Izuku stood outside UA High School, staring at the massive gates that lead to the campus. It was the day of the entrance exam, and Izuku had trained for ten months with All Might, all for this day. He was awed to a standstill, and was simply marvelling at the gates. He took a step forward and tripped, thanking his training for nothing. He fell toward the ground, accepting his fate. Izuku stops in mid-air, feeling a hand on his arm. He spun around to see that he was floating, with a girl holding onto him to keep him from flying away.
The girl giggled as she took her hand off Izuku's arm. He started to float away, but she pressed her fingertips into the corresponding tips on her other hand and his gravity returned. Izuku fell toward the ground again, but he reacted this time, activating his Quirk. Izuku converted his energy to electricity and put a little trick he had developed into action. He let green electricity flow through his hands and feet and extended his electric field so that it created a bubble of electricity, invisible to people, but there.
He called this trick 'Electrostatic Levitation', where he made a field of static electricity under his feet that kept him airborne. Izuku used this to stay in the air until he got his balance, and once he was upright, let go of the field, falling to the ground.
"Thank you!" Izuku said.
"No problem! It'd be bad luck to fall just before a big test!" the girl exclaimed.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, what's your name?" Izuku asked, holding his hand out.
"Ochaco Uraraka! Nice to meet you, Midoriya," Uraraka said, shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you, too, Uraraka," Izuku replied.
The two took back their hands, standing in an awkward silence for a moment. Izuku got a good look at Uraraka, and couldn't deny that she was a very pretty girl. Her hair defied gravity, her bob moving in a strange way that Izuku liked. She had a permanent blush on her cheeks that Izuku thought were adorable.
"We should go in," Uraraka said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
"Right! The test!" Izuku remembered.
Uraraka giggled at Izuku's forgetfulness, and the two began to walk in. Izuku kept glancing at Uraraka, feeling strange to be walking with a girl. During the phase where he thought he was Quirkless, Izuku had been ostracized, with nobody, especially not girls, wanting to talk to him. When he got his Quirk, everything went back to the way it was before, except for his experience with girls. They simply weren't interested in him, despite his efforts, so this was a new situation for Izuku.
"Is something wrong?" Uraraka asked, noticing him looking at her.
"Oh! Uh, no. I … recognize that uniform. You're from Tsu Middle School, right?" Izuku asked, trying to save himself the embarrassment of explaining himself.
"Yeah! You've been to Tsu? It's quite a long trip! UA is worth it, though," Uraraka cheered.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't noticed. Uraraka seemed to be an extremely trusting person, giving people the benefit of the doubt when she got the chance. Izuku was lucky, because if she wasn't, he'd be in trouble for looking at her the way he was. He resolved to control himself, and looked forward.
The two had reached the admission stand, with a single man running the place. He had a computer and a printer with him, and nothing else. Izuku wondered where he would get their identification cards from, and then saw the printer, having thought it to be something else.
"Names?" The man asked.
"Izuku Midoriya, Aldera Middle School," he answered.
The man typed in his name and clicked a few times. After a moment, he turned to the printer and waited as a small card was pushed out, bearing Izuku's name and school. He hated the picture. He had longer hair back then, and it sagged down. He also had a long scratch on his cheek.
"And you?" the man asked Uraraka.
"Ochaco Uraraka," she answered, and the man did the same thing for her as he did for Izuku.
With their cards printed out, the two started walking toward the entrance. Uraraka caught a glimpse of Izuku's card and noticed the burn on his face in the picture, becoming worried about the cause.
"What's that cut from?" she asked.
"What?" Izuku asked back.
"On your card," Uraraka clarified.
"Oh. I fell over," Izuku said, avoiding eye contact.
Uraraka didn't buy it. She saw how Izuku became uncomfortable talking about how the scratch happened, and how he said he fell over faster than he normally spoke. He also picked up the pace with his walk, which was suspect for her. Looking closer, Uraraka could see the faint scar of the scratch, meaning that he hadn't gone to a doctor, at least one with a healing Quirk, which was a requirement in most hospitals. All the more suspect.
Once they got to the lecture hall they were directed to, Izuku and Uraraka had to go their separate ways. The seating was by school, so the two had to sit in different sections. They bid each other farewell and left to their designated seats. Izuku sat down and looked at the stage until a person sat down next to him. It was Bakugo. The two hadn't talked since the day that Izuku revealed his relationship with All Might, with Bakugo refusing to acknowledge Izuku's existence.
"Kacchan," Izuku said, not quite sure how to talk to him.
"Shut up, Deku. Why are you here?" Bakugo asked.
Izuku steeled himself for the conversation ahead of him. He knew that it would be a difficult time talking to Bakugo, especially now. He took a deep breath and turned to his friend, seeing that he was almost seething.
"I'm going to be a Hero, Kacchan. You can't stop me," Izuku said.
"Don't say that," Bakugo said quickly.
"What? That I'll be a-" Izuku was cut off.
"No, that name. It's stupid and you need to stop. We're at UA, not playing in the sandpit," Bakugo said, keeping his eyes forward.
"If you want, I will. If I can't call you that, then you can't call me Deku, anymore. Use my name," Izuku said, leaning back in his chair.
"Alright. I want you to know that I don't hate you. I just want what's best for you," Bakugo explained.
"This is what's best for me. You don't see that, but it's the truth. I hope that you can realize that one day," Izuku said.
Suddenly, the lights dimmed. A single spotlight shone on the podium on the stage, and a man walked into the light, standing at the podium. He was a popular Pro Hero, Present Mic, and his Quirk was Voice, the ability to increase the volume of his voice exponentially, a great power for a Hero. He also hosted a late night radio show, which Izuku stayed up every night to listen to. Sometimes he had guests that were Pro Heroes themselves, and those were Izuku's favorite episodes.
"Hello, students! Welcome to UA! Today, you'll be undergoing our practical entrance exam, designed to test your combat abilities! First, though, let me impart some advice on you! As King Charles the fifth of Spain once said, 'Plus Ultra'! Go beyond your limits, further than you think you can, and you'll fit right in here!" Present Mic broke it down.
"In this exam, you'll participate in mock urban battles, engaging in combat against robots that our third year Support Course students designed. Each robot is worth a certain amount of points. One Pointers are smaller, slower and weaker. They have a machine gun attached to their arms. Two Pointers are fast, but not very durable. They have actual fists, as well as a tail with a spike, so don't get impaled! Three Pointers are big, durable and have rocket pods, but aren't very fast, on account of their size. They're easy targets, but they can also take most of you out in one hit," Present Mic continued.
"This is UA? Disappointing," Bakugo muttered.
"Go break a leg, kids!" Present Mic yelled, using his Quirk to increase his volume to nearly dangerous levels.
"Wait!" a student yelled out.
"Hmm? Yes?" Present Mic asked.
"On this sheet, there are four faux villains. Is this a misprint? If so, this would mean that there is a mistake on official UA materials, which reflects very poorly on the school," the student said.
"Alright! Thank you for that correction, listener! The fourth type of robot is more of an obstacle, really. You don't need to fight it, because it's worth zero points," Present Mic explained.
After Present Mic's speech, the applicants shuffled out into the parking lot outside. There were ten busses waiting for the applicants, lined up in order of Battle Zone. Izuku was assigned to Battle Zone B, so he made his way over to the second bus in the line. As Izuku sat on the bus, he spotted a familiar head of brown hair and called out.
"Uraraka! Hey!" Izuku called out.
She turned her head to look at Izuku and lit up. She rushed over to him, sitting in the row in front of him. Izuku felt something strange. Nobody's ever ran to talk to him, and that felt nice. Especially from her …
"Shut up, brain," Izuku muttered.
"What?" Uraraka asked, still getting comfortable in her seat.
The bus started pulling out of the lot, starting on the road toward Battle Zone B. Izuku marvelled at the sheer size of UA's campus, wondering how they can afford this without billions of dollars from the government on a regular basis.
"We're at the same Zone!" Uraraka cheered.
"Yeah. I'm glad it's with you," Izuku sighed.
"Huh? Why?" Uraraka asked, tilting her head in a way that totally wasn't adorable.
"Well, I don't know anyone else. Also, I already know that your Quirk involves some kind of telekinesis, so I have an edge!" Izuku joke.
"Oh, is that how it is? I know yours does, too!" Uraraka said, pointing an accusatory finger at Izuku.
"Does it?" Izuku asked, leaning back in his seat.
He quirked an eyebrow, chuckling as Uraraka gasped scandalously. She grabbed the back of her chair and pulled herself up, meeting Izuku's eye level. She glared at Izuku, trying her best to look angry, but coming off like Kirby. Small and cute. Izuku watched as Uraraka thought of things to say, not being able to bring herself to be angry. Izuku smiled as Uraraka gave up, slouching back down onto her seat. She groaned at her failure, earning strange looks from the other applicants. Izuku suddenly felt nervous, as if he was responsible for her actions. He thought it was cute, but apparently, nobody else did.
"How does your Quirk work, by the way?" Izuku asked.
"Why? Looking for another edge?" Uraraka asked back, teasingly.
"No. Just curious," Izuku answered.
Izuku laughed as Uraraka repositioned herself to sit properly. She thought for a moment, taking the chance to revise information. Izuku had spent hours trying to do this, but he always ended up spilling way too much information.
"My Quirk is 'Zero Gravity'. If I press all the pads on my fingertips on one hand onto an object, the planet's gravitational pull is lost on it. I can cancel the effect by pressing all the pads to their counterparts on my other hand," Uraraka explained.
"That's so cool! Can you alter the gravitational pull without negating it completely? Like decreasing it? Or increasing it?" Izuku asked rapidly.
"Uh, I'm not sure," Uraraka mumbled, suddenly feeling a sense of shame that she couldn't place the reason for.
"Is there a limit to the size of the object you can affect with your Quirk?" Izuku asked, pulling a notebook from out of thin air, apparently.
Uraraka's eyes widened as she wondered where he had gotten the notebook from. From what she had seen, Izuku didn't have any pockets on his tracksuit, so he had to have stashed it somewhere, and Uraraka really didn't want to think about that. He was scribbling in it furiously, so it couldn't have been anywhere too indecent, she had reasoned.
"Um, I can't float things that are heavier than about three tonnes otherwise I get really sick. I also can't use it too much, or I'll get sick in the same way as going over my weight limit, but I guess that's it," Uraraka answered, making Izuku's head shoot up to look at her.
"Three tonnes? That's insane! You have an extremely powerful Quirk, Uraraka!" Izuku praised.
Uraraka smiles, happy to be acknowledged. She had talked to her parents numerous times about using her Quirk for their construction company, but was ignored and distracted every time. They were nice about it, but she was still hurt by it. Izuku was the first person to speak of her power like this, and it felt nice; really nice.
Izuku resumed his writing, Uraraka happily spouting off random information about her Quirk. It was a wonderful distraction from the trials ahead of them, and it felt nice to talk to someone who was so receptive. Normally, Uraraka would get strange looks when she introduced herself, people saying that she came on too strongly. Luckily, Izuku was eccentric as well, so she felt comfortable being herself.
"So, Midoriya, what's your Quirk?" she asked, pointing a finger at him.
"My Quirk? Well, I call it 'Spectrum'. It allows me to absorb energy and redistribute it. I can absorb light, sound, heat, electricity and probably more, but those are the ones I've discovered. I can emit any among the listed forms of energy, regardless of how I got it. I might be able to enhance my physical power with this energy, but I haven't started testing that, yet," Izuku said.
Uraraka was astonished at his way with words. She was engrossed by his explanation, marvelling at the way he said those things without having to think first, just talking. Honestly, Uraraka was jealous.
"That's really cool! You'll definitely be a popular Hero!" Uraraka said, smiling brightly.
"Thank you, Uraraka. I think you'd be popular with kids," Izuku said, smiling back at her.
"Huh? Why's that?" she asked, tilting her head again.
"Well, your general personality, as far as I can see, is very .. what's the word? Bubbly? Yeah, bubbly. You're a very energetic and talkative person, so you'll be able to catch kids' attention easily. Plus, you're … um …" Izuku knew that he had to say it, but he couldn't. "... pretty, so …" he managed.
The two had a moment of silence, with Izuku hiding his head behind his notebook. Uraraka's permanent blush deepened, the pale pink becoming a dark red. She spun around, facing forward to avoid having to respond.
The bus pulled into the lot in front of a gigantic wall that stretched to surround Battle Zone B. It was a massive place, almost the size of a suburb in a real city, and Izuku couldn't help but gasp. UA's budget had to be larger than most government agencies to afford this, and Izuku wanted to see the complete list. It had to be a bigger number than he had ever seen before.
He walked out of the bus and stretched his legs. Looking around, Izuku saw that some peoples' Quirks were Mutant Types, letting him see what kind of powers they had. One boy had four arms sprouting from each shoulder, a thin membrane connecting the arms. Another had a belt with a large magnifying glass on it, the boy who wore it clearly being another light manipulator. He would have to talk with the boy later, but for now, Izuku was ready for the exam.
Izuku and Uraraka approached the gates to the small city, mentally noting how many people were in their group; fifty. That was easily enough to crowd the bus, but the administrator at the entrance of the main building had noted that there were less people applying than usual. Izuku wondered if they simply got smaller busses, or made custom vehicles for the amount of people. The latter being reality wouldn't surprise Izuku, seeing as overdoing things seemed to be UA's specialty.
"Ready?" Uraraka asked him.
"Ready," Izuku replied, nodding to Uraraka.
Uraraka nodded back, and they got ready to run through the gates. Present Mic appeared up in a watchtower, overlooking the whole Zone. He grabbed a microphone that was disconnected, probably to look cool, and addressed the crowd.
"Three!" the Hero started.
All of the applicants got into a runner's stance, each one differing from the others. Izuku's was less refined than a tall boy with blue hair and red eyes, whose footwork looked to be impeccable.
"Two!" Present Mic continued.
"Here we go," Uraraka mumbled to herself.
"Good luck," Izuku said under his breath, only letting Uraraka hear.
"ONE!" Present Mic screamed.
The gates opened in an instant, betraying their heavy appearance. It was likely made from the same metal that the Hero, Ingenium's armor was made of, the speedy Hero requiring a lightweight but strong material to construct his Hero suit from.
Izuku took off, running down the road as soon as the doors opened. He bolted, overtaking most of the applicants in a moment due to his small, nimble body. He was, however, outpaced by the blue haired boy, who confirmed Izuku's suspicion of his Quirk by running down the road at superhuman speeds, being propelled by compact engines in his calves. Izuku would have to write down his Quirk later, being in a test. He immediately turned into the street to the left and found a Two Pointer. He gasped, seeing the size of it, but quickly built his nerve back up.
The faux Villain was nearly twice Izuku's size, and it had the tail spike Present Mic had mentioned. Izuku mentally cycled between his different options of energy manifestation, and landed on electricity.
"Let's see if I can fry you!" Izuku said as he ran forward.
He rushed forward and approached the robot. The faux Villain brought its arms down, trying to squash Izuku into the ground, but the boy was too quick, getting under it in time to dodge the attack. Izuku channeled electricity into his arms and raised them, making contact with the metal body. He pumped electricity into the robot, hearing sparks and buzzing as he ramped up the power. After a moment, the robot fell back, dead.
"Yes! That's two points!" Izuku cheered as he moved on.
He ran further along the street, seeing a few people had followed him, most notably the boy with the multiple arms. Izuku watched him as he ran, the other boy moving like a sugar glider, maintaining altitude as he moved from rooftop to rooftop, scouting out the robots.
Izuku came across three One Pointers, all of them focused on him. Izuku grinned and ran forward, moving toward the enemies. He decided on using his sound energy on these Villains, and reached the distance where his blasts would be effective. He stopped, throwing his hands forward to aim at the robots. He charged his hands and fired, destroying the first robot with ease. Before he could readjust his aim, one of the robots fired its gun at Izuku's leg, forcing him to jump to dodge the bullets.
In the air, the other remaining robot aimed at the empty space Izuku would occupy in a few moments, when he landed. He realized how smart these robots had been programmed to be, and quickly switched to electrical energy. Izuku activated his electrostatic levitation, hovering in the air above the spot where the robot suddenly opened fire, expecting Izuku to be there. The robots hadn't had time to adjust their calculations, and this gave Izuku an idea.
He charged his legs with his default energy, getting into a runner's stance. When the robots began to aim toward him again, Izuku created a shockwave with his energy, flinging himself forward. He flew through the air, soaring close to the ground, toward the robots. As he passed between the two Villains, they opened fire, aiming at where he had just passed, directly between them. They destroyed each other quickly, not having had time to recalculate, and Izuku rolled across the asphalt, landing roughly.
"Five!" Izuku roared, still on the ground.
Izuku rolled his shoulder and kept running, trying to find more enemies to destroy. This went on for seven minutes, until there was two minutes left on the clock. Izuku had kept time in his head as he amassed points, moving from street to street.
As the clock ticked past the eight minute mark, Izuku had gotten himself fifty-three points by his count. He was proud of his performance, as he knew that All Might was watching, but he felt that something was wrong. Izuku hadn't encountered a Zero Pointer, the one that Present Mic had said was just an obstacle.
That was when it appeared. The Zero Pointer, turning out to be a metallic behemoth bigger than any of the buildings in the Zone, dug itself out of the ground and started wreaking havoc. Izuku cursed his luck and started to run away, the destruction getting a little too close for comfort.
"Ow," a small voice sounded out among the chaos.
Izuku stopped, almost tripping over himself as he skidded to a halt. He looked around, looking for the source of the sound. Turning around, he saw the blue haired boy speeding past him, giving him a strange look. He looked back at the destruction the Zero Pointer was creating, and saw her.
Uraraka was trapped under a large pile of rubble from a collapsed building that she had been next to when the Zero Pointer surfaced. He saw that her ankle was trapped, and that she looked fatigued. Izuku understood that it was over her weight limit, or that she had used her power too much during the test. Either way, Uraraka wasn't able to lift the cement blocks pinning her.
He ran forward, not caring that he looked crazy. Izuku rushed to Uraraka's side, trying to lift the rubble. He saw that it was a helpless situation, but resolved to do everything he could. Izuku quickly ran through everything that he could do in his head, trying to find a way to get the cement blocks off Uraraka's leg.
"Midoriya? Is that you?" Uraraka asked faintly, recognizing his green curly hair.
"Yeah, it's me. You're gonna be okay, Uraraka. I promise!" Izuku said, still searching for a way to save her.
After a moment, Izuku landed on electrostatic levitation. He reasoned that with enough power put into it, it could become 'Electrostatic Repulsion', the ability to push objects with a field of static electricity. It would have to be a lot of power, but Izuku remembered All Might's words.
Izuku stood up, and the pile of cement dwarfed him. It was large enough that he estimated it could take a chunk out of the Zero Pointer, but Izuku only wanted to get it off Uraraka's leg and get her out, not perform some great display of power. He began pumping his arms full of electrical energy, causing some to overflow and strike the cement as he charged his hands. Izuku kept going as he looked down to Uraraka, watching as she tried to pull her leg out from under the rubble.
"Don't! You'll only make it worse!" Izuku shouted over the sounds of the Zero Pointer in the background.
"Okay," Uraraka said.
Izuku came to the conclusion that Uraraka was concussed. She was barely there, mentally, and she wasn't registering her pain. Izuku was worried about her, but he pushed through that, filling his arms with power. It hurt to charge his arm to the extent, but it still wasn't enough.
Tears filled Izuku's eyes as he charged his arms more and more, and he hit his limit. His arms were burning, and he could feel his skin cooking. Heat was coming off him as he was electrocuting himself, but he kept drawing more energy into his body, his arms glowing brighter and brighter until all the people watching could see was a bright emerald light.
"Come on, Izuku! You have to go beyond!" Izuku hyped himself up.
He remembered All Might's words, and they filled him with strength. Izuku pushed his hands forward, leaving a miniscule gap between his fingers and the rubble. He focused on the small space between his hands and the debris, pushing every bit of his built up power into that space.
"You think that I could be like you?" Izuku had asked.
"No. I think you could be better. A stronger Symbol than I ever was," All Might had corrected him.
The memory gave him an extra dose of willpower, and Izuku pushed with all his might, and the small space he was focussed on was lit up like a Christmas tree, exploding with emerald lightning. The blast pushed Izuku back, sending him tumbling across the ground, scraping up his arms that were still crackling with green lightning.
The lightning blast effectively vaporized the rubble, sending whatever chunks kept their form into the air, barrelling toward the Zero Pointer. As Izuku came to a stop, he looked up to see that he had sent it right through one of the Zero Pointer's arms, making it fall to the floor and send a massive cloud of dust over the whole area.
Izuku's whole body was burning, but he stood up and started walking toward where he knew Uraraka would be. His legs started to give out, but he held onto his strength, making it to the spot he had been standing moments before.
He saw Uraraka on the ground, passed out. He saw how her leg was twisted the wrong way and grimaced, almost feeling the pain himself. He knelt down and leaned his head toward hers, trying to hear her breathing. Izuku could confirm that she was breathing, but it was very shallow.
"Hey, can anybody get a …" Izuku trailed off, passing out himself.
Izuku woke up in a hospital bed. He looked around, blinking rapidly due to the sterile white light being too much for his eyes. As he looked around, Izuku heard an ECG in beside him and reasoned that it must be hooked up to him. When his vision adjusted to the bright room, he saw that All Might was sitting beside him, with his head in his hands as he muttered something Izuku couldn't hear. Izuku sat up, getting All Might's attention.
"Izuku! Are you okay?" All Might asked.
"Yeah. What happened?" Izuku asked back.
"I only saw a blinding green light coming from you on the tapes. What did happen?" All Might said.
"I figured out a way to get the rubble off Uraraka's leg. I had to charge my body with enough electricity to turn 'Electrostatic Levitation' into 'Electrostatic Repulsion'. I pushed the debris away," Izuku explained from what he remembered.
All Might ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the ceiling, trying to calm his nerves. Izuku had been passed out for two hours, and Recovery Girl had said that if he stayed unconscious much longer, they'd need to move him to a hospital. Luckily, though, he was awake, now.
"Is she okay?" Izuku asked.
"She's fine. You saved her a whole lot of trouble, though," All Might said.
"How? Recovery Girl could just heal her if I hadn't," Izuku asked.
"My Quirk stimulates the target's ability to heal. Healing takes stamina, so if you have none …" Recovery Girl said, alerting Izuku to her presence.
Recovery Girl was a short, elderly woman, and UA's only nurse. It seemed weird to Izuku that they would only have one nurse, even a healer as powerful as Recovery Girl, but he abandoned that thought in favor of how cool it was that Recovery Girl was talking to him.
"... you can guess what would happen," she finished darkly, a grim expression overtaking her face.
Izuku had read that she had only one failed mission, a Pro Hero duo by the name of 'Water Hose'. They were a couple that went into Heroics together, but were killed in a battle with a ruthless Villain. They had water manipulation Quirks, but they weren't enough to save them from an A-Rank Villain. Recovery Girl had tried to save them, but her efforts were doomed to fail. Their stamina had been shot during the fight.
"Recovery Girl was able to heal you, though. I can't have my successor getting killed in the entrance exams!" All Might joked.
Izuku flinched, but All Might looked completely calm. He looked to Recovery Girl in a panic, but saw that she was smirking slightly, like she was amused. Izuku, calming down, realized that Recovery Girl must be one of the people that knew about One for All.
"You know about All Might's secret?" he asked her.
"Yep. I was the one that patched him up after that monster opened up his stomach," Recovery Girl said.
"Whoa. Does anyone else at UA know?" Izuku asked All Might.
"Just Nezu, the principal. It's why I was offered my job-" All Might casually said, before cutting himself off abruptly.
"Wow, you're going to be working here! Will you be a teacher?" Izuku asked, smiling widely.
"Great going, Toshi," Recovery Girl mocked him from her desk.
"Yes, I'll be your Fundamental Heroics teacher," All Might admitted.
Izuku let that sink in for a moment. It was one thing to be trained by All Might, but that was on a beach, in secret. To be taught by All Might in an official capacity, with UA's resources? That's something else.
"Um, how badly was I hurt?" Izuku asked after a few minutes.
Recovery Girl sighed and got off her chair. She silently walked over and grabbed the clipboard hanging off the foot of Izuku's bed. That was never a good sign, but the flipping of pages was an even worse sign.
"You suffered fifth degree electrical burns on your hands. You fractured your ulna and radius. You also had a concussion," Recovery Girl said.
"Oh, that's not so bad," Izuku said cheerfully.
All Might and Recovery Girl stared at him like he had gotten up and started tap dancing. He had only received three injuries. They must have treatment procedures listed with them, making those three things take up two pages on Recovery Girl's clipboard.
"Do you have any idea how bad a fifth degree burn is?" All Might asked him.
"No?" Izuku said, getting worried slightly.
"First degree burns are superficial; they heal with ease, with minimal scarring. Second-degree burns get into the lower layers of the skin, called the dermis. They can leave scarring, and skin grafts may be needed. Third-degree burns are more serious. These burn away all of the skin and get into the tissues below. They can burn things like sweat glands and serious scarring can occur. Fourth-degree burns reach down past the outer tissues and into the fat tissue below," Recovery Girl explained.
"What are fifth degree burns?" Izuku asked, dreading the answer.
"Fifth-degree burns get past that layer of fat, and burn muscle tissue. This can leave permanent damage. I hope you understand the severity of your situation," Recovery Girl finished.
Izuku's eyes widened as he took his arms from under his blankets and saw a few long, red, jagged lines along his arms. He flexed his arms hesitantly, and immediately knew that it was a bad idea. Izuku's arms ached like nothing he had ever felt before, and the lines burned into his skin stung.
"What kind of permanent damage?" Izuku asked, looking back to Recovery Girl.
"You'll have some trouble moving your hands for a while, and the strength will most likely never be the same. You can build up your strength almost to the way it was, maybe even more given hard work and determination, but it would be extremely difficult for even All Might to recover from an injury like this," Recovery Girl answered.
"That's what any other healer would be saying," All Might said, keeping his eyes on the floor.
"What do you mean? It could be worse?" Izuku asked.
"Yes. Thanks to my superior healing Quirk, I was able to heal you to the best of my ability. Eighty percent of the damage was erased, but I couldn't help the rest," Recovery Girl confirmed.
"Wow. I had no idea my power could hurt me this way," Izuku said, looking back at his hands as they laid limp in his lap.
"Quirks always have limitations. They're not some magical power, they're physical abilities; muscles. You can exercise them, make them stronger, but if you go too far, there could be no going back," All Might told Izuku.
Izuku took a moment to take in all of that information. He felt a flicker of electricity inside him, and for the first time in his life, he feared it. Izuku now knew the things he could do with his Quirk. He could easily use electrostatic repulsion to bring down a building in a city. He could probably give All Might a run for his money, and even put up a decent fight with the man beside him in his prime. It dawned on him what All Might had been talking about when he said that Izuku had the potential to be a stronger Symbol than he ever was.
He hadn't been talking about a Symbol of Peace. All Might had meant a Symbol of Strength.
A Symbol of Power.
That made Izuku feel sick. Recovery Girl brought a bag over to Izuku and handed it to him, trusting him to hold it to his face on his own. Izuku dry heaved, curling up into a ball after he was done. After a moment, he relaxed, laying on the bed normally again.
"Did I pass?" Izuku asked.
"Yes, you did. You got first place," All Might said.
"I did it! I really did it!" Izuku said weakly.
All Might stood, looking at Recovery Girl for confirmation that Izuku would be okay. He turned back to his ward, seeing his consciousness slowly fading. He petted the boy's hair lightly, before leaning back in his chair, watching over his ward as he slept.