Chapter IV

The class was chatting away excitedly at the prospect of the last day of Aldera Junior High. They were all discussing vacation plans, where they planned on attending high school the following year, and even what they were going to get up to after the day was over.

All except three.

The first was the resident Sparky Sparky Boom Boi, Bakugo Katsuki. The last year of middle school did absolutely nothing to humble the arrogant brat even if he had fewer and fewer interactions with the former scapegoat of the class and his best friend.

The aforementioned former scapegoat and his best friend were the other two that were silent. Midoriya Izuku, the 14-year-old quirkless student with aspirations to be a hero even with his handicap, had grown a lot in his last two years. He stood at 171 cm tall packed with lean, but dense muscle as a result of all of the training he had done the last two years. All of that training due to his first real friend and older brother figure.

Aizawa Perseus better known by his peers as "Percy" had similarly grown, but it wasn't as drastic of a change as Midoriya's was. Percy stood at 178 cm and also packed with lean and dense muscle, but he was a little bit bulkier yet more toned than Midoriya. Both boys looked like they were well on their way to having the physiques of pre-quirk Olympic swimmers.

The two sat quietly, side by side, as they waited for the teacher to come in and finish off their last day of junior high. Midoriya was scribbling into another edition of his Hero Analysis notebooks and Percy was listening to music in his headphones when the teacher came in.

"Quiet down class!" he projected over the noise to get the class to respond. Once they settled down, he began to address them again with a stack of papers in his hand.

"Now, it's the last day so I know you all already filled out your future career plans," he said and paused before throwing the stack of papers into the air. Percy raised an eyebrow at the useless action and Midoriya kept scribbling.

"But I know you all want to be heroes, right?!" the teacher yelled and the noise of the class came back even louder than before. The same three students were still silent, but the two friends rolled their eyes in exasperation. They were both completely done with the school and everyone in it.

The rest of the students however, were showing off their less than ideal quirks with reckless abandon until the walking grenade decided to speak up.

"Don't lump me in with the rest of these extras, sensei!" Bakugo mocked. "I'm the only real deal in this school! The rest of these clowns would be lucky to make it as a sidekick for some D-list nobody!"

The class (minus Midoriya and Percy) took offense to Bakugo's words and immediately began to slander him for being so arrogant which both boys found incredibly hypocritical, but still didn't comment.

The slandering had apparently gotten so bad in Bakugo's ears that he leapt on top of his desk and growled, "SHUT UP YOU EXTRAS! I aced all the mock exams for U.A. and I'm the only one from this shithole school that'll get in there! Know your place!"

"Ah. That's right, Bakugo-kun. You applied to U.A. and your chances of getting in are quite high," the teacher praised as he thumbed through the rest of the forms he had picked up in the previous chaos. He completely missed Bakugo's smug smirk, but Percy and Midoriya doubted anyone was surprised by it.

"It seems you won't be alone," the teacher said after a moment, making Bakugo scowl and the class quiet down. "Aizawa-kun will be attending U.A. as well via recommendations, and Midoriya-kun is applying too."

As the words finally registered in the class's heads, they began to voice their praise for Percy who completely ignored them and was picking at his ear with his pinky.

They also murmured about Midoriya, but instead of praise or slander, it was uncertainty. They had seen the changes the bush headed classmate had gone through due to his training and remembered all of the times he easily dodged Bakugo's attacks.

Of course Bakugo was absolutely livid at hearing that information and leapt from his seat to charge the two of them.

"WHAT THE HELL DEK-," he started to shout as he took two steps toward the boy in question when a tendril of water wrapped around his waist and yanked him back before depositing him into his seat.

"Let's not make this day any longer than it has to be, Pomeranian-kun," Percy said tiredly and got various fits of laughter from the class. Even though Midoriya was oblivious to all of it and kept writing in his notebook.

"Thank you, Aizawa-kun," the teacher said before moving on with the next order of business, leaving Bakugo growling in his seat with anger plastered to his face.

LINEBREAK

The day had finally come to an end and Percy was packing up as Midoriya rushed to finish his last notes in his Hero Analysis notebook before heading off their separate ways.

"Oi, Shrub Head," Percy called to get his little brother-figure's attention. He raised an amused eyebrow when it didn't work and proceeded to flick him on the forehead again.

"Ow! What's up Percy?" Midoriya asked as he rubbed his forehead again. It was a recurring action to get Midoriya's attention when he became too tunnel visioned in his notes.

"I can't train today since the old man wanted to talk to me. It's probably about the recommendation to U.A. since that was the first I've heard about it. Make sure you at least do your own side work, alright?" Percy told Midoriya with a smile and received one in return.

"Yeah. There are only 10 months left and without school we can focus on training," Midoriya said and pumped his fist. Percy smirked before offering a lazy wave over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

Midoriya then began packing up his things, but when he went to grab his Hero Analysis notebook, it was snatched from his outstretched hand. Already knowing who the culprit was, Midoriya suppressed a sigh.

"OI DEKU! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING APPLYING TO U.A.?!" Bakugo voiced in a mixture of a growl and a yell, prompting Midoriya to roll his eyes. Midoroya took a brief moment to reflect on how far his self esteem had come just from being around Percy regularly.

"Trying to be a hero. You've known this since we were toddlers Bakugo," Midoriya told him and reached for his notebook, but it was quickly moved out of his reach.

"You don't even have a quirk, you shitty Deku! You think you can compete with me? Are you looking down on me, nerd?!" Bakugo roared and exploded the notebook between his hands with an mangry scowl on his face.

Midoriya was severely unimpressed and looked over Bakugo's shoulder. "Oh hey Percy. What did you forget?" he said and the moment Bakugo turned to look, he snatched his notebook back and put the singed book into his backpack.

If one were to ask Bakugo whether or not he was afraid of Percy he would vehemently deny that accusation for all his life was worth. However, the second day Percy had arrived, Bakugo tried to assert his dominance over the "extra" who mocked and talked back to him.

Bakugo went home that day with a broken arm.

Since then, Bakugo was weary whenever the demigod was around, not wanting a repeat of that incident. It was a fact that Midoriya used repeatedly on the off chance he was ever alone with Bakugo.

"As far as I'm concerned Bakugo, you're the one that keeps barging into my business about wanting to be a hero. I have no desire to try and compete with you, nor am I looking down on you. I just want to be a hero and last time I checked that doesn't concern you," Midoriya answered evenly and Bakugo fumed.

Bakugo went to lay a hand on Midoriya's shoulder, but before he could reach it, Midoriya grabbed his wrist and squeezed hard, eliciting a grunt of pain from the pomeranian.

The two had a brief stare down before Bakugo clicked his teeth and walked away, but before he left the room he had one last thing to say.

"Y'know if you wanna be a hero so bad there may be a way for you to do it," Bakugo said with a nasty smirk. Midoriya raised an eyebrow at him. He really had no idea where Bakugo was going to go with this.

"Pray you'll be born with a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof of a building."

Midoriya froze in shock, his eyes widening in disbelief before he regained control over his body again. He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes at the smug smirk on Bakugo's face.

'Does he not just realize what he said,' Midoriya thought in angry disbelief.

"What?" Bakugo threatened with explosions popping in his hands, but Midoriya just shook his head in disgust.

"You would really jeopardize your future career as a hero by saying something like to me, who hasn't even been trying to 'compete with you'? There's more to being a hero than fighting villains, Bakugo," Midoriya said and walked right past him through the door, only stopping once he was two steps behind Bakugo.

"Before you start preaching about how you'll be the greatest hero of all time, maybe you should figure out how to be a decent human being."

And then he walked away, ignoring the cursing coming from Bakugo's mouth.

LINEBREAK

Midoriya didn't reflect too much on Bakugo's words as he walked home other than the disbelief that he would actually suicide bait him. Instead, his thoughts turned to how Bakugo was when they were just little kids.

'He used to be nice. Well, short-tempered and brash, but he wasn't inherently a dick for no reason,' he thought as he walked underneath an overpass distracted by his thoughts.

It was only the sound of the manhole cover behind him being opened that broke him out of them.

A mass of dirty brown-green sludge emerged from the sewer smelling even worse than the sewage itself did. Midoriya wrinkled his nose at the scent but took a few steps back before sinking into a fighting position to defend himself.

The sludge seemingly grew two eyes and a mouth of crooked and chipped yellow teeth before Midoriya could hear its muttering. "I need to get away. I didn't expect him of all people to be here."

The sludge then noticed Midoriya and adopted a creepy Cheshire like grin that was easily more frightening than anything Bakugo could manage. Midoriya just narrowed his eyes and tensed his muscles a little more.

"Perfect! A skin suit. That'll get him off my back," the sludge purred and Midoriya gathered all of the information he needed about the situation.

'Clearly he's a villain and he's running from someone; presumably a high ranked hero. He wants to take over my body, but if the hero's chasing him, then I just need to hold out until then,' Midoriya mused to himself before dodging a tendril of sludge with practiced ease.

'It's not like any of my attacks would affect him. Maybe if I hit the eyes or mouth, but if there's a hero I can just avoid,' Midoriya decided internally as he continued jumping, sliding, and twisting to avoid the several tentacles the sludge sent at him.

"Damn brat! Quit dodging and let me just take over your body!" the sludge roared as it sent even more tentacles at him. Their speed wasn't great, but with so many of them, Midoriya was slowly starting to tire.

Luckily before he could tire out and get captured, the manhole cover exploded from its place behind the sludge, making both the sludge and Midoriya pause and look at who emerged.

The behemoth of a man that came forward was easily seven feet tall and ripped. He was wearing green cargo pants and a white t-shirt, with two iconic tufts of blonde hair sticking up on his head. They were supposed to make all those who saw them think of "victory" but they looked more like bunny ears.

It didn't stop Midoriya from having literal stars in his eyes. It was the man that Midoriya Izuku had looked up to for as long as he could remember. The top hero in Japan and the Symbol of Peace.

All Might.

'Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! It's All Might! I can't believe it's really All Might! What is he doing here?! His agency is in Tokyo!' Midoriya fanboyed hard at the sight of his idol.

"FEAR NOT CITIZEN! FOR I AM HERE!" All Might said and winded his fist back. Midoriya pretty much had a nerd-gasm.

"TEXAS SMASH!" All Might yelled and the insuing punch created a gale force of wind that scattered the sludge villain all over the tunnel, knocking him unconscious.

Midoriya still couldn't bring himself to move as All Might collected the remains into an empty soda bottle, all done with his iconic smile on his face.

It was only when his idol approached him that Midoriya found the will to move again.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod All Might! I-You- Could you please sign my notebook?!" Midoriya shouted while bowing and presenting his notebook to his hero.

All Might let out a hearty laugh as he reached for the notebook and flipped to a blank page. "OF COURSE! ANYTHING FOR A FAN, YOUNG…"

"Midoriya! Midoriya Izuku!" the shrub headed boy shouted and bowed again, prompting All Might to laugh again as he signed the book. He even glanced over the notes on the prior pages and was impressed by the young man's analysis.

"EXCELLENT YOUNG MIDORIYA! THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT, BUT I MUST GET THIS VILLAIN TO THE POLICE!" All Might said and prepared to take off.

Not wanting his idol to leave before he could ask him a question or two, Midoriya tried to stop him.

"Wait!" Midoriya shouted, but was ultimately ignored. Then Midoriya did the single most idiotic thing he could've possibly done in that instant.

He latched onto All Might's leg as he leapt into the sky.

Unknowingly, he had just kick-started his journey to become the number one hero in all of Japan and possibly the world.

LINEBREAK

After school, Percy walked into an alley before vapor traveling to just inside the U.A. gate happily humming along to the music in his headphones. He was thinking about the recommendation exam and if he was actually going to have to take it. Nezu and Aizawa had already seen the full range of his current ability so he knew it was unnecessary.

He also thought about how exactly to take his bush headed little brother's training up a notch for the next seven or eight months. He didn't want to do the full 10 to give Midoriya time to recover and study for the written, but he was pretty dead set on kicking the beach cleaning itself into high gear.

While he continued walking through the halls toward Rat Satan's office, Percy sidestepped suddenly and dodged a quick jab from scarred hand.

"Nice try Mirio," he said as he put his headphones away and heard the would-be attacker chuckling.

"Just making sure that you were actually paying attention," Mirio admitted and gave Percy a fist bump before falling into stride with him.

"So what brings you here? Training today?" Mirio asked but Percy just shrugged as they turned a corner.

"Nah. Apparently I'm a recommended student but I heard it from my junior high teacher first so I gotta talk to the old man and Rat Satan. I think the test is pretty unnecessary at this point," Percy admitted, making Mirio laugh merrily again and pay his back.

"Understatement of the century, Perce. I gotta meet up with Nejire and Amajiki, but I'll see you around!" Mirio cried out as he went his own way, Percy bidding him goodbye as he arrived at Nezu's office.

Without knocking, Percy stepped into the office to see both of the people he wanted to talk to, gracefully accepted the offered tea and took a sip as he sat down.

"So I'm a recommended student then?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow toward the two. Nezu hummed thoughtfully as Aizawa just slurped his coffee.

"Yes and no. On paper, yes you are recommended by both myself and your adoptive father. No, in that we all know making you take the test would be a complete waste of time," Nezu said and got simultaneous grunts of agreement from the pair of Aizawa's.

"I've been following you academically as well and I know you're beyond fine; not top of the class, but I believe that's more because of a lack of effort on your part. I do imagine you'll actually have to study for the high school course eventually though," Nezu said and Percy hummed again.

"What I will have you do instead is observe both the recommendation and general entrance exams and give me your feedback on what you see. Not so much their quirks and how to use them - that's more of your broccoli headed friend's area of expertise," Nezu explained and earned a snort from Percy at the nickname.

"But you read personalities exceptionally well and I can trust you to be 100% objective," Nezu finished and sipped from his own tea.

Percy thought about what was asked of him before nodding slowly. While Percy was cynical in his views about heroes and Hero Society in general, he had come to develop and alter his perceptions slightly. He didn't necessarily agree with them per say, but he understood why people would think and act as they did.

For example, he realized that with proper training, Bakugo would be a good hero. He's strong, smart, and his battle instincts (of the brief time he saw them anyway) are nothing short of prodigious. Bakugo's attitude however will be what won't allow him to be a great hero.

On the opposite side of that coin, Midoriya is kind, relatively level headed, and adaptable. He's the poster boy of hard work and determination in Percy's book and he'll be a great hero. But if he wants to be the best, then he needs a prescribed dose of the reality of hero work. He's too idealistic and wants to save everyone.

Percy knows better than most pro heroes that not everyone can be saved. Hard decisions will inevitably need to be made, and with those decisions come sacrifices.

"Yeah I can manage that. Will I have to interact with the examinees, or will I be watching from an observation room?" Percy asked to clarify and learned he would be in an observation room.

With the details hashed out, Percy headed to one of the gyms for a light training session, completely oblivious to the exact trouble his little brother had gotten into.

LINEBREAK

"Can I be a hero even if I don't have a quirk?!" Midoriya blurted out as he bowed his head to All Might.

He was not prepared for what had transpired. After grabbing onto All Might's leg to attempt to get the man to answer his questions, All Might landed on a roof so that Midoriya wouldn't die from the fall. Midoriya was too worried about what his idol's answer would be that he had yet to look up and All Might was running out of time.

But the question that he was asked struck a chord with All Might. He too remembered what it was like to grow up in a quirk-filled world without one. It was because of his reminiscing that he lost his focus to prevent his shift and coughed up blood.

The noise startled Midoriya and he snapped his head up, only to see a shriveled up man that looked more like a skeleton than a man and a lot of smoke.

"Eh?" Midoriya voiced without realizing it and his mind began to work at record speeds. He noticed the clothes were the same as All Might had just had on, he was coughing a lot of blood up, and his hairstyle was similar to All Might's if he had his hair down.

"U-Uh. Sorry. Here," Midoriya said as he regained somewhat of a coherent thought process and pulled tissues out of his backpack.

"Thank you," All Might said as he wiped the excess blood from his lips and chin. "You're taking this much better than anyone else, Young Midoriya."

"I-," Midoriya started and then paused. "The world of quirks is already bizarre enough, and I was just with All Might who was in the same clothes so… it has to be you," Midoriya started to rationalize, but finished rather lamely.

"Yeah. I hope it goes without saying that you can't tell anyone about this," All Might said and Midoriya frantically nodded his head and bowed repeatedly.

"O-Of course! I wouldn't t-tell a soul!" he exclaimed and got a nod of confirmation in return.

All Might proceeded to tell Midoriya about his injury from years ago and how his time is limited. It all started to make sense to Midoriya since he had noticed All Might's appearances seemed to be getting fewer and fewer over the last few years.

"Can you be a hero without a quirk? No, I would think not. Heroes put their lives on the line everyday and get hurt or worse, and they all have a special power. I can't tell you that you can be one in good conscience," All Might told him rather bluntly and the world around Midoriya seemed to slow down.

His idol had told him no. The man who sits at the top of Japan's Hero Society, who said that anyone can be a hero, had just gone back on his words and told him no.

There were several feelings that Midoriya experienced at that moment. The first and foremost being sadness. The man he had looked up to for so long had shot his dreams down with the grace of an artillery shell. The second was anger. Rage at the man he'd sought after for so long for crushing down his dreams of just helping people, but the final two emotions were what lingered.

Disappointment and determination. Midoriya was extremely disappointed that the man he had chased after was just a hypocrite like the rest of society (save Percy) that mocked his dreams. Then he remembered Percy and everything they had done to train and his determination to prove All Might, along with everyone else wrong, blazed even brighter.

He was so caught up in those emotions, that he hardly registered All Might's words before the man left down the stairwell.

"It's okay to have dreams. You just have to make sure they're realistic and attainable."

Midoriya stood on that rooftop for another moment after All Might left before looking up to the sky and clenching his fist.

"Just you wait All Might. I'm gonna prove you wrong too."

LINEBREAK

Despite his best efforts to prove All Might wrong as well, there was a sort of haze hanging around Midoriya as he walked a little aimlessly toward Tatooine. He knew where he was, just not quite where he was headed. He replayed the conversation in his head and frowned as he gripped his fist tightly, but before he could let any sort of thoughts (negative or positive) an explosion caught his attention and shifted the world back into focus.

Always looking for new notes to take on heroes and quirks, Midoriya jogged over to the source of the noise and made his way to the front of the crowd.

He picked up the situation from what the people around him were saying.

"Sludge Villain."

"Hostage."

"Heroes not doing anything."

That was what he heard, but he could only think about how it was his fault for latching onto All Might's leg. It was his fault that someone was suffering and would die if someone didn't do anything. His fault for-

"Bakugo?"

Without even realizing it, Midoriya had broken into a sprint toward the villain and Bakugo quickly before his mind caught up.

'Why the hell am I running?!' he thought as the heroes cried out for him to stop. They were promptly ignored as a new set of thoughts raced into his head.

'Stay calm like Percy said. His eyes and mouth are solid. Use a distraction before landing an attack,' he thought as his eyes made a quick glance at some rubble in the alley he could make use of.

'Okay. Here it goes.'

"It's you! I'll kill you this time, brat!" the sludge yelled and lashed out with a tendril. Midoriya spun out of the way, removing his backpack in the maneuver and launched it at the sludge. He was trying to distract it, but got the bonus of some of his supplies hitting it in the eye.

While the sludge was blinded, he changed direction toward the rubble and leapt off of it to reach the villain's eye level. Just as the sludge cleared his vision, he was greeted with the sight of an airborne Midoriya with his leg cocked back.

Midoriya whipped his leg forward and dealt a strong kick to the same eye that he blinded earlier, resulting in a howl of pain from the villain and the sludge retreating from Bakugo further than the first attack.

Landing quickly and not feeling any pain, unsure if it wasn't there or if his adrenaline was just too high, he grabbed Bakugo by the uniform and pulled with all the strength he had. He was met with resistance, but screamed and pulled harder to successfully free him.

"What the hell Deku?!" Bakugo shouted between coughs.

"Talk later. Blast him now and run," Midoriya said quickly as he leapt back in case the sludge struck. Bakugo actually did what was suggested and the two turned tail to run.

Unfortunately, the explosion didn't do much. "YOU DAMN BRATS! I'M GONNA KILL YOU BOTH!" the sludge roared and launched the biggest tentacle Midoriya had seen him launch.

The crowd screamed in frightened anticipation, but it never hit.

"FORGIVE ME YOUNG MAN. IT SEEMS THAT WHEN I TALKED TO YOU THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH!" All Might said as he blocked the tendril. Kamui Woods, a rather new hero, had enough sense to grab the two boys and pull them back to safety as All Might finished up.

"DETROIT SMASH!" All Might yelled as he unleashed an uppercut that scattered the villain again and changed the weather.

As the crowd praised All Might and the heroes scolded Midoriya for his recklessness, Midoriya couldn't help but smile a little to himself.

'They all said I couldn't do it, but I did. It was reckless and stupid and I could've gotten both myself and Bakugo killed, but I saved him,' Midoriya mused.

Those positive thoughts were short-lived.

"DEKUU!" Bakugo shouted as he stomped his way to Midoriya after the event had been resolved. Midoriya stopped walking and turned to look at the explosion boy.

"You're welcome," Midoriya said immediately and Bakugo nearly went nuclear. If said boy grabbing Midoriya by the collar was any indication.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR SHITTY HELP DEKU! I WOULD'VE BEEN FINE ON MY OWN, YOU HEAR ME?! YOU BETTER NOT GO LOOKING DOWN ON ME BECAUSE YOU'RE STILL A WORTHLESS QUIRKLESS SHITTY NERD!" Bakugo roared in his face before pushing him back and stomping off, angrily cursing the entire time.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Bakugo," Midoriya said to himself with a quiet chuckle.

Before he could continue his path home, All Might appeared.

"I AM HERE! Bleh-," All Might announced in his buff form before immediately transforming back and spewing up blood. Midoriya just handed him another tissue.

"Your legs, they moved on their own didn't they?" All Might asked and Midoriya just nodded. He was too tired and nervous from the adrenaline wearing off to offer a verbal response.

"Stories about great heroes in the making all begin with the same case. That's why I wanted to apologize to you, Young Midoriya," All Might told him and he smiled softly, but before he could apologize in turn for being the one who caused the Sludge Villain's escape, All Might continued talking.

"And to give you an offer. There are many theories about what my quirk could be; super strength, speed, wind manipulation. The truth is that my quirk was given to me by my master. A quirk that is passed on like a sacred torch from one bearer to the next. One for All," All Might told Midoriya whose eyes widened comically at the information.

'A quirk that can be passed down?! How is that even possible?!'

"The truth is that One for All stockpiles power that the owner then passed on to the next. They, in turn, stockpile more power before passing it on. I am the 8th bearer and I want you, Midoriya Izuku, to be the 9th," All Might said and Midoriya froze in shock.

'A quirk. He's giving me a quirk. I-This-I guess there's only one thing to do,' Midoriya thought as he straightened his back and looked All Might in the eyes.

"I'm going to be a hero with or without a quirk. I proved today that I can be one just fine without one," he said and All Might seemed a little more deflated than usual in his small form.

"But," All Might straightened up to look at Midoriya again and saw the passionate fire blazing brightly in his eyes. "I can save many more people with a quirk. I accept," Midoriya told him and All Might buffed up on reflex.

"EXCELLENT! MEET-," All Might started to say but was cut off by Midoriya's phone ringing. Midoriya looked at who was calling and paled considerably. All Might gave him a questioning look, but Midoriya answered.

"H-Hey P-Percy," he said with his stutter back in full effect.

"YOU ABSOLUTE MORON! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING RUSHING IN THERE?! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED BEFORE YOU EVEN GOT INTO U.A. AND YOU HAVE THE GALL TO SAY HEY?!"

All Might and Midoriya both winced at the volume and berating.

"That being said," Percy continued much calmer and with a hint of pride, "for not thinking, not having a quirk, and not having any combat experience outside of training with me… not bad Shrub Head. Your form still isn't perfect, but you thought of a plan on the spot and that's a skill most heroes can't manage," Percy said and Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course I'm gonna beat the hell out of you in training tomorrow. Garbage Beach at 5 AM as punishment. We have 10 months to make sure you're absolutely ready. It's in your best interest not to be late," Percy said and hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" All Might asked and Midoriya was quaking in his boots.

"M-My best f-friend who's more of an o-older b-brother. H-He's been tra-training me for t-two years now. A-And it's h-hell and n-now h-hes mad," Midoriya stuttered, reminding All Might entirely too much of his own teacher.

"Well then Young Midoriya. I will join you two tomorrow at 5 AM and we can get to work!" All Might finished cheerfully and exchanged contact information before leaving.

10 months until U.A. How bad could it be?

LINEBREAK

It was really bad.

Midoriya got his ass beaten up and down the beach the following morning for his recklessness before Percy soothed the forming bruises with seawater. Percy was actually healing them, but either Midoriya didn't notice or didn't question it.

Percy met Yagi Toshinori and immediately asked the man "how the hell are you still alive" after shaking his hand and explaining how his quirk allowed him to sense water, including the man's blood flow or lack thereof.

After introductions were done, Yagi was surprised to see less trash on the beach than the last time he had stopped by and the two heroes in training explained what they had been doing the last two years. Yagi was impressed and asked them both to take their shirts off to see their results which led to Percy calling him a pedophile or "Pedo" as a nickname.

Yagi was pleasantly surprised with his chosen successor and certainly impressed with Percy's physique as well. They sent Midoriya off to go clean while the other two made changes to Yagi's "Aim to Pass American Dream Plan". The changes basically mapped out how much to clean each day to ensure that it was all done in seven to eight months.

Percy pushed for that time frame so Midoriya would have enough time to continue and perhaps perfect his combat style and study, but Yagi immediately agreed so Midoriya would have time to grasp One for All, not that Percy knew. He had his suspicions of course that there was more going on, but like he had his own secrets, Percy let Midoriya keep his as well.

So Midoriya continued his new training regime week after week and month after month, much like Percy did with his own. Percy had started binging One Piece again to catch up with the Big Three, where he came across another idea for his abilities.

Whitebeard had apparently eaten a fruit like the main character, but got the power of earthquakes and he could infuse it into his punches. Percy booked the gym at U.A. to test it out for himself immediately and was pleased with the results.

He found he could do the same thing for extra power in his punches and kicks, including sending the shockwave or "seismic energy" as he called it through the air for ranged attacks. Percy struggled with the intensity of the seismic energy though, so much of his time was training his control to as close a level as he could get to his water abilities.

Fresh off of an idea-high, Percy also tested his use of wind without the need of summoning a hurricane and it bore similar fruit. It was nothing near the scale of his water abilities, but he could fire controlled blasts of air that would crack concrete, slow his descent from a fall, and speed up his movements. He similarly focused on control for that ability as well.

LINEBREAK

Seven and a half months had come and gone and Midoriya set up to meet All Might several hours before the scheduled time with Percy in order to inherit One for All. He was giddy with both excitement and nervousness, but was ultimately dreading when it would be revealed to Percy that he had a quirk, but not how.

Regardless, he was ready for the real beginning of his journey as a hero.

"WELL DONE YOUNG MIDORIYA. BEFORE WE GET TO THE AWARD CEREMONY, I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE GIFTED AND THINGS THAT ARE EARNED. I HAVE LITTLE DOUBT THAT EVEN WITHOUT A QUIRK, YOU WOULD MAKE A FINE HERO. HOWEVER, YOU HAVE EARNED THIS MY BOY," All Might told Midoriya with his blinding iconic smile, earning a few tears from the boy, before reaching up to his head and plucking a hair.

"NOW, EAT THIS!" he said as he held the hair out to Midoriya.

"Eh?" Midoriya questioned with his head tilted, making All Might laugh boisterously.

"YOU NEED TO INGEST MY DNA TO TRANSFER THE QUIRK, YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might said and Midoriya looked from All Might to the hair and back to All Might.

"I-okay," Midoriya accepted his defeat and swallowed the hair as graciously as he could. He only gagged twice.

"I… don't feel any different," Midoriya admitted lamely and All Might laughed again before shifting back into Yagi Toshinori.

"Of course, my boy. You need the hair to digest! Now we have two and a half months to get a handle on One for All before the exams," Yagi said and Midoriya nodded, mentally planning for that time while unconsciously muttering aloud.

"What are we going to tell Percy? He's going to wonder exactly how I got a quirk," Midoriya said and Yagi hummed.

"A late bloomer. You had an energy manipulation quirk that was unconsciously stockpiling power for a decade until your body was strong enough to handle it!" Yagi proclaimed, but Midoriya frowned.

"I don't really think he'll buy that… but it's the best we got," Midoriya finished with a sigh and went to do his usual exercises when he wasn't cleaning the beach while they waited for the hair to digest.

After three hours passed, Midoriya felt the difference. It was like lightning - raw energy bubbling in his very core waiting and eager to be called upon.

He called Yagi over and told him so they both were facing the water. Midoriya was completely clueless about how to call upon due to his previously quirkless diagnosis, so he asked Yagi how to do it.

"CLENCH YOUR BUTT CHEEKS AND, WITHIN YOUR HEART, YELL 'SMASH'!" now-All Might told him with a big grin and Midoriya did just that.

Unfortunately, he used 100% and broke his arm, right as Percy arrived.

LINEBREAK

Of all the things Percy expected to find waiting at the now spotless Takoba Municipal Beach Park, Midoriya with his entire right arm purple and broken was not one of them. So naturally, he leapt down the steps and sprinted to both Midoriya and Yagi.

"What the hell happened?!" he shouted as he made it to Midoriya's side to inspect the arm. It was completely shattered and Midoriya was in a lot of pain, which is saying something since his pain tolerance was already pretty damn high.

"I-I have a q-quirk," Midoriya said through clenched teeth, erratic breathing, and fresh tears.

Percy just looked at him and then Yagi with his face saying "what the hell?", and then back to Midoriya.

"Surprise?" Midoriya tried only to get Percy pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. Pushing the ensuing headache to the back of his mind, Percy gathered Midoriya in his arms and turned to Yagi.

"Yagi, grab on. This is going to be disorienting the first time, but we need to get this treated," Percy told him, confusing the man but he obliged nonetheless.

Once he had, the trio vanished into sea spray and reappeared in the infirmary at U.A. Percy hadn't been there much, but visited the Big Three enough to commit the place to memory so he could vapor travel there. He also blatantly ignored Yagi spewing copious amounts of blood in likely both nausea and surprise.

"Granny!" Percy yelled as he laid Midoriya on a bed and the old woman came hobbling into the patient room from her office.

"What the hell is it br-," she started to say before seeing Midoriya and Yagi. She grumbled a few choice words under her breath before shifting over to Midoriya and using her quirk with a kiss to the forehead. Midoriya easily sighed in comfort with his arm mended as Yagi collected himself after the trip.

"Young Percy, what was-," he tried to ask, but was cut off by the man in question.

"No. Your questions later. What does he mean he's a late bloomer and how did using his quirk result in a broken arm?" Percy asked with his arms crossed and his wolf glare in full effect.

Yagi started to sweat nervously at the look. It was arguably more terrifying than his nemesis and he looked toward Recovery Girl, but found no support.

"I'm a late bloomer," Midoriya said sluggishly and Percy turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "I guess my body has been storing up energy for the last 10 years until it thought my body could handle it," he finished and Percy looked directly into his eyes before turning to look at Yagi again.

"Okay. Unless lying to me is of the utmost importance, I want the truth," Percy said looked between the two he was questioning again.

Fortunately, Midoriya was the one to speak. "Percy," he called and got the man's attention, "I need time to sort through this and think about whether or not I should tell you."

Percy looked at him again and saw that he wasn't going to yield. He nodded slowly in acceptance.

"Fine. You're entitled to your secrets just like I have mine that I keep from you. I'll run with the obvious lie for now, but how did you break your arm?"

Midoriya looked reflective even with his drooping eyes. "I asked Yagi-san for advice on how to call upon my quirk. I guess I used all of my power on my arm, and," he said and gestured to his arm. Percy felt the mounting headache grow.

"Yagi… what was the advice?" Percy questioned innocently though his thoughts were anything but.

"Err. I know Midoriya likes All Might," he began, ignoring the "understatement" muttered under Percy's breath, "so I told him to throw a punch like he would and yell 'Smash'."

Percy sat there and blinked at the two of them for several moments before he spoke again. "Granny, can I borrow your cane?"

She handed it to him without a word and he proceeded to smack the shit out of them with it.

"YOU MORON! HE'S BEEN QUIRKLESS FOR 10 YEARS AND YOU DON'T WARN HIM TO TONE DOWN HIS POWER WHEN HE USED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME?!" Percy roared and smacked the two one last time before handing the cane back with a thank you.

After a deep breath, Percy grabbed some of Recovery Girls gummies and had the three follow him to Gym Gamma.

"Shrub Head, I was going to show you a technique I developed later, but I think it'll be vital to you understanding this newfound quirk," Percy told him and the boy perked up in excitement about a new technique.

"I developed this a while ago, but with it, I utilized what I discovered about my quirk to mimic strength enhancer quirks. Are you ready?" Percy asked and Midoriya nodded rapidly with a notebook that he pulled out of nothing.

Percy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the blood flowing throughout his body before he sped up its flow. On the outside, his skin started to emit a dull bronze glow and steam could be seen rising from his skin.

All three of them were awed at the sight before Percy seemingly disappeared from his spot and reappeared 30 m away. The three gaped before he disappeared again and reappeared where he started from. His skin started to return to normal and the steam ceased.

"What was that?! You were so fast! You *mumble mumble mumble," Midoriya started up, but Percy chopped him on the head to shut him up.

"That was what I call 'Overdrive'. You know my quirk allows me to manipulate water down to the molecular level, so I used it to accelerate my own blood flow throughout my body," Percy told them and got two gaping expressions and a cane to the face that he didn't even flinch at.

"That's beyond reckless, you brat! One lapse of control and you could rupture all the veins and arteries, or worse!" Recovery Girl shouted as Midoriya scribbled notes like mad and Yagi continued to gape.

"I know Granny. I've been working on my control because of it," he told her and she huffed. He then turned his attention to Midoriya and spoke again.

"The reason I showed you this, Bush Head, is because I want you to try and apply your quirk in the same way. Think of controlling the power output and spreading it all throughout your body. I don't want you to move at all, just activate it at a low percentage over your entire body and then turn it off and repeat," Percy told him and Midoriya nodded.

It took a moment or two, but soon enough red vein like markings appeared on his person and green electricity flickered off of his form. He opened his eyes to view the results and got a beaming grin from Yagi and a smirk from Percy before he turned it off.

"Good. How much of your full power would you estimate you're using?" Percy asked and Midoriya looked thoughtful.

"About 5% give or take," he answered and Percy nodded again.

"Good. I want you to go home tonight and practice just turning it on and off at 5%. You need to be able to do it instantaneously. I can turn 'Overdrive' on like that, but I slowed it down so you would be able to see the difference easier. We'll meet at the beach tomorrow and train. Your combat won't exactly start over from scratch, but you'll need to adapt to the new speed and strength," Percy told Midoriya and he nodded before they all left for the day.

After that mishap, that was how they spent the last months of their training. Midoriya got a handle on his quirk that he eventually told Percy about alongside Yagi. Yagi wanted to wait, but Midoriya sold him by saying, "He was the first person to ever believe I could be a hero and he's been with me everyday since I met him. I trust him with my life and he's like an older brother."

Yagi couldn't argue much after that and it admittedly helped that Percy didn't bat an eye at one of the best guarded secrets in Japan.

So they trained on the weekdays and rested on the weekends (except for their calisthenics and running) the rest of the time, allowing Midoriya to achieve around 10-15% of One for All. It was enough to force Percy to use "Overdrive" to keep up with the speed.

Midoriya also admitted to Percy that he saw him as an older brother which was reciprocated by Percy seeing Shrub Head as a younger brother, and Percy met Midoriya Inko. She was the second sweetest woman that Percy had ever met, only coming second to his own mother, and he joined them for dinner a fair amount of times.

He was conveniently busy whenever they got together with the Bakugo family.

But the time for self-training had come to an end and for Midoriya Izuku, the U.A. Entrance Exam had arrived.

Chapter IV End

So Entrance Exam and First day will be next chapter. I will not be updating this weekend. It's easier for me to do so on weekdays since I work from home and am already on my computer. I'll be mindful to let you know of any lapses in udates on my profile page so if I don't post for awhile check that to confirm.

About ships. I've gotten some requests for PercyxTamaki and PercyxPony (they're the top two from what I've seen) and I can't decide. As the author, while an ally of LGTBQ+ community I am not a member and I personally don't know how to feel about writing something like that. That's just how I feel. On the flipside for the Pont ship. When she does appear in the anime/manga she comes off as childish (in my opinion) and it's probably due to her Japanese not being the best, but either way I don't think it would be a good fit. Therefore, as of now there isn't going to be a ship. Maybe it'll change down the line with an OC or another hero or something else. I really don't know, but I wanted to let you all know.

I had a reader on WattPad ask about Percy hitting on Mitsuki to mess with Bakugo. I think it would be hilarious, but I don't know I'll do it forsure, but Percy will meet the Bakugo family at some point and more than likely team up with Mitsuki to shit on Katuski (in my original idea before I wrote anything, Percy called Katsuki "Bakuhoe Kuntsuki"... glad I didn't go with that.