It was a nice day in February.

Izuku was glad his mother had reminded him to dress for extra warmth even if he was going to spend part of the day inside. The truth was, Izuku had been so excited this morning he hadn't considered how he was dressed.

It was the morning of the Yuuei Entrance Examinations for all first years. Students from all over the country and even the world were coming to take part in the Entrance Exams.

Yuuei Highschool. The highest rated school in Japan for academics. The most revered school across the entire world for their Heroics Course. This was the school you went to if you wanted to become the next big shot Hero. All of the best Pro Heroes graduated from this very campus. All Might, Endeavor, and even Best Jeanist who were all in the top three of the Hero Billboard Chart. Not including all of the other Heroes you don't hear about everyday that have very important roles in this superhuman society of theirs.

Izuku Midoriya was caught up in a crowd of prospective students hoping to gain entry to such a magnificent school. He could hear chatter all around him of how amazing the school grounds looked. Izuku had to agree. Yuuei was awesome.

From the nicely trimmed green lawn to the evenly spaced out trees that were so aesthetically pleasing for the eyes to see, to the granite and marble statues and columns lining the brick walkway towards the highschool. The building itself was massive. And the front was designed to look like a giant "U," and a giant "A."

"I can't believe this is actually happening right now," Izuku whispered to himself.

And he wasn't the only one struck with disbelief.

Dozens of bodies around him were murming with excited gasps, cheering, and boasts.

I kind of feel like resetting myself. Just so I can see this beautiful scenery again, for the first time all over again. It's like discovering one of the seven wonders of the world. I'm actually here. I'm actually taking the Yuuei Entrance Exams. Do I stand a chance? Here, where the best have come and gone?

Izuku glanced around the milling crowd nervously. How many others in this crowd have Quirks like mine? Quirks that will help them little in a physical exam? How many in this crowd have awesome Quirks like Kaachan and All Might? Waiting to take the world by storm.

He was outnumbered and outgunned in this scenario.

He would be competing for the Hero Course with hundreds and hundreds of other potential students, all gunning for the limited forty Hero Course seats.

The crowd had already begun to move and Izuku just stood there petrified.

Even after months of training his body and testing his Quirk…

If I fail, I guess I could just reset.

Izuku swallowed.

No. He balled his hands into fists. I will reset if I have to. I cannot fail these exams. I will attend Yuuei. I will become a Hero. I have to.

He had to do what exactly?

Prove everyone who ever judged him was unfair and wrong? Prove that he could be strong and amazing just like Kaachan? Become the next Symbol of Peace? No. It was none of those reasons.

I have to become a Hero. So I can help save as many lives as I can, even if I have to spend a thousand lives of my own to save just one. That is my goal.

Izuku breathed in and out and then-

"Move your ass Deku before I set you on fire!"

Izuku Midoriya jumped in his shoes. "K-kaachan?"

Kaachan's irritated breath showed in the morning chill. "So, you're really going to do this? Huh, Deku?"

Izuku felt his chest to feel for his racing heart and made sure he wasn't about to accidentally reset via heart attack. "You scared me."

Kaachan scoffed and kept on walking. "Try not to get stomped too badly, worthless Deku." Kaachan called back over his shoulder and disappeared into the crowd.

Izuku steeled himself even though Kaachan wouldn't be able to hear him. "Of course I'm going to do this. I'm going to pass these exams. I will become a Hero, no matter how little you think of me, Kaachan."

A year ago Izuku would never have dared say such a statement. A year ago he would have lacked the confidence that he could measure up to anybody, especially Kaachan. But now… Izuku had grown since his Quirk had revealed itself.

Izuku had seen All Might, the great Symbol of Peace and the Number One Hero in a position of weakness. He had seen Kaachan fail against the Sludge Villain. And somewhere along the way Izuku had found the courage to face the unknown and dive headlong into danger if it meant saving someone's life. Izuku had cleaned the Dagobah Municipal Beach all by himself.

The Izuku of a year ago had nothing on the Izuku of now.

Izuku Midoriya straightened out his uniform and beamed in the early spring morning cold.

"This is it. This is the start of my new future."

Izuku took one step forward after Kaachan and the crowd and he tripped. Izuku was falling in front of everybody. It was a simple mistake. One wrong foot in front of the other and he was going down. As first impressions went he considered the notion of resetting somewhere private once all of the kids were finished laughing at him.

But strangely no one was laughing and he didn't hit the ground. He was floating?

A girl was giggling right next to him.

Izuku began to pannick. Not because he had suddenly lost contact with the natural physics of the world. But because a girl was talking to him!

"You doing okay?"

The girl helped him up right and pressed her palms and fingertips together. "I kept you from falling with my Quirk. Sorry I didn't ask for permission first which I know is totally not cool but since you were about to hit the walk before the exams even started, I thought it would be okay."

"I uh."

She was smiling at him. "I know, nerves just got the better of you, it was an easy mistake, I'm not judging. I'm pretty nervous about the exams too." She pulled a tuft of hair behind her ear. It was very cute. She was looking away from Izuku. " Well good luck, I'm gonna head in, see you there!" And just like that the girl turned and walked away towards the Yuuei front doors.

Izuku Midoriya stood there in place for a couple of seconds. Several other potential students had stopped to eye him. Was there something wrong with him? No. Nothing was wrong with Izuku Midoriya. He had just done one of the hardest things life could ever have thrown at him and his confidence had returned.

Wow! I just talked to a girl!

The girl had been right in her quick assumption.

Nerves. Izuku was full of nerves. He was at Yuuei and he had just talked with a girl. A girl! Girls never talked to him, ever! He would remember this moment until the day he died.

Izuku laughed. That was an ironic thought now wasn't it? Till the day he died? Izuku was laughing hysterically now.

Potential students paused, stared, and watched as a green haired youth ruined his lungs with insane laughter. What was up with this kid? Who was he laughing at? What was he laughing at? What was so damn funny?

Not a single one of them had any clue. The students in front of Izuku turned at the noise and parted like the sea for him.

Izuku just kept laughing until he was inside the school.

He coughed into his sleeve and brushed away some spit that clinged to his lips. He hadn't meant to laugh so much. In hindsight he probably looked crazy to everyone he had just passed. But on the bright side he didn't feel so nervous anymore. He had read somewhere that laughing was a coping mechanism survivors of tragedies used to get over their shock and nerves.

Izuku shook himself and followed another crowd in front of him. He wondered if the girl from earlier was walking with them and he blushed. He didn't think he could talk to her a second time today. Once had been a challenge. A second? It would probably be his doom

To Izuku's surprise, Kaachan was waiting outside of a doorway with a sign attached that said "Yuuei Written Entrance Examination."

"Took you long enough, Deku. I thought for sure you would've gotten weak at the knees and collapsed in front of the building. It wouldn't do for you to get stomped on by all of these red shirts."

Izuku blinked. "Um. Thanks for your concern, Kaachan."

Kaachan growled. "Don't thank me. I just want to stomp on you myself." Kaachan huffed and pulled Izuku through the doorway.

Izuku stumbled after him and nearly fell when Kaachan suddenly let go.

"What a fucking mess."

"Oh my."

Izuku and Kaachan were standing in a very large and open auditorium filled with other kids their age. There were tables with lines a couple hundred strong. At each table sat someone in a nice suit and tie, several men and women were having the kids sign documents before handing them a card. Then they were directed towards another section of the auditorium where there were rows and columns of desks fenced with small barricades and signs telling everyone that this was the "Testing Area."

There were so many people. Too many people. There must have been close to two thousand in this room and more were filing in through the door one at a time.

"This is such a waste of time." Kaachan whined after settling into the back of one of the lines.

Izuku, who settled in behind Kaachan, grimaced. "This is Yuuei, Kaachan. People from all over the world come here to apply."

"I know that," Kaachan hissed. "Don't these idiots realize? There are only forty Hero Course spots."

Izuku hesitated. "You do know that Yuuei has more than a Heroics Course?"

Kaachan wirled and Izuku flinched. "Of course I know that, damned Deku!" Kaachan was yelling now, his patience was gone. "But do you really think that all of these people are here just to sit in a classroom with their thumbs up their asses all day? Do you think these losers just want to tinker in some shitty workshop for the Pro's? Fuck no! Most of these idiots are here because they don't know their place yet, they think they can stand with me? Over ninety percent of these rejects don't know how underclassed they are to the real deal!"

Izuku winced under Kaachan's glare. Izuku was also wincing under the sudden glares from everyone around them within one hundred feet.

"What the hell? And you think you are so special?"

"How could you be so arrogant?"

"What a delinquent, he doesn't belong here at Yuuei."

"Hey, who are you calling an idiot?"

"Heh, he's probably at the bottom of his class ranking."

"What do you think his Quirk is?"

"Excuse me, care to apologize?"

"What the hell is your problem?"

Izuku really wished he wasn't here right now.

Kaachan wished everyone would just die right now. Since his wish wouldn't come true though… he did the only appropriate thing…

Appropriate for Kaachan…

"Huh? Did you hear something, Deku? Could've sworn I heard a bunch of whiney extras."

Izuku Midoriya wanted to reset to get out of this situation. Somebody, god, please kill me.

The wait in the line was awkward. Awkward and loud. Kaachan got into several arguments. The worst had been with a tall teenager with glasses. The argument had escalated to such a level where the teen with glasses decided that they needed the staff to kick Kaachan out of the school and bar him from applying.

Kaachan didn't like that option. Not one bit.

Izuku's hearing might have gone out from Kaachan's roaring.

All noise in the auditorium had died down except for their argument. Everyone was listening now. Including the staff.

The argument, despite putting Izuku and Kaachan in the spotlight of close to two thousand people, was a blessing in disguise.

The staff didn't want to kick Kaachan out but they couldn't get him to keep his mouth shut. So an alternative was offered and taken. Kaachan and Izuku were moved to the front of the line. They filled out their information. Name, school affiliation, Online Testee Registration Number, and preferred course. Then they were each given a card with a number and told to find their desks with the same numbers.

Kaachan was smug as he strutted into the Testing Area.

Izuku lowered and his shoulders hunched. He could feel the glares of everyone on them for skipping in the line.

His desk was next to Kaachan's, separated by five feet. On top of every desk was a camera?

Izuku stared into the camera's lenses.

This is probably a technique to minimize cheating and catch anything suspicious, even if someone uses their Quirk to some degree to help them into Yueei, their chances of succeeding are next to zero. Especially if the Principal reviews the footage himself.

Principal Nezu, one of the smartest people in the world and current Principal of Yuuei.

Only when everyone had been seated did the Written Exam begin.

The test wasn't hard. Izuku had prepared for this with plenty of studying beforehand. Japanese, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, History, and a few smaller individualized subjects.

When Izuku was finished one of the staff came by and retrieved the test. Izuku exhaled and stood.

When the teenagers had finished the Written Exam they were sent into another massive room to wait on the results.

Izuku wasn't surprised to find Kaachan already sitting in the waiting room.

Less than a minute later a small little robot on wheels spun into the room and began handing out papers to the potential students.

Izuku heard someone break down into tears behind him. He saw Kaachan smirk at his paper. Izuku received a paper of his own and the robot rushed out of the room.

Izuku looked down at his Exam Ticket.

"So did I pass?"

Kaachan didn't even look at him. "What do you think, nerd?"

Izuku had recieved a ticket. So he assumed he passed.

Izuku looked at some of the other kids who were depressed. They had received brief letters informing them of their failure. And they hadn't even failed. Some of them had. But others? Some just hadn't made the cut to what Yuuei was looking for.

A series of speakers buzzed around the room. "Would everyone with an Exam Ticket please make their way to their preferred Yuuei Course Exam Orientation. Please and thank you."

Izuku followed Kaachan as the room's occupants began to stream out of the room.

"No, there must be some sort of mistake." Someone was shaking his head behind them.

Izuku could barely hear them as he left the room.

"I passed. I know I passed. Please, let me speak with a member of the staff. There's been a mistake!"

Izuku felt his heart hurt.

He hadn't considered that by aiming for Yuuei, he would be crushing someone's dreams. There were only so many spots. And fewer for the Hero Course.

Izuku balled his hands into fists. He had been so excited earlier.

Now? Now he was feeling a little sick.

He would never see most of these people ever again. They all had their own hopes and dreams just like…

"Hey, you aren't thinking of crying over some extras? Are you? Because that's the kind of thing some stupid Deku like yourself would do."

Izuku rubbed at his eyes and watched Kaachan pound a fist into an open palm.

"Like hell do I have time to cry over some extras. I'm far too important for something like that. I'm going to replace All Might as the Number One. Most of these losers are getting the reality check they needed."

Was Kaachan...

Kaachan was right and wrong. Kaachan was wrong to ignore the collateral.

But where he was right...

Izuku had a Quirk, Return By Death. It was going to make him into a great Hero some day. Compared to some of the other competitors…

Izuku was more important than them…

That sounds horrible!

But it was true. No one else had Izuku's Quirk. He was sure that most of the people here would make great Heroes if they applied to another school and continued their education. But no one else had Return By Death just as no one else had Explosion. No one else had the same determination that was burning inside of Izuku and Kaachan's hearts.

Where Kaachan wanted to be the best just because he could and felt it owed to him.

Izuku wanted to become a Hero to save people.

If he had to crush a couple dreams along the way… what were the dreams of a stranger compared to the life of a stranger? Izuku was not All Might. He could never be All Might. But he could become a Hero. And he could save lives. That was most important.

Izuku still felt terrible to come to such a conclusion. But it wouldn't stop him from pushing forward.

Izuku and Kaachan entered a doorway with a sign that said "Yuuei Hero Course. Exam Orientation."

Izuku sighed. This day was a roller coaster of emotions and it wasn't even finished.

"How's it going, our Yuuei candidates? I'll be your guide through this orientation ya dig?"

The audience was silent.

"Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fine I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this Practical Exam is going to go down, okay? Are you ready?"

Again the audience was silent.

"Oh my! It's the Voice Hero, Present Mic. So cool!" Izuku was having a pretty big nerd moment. He gasped. "I listen to his radio show every night before I go to sleep! It's so crazy nuts that all of the Yuuei teachers are all Heroes!"

Kaachan's eye twitched but he didn't say anything.

Izuku yelped in the very big and very spacious auditorium as Kaachan smashed Izuku's foot painfully.

"Like your applications said, today you rocking boys and girls will be out there conducting ten minute mock battles in super hip urban settings. Check your Exam Ticket to see which of these seven locations you'll be tested at. Okay?"

This time the silence was prompted not out of awkwardness but rather each student suddenly focusing on their applications.

"Okay, I see." Kaachan was looking at Izuku's Exam Ticket. "They're splitting us up so that we can't work with any of our friends."

Izuku's card identified him as Examinee Number two thousand two hundred and thirty four. His testing center was, "B."

Izuku blinked before examining Kaachan's card. "Yeah, you're right. Our Examinee Numbers are one after the other but we were assigned separate locations for testing." Kaachan's Examinee Number was two thousand two hundred and thirty three, a single digit below Izuku's own and yet his testing location had been listed, "A."

It was a smart way to split up friends and acquaintances who were coming in groups hoping that together with their combined teamwork that they could easily score an empty seat in the Hero Course.

Kaachan was glaring at Izuku. "Get your eyes off of my card." And then his red eyes immediately began scanning Izuku's!

Izuku tucked his Ticket to his chest and Kaachan huffed. "Damn. I was really looking forward to crushing you personally."

"Okay, okay. Let's check out your targets. There are three types of Villains in every testing location. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty. Your goal here is to get the most points so you can pass the Exam. But be warned, targeting other Examinees will result in disqualification."

Someone rose in their seat three rows down from Izuku and Kaachan. "Excuse me! On the print out, you labeled four types of Villains. Not three. With all due respect if this is an error on official Yuuei material then it is shameful. We are exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan's most prestigious school. A mistake such as this won't do!" The boy turned in his seat and pointed up towards Izuku and Kaachan. "Additionally you two have been speaking amongst yourselves this entire time." His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "Stop that, if you can't be bothered to take this seriously then leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

The boy with the glasses's spiel resulted in several quiet giggles and laughs.

Izuku was genuinely sorry, he hadn't meant to distract anyone from the orientation. "Sorry."

Kaachan was not sorry in the slightest. "The fuck? Did you just say to me, four eyes?"

The boy with the glasses's eyes widened in utter shock and horror at the word "fuck."

Izuku realized he knew this guy. Kaachan did too.

The boy with the glasses threw them an accusatory glare. "Hey. You two! You were the ones causing a scene earlier in the line ups! What are you doing here?"

They had everyone's attention.

Kaachan stood and put a foot on the seat in front of him. The boy with glasses looked at Kaachan as if he had just committed murder right in front of everyone. Kaachan smirked down at the teen and waved his ticket. "I'm here to destroy this Practical and everyone in it!"

Izuku ducked his head down low.

The boy with the glasses was shouting at them again.

Kaachan was shouting back.

Their peers were laughing and giggling all around them.

Someone was trying to intervene and stop the verbal argument.

Someone across the room was chanting "fight, fight, fight!"

"Oh boy," Present Mic whispered to himself on stage but because he was Present Mic, everyone heard him. He cleared his throat and then shouted for both Kaachan and the boy with glasses to sit down or be disqualified.

Everyone had their hands over their ears and they were still ringing.

Present Mic looked unapologetic as he continued. "Back to your question, Listener. The fourth Villain is worth zero Villain Points. That guy is just an obstacle we'll be throwing your way. There will be one at every test site. It's not that it can't be beaten but there is just no point."

Less than an hour later Izuku was standing outside a walled suburban city labeled as "B."

Standing there with Izuku was a crowd dense with over three hundred fellow Examinees.

Inside of that crowd, Izuku spotted the girl from earlier. He thought about approaching her and asking for her name…

And he thought against it.

He really didn't need any more embarrassment today.

Izuku inhaled and exhaled and began to stretch.

In five minutes, the Practical for the Entrance Exam began.

Katsuki Bakugo was quite literally flying through this joke of an Entrance Exam. He already had a high enough score to make it into Yuuei but Katsuki wouldn't be Katsuki if he wasn't always aiming for the top!

"Out of my way you damn red shirts!" Kastuki roared as he rocketed in between two out of breath Examinees.

One of them cursed at him and Katuski laughed.

He rounded a corner in a blast of fiery death and ran into yet another three pointer. The robot swung it's arm at Katsuki. Katsuki did a barrel roll with explosions and dive bombed the robot's head. One hand outstretched, aimed, and Katsuki braced for impact. The Explosion rippled downwards through the air and consumed the three pointer in a hellish inferno leaving only overcooked scrap metal and meted circuits. The recoil from the blast sent Kaachan high into the sky where he could see the surrounding layout.

His eyes roamed the mock battlefield and spotted the thing he was looking for.

Perfect!

As the mass of Examinees went running away from the colossal zero pointer, Katsuki Bakugo was about to show all of these damned rejects just why he was Yuuei material and why they weren't!

"Die!"

Through the many various camera lenses placed around the different testing grounds, the Yuuei staff watched.

Toshinori Yagi watched as hundreds of teenagers with awesome and amazing Quirks showed off their skill by laying waste to every robot in their path.

Toshinori watched as a blonde haired youth eliminated a Zero Pointer in a single powerful blast.

The staff was murmuring with excitement.

Vlad was giving the kid to Aizawa.

Aizawa gave Vlad a blank look and then stared at the image of young Bakugo on the screen. "This one is troublesome. That's why you want me to have him. Is that right?"

Vlad looked sheepish. "He's your type of student, Aizawa."

Aizawa nodded and turned back to the screen. "I'll take him. He's good. Katsuki Bakugo from Aldera Junior High. Quirk, Explosion. Very powerful. Very temperamental. I've already seen footage of an argument with multiple other Examinees before the Exams even started. And Hizashi sent me a text about some trouble during Orientation. He's brash and crude but that's fine. I'll have to work on that arrogance, he doesn't seem the type to work well with others, but he'll make a fine Hero. Nezu?"

The small Principal began giving the staff his personal analysis of young Katsuku Bakugo.

Toshinori's thoughts strayed away from the exam and towards young Melissa.

How would Melissa fare? If she were here today?

Melissa's training was coming along but she still wasn't ready to inherit the Quirk.

They missed their window for getting into Yuuei for the moment. There would be more opportunities later on.

For now, they would just keep on working on her body.

And her secret project…

Ever since All Might told her that One For All was so powerful that if she were to use one hundred percent of its power she would lose her arms and legs, she's been working on a secret project.

Toshinori was no idiot. He might be a fool but not an idiot. He knew Melissa's passion for making Support Equipment. It had been her original career path before he had offered her the chance of having a Quirk of her own after all. Whatever her secret project was? It had something to do with handling the power of One For All better. Probably.

Someone in the room was shouting.

Toshinori looked up and his eyes widened at the sight on the central monitor.

It's him.

It was the kid from that day…

And he was running towards the Zero Pointer in his Testing Ground.

The Practical Exam was going terribly for Izuku Midoriya.

He hadn't destroyed a single robot and the Exam was ending in less than a minute.

And to top it all off…

The Zero Pointer was here.

And the girl who had talked with Izuku earlier… the first girl to talk to him… was trapped.

Everyone was running away from the Zero Pointer. There was less than a minute left for the Exam. They needed to find more robots and they needed more points to pass. Everyone was ignoring the girl who was crying for help. Why should they help her? Their futures were on the line.

Izuku didn't hesitate to run beneath the shadow of the Zero Pointer.

The girl was crying, pulling, lifting, begging…

Izuku's heart ached for her.

She was going to be crushed under the Zero Pointer's massive treads. She was going to die.

Izuku reached the girl just in time. Her leg was caught under a piece of fallen rubble.

The ground was shaking. It felt like the world was ending around Izuku.

The girl was screaming in his ears. Telling him to run away, to save himself now that she knew it was hopeless.

Izuku shook his head and strained to lift the debris.

This was why he was perfect for Hero work. With a Quirk like his… death was just a dream.

A very painful dream.

The girl lurched forwards as Izuku managed to lift the rubble off of her leg.

She was screaming now in both pain and fear. She couldn't stand properly.

Izuku turned and saw a massive tread.

He couldn't hear the girl screaming anymore; the rumbling of the zero pointer was that much louder.

Izuku didn't hesitate.

He shoved the girl as hard as he could.

And she watched while falling just barely out of the way of the incoming heavy duty tread.

Izuku Midoriya was crushed by the zero pointer.

Izuku Midoriya died.

"Move your ass Deku before I set you on fire!"

Izuku jumped and screamed as thousands of pounds of circuits, iron, and steel crushed his bones into paste and…

And he was standing outside Yuuei. In a crowd of anxious and nervous people.

Izuku turned and saw Kaachan.

"The hell's your problem? Have you gone deaf? I said, get out of my way, Deku!" Kaachan shoved passed Izuku.

The world was spinning around him.

He had yet to take the Entrance Exams…

And the girl…

The Zero Pointer…

Izuku Midoriya fainted.