Not much had changed in the way of my family's daily routine. Izuku and I were finishing up school and both of us were still training for UA's entrance exam. The last few months before the exam went by pretty quickly. I made sure of a few things during that time. Namely, I wanted to ensure I had a close relationship with my family and greater control of my quirk.

I hadn't forgotten Inko's kindness to me. She took me in with nothing to gain, barely even knowing me or if I would bring trouble into her home. I spent at least one evening a week with her doing whatever she wanted and just spending time with her. She seemed to really enjoy it, especially since she would drag me with her to watch TV dramas. I could only liken them to the quality of bad soap operas from my past life, but Inko really enjoyed them so I let my opinions remain non-vocal.

Izuku and I had grown closer as well. I was able to get him to slowly come out of his shell, mostly just by talking to him and genuinely being his friend. We liked a lot of the same things: video games, art, comic books, music, and obviously superheroes. It was incredibly easy to get along with him. Even though he was a little socially awkward at times and had a lot of self-doubt, he was one of the most outgoing people I had ever met. He was the only person I shared my strategies with, and I felt like I could tell him almost anything. I never had a sibling close to my age in my past life, all of them were younger than me by 12 years or more. I had best friends, of course, and even though we were like brothers, me and Izuku's relationship felt bonded on a deeper level. I hadn't really experienced anything like it before.

With the sappy shit out of the way, we continued to bond even though most of his time was spent on All Might's "Aim to Pass! American Dream Plan." I had convinced Inko to buy us a sci fi multiplayer survival game called Mechanoid Rising for his gaming console, which, of course, was the limited All Might edition. We played it together in the evenings after we were both done training.

Speaking of training, for the three months before the exam, I decided to change some things about my own. In the show, a lot of the students and even the pro heroes were often at a disadvantage due to bad matchups. An example would be Kirishima trying to solo Kurogiri. Kirishima is exceptionally strong due to his quirk, but it pretty much fails him at anything but close combat. Even though I had just gotten a solid handle of my quirk, I was still kicking myself for not thinking of working on that sooner. All of the offensive tactics I had were close ranged at that time, other than my lasers, which I didn't want to rely on because they were difficult to control and could be deadly to my opponent. I didn't think there was a way for my quirk to make me any faster, so I knew I needed to develop a ranged strategy with what I had figured out. While I still kept up my old training, I began working on creating solid light at a distance. It was strenuous to extend my quirk's influence over long range at first, but just like working out a muscle, it soon enough became a trivial task. My main ranged attack was manifesting a large amount of hard light in one area and then throwing it at or hitting my target directly with it. With the amount my light's density had increased, it basically functioned as launching a boulder at someone.

Another facet of training I mentally scolded myself for forgetting was fighting technique. I had never taken any kind of martial arts study course in my past life, so my technique was severely lacking. I knew how to throw a proper punch: twisting at the waist and putting your body behind the strike. But against someone like Ojiro or even Stain, I was technically outclassed in every way without my quirk. I had sat down with Inko on one of our days where we were spending time and asked her if I could join a gym that taught MMA. She agreed after some convincing, and I started my membership at "Bulldog Martial Arts." It was local in Musutafu, so I thought it was weird that it didn't have a traditional Japanese name. I found out later that it was owned by two brothers from Brazil that had moved there several years ago, Marcos and Roberto dos Santos. They specialized in Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing, but had other instructors there as well that could teach different styles. I focused my efforts on learning Judo and Muay Thai (kickboxing). Judo was all about maintaining defense and turning your opponents strikes against them, while kickboxing was about ensuring your attacks were precise and powerful with both kicks and punches.

It had been three months of me working until I threw up, every day. I knew Izuku was going through it, too. Before we knew it, it was our final night together before one of the biggest tests of our lives the next afternoon. We had both gotten our congratulations from Aldera for graduating junior high not long ago, but the UA entrance exam was already upon us. I knew Izuku was going to be getting up well before dawn to go clean the entire rest of the beach, so that night I told him that I'd see him at the test. I strategized just a bit before sleep overcame me. The show and manga only gave the top 10 entries for the exam, and I knew the lowest score was a 56. I would still be accepted if I had a little less than that, probably, but I didn't want to chance it. I was getting on that board, no matter what I had to do.

The morning had arrived. I awoke and ate breakfast with Inko as normal, except for the fact my brother was noticeably absent.

"Where's Izuku?" Inko implored.

"I dunno, mom. He didn't tell me he was going out so early, but we were both in bed last night."

I hated consistently lying to her, but what else was I to do?

"Oh, yeah, mom, Izuku is with the world's greatest hero about to inherit a power and responsibility unfathomable to most people. All Might's probably saying 'Eat this!' right about now! Oh, by the way, I'm actually a grown ass man who's been manipulating your trust so I can keep close to the protagonist of a story in which all of you live in; everything you know is a lie!"

Yeah, that would go swimmingly.

"Well I just hope he had something to eat and is keeping track of the time! The UA exam is in three hours…"

She looked like she had the weight of the entire world crushing down on her. I probed her thoughts, but it wasn't too difficult to guess what she was thinking.

"Mom… is everything okay?"

And then the waterworks came.

"I just don't know what to do! He's never wanted anything but to be a hero his whole life and it just seems so impossible, but he just never gives up! What's going to happen if he takes this exam and his dreams are shattered!? And all the while I never did anything to help him! I don't know how I can deal with that!" She sobbed in utter despair.

The sight of this woman pouring her heart out and finally letting her emotions free should've been a liberating experience. If it were a friend I would console them without much of a thought, knowing everything would be okay. And yet here I was, looking at the woman I had come to know as my mother, and even though I knew everything was going to be okay, it still broke me. I looked on to her, unaware of my own tears streaming down my face.

"Mom… it's not your fault. You've held onto this guilt for so long, like it was your fault Izuku didn't have a quirk. It's not. You can't blame yourself for something completely out of your control. I've been in your lives for nearly a year, and I know that might not seem like long, but I love you both so much. I've come to know both of you as some of the most caring and supportive people in the whole world. And if Izuku fails then he's going to need you. So don't blame yourself for what you couldn't do then, you can still help him now."

Inko just stared wordlessly at me for several moments as her cries quietened. She walked over and gave me a tight embrace, silently crying on my shoulder for just a few seconds longer before looking at me again. She forced a smile through the tears.

"I am so proud of you. You've helped Izuku so much… you've been such a good friend to him, and me. I thought when I took you in I was helping you, but you've done nothing but prove me wrong since then. Izuku is happier than ever and I don't feel so much like I failed as a mother anymore." She smiled more and embraced me once again, doing now a mixture of joyful and sad cries.

I returned her embrace and after a moment I looked at her, wiping my eyes. I grinned triumphantly.

"Then let me and Izuku prove you wrong one more time."

She smiled and nodded at me, not needing to say anything more.

After a very emotionally heavy breakfast, I got dressed and made my way to UA campus. I had mentally prepared tactics all morning for dealing with the robots and rescue points. When I arrived with the other applicants, school staff ushered us into a large assembly auditorium, where I found Izuku smiling and waving to me with Bakugo next to him, looking pissy as usual. I went to him and gave my brother a quick hug before taking my seat next to him. Before long, everyone was situated and the hero I knew to be Present Mic took the stand and began to speak.

"WHAT'S UP, UA CANDIDATES, THANKS FOR TUNING INTO ME, YOUR SCHOOL DJ!" After a moment he continued. "COME ON AND LET ME HEAR YA!"

Absolute silence. I felt really bad for the guy, because I actually thought he was cool, if a bit eccentric. He continued, though his spirits were a bit dampened.

"Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fine I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam's gonna go down, okay?"

I took that time to speak where only Izuku and I could hear.

"Did you finish with You Know Who?" I asked him, imploring about All Might.

He nodded with a smile. "Yeah! He said it should be kicking in soon."

I nodded reassuringly. "Awesome! I bet you're gonna do great! Did you get time to practice with it?"

Izuku's face became nervous as he scratched the back of his head. "Haha… actually not at all…"

I knew this already but it still floored me how stupid All Might was. "What?! I'm gonna ring that skeleton's neck! Did he seriously just throw you to the dogs with a super power you had no idea how to control?!"

Before Izuku could answer we were interrupted by everyone's favorite class rep acting like he had a stick up his ass.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question!" Tenya Ida stood proudly and asked.

"ExCuSe mE, siR, bUt i hAvE a qUeSTioN!" I couldn't help but chuckle out loud at the thought of mocking him acting so pompous.

Regardless, Present Mic responded.

"Hit me!"

Ida continued. "On the print out, you've listed four types of villains, not three. With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful! We are exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan's most notable school! A mistake such as this won't do!"

He turned and pointed his finger at me like he was the judge and this was his courthouse. I was a little shocked, considering how he points out Izuku in the anime but I wasn't too bothered.

"Additionally, you two, with the unkempt hair!"

"Oh, it was at both of us." I realized.

"You've been muttering this entire time, stop that! If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're just distracting the rest of us!"

I retorted. "Up yours, glasses."

I saw rage streak across Ida's face and felt Izuku's eyes widen with shock as some of the other students laughed.

Ida started, "WHY YOU-"

Present Mic interrupted. "Alright, alright, examinee number 7111, thanks for calling in with your request!"

I watched with a smug grin on my face as Ida reluctantly turned to listen. I didn't dislike Ida, I actually really liked him. But more than anything I tried to show Izuku that he couldn't let people walk over him, which is exactly what he did in the anime.

Present Mic ended the presentation with the final descriptions of the practical and applicants were then escorted outside. I walked with Izuku until I had to go to my own group.

Before we separated, I gave a short speech to my doubt-filled brother. "Hey, I know I'm not gonna be with you, but I have to let you know something. I believe in you! You have fought harder and have more reason to be here than anyone! You're gonna do great, so let's take today and make it history. Let's finally prove that Izuku and Ryoshi Midoriya are gonna be the world's greatest heroes!"

I saw his eyes gleam, and I really hoped he wouldn't start crying.

"Okay, let's do it! I know we can!" I could tell he meant it.

I wanted to tell him not to use his full power and maybe give him some tips, but I honestly figured it would have been more of a hindrance than a help. He needed to see what he was capable of, and how damaging One For All was if he couldn't control it. Not to mention, I didn't see him being able to pass without getting all the rescue points from saving Ochako from the Zero Pointer.

After finally reaching our destination, my time to think was over. I stood at the front of my group, staring straight at the entryway of the testing compound. I was itching, waiting to take off the second I heard that super DJ's voice.

"Right, le-" Present Mic couldn't finish his thought before I was sprinting into the exam. Some only took a few seconds to get the hint and ran after me. Others were shocked and had to take a cue from our pro hero announcer.

"Well, they got the idea! Get moving! There are no countdowns in real life!"

After saying that, everyone was off to the races.

I saw two 1-pointers ahead of me, attempting to block my path. I sprinted forward with reckless abandon, summoning my light gauntlets to my fists. The first one lunged at me, but I quickly side stepped past its attack. The second one followed in the first one's footsteps, but I had no intention of dodging. I drove my left fist directly into the robot's face, smashing its metal head and disabling it. Still on high alert, I turned on my heels, putting all my body weight into another strike, which made a critical impact with the other bot that thought it could sneak up on me while its friend had me distracted. The gaping hole I put in its chest ensured it would not do so. I started my sprint again, and saw a 3-pointer take aim at me with an arm cannon from a nearby rooftop. I had thought perhaps these bots shared a prediction algorithm, so this one probably pegged me for a melee fighter after I took down its cannon fodder in the street. It was wrong. Faster than it could charge whatever it was going to blast me with, I manifested a cube of hard light behind it and flung it towards the bot, effectively ramming it in the back, forcing it into an uncontrollable fall, and crushing it upon impact. After that, I ran to the closest place that I heard fighting.

After reaching the source of the commotion, I saw a raven-haired girl with what appeared to be a water-based quirk holding back two 3-pointers with continuous streams of rapid water that originated from her hands. I was about to help when I saw four 1-pointers start rushing at her from behind. There was enough distance for me to intervene, so I dashed behind her and firmly stood my ground. Once I determined that the bots were in range, I summoned a wall of solid light between them and us. Two of the bots were further ahead and rammed directly into it, slightly damaging the integrity of it, but crippling themselves beyond repair. The other two stopped to assess the situation and how to best proceed. I took this as an opportunity and split the wall into two halves, followed by turning them to face parallel to the bots instead of against them. With the bots seeing what seemingly was a direct path to me, they let that take priority and attempted to rush me again. What they didn't realize is that was precisely what I was counting on as I manipulated the two halves to close together at rapid speed, sandwiching and crushing the robots between my walls.

Now that they were taken care of I turned my attention back to Water Girl, who was still holding back the two 3-pointers. I ran forward with my eyes closed and jumped, envisioning the light beneath me becoming solid. I opened them to reveal my ludicrous idea had worked. I had made a hard light platform suspended in the air beneath me. I pumped my fist, realizing how much mobility this would allow me.

However, I quickly realized I still needed to help this girl. Using more light platforms, I made my way above one of the bots which she was holding back. I summoned my light gauntlets and jumped down, allowing my prepared strike to gather momentum as I drew my left arm in for a devastating punch. It looked up only in time for me to shout as I brought down my fist onto it in a mighty blow. Its head buckled into its shoulders as I crushed it beneath me. I looked up to see Water Girl now focusing both of her streams into a more concentrated geyser, which she used to force the other bot into the ground. The pressure of the water pushed it down into the street as I saw the concrete crack beneath it. Safe to assume she had that one. I looked over to her as we both breathed heavily.

"Phew," she started, "Thanks! I was in a bit of a tough spot there!"

I smiled to her and gave her a thumbs up. "Don't mention it! We should get back to it though! Got more robots to scrap!"

She smirked and nodded to me as we went our separate ways.

I had a 2-pointer and three 1-pointers block my path on my way to where I could hear the next battle occurring. My strategy was to find where other participants were and help them, netting me rescue points and possible villain points, while getting my own villain points if bots stopped me along the way. So far it was working.

I grinned at the bots. "Come on then! It's recycling day!"

So I probably needed to work on my quips, because even the robots looked at each other like, "What the hell is he talking about?"

After they got over their confusion the 1-pointers all blindly charged at me. The 2-pointer took a different approach. It reversed its front joints to be quadrupedal and began running along the walls of the houses like an animal. I focused on the 1-pointers, but tried not to let that leave my mind. As the 1-pointers approached, I thought back to my wall trick from before. I wanted to utilize a tactic like that again, but I also wanted to experiment.

One by one, as the 1-pointers got closer, I manifested hard light in front of them in the form of large spikes that instantly jutted skywards and skewered the metal figures. I smiled as my plan worked but it instantly faded upon me remembering the 2-pointer, which was now lunging at me from my right side. I had barely any time to react, and striking it wasn't an option as it was moving too fast. I remembered my quirk training and shifted my body to where my right foot slid out towards my opponent as I leaned the upper half of my body in the opposite direction. In a split second, I manifested a wall of light at an angle to protect me. The 2-pointer crashed directly into it, evidently not expecting such a rapid reaction. It wasn't damaged enough to be disabled, but that quickly changed as I brought my foot down on its disoriented head, smashing it into the concrete below. I let myself smile and catch my breath as I continued onward to where I heard fighting.

I arrived on the scene to see a hole blasted through the chest of a 2-pointer by a boy with brown hair and an arm cannon. I almost left him be, thinking he had it under control. Then I saw his predicament. Three more 2-pointers and two 3-pointers followed him.

"Shit."

I rushed over as he was blasting at them, holding all of them back with suppressing fire.

"Hey, Mega Man, do you need any help?!" I called out to him.

He looked at me and scowled, but responded nonetheless.

"I can't get enough time to charge my buster! My suppressing fire can't break them, if you can distract them while I build charge I can take them out… and my name's not Mega Man!"

"Right, you got it!" I smirked at him and charged behind at the opposing forces.

Two of the 2-pointers thought they finally had an opening until they saw me sprinting at them in the only area not being covered by Mega Man's blasts. One immediately hopped from cover and charged me down. It was shocked, to say the least, when two spikes of hard light shot up into its torso, shutting it down. The other dug his hands into the road and picked up chunks of concrete, and started hurling them at me. I had to raise a defensive wall to block the projectiles, but they were going to slowly wear down and break it. I focused my influence over the light in between the bot and I and slowly made the area into darkness. I could feel the pelting of concrete stop for a moment, but it continued after the bot regained its senses. It was firing blindly, as I could hear some chunks hitting to either side of me. That was good, it meant it didn't know where I was. I slowly moved forward, letting the darkness become light again as I approached the bot. I summoned a dense cube of hard light to float above my right hand. It was getting difficult to keep concentration on the wall, the darkness, and the cube. I wouldn't be able to keep it up very long, but I hoped it was just enough to execute my plan. I pushed forward to where I could hear the bot not far in front of me, and all at once I dropped the darkness and the wall, and launched the cube directly through its chest. I was now in line with the rest of the bots and they turned to look at me. I controlled the same cube I just shot through the last bot's chest with and launched it at the remaining 2-pointer, where the cube shattered against the robot's head. The impact caused its head to bow in on itself as it fell over, lifeless.

I turned to where Mega Man was still providing me with cover fire for the remaining 3-pointers. I yelled so that he could hear.

"Charge it now!"

He nodded and grinned in understanding, as I watched the weak yellow energy from his arm cannon compile into itself and slowly change into unstable blue energy.

Until Mega Man could get his shot off, however, I was in a 2v1 against the 3-point bots. I wasted no time getting every advantage I could. I manifested a ray of light into the eyes of the first bot, hoping to disorient it. My theory was that since the previous bot was affected by the darkness, the bots still relied on their senses like normal. That theory thankfully showed to be accurate as the bot closest to me stumbled around in a daze. The one behind it however immediately rushed me after my attack. It hit hard, like way harder than I thought it would. I rolled across the ground and clutched my side, hoping it was only bruised and not broken. It was about to continue its assault but my Judo training kicked in. I waited for it to dash towards me, and as it leaned forward to strike me I summoned my light gauntlets and grabbed its arm, throwing it over me and into the nearby wall. It wasn't out quite yet, but it looked up to see me descending down in a superman punch with a wild grin on my face.

"Night-night mother f-" The sound of bending metal and caving bricks filled the air as I decimated the bot.

I was still catching my breath as I stood up and turned around to see the last 3-pointer rushing at me. Before it could reach me, I heard a resounding noise of energy exploding. Me and the bot both turned to Mega Man to see him launching a blue ball of energy that ripped violently through the air and quite literally vaporized the upper half of the robot that stood only 10 feet away from me. I turned to Mega Man with a genuinely awestruck face, wondering how Mineta got into UA and this guy didn't. He smiled and laughed maniacally.

"Whooo! Get busted, tin man!" he yelled in victory.

I smiled at him and walked over. "Holy shit, dude, that was awesome."

He returned the smile. "Eh, thanks. I'm not thrilled I had to miss out on those points but you did buy me the time to get at least some, so I appreciate it."

I offered my hand for him to shake it. "No probs. I appreciate the assist as well."

Right as we shook, we both heard a terrifying noise. It sounded like a city block was being leveled. We turned and didn't have to look very far to see that about 200 yards away was a Zero Pointer. It looked down on an area and I heard yelling follow. I sprinted towards it, hoping I could help someone that was over there. Mega Man shouted and ran after me.

"What are you doing?! That thing's not even worth any points! You're gonna get yourself killed because you wanna show off?" He questioned me, reasonably so.

I just grinned and gave him a thumbs up, continuing my run.

I saw it following a small group of three applicants. One of them had some sort of strange porcupine quirk, and was firing quills behind her as they ran. It was unfortunately to no avail. They looked panicked, unable to escape it. It prepared to strike them, raring back its colossal fist as I sprinted forward and intercepted the party.

"GET DOWN!"

I yelled at the top of my lungs as I poured all my power into forming a dome of solid light around us.

The titan of a robot made contact with my dome and the pressure alone was enough to make my knees buckle. Even as I kneeled down to support my weight, I didn't lose focus on my defense.

The area around us was nothing but dust and debris. I looked up to see my dome extremely cracked and damaged. Above us, the Zero Pointer's fist rested on my constructed defense. I didn't even realize it, but I was shaking. I didn't have enough in me to stop it again. I had to think about what I was going to do.

"Aaand that's it. TIME'S UUUP!" Present Mic's voice rang out over the compound.

My dome diminished and I just passed out right there. I was tired beyond belief and even if I managed to stay awake I don't think I could have stood. That was the most I had ever used my quirk; I hadn't really considered it taking such a heavy toll on my body.

I awoke surrounded by other applicants, as well as the uncomfortable smooches of Recovery Girl. I heard them murmuring to themselves.

"Did that guy get hit by that thing and live?"

"He saved those three students…"

"How much power does the guy have to tank a hit like that!?"

Recovery Girl spoke up.

"There, sonny, you should be all healed up! Have a gummy!"

She outstretched her hand to reveal a palm full of gummy bears.

I was still dazed but I knew I didn't want those sweaty pocket gummies.

"N-no thank you, ma'am. I appreciate you healing me, though. I hadn't reall-"

She interrupted, "Yes, yes, now all of you should regroup at the entrance for further directions regarding the written portion of the exam."

After that she walked away.

I went to stand up but nearly lost my balance, before two familiar faces helped stabilize me. I smiled at them.

"Holy shit dude, that was awesome!" Mega Man spoke to me, grinning.

"That was insane! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Water Girl scolded me.

I kept smiling at them and weakly held a thumbs up.

"Mega Man, Water Girl! It's good to see you guys." I responded.

Mega Man groaned, rolling his eyes. "I don't get why you keep calling me that. My name is Iwa."

"Yeah and what kind of stupid name is 'Water Girl,' anyway!" She feigned rage but continued in a paradoxically cool manner. "No, but seriously, call me Zumi! My real name is Izumi but everyone calls me Zumi!"

I grinned at her enthusiasm and chuckled at both of their responses before replying.

"Ryoshi Midoriya, it's nice to officially meet both of you."

The three of us walked back to the entrance together, but we were intercepted before we could reach it. I recognized one of the people stopping us as the porcupine girl that I had saved earlier.

"Hey, we just wanted to thank you for what you did before. That was really amazing, and so brave of you!"

I blushed a bit. "Ahh, don't worry about it. I figured when I saw that absolute unit there would be people around it, and not everyone has a quirk that makes it easy to escape. I'm just doing what anyone would've done."

I knew that was a lie. Most people got the hell out of dodge when they saw that thing coming. The only two people that ran headfirst into danger were the Midoriya boys.

"That's so great of you. You seem like a really cool guy… if we all get accepted we're definitely spending more time together!"

And there went the mood, at least for me. I knew none of these people were going to make it, unless I had changed the world in ways I couldn't predict already. I tried to hide my frown but my face often betrays me.

"...What's wrong, Ryoshi?" Zumi was the first to ask.

I had to think about what I was going to say. I was stupid and had grown attached to these people knowing full well I wouldn't see them again.

"...can we all make a promise right here? I know you all don't know me very well, but I want to be the greatest hero I can be, and I want every single one of you to do the same. No matter what happens here, no matter who gets accepted, we all try our hardest to be heroes. Even if we can't be heroes through UA, it doesn't matter. It's not which school you go to that makes a hero, it's about what's inside and the strength of your spirit. Promise! I want you all to!"

They took a moment, sort of shocked. Maybe I was just being weird, I don't know what I expected when I basically just met these people.

But before I could doubt myself any further,

"You bet your ass I will! There's no way in hell I'm ever going to stop being a hero! Those bad guys aren't gonna bust themselves!" Iwa chimed in.

Zumi continued, "Yeah, I promise, Ryoshi! We won't give up, no matter what!"

The other two students and porcupine girl, who I later came to know as Umo, both joined in as well. And so even though I still felt guilty for knowing they wouldn't pass, I felt a little relieved, hoping I would see them again one day.

After heading back from the practicals, we had an hour-long break in the cafeteria, where Lunch Rush prepared everyone meals. I remembered how much they complimented his cooking in the show, but honestly eating his food was the most unbelievable thing I had experienced thus far. I felt like this man could microwave something and make Gordon Ramsay cry from joy. After eating with my new friends I went and found Izuku, who was eating by himself.

"So you receive the strongest quirk in the world, decimate a 10 story robot, and then eat lunch by yourself?" I playfully jabbed at him.

Izuku barely looked up with a weak smile. "H-hey, Ryoshi… yeah, I guess so."

"Everything okay, brother?" I took a seat next to him.

I saw him clench his fist and look down.

"Oh no, please don't-" I thought too late.

He leaned into my shoulder, tears pouring out as he silently sobbed.

"I didn't get a single point! Even that big stupid one at the end wasn't worth anything! I'm not going to be accepted and I'll never be a hero!" He continued to cry while holding me.

I sighed. "Hey man. Dry it up, I got to tell you something."

He looked up at me, a little confused as I was generally more compassionate, but wiped his eyes nonetheless, still crying a bit.

"I met some people out there that really looked up to me, because I showed them what a real hero should do. I told them all that no matter what happens here today they have to always try to be a hero. I made them promise to be the best hero they could be." I paused to let him process. "None of them are going to pass."

Izuku stopped crying and was visibly appalled by my claim.

"H-how could you poss-"

I interrupted him. "I knew they didn't get enough points. There's no way they took out enough in that amount of time. But you wanna know something, Izuku? I didn't tell them to keep trying because I knew that they wouldn't pass. I told them to keep trying because they owed it to themselves. They worked hard to be here, and they can't give up. And you're making that promise to me too, right now."

I watched him take in everything I was saying, silently.

"Izuku, you've been the victim your whole life! You've put up with the abuse and garbage that Bakugo has put you through and you still choose to look up to him, and you've never had a single person believe in you. That's over now. All Might told you that you could become a hero, and now I'm telling you that you can and you will! You owe it to yourself, nobody in this whole damn cafeteria has worked as hard as you have, so don't you dare give up now!"

He sat there, awestruck. After a moment he sort of looked past me nervously as well. I turned to see what got his attention to be greeted by the sight of a large portion of the cafeteria staring at us.

Two words in my head: "Kill me."

I really awkwardly laughed and meekly held up a thumbs up for everyone. After a moment everyone returned to their business. I let out a heavy sigh of relief and turned back to Izuku with a serious face. He was deep in thought but returned my serious look after a moment.

"You're right. I feel like I've been alone my whole life. But now I have people who support me, and finally believe in me. I have to believe in myself and be the greatest hero... for them. I promise Ryoshi, I won't stop until I'm worthy of this power and I'm the world's greatest hero!"

I smiled at him and pulled him into an embrace. He returned it, not crying any longer.

After that we just talked for a while longer. I told him about my new friends and how my practical exam went. We discussed the upcoming written portion, and what we thought might be on it. Not long after our discussion they announced we would begin transitioning to the testing sites. There's not much to say about the written portion. They shoved us into classrooms and it was like every standardized test I'd ever taken. I generally did above average on these tests in my past life, so I wasn't too worried. The test took two hours and every moment was agony, so it was exactly how I remembered it. I would have rathered if they stuck me in the compound again and had me fight every robot by myself.

In the end, they called time and thanked us for coming, telling us that we would receive our results in about a week. Some people went home confident or discouraged, but I was the only one that knew the truth about who would pass or fail. I tallied up my score to be 26 villain points as I walked home with Izuku. I was shooting for 56 total, which meant I would need 30 rescue points minimum to be perfectly safe. The test went by a lot faster than I expected, and 26 wasn't that many points, so I really needed the judges to pull through for me.

Izuku and I stressed out for seven whole days. We both were doing things to distract ourselves. We probably got more progress done on Mechanoid Rising than ever due to us stress playing it. Then that fateful day finally arrived. Inko burst through the door with a letter in her hands while we sat on the couch playing our game.

"A letter! Izuku, Ryoshi, they came, boys, you got a letter! Your test results, from UA!"

She had fallen over through the door trying to hand it to us. Izuku and I looked on at the sealed envelope like it was Pandora's Box. And we had to open it. We took the envelope and retreated to Izuku's room, where we sat it on his bare desk. I could hear Inko pacing worriedly outside the door. I honestly couldn't tell you how long we sat there, staring at it. I think we hoped it was just going to open itself. Finally, Izuku bared his teeth and took the letter in anger, ripping it open. The device I knew to be the holographic projector fell onto the desk and began playing the video of All Might.

"BOOYAH! I am here as a projection!"

Izuku yelped and fell back in his chair. I was unfazed, staring intently and hanging on All Might's every word.

"Wait, All Might? But this is from UA, isn't it?" Izuku rhetorically asked.

"I know it's been a while but with great power comes a great amount of paperwork!" All Might took a moment to clear his throat. "My apologies, young men. The truth is, I didn't come to this city just to fight villains… You're looking at the newest UA faculty member!"

Izuku gasped. "You're seriously going to be working at UA?!"

I would've told him that the video couldn't answer his questions, but I was still too anxious to do anything other than listen and try to control my own breathing.

All Might held a small conversation with an off-screen director.

"Huh? Yes, what's the matter…? Who's showboating?! OH! Sorry, I'll wrap it up but I have to show them something first! Wait, I have to do how many of these things?! Ugh… Right, so, moving on!" He began addressing us again. "Even though you both passed the written test, Izuku, you got no combat points during the practical exam. Sorry…"

Izuku's head dropped. "I know that.. Of course I know… it's all I've thought about…" He gripped his knees and began to tear up again.

"Fortunately, there were other factors." All Might cut in, getting Izuku to slowly look up again. "But before we get to that I have another surprise! Here, look, a short clip for your viewing pleasure!"

With a click of the remote, All Might played the video of Ochako offering her points to Izuku after the exams. After hearing Ochako's proclamation, it left Izuku standing, shocked.

All Might continued. "You have a quirk now, but it is your actions that inspire others… And that's why I am here! You see, the practical exam was not graded on combat alone!"

He played a bit more of the video with Present Mic explaining that Ochako's request wasn't necessary, then continued.

"How could a hero course reject someone who's committed to saving others, no matter the consequences to themselves?! After all, that is what makes a hero. And that's what my Alma Mater is all about: training those who would risk their lives for the greater good! So we have Rescue Points! A panel of judges watches, and they award points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains."

And at that point, the scoreboard of the top 10 candidates played on the screen.

1. Katsuki Bakugo - Villain Points : 77, Rescue Points: 0

2. Ryoshi Midoriya - Villain Points: 26, Rescue Points: 50

3. Eijiro Kirishima - Villain Points: 39, Rescue Points: 35

4. Ochaco Uraraka - Villain Points: 28, Rescue Points: 45

5. Ibara Shiozaki - Villain Points: 36, Rescue Points: 32

6. Itsuka Kendo - Villain Points: 25, Rescue Points: 40

7. Tenya Ida - Villain Points: 52, Rescue Points: 9

8. Izuku Midoriya - Villain Points: 0, Rescue Points: 60

9. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu - Villain Points: 49, Rescue Points: 10

10. Fumikage Tokoyami - Villain Points: 47, Rescue Points: 10

We both stood in utter disbelief at what we had just seen. I was the number 2 candidate of the entire exam!

All Might spoke again. "Izuku Midoriya, 60 Rescue Points! Ryoshi Midoriya, 50 Rescue Points!" He turned to face us again. "You both passed the exam."

I finally turned to my brother to see tears falling from his face while he still looked astonished by the video. "I-is this some kind of joke…?"

I turned back to the screen to see All Might outstretch his hand to us.

"Welcome. Izuku. Ryoshi… You have made it, you're part of the Hero Academia!"

The video ended and Izuku and I embraced for a long while, with him crying from joy and me still reeling from nearly having an anxiety attack. I smiled after a while and shook him excitedly.

"Izuku! We did it! We're going to be heroes!" I exclaimed.

Inko burst into the room with tears streaming down her face. "Oh my boys I'm so proud of both of you! We're going out tomorrow to celebrate! I love you both so much!"

She then wrapped us in a big mother bear hug, which I enjoyed. I saw Izuku smiling with tears still in his eyes.

This was finally it. I made it. This was My Hero Academia!

Author's Notes:

- Phew! That was a long chapter! Literally longer than Chapters 1 & 2 put together! I could've split it into two, but I felt like it didn't flow well like that.

- Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it! Since this was a longer chapter and I'm posting it a little earlier than I normally would, I might take longer on the next one, just as a heads up.

- Let me know how you think the fight scenes went! I felt like I did pretty well but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

- As always if you have any questions or anything you can contact me at LukeWindsortheAuthor or put them down in the comments below!

- Thanks and have a good day!

- This story will be cross-posted to AO3 (Archive of Our Own), where it will receive updates first.