Author's Note:

Minor changes, like a sentence or two added, to the first chapter to help make things flow a tad nicer. Nothing to big. Plot's still the same. I tend to struggle with pacing so if something seems like it needs a little more detail, feel free to comment and I might go back and try to fix it! There will be a time jump in this chapter. I'm not the best at making things flow smoothly in-between the time jump so if it is a little awkward, bear with me please. I tried! There are probably grammar mistakes in here somewhere, but I tried my best to get them all! So I am sorry I missed a few. Feel free to point them out so I can fix them! Anyway enjoy! Sorry about the little delay!

Chapter 2

- Izuku Midoriya -

Izuku let out a groan as sunlight hit his eyes. He buried his face into his pillow in hopes of blocking it out. It worked a little. He was not ready to face what the days events might bring. If it was going to be anything remotely close to yesterday's events, he might as well just stay in bed because he was not going to go through that again. His thoughts drifted to the events of yesterday.

A small part of him hoped it was all just some fever dream and that it didn't really happen. The other part of him knew that it is real and that his life is going to be drastically different now. That thought scared him. Here he was, with a quirk. Who would have thought that useless quirkless Deku would get a quirk? Not Bakugo for sure. The only catch is his quirk will probably kill him if he uses it.

Izuku cringed into his pillow. He was going to have to do something about that. The man from yesterday said that he should clean up the beach as a way to gain the muscles necessary to handle the quirk. That was something to look into. On top of that he should start working out too. The more muscles he can put on the better.

Unburying his face from his pillow Izuku rolled out from his bed onto his feet. Best not to stall any longer, not when he has a lot of work ahead of him. He quickly tossed on a shirt and pants and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He caught a glance of himself in the mirror and frowned. There was a handshape bruise that had formed around his neck. Of course now that he saw it he can feel the pain that is radiating from it. It wasn't dark enough to be spotted immediately, but it wasn't light enough to be undetectable if someone were to glance at his neck. At least it was only slightly irritating.

His mom was going to freak if she saw it though. Maybe he could just slip out the house without her noticing. That was a good place to start. Maybe if she wasn't in the kitchen he could get something to eat too. If not he knew a nice café where he could get a bite.

Peeking out the doorway he checked the hallways for signs of his mom. He didn't see her but he could smell something cooking. Guess it was a no go on the food. Izuku made a beeline to their apartment door. He was careful to avoid the kitchen. He made it to the door with no problems.

Izuku paused in the doorway. Wouldn't his mom also freak out if she were to go wake him up and he wasn't there? Yes, yes she would. Internally sighing Izuku gave a shout to his mom.

"Mom, I'm heading out!" Just because he didn't want her to see the bruise doesn't mean he needs her to worry about where he went.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast first?" Inko's head appeared from around the corner of the kitchen.

"I was planning on getting something from a café."

"W-well alright then. Please be careful and check in with me every few hours." Izuku glanced over his shoulder at his mother who now stood outside the kitchen doorway. He flashed her a smile.

"I'll be careful!" He closed the door and let out a breath of relief when his mother didn't try to give him a hug before he left. Maybe while he was out he could pick up some concealer so he could hide the bruise later.

The walk to the café was relatively short and to his luck it was not very crowded. He kept his head down in hopes of making the bruise around his neck less obvious. The last thing he needs is people thinking he's being abused or something along those lines.

"Hi, what can I get you?" Izuku glanced up at the girl working there.

"I would like one blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee please."

"Coming right up! Your total will be $6.50 please." Izuku handed the cash over and took his muffin and coffee to a seat next to the window. One of the reasons he loves this café is because they always make their muffins super big and alongside that they have really good coffee!

His stomach grumbled in anticipation. The next few minutes were spent enjoying his muffin and drinking his coffee while he scrolled through the news articles for the latest villain attacks. Pointedly ignoring the ones about the sludge villain attack from the day before. It was a nice way to start his day. He was about halfway through his muffin when his hopes of having a good day were dashed.

"Hey kid, what happened to your neck?" Izuku froze in the middle of a bite. His eyes shifted to the voice. It was a man. He had dark bags under his eyes, long black hair, a long scarf wrapped around his neck, and a black jacket that went down to his knees and was tearing at the ends of the sleeves. Overall, and judging by his expression, he looked like a hobo that was done with life. Though Izuku couldn't help but get the feeling he saw this guy somewhere before, it's probably just a coincidence though. What's with all the creeps talking to me?

Izuku forced a friendly smile on his face. "I'm sorry. My mom said I shouldn't speak to strangers." Izuku focused back onto his muffin hoping the hobo would leave him alone. He heard a sigh from the guy and watched him take a seat on the other side of the table, setting his coffee in front of him. Izuku felt his muscles tense. Events of the previous day where a sketchy man approached him were rushing back. He didn't like this situation one bit.

Izuku waited in anticipation for the man to say something, but he didn't. It was like that for a few minutes. Awkward silence and the man just staring at him. It was oddly intimidating. Surely if he meant Izuku harm he would have done something already, right? Or was it because they were in a café and there were people around so he couldn't actually do anything? He also asked about the bruise on his neck. That meant he wasn't a completely bad person and was actually concerned for him right?

Izuku's thoughts quickly went bitter. I bet he wouldn't be concerned if he knew I was quirkless. Well formally quirkless. Not like anyone actually knew he had a quirk yet. He couldn't prove it without blowing his limbs off, according to the other sketchy man. He might as well still be quirkless at this point. At least if this man knew he was 'quirkless' that would get him to leave. It always works on other people. Izuku Midoriya opened his mouth to tell the man just that, only the man beat him to speaking first.

"Shouta Aizawa." What? Another sigh from the man.

"The name's Shouta Aizawa." Izuku flush as he realized he must have voiced his question out loud. Aizawa raised an eyebrow in what seemed to be amusement. If he's going for the cliché 'You know my name now. Now we aren't strangers' Izuku wasn't falling for it. But he can play along.

"I-Izuku Midoriya a-and what happened to my neck is none of your concern. I'm q-quirkless anyway." Izuku waited for Aizawa to promptly leave or scoff in disgust at the revelation. To call him a useless reject and all those fun things. When none of that happened Izuku was confused. Aizawa was staring at him with an unamused look.

"So? I don't see what that has to do with my question." Surprise crossed Izuku's face. He didn't care that Izuku was quirkless? Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. All he wanted to know was why there was a hand shaped bruise on his neck. Besides what caused it wasn't even a secret, it was all over the news! He must have been quiet for a moment too long because Aizawa was speaking again. Adept, a bit more tentative than before. Though the change in tone was hard to detect.

"You're safe at home right?" Izuku froze again before flushing at what Aizawa meant and jumped into a panicked muttering mess while waving his hands around in front of him.

"No! My mom would never lay a finger on me! She's the best mom in the world! She is so kind and nice and always feeds me and-" Izuku was cut off by Aizawa, who was now pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Kid calm down. If nobody at your house caused that, who did? Bullies?" Izuku sat back down and dipped his head in embarrassment when he realized the few people in the café were looking at the duo. He didn't think his face could get any redder.

"Not bullies, at least not this time. I was caught up in a villain attack yesterday. The guy was holding me by the neck rather harshly. But don't worry about me I'm fine! All Mi- a hero saved me." Izuku flashed Aizawa a smile, pretending that he didn't almost say All Might's name. Aizawa didn't look very convinced.

"There are news articles all about it. Just look up 'Sludge Villain Attack' I'm sure you'll find something about it." Izuku's smile wavered a little at Aizawa's stare. Boy was this guy hard to read. Aizawa closed his eyes and took a deep breath before moving on.

"Did you get your neck checked out by a professional afterwards?" Izuku felt his smile turn more sheepish. He left before anyone could really check him out. All the heroes there were busy either checking Bakugo out or scolding him for his recklessness. He wasn't going to stick around after the scolding. Even if he nearly suffocated twice that day.

"Well no… but it doesn't hurt that badly or anything! Nothing that a little time can't heal." Aizawa felt his eye twitch.

"It's standard procedure that all civilians caught up in a villain attack get checked over by a medical professional before they can leave. You're telling me the hero's at the scene just let you just walk away?"

Izuku didn't know how to respond. He didn't know that was a law but it made sense. "I guess. They were busy looking over another person who got the worse of the attack. I didn't want to bother them, so I went home." And got caught up in a sketchy deal on the way back, but he was too tired to really see it at the time. Aizawa didn't need to know that, now did he?

Aizawa let a slow breath out of his nose. His irritation was very evident. "Right. Be a hundred percent honest with me here. How does your neck feel."

"It hurts a little, but not enough that I'm super worried about it. Aside from that I have a minor sore throat but that's to be expected after…" Izuku trailed off. He almost mentioned the even earlier encounter with the villain. All the sludge that was forcing its way down his throat was bound to leave a little damage. A nervous chuckle escaped his lips and he looked away. God he was just digging himself a grave.

"After what?" Izuku internally cringed. He could lie but he's not very good at it. He didn't have much of a choice, unless he wanted to talk about the earlier experience. Which was out of the question.

"W-Well after I-I was choked of c-course." Izuku hated his stutter. It's what always gives himself away when he tries to lie. Izuku didn't look up to see if Aizawa was going to call him out on it. He prayed the hobo wouldn't push the subject more. It was silent again between the two.

After what felt like an eternity to Izuku, Aizawa spoke. "If your throat feels like it's getting worse or you have any difficulty breathing whatsoever, please go get it checked out immediately." Izuku looked up into the serious eyes of Aizawa. It was very unnerving.

"Of course!" Izuku was proud of how confident his voice came out with how frayed his nerves were.

Finally Aizawa got up to leave, grabbing his coffee. "I'll leave you to it." Izuku let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. That could have gone smoother, but it certainly could have gone a whole lot worse. He'll take this over yesterday any day!

He finished the last few bites of his muffin and left, coffee in hand. Even with the odd interaction with that man he shouldn't let his day get derailed. He needs to go check the beach out to know what he's dealing with.

The walk was relatively short, but just long enough that he could finish his coffee. Upon arriving at the beach, Izuku cringed at how much trash there was to clean.

"I'm supposed to clean all of this up before the entrance exam!?" Izuku groaned. There was no time to stall. He was against the clock.

That was how Izuku Midoriya spent his next 6 months.

It's been six months of constant cleaning and exercising on the beach for Midoriya. He was pleased to see that he has put a decent amount of muscles on. There also has been no attempts at activating his quirk. The thought of losing a limb was too terrifying.

But today was different. He was going to try to activate his quirk. It wasn't going to be anything too big. Just a little test to know what he was dealing with.

"If I just focus a little power into the tip of my fingertips and throw a scrap piece of metal, hypothetically with a strength enhancer quirk the metal will be thrown further than what an average human can toss." Izuku took a shaky gulp of air.

"It's not like I'm going to lose any of my fingers either. Sketchy man said it was a simple strength enhancer… Just a simple strength enhancer that can blow off all my limbs." Another shaky breath.

"But that was when I had no muscles. I have some muscles now. Besides if I don't start training my quirk now I won't know how to use it when the entrance exam comes. That's practically the same thing as a quirkless person taking the entrance exam." Izuku picked up a scrap piece of metal.

"Not too much power. Only enough to toss this further than an average person. Besides this whole thing could be a fluke and the Sketchy man really was on drugs thinking he can actually give a quirk to another person." Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He imagined power flowing into a singular fingertip. He wasn't sure if it was working until he felt a small tingle in his index finger. Opening his eyes Izuku sealed himself for what he was about to do.

In one quick motion Izuku tossed the scrap metal as far as he could into the ocean. To his amazement it went flying. Izuku stood there in awe as he watched it get smaller and smaller before he couldn't see it anymore. Though the splash in the distance gave him a good idea where the metal landed.

Izuku felt a large smile appear on his face. He did. He actually has a quirk. His excitement was short lived as pain exploded through his index finger. A strangled whimper escaped Izuku's lips as he brought the broken and bruised finger to his chest.

"Ow, ow, ow. Not good. Not good at all." Izuku's voice went up an octave with all the pain. He looked at the finger. Definitely going need to see professional medical help. At least it's still attached to my hand. He thought grimly.

One awkward phone call with a frantic mother later and Izuku was leaving the clinic with a new freshly bandaged finger. When questioned on what happened to it, Izuku lied and said a piece of metal fell on his finger while he was cleaning the beach. He could tell the medical professional there didn't fully believe him, but he was ever grateful when they didn't push for the truth.

Izuku was grounded for a week of bed rest in his room after that incident. He wasn't too pleased about that, but it did give him time to think about different ways he could go about training his quirk. The way he first tried using his quirk was not going to cut it. He can't go around breaking limbs every time he wants to use his quirk. Izuku dissolved into a mumbling mess thinking of a different way to train his quirk.

"When I first activated my quirk it didn't break my finger. All it did was cause a small tingling sensation to form. It wasn't until after I tossed the scrap metal that my finger got damaged. I also know that my body isn't used to handling a quirk. So it makes sense why my finger broke after using my quirk for the first time. Strength enhancement quirk plus a body unused to handling a quirk equals broken limb. So maybe if I try to actively run power to my fingers that will help prepare my body to handle my quirk better the next time I use my quirk." Izuku smiled at the plan. He sat up in his bed and focused on channeling power into his uninjured hand.

The tingling sensation came back. It didn't hurt, but it was a tad uncomfortable. Izuku wanted to see how long he could go. It was about 3 minutes later that he had to stop due to his hand starting to hurt.

"So I can hold the power in my hand for about 3 minutes before I have to rest. Not too bad, I just need to remember to not actively use it on anything." Relieved with his discovery Izuku lied back down. He finally has a way to train his quirk. It may not be much now but it is at least something he can do. When his finger heals, he can start running power through that hand too. With those thoughts comforting him, Izuku drifted off to sleep.

Author's note:

Boom! Chapter 2 done! I know that it should have come out sooner but I wanted the Aizawa conversation to be just right! I think I did a pretty good job. Hopefully you do too! I just need to get the stones rolling ya dig? But I am pleased to say that I have most of chapter 3 written already! That means I will be able to get it out much quicker than what I did with this chapter. All I have to say about it is, its looking awesome! Really pleased with what's coming up! So if you kinda like what you've read and want to continue, maybe hit that follow button? Please? I love seeing people follow or favorite my story! Also do not fear to leave what you think in the comments! I love reading them!