A generation ago, the ninth hero of a great legacy felled the most powerful villain in history. His unique nature allowed him to utilize the full power of his quirk so that he could even use the powers of those that came before him. The villain would rise no more, and he stood among the ruined landscape, proud and victorious. However, the fight left his body scarred and dysfunctional. The people honored his exploits and for a time, he held the position as the global number one hero. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the people to quickly forget his deeds as the world moved on. Professional Heroism remained a top career choice, but he quickly became old news as younger villains began to rise up in place of the cataclysmic evil. His heart, saddened, relegated himself to his retirement and his existence once again declined to obscurity. They wanted to discard him when he was a child; now when he could no longer be of use to society at large, they once again cast him aside and his heroic deeds became myths and stories like the Greeks of old. After all, who cared for the the greatest hero that ever would be: Deku? What would become of him now that society forgot him?
Ochako couldn't believe it! She was going to UA! She had worked so hard to train her quirk as much as she could so that she could be ready for the entrance exam. All the best heroes attended there. Even her favorite, Thirteen, graduated from UA. Ochako looked herself up and down. How did a girl like her get so lucky? No, not luck. She worked hard for this. For her family. Her parents. She would give them an easy life.
She marched forward, ever hopeful, wondering just who she was gonna meet. Wandering through the halls of the prestigious school, she asked many questions to herself. What would she learn? Were there any secrets meant for heroes alone? Who would be her homeroom teacher? Is Midnight really a huge pervert? Her thoughts were interrupted when she came upon the door of class 1-A. Her class.
Breath in, breath out.
She opened the large door and was greeted with an energetic sight. Students were clamoring all over the place talking, squealing, and yelling over each other. None could escape their obvious excitement about attending UA. One interaction in particular caught her eye. A tall boy with glasses was practically yelling at another boy because his feet were on the desk. She noticed many different kinds of individuals. There was a boy with heterochromatic hair and eyes, a giant of a dude with multiple arms, a girl with pink skin, a girl with no skin? Oh wait, she's just invisible.
"If you're here just to stand around hoping to make friends, you should leave now."
The sudden voice made her jump. She turned around to find a hobo? What? He stood up and said something about a test? A test?! Already?!
The students stood outside at a field. Aren't they going to miss all the introduction ceremony of the school year? The teacher explained that he was free to teach as he pleases.
"I am going to test you on your current standing with your quirk use and physical limits. My coworker is running late so we might have to rush some-"
"Wait! I'm here, Aizawa!" The students all turned to the source of the voice. A deep, but smooth voice. The new teacher had green hair and eyes. He wore a simple attire consisting of a button-down shirt, a pair of black slacks, a red tie, red high tops, and glasses. His cheeks had four freckles each, and scars littered his body. Otherwise, he was very plain looking. The students each had various thoughts about this new teacher. He sported an easy smile, yet he looked very tired. Not physically tired, like his so obviously sleep-deprived colleague, but internally. His eyes looked like they should be wide with curiosity and wonder. They were not. He looked like he had seen and done too much. One final note on the teacher was that he had quite the body. His body was not merely defined, it was built. Surely, he was cut underneath his formal wear. "Sorry I'm late. I had almost forgotten some important documents. Thought they would help with the examination."
"You should have taken care of it beforehand. I swear, no matter how much I try to tell you, you never do things rationally." Aizawa turned to his class. "Everyone. This is your Foundational Hero Studies Teacher, Izuku Midoriya."
"Hello everyone. I hope I can help you on your journey to become great heroes."
"Midoriya will be helping me gauge you during the exam. He has a good eye for these kinds of things. Let's get started. Bakugo, you got first in the entrance exam. What was the farthest you could throw a baseball?"
"Sixty-seven meters."
"Impressive. Without the use of a quirk, you yourself must be quite strong. I'm excited to see what your's and your classmates capabilities are." Aizawa threw a ball to Bakugo. Midoriya continued his instruction. "Step into the circle and throw the ball. You are free to use your quirk and anything is permitted provided you stay within the circle."
"Heh, prepare to get blown away, old man!" Bakugo stepped into the circle and prepared himself. "Die!"
The ball went flying out of sight. The other students were taken aback by how powerful the explosion from Bakugo was. One thought rang in all their heads: 'was the yelling really necessary?' Aizawa showed his score to be over seven hundred meters.
"This test will be used to gauge where you're at in terms of physical capabilities. Give it everything you got."
Some of the students were getting pumped.
"This looks like fun!"
"We get to use our quirks? Awesome!"
"I can't wait to show off!"
Izuku turned towards his friend. He had that look in his eyes. Izuku inwardly cringed. He figured Aizawa might do something like this.
"This looks fun, ey? Let me tell you something. Being a hero isn't fun and games, and UA isn't going to let you slack around. Here's the deal, the person with the lowest score is immediately expelled. How's that for fun?"
The students were all shaken. He couldn't do that! Except he could. With no more complaining, the class began their tests. Every student performed to the best they could, or thought they could. Meanwhile, Izuku was taking meticulous notes on every student. He saw great potential in every single of them. His small smile never faded. He was intrigued with the many quirks and how each individual student utilized them for the task at hand. He was especially impressed with Momo Yaoyorozu. Though she wasn't the physically strongest or fastest, her quirk allowed her to keep up and even surpass those who were born to excel at a specific task. He imagined it took a lot of mental power from her which only impressed him even more. Pretty soon it was time for the final test. The ball toss. One by one the student went. He chuckled to himself when Ochako Uraraka didn't throw with all her might, rather, she just tossed it and let her quirk do the work. He thought about his childhood and how he absolutely would not have been able to stand with these guys when he was in-training. Kids these days are pretty cool. The last student to go was Itsuka Kendo. Her big fists gave the ball an impressive distance. Finally, the tests were done.
"With Kendo's toss completed, Midoriya and I will now take your scores into consideration. Feel free to take this time to catch your breath."
Most of the students let go of a collectively held sigh. Mina Ashido tried to get the girls together. They all gathered and sat together.
"So ladies, think we all made it? You guys seem pretty cool. Especially you with that creation quirk."
"Thank you. It takes quite a bit of practice to ensure that what I make is properly done. All of you have done admirably."
"You think so? I don't know about myself. I've always wanted to be seen and get myself out there, but I can't compete with you guys!" The invisible girl voiced her concerns. The other girls gave her sympathetic looks. "I probably did the worst out of everyone. I mean, come one. I'm just invisible. Basically everyone else is able to defy physics and the natural law."
"I wouldn't count you out just yet." The new voice startled the girls. They looked up to see Mr. Midoriya looking down at them with that same easy smile. "Sorry for startling you all. I don't mean to intrude but I couldn't help over hear what you had to say about yourself."
"Am I going to be expelled, Midoriya-Sensei?"
"Hm, well I don't think I'm allowed to divulge Aizawa's plans, but I can say is that you have more potential than you are giving yourself credit for. Everyone did quite well. I have to get back to Aizawa for final decisions. Have faith, girls."
The teacher left without another word. The seven girls said bye to who would hopefully be their teacher should they pass the test. All except a few were truly worried about expulsion. The girls watched him return to Aizawa. The two spoke a bit more.
"Anyone else think he's kinda hot?"
"Ashido! We shouldn't speak crudely about our teachers!" Yaoyorozu quickly admonished her classmate. "We should speak respectfully towards our teachers. Midoriya-Sensei is a respectable man and we should speak of him as such."
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Come on, it's not like he can hear us from over there." The other girls were taken aback by Ashido's brazenness. "I mean look at him. He's built like a truck. I can't be the only one, right?"
"Well, I guess he is really nice. He did say I have potential. But did you see his scars?" Hagakure started to put in her two cents. "His skin looked really messed up around his neck and chin. I think he might have been through a lot of fights."
"You think he's a pro hero, too?" Uraraka had also been thinking about the verdant-haired man. There was just something about him that made her think. "I mean, most if not the entire staff at UA are pros. I don't recognize him as any I've heard of. Then again, I never really researched about heroes growing up. Any of you guys recognize him?"
The other girls contemplated and thought to themselves. Kendo spoke up.
"Now that I think about it, he reminds of a story my parents used to tell me growing up."
"A story? Was it like one of those 'don't go to the woods at night' stories, or was it more of a 'god strikes down the evil one'?"
"More like the second one. See, my parents own a dojo. I've been practicing martial arts ever since I was a kid. There were a lot of times I wanted to give up because it was just so hard. So one day, I really wanted to give up. I wanted to throw in the towel so bad. I couldn't get the form right, my punches and kicks were sloppy, and I was just as bad as could be. My dad, he pulled me aside and tried talking to me, tried to hype me up like he used to. He couldn't, try as he might. So that night, my mom came into my room, and she had a small binder with her. Said it was given to her by an old friend. She looked inside it for a while then hands it to my dad. She told me about a hero when she was a teenager. They say every generation has its hero. For example, a long time ago, there was this guy named All Might. He was known as the most powerful hero to ever come out of Japan."
"I remember hearing about him! I heard he could change the weather with a single punch. And he could leap over the tallest building in a single jump," Uraraka exclaimed. She was happy to know a little bit about the history of heroes.
"Yeah. But that was a long time ago, before my parents were even old enough to hear about him. My mom told me, that when she was a kid, there was a hero like no other. He too could punch so hard to change the weather and things like that. What she told me was that this guy was the top of the top. He could beat the bad guys in a single move. A hero of green so strong that the greatest villain ever seen was defeated by him. This villain had a power that let him steal quirks from people and use it for his purposes. But this green hero, he didn't give up. He was beaten, bruised, cut up and just straight up wrecked. I mean, it was miracle this guy could still stand."
Unbeknownst to the girls, and the boys who began to listen in on Kendo's story, Midoriya's right arm started to fidget. His muscles tensed and untested rapidly. Aizawa swiftly laid a hand on his shoulder. He spoke softly to the other man, quiet enough to not be heard by the students.
"Defiantly, he stood against this great calamity and refused to die. She said that even though the fight was tough, he didn't give up. He wouldn't bow down because a hero never gives up. He faced the villain down and used all his might and smashed the villain. She told me that he embodied the spirit of a hero that day. He went beyond, plus ultra." The other student snickered at her little joke, yet they were still in awe of the tale. "My mom said the green hero defeated the greatest evil in history but at a great cost. She said that, somehow, someway, the green hero had been forgotten. Years went by and any reference to him or his heroic deeds were lost. It was almost like in trying to forget about the great evil, Japan also forgot the hero who stopped him."
"What was the hero's name," Uraraka asked.
Solemnly, Kendo looked towards the floor. "I don't know. No one knows. Or remembers."
Izuku let a single tear fall. Aizawa frowned. No hero, not one like him, should be forgotten. Midoriya wiped away his tear and prepped himself to face his class. As soon as he was ready, Aizawa stepped forward.
"Alright, that's enough of that. Time for your scores. Midoriya and I have tallied up your score totals and here is the result." The students found their names and ranking. Number 20 was a student named Minoru Mineta. The boy's face paled. "And I lied about expelling you." Most of the students let out a collective 'what!' "It was a logical ruse to ensure you all did your best." Aizawa had a most terrible grin that Midoriya couldn't help but sweat drop. He always thought it was both funny and alarming when Aizawa got like this. Mineta cried in relief at this.
"That being said, now you all know where you stand in not just physical capabilities, but also among your classmates. Mineta may have gotten last, but I want you all to understand that we graded you on a general level. Mineta did as expected due to his stature and current build. Everyone had areas they could improve upon, though not all will be obvious at first. These next three years will be grueling. You will be tested, tried, and torn asunder. Make no mistake, pro heroes nowadays are not what they could be. UA is uniquely equipped to see who will stick for the long run, and who will run. All of you have the potential to be heroes. From this point onward, this will be your hero academia. Hope you survive the experience."
Epilogue
The day had come and gone. Most of the students had left the school, going home to rest and return and the next day. Izuku finished up his paperwork for the evening and was about to head when he was called out by one of his coworkers.
"Hey, Green."
"Hello, Midnight."
"Oh come on, Midoriya. It is after hours and there's no one else here. I do wish you'd call me by my name."
"Sorry, Kayama. I guess I never did get out of calling everyone by their hero names."
"You call Shota by his name. Then again, the two of you were able to make an incredible team way back when. I still don't understand how he managed to keep up with you. I mean, nobody could, not even when- ah, I'm so sorry." Midnight realized her words before she said anymore. She turned back to her friend. He looked lost.
"It's quite alright. Some days are easier than others."
Midnight put on an easy, comforting smile for him. "Shota told us. It seems you still got some fans on the outside."
"Heh, are they really fans if they don't even know my name? Was I really so easily replaced?"
"You stop that right now!" Nemuri surprised herself with her little outburst. Thankfully, it was just the two of them. She wanted to apologize for being loud, but she steeled herself. "You and I both know that isn't true. So much was going on back then, but you could never be replaced." Izuku started to tear up. "I can't imagine how hard it must've been to hear the kids speak about you like a lost fable." She walked towards Izuku and grabbed a hold of his hands. "You gave your heart and soul to the world and still you were overshadowed by nonsensical bullcrap. Yet here you are, still willing to help everyone you can." She took a seat and gestured to the seat next to her. Izuku took the cushion to her right. "You paid such a heavy price, a price I can't imagine. Your very dreams and aspirations were given up. Your body and health are in tatters. Recognition for all you did for us, gone. You were always strong in ways none of us ever were or even could be." Nemuri cupped his cheek. She traced the scars along his chin, stopping herself when she reached the bottom of his neck. This particular scar led down to his chest. She then took his right hand in her own. The disfigurement still apparent even after all these years. She embraced the larger man, her own tears threatening to spill. "Time was never kind to you, my dear friend. Oh, how you asked for a chance to prove your worth only to have this damn world rip it all from you."
"This world has always hated people like me, Nemuri. Truly, nothing had changed." Izuku returned the hug. He missed moments like this. He absolutely adored it when Nemuri let her tenderness show.
"Not the whole world. I never hated you. I never would have wanted this for you. I know for a fact that Shota doesn't hate you. Everyone who knows Izuku Midoriya does not hate you." The two separated. Nemuri was about to start crying.
"Oh, Kayama, don't cry. If you start crying, I'm gonna start crying and you know how emotional I can get."
"I'm sorry, 'Zuku." She started sniffling, trying to get the tears to stop building up. A few trails fell down her eyes. "Ah, I'm sorry. It's just so sad! If I had the power, I would change it all if I could."
Izuku smiled at her. She always dreamed of giving others the perfect life. "I think this is enough. These moments are what I live for."
Nemuri's heart clenched. He had few friends to begin with, and even fewer of those he trusted with his more sensitive side. "My dear friend, you deserve more than 'enough'. You deserved peace, and all the dreams the world could give." She stood up having to leave. "You know, if things had gone down differently, I might have… you know." She lightly blushed.
Izuku smiled. "I know. In another life then." She leant down and kissed his cheek.
Another life indeed.