A/N: I do not own MHA. I own a Discord Server but not MHA.
"Jump off the roof and hope for a quirk in the next life!"
Those words hurt, a lot. It was the final push to Izuku Midoriya after years of pushing his emotions to a breaking point. He was born quirkless in a world where pretty much everyone had quirks. A world where everyone has a superpower, but him... It sucked. What made it worse was everyone bullying him. Treating him like his quirklessness made him dirt, less then dirt actually. It was worse when he didn't even have the second joint in his Pinky toe that signifies quirklessness, so he should have one! But he didn't, he got bullied for years because of this and today was the day it finally just all hit him harder than usual. Especially with those words.
"Jump off the roof and hope for a quirk in the next life!"
Who says that!? In this case it was someone who used to be Izuku's best friend. Used to meaning once his old best friend, Katsuki Bakugo, got his amazing quirk he treated Izuku like everyone else did. Scratch that, he treated Izuku worse. Like hello? He told Izuku to just jump off the roof of their middle school and kill himself.
After years of bullying though Izuku was pushed to it. He was actually on the roof, he didn't even bother to go pick up the journal of his Katsuki had blew up with his quirk that let him make explosions with his hands. It didn't matter, because Izuku was about to jump off a roof and let himself die.
It wasn't a pleasant feeling though. He had always wanted to be a hero, like the Pro Heroes that had become a norm since quirks showed up. He was quirkless so it's not like that matters, he was a skinny wimp who was about to die so maybe he should think about something else.
No.
He should just do it.
Stop stalling.
So Izuku did.
He jumped.
And immediately regret it.
The feeling of falling.
Seeing the ground get closer.
Time deciding to slow.
His sad life flashing before his eyes.
He hated all of it.
He didn't want to die.
He then hit the ground.
Everything was black, but then it was like a single light appeared in front of Izuku, a gray blue light in the shape of a person. He could only see the person, and they gained more detail and he saw clearly who they were.
A girl.
More specifically a girl his age.
Who was really cute.
This cute girl had chin-length, pale gray hair, parted to the right, hanging down over her eye and obscuring the majority of the left side of her face. She had dark bags under her blue eyes, and a small mouth with full lips. She had a completely blank look on her face, the only trace of any emotion being the smallest amount of sadness in her eyes
Izuku couldn't blame the look because he could actually feel that his entire body was... just a mess. His neck, arms and legs all were bent in the wrong direction, different directions from each other. It was painful but for some reason not as painful to Izuku as it should be.
Maybe this was the afterlife?
So he was dead?
Wow Izuku really hit his head with this landing. Of course he was dead, he just jumped off of a building.
All of this afterlife was only the span of a second, his mind was just going a mile a minute. Maybe he should ask this girl what was happening? Before he could speak she did.
"Rise my hero."
Wow. even her voice was cute.
She tapped his forehead as she said that and Izuku felt something like being yanked back with either fiber of his being.
Then everything went black again.
The grass in Izuku's face and an inhale of breath made him snap his eyes open. The teen with emerald hair jumped up in shock at what happened, looking around for the cute girl. He didn't see her anywhere around the front side of his middle school. Then he noticed a blaring important detail of the moment.
He was standing.
With perfectly good legs.
After he had just broke them jumping off of a roof!
"Aahh!" Was his intelligent response to the situation as he looked at his arms, which were also in perfect condition. It was very startling to him. His clothes were kind of ruined like it did happen, his uniform having ripped in multiple places, a small amount of his blood was actually on his clothes by the rips. There was also some blood on the ground where he fell. That was all the proof that proved he had indeed jumped, but he was spotless physically with no marks of any kind.
What just happened?
Was that his quirk? Was that girl responsible? Did she heal him? Was she like some spirit who felt bad for him and revived him? Why? She called him her hero? When did he become a hero? Did he just get picked by a goddess to be her champion? Was he thinking too hard on this?
Probably.
Izuku actually didn't know what to do now. What should he do now? He just tried to end his life. Now he has a second chance. He has to not waste this. He now was going to try even harder to be a hero. He got his second chance and with it he had a supporter, that girl. If anything he was sure that was his guardian angel, and he couldn't disappoint her.
With that he started to walk home. He would go home, crack down on his studying, do something about his weak frame, and become a hero.
"That was astoundingly tough! And that Quirk! Once you become a hero please come to my agency!"
"What bravery, young man! You held your own against that villain admirably and well. I'm glad you are alright."
"You have will kid!"
"That's the stuff of Pros right there!"
So many people were saying things, but it all fell on deaf ears. Katsuki Bakugo was just sitting there, not moving an inch. He couldn't be blamed for his lack of actions in that moment, he almost just died. A villain made of some fucking purple sludge stuff just tried to take over his body. No one could even help Katsuki in that moment, none of them other thinking of something to do or actually not being able to help.
He was helpless.
Up until All Might, one of the best Pro Heroes ever, showed up and took down the sludge villain with a single punch. He arrived right before Katsuki died, but not quick enough to prevent Katsuki's life from flashing before his eyes. The experience made Katsuki think of a few things hard, but they were all really one thought that was so big it spiraled into multiple thoughts, making him numb to everyone and everything around him as it stood there in his head.
Katsuki was a dick.
That was it. Katsuki was a dick. An asshole. Honest scum. A horrible and arrogant jerk.
Especially because of that memory. One that happened not even twenty minutes ago. Words he said to someone who used to be Katsuki's best friend before Katsuki became insufferable.
"Jump off the roof and hope for a quirk in the next life!"
Seriously...
What the hell was wrong with him!?
Katsuki can't believe he felt no regret AT ALL when he said those words to a kid he had bullied non-stop for the past ten years. He was that much of a dick that he honestly told another kid to kill themself over something they couldn't control.
Again... Katsuki was a dick.
He deserved the Sludge villain attacking him honestly.
Katsuki wanted to be a hero. Someone who was the best at it, who could save anyone.
And he told someone to kill themself.
He really deserved to get attacked by that Sludge villain.. To Katsuki it didn't feel like enough. He had to go apologize. To every single person he was a massive jerk to. Especially Izuku.
Ignoring every single person there he stood up and walked out of the alley.
"Kid wait!" Someone unimportant at that moment tried to stop Katsuki.
"Fuck off!" Katsuki shouted without stopping his pace.
He would have to fix that, but first he had to apologize to Izuku. Who was probably still at the school, trying to find his journal that Katsuki threw out a window like a dick.
Katsuki got to the school and didn't see Izuku at all. Maybe he found the journal already and left? Or did Izuku jus go straight home after being harassed by Katsuki? If that was the case then he had to do the right thing and find Izuku's journal and take it back to him.
Looking up to figure out where their class was Katsuki sighed, realizing he threw it in the pond in front of the school.
"I'm such a fucking dick." Katsuki gained a scowl as he mumbled those words, wading into the pond to grab the journal. Small fish in the pond apparently thought it was food and had been slowly eating away at it until he picked it up. The journal was in terrible condition, making the blond teen feel worse. He flapped it slightly to get the fish who wanted a read and some water off of it before turning to get out of the pond.
Then he saw it. Blood.
It barely caught his eye but it did just enough for it to be hard to ignore. The shining red liquid not that far away from the pond. Katsuki actually felt panic for some reason. Why was there blood? The ground and the grass also looked matted as Katsuki moved to investigate, matted in the shape of a person almost.
Like someone hit the ground. Hard. Katsuki looked up at the roof of the building, the one that he had told Izuku to jump off of. Oh God did Izuku actually get pushed hard enough to do it? Did Katsuki actually cause his suicide? Is that why Izuku never got his journal from the pond?
"Please still be alive." Katsuki said in a panic as he walked at a fast pace towards were he knows Izuku lives.
Izuku actually stopped part way home. He sat down at a bench and thought of an important detail.
What was he going to tell his mom?
He had to tell her he might have found his quirk, or a blessing from a goddess. But she will obviously ask what kind of blessing and how and she will find out he actually tried to end his life. That would crush his mom. He didn't want her to feel like she failed as a mother because she didn't. She tries her hardest despite his dad leaving and it being just her raising Izuku. She deserved to know he found what could very well be his power but he couldn't just tell her how. This thinking actually brought up another thought.
Was this a one time deal? Was that the only time the goddess would revive him? It would make sense. Wait was he resurrected with an actual power? He checked himself again and noticed while aiming his gaze on his left wrist something he knew he didn't before. A bracer like thing that was completely molded to the upper half portion of his forearm right up to his wrist. It was made of some type of metal that looked close to silver in color, but on the outside of his forearm it had a dark blue gem. The gem seemed dull however, like it was missing a light or something. How did it get on him? Was it placed there by the goddess?
Izuku tried to take it off, but it didn't move. He struggled with it for a minute before he stopped. It didn't moved at all, not even a millimeter, almost like it was now a part of him. It definitely had to be from the goddess. He looked to see if the wristband, or was it a bracer, had anything else to it but it didn't, it looked plain past the dull gemstone.
"Kid are you okay?" A man asked in concern, worried about Izuku because of his clothing's condition.
Izuku immediately panicked, his natural reaction to anything. "O-oh I am f-ine! I just fell!" He tripped over his words trying to explain what happened.
"Okay." The man gave Izuku an odd look before he left. Izuku did seem to not have any bruises to the guy's knowledge so he must have just scrapped his clothes.
"Oh man I need to learn to talk smoother." Izuku mumbled to himself. He sat there for a minute longer, trying to think properly what he was going to tell his mother. He finally decided after a minute. He would tell her everything.
Katsuki knocked slightly panicked on the door to the Midoriya's apartment, praying to God the entire time that it would be Izuku that opens the door.
Someone opened the door, and it wasn't Izuku. It was Inko Midoriya, the small mother of the kid he hoped wasn't dead. It didn't help his fears that she looked like she was in the middle of crying.
"I'm sorry Bakugo." The woman sniffed. "I just got some bad news."
No.
No.
Nononono.
Not bad news.
Not that news.
God why?
He made Izuku kill himself.
Katsuki dropped the journal as he felt himself just die inside. He looked down at the floor, clutching his fists as he struggled to keep the tears from appearing.
"I'm so sorry." He quickly left. He didn't deserve to be around her, he made her son kill himself. The only person she had after her husband left her. He was the reason she was alone now.
Katsuki was an asshole.
A few minutes later Izuku came home. He was confused how his journal ended up in front of his apartment door, but shrugged it off as not being the weirdest thing that day. He picked up the ruined notebook and entered his apartment.
"Mom I'm home!" The teen called out as he closed the door. He heard her try to hide her crying. "Mom?"
"Hi sweetie!" Inko said as Izuku entered the main area of the apartment. She looked like she had obviously been crying.
"Mom what happened?" Izuku asked with concern.
"It's just... I got fired." Inko didn't mind her job as much as the fact that it was the only way the two had anything. Izuku's father was no help, abandoning them, and she didn't have a job that could do more than have them living paycheck to paycheck.
Izuku frowned, that wasn't good at all. Aldera junior high, where he was enrolled, was pretty expensive to their budget. He knew what he should definitely do. "Mom I am dropping out of school."
Inko gave him a bewildered look. "Izu no! I can find something else. It just means there might not be food sometimes."
"Mom I can help." Izuku shook his head. "Aldera isn't good anyways." Maybe he could tell her he got bullied hard there to get her to agree?
"Honey but what about your education?"
"I can take online courses!" Izuku realized he forgot that was a thing. "Webcam find something good that costs little and use the spare money to bide us over until we both get jobs."
Inko looked down. "Honey what about your future?"
"I am still going to U.A.!" Izuku declared. "I sent in a request and actually have the spot in the entrance exams. I can make sure I am ready to go there and will definitely get in!" Izuku then got another idea. "We can sell scrap metal too!"
"Scrap metal?" Inko wondered what her son was talking about.
"The beach. I think the area is called Dagobah Municipal Beach Park! It is overflowing with metal and junk! I can take some stuff from it and sell it to people!"
Inko sighed, she didn't know why she was here panicking so much when she should have known Izuku would try to find a way to help. He was a good kid. "I suppose I could let you move to online classes. But I don't want you to fall behind."
"I promise I won't mom." The teen nodded. He then wondered if he should tell her everything then, or wait til later. No, not later, it would be worse later. He should just tell her now and hope she takes it well.
So he did. Izuku sat there and told her about the bullying, thinking it would be best to start with that and build up to his discovery earlier that day. He told her about every rude name, insult, punch, smack, kick and every other piece of abuse he got in his bullying. It wasn't received well by Inko, who began to weep thinking she failed as a mother. Izuku assured her it wasn't anything to do with her and how it was mostly people like Katsuki who were the real problem. Izuku slowly built up to the moment on the roof, Inko having lost her depressed mood for a angry one when she heard what Katsuki told Izuku earlier that day.
Izuku took a pause before he said anything about the roof. Hesitant to tell his mom he tried to take his own life.
"Izu..." Inko saw Izuku's facial expression, one of confusion as he struggled to find the words. "What is it?"
Izuku's eyes began to well up. "I listened to him." He felt so guilty telling her that. "I listened and I jumped off the roof of Aldera!"
Inko gained a sad look. She hugged her son tightly. "At least you are here safely."
Izuku realized he would have to explain it better. "Mom... I actually... died."
Inko became confused. "Honey... you are standing right in front of me."
"Mom I seriously died!" Izuku didn't blame her for not believing him. "I died. I broke my arms and legs and even my neck! I saw this beautiful goddess and she just tapped my head and I was all fixed!" Izuku then pointed at his clothes. "Look at my clothes! They are so ruined from the jump but I don't have a scratch on me!" Then he showed his left wrist with the unmovable band. "This has been on my wrist since and I can't move it!"
Inko looked at her son with doubt. No one would not die from something like that, but at the same time it was hard to believe Izuku survived death. However Izuku was known for being a terrible liar and what he said sounds like it had truth to it. Was it possible that his quirk that never surfaced was the ability to cheat death? That would explain why they never knew because he never had something threaten his life before.
"Izu... if, that is your quirk. Please try not to use it too much." Inko really didn't know how she would handle it if his quirk was cheating death and he exploited it.
"I think it was just a goddess." Izuku admitted. "She tapped my head and said rise my hero and I was suddenly okay. I think she made me her champion or something." Izuku felt like this whole thing was was and unbelievable, luckily his mom knew him and trusted him.
"I am glad this goddess chose you." Inko really found it weird but Izuku had no reason to make this weird of a lie.
"Next thing tomorrow I swear I will get some scrap metal from the beach and find out how much it is worth to help us budget." Izuku swapped subjects. "I can do some classes at the beach with my laptop also."
"I believe in you honey."
Katsuki didn't even go home at first. He walked through the small walkways between the multiple apartment buildings that made the area he lived in that the Midoriya's lived on the other side of. He stopped in a small central fountain area and stared at the fountain.
Izuku was dead.
It was his fault.
He didn't deserve to be a hero.
Izuku did.
He had no quirk and was just a guy trying to be nice, and everyone else treat him like dirt because of the quirk Izuku never got.
And fate decided to instead give a quirk like explosion to Katsuki, an arrogant shit who let other's inflate his ego and become an insufferable person.
Someone who thought he would be the best hero.
But he drove someone kind to suicide.
Heroes don't do that.
Villains do.
Katsuki was the villain here.
"FUCK!" Katsuki slammed his right fist into the cement of the fountain with force through his rage and hatred at himself. He felt a crack in one of his knuckles. He didn't care. He deserved it. He was a villain.
He had to be a hero now.
For Izuku.
So many people all were like Katsuki and took what it meant to be a hero for granted, them all being in it for the glory or the fame, or to inflate their own ego.
Not Izuku.
He was the closest person Katsuki knew to a hero.
The blond made a vow right then and there, leaning over the edge of the fountain with his now bleeding hand. He would be a hero, a TRUE hero. One like Izuku, to honor the guy who deserved more than anyone to be able to be one.
The next day Izuku was already in online school, the Midoriya's working fast and finding an online school that was way cheaper than Aldera and actually had a better curriculum. Izuku had taken his laptop with him to Dagobah beach and scoped out all the metal. His first impression of it? Trash... the entire beach was just trash.
That was perfect. More metal equals more scrap to sell. More scrap to sell equals more money to support his mom. More money to support his mom was the goal.
Heck he could actually clean the whole beach too! Heroes should do things like this also, set an example of being a decent person. He had so many benefits to this too. Money to support his mom, he could train physically here with all the heavy metal, the signal was good here surprisingly so he can study for school here too.
This was perfect! Izuku spent the majority of the morning and up until mid evening moving metal, sorting through the crap so he can organize it better. He figured he could find a way to transport it all later, but organize it all to make it easier when he found people to buy it. It was some hard work, his whole body was getting tired from all the heavy lifting but Izuku didn't stop at all. He saw it as a good way to push his grit, something he admit he needed more of.
Around the afternoon, a bit after school would have finished that day, two things happened almost simultaneously.
Izuku was standing near the top of a pile of metal, it was a big pile, and he had to focus to not fall down and definitely hurt himself. He was trying to sift through some of the top parts for anything interesting when the wristband, which was near his face since the leverage he had with his left arm was just above him, began to glow. Specifically the gem did. It went from dull dark blue to a vibrant icy blue. The light scared him but the other thing scared him more.
"Young man what are you doing?" A voice said from the side.
Izuku jumped, not knowing anyone was near him. The sudden movement from his startle made the metal he was holding as leverage become loose and he fell as a result. Falling backward he felt his head fall on a sharp piece of metal that sliced through the back of his head.
Everything went black after that.
Katsuki went to school that day quietly. Everyone had seen the news and assumed it was because of his encounter with the Sludge villain. It wasn't. He was quiet because of Izuku. He looked to the seat that Izuku used to have, one behind him and to the right. It felt wrong seeing that seat empty, especially when Katsuki was directly responsible for the missing kid.
Classes went on that day and nothing happened. Nothing. Not even a damn fucking thing.
Of course he was only referring to Izuku. Everyone wouldn't shut the fuck up about his encounter with the Sludge Villain, up until he would tell them all to shut the fuck up of course. But not a damn person even said anything about Izuku. For fucks sake the teacher even skipped over his name in attendance. Did they really just not care!? Was he the only one aware of Izuku being fucking dead!? Someone had to also, who removed his body from the grass!? Did no one really care because Izuku was quirkless!?
Why was he surprised? Katsuki was the biggest asshole to Izuku, he was a dick for ten years. Mistreating Izuku because he was quirkless, of course others did. But then again, he was the worst one, so if he had this moment that made him realize he was a dick why didn't the others even just notice Izuku? Sure he had a life changing event but he was literally the worse, everyone else should have something mild life event make them realize they were also assholes.
He felt that being at Aldera was a waste of time now. He had to get to U.A.. Not to be the number one hero just because... but to be the hero Izuku would have been. However he had ten more months until the entrance exams, and he doubt he could get in on early access. So until then he was going to train hard. Not just his quirk or his strength, but his whole attitude. He couldn't be a dick or angry all the time anymore, he would use this time to fix his problems and be a better person.
Izuku was in the weird place again. Everything was black but the cute goddess was back. She didn't have the sad look in her eyes and it was completely blank. Maybe she was upset the first time because it was a suicide attempt and this time was kind of just... stupid? He got scared and fell into a pile of trash. That was kind of really stupid. Wait... was her blank look because she thought he was stupid?
"Who are you?" Izuku asked, ignoring the wet feeling on the back of his head that was definitely blood.
"Rise my hero." She repeated what she said the day before, tapping him on the forehead as well. He felt the pulling sensation again and everything went black again.
"My boy? Are you okay?" A man was slapping Izuku's face repeatedly and lightly, trying to wake him.
"Wha?" Izuku opened his eyes, not really paying attention to who the man was.
"You fell from the trash my boy. That looks like a nasty fall."
"Yea it was killer." Izuku rubbed the back of his head, feeling the blood but not a wound. He was completely healed again.
"That is a bit of blood." The man said. "I need to get you to a hospital."
Izuku shook his head. He had a goddess's blessing, he didn't need a hospital at that moment he was fairly certain. "I... I have a... a um..." Was this technically his quirk? It could be a quirk that connected him to the goddess.
"Your quirk young lad?" The man asked.
Izuku finally looked at the man who was speaking, and fell over, right out of the man's hold. The man had been carrying Izuku towards a hospital, but they were just at the edge of the beach. "AlL MiGhT!?"
It was indeed All Might, but in civilian clothes consisting of dark green paints and a white shirt. The massive man had his signature grin on his face as he was looking at the teen. "Yes it is I!"
"OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!" Izuku admittedly hit fanboy mode.
"Young lad calm down." All Might responded to the teen. "You just fell and banged your head pretty hard."
"I'm ac-tually fine All Might sir!" Izuku saluted and he felt like a dork doing it.
"Young lad I can see your blood." All Might then pointed to his large arm and the left side of his chest, which were covered with some blood. "You are bleeding from a head injury."
"I'm actu-ally fine!" Izuku squeaked, he out his hand against his head again to confirm that the wound was gone and showed his hand to All Might, his hand covered with blood. "See? Okay!"
All Might had a flat expression. "Young lad that is more blood."
"The wound is gone. I have a Goddess's blessing!" The teen still defended himself in being fine. He didn't want to make All Might waste time on him.
"A what?" The Pro Hero was beginning to think this kid hit his head really hard.
Izuku realized how weird it probably sounded to say he had a goddess's blessing like that. People will begin to think he is just crazy. "I um... have a quirk?"
"This quirk healed you then?" All Might asked.
"Yep. I have no wound!" Izuku stated.
"Forgive me for wanting to make sure." All Might then checked for himself, seeing that there was in fact no wound at all. "That is an impressive quirk you have there."
"Thanks All Might!" Izuku had stars for eyes.
"I still would like to know why you are on this beach. You look like you have been here all day and not at school."
"Oh. I take online classes. I um... want to get to U.A. so I figured I should train hard. That beach is a good place to train since it has trash that is tough to move around and I can also clean the beach while I train." Izuku left out him going there for the scrap metal to take and sell to keep him and his mom from starving and homelessness.
All Might gained a grin. "That is fine reasoning young lad." He put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "You seem to be fine so I will let you get back to it. However please be careful next time. Falling like that could have killed you." All Might was thinking he should keep an eye on this boy, he seemed like he was definitely something.
Izuku was busy thinking it did kinda kill him. That and All Might was actually talking to him. Izuku looked up to say something and All Might was already gone, he was that fast.
"I just met All Might!" Izuku shouted excitedly to no one but himself and the beach.
Izuku came home that day completely tired, once he entered his room he carefully placed his laptop on his desk before promptly dropping like a bag of rocks onto his bed face first. He felt really tired. He should find a way to not be so dead tired. Maybe make a better schedule? He had all the free time now because of online school so he can make specific things happen at specific times in the day.
However he should focus on something even more important. He died, again. He saw that goddess again. It happened after that wristband thing had the gem go from dull to bright. Was that his tell? Like did he actually have a quirk here that let him see a goddess and her revitalize him? The gem must be the signal of a cool down period or something. When it was dull it must have been off, still unavailable, but when it became bright it was ready to be used? How would he even test that? Should he even test that? The gem was completely dull at that point so it was likely that it could have been the light of the sun hitting it at the beach and he was mistaken, or this thing actually had a cool down and he could die again. But again... how can he confirm that? The goddess didn't actually answer him and said the same thing she said the first time. If this was his power he was at a kind of disadvantage against others, people who had powers that were offensive or versatile. His was dying but then not, that wouldn't help him be a hero. He would actually need tools if he wanted to be a hero, an edge that can help him rise above and help everyone he could.
What kind of gear would he use though? He had like no idea at first, maybe he could take inspiration from someone or something? Even a video game could be helpful if the tools could be made and were applicable to his future. What was the first thing he would really need as a Pro Hero, past the outfit? Maybe something to help with traversal? Like a grappling hook? Could he actually make one though? Maybe he can use the internet to help him learn how something like that was made.
Either way the next ten months were going to be busy.
The next day Izuku was back at the beach. He went right at breakfast, which was just two pieces of toast until they manage to secure more money. He did some online work while doing push ups, which was not as easy as Izuku thought it would be. Sure he knew it wouldn't be easy but he didn't expect it to be this hard. He used the internet during his spare time to research good work out methods, planning on dedicating a good portion of every single day on that. He figured he should also learn how to make gear or at least something as a tool to help him in the field so he would spend a part of the day on that too. Grappling hook was definitely something he loved and could have multiple uses. Should he learn to make a jetpack? How would he? That takes some knowledge he doesn't have.
Maybe he could just use the internet to learn things like that? It was the internet and he was fairly certain that he could find what he wanted easily.
Today was the day he would find a way to sell the metal though also. Maybe he can find a junkyard or someplace that was interested?
After he did some more studying he left his laptop in a crappy shed on the beach and decided to go into town. Before he even got far from the beach he ran into someone.
"Hello young lad." A blond man with two clumps of his hair drooping over his face said. The man was thin, like he looked like someone just stretched his skin over his skeleton thin. "May I ask what you are doing here at the beach?" The man wanted to see Izuku's answer.
"Oh I am here clea-ning it."
"By yourself? That seems like a tough job."
"I don't mind. It is good practice."
"Practice? What for?"
"I want to b-become a hero."
"Cleaning trash is a good way to be a hero?" The man had a confused look.
"To me. Heroes should do commu-nity service and set an example of what a good per-son is." Izuku really wanted to fix his stuttering at that moment. Maybe he can just talk to people to practice it.
"That is a valid point. What will you do with this trash?" The man seemed to just have more questions for Izuku.
"I was actually..." Izuku actually didn't want to say he was going to sell the metal because that felt wrong. He was taking advantage of a bad situation, granted it wasn't a bad thing to do and it was to keep him and his mom from being homeless and starving.
"Why not sell it to the businesses around Musutafu? I am sure they would make good use of it." The man offered.
"That... kinda was my plan." Izuku replied sheepishly. "I just don't know where to go for that."
The man gained a smile. "How about you just get them to that section of beach there and I take them for you?"
"You will? Why?" Izuku was kinda worried the guy was gonna say something about wanting most of the money, which was something he needed.
"I also think that heroes should be examples of good citizens. You can keep whatever they sell for. I can be content just with the knowledge that a lad like you is pursuing being a hero."
"But um... " Izuku didn't expect that. "You really want nothing?"
"Nope. You can have it all lad. This can be my example of heroics to you."
"Huh?" Izuku got confused, his head titling slightly. The guy was a hero? Him? The guy that had a physique that looked holding a paper was a workout? Really? He then looked at the man, trying to think of who he was, if he was familiar at all. The guy was actually familiar a little bit. Now that Izuku was trying to think of heroes this guy looked like All Might if you took all of his muscle and left him with just his skin and bones.
But that? That was not possible. No way could this guy be All Might because All Might's muscles were not for show, they were the real thing and you can't fake that. Unless All Might's quirk somehow could do that, which was possible when All Might has never actually revealed his quirk to anyone ever, keeping it a mystery.
The man realized his words made the kid try to realize who he was, and it was something the kid wouldn't stop thinking about most likely. There was no way the kid would know it was him though, the chances of that were too small.
"All Might?" Izuku decided to just throw the name out there as a random guess. It's not like that could be taken as just him saying this guy was All Might. It could also be taken as he had something to do with All Might.
The man actually coughed up blood in surprise. "What!?"
"I s-aid All Might?" Izuku stuttered in worry.
"My boy... how did you know?"
"Huh?" Izuku gained a look of confusion. "Know what?"
"You didn't know?" The man asked in shock.
"Know what?"
"You didn't even know." The man smacked his hand against his face.
Then Izuku connected the dots. "You're All Might!?"
"Yes..." The man sighed. He couldn't believe he just let that slip. For one he should have denied it and not go with his shock. "I am All Might."
"How?!"
"First off please stay quiet. We don't need all that attention." The man sighed. "Let's go down to the beach before I explain."
All Might examined his quirk, and how he got an injury that made it harder to use his quirk for extended periods of time. The most All Might could use his quirk, which was named One For All, was about three hours a day. It was something jarring to Izuku but he believed it completely.
"That is why I look like this." All Might finished explaining. "Because of that injury."
"But why were you here?" Izuku asked. "Why spend any time at the beach when your time is limited?"
"Because of you Midoriya." All Might answered. "I didn't explain it yet but One For All is not just a power stockpiling quirk, it is also a quirk that can be passed on to a new person by the choice of the current holder. My time with One For All has been getting smaller so I was looking for a successor. Truth be told I was going to wait a couple of weeks to actually reveal this to you but apparently we both rushed it." All Might chuckled. He honestly meant to use his skeletal like appearance to learn more about the boy and then make a decision. However the kid kind of figured out his identity really quick.
"Bu-wha- how why?" Izuku had so many different ways of asking the question that covered his confusion but had no idea how to word it. All Might chose him?! Him?! As a successor?! How hard did he hit his head the day before?!
Hard enough to die apparently.
"What do you say Midoriya?" A flash of smoke appeared around All Might for a second and he was back to his muscular form. "Will you be my successor?"
Izuku had many moments in his life that he would look back on and be proud of as he made his oath to one of the greatest heroes. This moment however was one he would always be embarrassed by.
Upon hearing All Might ask him that question Izuku fainted from shock.
"Midoriya?" All Might got confused.
Izuku woke up moments later with All Might repeatedly and lightly smacking his face.
"Midoriya my boy. Wake up" All Might found the reaction great.
"What happened?" Izuku asked in confusion.
"You passed out lad." All Might turned back to his skeletal form. "I admit it is a shocking question to drop on you so I am not surprised."
"I uh..." Izuku sat there. He let the question sink in. All Might really asked him, of all people, to be his successor. He hasn't even done anything to earn this. The most notable thing he has ever done was try to kill himself two days ago. "Why?"
"Midoriya you from what I have seen over the last two days so far seem to be a smart kind who is genuine. Someone like you would be good to pass One For All to."
"Can I... wait?" Izuku asked. "I haven't done anything to actually earn this."
"Midoriya I am fine with that. For one if I gave it to you right now you would probably have your limbs blow off from the power overwhelming them."
"What?!" Izuku was glad he turned down now.
"Yes. It is quite powerful. I was actually going to guide your physical training if you were the successor, and make sure you were ready for it."
"I wanted to physically train anyways."
"Perfect. I can help you with it. I can make a schedule that works that will make you be a strong young man."
"If... if you find someone better than me will you give it to them?" Izuku asked.
"Midoriya my boy I asked you and you have me a answer of confusion. You didn't technically say no or yes. You just want to do something that earns it properly. I can respect that. I will honestly not look for another successor but if you yourself believe someone else should have it I will listen." All Might stood up. "Now let's get to your first day of training!"
Within a week they found a perfect set up. Izuku began his mornings with a good jog and small workout. Then he would do his school work online at the beach, sometimes at home, spend an hour or two yet ng to figure out gear and then spent a majority of his afternoon working out hard.
An accident happened on their fourth day where a pile of trash collapsed and Izuku had officially died for the third time. The goddess didn't respond again but Izuku did in fact learn that he had a cool down period and the gem glowing meant he could die and get revived.
It was awkward explaining to All Might that his power was actually just dying but then not. At first All Might had a heart attack until Izuku got back up without a scratch, and full of energy like he hadn't been working out the whole time. Izuku said he only learned about it recently, not saying it was a suicide attempt that led to his discovery however. They never registered it as a quirk because Izuku didn't believe it was one. He told All Might he kept seeing a goddess every time it happened and that it had to be a blessing and not a quirk. All Might actually told him he believed that it was quite possibly and didn't say anything against the possibility.
After the first month of training Izuku learned something very valuable. When he dies and comes back he is at perfect health. That meant he was no longer hungry, tired or anything. He would be ready to go the second he gets back up. He learned this after he first attempted to use the grappling hook it took him the entire first month to make. It was a prototype and he wanted to test how well it does at shooting the hook. He tested it by shooting a sheet of metal, hoping to catch the hook on the edge of it. However his aim was off and he hit the metal straight on and it ricocheted right at his face like a bullet, killing him instantly.
The goddess had a blank look again, no emotion hinted at in her eyes. He was hoping she wasn't just hiding her laughing because that was a pretty dumb way to die. She said the line she said the first two times and he was alive again. Her blank look made him think that she definitely thought he was stupid or something. He definitely felt like it. Seriously who dies like that? Testing a homemade grappling hook and have it ricochet into your skull?
He would actually make himself die once every two days to make himself have energy, it was like a cheat code. He didn't have to worry about sleep half the time anymore so he gained even more time to work out and work on his tools.
All Might would be there everyday in his skeletal appearance, checking on Izuku and making sure he did the proper way of his work outs. All Might admitted it was weird to train a kid who kept finding ways to die sometimes to have full energy and get back into working out.
Four months into his training before U.A. his grappling hook was complete and he was developing a new tool. Gloves and boots that had ways to stick to surfaces. It was really complicated but using the right research and some advice from a curious All Might he managed to make a material that could stick to metal at least. It was a first step he was grateful for.
By the fifth month Izuku and All Might had gained an unspoken bond like father and son. At one point Izuku even offered a dinner invite to All Might who was thrilled by it. All Might admittedly like Inko Midoriya a lot when he met her, she was a sweet lady who did the best with what life gave her. He actually admittedly used a friend to slip money into the her bank account from time to time, feeling that this woman and her son deserved to live off of more than scrap metal money and a waitress job Inko had recently acquired.
In month six Izuku began learning how to actually fight from All Might. The man showing him a form he developed while in America during his early years as a hero. Izuku took to it really easily.
That same month Izuku did something he knew he would have to do, learn how to speak without stuttering. It took a bit of effort but thanks to the last six months he was a whole lot more confident in himself so it wasn't as hard as it could be. Plus he admittedly gained a more laid back personality from the whole dying every few days thing.
By month eight the beach was completely clean. All the trash and scraps were gone and people had even heard about the beach being clean and people were coming back slowly. Izuku enjoyed that but he decided no one really needed to know it was him who did it.
In the tenth month he actually developed something he kept secret from All Might, saying he wanted it to be a surprise for the exams at U.A.. Izuku knew it was against some robots and that was it, but he definitely wanted it to be a big surprise.
It was the day of the entrance exams, Izuku had a good breakfast and a jog and was ready to do the entrance exams. He had spare clothes because he figured he might be stupid and die again here, for the seventy-eighth time.
He took one single step across the gate of U.A. before he heard a voice he hadn't heard in almost a year.
"Izuku?"
The last ten months had been different for Katsuki. He spent a lot of time learning to control his temper, not always resorting to getting mad with people. Of course he was still pissed at himself for what happened to Izuku and the fact that no one still ever said anything about the guy.
He actually learned through his meditation, the best way for him to keep his calm, about trying to make his explosions happen elsewhere from his palms. The first place he tried were the soles of his feet and then he spent any moment he was physically training on that, learning how to use them just as good as his palms.
When he came to the exams his plan was to try to have one civil conversation with a new person, in the hopes that he wasn't an asshole still and that someone else was thinking like Izuku when it came to heroes.
When he got to U.A. though he swore he saw a ghost. A kid with a green tracksuit and wild emerald hair. It was jarring, the guy looked like Izuku from this angle so when Katsuki approached the guy from behind he said his name.
"Izuku?"
The emerald haired teen turned around and saw Katsuki Bakugo, his old childhood bully. The guy looked different, like something had tore him down inside. He was still as physically imposing as before, if not more so, but it looked like he lost that edge of animosity he always had.
"Bakugo?" Izuku asked to make sure this was the real Katsuki Bakugo.
"How are you alive?" Katsuki was looking at Izuku like it was impossible for him to be there.
"Huh?" Izuku asked. Did Katsuki think he was dead? Wait did he think Izuku jumped off the roof of Aldera that day and di?. The emerald teen called himself an idiot for that thought, he DID jump off the roof of Aldera that day and die. He just came back because of the Goddess's blessing. "I didn't die." At least not for longer than a minute.
"So you... didn't... listen to me?" Katsuki didn't really want to verbalize that horrible thing he believed he pushed Izuku to. Seeing Izuku here was actually lifting a weight off of his shoulders.
Izuku realized that the explosion user probably was holding onto a massive amount of guilt this whole time. He wasn't however going to lie about this. "I did listen. I did jump. It hurt a lot." Izuku wasn't going to mention anything about his getting a Goddess's blessing at all.
Katsuki looked down, clutching his fists tightly. He was mad, not at Izuku, how could he be mad at Izuku? he was mad at himself. Izuku really did almost die because of Katsuki. He felt that he would never make it as right as it should be but he decided to use this moment to say that words that have been eating him up inside for so long. "I'm... I'm so sorry!" Katsuki's voice was shaking. "For everything! For every damn thing I should have never have done!" His hands were shaking slightly as he tried not to cry. Not because he cared what anyone going past them thought, fuck them, but he needed to say everything he could. "For every insult, name, punch, kick, explosion... For every damn thing that makes me a horrible person!"
Izuku had wide eyes. Never in a million years would he actually think this would happen. Katsuki Bakugo showing emotions past anger and arrogance was something of a myth to him. He looked at the teen and realized how much it must have been killing him for the past year. As much as Izuku felt held up by it, which wasn't much, he said his next words.
"It's okay. I forgive you."
The blond looked up from the ground to look Izuku in the eyes, not believing what he just heard. Izuku forgave him? Just like that? "What?"
"What happened sucked, but I used the experience to grow and it got me here. Honestly I think it looks like you already punished yourself more than enough." The emerald teen explained.
That sounded like Izuku. Katsuki felt a massive weight just leave him. He didn't know why he thought Izuku would hate him for this, Izuku was too nice, it's what made him more of a hero than Katsuki.
"But you can't just forgive me that easily!" Katsuki snapped. "What I did was horrible!"
"Yea, but again I got to grow from the experience. I honestly should still be mad or upset or something right now but I'm not. Everything good that has happened to me since then is because of that moment. I am not thanking you for that but I just don't have any hatred of you for it. It just... happened." Izuku really didn't hate Katsuki for everything, he didn't like what Katsuki did, but at the least he got to meet the Goddess because of it.
Katsuki suddenly grabbed Izuku in a hug, the emerald teen startled by the action.
"I'm glad you are okay." Katsuki sighed.
"I wish you were." Izuku replied as he broke the hug off. He found this new Katsuki weird, wishing he would just show a bit of the old one so he knew this was in fact actually Katsuki and not a fabrication.
"I am okay." Katsuki wiped his eyes.
"I guess the new you is just weird."
"Hey!" Katsuki got offended. "You aren't the same either Izuku! I haven't heard you stutter once!" He pointed an accusing finger at Izuku
"Oh yea." Izuku laughed. "I kinda got rid of that. Kinda cramps my style now."
"Yea no shit." Katsuki replied. "You seem way more laid back."
Izuku felt like at this point to retract his earlier decision of hiding his power. Katsuki, this changed Katsuki, kinda deserved to know. "It kinda comes from my power."
"Your... power?" Katsuki asked. "Wait you have a quirk?!"
"Yes? No?" Izuku said both with confusion.
"That's not an answer."
"It's two." Izuku replied.
"You become a smartass too?"
"Yea." Izuku exhaled with a smirk. "I don't know for sure but I believe it is a Goddess blessing me."
Katsuki had a flat expression at that. "Okay."
"You believe that?"
"Sure." The blond shrugged. "It sounds weird to make that up. So what does it do?"
"I can die and then not." Izuku answered.
"Come again?"
"I can have something that should kill me happen and then walk away in perfect condition."
Katsuki then realized something. "Wait... so you really did..."
"That was the first time." The emerald teen nodded.
"First?!"
"Oh yeah I have died seventy-seven times so far."
"What?!" Katsuki shouted. "How?!"
"Some of it was stupidity to be honest."
Katsuki moved past that. "So you are immortal?"
"Um I have a limit. Once, and then I have to wait twenty four hours." He held up his wrist that had the metal band, with the gem that was currently glowing to indicate he had it ready to use.
"This... is a lot to take in." The blond said.
"I got used to it."
"Do you really forgive me?" Katsuki asked again.
"Yea. A little part of me says this is weird, but you seem changed."
"Look who's talking."
"It's also weird we both talk like old buddies, despite how our last conversation went." The emerald teen remarked.
"Life changing events are weird." Katsuki had to admit it was odd, but he liked it. "So... are we friends again?" Katsuki felt like he was pushing his luck asking that.
"Yea." Izuku nodded as he turned to face U.A.. "Friends who are gonna get into U.A. together."
Later the two had found their seats in the auditorium of U.A., waiting for everything to begin. They had seats right next to each other, seeing as how Izuku was still at Aldera when he applied to U.A., and were just talking about small things, like how Katsuki now meditates to deal with his anger or how Izuku spent time talking to random people to get over his stutter.
At one point a Pro Hero stepped onto the stage. The tall blond hair signified it was Present Mic to everyone. He tapped a mic and then spoke, really loudly.
"HELLO LITTLE LISTENERS!" The man shouted with volume. "TODAY IS THE DAY YOU KIDS PROVE IF YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO GET INTO U.A.! WE WILL FIRST HAVE OUR WRITTEN TEST AND THEN AFTER THAT I, YOUR FAVORITE HERO PRESENT MIC, WILL LAY DOWN THE RULES OF THE PRACTICAL!" At that point everyone was made aware of tests already at their seats.
"This should be fun." Izuku commented as they opened their packets.
"You can see my excitement." Katsuki said with a bored expression, not wanting to really take this half of the entrance exam as the other half.
Soon the written test was over and Present Mic turned on a screen, which would show the rules as he spoke, thankfully quieter than before. "Pay attention, listeners! We'll be seeing if you got skills to pay the bills in a ten minute practice run at our replica city districts! First however I am here to explain the goal and rules of the test!" A message on the board appeared that said everyone's test site location was on their packets. "You can take whatever equipment you want, just gather at your designated meeting area after my presentation on the rules ya dig?!" Present Mic paused to let everyone remember as much as they can.
"How many times do you think he is gonna ask if we dig?" Izuku asked Katsuki.
"Until one of us grabs a shovel." Katsuki replied.
"Pfft, I left it at home." The emerald teen joked.
Katsuki thought that this joking Izuku was definitely more interesting than how he was before.
"Alright Listeners if you look at the screen above me or your very own handout you will see that there are faux villains in each replica city, loads of the baddies spread all over the battlefields! Each one will be rated as a One, Two, or Three pointer! Your job is to use your quirk to take out as many of them as you can and rack up a high score! Also, you can't attack other competitors directly! That's nasty anti-hero stuff and it's against the rules!" Present Mic explained.
"People with area of effect quirks have to be careful then." Izuku remarked quietly to Katsuki. They were speaking at a quiet level during the whole event.
"Makes them practice control. It would be good for people to be aware of the risks of using their quirks like that." The blond nodded.
"Excuse me!"
Everyone in the auditorium turned to look at the person who spoke. It was a glasses wearing kid with a stern look that appeared to be permanently stapled on his face. "On the handout and the board above you there are clearly four types of villains listed not three! If this is an error, then it's a huge embarrassment for a top-tier national academy of U.A's caliber! What is the meaning of this?" He then turned to look up at Izuku and Katsuki. "And you two! Stop talking during a presentation! Do you think this is a joke?"
"We are discussing the presentation and what he is saying." Izuku responded. "We are taking this serious enough to not detail the entire presentation for a question he would probably answer."
"The man hasn't even gotten to the fourth robot yet." Katsuki added.
The teen looked at Izuku and Katsuki, holding his stern look. He didn't really expect them to do anything but apologize and be quiet.
"I was actually about to get to villain number four." Present Mic started. "The fourth type of villain is called the Zero Pointer! It's a big gimmick that goes wild near the end. They are too strong to be defeated and are there just to stir things up, so fighting them is hopeless and useless. If I were you, I'd do my best to avoid those sucker!"
The kid nodded and sat back down, satisfied with the explanation. He still planned on later saying something to the blond and emerald haired teens.
"Well that's pretty much all I have!" Mic went on. "I'll leave you with a quote that my academy prides itself on! Go beyond! Plus Ultra! Now get out there and have a fun time this test! Go break a leg! PLUS ULTRA!"
"Break a leg?" Katsuki asked.
"I did that last week." Izuku joked.
"Really?"
"Yea. I kinda fell."
"Doing what?"
"Falling."
"That tells me nothing."
"It tells you I fell. I was attempting to speak to the Goddess." Izuku admitted quietly as they walked to the buses.
"You die sometimes to talk to her?"
"I try." Izuku admitted. "She never responds. She just keeps saying rise my hero, and then taps my head and I am back up."
"Plus tell me you aren't gonna use that power here." Katsuki asked.
Izuku tapped a pocket on his track jacket. "I have it saved up waiting for this if I use it."
"What is that?"
"A surprise tool that might help me later."
"I'm not even in your test site. What is it?"
"It's a -"
"Excuse me." The blue haired teen cut Izuku off to speak to them as he approached.
"What?" Katsuki's anger flashed through as he said that. He was ticked off someone interrupted them.
"I want a further word about your disturbance during the presentation." The other teen said.
"Weren't you the one who stopped the entire presentation?" Izuku asked.
"Yea. We were literally whispering to each other, you shouted." Katsuki pointed an accusing finger at the teen.
"So we should talk to you about your disturbance." The emerald teen stated. "Today we let you off with a warning."
The teen narrowed his eyes at Izuku slightly. "You come off as disrespectful."
"That's disrespectful to say that when he calls you out for your own problems." Katsuki said.
"Write him a citation." Izuku patted Katsuki's shoulder. "I have to get to my bus." He left.
The blond looked at the blue haired teen. "I'd kick your ass but I have to get to my own bus." He then left as well.
The other teen just stood there for a second, before shaking it off to get to his own bus.
Izuku stayed quiet the whole ride to his test site, tweaking his grappling hook and making sure his magnetic gloves still worked well. He studied the images of the robots at the presentation and he had to assume there had to be a simple off switch on the machines for the kids who weren't completely destructive or had quirks that could incapacitate them. If he had to guess their backs made the most sense, so his plan was to use his grappling hook or his speed to get in close and just press the button, it would be pretty stupid to just try to break them all. Sure Izuku had muscles now but not robot destroying muscles.
The bus stopped and all of the kids were getting off.
"Kids just stay behind the red line until they give the say so." The bus driver said.
Izuku managed to stand near the front, just a step or two from the red line. He was excited. This was finally his chance to prove that he was hero material. To show every doubt he had in himself that it was all for nothing to doubt him. Even if those robots didn't have off buttons he could find a way, he WOULD find a way. He did not spend the last ten months working his ass off for nothing.
"ALL RIGHT KIDS!" Present Mic's voice spoke over intercoms in the various test sites. "GO CRAZY!"
Most of the kids got confused, expecting a count down or something. Not Izuku, the second he heard Present Mic begin to speak he admittedly ran, too hyped up to really listen to what was said. It was just luck that Present Mic was actually starting the test or Izuku would have been disqualified.
Izuku ran into his first threat, a Two Pointer who immediately went after the boy.
"Let's hope this works." Izuku said as he shot his grappling hook at a street light, which worked and began to retract and pull Izuku over the head of the Two Pointer. Izuku pressed a button that made the hook release itself as he grabbed the head of the Two Pointer and slid down it's back.
"Score!" Izuku shouted as he found a red button literally labeled shut off button. He pressed it and the robot shut off. So they do have off buttons! Izuku's luck really was good. He didn't waste time and used The street light again with his grappling hook to swing away towards another robot, a Three Pointer this time.
All Might had taken a job at U.A., one he took at first to find a successor but seeing as how Izuku was still on the fence it became a job to guide the future generation. Also watch over the boy who became like a son to him.
"The test isn't just about destroying the Villain bots." An animal of unknown origin, either a mouse or a bear or a cross between the two really, said as he stirred a cup of tea. He was Nezu, one of the first quirked animals and smarter than ninety nine percent of humans thanks to his intelligence quirk. He was the principal of U.A.. "It is also about damage control." A screen showed a girl with enlarged hands catch a truck that was thrown by a Three Pointer.
"Keeping calm and being aware of your surroundings." A beast-like looking teen covered in brown fur was seen calmly incapacitating a two Pointer by dodging a shot from a Three Pointer, making it hit the Two Pointer before he went after the Three Pointer.
"Combat versatility is very important too." A boy with a bird like head was seen helping someone off the ground as what was seemingly his shadow slashed through a Three Pointer.
"Helpings others no matter what." A certain explosive blond was shown destroying a Three Pointer that was about to crush a girl with permanent blush before he helped her up.
Izuku swing from the tail of a Two Pointer he just turned off to jump onto a Three Pointer, using his magnetic gloves to quickly scale the side and punch the off button.
"That makes five Three Pointers." Izuku stood straight up on the Three Pointer and looked around. Most of the Villain bots in the immediate area were already dealt with so Izuku couldn't do much. The most he could do was count his score up. "Let's see. Five Three Pointers. That's fifteen points there. I think it was seven, no it was eight Two Pointers. That's sixteen points right there. So far thirty-one points. Plus the five One Pointers I have thirty six villain points. Is that enough?" Izuku asked out loud.
A few more minutes went by before Nezu spoke again. Multiple test takers all were showing promise and teachers already had eyes on quite a few of the kids.
"But most importantly..." Nezu began as he pressed a button to begin the biggest part of the exams. A loud booming sound came from each test site as the Zero Pointers were released. "This is a test to see their true spirit."
Izuku looked up with wide eyes at the building sized robot that just made its presence known. Multiple thoughts went through his head but his next sentence captured most of them perfectly.
"Well fuck." Izuku muttered.
"Targets located." The massive Villain Bot's voice came out like metal. It brought its fist against the building next to it to adjust it's standing in the streets it began to move towards the students.
"Run!" A kid said as he, and a majority of the others all ran away from the massive threat.
All across the sites most of the kids were seen panicking and fleeing. The teachers had blank looks, just waiting to see anything actually worth it.
And they did. In some sites there were a few kids who all chose not to run from them but instead get others away from the Zero Pointers and make sure everyone was safe. Some kids tried to find ways to slow the Villain bots down.
But in two particular sites were the beginnings of a true heroic spirit.
Test Site Seven
Katsuki made explosions crackle to his hands, making the sweat more intense as he ran at the Zero Pointer, blasting himself into the air to get its attention on him.
"HEY FUCKFACE!" The blond would never fix his mouth when it came to villains, or robots that were test villains. "I HAVE SOMEONE TO HONOR SO COME AT ME!"
The Zero Pointer heard his words and brought up a hand to fight the explosive teen.
Test Site Eight
Izuku used his grappling hook to swing from street lights or use downed Villain bots to get himself closer as he ran at the very very big Zero Pointer. He had a very useful plan that would definitely get rid of this fuck but he just had to get up to it's head. Luckily that's where his magnetic gloves came in handy. He managed to get to a spot where he could grapple to it's hand as it smashed a good chuck if the road and used his gloves to hang on tightly as the metal arm bigger than his apartment went back up.
"I shouldn't have said it was a surprise tool that might help me later." Izuku commented as he used his grappling hook again to get to it's shoulder.
"Tell me who these two are." Nezu had increased the size of the screens that were watching the two kids.
"Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya." Present Mic answered.
"Tell me about their personalities."
"Bakugo was stated as being very prideful and foul mouthed until he had an encounter with a villain almost a year ago. Now he seems that be quieter and calmer."
"I wouldn't call that calmer." A woman with dark hair commented.
"His quirk let's him create explosions from his sweat, it was said to be just his hands but it looks like he can see his feet as well." Present Mic continued.
"And what about Mr Midoriya?" Nezu asked. He found it odd that the boy hasn't shown his quirk yet, was it not a battle quirk? "What is his quirk?"
"He is labeled as quirkless." Present Mic said.
All Might had a blank look listening to that. He and Izuku never really bothered to get that filled in and probably should because it would definitely come up eventually. Izuku held off because he kept saying it might not be a quirk and just the Goddess of his blessing him.
A dark haired man with tired eyes actually began to pay attention. Was this kid really quirkless and trying to scale the Zero Pointer? Thus boy had definitely gained his attention now.
"Quirkless?" Nezu said in surprise. "I wonder what he has planned."
All Might exhaled. He was hoping that his pupil wasn't going to do something that ended with him dying again.
Izuku definitely was gonna die again. That was his plan. He had that stock and a dumbass idea that involved his third piece of gear. Getting to the Zero Pointer's neck Izuku grinned like a mad man as he pulled out a single item he definitely would be questioned for having.
A homemade bomb. Izuku had a bomb he made himself.
His plan was simple. He had no firepower past the bomb so he would use it to blow the damn thing's neck off. He can jump to safety, by jumping straight off of the thing. It's not like it mattered where he fell when he can easily just get back up from it when it inevitably kills him from this height. Izuku started the bomb's timer before he placed it, not really worried since he would definitely get away in time.
Suddenly though the robot turned its head to face a test taker who got brave, and Izuku in its neck got slammed at high force to his neck from the sharp side of its jaw.
Izuku's neck broke completely and he instantly saw black.
No one in the viewing room said anything for a second. Did a kid just die taking their test?
"I'm calling the test!" Nezu tried to grab the mic.
"Wait look." All Might was glad he knew Izuku had that stock saved up.
Izuku cursed as he was in the black void again. He really just died because a DAMN MACHINE TURNED ITS HEAD! Was a side effect of the Goddess blessing him just dying stupidly half the time?!
The gray blue light came into existence and Izuku saw the Goddess again.
"At least this isn't dumb like the grappling hook." Izuku said to himself, knowing the girl wouldn't respond anyways.
"Good luck my hero." The Goddess said as she tapped his forehead.
"Wait. why was that different?" Izuku asked right as he felt the sensation of being revived.
Izuku stood up with renewed energy. He hadn't fallen off the Zero Pointer's shoulder, hitting a raised part that kept him there. He didn't even let go of the bomb he was holding.
"Oh fuck!" Izuku said as he looked at the bomb that was going off. He never put a stop button on this damn thing! He didn't think something like this would happen! "AH!" He was panicking and just threw the bomb with a timer at ten seconds left at a groove in the neck of the Zero Pointer.
Izuku had to get the hell out of there, now! He tried to grab his grappling hook and found it gone. It must have fallen off of him. Was his luck all just deciding to flip him off now?! Izuku began to curse repeatedly as he began to run down the shoulder of the Zero Pointer before his excessive bomb went off. He managed to slide down the shoulder right as the bomb went off.
The explosion completely destroyed most of the head of the Zero Pointer and its upper body. Izuku got launched far and used his magnetic gloves to attach to a thin sheet metal piece of the upper arm of the Zero Pointer as he soared through the sky. He was probably going to break a good portion of his body at this speed. At least the Zero Pointer got stopped though.
No one was even close thankfully when the bomb went off, even the kid who inadvertently caused Izuku's death who was using long range attacks.
Izuku admittedly was screaming as he flew. it closed his eyes as he got closed to the ground, thinking him and this crappy metal ride of his were definitely going a couple of meters below the street. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact.
Nothing.
He felt nothing.
Damn he really died that fast?
Painless was better than what happened when he shot himself with his grappling hook on accident.
Did he become a complete splat against the ground?
"That would have made you leave this world if I hadn't prevented it."
Huh?
Did a girl just speak?
Wait was that the Goddess? He wouldn't mistake her voice for anyone's.
Izuku opened his eyes and saw that he was upside down, floating just about two meters above the ground. He looked forward and saw a girl.
Not just any girl.
It was the Goddess.
She had everything, matching perfectly in appearance except for the clothes. The Goddess had a pale purple Kimono that was knee length. This girl had a gray training outfit. But everything else matched perfectly. Chin-length, pale gray hair, parted to the right and hanging down over her eye and obscuring the majority of the left side of her face? Check. Dark bags under her pretty blue eyes? Check. A completely blank look on her face? Check. It was her for sure. And Izuku kind of just stared at her, mouth open in shock while still attached to the metal sheet she was making float.
"Are you in good condition?" She asked in that voice that was definitely the Goddess's.
This was without a doubt the Goddess. How was she here? Why was she here? To save him?
"Goddess?" Izuku asked in complete confusion.
"I am not a high deity."
"Wha- Ho-... Wh-" Izuku had so many questions but he got cut off by his gloves malfunctioning and losing their magnetic property, making him fall straight to his back on the ground.
"That's it everybody!" Present Mic announced the end of the test, not at full energy since he was still getting over thinking he just saw a kid die.
"Wha-?" Izuku looked up at the girl.
"I believe that you took a lot of force to the head. You almost left our plain of existence." She didn't know why this guy was so confused by her, or called her a goddess. "I suggest getting to a medical professional." She began to walk away.
Izuku just laid there, staring at the spot she just was. She really existed. The Goddess was real! And she was even prettier with regular color to her and not just the gray blue light!
Izuku shot up to say something to her but she was just gone, or he couldn't see her. There were a lot of people where he almost became a stain on the ground.
"What is going on?" Izuku asked himself as he sat back down. This was all so confusing to him. He didn't even get a real name from her. Should he use his next stock to try to conversate with her?
Yes.
Walking out of the gate at U.A. Izuku still looked confused as all hell. He accidentally walked right into someone as a result. It was just Katsuki however.
"What's the face for?" The blond asked.
"She was there." Izuku replied half-heartedly, still not mentally caught up with where he was.
"Who was there?"
"The Goddess."
"You died again?"
"No. Wait yes." Izuku wasn't really listening, he was was still too confused. Seeing the Goddess really threw him off.
"I don't like that you died. Where was she?" Katsuki didn't really want to talk about Izuku dying again.
"She was there. Right when I was about to die for real she stopped me."
"Die for real? What, did you almost die twice in an exam?"
"Yes. She stopped me from falling and then left."
"So she can resurrect you two times now?"
"I didn't die the second time. She was actually there, like here with us. Like she was taking the test also."
"Huh. Maybe you were just seeing things after that first death. Or she is real and watching you before you die." The blond offered.
Was that it? Or was Izuku overthinking this? Or was he underthinking it?
The next day went by slowly. Izuku really just wanted his stock back because he planned on using it the second he could to try to talk to the Goddess again. All Might hasn't said anything to him since before the exams when he wished Izuku luck, Katsuki had gotten his new number and Izuku told his mom how they saw each other and reconnected. Inko wasn't as thrilled at first hearing how Izuku saw Katsuki but upon listening to the whole thing she took her dislike down a bit, but she still wasn't happy about him at all.
Once his extra life returned Izuku rushed to the roof of his building, not explaining to his mother why he just up and ran while they were eating lunch. He got to the roof and didn't hesitate to just jump off. A side effect he guessed if knowing his death sometimes can have no consequences but a few seconds of pain made Izuku way too... well it wasn't confident, maybe it was stupid? Anyways he fell the eight floors and hit the ground head first. He saw black immediately as he died.
Izuku was in that black void place in between lives again and began to speak again.
"Hey! Goddess!" He shouted. "Talk to me this time! Why were you there?"
She appeared in that light again like she always did. With her blank look and white kimono and everything.
"Can you talk to me this time please?" Izuku asked.
The Goddess didn't answer, she only tapped his head like before.
"Rise my hero." She said as she tapped his forehead.
"Better be glad you are cute or I would be mad." Izuku muttered to himself as he felt the sensation of being revived again.
Izuku was on his back facing up right after he got revived, he didn't move because he was just laying there. He was a little annoyed she never replied at all. Why did he say good luck instead of rise at the exams though? Was that really important or was he really just overthinking things? Was she just messing with him?
"Hey ummm... Izuku?" Katsuki spoke from above the emerald teen. He was coming over to officially apologize to Inko about his horribleness and found Izuku just lying on a oath in between some of the apartment buildings. "Whatcha doing?"
"Dying." Izuku sighed, not moving as he just stared up at the cloudy sky.
"Did you just jump?" Katsuki looked at Izuku's clothes to see some rips but not a scratch on Izuku.
"Yea."
"She talk to you?"
"No."
"Want to just lie there for a while and I will get you in a minute?"
"I guess."
Katsuki nodded. "Okay I will be back in a few." He went towards the back door of Izuku's apartment building so he can go get yelled at by Inko.
Izuku looked up at the clouds. "Are you just messing with me?" He spoke to the air but the question was meant for the Goddess. It's not like it matters cause he gets the same amount of conversation from both.
All Might, in his skeletal form, knocked on the Midoriya's apartment door.
Inko opened it and gave a warm smile. "Hello Yagi." Inko always enjoyed when All Might comes over. She was very aware of his condition because he accidentally lost the muscle form in front of her three months back. It was shocking but she accepted it. They became close enough that they even learned All Might's real name, Toshinori Yagi.
"Hello Midoriya. Is Young Izuku here?"
"Behind you." Izuku spoke up. He had just come back from the grocery store.
"Hello Lad. I have a letter for you." He handed a gold envelope to Izuku.
"My U.A. letter!" Izuku exclaimed.
"It is. I hand delivered it thinking it would be enjoyable to see your face."
"My face isn't funny looking." The teen replied as he set the bags of groceries on the table. He immediately opened the letter.
"I didn't say it earlier because it would be a surprise." Toshinori began. "But I have a job at U.A. starting with the new school year, as the Foundational Heroics Studies course teacher."
Izuku stopped reading his score on the written test, where he didn't miss a single question getting a perfect score. "Wait so you are going to teach Heroics?"
"Yep!" Toshinori grinned. "I didn't want to tell you before the exam because I didn't want you to think favoritism was going to factor into your exam. I only gave honest views of your performance when asked what I thought."
"What did you think?" Izuku asked.
"That you are reckless." Toshinori answered. "That you act without thinking sometimes."
"Rude." Izuku said jokingly.
"But, you showed courage and intelligence with the Zero Pointer. Running straight at it with no hesitation. Something I believe makes a good hero. The others definitely believed that too."
Izuku nodded. "So no one questioned me having a homemade bomb?"
"A homemade what?" Inko asked.
"Huh?" Izuku asked.
"I was going to ask about that next." Toshinori said. "But I really don't want to know how you made a bomb that powerful "
"It took three months and-"
"I don't want to know." Toshinori held up his hand. "The only major thing that should be done is getting that power of yours registered as a quirk, even if you don't know for sure if it isn't one. You caused a panic with the staff when your neck got broken."
"What?" Inko asked Izuku with a tone that suggested she was preparing a lecture. She knew he could survive deaths but couldn't stand the idea of him dying at all.
"A robot turned its giant head and its jaw broke my neck." Izuku explained with embarrassment.
"And explain the bomb." Inko wasn't going to let that slide either.
"I made a bomb for whenever it might be useful." Izuku shrugged.
Inko narrowed her eyes. "Was anyone hurt?"
"Izuku getting thrown away in the blast." Toshinori answered. "Other than that? No."
"Don't make another one."
"But mom!" The teen protested.
"No bombs." Inko was not going to argue over this.
"Fine." Izuku sighed. "Ar least that one was cool." He went back to his letter. "Hero Points?"
"Yes that was a category they kept secret to test your kid's genuine good nature. From how helpful you were to others when they needed help, to big sacrifices like your feat against the Zero Pointer."
"Does it count as a big sacrifice if I had the plan of using my power?" Izuku asked.
"They weren't aware of it so it counts. Plus you did it regardless."
"Sixty hero points?!" Izuku read the score.
"Yes. A few teachers, one man in particular actually, found respect in your actions despite you having virtually no power." All Might said. "With ninety six points total you actually place first by a single point."
"I got first?!" Izuku asked in shock. He looked at another paper, one showing the top ten scorers of the exam.
1st place Izuku Midoriya:
36 villain points - 60 hero points
2nd place Katsuki Bakugo:
70 villain points - 25 hero points
"I actually beat Katsuki?" Izuku was surprised.
"Young Bakugo did tremendous himself. He showed kindness to the others as well as you. However I believe your lack of firepower like his made everyone believe your efforts to be more earning of points."
"I wonder how he feels about this." Izuku asked. Then it actually hit him, he just placed first in a exam for future heroes! How?! Because of a bomb and a death wish?
His phone went off and Izuku looked at it. It was a message from Katsuki.
Katsuki: Nice score. You earned this.
Izuku smiled. Katsuki really had changed for the better. He replied back.
Izuku: Dude we both did awesome! We are on the road to be heroes now!
He had no idea how tough of a road it would be, his road that led Izuku Midoriya to become the greatest hero of his generation.
A/N: That's the end of the first chapter of what is now my eighth story. Obviously that girl is Reiko Yanagi, her name is in the title.
OFA is a topic I am on the fence about. Izuku definitely deserves it but I am not 100% sure I am gonna give it to him. I am more like 66% sure I am giving it to him at this point.
His quirk, yes it is a quirk, is actually based on the ability from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Mipha's Grace. I am also partially considering fitting Daruk's Protection into it somehow.
Also I have a Discord if anyone wants to talk about this story, the link is in my bio
That's all I got. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know how it was and have a good day!