5 months before the entrance exam…

Izuku looked at the calming waves as he worked on cleaning the beach, his muscles ached slightly and his body was glistening with sweat, but this became an ordinary feeling, so it didn't really bother him. He listened to some music that Kyoka recommended as he worked, using earphones connected to his phone which was in his shorts' pocket. 'Gorillaz', he remembered. As of now, he hadn't really listened to many of the newly discovered band's songs, only listening to their newest album. There was one song that stuck to him though. It was called 'Humility' if he remembered correctly. whenever he listened to the song, it hit close to the heart, he didn't know what it was, but the vocals; the lyrics; the emotions the singer portrayed in the song, it led Izuku to somewhat understand the singer's intention with the song. An upbeat and catchy song, with a sad and almost depressing theme. It made him think of his current situation and everything that has happened in the past 5 months, him calling out from isolation, and actually receiving something from the call, but he felt…odd about it. The song abruptly stopped soon enough though, an alarm now playing loudly into the green-haired boys' ear, alerting him that it was time for a quick lunch break.

"You know, I feel like I'm a really lucky person." Izuku said as he sat down on rusty a chair, taking a bite of his mother's dietary cooking. "Like, seriously. My past childhood friend came back out of the woodworks, not only accepting me as her friend again after what had happened between us but for some reason, she also helps me out in my dream of getting into U.A with this plan that All Might made." He chuckled a bit at this. "And speaking of, All Might himself is helping me out too, as I already said, he made this amazing plan so that I could not only get into U.A but inherit his quirk! Isn't that just so lucky of me!?" The boy said with excitement, you'd think he'd be happy that his best friend and number one idol were helping him accomplish his dream, which wasn't really a dream anymore, as he could very well reach it, if he worked harder, harder than anyone else. "I should be happy, right?" He asked, his voice straining. "Then, Why? Why do I feel like I don't deserve this; Why do I feel empty, like a nobody?" His voice was strained, a single tear rolled down his cheek.

The practice dummy in front of him stayed silent, staring at the boy with emotionless eyes it didn't even have. It judged him, it told him the things he didn't want to hear, yet the things he thought he needed to, it told him the harsh reality of this world. 'You are still weak, you must work harder if you want to get anywhere, you have to surpass yourself if you want to be somebody again.'

"I know, I know!" Izuku told the wooden figure in front of him. "And that's why I am!" The boy took out a small notebook from the bag he had brought from home and opened it up in front of the dummy. "See? I've added more to the plan All Might gave me, so I am slowly working harder than everyone else!"

The dummy once again said nothing, it still held the exact same stare towards the green-haired boy. 'You think this is enough? You can add more; You have to add more.'

"Should I?" He asked the emotionless dummy in front of him. "I don't know, it could do more harm than good if I keep adding stuff in here, I mean I already added extra hours of workout training."

'It's never a bad thing to work harder. If you do work harder, you can become somebody again.' The dummy told him.

Izuku sighed in frustration, yet he smiled towards the wooden object. "I guess you're right, it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more."

"Young Midoriya! What are you doing here so early?" A heroic voice called out from behind Izuku. "I thought I had set up the American dream plan for you to wake up an hour from now."

Izuku quickly hid the notebook into the backpack, to then quickly look back at the hero. "A-All Might, good morning!" The boy greeted, trying to hide his nervousness. "I-I just woke up a bit earlier than usual, and I couldn't go back to sleep. So, I thought why not come a bit early, you know?" He hastily explained.

"I see, that's alright then. Just try to not let this become a habit, it could heavily affect you negatively if this happens constantly." The hero explained his part.

"Yea, it won't happen again."

"Well, since you are here early, let's do some stretching to pass the time." The hero suggested as he squatted down.

"Right!" Izuku said with a bright smile on his face.

Oh, how Izuku hated lying…

XXXXX

4 months before the entrance exam…

Izuku looked at the calming waves as he worked on cleaning the beach, his muscles ached a lot and his body glistened with heavy sweat, a sensation that only worsened by the day, he let it worsen, as proof of his hard work. It made him feel like he was slowly becoming somebody. He once again he listened to some music Kyoka recommended him. This was a different artist though, 'Joji' was the guys' name. Compared to the Gorillaz, Joji had a more low-fi/hip-hop style, with straightforward vocals that somehow held deeper meanings and a coarser tone, which wasn't really a bad thing in this case. The song that played now was called 'Yea, Right'. This song's lyrics hit hard, it almost felt like a personal attack on him, yet he still loved it. Once again, he felt a connection with the singer, a man that didn't seem to care anymore about the consequences, reaching a point of self-hatred, that just got worse the more he spent time at what was presumably a club. Izuku loved/hated how the song made him feel…

It reminded Izuku of his childhood friend, in the worst way possible. "Yeah, you bet I know that she ain't never give a single fuck about me. Yeah, you bet she know that we ain't never gonna be together, I see. Yeah, you bet I go to see you when I'm feeling like a drum without a beat." The boy sang the lyrics, a tear rolling down his eye.

'What does she really think about you?' The dummy asked the boy. It's emotionless gaze staring into Izuku's eyes. 'Does she really enjoy her time with you?' The voice was getting louder, a sense of desperation with it. 'Do you think she's just using you as a means to an end?'

Izuku put his hands over his ears, trying to stifle the echoing voice inside his head. Of course, it didn't work. He looked up at the wooden object, seeing its emotionless eyes once again. "No, she won't do that to me, would she?" He asked the object. "I mean, what would she get out of that? I'm a nobody." He asked once again, only to be met with a surprising silence. "Yea, that's right. She can't be using me, I am not worth anything, so I'd be pointless."

'She's using you to get to All Might.' The dummy finally spoke. It was a short statement, yet it opened up so many doors of irrational thought for the poor boy.

"All Might?" The boy asked, but he was met with silence once again. "I mean still, like she can't get too much out of it, sure he's a good mentor and can help her a bit along the way, but she can get into U.A herself without much problem…" He rambled on until he heard footsteps approaching from behind him. Before he could really react in any way, he felt a small, yet sharp pain on the back of his neck. Izuku fell forward, knocking the wooden dummy down with him. With a groan he stood up and looked behind him, only to see that Kyoka was standing above him, giggling by herself. Well, now he knew who was the culprit for this incident.

"Hey, nerd." Kyoka greeted in her usual snarky way. "Saw you mumbling again, so I just had to take the opportunity." She told the boy, who glared at her with no real malice.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Izuku said, sarcasm in his voice. "One of these days you are gonna give me a heart attack with one of your little pranks."

"Eh, it won't happen, so I think I'll keep at it." She laughed with a snort.

"Ugh, I hate you." Izuku pouted, causing Kyoka to laugh even harder.

"No, you don't, you wove me." She said in a cutesy voice, wrapping her arm around the boy and head locking him.

"Oh, c'mon Kyoka, let go of me!" Izuku said as he lightly struggled.

"Aww, is the wittle boy having some trouble?" She grinned.

Izuku saw an opening in her attack, he deviously smiled. "No, I think I'm good." Immediately as he said that he put a foot behind her own and made her tumble backward onto her bottom, dragging Izuku along with her.

Kyoka let out a small yelp, being caught by surprise. Thanks to this, Izuku was able to get out of her headlock and put her on his own while on the floor. "Oh, c'mon no fair!" The purple-haired girl said as she tried to release herself from the green-haired boy's grip. After a few more attempts, she seemed to have given up. "Alright alright nerd, I get it, you win this time, can you let me go now?" She asked in defeat.

"Ha, I got you this time!" Izuku excitedly said as he released his friend from her temporary prison. This proved to be a huge mistake, as soon as she got a chance, she lunged at him once more and tried to trap him again. "You cheat!"

A few minutes passed by of the two wrestling on the sand. They stopped as soon as they heard some awkward coughing behind them.

"You two having fun over here?" A skeleton of a man asked them.

"A-All Might !?" Both teens yelled out in unison. They separated from each other in an embarrassing fashion and stood up in an almost soldier-like position, all stiff and still.

"Right, now that's dealt with, it's time to get to work!" The hero said as he transformed.

"Right!" Both teens said in unison once again, blushes covering their faces.

As they started their daily training, Izuku's mind wandered back to the same negative spot from before.

Was Kyoka really using him…?

XXXXX

AN: Hello there everyone! Hope you like this new chapter!

I know it's a bit short, but I didn't think it fit with the rest I have written today, so I decided to split it into 2 chapters. The remaining will be released a few days after this one comes up.

So, Old Herobrine very smartly pointed out that there wasn't much context to Izuku's outburst in the last chapter, to which I agree. I was planning on doing the outburst first and then the context, which is what the next couple chapters are gonna be. So hopefully I didn't leave many of you confused at the sudden change in Izuku's attitude.

I was also wondering if I have any artists reading this story, as I would love it if someone could make an original cover image for this story. If you are interested, please PM me so we could plan something out.

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, until next time!