Disclaimer: This story contains spoilers for MHA and the JJK Manga.

"Just hurry up and pass it over here already."

"Shut up, you'll get your turn."

"Just hurry it up will ya? Who knows if someone is going to come by here."

"Would you just shut up already! No one is going to see us! That's the whole reason we're so late in the first place."

Haruto quieted down after the chastisement. Though he couldn't help the way his eyes darted back to the door every couple of seconds. Certain that any moment he'd see a teacher, or the janitorial staff, or even worse, his father, standing outside.

Asashi took another long drag on his cigarette, before finally passing it over to Haruto, who took the lit cigarette greedily. He took a long drag, savoring the way his lungs filled with smoke, and his mouth and throat burned. Reaching down to the desk, he grabbed the small carton they were using to mitigate too much of the odor and blew his mouthful of smoke inside.

"Bakugo a no show again?" Akira asked.

"What do you think?" Asahi snorted. "All he ever does is train now. Not like he needs to. Freak of nature like him, with a quirk like his, it's a no brainer that he's going to get into UA. I don't know why he tries so hard."

"Yelled at us too when we invited him, remember?" Haruto reminded his friend.

"Damn right I do," nodded Asahi. "Bastard got all whiney and shit, acting like I was going to ruin his chances of going to school." Asashi snorted as he pulled another cigarette free and lit it. "Guy like that…he tries to act so cool and tough, but at the end of the day he's no different than that loser he hangs around with. He's just another damned nerd."

"Yeah," agreed Haruto. "He acts like he's so tough but really, he's just as much of a nerd as Midoriya. I bet-" He stopped, as the light in the room suddenly cut out.

"Yo, Akira, what the hell man?" Asahi reprimanded.

"It's not me!" Akira defended, as he flicked the light switch up and down. "The lights aren't working."

"Man, this place is such a dump," grumbled Asashi. "Can't even pay the electricity bill properly."

"I don't know man," mumbled Akira, shivering. "The air conditioning definitely seems to be working."

"Yeah," Haruto agreed, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as he tried to warm himself. "Feels like we just stepped out into a snow storm."

"Shut up!" Asahi hissed suddenly, his large bat-like ears twitching slightly. "I think I heard something outside."

They fell silent, and Haruto strained his ears as he tried to listen. Sure enough he could hear something moving outside their room.

"Shit, must be the janitorial staff," muttered Akira.

"Haruto, go and take a look," ordered Asashi.

"Why me?" Haruto asked.

"Because I said so," snapped Asashi.

Grumbling, Haruto snagged the cigarette out of Akira's hands and took a drag. Tossing the roach back on the table, he walked out into the hall, knocking the towel they'd stuffed under the door out of the way. Like the room they'd sequestered, the lights in the hallway were all out. He tried to listen, but he couldn't hear anything in the hallway. He couldn't even hear the sound of the air conditioning even though it was freezing.

Floorboards creaked a few yards away and he swiveled around.

"Hello?" He called out, "Is someone there?"

There was no answer. He gagged, as the most foul odor he'd ever experienced. Like burning trash and decaying corpses. His hands clapped to his nose as the sound of something slithering, came closer. Not walking, there were no footsteps. But it was unmistakable that something was moving in his direction. Gliding over the wooden floor.

He took a cautious step back, as the full moon outside came just high enough over the horizon to shine its light inside. The figure in the darkness was slowly illuminated.

And Haruto screamed.

BREAK

Izuku's foot tapped an impatient rhythm as he patted unevenly on his knees.

"Mr. Midoriya?" The receptionist poked her head out the door and into the waiting room, "The Dean will meet with you now."

"T-thank you," he stammered out. Hastily getting to his feet, nearly tripping over himself, he tried to compose himself before walking through the adjacent door and into the Dean's office. He had seen pictures of the venerable head of the leading heroic institution in Japan in the past, had even seen press conferences and interviews with him before. But seeing a picture or video of the small rodent-like creature, and meeting it in the flesh, so to speak, was an entirely different matter.

Dressed in an immaculately tailored vest and matching pleated pants, the white rodent-like creature smiled up from his wildly disproportionate desk as Izuku entered the room.

"Izuku Midoriya," smiled Nezu. "Thank you for your application and for coming all the way down here. I know it's a bit of a walk from your mother's."

"It was no trouble sir," smiled Izuku, his heart hammering against his ribs. "A-and, can I just say that it, erm, it's a pleasure to-to finally meet you. I read your dissertation on quirk evolution last fall and-and it fundamentally changed the way that I look at quirks."

"Oh-ho," Nezu beamed. "Well thank you for the kind words. Now then," he turned his attention to the large file on the desk in front of him.

"With respect to your application-"

If it was possible, Izuku's pulse began to quicken even further. He could all but hear every pump of his heart in his ears, threatening to drown out Nezu's voice.

"-graduating near the top of your class, very impressive Mr. Midoriya, very impressive indeed. And your physical evaluations proved to be…rather insightful, to say the least. Is it really true that your bones are three times as dense as regular humans?"

"Yes sir," Izuku nodded. "We discovered it when I was six."

"After a little playground scuffle, yes," Nezu nodded, more to himself than to Izuku.

Izuku flushed, and averted his gaze. It wasn't one of his prouder moments to be sure. Though calling it a scuffle was perhaps understating it rather considerably. Izuku had intervened when a couple of his classmates had been bullying a young boy. Izuku didn't even remember making a conscious decision to intervene. One moment he had been on the swings, and the next he was standing over the bullies. Their injuries had been…considerable.

Izuku had shattered one of the boys' ribcage, and had horribly mangled another's to the point he wasn't able to walk for months. Izuku had managed to hit the boys with enough sheer physical force to rival being bashed repeatedly with a brick. A show of strength and speed that should have been impossible for a boy his age, even with a quirk.

Thankfully, no charges had been filed nor had any lawsuits been set. Apparently enough witnesses to the event had clarified the altercation, that in spite of Izuku's lack of utter restraint, no one had been willing to try anything. The police had also decided that it had been little more than a playground tussle between boys who didn't know how to handle their quirks yet, which was far from abnormal.

But it had left Izuku in a strange position. After things had quieted down, Izuku had once again been marched to the hospital with his mother where he was, once again, subjected to a battery of tests. But again, like before, there were no indications that he possessed a quirk whatsoever. Instead, the hospital had noted that his body had undergone a strange, although not unheard of, genetic mutation. The bones in his body contained considerably more calcium than the average human being, and his skin and internal organs seemed to have become more durable and elastic. It wasn't considered a quirk, but the doctors hypothesized that Izuku would likely be considerably stronger, faster, and more agile than the average human male.

The news had elated Izuku. It might not have been a quirk, but it was close enough. Better yet, it seemed as though his strange genetic mutation was similar to his all-time favorite hero's own quirk, All Might. The greatest hero on the planet. At least in Izuku's opinion.

Which was what had brought him to the here and now. Sitting in the office of the Dean of UA University.

"How utterly fascinating," Nezu stated, although it seemed more of an observation to himself than directed to Izuku. "Not an unheard of condition to be sure, and certainly a genetic mutation and not a quirk…but how utterly fascinating you are Mr. Midoriya."

"Um…thank you?" Midoriya said in uncertainty.

"However," said Nezu, and Izuku sat up straighter in his chair. The air in the room seemed to grow noticeably more tense. "I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your application into our university."

It felt like a knife in the stomach. Twisting and pulling at his very insides. He knew it had been coming. He was hopeful, but he wasn't a fool. Still, the mere fact that he had been brought to the school, had been granted an in-person interview at all…it had gotten his hopes up.

"I truly am sorry, Mr. Midoriya," said Nezu, sounding genuinely mournful. "Were it up to me, there would be no issue, and you would be a more than welcome addition to my university and my hero program." He sighed, and placed the file back on his desk.

"My school might be the most well-known in the country, but even we are not above the law. And as I am sure you know, the Japanese government has mandated that all institutions dedicated to the education of future professional heroes can only welcome students who possess quirks."

Izuku nodded, doing his best to keep his composure.

"I…I know…" said Izuku softly, his fists clenching tightly as he squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to stem the flow of tears that were threatening at the corners of his eyes.

"I just…I thought maybe…because of the mutation…"

"I understand," said Nezu kindly. "And as I said, were it up to me, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You are everything that this institution looks for in a student. But the law is the law, regardless of whether it is fair or overreaching." The small creature hopped up on the desk and walked over to the edge of the desk. Plopping down so his legs were dangling over the edge he pat Izuku reassuringly on the arm.

"I genuinely apologize, Mr. Midoriya. But as long as this is a public institution, and as long as the federal government oversees the issuance of licenses to professional heroes, we are bound by its terms."

Izuku nodded. He understood the rationale. UA had, once upon a time, been a high school. Students as young as Izuku was now could be fully licensed professional heroes. But that had been nearly a century ago. The painful truth was that young heroes were simply not suited for the life of a professional hero. Their bodies and brains were not yet at their full maturity, and they were easy targets for villains.

The number of young heroes who died within their first six months as a professional hero became so staggering, that public outrage had forced the federal government to completely restructure hero education. Now all hero programs in the nation were run through universities. Students had to not only be eighteen years old to enter the program, but they also had to have a quirk.

Izuku could understand the rationale behind it. By mandating all those who entered a university had a quirk, it was like a safety-net. It ensured that, at a minimum, all students would have a way to defend themselves. But the reality didn't match the vision. Izuku had lost count of the number of heroes who didn't even use their quirk as part of their everyday life as a professional hero. Even more whose quirks were so unrelated to combat that there was little to no reason they should have been made a hero at all. Izuku's body was harder, stronger, faster than the average professional hero. In a fair world, he would have at least been given a chance to prove himself.

But, he supposed that would have been asking too much.

"So, Mr. Midoriya," said Nezu. "Unless you have been hiding something from me and the school. A quirk that you have yet to register…I'm afraid I have no choice but to reject your application."

Izuku hesitated. The fact was that he did have something that he hadn't disclosed to the school or to the government.

But that's because it wasn't a quirk.

He was six years old when he first saw them. At first, he thought he had been imagining them. He'd always had an overactive imagination, and it wouldn't have been too far-fetched for him to have conjured the nightmares. But with each passing day, it became increasingly clear that the monstrosities were not simply the result of an overactive imagination. They were very real, a fact that became rather painfully clear when Izuku had tried to touch one, and it had nearly had his fingers for lunch.

He didn't leave his room for two days after that.

But as the days turned into weeks, and as weeks bled into months, the monsters didn't disappear. He saw them everywhere he went. From the school, to shopping centers, abandoned alleyways and cemeteries. Anywhere there were people, there seemed to be these eldritch horrors waiting to torment him.

Some spoke, little more than garbled and incoherent nonsense. Usually only capable of managing a few stuttering and broken words, but the vast majority of the creatures could do little more than growl or pant. For the most part, they seemed relatively harmless, at least as far as Izuku could tell.

After it became clear that the monsters wouldn't be going away any time soon, he finally plucked up the courage to tell his mother about what he had been seeing. He had thought, or rather hoped, that maybe this was his quirk finally manifesting. A quirk was the genetic mutation a person was gifted with at birth. More than eighty percent of the world's population was made up of quirk users, who realized their innate abilities when they were about four years old. Izuku was not one of the eighty percent.

As a young boy who had wanted nothing more than to join the elite society of professional superheroes that dominated modern Japanese and global culture, the news that he lacked the ability that all of his idols had, had been devastating. So the notion that he was little more than a late bloomer, and his quirk had finally manifested, albeit in a strange, concerning, and downright terrifying manner, had excited him.

It had taken some convincing before his mother had begun to believe that he was seeing monsters everywhere he went, and that he was most certainly not in need of psychotherapy. But eventually, he had gotten his mother on his side and they'd gone back to the hospital for a check-up. But after an exhaustive battery of tests, the verdict came back in no uncertain terms, that Izuku Midoriya most certainly did not have a quirk.

He didn't know which was more disheartening. The realization that he really, truly didn't have a quirk, or the fact that all of the monstrosities he was seeing really were just all in his head. The only reason his mother didn't immediately haul him off to a therapist or an asylum, was because Izuku had pretended to stop seeing them when he was around her. Chalking them up to an over-active imagination.

But could he tell Nezu that? Could he really take the risk and expose what he saw on a daily basis? The horrors that were constantly around him?

"No," said Izuku.

"There's nothing else."

Nezu watched with no small amount of remorse as Izuku Midoriya strode, downtrodden, from his office. He sighed, scratching at the fur under his chin. He hated this part of his job. Izuku Midoriya and would certainly not be the last bright, young mind that he would be forced to turn away.

But unlike many other young minds, there was something that actually could be done for Izuku Midoriya. He had not asked Midoriya about everything that had been in his file. Had not, for instance, asked Midoriya about those strange creatures he'd seen in his youth. It was not a well known fact, but as part of the admissions process, the university was granted access to all of an applicant's medical history.

For Midoriya, that meant the monsters he believed he was seeing everywhere he went. That fact, coupled with his body's strange genetic mutation, and Nezu had put the pieces together himself. Reaching into his vest pocket, he withdrew a small phone, made specifically for him by one of his subordinates.

The phone rang once before being answered.

"Well hello there Hello Kitty, been a long time."

"Hello there Ms. Zen'in," smiled Nezu, walking back to his chair and sitting back down.

"I hope you're doing well,"

"Cut the shit Nezu, you never call unless you want something, so out with it."

"Always so blunt and to the point," chuckled Nezu. "But very well, I shall indulge you. I just had a very interesting meeting with a prospective student, whom I had to unfortunately deny acceptance to my school." His eyes glanced back down at the file on his desk.

"But I believe he would make a rather exceptional addition to your own."

BREAK

Stepping through the security gate at the outskirts of the campus, Izuku sighed, ripping the guest pass lanyard off his neck and tossing it idly into the trash.

"Guess I don't need to ask how it went."

Izuku turned to the speaker.

Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku's best friend since he was a kid, was leaning against the gate to the university.

"Hey…Kaachan."

"Tch," Bakugo scoffed, pushing off from the wall and falling into step beside him. "I thought I told you to quit it with that stupid nickname."

Izuku didn't respond. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants he shuffled along.

"Oh would you quit moping already," grunted Bakugo, smacking Izuku upside the head. "So you didn't get into some shitty school. Whatever, just find somewhere else to go."

"You know it's going to be the same everywhere I go," Izuku said softly. "Doesn't matter how strong or fast I am. No school is going to risk their license or government grants by admitting a quirkless student."

"Then just be a vigilante," shrugged Bakugo. "You wouldn't be the first. Pretty sure Knuckleduster is still kicking somewhere."

"Thank you, for so casually suggesting that I break the law, Kaachan."

They came up to an intersection and Bakugo turned, meaning to head back to the neighborhood where they both lived.

"You coming or not?" He asked. Izuku shook his head.

"I need to go back to school. In all my excitement, I forgot all my stuff in my locker."

"Of course you did," said Bakugo, rolling his eyes. "For being such a dumb nerd, you're really air headed sometimes you know that?"

Izuku shrugged, "Just got excited is all." He turned and started walking somberly back in the direction of the school. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kaachan."

Bakugo watched him for a moment, before grunting and turning back to his own destination.

"Yeah whatever, see ya tomorrow loser."

It was dark by the time he reached the school. At least he wouldn't need to worry about his mother fussing over why he was so late getting back home, since she had the late shift at the hospital and she wouldn't be back until the following morning.

The lights in the school were all off as he meandered through the halls towards his locker. It was strange, being in the school so late. He'd never been in the school after hours like this, and feeling as though he were the last one in the school was deeply disconcerting. There was just something deeply unsettling about knowing he was likely the only one in the entire building, with all of the lights off. Which in and of itself was strange though. He could have sworn that the school had a pretty competent janitorial staff, but he couldn't for the life of him understand why he hadn't seen or heard any of them. Maybe they had finished with their work for the evening and had already left.

Pulling his bag out of his locker, his body shivered violently. A cold chill swarmed up his back. He ran a hand up his arm, surprised to feel his hair was standing on end as goose-pimples erupted along his flesh. Why had it suddenly gotten so cold? Had the air conditioning just turned on or something? And what was this strange feeling of foreboding he was experiencing? As though something very bad was happening at that very moment. He shook his head, desperate to clear away the odd sensation.

"All in your head," he muttered to himself. Must have been the leftover anxiety and stress from the meeting. But thought that in and of itself threatened to cascade him down a waterfall of depression. Every negative thought, every worst-case scenario began to play in front of his eyes. All stemming from the fact that he would never be able to realize his dream. Before he knew what he was doing, his face was pressed against the cold steel of the locker. His shoulders shaking with silent sobs and tears streamed down his cheeks, collecting in a small puddle on the floor.

All he'd wanted, all he'd ever hoped for, dreamed for. The chance to be a hero. To save people with a smile like All Might. That's all he'd ever wanted. More than anything on the planet, that's what he'd wanted. Gone. Thrown away in an instant. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. He wanted to scream. He wanted to break something. He wanted…he didn't know what he wanted.

"Damn it," he punched a nearby locker, not noticing how the metal compounded and fractured around his fist. He wiped the back of his hand along his eyes, as his sobs slowly faded away.

"Guess I need to start finding a place to apply to University, huh?"

He hadn't even entertained the option of going to a regular university. He'd devoted his entire life to being a pro hero. Even the idea of entertaining a thought of preparing a backup plan had felt blasphemous. As though even believing for one moment that he wouldn't be able to achieve his dream was disrespectful.

"That went ahead and bit you in the ass, didn't it?" He asked himself silently.

A scream tore through the still night air. Drawing Izuku out of his quagmire of misery. The scream cut short, as abruptly as it had started.

"That sounded close," muttered Izuku to himself. "Second floor probably?"

He hesitated for a moment. His mind racing. He was tempted. Very tempted, to simply gather his things and run from the school. Maybe call the authorities. This wasn't his problem, and he didn't even know what was happening. It could have been just a couple of students goofing around after hours, it likely didn't concern him.

The strange depressive feeling that had nothing to do with his rejection from UA washed over him again. He shivered.

Maybe he'd at least take a look. If nothing else, then maybe he could at least confirm to himself that nothing wrong was actually going on. That it was just some of his fellow high schoolers goofing around. Climbing the stairs to the second floor, the overwhelming feeling of dread became even more oppressive. His mind was assaulted with thoughts and memories that he'd thought he'd long since buried. His discovery of his own quirklessness. The loneliness he associated with never being able to measure up to his own classmates. His feelings as an outsider. They all came rushing back. His stomach seized and he wanted to throw up.

What was happening. Was this real? Was he having a complete mental breakdown, or was this something else? A villain attack? No, that made no sense. Why attack a school at night when no one was guaranteed to be around? Maybe another student? Was this the result of one of his classmates losing control of their quirk? Was that the reason for the scream? It was certainly possible.

More curious and desperate than ever to find some answers, Izuku continued to climb up the steps. A task proved surprisingly arduous, considering the strange weight amongst his limbs. A foul odor assaulted his nostrils as he climbed the steps. It was as if a dumpster of decayed corpses was being burned right under him. His eyes watered and hastily covered his face with the neck of his shirt, though it did little to keep out the stench.

As he climbed the final steps to the second floor, he nearly slipped and fell all the way back down. The wooden floor of the second story was coated in a strange, slimy residue. Illuminated in dull blues and silvers from the moon, now high in the sky.

The hallway in front of him was empty. Save for the strange smell and odd slime on the floor. His pulse quickened as he took cautious, hesitant steps forward. His eyes darted to every nook and cranny of the hall. Shadows cast classrooms and reflected by the moonlight caused him to jump in alarm, as he mistook them for otherworldly monsters.

Footsteps, running in his direction, and the sound of heavy and frantic breathing tore through the silence of the night like a gunshot. Around the corner at the end of the hallway, two boys sprinted around the corner. Still donned in their school uniforms, but looking considerably worse for wear. Trousers were torn, shirts were in tatters. Then there was the blood. One of the boys, who Izuku recognized as Akira, was bleeding profusely from his head. The thick red of his blood dribbling down his forehead and leaving a small trail in his wake.

"Get the fuck outta the way!" Cried the lead boy, Asashi, as he barreled past Izuku, throwing him to the side as he ran towards the stairs. Izuku could only watch in bewildered, stunned silence as Asashi disappeared down the steps. Akira tripped, crying out as collapsed to the floor and hastily scrambled to try and get back to his feet.

The ground around them shook, and a strange, almost reptilian hiss filled Izuku's ears. As his eyes found the source of the hissing, Izuku felt his knees buckle around him, as he fell to the floor.

At the end of the hallway, slithering slowly forward, its twelve wide and yellow eyes looking unblinkingly in his direction, was a snake. A snake the size of a truck. It was a mixture of yellows, greens, and blacks, with a single red stripe running from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail. It was a monster the likes of which Izuku could never have imagined.

Smoke billowed from the small nostrils on its snout, but Izuku was hardly looking at its face. He was focused on its mouth. Specifically, he was focused on the pair of very human legs poking out of the snake's enormous maw. A long, black tongue slithered from the snake's mouth, tasting at the air as the legs slid inside. Izuku watched in muted horror and grotesque fascination, as a strange and lumpy shape squirmed down the throat of the snake.

"What…what is-I don't understand…w-w-what is going on!"

"Get out of the way, Midoriya! Every man for himself!"

Akira finally managed to pull himself to his feet and darted away. He tried to run past Izuku to the stairs, but never made it. The snake shot forward. Possessing an inhuman speed and agility, not just for a creature its size, but for anything Izuku could fathom. Akira screamed out in pain and abject terror as the maw of the snake wrapped itself around his torso, hoisting him into the air. Blood from Akira spilled from around the monstrous fangs of the creature, dribbling down its scales and onto the floor. Before Izuku even had the time to process what he was watching, six of the yellow eyes swiveled in his direction.

Already frozen in fear, Izuku could do nothing but watch, almost as a passive bystander, as the snake suddenly swiveled, smashing its enormous tail into him.

Such was the force of the sudden blow, that Izuku almost didn't feel any pain. He simply existed. Weightless and motionless as he soared through the air. Too stunned to even cry out. To horrified to even think. His back slammed into a nearby wall, which collapsed around the force of the impact, and Izuku somersaulted into an empty classroom. Crashing into desk after desk, which crumpled under him.

His momentum finally came to a halt as he lay, upside down, against the wood of the teacher's podium. He could feel blood trickle from his head and pool on the floor below him, soaking his hair and clothes further.

This was a dream. A nightmare. This couldn't be real. He'd simply fallen asleep during class or something, and this was the product of re-watching that All Might fight with the Lizard King from a couple weeks ago. That's all this was. All this could be. There was no other explanation for the cinematic horror that he was witnessing in front of him.

The snake slithered forward into the doorway, Akira still struggling pitifully in its jaws. All twelve eyes of the snake bore into Izuku, and his body was frozen. As though glacial ice had filled his veins. This…this wasn't a dream. This might have been a nightmare, but it was a nightmare of reality. The monster before him was real. Akira was really going to die, and so too was Izuku. This was it. The end of it all. His entire life coming crashing down in one horrifying, terrifying moment. Not only had his dreams been shattered, but he was now going to lose his very life itself.

Tears danced in the corners of his eyes, falling free and mingling with the blood in his hair and the floor. His mother was not only going to have lost her husband, but her son as well. Izuku was going to die here. He wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared. He still had so much he wanted to do. So much he wanted to accomplish. It didn't matter if he could never be a pro hero, that didn't mean he was ready to die!

"Izuku!" Cried out Akira helplessly, thrashing hopelessly against the jaws of the mighty monster.

"Help me, please! I don't-I don't want to die! Please! Izuku, All Might! Momma! Someone help me!"

Izuku wanted to move. Wanted to run. Forget helping Akira, forget being a hero. He just wanted to live. Wanted to survive. But his body refused to cooperate. Is this what it meant to be a pro? Was this why he wasn't given a quirk? Had someone out there known that he simply lacked what it took to be a hero? To throw one's life on the line in sacrifice of another.

Rage washed over him.

Where the hell was that kind of thinking coming from? What was the self-doubt and self-deprecation about? Had he not worked and hoped his entire life to be a hero? Was he really going to sacrifice everything he had poured into his dream the first time that his resolve had truly been tested? If that was the case, then he deserved to die then and there. He didn't deserve to believe that he was worthy of being a pro.

Because heroes saved people. Heroes gave their life for what was right and to fight against what was wrong. It was as simple as that. He couldn't give up. Couldn't let his mother lose someone else. Not when she'd already given so much for his sake, at the sacrifice of her own happiness.

Something inside him snapped.

He didn't remember standing up. He didn't remember charging forward. He didn't remember when or how he'd suddenly appeared in front of the large snake. All he knew was that he was suddenly standing eye-to-eye with the creature. All his rage, all his misery and fear were boiling to unprecedented levels as he cocked his fist back, and threw the mightiest punch he could.

For a moment, all was silent. The world fell still. Then time started moving once more, and the snake rocketed back. Its jaw opening as it let loose a beastial cry, dropping Akira to the ground. Scooping the wounded boy up, Izuku leapt out of the tail as the snake's tail lashed out. Landing on the other side of the snake, Izuku threw Akira over his shoulder and took off at a sprint, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

"What…what's going on?" Akira's words were slurred, and Izuku could feel his school uniform soak with the poor boy's blood.

"We're getting out of here," said Izuku with confidence he didn't necessarily feel. He didn't know what had come over him. He couldn't even explain how or why he was doing as he was. He just knew that he needed to move. Needed to leave. Needed to get himself and Akira and potentially Asashi if he was still there, to safety.

But as Izuku reached the stairs, the nearby wall exploded as the snake burst through. Izuku acted on instinct. Twirling, Izuku dropped Akira to the ground and his arms darted out. He grunted as his hands wrapped around the overly large fangs of the massive snake. He hissed in pain. The snake's fangs were sharp, and tore into his hands. Blood dripped from his palms onto the ground. His feet slid across the ground as the snake pushed against him. Grunting under the exertion, Izuku suddenly disengaged as his hand shot out and clocked the snake clean in one of its eyes. The monster reared back, hissing and screeching in pain as the eye Izuku punched squinted closed.

Taking the opportunity, Izuku quickly snatched Akira back up from the ground and darted down the stairs. The snake let out a guttural roar, and chased after them. Izuku ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Running faster and faster, the doors and rooms of the school become little more than blurs. But the weight of carrying Akira was unbalancing him, and as he was approaching the school's exit, he tripped. Akira went sprawling as Izuku tumbled through the doors, bouncing end over end onto the cobble of the small gated area in front of the school.

He got back up, more than a little dazed and confused by what had happened. He strained his ears, trying desperately to hear for anything from inside the school. Any sign that the snake was still alive. But he didn't hear anything. Didn't see anything. Was it possible that they were safe? A few yards away, still inside the school, Akira slowly and unsteadily got to his knees.

"I-Izuku?" He asked, his voice weak, blood pooling around his fingers as he desperately clung to the wounds in his chest. "Is…i-is it…gone….are w-we…safe?"

The doors of the school exploded. Wood and brick shot through the air as the monstrous snake appeared behind Akira.

"No!" Izuku roared, as he scrambled to his feet.

He was too late.

The snake's neck reared back, and in one fluid motion it shot forward, encompassing Akira in its mighty maw in one massive gulp.

Akira didn't even have time to scream.

Rage, unlike anything he'd ever felt before tore through Izuku. Akira hadn't been a good guy. Far from it. But he didn't deserve to die, scared and hurt, like that. Izuku should have done something. Should have tried harder. Should have fought, instead of running away like a coward. He wanted to be a hero? He couldn't even save one person, how could he ever have hoped to call himself a hero?

A power surged through him. A power he had only ever felt once before. When he had been a child, and he had watched as one of his classmates had been mercilessly tormented. He screamed in fury, his muscles howling and aching as the power coursed through him. His vision obscured, his focus tempered. All he could see, all he could focus on, was that snake that had just murdered his classmate in front of him.

He didn't think. His body simply moved. In the blink of an eye he had closed the distance and was on top of the snake, sinking his fist right into its right nostril. The snake roared, rearing back in pain as smoke hissed from where Izuku's blow had landed. Izuku didn't hesitate. Jumping high in the air, he cleared the top of the two story monstrosity, and began to descend. Using the speed of his fall, he shot his legs out, which smashed into the midsection of the snake.

It hissed and thrashed violently, whipping its tail out to smash into Izuku. Using the snake as a back-spring, he flipped out of the way of the oncoming attack. The tail reversed course and came flying back at him. Izuku caught it, grunting under the force of the attack. With a roar, he planted his foot and threw the snake with as much force as humanly possible. The snake rose in the air and crashed into the framework of the school, but Izuku wasn't done. Shooting forward, he attacked the half-dead serpent mercilessly. Landing punch after punch into the serpent's maw.

Rearing his fist back one last time, he felt his power rush into his fingertips. The full force of his punch collided with the temple of the serpent, a strange blue energy exploding from his fists. The explosion of energy catapulted Izuku backwards. Toppling end over end through the ruined entrance to the school. Lifting his head up, he watched in awe and confusion as the snake was ensconced in a strange blue and purple fire. The snake screeched and howled in misery, before dissolving into a pile of ashes.

"Well…that was dramatic," said a voice behind Izuku. Whirling around, Izuku saw a woman standing in the moonlight, lounging against the gate at the entrance of the school. She was dressed conservatively in a modest dress of deep purple. It almost looked like a school uniform, in spite of the fact that she was clearly in her early thirties. Her long, silver white hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail. She brushed a single strand of silvery hair away from piercing blue eyes as she stepped forward.

"Seems the old rat was onto something about you," said the woman as she approached, kneeling down in front of him, smiling brilliantly.

"Name's Sara Gojo…a pleasure to meet you, Izuku Midoriya."

AN: Guess who's back on his bullshit! I watched all of season one of JJK, then proceeded to binge the rest of the manga and got so obsessed with the idea I couldn't contain and this is the result. This is something of an experiment so please let me know what you think of it! As stated before, this is an AU story that will contain spoilers both for MHA AND for the JJK manga, so consider this your final warning!