That feeling of death was back.

It was nowhere near the intensity that Izuku had felt from the Elder earlier, but it was coming from each of the masters. It unnerved Izuku as he kept his bow, not looking up.

"Hehehe. He's earnest, I'll give him that." Sakaki said, as he took a swig from his flask.

"Apa, are we getting a new disciple? Yay! Another disciple to train!"

"It may take a bit before you'll be training him Apachai. We don't want to kill him." The Chinese man said, before glancing at Akisame. After receiving a nod from the jujitsu master he walked up to the still bowing student, who was currently wondering if he was making mistake, and grasped his shoulder.

"Come. There is some paperwork we need to sort out."

"D-D-" Izuku looked up and the master. "Does that mean…?"

"Young man." The Elder spoke with a serious tone. "Your dream is simple and pure. And martial arts were made to allow the weak to stand up against the strong. If you keep your convictions, and are willing to work hard, you are welcome here."

A smile spread across Izuku's face as he got up from the bow. "Thank you! I promise I won't let you down."

"Good to hear. Because training starts today." Kensei said as he guided Izuku to the main building.

"Really? Am I okay to start training?" He asked while looking at his doctor.

"Hmm. It is a fair question." The Jujitsu master remarked. "But you'll be fine. If we need to we'll just start you off slow."

"Okay then. I just need to call my mother and tell her that I'll be late today."

Eventually the paperwork was complete, and Izuku's mother had been notified.

"Now for tuition" The Chinese man said from across the table that he and Izuku was sitting at. "You owe us twenty thousand yen a month."

Izuku cringed at the price. "I-I don't have that."

But before the teen could try and consider a method of raising the funds the Chinese master said " We'll drop it to ten thousand yen then."

Izuku nodded and reached into his wallet. He would be cutting into the money he was saving to buy a specific all might figurine that he had his eyes on, but this was more important.

"Very good." Kensei said as he took the money and document. "Now, before we start, do you have a preferred style you wish to learn?"

"No, not really."

He nodded. "Akisame will be starting your training. We'll be providing you a gi. So get dressed and head to him."

"Okay." As Izuku moved to a nearby changing room with gi in hand he consider the masters of Ryōzanpaku.

They were all so intimidating. Everything, from their action to their very presence made Izuku want to run and never come back.

But two things stopped him.

Firstly, Kenichi saved him. He saved him with something that he learnt as a disciple of this dojo. If Kenichi could learn to save people here, then he could too.

Secondly, they believed in him. At the very least Akisame believed that he could be a hero and, while he didn't say it, the Elder seemed to think so as well. He wasn't sure about what the other masters thought about his dreams, but they didn't dismiss him. They wanted to help him.

It was an odd feeling. Unfamiliar, as well. Izuku would be lying if he said that he didn't like it though.

So, as he put on his new martial arts gi, Izuku resolved to say and learn, no matter how hard it got. Not only was this to be the best shot he had to become a hero, but he wasn't about to make liars of the first people to ever believe in him in.

After all, how hard could it be?

His entire body was on fire.

The horse stance, where his legs were shoulder width apart, with hips in line with his knees and his toes parallel with each other, was painful in and of itself. Ropes were also in place to prevent him from breaking his stance upwards. The incense that was stuck in a pot underneath him, burning end pointed uncomfortably close groin, prevented him from breaking his stance by falling.

All of that wasn't even the worse of it.

There were also five containers of water in play. Three small bowls, which were placed on the top of his head and on both of his legs, and 2 larger clay pots, that he was currently holding by the top of their narrow mouth, with his arms held out straight and to the sides.

The cherry on top of all of this were the two small blades currently strapped to his upper arms and pointed inwards. If he dared to lower either of his arms the spikes would show him why that was a bad idea.

He couldn't tell how long he had been like this; all he knew was that it was too long.

"GGAAHH. MASTER! HOW MUCH LONGER?! "

"About ten minutes." Master Akisame said, while sitting seiza on the wooden walkway of the dojo, drinking tea without an apparent care in the world.

"IT FEELS LIKE MY FINGERS ARE GOING TO FALL OFF!"

"Many have claimed that, but I've never seen it happen."

After the allotted time, plus an extra five minutes added on by a rather sadistic teacher, Izuku found himself outside the dojo's gates with a rope tied around his waist. On the other end of the rope there was a tire, Akisame sitting on it legs crossed and caring a whip.

"Now, we're going to Solamigaoka Park." The master instructed.

"Solamigaoka Park? Isn't that like three train stops away? You want me to walk there with you tied to me?"

"NO! You'll run!" Was the declaration, before Akisame unfurled the whip in his hand. Izuku got the message and ran as fast as he could, dragging his master along as he, literally, cracked the whip behind him.

"SLOW! You're like a turtle!"

"Since this is your first day I didn't work you too hard, come tomorrow the real training starts."

Izuku never felt such terror from one sentence. With how much pain he was currently in, he couldn't even fathom harder training. It seems that he didn't have to; he would experience the 'real training' tomorrow.

The thought of not coming back had crossed his mind while he changed out of his gi, after pealing himself off the floor, but…

How hard are you willing to work?

To be a hero? As hard as I have to.

He meant it too. He would work. He would work as hard as they would work him.

He would become strong.

"Hey, Midoriya-san, how do you feel?"

"My everything hurts." He responded to Kenichi, who started to chuckle." What's so funny?"

"Oh, you're just reminding me of when I started training. " He said as he opened the dojo's front gate for Izuku. "It's a lot less intimidating than I remember."

"You did that hell routine to start?" That question got Kenichi to hold in laughter.

"Yep, more or less to the T. Are you okay to walk home?"

"I should be. I've had worse." He said as he started to walk home.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" Kenichi had begun to walk with him.

"Yes, sempai. I won't be scared off that easy."

"Good to hear. I've seen a few people try to start training at the dojo, none of them come back after the first day."

"Really?"

"Trust me. Ryōzanpaku is famous in certain circles, usually attracting challengers." Izuku nodded, thinking back to the challengers that Master Akisame had been treating earlier today. "But sometimes, people come in requesting to be trained. The masters are happy to take their money, if they don't come back after the first day…" Kenichi finished with a shrug.

"So, it's another source of income?"

"A smaller one, but yes."

"I can see why they'd quit. I hurt in places I didn't know could."

"You'll get used to it…Sort of."

Part of him didn't want to ask. He just wanted to hold on to the idea that he would get use to the exercise, without worrying about the qualifier. But his inquisitive mind got the best of him. "…What do you mean 'Sort of'?"

"They'll keep increasing it. Every time you think you start to think that it's getting easier they'll just make your training so much harder. I've been a member of Ryōzanpaku for two years, and there are still times where they train me into the ground. I'm just used to it. I don't think I could stop training at this point."

"…They're terrifying."

That got a small guffaw from the sempai. "Oh yea. I've seen them do things that shouldn't be possible, with or without a quirk. Each of them is terrifying in their own way."

"…They're also the first group of people to believe in me."

There was a lull in the conversation, before Kenichi suddenly ruffled his hair. "Don't worry. With your conviction, and the master's training, you're going to be great."

It was a simple statement, but it was delivered so matter-of-factly that he caught Izuku off guard.

He believes in me. He thinks I'm going to be great.

It was a bit too much for Izuku, who started to cry.

"Midoriya-san?" Kenichi looked concerned as his kohai burst into tears.

"Thank you. Thank you for believing in me."

"Any time. " He said with a smile. Waiting a moment for Izuku to calm do, he eventually offered. " Hey, want to hear about the first fights I got involved in?"

"Sure."

"Well, his name is Daimonji and it was when I was In my first year of high school…"

"So you beat him, but 'lost' on a technicality."

"Yea…I ended up leaving the club anyway. Also ended up attracting the attention of an upper-classman."

Izuku was going to ask about that, until he realised that he was already at the apartment complex that he and his mother lived in.

"I'm here." It was only then he realised something. Kenichi had walked home with him.

"Wait, why did you…?"

"Follow you? I was kind of expecting you to pass out on the walk here from the training. I was just watching out for you."

"Thanks." He said as he made his way in.

With a smile and a nod, Kenichi turned around and broke into a full sprint, presumably back to the dojo.

Izuku was reminded of how much pain he was in while climbing the stairs, and resolved to soak in the bath for a bit longer than normal.

Unlocking his apartment, he walked in. "I'm home."

"Welcome back Izuku. " The voice of his mother came from the living room. "Dinner is on the table."

"Thank you. I'm going to clean up first."

After his shower and a long, hot bath Izuku made quick work of the food on the table.

"So, you mentioned joining a dojo today. How was it?"

"Rough, but it's okay." Izuku looked up from his food to see his mother looking concerned.

"Are you sure? You looked hurt when you came in."

"I'm fine mom."

She didn't look convinced.

Sleep was had, and the next day came. And with it pain, or rather soreness.

It hurt to move, in a way that was completely new to Izuku, but he made due. Even if he was so tired he rather just call out sick today and sleep.

He pushed pass that instinct, and soon enough he was out the door on his way to school.

"Midoriya!"

The greennet in question's head shot up from his desk. "Yes?"

"If you're finished with your beauty nap, maybe you could answer the question on the board. Or is it that you are-" "x=7 and y=1"

"… What?"

"The answer. It's x=7 and y=1" Izuku responded, still half asleep.

"… I… yes, but-"Before the teacher could respond Izuku's head was back on the desk and he was out like a light.

"…Anyways, let me show you how to solve this."

As the teacher began to demonstrate the step by step process of solving the equation on the board, there was growl from one of the students.

"Damn Deku…"

As soon as the final bell of the day rang Izuku made his way out, as quickly as he could. Sticking around class after the teacher left just gave his class mates an opportunity to pick on him.

He almost made it out of the school's gates, when the aggressive voice of his 'best friend'.

"DEKU! Where do you think you're going?!"

Izuku just kept walking, and managed to get past the gates, before Bakugo grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him into the wall next to the school gate, grabbing the front of his shirt.

"You think you can just ignore me, you damn nerd? Though, I guess you did ignore my advice to kill yourself. You really must like being a burden on your mom huh?"

How was he supposed to respond to that? He was well aware of all the stress he put on his mother.

"Anyways, what do you think you're doing? Trying to be better than me?"

"W-What do you me-" WHAM!

"Don't play with me, Deku. " Bakugo said as he drew back the fist that just made contact with Izuku's face. "Math class."

"…I don't-" WHAM!

"Since you want to act dumb, let me refresh your memory. You remember the question you answered?" Izuku didn't "Well the teacher took the rest of the class explaining it. "Bakugo didn't want to admit that he didn't quite get it yet. And that it ticked him off that Izuku could answer it so effortlessly.

"I…really don't know what you're talking about."

Izuku saw his tormenter pull back for another punch and braced himself, closing his eyes in preparation for it hit, but nothing happened. After a moment or two, Izuku took a peep to see what was happening. He saw that what had stopped Bakugo was a hand, grasping the explosive teen's arm. And as for whom the arm belonged to…"

"Shirahama-san! What are you doing here?"

"I was in the area." He said simply as he continued to hold back Bakugo, the offending teen looking over his shoulder to see who dared to get in his way.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, extra!? Let me go! Or you're next."

"Okay." He did, in fact let go. But not before pulling Izuku out of his grasp.

Bakugo looked shocked for a moment, before a wicked smile spread across his face. "Oh, okay then extra. You want to protect the nerd, then you get what he's getting." Small scale explosions started to emanate from his hands.

Kenichi chuckled before looking and Izuku. "You know what we do in situations like this?"

Oh god, are they going to get into a fight? "N-no."

Suddenly Kenichi grabbed the greennet with both hands and lifted him over his head, before sprinting full tilt in the other direction. "Strategic Withdrawal!"

It took a moment for Bakugo to react to what he just saw.

Then...

"DEKU! YOU AND THAT DAMNED EXTRA BETTER GET BACK HERE!" He yelled as he tried to run after them. But he wasn't able to keep up, and lost them rather quickly.

After he was sure that they were no longer being followed, Kenichi let down his kohai and they continued towards the dojo.

"I could have sworn that you two would have gotten into a fight."

"Why would I want to fight him? I don't want to be known as the high school kid beating up on middle schoolers."

"It may be harder to beat Kacchan than you think."

His sempai could be seen holding back laughter. "Well then, if he could beat me- " some of the laughter he was holding back got through for a second. "-then that's even worse. I would be seen as the high school kid who got beaten up by a middle schooler. And let's not get into how much my training would be ramped up if that happened. Also, Kacchan?"

"He's my childhood friend, I couldn't pronounce his name when we first new each other. I ended up calling him Kacchan."

Kenichi was silent for a moment. Then…" He's not."

"W-what."

"You called him your friend. He's not. Not with the way he treated you just now."

"I mean, I know he can be a bit rough, but-" "But nothing. I know bad friends, trust me, and even bad friends wouldn't do that. I mean, he gave you a black eye. Why was he even doing that?"

Izuku touched his face and hissed, quickly pulling his hand away. "I-I'm not sure. He said something about math class, but I'm fairly certain I slept through it."

"Really? You don't look like the type to do that. Let me guess, the training?"

Izuku nodded, as they reached the dojo.

"You're back." They were greeted at the gate by master Akisame.

"As I told Shirahama-Sempai, you aren't getting rid of me that easily."

Akisame chuckled as his eyes once again started to glow. "Oh, is that so?"

Izuku almost regret saying that, as his sempai shook his head.

And so, two weeks passed.

Izuku managed to survive the ever increasing training, and did so without complaint. As he trained in the dojo there were a few things he noticed.

The first thing that stood out was that no one in the dojo stopped training. He had spotted each of the masters, as well as Miu and Kenichi partaking in some training or another. At least, when they weren't training him.

They had stuck mostly to strength training, with Akisame in charge. But Kensei and Sakaki both also had some input. There was a unanimous decision to keep Apachai away from this early point in Izuku's training.

He also started to feel like he was being watched, and eventually realised that it was the weapons master that was paying extra attention to him as he trained. He wondered why, but didn't bother to ask.

Miu was interesting. Unless she was sparing with Kenichi it appeared as if she rarely trained, mostly due to the fact that she ran Ryōzanpaku. From the cooking and the cleaning to the finances, she seemed to control all the day to day functions of the dojo, and allowed it to run smoothly. Izuku actually asked Akisame how she manages to keep up with her training, only to have him say that she trains any way she can, before pulling the chair from underneath her while she was at a desk doing some work to reveal that she was doing the hover chair exercise.

And then there was Kenichi, who insisted that Izuku call him by his first name when it became obvious that Izuku wouldn't be scared off by the intense training. Considering raw time investment, he was probably the one who spent the most time training. In the few moments Izuku could look away from his own training, he would see Kenichi doing something so much more intense. It served to push him, make him work harder.

He couldn't help but look up to his brown haired sempai. He was so strong, and he had no quirk. Meaning that Izuku could do what he did, and could become just as strong. And that was true of not only Kenichi, but most of the masters. As far as he could tell, none of the masters had used a quirk during training.

At least, he thought so. It was easy to mistake their natural speed and strength for a quirk.

Izuku's situation at school was slowly becoming worse. Mostly due to Bakugo, constant suicide bating. He would keep quiet when amongst teachers but when left unattended he would constantly insult and demean the burgeoning martial artist, and the rest of his class followed along with everything from name calling to suicide bating.

They also tried to corner Izuku after class to attack him, but his training had already started to show some benefit, as while Kenichi had been helping him run away at first, by the end of the first week he was able to outrun everyone on his own, including Bakugo.

Izuku reached the dojo early Sunday morning, grateful that Kenichi was already awake to open the gate. He had been shocked the first time he tried to push them open, only to have them not budge at all. At first he thought the gates were locked, but as it turns out they were just heavy.

After getting dressed in his gi he found master Akisame, sitting in the middle of the dojo in front of a table with stacks of books surrounding him.

"Ah, Izuku you're here. Come sit down. " He said, gesturing to the opposite side of the table.

Izuku nodded and sat down. "What's going on?"

"You'll be resting your body today."

"I…What?"

"You've worked hard and without complaint for the past two weeks. Your body needs its rest. We will continue physical training tomorrow."

"O…K? So should I leave?"

"You could. Or we could talk about one of your problems. How's school?"

Izuku flinched. "…not good. I would just not go, but UA doesn't accept students with records of 'excessive' truancy."

"I thought so. But I have a solution; The CAPUS. "

"…Isn't that a high school degree? Am I even able to take it? It's there some kind of age limit?"

"Yes, and there used to be, but not anymore. "

Izuku took a moment to consider what he was saying. "Are…are you offering to tutor me to test out of school?"

"That is correct."

"How long do you think it would take to prepare me for that?"

"It depends. If we were to intertwine your training with these lessons after school it would probably take three months. But, If we were to have your unfettered time, without your need to go to school, it could have you ready in a month."

"But…The only way to be out of school that long without it being on my record is with…"

"Your mother's permission."

Izuku shook his head. "I don't want to worry her."

"I take it that you also haven't told her of your bulling problem for that reason as well?" Izuku nodded. "But doesn't that end up worrying her anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine it from her point of view. She see her son come in day after day injured, but not saying anything about it to her. You are a teenager; it is her job to worry about you, but because of your refusal to communicate not only does she have to worry about her child being attacked, but also the fact that her kid doesn't trust her enough to ask for help."

Izuku froze up for a moment. "I tried, once. When the bulling first started I told her all about it. She went to the school and complained. She was promised that they would look into it, that it was unacceptable, and all the other talking point. But nothing happened. Nothing changed. But I couldn't let her know that. How could I? How could I tell her that nothing she did helped? That she couldn't help me? So I lie to her. I tell her everything is okay, so she won't have to worry about me." Izuku had been holding back tears at the end of his small speech, and took a moment to wipe them away

Akisame was silent for a moment, before sighing. "In the end it is your choice. Now, that's enough of that, let's start our lessons. Also, I hope you're ready for tomorrow."

"What's so special about tomorrow?"

A chill went down Izuku's spine as Akisame's eyes started to glow. With a chuckle, the jujitsu master responded with two words that got Izuku excited.

"Technique training."