Sunlight leaked into a classroom window of Aldera Junior High, the rays ensnaring the students closest to it. A boy with wild, green tufts of hair sat with his nose in a notebook detailing the abilities of others, knowledge gained from analyzing past battles and exhibitions. He sat scribbling on a page about a wooden-themed hero that had captured a giant villain who resembled a mole on his way to school. Daydreaming about one day becoming a hero himself was a pastime shared by most of his classmates, as well as 99 percent of all the other kids in Japan. What most would have once considered pure fantasy became the new law the world operated within. Instead of in comic books and movies, bonafide, larger-than-life heroes walked the streets. In Japan, one hero stood above all. A man who could lift steel beams as if they were plywood, the definition of strength and his propensity toward serving the public at his expense made him a symbol of hope and peace; the number-one hero, All-Might. Kids would pray before developing their quirks just for a chance to be as great, and while most had some sort of power, you were lucky if it was strong enough to fight crime. Izuku considered himself one of the lucky ones.

He abandoned his thoughts as their teacher entered the classroom. The older man pulled a stack of papers from his desk drawer. Expecting a pop quiz, the class groaned loudly.

"Quiet down. Today is career day, and I'm supposed to pass out these aptitude tests, but why bother." He threw the papers up in the air while grinning at his students. The tests fell to the floor like graduation caps as the students cheered. "I know you all want to go down the hero track. Some of you have even registered for U.A. how ambitious." A growl came from a student near the back of the class. "What do you mean by some of us? I'm supposed to be the only one from this shitty school to get into U.A. Which one of you extras signed up?" shouted a spiky-blonde-haired boy.

"Calm down, Bakugo. Address your classmates like that again, and you can forget U.A. before entrance exams start." the teacher said cooly. "As for who signed up besides you… here it is, Midoriya, Izuku." Everyone turned to look at the boy, who began to shrink into his seat.

The final bell rang, and eager students charged through the entrance and down the main staircase. Izuku trailed behind the crowd, once again focusing on his notebook. A sweaty hand roughly gripped his shoulder, causing him to turn around. Red eyes locked onto his green orbs. The anger from the blonde facing him was palpable. A sizzling sound shortly emitted from Bakugo's palm before all the sweat exploded violently, sending Izuku flying down the steps. Izuku landed in an unbalanced squat before falling into a backward roll. He stood up, narrowing his eyes at the boy walking toward him again. "Dammit, Katsuki! What the hell is your problem!" Izuku saw red, and his throat began to burn as a result.

"Why don't you do something about it then, Hot Breath? You think you can hang in the big leagues, so prove it." Katsuki grinned maliciously, readying to strike once again. Izuku took a deep breath, turned around, and walked away.

"Running away again? What a waste of a quirk." Katsuki said.

"No, I just know what kind of hero I want to be."

Izuku took a long way home. Crossing under a bridge, he heard a rumbling from below the asphalt. A man-hole cover a few yards up the street shot like a rocket. Green sludge slowly creeped out of the depths. It slid across the road as it formed into a giant mound and a mouth floated to the surface with a yellow-toothed grin. "Hold on a second, kid. I know you're there." the amorphous figure said. A piece of the sludge stretched out from the central body and morphed into an arm. The villain hit himself in the back, and a set of eyes appeared in response. "All the better to see you with; Am I right?"

The sludge villain lunged at Izuku, quickly ensnaring the boy with an array of tendrils. Izuku tried to struggle, but with every broken tentacle, two more took its place. One tendril began to creep down his cheek.

"Don't wriggle too much. I'm in a hurry, kid, and I could use a new set of clothes."

The tendril forced its way into Izuku's mouth, causing him to choke. Izuku knew that quirk use was illegal without a hero license, but he was running out of viable options. "Dammit." he thought to himself. A bright-orange flame erupted from his mouth, burning away the sludge inside his body. He flicked his wrist, and the fire came to his aid, burning away the restraints. The green-haired boy jumped from his assailant's grasp and gasped for air. The sludge villain moved back as well, proverbially licking his wounds.

"Get back here, foul villain!" a voice boomed from inside the man-hole.

"You got lucky." the sludge villain said before hopping a fence.

A large man squeezed out of the man-hole, barely able to fit. He looked around at the obvious signs of a struggle. The overpass had bits of sludge spattered wildly on the inside of the archway. The villain had to wait; a citizen may be in danger. Looking further up the street, the man noticed a boy sitting on the sidewalk with burn marks on his clothing.

"Hello, young man! Are you all right?"

Izuku looked up at the hulking man approaching him. He had to be close to seven feet tall. He was blonde and tan with the rugged features that come with age; it would be easy to mistake him for an American. The man wore a suit adorned with the colors of the U.S. flag, for God's sake. Two gravity-defying bangs framed his forehead, with a smile on his face.

"All-Might?" Izuku asked.

The man let out a bellowing laugh in response. "Indeed, citizen; have no fear, for I am here!"

Izuku looked up with stars in his eyes. His idol was standing right in front of him. Izuku began to sweat in excitement, nervousness, then fear. He had committed a crime in the heat of the moment. He had to tell All-Might, regardless of the situation.

All-Might gently put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Tell me, what happened here?"

Izuku retold the events of his encounter with the sludge villain. All-Might listened while tracing the movement patterns of the slime in the area. Looking to discern where the villain was heading next, he was too preoccupied to notice the boy kneeling behind him.

Izuku adopted a dogeza pose. "Forgive me, All-Might. I knew it was wrong to use my quirk."

All-Might chuckled. "Considering what happened, it's quite all right."

"Isn't it illegal to use my quirk without a hero license, regardless of self-defense?"

"I'm not going to shun you for protecting yourself, son. Be careful going forward; you can be legally responsible if you pull the same thing in public."

All-Might suddenly grabbed his side. "I have to run."

"Wait–" Izuku cried as the man began to jump away.

All-Might was bounding through the city, trying to find a rooftop to regroup on. A strange weight kept shifting up and down his leg as he flew, but he decided to ignore it; time was running out. Landing, the weight tumbled with a thud as All-Might kneeled in discomfort.

"Ouch!" Izuku said, bumping his head on a water tank. The green-haired teen looked at his surroundings. The terrace was large, and he was on an apartment building considering the height. There were ornate concrete railings lining the area. Resting on them, the number-one hero. "All-Might?"

"Young man, what are you doing he–" All-Might started to vomit. Blood and bile spread across the floor. The hulking hero looked vulnerable in this state. Izuku frantically rushed to his side.

"All-Might, what's happening?! Should I call for help?!"

In response, the hero held up a hand, signaling the boy to hold off. "No, no, it's okay. There's not much more they could do at the hospital anyhow. I'm assuming you hitched a ride?"

Izuku looked down in remorse, "There was a question I wanted to ask."

"Go ahead."

"What about you? W-what was that?" Izuku asked. All-Might made a small tear in the side of his super-suit. A large red scar peeked through the spandex that seemed to cover the left side of All-Might's torso. "It was about a year ago, a villain attack."

"Was it your fight with The Toxic Chainsaw?"

The hero let out a pained chuckle. "No, but I'm surprised you know of my battles. It was another villain, one not known to the public. He destroyed me; I'm missing my stomach and half my respiratory organs. I barely survived."

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

"I have. Friends and the like, but the public? Not a chance. I can't let them know, especially the villains. I'm already getting old, and though it feels arrogant to ask, what happens to Japan without me? What happens to a nation that loses its symbol of peace?"

The two stayed in silence for a moment.

"What was your question?"

Izuku swallowed nervously. "Could I become a hero like you? Someone that puts themselves at risk every day and saves people with a smile on their face?"

All-Might looked up, his pained expression morphing into a smaller version of his signature smile. "Anyone can be a hero, but a hero like me… I'm not too sure. I wish you the best, young–" All-Might gestured for Izuku to introduce himself. "Midoriya. Izuku Midoriya."

"Young Midoriya. Set your sights high, but be realistic," he said, his smile fading. All-Might stood up and looked at the boy one last time before hopping away.

Izuku stood alone on the terrace. BANG! The sound of an explosion cut through the silence. He looked down from the railing. Charcoal smoke billowed into the atmosphere from a few blocks away. Izuku rushed down the steps of the apartment building. He wondered if a fight had broken out. Running the last couple of city blocks, he saw the same sludge villain from before. Barricade rails of water blocked off the street, courtesy of Backdraft, the fire-hydrant hero. Inside stood Death Arms and a few other heroes trying to fight against the villain, but they seemed to be held up by something. Izuku squeezed through the crowd forming to get a better look. Izuku's eyes widened in shock. Bakugo was stopping them, trapped within the sludge. Katsuki kept setting off explosions in an attempt to free himself. The sludge villain seemed to learn from his experience with Izuku and directed the boy's arms away from him to be unaffected by his quirk. A tendril of sludge was forcing its way down Katsuki's throat. The blonde's eyes bulged in desperation as he began to lose air. Izuku looked around at the heroes standing paralyzed. Why wouldn't they move? The heroes' abilities didn't seem suited to handle the situation, but someone was in danger! Katsuki's eyes began to roll back, and the explosions died down. Izuku jumped the barrier. The heroes on the scene shouted at him to stop, but he ignored them. The villain looked shocked to see him again, he slid his mouth over Katsuki's and tried to speak, but Izuku ignored him as well. His world was silent. Izuku inflated his chest and looked upward. Flames spewed wildly into the air before being reined in by the teen. He morphed the fire into two thin arrows. Izuku pushed outward, shooting the arrows into the eyes of the sludge villain. They burst on impact, causing the villain to howl in pain. Izuku ran at the blinded man and grabbed one of Katsuki's hands. Izuku partially pulled Katsuki's body out to where it was safe to attack once again. Izuku hit the sludge villain with another burst of flame. The green mass started to bubble in reaction to the heat, and the villain screamed louder. Katsuki finally broke free, and Izuku pulled him to safety. The blonde sat up, coughing out the green goop. He looked up at Izuku with a mixed expression but consigned himself to exhaustion. All-Might landed on the scene with a ground-shattering force. A smile plastered on his face. "Thanks for the assist, young hero! Allow me to finish the job!" All-Might said with bravado, indulging the crowd. The hero slowly cocked back his arm. "Your day in the sun is over, villain! DETROIT! SMASH!" The citizens grew silent, and the air seemed to follow suit. BOOM! Pressure burst from the hand of the number-one hero. Winds whipped and splattered the villain all over the street. The winds continued into the atmosphere and scrambled the clouds as they dissipated. Left on the pavement lay a small blob with a mouth and eyes glazed over. The crowd cheered as police arrived on the scene and collected the villain. Reporters surrounded the symbol of peace. Police took statements from the teens as the EMTs ran tests on Katsuki. Katsuki sat on a gurney with a sour expression. He stayed motionless while looking at the crowd. It was his fault. He was weak.

Izuku was finally almost home. He was sure his mom would have a fit when he told her what happened if she didn't already see the news. A few reporters got to him before he could slip away. They were a lot more gracious than the heroes were. A scolding from Death Arms would probably scare any 14-year-old. In the end, the pros did thank him for the help, and Izuku couldn't complain as he got autographs from all of them. He wanted to check on Katsuki, but the boy vanished. Lost in thought, Izuku hit a brick wall. Or at least what he thought was one.

"I am here with a proposition!" All-Might shouted. Izuku looked up at the man.

"All-Might, what are you doing here?" The pro just laughed in response. "Young Midoriya. You can be a hero just like me. I won't be around forever, and I need a successor. A new symbol of peace. Are you up for it?" Izuku felt heat stream down his face. He was crying. He looked up at his idol with a smile, "Yes!" All-Might ruffled the kid's hair. "Fantastic! Training starts tomorrow!"

"What?!"