It's Hero Time!

by pyro-technic242

Where a young Quirkless boy is given friends, a construction company in the Kansai region does not fail, and a teenager is granted a certain green watch. Even in a world where superpowers are commonplace and the laws of physics are violated by toddlers, destiny can be shifted by the smallest of changes. (REWRITTEN!)

4. Chapter Four: First Step

Chapter Four: First Step

"Alright, so the hypothesis of whether the gas coming from Swampfire's palms is methane can be accepted as true, in that we can't prove otherwise," relayed Kyosuke, writing down his observations in his notebook the instant he changed back to his human form. Uraraka and Midoriya exchanged exasperated looks from behind him, and normally he wouldn't have blamed them. They had been testing these hypotheses, and they didn't have the same proclivity for the scientific method that he did.

On the other hand, attached to his wrist was an alien device that violated Conservation of Energy and falsified the rare Earth hypothesis simply by existing. When activated, it ripped his DNA apart and rebuilt it using whatever constituted the genome of the creatures he could turn into, all the while retranslating his bodily proteins and undoing the result of millions of years of cumulative selection and evolution to turn him into beings that barely resembled any organism on Earth, let alone be readily classified into any of the three domains of life. And it could do all of this in less than a second.

It was kind of a big deal.

For Kyosuke, who believed in using any and every resource at his disposal to bring him closer to his goals, mastering the device was the obvious course of action. After some initial trepidation about the potential destabilization of his DNA from how much the Omnitrix would end up unwinding and restructuring it- which Paradox had quelled immediately with assurances that the device had failsafes built in specifically to prevent that very scenario from occurring- he had dove right in and experimented with it as much as he could, even planning to forgo his usual routine of training in favor of mastering the device until he had had some sense knocked into him by his father and friends. Powerful as it was, even a device like the Omnitrix timed out after twenty-five minutes, and even less than that if he switched from one form to another during that time. After the watch turned red, he would be stuck in his human form for a full fifteen minutes, which was more than enough time for any competent villain to overwhelm him. He couldn't afford to neglect his training.

On the other hand, his father, Uraraka and Midoriya had all been unanimously supportive of his decision to wield the Omnitrix. Disadvantages aside, it was still an immensely powerful weapon that afforded him more power than most Quirks. About a week after his acquiring the watch, Takeo had collected samples of genomic material from every single alien that he could touch without suffering grave personal injury in order to discover as much as he could about their powers. The process was similar to the kind his team would undergo to analyze the genetics behind Quirk evolution, so the alien nature of the DNA samples he had collected failed to deter the man. Alongside that, Kyosuke and his two friends had committed themselves to find out as much as they could about each transformation the watch offered him.

This had been approximately eight months ago.

It was now eight in the morning on a Sunday, and the white-haired boy was showing absolutely no signs of stopping his hypothesis testing. Indeed, he had no plans of doing so. The massive stretch of sand that Midoriya had finally managed to clear out, after almost a year of incredible tenacity, was perfect for his needs. While it had become quite a popular area for local couples because of Midoriya's efforts, no one would bother coming around the area so early on a Sunday morning, so he was free to do as he liked.

"Kyo-chaaaan," wheedled Uraraka vexedly, "it's been like an hour already. You can take a break for now- All Might is gonna show up soon, anyway, and Deku-kun's gonna finally get One for All. This is supposed to be a day of celebration! We even scheduled our routines so that we could all have our rest days today."

Even the ever-patient Midoriya was notably wrung out by this point. He had been surprisingly tolerant at first of his friend's incessant need to document every detail about his watch, mostly because Kyosuke was the reason for his eventual reception of One for All. That said, eight whole months of this would have made the Buddha himself lose his temper. "Ochako-chan's right, Kyosuke-kun. The Omnitrix can wait for a few more hours; we could all stand to take a break."

They might as well have been talking to a brick wall for all the response their friend gave them. "What was the other hypothesis I wanted to test about Swampfire's powers? I know his cells are totipotent, but he can't clone himself, which is to say he can't pass on sentience to his cells- oh, right, it was whether I could set up delayed traps using his seeds, which would imply he can either control how quickly his cells divide, or his cells can comprehend some form of instruction and are thus moderately intelligent." He glared at the Omnitrix as he finished writing this down. "Turn green, already, you stupid-"

But this was when Uraraka finally lost her patience, and she made it known by taking her shoe off and throwing it at Kyosuke's head. It only grazed his flame-like tresses instead of actually impacting with his skull but was successful in getting his startled attention. "Kyo-chan," she growled, in that sickly-sweet tone which she used when she wanted to scare him or Midoriya into obeying her. Unfortunately, years of hearing that voice had not made him any less fearful of her temper, and judging from Midoriya's half-terrified, half-besotted expression, he was no better off. Perhaps he was even worse off, considering his massive crush on her.

"All right, all right," he muttered defensively, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, even putting away his notebook and pencil. Uraraka's terrifying visage disappeared immediately at that, to be replaced by a sunny smile that held no possibility of having scared the life out of him and Midoriya not five seconds ago, nor having done so on multiple occasions in the past. Midoriya continued gazing at her, a dreamy look on his face that Kyosuke was tempted to bring to Uraraka's attention just to embarrass them. In the end, he decided not to. He wasn't that petty, even if he believed the world would be a better place if his two friends just kissed already.

Right on cue, the distinctive sound of two overlarge shoes stepping onto the sand heralded All Might's appearance. The man was in his skinny form so as not to draw attention, even though he likely needn't have bothered. No one in the municipality was going to spend their Sunday morning coming onto Dagobah Beach- as aforementioned, Midoriya might have cleaned it up fully, but it was still early. All Might could show up in his muscled form and bring his fellow Top Ten heroes with him, and nobody except the three of them would notice. Midoriya would probably die from fanboying too hard, but otherwise, nothing would happen.

"Good morning, All Might!" greeted Uraraka cheerily. Midoriya raised a shaky hand, probably still not yet fully over his proximity to his idol, and Kyosuke simply bowed in brief but respectful acknowledgment. Unlike most of the adult figures in their lives, All Might deserved his respect. He had done what all of them except Inko and his father had failed to do, and that was give his friend the help he needed to achieve his dream. Midoriya didn't have an inch of the self-confidence that Kyosuke and Uraraka had in themselves because of the treatment Bakugou had meted out to him all these years. All Might had started helping him fix that, not just by offering him One for All, but by believing in him to follow his dream. And that was after one got over the fact that he was the Number One Hero, who had inspired all three of them so much, so many times, and who was now training all three of them even though only Midoriya really needed it.

With a slight cough, All Might waved back. "Good morning, Young Uraraka." He frowned slightly. "Er- why are you only wearing one shoe?"

Uraraka's grin turned suddenly scary. "Oh, no reason. I just threw it at Kyo-chan because he was being an idiot."

"...I see." All Might turned towards him, wearing an expression Kyosuke had seen at least once on every male figure he knew after they had accidentally pissed off a female close to them. 'Women are terrifying!'

"But let me not digress any further." Billowing up into his true form, All Might bestowed a great, proud grin onto Midoriya, who instantly turned fire-engine-red at the almost paternal show of affection from his idol as his friends watched proudly. "I saw it before, of course, but it still amazes me, Young Midoriya! You even cleaned outside of what I asked you to! Make no mistake- today, I do not pass on the torch of One for All to you out of generosity. You have earned it, my boy, and I am unimaginably proud of you for what you have accomplished."

Midoriya was now crying quietly, the grin on his face in sharp contrast to the hacking sobs undulating throughout his body. Kyosuke let a wide, proud grin display on his face as he put an arm around his friend's shoulders without reserve, while Uraraka tenderly embraced him with a soft smile. Eight months later, and he was still tall enough to reach around Midoriya's entire shoulder girdle and yield enough space for the brunette to hug him as well.

"It seems you're as much of a crybaby as ever, though..." commented the Number One with a drop of sweat running down the back of his head. Some things just never changed, it seemed.

It had tested the green-haired boy's mettle more than any project he had ever undertaken, but after eight months' worth of tremendous, incredible, and frankly Herculean effort, he had finally been able to clear out every single piece of garbage that Dagobah Municipal Beach had had to offer him, from the smallest candy wrapper to the old Honda Civic itself. Uraraka and Kyosuke had both found him the previous morning screaming up at the heavens, as if in direct defiance against anyone who had ever doubted and belittled his dream, against all those who had treated him like garbage, who had ever degraded him or mocked him simply for dreaming. It had been a moment of such radiant passion that even the memory of it simply could not do it justice. Uraraka had almost started crying tears of joy at the sight, and Kyosuke suspected that he would have joined her had Midoriya not toppled over right after the last vestiges of his roar had died out and forced the white-haired boy to save him using the new powers his watch granted him.

And now, Kyosuke thought to himself as All Might reached up to the top of his golden head and plucked out a strand of his hair, for whatever reason, all of Midoriya's efforts would finally be rewarded.

"Now, eat this."

Kyosuke stared at the strand of hair clutched in All Might's fingers, satisfaction and pride being replaced shockingly quickly with disbelief. "What."

Uraraka and Midoriya had not left him alone in his deadpan incredulity and were staring at the Symbol of Peace with very much the same expression as his. All Might gave a laugh, sheepishly rubbing his head. "Well, it doesn't matter what you eat, so long as it contains a bit of my DNA, you see!"

Not unsurprisingly, Uraraka was the first to recover. "Well then, Deku-kun," she expostulated with a nervous laugh, "I guess you'd better eat the hair!"

"Unless, of course, you'd rather have some of his blood, sweat, or flesh," added Kyosuke absently, as an afterthought.

"Wow, Kyo-chan, I did not need that image in my head, thank you very much-" gagged Uraraka.

"-And on that note," interjected Midoriya, accepting the hair with an expression of mild disgust on his face, "I guess I'd- better-"

Without any further preamble, he rolled up the strand into a ball and popped it in his mouth, swallowing before turning rather green. "Oh God, it's so bitter," he retched. "Why is it so bitter-"

"It's probably because of his hair spray," offered Kyosuke cautiously, feeling rather nauseous himself watching his friend choke down the Number One Hero's hair. Not exactly the scene of triumph and victory he had imagined, even if it opened up several interesting theories about how One for All worked. It had to be something resembling retroviral mechanics, with how a foreign section of DNA was forcibly inserted into the genome. It was scarily similar to how the Omnitrix worked, even, albeit on a less permanent basis than One for All.

Hair, though, really?

"Don't expect any effects right away," warned All Might. "Your body shall need some time to digest it, after all. This is perfect timing for me to offer you some advice about using One for All for the first time, along with a little bit of warning."

At his idol's grave tone, Midoriya's attention noticeably sharpened, his disgusted expression falling away into a more serious visage. Uraraka seemed to straighten up as well, the way she did when something was commanding her full attention. Kyosuke himself made an effort to focus on what the Number One was saying, lest he was unable to prevent Midoriya from doing something stupid and hurting himself severely in the future.

"You are now a worthy vessel, certainly, but the fact remains that you are still a teenager who has never wielded a Quirk before- and certainly never one as powerful as the one you now hold. At first, you will not be able to use One for All to the same extent I can- not without suffering some kickback, anyway."

That made sense. All Might, for all his jokes about having become an old man past his prime, was still a full-grown adult who regularly put Greek statues to shame with his musculature. While Midoriya was pretty well-off in terms of physical fitness, considering all the training they had done together throughout their middle school careers and especially these past eight months, he wasn't yet anywhere near All Might's level in terms of sheer power. None of them were. Indeed, Kyosuke knew with certainty that if the three of them faced down All Might in a spar, he would beat them squarely without even needing One for All. There was absolutely no way Midoriya- or any of them, really- could get up to All Might's caliber before they grew to their full adult sizes, and perhaps not even then. The green-haired boy seemed to have realized this too, for his face registered no disagreement in the slightest.

"Furthermore, at its core, One for All is a stockpiling Quirk. It grows in power the more it is cultivated; as it keeps being passed on, it keeps growing ever stronger." All Might spread his arms as he talked, giving the three teenagers a sense of what he was describing. "It is likely that you will need to work for an extremely long time before you can get up to my level, or even use One for All without injuring yourself."

"So you're basically saying that Deku-kun's One for All is better than yours?" interjected Uraraka curiously.

Midoriya went red, but All Might just laughed good-humouredly. "Indeed, young lady, that's exactly what I'm saying. Now that One for All has been passed on to Young Midoriya, it shall grow even more powerful than when it was with me. That being said, there's no need to worry about shaping up too quickly. The embers of One for All still remain within my body, so I will be at my full power for a while yet."

"That's a relief. Japan still needs her Number One," commented Kyosuke off-handedly. Despite his casual tone, there was genuine comfort in it. He had briefly been worried that passing One for All to Midoriya would have left the Symbol of Peace incapacitated, but his fears had seemingly been for naught. With that relief had come confusion, however; how did All Might still have the 'embers' of One for All if the actual Quirk was now with Midoriya?

Perhaps it was because the Quirk Factor still existed within his DNA, even if he had passed on a sample of it to Midoriya- but then, why was it fading at all? If the Quirk Factor still existed, then All Might should still have been in his prime. Perhaps it was because of that injury he had accumulated? But All Might had mentioned that One for All itself was fading within him, not just his capacity to use it...

Ugh. Quirks made no sense.

"With that in mind, let us proceed to actually use One for All for the first time!" All Might, shrinking back down to his true form with a brief spurt of blood from his mouth. "When you use a Quirk, the most important thing to keep in mind...is the feeling of it, you see!" He spread his arms dramatically, much to the trio's bewilderment.

"...I'm sorry, but could you be a bit more specific?" deadpanned Midoriya. Kyosuke could only feel amusement as the Symbol of Peace floundered like a beached whale- which was to say if beached whales were skinny and coughed up blood every five minutes- as he attempted to explain once more. "Err- you see-"

This continued for almost fifteen minutes before All Might was finally able to explain it properly. "You see, Young Midoriya, your imagination of using a Quirk is more important than you might think. When I use One for All, for example, I am put in mind of a blazing wildfire, growing ever stronger and brighter until it explodes outwards, like this!" He spread his arms expansively once more, now finally managing to command Midoriya's full attention once more. Uraraka looked thoughtful, her fingers instinctively twitching as she doubtless imagined what using her own Quirk felt like. "That is why when you use One for All for the first time, try and compare it to some sort of event- it doesn't matter what. Then clench your buttcheeks and punch out, with a SMASH!"

This was such an unfortunate note to end on that Kyosuke could not help but slap a palm on his head in exasperation. Uraraka did not assist matters by spluttering with laughter, though Midoriya was focusing intently on his idol's words with nary a change in his expression. "I see," he murmured, experimentally flexing his bicep, no doubt trying to get a feel for the power. "A blazing wildfire, exploding outwards..."

"I don't know if One for All's been transferred quite so quickly," warned Kyosuke. "Keratin takes time to digest. I don't see any harm in trying, but I don't know if anything will happen, even."

"I'll keep that in mind," promised Midoriya, already turning towards the ocean while continuing to stretch out his arm in a series of loose, repetitive punches. His eyes were glazed but alert, and with a wordless gesture from All Might, both Kyosuke and Uraraka stepped hastily behind their green-haired friend. Breathing in deeply, Midoriya got into a stance, slowly drawing a fist back. "Clench your buttcheeks..." he muttered to himself, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Don't force it- start small, Young Midoriya!" advised All Might nervously, fingers coming up to play with his collar restlessly. Instinctively, Kyosuke positioned himself so that he would be ready to pick both the blond man and Uraraka up and escape if something went wrong. Activating the Omnitrix out of habit borne from countless days of transforming, he spun the dial until he reached the green silhouette he wanted.

"Clench your buttcheeks..." muttered Midoriya once more, his body trembling slightly. As seconds passed, Kyosuke slowly became aware of a deep, immeasurable power humming outward from his friend- not as expansive as All Might's, but incredible nevertheless. Uraraka gazed at him, open-mouthed and pink-cheeked, as his arm began spitting green sparks, an incandescent light writhing around the limb like One for All was straining to get out and explode outwards from Midoriya's flesh even as the boy's will kept it leashed tight.

"And..." Midoriya finally punched forwards, his eyes flying open. "SMASH!"

The result was nowhere near as impressive as what All Might could do, but Kyosuke let out an involuntary yell nonetheless as the wind around Midoriya's body displaced from the sheer force of the punch, flying out over the ocean along with a sizeable amount of sand. All Might actually fell on the ground, landing on his butt as his successor panted, gazing at his arm in shock. There was a short divot carved in the sand before him which the punch had carved out on the beach.

Uraraka was the first to move. "Deku-kun, that was awesome!" she bellowed, sprinting over to the stunned boy and tackling him in a fierce hug, spinning him around. Midoriya went red, ostensibly reminding Kyosuke of a ripened tomato with his green hair as he sputtered incoherently. All Might was still gaping as he slowly picked himself up, brushing himself off carefully. "My boy...that was a much better first attempt than I had anticipated..."

"That was amazing," agreed Kyosuke, smiling widely, but a sudden thought replaced it with a frown nigh-instantaneously. "All Might, you mentioned there would be a kickback, but Midoriya's fine. There isn't a mark on him, in fact. That being said, the power's far less than what you're capable of, so..."

"It seems as if I anticipated the opposite problem," admitted All Might with a laugh. "I expected One for All to come up at full power right away and leave Young Midoriya injured. But it seems as if Young Midoriya has somehow managed to avoid the kickback at the cost of not being able to summon up all of One for All's power."

"It felt...amazing," expressed Midoriya quietly, either failing to notice or choosing to ignore that Uraraka was still wrapped around him. "There was so much power, waiting to be tapped into...but I could only use a trickle of it; just a small fraction of that power. It was like- I don't know, I just couldn't use any more power than I did."

"Try and use a metaphor for what it felt like, Young Midoriya!" encouraged All Might. "Remember how you visualized using One for All! What did it feel like?"

"Umm..." Midoriya worried at his lip slightly, contemplating his words with care as Uraraka finally let him go, stepping backward. "It felt like...oh! I know! Like a tap that's only letting a trickle of water out into a sink!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

Kyosuke, All Might, and Uraraka all immediately burst into laughter. "That's-" choked All Might, "that's a little boring, sure, but it's original, so why not?"

"It's so like Deku-kun to think of a metaphor like that!" chortled Uraraka.

"Only you, Midoriya," snickered Kyosuke, "could compare using what's probably the most powerful Quirk in the world to a tap that's only letting a trickle of water out into a sink."

"Will the three of you stop, already!?" Midoriya wailed, but this only managed to increase their laughter even further.

"Oh, oh no, okay, ahem." All Might snorted one last time before regaining his composure. "That metaphor is actually quite fitting, Young Midoriya. You see, it gives us an interesting insight as to how One for All works for you. Your body is not yet ready to handle One for All's full strength, so it seems as if something is unconsciously limiting you from accessing it so that you are not injured. I'm not actually sure what is limiting you from doing so, but it's actually quite fortuitous. The tap is only giving you a trickle of water- which is One for All- because that is all the sink- which is your body- can handle without cracking. I think your current limit is about five or six percent of my full power, but since One for All will grow more powerful in time, I cannot say for sure.

"As you keep using One for All and letting yourself build up in strength, the tap shall keep increasing its supply of water until you are fully capable of wielding One for All, by which time it shall be a gushing torrent!"

"I'm sorry-" Uraraka started laughing once more, holding her stomach, "I can't, I can't t-take that metaphor seriously- pfft- a tap, a tap of all things, Deku-kun...gushing torrent..."

Kyosuke grinned. "I believed in you before, Midoriya, but considering you have One for All, you're practically a shoo-in once you have it down. U.A won't know what's going to hit it once we pass the Entrance Exam!"

"Now, now," chided All Might, though not without an indulgent smile on his face. "U.A's entrance exam is still very difficult- don't underestimate my alma mater, my boy."

Midoriya smiled happily. "Thanks, Kyosuke-kun."

The white-haired boy snorted. "Don't thank me for stating the obvious, Midoriya."

"That's not what I meant."

This was unexpected. Kyosuke raised an eyebrow in intrigue, and he could tell Uraraka and All Might were surprised too. "Oh?"

The green-haired boy looked away for a second before facing his friend properly. "If it hadn't been for you...well, I would- I would have never received One for All. You were the one to talk me into it all those months ago. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have ever become All Might's successor. So, thank you."

The disadvantage of being pale and white-haired was that the whole world knew when you blushed. "You-" he spluttered, his cheeks hot as Uraraka giggled. "I didn't-don't make it sound like- I barely- stop laughing, Uraraka!"

"Never!" she squealed gleefully. "Oh, the bromance is real! It makes me melt, Kyo-chan, honestly, it does."

Kyosuke turned away from his two friends, a curious mixture of embarrassment, anger, and happiness thrumming within his veins. It was a difficult cocktail of emotions to sustain, made even harder by the fact that Midoriya was still looking at him so gratefully that it made him want to pull his cheeks, which had somehow still not yet lost their baby softness after all their years of training. They just made him all the more adorable, and that just wasn't fair. Uraraka was no better, either, all things considered.

It was just his luck that he was doomed to spend his years in high school with these cute idiots, and Kyosuke wouldn't have it any other way.

X-X-X

"Pictures just don't do it justice, do they?" marveled Uraraka, as the trio gazed up at the towering colossus, a bastion of glass and metal that seemed forbidding and welcoming all at once. It served as a beacon for Musutafu's citizens and a warning for its evildoers; it was a symbol of heroism that gleamed brightly under the morning sun. U.A High School, soon to be either the site of their greatest success or worst failure.

"N-No," agreed Midoriya, shaking so badly in his black gakuran that Kyosuke was afraid he would fall over where he stood, and they hadn't even resumed walking yet. "No, they r-r-really, really d-d-don't." His skin was paler than milk, and the white-haired boy could hear a subtle grinding coming from Midoriya's teeth, indicating how tightly locked his jaw muscles were.

"Uh, Deku-kun?" murmured Uraraka with a giggle, seeming half-amused, half-concerned. Kyosuke could hardly even blame Midoriya for being so nervous- the sight of the campus had shaken his prior confidence quite extensively. It was a brutal reminder of how truly difficult, how treacherous the obstacles in front of him were, even with something as powerful as the Omnitrix.

Furthermore, his green-haired friend had not managed to get truly comfortable using his new Quirk even after three months of solid effort. While he could now control about eight percent of what All Might estimated was his full power quite easily, he had not yet managed to understand how to compensate for that strength during combat. A simple punch threw him off balance unless he powered up both of his legs and his arm at the same time, which divided his focus and messed up his technique anyway. Even All Might hadn't been able to help much in that regard- after some prodding, the blond man had sheepishly admitted that he had been something of a prodigy with One for All who had been able to control one hundred percent of it right off the bat. The Quirk had come to him so naturally that he hadn't been able to explain it to Midoriya as well as any of them would have liked.

As Uraraka had (rather accurately) put it one day, it was like trying to explain the color blue to a blind person. All Might had been able to adjust to One for All in an instinctive manner that had simply not extended to Midoriya. Nor did it help that the green-haired boy's progress was vastly different from that of his predecessors. The usual course of action with One for All was gradually adjusting to the usage of a huge amount of power, a Quirk that was too powerful for its user. However, Midoriya was having exactly the opposite problem. He could control very little of his full power, and while he suffered no injury from using it, his subpar control made it difficult to do so anyway, and he couldn't make up for it with overwhelming strength in the meantime.

On the other hand, their grades had never been better. U.A's written exam wasn't all that important compared to the practical portion, but it still required a passing grade of over sixty percent, and it was incredibly difficult even by usual Japanese middle school standards. Not being as academically minded as they, Uraraka had needed quite a bit of their help to pass any of the mock exams, and Kyosuke himself had had much trouble with any paper that wasn't math or science. Only Midoriya had managed all of the practice exams decently enough on his first try. However, with regular studying and occasional help from his father on their biology and chemistry portions, the three of them had secured excellent grades in their mock exams and their middle school finals. Indeed, Kyosuke felt that tutoring Uraraka alongside Midoriya had helped them immensely in that regard. Both boys had beaten Bakugou in their overall rank, something of an achievement considering how smart the blond was. Uraraka had not been too far behind either.

And speaking of Bakugou...

"Get out of my way, Deku," demanded a grating voice from behind them. Not having to turn around to discern whom it belonged to, Kyosuke made sure to school his expression as far into neutrality as possible before facing the scowling blond. Midoriya began shivering even worse than before as he eyed his former friend with a curious mixture of fear and respect, while Uraraka's cheerful smile immediately vanished, a scowl flashing in its place as she glared at him.

"K-Kacchan!" stammered Midoriya, instinctively shifting to the side until Uraraka gently gripped his sleeve. "Why don't you walk around us like a normal person?" she spat. "There's plenty of space around us, you know!"

"Fuck off, you round-faced bitch," sneered Bakugou. "I'm looking forward to seeing your faces when you all fail, you fucking losers."

Kyosuke rolled his eyes. Three years of dealing with the rude blond had provided him with much practice keeping his temper- not that, of course, his rage wasn't coagulating beneath his outward calm. Bakugou was a selfish, arrogant jerk who didn't deserve the gifts he had been blessed with, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon, or ever, from the looks of it. He had been a constant presence during their middle school career, insulting the three of them whenever he could get away with it, and because the pathetic teachers of Aldera Junior High had always been ready to let his subpar behavior slide, he had gotten away with it quite frequently. He went after Midoriya the most- with Uraraka and he coming admittedly poor seconds- and would physically assault him whenever the two of them weren't there with him. The green-haired boy proved a convenient target, primarily because he wouldn't fight back unless the pain became too much. Kyosuke and Uraraka had no trouble hitting back, so they were usually left alone in this regard, but no one would put it past the blond to go after them if he was in a bad enough mood. Bakugou would even use his Quirk to hurt them if sufficiently provoked, never mind that it was not only illegal but also incredibly dangerous to weaponize Quirks without the proper training. It was frankly impossible for Kyosuke to consider Bakugou hero material after everything he'd put them- and especially Midoriya- through.

"Keep walking, Bakugou," he warned. "Try not to make an ass of yourself this early in the morning, difficult though you may find it."

Bakugou sneered hatefully, purposely knocking his shoulder into Kyosuke's before walking away, slouching like he always did. Midoriya's expression now resembled that of a child whose pet had just died- for whatever reason, even after all the times Bakugou had mocked, insulted, and beat him up, he still valued his former friend's opinions. Kyosuke could hardly understand why, but it saddened him just as much as it angered him to think of how Bakugou's childhood friendship with Midoriya had deteriorated to this- a relationship that dipped horrifyingly close to abuse and had left his friend with emotional scars so extensive he doubted he would ever heal fully from them.

If only Bakugou treated him with even a modicum, a fraction of the respect and admiration Midoriya held for him- if only he had the common decency to regard Midoriya as an actual person, and not some bug to be crushed and wiped away- then maybe his friend wouldn't have suffered so much.

"That jerk!" fumed Uraraka, trembling with anger as she embraced the trembling Midoriya tightly. The green-haired boy seemed to relax at her touch, exhaling slowly as he loosely hugged her back. "Why does he have to be such a- ugh!"

It hardly needed clarification that his brunette friend had never mastered the art of keeping her cool when interacting with Bakugou; not that Kyosuke blamed her for it. Her emotions ran much, much hotter than his own, and sometimes even Midoriya's for that matter. "It's best not to question it, Uraraka," he advised. "You can't stop the sun from rising, just as you can't stop Bakugou from being an asshole."

Humour was always well-received after an encounter with the unpleasant blond, and it managed to bring out some laughter from her as she carefully released Midoriya, who squared his shoulders determinedly whilst trying not to chuckle at the deadpan delivery. "Let's just go," he stated, before promptly tripping on his feet and falling to the ground just before Uraraka hastily managed to catch him. "Deku-kun!" she chastised, unable to resist a smile as she used her Quirk to straighten him out before patting him down for injuries. "Watch where you're going, silly!"

Kyosuke grinned as Midoriya devolved into a stuttering mess. It was times like these, when the boy's mood improved just by being in Uraraka's general proximity, that he was reminded of exactly why introducing the two to each other had been the best decision of his life. The two of them were made for each other- he was fairly certain that Midoriya had developed a crush on her the instant they'd met, and Uraraka had not been too far behind in reciprocating it.

"Let's go," he suggested. "We have to start our written paper in about ten minutes."

"Ah, r-right!" stammered Midoriya. He and Uraraka followed the white-haired boy into the massive exam hall, a brightly lit affair of several hundred desks set up in perfectly aligned rows. As Kyosuke had expected, the written paper was immensely difficult, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to secure a pass in every single subject. The written score was determined by one's cumulative marks in every single subject- Math, Science, Social Studies, English and Japanese, each assigned a point value of a hundred for a total score of five hundred- so that if someone scored badly in one subject, it could be compensated for by an exceptional score in another. And so it was for him- his Social Studies marks were sure to be abysmal compared to his Math and Science scores. English was a bit of a dark horse, and Japanese was never all that difficult considering they spoke it every day. However, he wasn't worried about actually failing any of these subjects, which was good; failure in any individual subject meant the termination of one's application, even if one achieved perfect scores in every other area.

As Kyosuke handed in his written exam, he felt a certain sort of satisfaction at long hours of academic work finally paying off. Certainly, the glut of his attention had been focused on his physical conditioning and the Omnitrix as of late, but he had made sure to keep his nose in the books even when he would have had rather fallen asleep or taken a break, especially when the sheer brutality of the American Dream Plan caught up with him. His friends had done the same, of course, and that made it all the more gratifying to see Uraraka grinning as she reconvened alongside him, and Midoriya giving a faint, but genuine smile when Kyosuke raised an eyebrow at him in inquiry.

"Now the real battle begins," murmured the brunette, her voice so melodramatic that Kyosuke wouldn't have hesitated to tease her for it any other day. However, her trepidation was palpable, as was Midoriya's and his own. The U.A Practical Exam was what really made or broke a student's application; there was no way U.A would care about perfect grades if their owner failed the practical portion. Indeed, it was taken so seriously that they had all been made to sign NDAs before they were allowed to appear for it so that they would be barred from revealing its nature to anyone except close family. As this had been the norm ever since U.A's establishment, the result was that no one knew what the Practical Exam would be like, and those that did know weren't allowed to blab about it, lest they be faced with severe legal repercussions from U.A's top-notch lawyers.

The auditorium they were all guided into was nothing like the written exam hall. It was dark, with a semicircular arrangement of seats labeled with a row and column number each. Furthermore, they were all seated next to each other, which had led Kyosuke to the unhappy realization that they were likely being segregated on the basis of their school, meaning Bakugou would be seated next to them as well. As their eyes got used to the low lighting conditions, Uraraka gaped in astonishment as she tugged on Midoriya's sleeve. "Look Deku-kun, there are sooo many people! There's gotta be like a thousand students here!"

Kyosuke shared her amazement, though he did not show it. Never before had he seen so many people his age gathered in a single area for anything throughout his fifteen years of existence. Midoriya chuckled weakly, presumably having anticipated this. "U.A's reputation is amazing, huh?"

After sitting down on his assigned seat with Uraraka on his left and Midoriya on his right, Kyosuke noted that- much to his displeasure- he had been correct in his reasoning that they were being segregated by their schools. Despite the low light, the spiky blond crop of his least favorite person in the world was unmistakable as he approached their row, before screeching in anger as he too spied exactly who he was sitting next to. "Oh come fucking on!" he cried. "Why the fuck am I next to you, shitty Deku!? And you too, you white-haired bastard and round-faced bitch!? Fuck off!"

"Do you really think that we'd be anywhere next to you if we had a choice about it?" retorted Kyosuke dryly, placing a pre-emptive hand on Uraraka's shoulder to calm her down. The girl had gone rigid upon seeing Bakugou so close to Midoriya, her teeth gnashing in anger as the green-haired boy seized up in fear. "We don't exactly want to be in your general vicinity either, so just do us all a favor, sit down, and shut up for once."

"Don't tell me what to do, bastard!" yelled Bakugou, a vein pulsing in his head as he sat down next to Midoriya angrily. Kyosuke watched him with an outwardly calm expression, even though the rage running cold as ice beneath his veins was as prudent as it was familiar. At the very least, he knew that Midoriya was more than capable of enduring anything Bakugou threw at him with One for All, and Kyosuke himself could snap the blond's neck in an instant if he tried anything funny. He wasn't going to put up with Bakugou's crap now that the three of them were well on track to achieving their goals, especially considering the blond was practically guaranteed to get into U.A due to his natural brilliance, amazing Quirk, and excellent combat sense.

The lights abruptly flicked on, silencing everyone in the auditorium, and they swiveled around momentarily before aiming at the podium in front. A man stood there, wearing brown glasses, a black leather jacket, fingerless gloves, and a large white smile. His long blond hair looked like a full tub of hair gel had been wrangled into styling it, and an odd speaker-like apparatus was mounted on his neck.

Being Midoriya's best friend, Kyosuke could hardly fail to recognize him instantly. He was the Voice Hero, Present Mic; and if the white-haired boy was remembering correctly, he was also the English teacher at U.A and one of its more popular presences.

"WELL! How nice to have a live audience!" howled the adult hero, before raising his hands in a characteristic 'rocker' pose. "EVERYBODY SAY HEY!" he yelled in English, before putting a hand over his ear and leaning forward.

Absolute silence. Not a single one of the thousand-odd students present in the auditorium had responded to Present Mic's enthusiastic opener. From what Kyosuke could see, Midoriya was too starstruck at the Voice Hero's appearance to respond coherently, Bakugou was scowling in the green-haired boy's direction, and Uraraka's cheeks were bulging from trying not to laugh.

"What a dignified response!" Present Mic seemed unaffected by the tepidity of his audience, though upon closer observation, Kyosuke was able to see the tell-tale trembling of the blond man's shoulders. An awkward air had prevailed over the enthusiasm the Voice Hero had tried to bring up, and the white-haired boy could only sympathize. However, Midoriya, true to form, was muttering nonstop as he gazed with shining eyes at the hero. "Oh my god, it's the Voice Hero, Present Mic! I listen to his show every day at seven a.m! He's so cool!"

Kyosuke and Uraraka exchanged fond smiles as their friend continued his spiel. As the latter often said, 'Deku-kun wouldn't be Deku-kun if he didn't mutter. Or cry.'

"Shut up, Deku," spat Bakugou. Kyosuke aimed a cold glare at him, but the Voice Hero started up once more before he could retort.

"Anyway! Little listeners, I'm here to present to you the guidelines of this here exam!" An image of three robots with the numbers one, two, and three below them popped up on the screen. The robots were silhouettes and looked quite manageable- except the one whose assigned point value was three. Was that a cannon, a literal cannon on its shoulder? "These are robots, which for simplicity we'll call Faux Villains! They have invaded the city you'll be placed in and are wreaking havoc! Oh, the horror!" He swooned, almost making the white-haired boy snicker at how dramatic he was being. Uraraka wasn't even attempting to hide her laughter, though she was admittedly keeping it relatively silent. "You'll all be going to different cityscapes and trying to beat as many of these robots as possible, earning points as you go along! The more points you get, the higher chances you have of getting in! It's as simple as that!

"Oh, and if you purposely attack your fellow examinees, you'll fail instantly, so don't even think about it! True heroes don't injure their comrades, after all! Furthermore, you'll each be escorted to the cityscapes written on your handouts! Each of them is roundly the same; it's just that we've taken care to separate you so that your friends from school can't help you out!

"Well, that's it- any questions?"

Kyosuke raised an eyebrow, pondering what they had been told as he scanned the handouts in front of him. Robots were not exactly what he had expected the practical to consist of- indeed, it seemed a little unrealistic to expect an untrained high school student to beat down such advanced combat technology right off the bat. However, as he read through the handout and absorbed the information on it, he noticed several things that afforded him some relief. The robots had an off-switch that the examinees could press to shut them off if they couldn't punch through solid metal, and the bots themselves seemed to have an ample number of weak points that they could exploit.

Only the three-pointer looked to be capable of ranged attack. The two-pointer, judging from its slim, dynamic design, was geared towards speed, and the one-pointer was a ponderous build that looked slow but strong. Kyosuke didn't doubt that he was more than capable of physically disassembling any of the robots with his plethora of alien forms, but he would probably be better off using transformations geared towards ranged attack. Those three-pointer missiles looked pretty nasty. Uraraka, of course, would be okay if she could get in close, and Midoriya could easily blow any of the bots away even with only eight percent of One for All.

After looking through each of the cityscapes they had been assigned to, Kyosuke quickly realized why they had been segregated by school- each of them had been posted to a different area, with Bakugou in cityscape A, Midoriya in B, himself in C and Uraraka in D. Clearly, U.A had done this to minimize opportunities for pre-planned teamwork, but Kyosuke wasn't worried. Uraraka and Midoriya wouldn't need his help, and vice versa; moreover, there was no way in hell that he would ever assist Bakugou in anything, nor would the blond ever accept any form of aid they had to give.

"I have a question!" called a voice from the front. Kyosuke looked up with interest to see a tall, black-haired boy with broad shoulders and spectacles stand up as if he was carved from stone, perfectly poised and serious. "You say there are three robots we must aim for, but on the handout, a fourth one is clearly visible! If this is a mistake, U.A must be properly ashamed of it!"

Surprised, Kyosuke gazed at the handout once more to find he was correct. There was a fourth robot displayed on the back, though it was marked with a dull zero. He wasn't sure what that meant. Unless of course, it was worth zero points, but that made no sense.

"And you!" Kyosuke's eyes widened as he swerved around to point at- Midoriya? The bespectacled black-haired boy glared at him curtly. "You have been muttering non-stop ever since this presentation started, and it is extremely distracting! Please cease and desist immediately! If this exam is a joke to you, then kindly leave and stop wasting our time!"

"A-ah…" Midoriya covered his mouth, laughter streaming from the audience as they watched. Surprise quickly solidifying into anger, ice flooded his nerves as Kyosuke clenched his fists, a vein pulsing in his neck. He could understand being distracted by Midoriya's muttering, but there had really been no need to call out his ambitions in the process. Even Bakugou seemed pissed off at how grandiosely the boy carried himself, though he did not say anything. Uraraka, in sharp contrast, looked ready to float down and throttle the life out of the bespectacled student. However, she managed to content herself with a fierce glare.

"Hey, now!" Present Mic was unfazed, to his credit. "That is a zero-pointer, little listener!" Another silhouette popped up on the screen. "Its sole purpose is to act as an obstacle and give you trouble- nothing more, nothing less! You listeners would be better off avoiding it! Does that answer your question?"

"Indeed! I apologize for the interruption!" proclaimed the tall boy stiffly, sitting back down after a brief bow.

"Now, keep this in mind!" roared Present Mic, and something in the tenor of his voice made Kyosuke pay more attention. "All of you had better give your best and then some! Remember that a true hero is one that can overcome life's hardships to soar into the skies! That's why you should give it your all, little listeners!" He thrust a fist up. "Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!"

This finally earned the Voice Hero a response from the audience, which he seemed to count as a win for himself.

X-X-X

Much to their credit, U.A had been conscientious enough to give them a map of their cityscapes to familiarize themselves with before the start of the exam, and during the short bus ride to the part of the campus where cityscape C was located, Kyosuke made full use of it. While the rest of his peers were fraught with nervous tension and thus completely unable to relax, the white-haired boy was silently using a pencil he had borrowed from Midoriya to mark certain points along the roads and alleys making up the mock city.

If the scale he had been provided with was correct, the roughly circular model city comprised an area of six square kilometers and was immensely lifelike, with buildings of various shapes and sizes, roundabouts, two-way streets, and alleyways. In trying to predict where most of the robots would be present, Kyosuke was marking down places on the model city where the bigger two-way streets intersected, attempting to sketch out a rough path he could take through the landscape to encounter as many of them as he could. He anticipated hunting individual bots down to be a tiresome, time-wasting affair, especially since most of the examinees would probably be doing the same. Kyosuke wasn't foolish enough to fancy his chances of taking down a robot when a hundred other test-takers would be gunning for it simultaneously- he would much rather make the robots come to him if it proved possible.

Pensively biting his lip, he carefully traced his chosen path, hoping that he wasn't making a mistake. It was all too possible that his assumptions were flawed, thus making his strategy go awry before it would even have a chance to succeed. He breathed in deeply, putting away the pencil and committing himself to memorize the turns he would need to take to reach his chosen chokepoints. Whatever happened, he promised himself, he would see it through with no regrets.

Several years of endurance running throughout the streets of Musutafu had taught Kyosuke the art of committing directions to memory quickly and easily. After about ten seconds, he had rolled up the map and left it on his seat before getting up as the bus stopped. They had arrived.

As the test-takers hesitantly exited the vehicle in front of the start gate, Kyosuke quietly walked down and began stretching, warming up properly for the fight ahead. He was wearing his favorite black-and-grey shirt and pants, which were worn out from constant use but still perfectly serviceable. Then again, it wasn't as if clothing mattered much anyway, considering it disappeared whenever he transformed. The confidence with which he was carrying himself was replicated by a few other test-takers, such as a girl with an orange side-ponytail dressed in a white kung fu uniform and a black-haired boy with sharp teeth, but the majority were still tightly wound and seemed ready to burst out in nervous tension if sufficiently provoked.

"OKAY, START!"

Kyosuke peered up in shock that was mirrored by his fellow examinees as Present Mic leered above them on the roof of a building with a giant megaphone in hand. "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A COUNTDOWN IN A REAL FIGHT, KIDDOS! RUN, RUN, RUN! TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE!"

Shock instantly coalescing into determination, Kyosuke activated his Omnitrix, grinning as he spun the dial until he reached the alien he wanted. His fellow test-takers were all sprinting ahead of him desperately, but he remained calm in the wake of their hysteria, and it showed. As he finally hit upon his desired transformation, he raised his right hand and slammed down the watch face decisively.

In that second, in that blessed instant of time, Kyosuke Kirihara took his first step towards achieving his destiny.

In an explosion of green light, he began to change.

His body undulated as it grew taller, shoulders remaining broad but muscles elongating to compensate for his longer, slenderer frame. His skin grew blue-and-black fur, some of which fringed his eyes like a mask and hardened at his lower arms and calves to form small blades, which he knew were built more to accentuate his dynamism than anything else. His feet lost their toes and grew shorter, almost like small, hard boots but not quite; his eyes lost their pupils and became a solid green. Now over six feet tall, he was lean and rangy and built for speed. Indeed, he was quick enough to outrun a bullet train when he really began trying.

"Fasttrack!" called out the alien, maintaining his grin as he charged, overtaking the majority of the examinees in one fell swoop as he traversed his chosen route in about five seconds. "Perhaps I should listen to Uraraka more- shouting out the name does feel surprisingly fun."

X-X-X

A/N: GET HYPED Y'ALL, because the next chapter is gonna bring the heat! We've accomplished another set of milestones with Chapter Four: Midoriya acquiring One for All, Kirihara's first transformation, the introduction of our favorite- or not so much, in my case- blond bomber, and so on. That said, Chapter Four is mostly meant to be a setup for future events. I will not say which future events! Some of them are obvious, others less so.

What I anticipate will invite much controversy is my take on Bakugou. It's pretty clear I'm not a fan, but I promise I will do my best to treat him fairly. That's all I can really say without verging into spoiler territory, so let's leave it at that.

Lastly, of course, is how Midoriya's One for All differs from canon. I realize it might seem like a bit of a cop-out because it basically seems as if I've given him control right from the outset; control which he didn't immediately have in canon. But I really like the idea of a story in which Midoriya manages not to shatter his bones every other chapter. Besides, it's not as rosy as it may seem; not being able to access his full strength will hinder Midoriya's progress quite a bit down the line. It's just something different I wanted to do!

I hope you enjoyed Chapter Four! If you did, and you want to leave some constructive criticism, appreciation, and so forth, drop a review! It makes my day when you fine folks take out the time to show that you like my work or want to see some improvements.

See you very soon, and take care.