunction the wiring.
Katsuki looked on in shock. He couldn't believe the same defenseless kid that was knocked out took out a monstrosity of a machine and melted a two pointer like it was nothing.
"Have you been lying to me for years," he screamed out at Izuku. "Where did you get this quirk?!"
Before Izuku could turn to the boy and respond, that same, familiar voice shouted from the tower.
"TIMES UP, THAT'S A WRAP!"
Kachaan was not the least bit interested in what the Pro Hero shouted and immediately grabbed Izuku by the shirt.
"Let's see that power of yours, huh you little nerd," he said as he set off explosions in his hands.
"I can't use it Kachaan, let go" Izuku replied back wincing in pain of the mental strain Kachaan was putting on him.
With this information, Katsuki threw Izuku to the ground. He wanted to hear Izuku elaborate on why he couldn't fight him at that moment. But before he could, a screech sent the boy flying into a building.
"TIMES UP, DIDN'T YA HEAR, KID! Thanks listeners for coming out!"
Izuku sat there defeated. He didn't get anything but two lousy points. Not only did Kachaan want to kill him even more now, he wouldn't be able to get into UA. His dreams were crushed, and he let himself down as well as his family.
A week had past since the entrance exam and Izuku was zoned out at the table. His mother looked at him knowing exactly what was on her son's mind.
"Izuku, dear," Inko pleaded. "You need to eat, maybe you'll feel better."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right mom," he replied halfheartedly look at the fish on his plate.
As he sat on the couch, he wondered what he would do once he got the results. He thought of the other high schools he could get into like Shiketsu. Maybe he'll just go for the general course and try to get in that way.
Maybe I should tell mom about my quirk if I don't get in. I'm sure she won't like it that I have dad's quirk too. But, what else should I do? I know that I did well enough on the written portion. Regardless, two points won't get me in, I know that better than anyone.
"Izuku! Your results are in," Inko exclaimed as she held an envelope in her hands. Izuku looked back with a somber look knowing it was going to be bad news. "I want you to know I'm proud of you for seeing it through, son."
He nodded and gave a slight smile before taking the letter into his room. With his mom pacing outside of his room, Izuku stared at it as if it was just going to open itself.
"Well I suppose let's get this over with," he sighed as he ripped up the envelope. But to his surprise, it was a round metal disk that shot out of the envelope.
"I AM HERE….AS A PROJECTION!"
Izuku stood in shock and awe as his favorite hero was in front of him albeit a projection, but nonetheless in front of him. "I-it's really him! All-Might! The symbol of peace! But why is he giving out a UA message?!"
"Hello young Izuku Midoriya! It is I, All Might here to give you your results of the UA entrance exam!"
HOLY CRAP HE SAID MY NAME
"This year is special because I am proud to announce I will be teaching at my Alma Mater as a battle hero course instructor!"
Great, my all time favorite hero is teaching at this school and I failed. This world really isn't fair.
"Young Midoriya, you passed the written exam with flying colors, but unfortunately you only got a couple of points on the practical, so you failed if it was only combat points."
I know that, better than anyone. Wait, did he say only if there were combat points?!
"However, we have a secret panel of judges that award rescue points! For the effort of saving Young Katsuki Bakugo, we awarded you with 60 rescue points! Putting you with the grand total of 62 points!"
Was he just hearing things? Did All-Might himself just tell him that he saved someone? With all the hard work, dedication, and effort, was he about to hear good news?
"I mean what kind of Hero Course would we be if we turned down someone who laid there life on the line to save someone? Isn't saving someone what a hero is all about?"
Izuku's eyes began to water as he could not contain the overwhelming emotion that was overcoming him.
"Young Izuku Midoriya, you have passed," All-Might said with heroic grin. "Welcome, to UA, this is now your hero academia! You too can become a hero!"
It's been a long road, but I needed to hear that. I needed to hear those words from someone other than myself and now; I'll be going to the greatest hero High school in the world with my favorite all-time hero as my teacher!
A/N: YAY! Finally completed Chapter One! Sorry if it seemed a bit over the place at the beginning but I wanted to shred light sooner rather than later on Izuku's quirk and why/how he got it. I realize the trial and error part and the explanation of the quirk seemed a bit short, but it's just force telekinesis and thermal manipulation. I plan on fleshing out the specifics of the quirk as the chapters go on. I do appreciate the comments and hope it can live up to its potential because I do have great plot points I want to cover in this long fan fic such as One for All successor, Izuku's father, and the aforementioned "ISOBE BAKIN"!
Please let me know if there's anything that needs to be addressed! Next chapter will definitely be out within a week (I'll try to do weekly updates). Thank you so much for reading and please, please review! It really helps!