Chapter 1: All I Need Is A Chance

When Izuku Midoriya had stepped out of the apartment he shared with this mother this morning, he never could've predicted how his day was going to go. A villain attack on the way to school? It happened frequently enough to be routine. Everyone laughing at him for refusing to give up his dream? Yeah, that happened with alarming regularity. Getting attacked by a villain with a Quirk that basically makes said villain a sludge monster then getting saved by All Might, then accidentally releasing said villain and inspiring All Might to action, saving your probably not actual best friend because he bullies you all the time in the process? That was an once in a lifetime event.

"Izuku Midoriya, you can be a hero."

Yeah. That was a new one.

Midoriya was too busy crying his eyes out to hear most of All Might's explanation, but he caught the gist. His Quirk had been passed to him... somehow, and he could give it to Midoriya. It was practically a dream come true. There was just one little problem...

"W-We can tell my mom about this, right? She's going to be suspicious when I suddenly manifest a Quirk out of nowhere."

All Might blinked. "If she knows about One For All, she'll be a target for some of the most dangerous villains that have existed."

Midoriya frowned, that didn't really make sense to him. If those villains learned that All Might had passed his quirk to him, wouldn't those close to him be a target anyways? "Wouldn't she be a target no matter what?"

"I..." All Might stopped in his tracks. That was something that he hadn't considered, plus it would probably be a good idea for the boy to have a confidant close at hand, even with the danger, "I hadn't considered that, young Midoriya. Very well, do you live far from here?"


"Mom, I'm home!" As Midoriya took off his shoes, the pleasant scent of frying pork wafted towards him. That meant only one thing. pork cutlets for dinner, his favorite. It was a shame that he would have to sour the mood before bringing his poor mother that much closer to a heart attack.

"Oh, there you are. Were the trains delayed?"

Midoriya screwed his eyes shut. This was going to be a mess, and that wasn't even counting what All Might was going to tell his mother. "Uh, no. Okay, so the bad news is that I got attacked by a villain."

Inko Midoriya froze. "Was it because you got too close while taking notes?"

Midoriya scratched the back of his head. He deserved that. One time Edgeshot had been fighting a villain with a terrakinesis Quirk, and he had been so focused on note taking that he hadn't noticed that the police had moved the safe distance back. "No, Mom."

Inko turned and practically launched herself at her son, enveloping him in a bear hug. "I'm just glad that you're safe, Izuku! Now, I know you're dying to tell me all about it, so I'll finish dinner and-"

After Midoriya extricated himself from his mother's embrace, he pressed on, it probably wasn't a good idea to keep All Might waiting too much longer, "That's the good news, you see... All Might saved me, and then some more stuff happened, and it turns out that his Quirk isn't a normal Quirk but it was passed to him, and he can pass it to me so I can become a hero and he's waiting outside to explain all this to you so you don't worry as much?"

Suddenly, Inko was taken back to that fateful day ten years ago, when she had told Izuku that... well...

Can I ever become a hero like All Might?

I'm so sorry, Izuku! I'm so sorry!

"Izuku... Is this real? Can All Might really give you his Quirk?"

Midoriya nodded empathically, tears flowing freely from his eyes. "Y-yes! I'm going to be able to achieve my dream, Mom!"

Inko latched onto Izuku again, and this time he returned the hug. They both cried into each other's shoulder, out of joy. "Izuku... I know that I gave up on you once. I promise that I'll never do that again."

"T-thanks, Mom." They stood there for a moment longer before Midoriya remembered who was waiting outside, "Crap, I forgot about All Might!"

A spark lit in Inko's eyes that Midoriya hadn't seen in a while. "What are you waiting for? Bring him in, then!"

Midoriya darted back to the front door and threw it open. "Come on in!" Inko heard a sound akin to a hot iron giving off steam. Then, All Might himself stepped into her living room. Wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts, sure. But the muscles, the smile, the V hair style, any citizen of Japan would recognize him anywhere. When Midoriya stepped back into the apartment after closing the door, Inko looked at her son with equal parts wonder and fear. "It's... you were... he can..."

All Might bowed to her, "My name is Toshinori Yagi, but you probably know me better as All Might. I'm sure that young Midoriya has told you about today's happenings and revelations. I am here to explain-"

Suddenly All Might reverted to his true form and blood spurted from his mouth, leading to a scream from Inko. Izuku jumped into action immediately, "It's alright, Mom! This is just... what he actually looks like."

Inko composed herself as best she could. "Make yourself comfortable, you're always welcome here, All Might."


IIgnoring the sound of Midoriya greedily chowing down on his pork cutlets, Inko ran a hand through her hair. "So, One For All is effectively a stockpiling sort of Quirk. But instead of stockpiling... something like body fat, it simply stockpiles power?" When Izuku was younger, before the doctors had proclaimed him Quirkless, Inko had done a lot of reading on Quirk Theory. As a result, while others just tuned Izuku out when he went off on a motormouth rampage about Quirks, she was able to keep up with him. She knew for a fact that there were more than a few entries in Izuku's journals that began with Mom said...

All Might nodded. "Exactly. Each wielder increases the power, refining it so it can be used as a force for the good of all."

Inko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, that makes something resembling sense. Now, answer me this. Why Izuku?"

At this point, Midoriya perked up. He knew of the whole your body moved before you had the chance to think reasoning, but was curious if there was more to it.

All Might held up two fingers, "There's two reasons. The first reason is because he's Quirkless."

"What?" Midoriya asked, his voice cracking.

"No, that makes sense." Inko said, "If One For All is the crystallization of power, then it makes sense that only someone born without power could bring out the best in it."

All Might raised an eyebrow, "That was well thought out, Mrs. Midoriya."

A sound that All Might could only categorize as a verbal keysmash escaped Midoriya, followed by a rushed apology to his mother. "I'm sorry, Mom! I didn't tell him yet!"

All Might glanced at Midoriya, "Tell me what?"

"My husband passed... seven years ago now." Inko said.

All Might winced, "My condolences."

"Thank you. Now what was the second reason you chose Midoriya?"

"Right, after the villain that I saved him from escaped, it attacked a classmate of his. None of the heroes on the scene were able to assist, and I thought myself unable to act due to my injury. Young Midoriya ran in to attempt to save his-"

"He what?"

All Might glanced between Midoriya and Inko, only to see Midoriya practically withering away from his mother's glare. "He ran in to attempt to save his classmate."

Inko sharply drew in a breath and let it out through her nose. "It was Bakugo, wasn't it?"

Midoriya scratched at his neck sheepishly. "Yeah..."

Inko sighed, "Oh, well. Maybe he'll warm up to you a bit now, since he got to see All Might up close as well. In any event, you're going to need a costume! Oh, this is so exciting! You finally get to... Your father would be so proud of you, Izuku."

Midoriya wiped at his face as tears began to fall. "T-thanks, Mom."

All Might laughed apologetically, "I wouldn't be thanking anyone yet, young Midoriya. As of now, you aren't ready to receive the Quirk."

"What? But you said that I'm worthy!"

All Might scratched the back of his head, "You are, but your body isn't ready for it. Your limbs would... ah... explode."

"Well, at least One For All's internal logic makes sense." Inko said, "Since... wait, what was that last part?"

All Might put his hands up in a calming gesture. "Never fear! We have ten months until the UA entrance exams. That's more than enough time to prepare young Midoriya, but..."

Midoriya got nervous as All Might fixed him with an intense gaze. "But what?"

"It will be hell."


Katsuki Bakugo was confused. And pissed. Mostly pissed.

Before the sludge monster attack, he couldn't remember the last time that Deku actually put effort into gym class. Maybe it was that the near-death experience had given the nerd a new lease on life? Or was it that the runt actually thought that he had a chance at getting into UA? Whatever. Without a Quirk, he didn't stand a chance. Which made it all the more infuriating when Deku had actually put UA on his high school choice form. How dare he! Bakugo was supposed to be the first person from this shitty public middle school going to UA, and now he had to share that honor with fucking Deku?

He had been so pissed about it, that he had cornered the twerp after school, and...

What the hell, you damn nerd! What happened to not wanting to compete with me? ANSWER ME, DEKU!

I-I earned this, Kaachan, I swear that I'm not trying to compete with you, I just want to follow my dream.

It had been the first time that Deku had actually stood up to them since they were kids. Bakugo still had no idea how to feel about it. Whatever, he'd probably chicken out and not even show up to the entrance exam. Bakugo shouldered through the crowds of prospective students as he made his way towards the exam site, and noticed a familiar sight, more specifically, a familiar head of hair.

Curly green and black hair, to be precise.

"Out of the way, Deku!" Bakugo ignored Deku's blabbering as he continued, and his mood only worsened as he went. You know, what? I'll admit that he has guts for actually showing up. Won't matter though. He's just a goddamned speed bump, just like the rest of these extras.

After making his way to the exam room, he noticed that everyone was seated by ID number, which meant that...

"H-hi Kaachan!"

Bakugo's only response was to growl. Not that would do anything to stop Deku's motormouth, and here he couldn't just slug him to shut him up. If he actually gets in by some damned miracle, this is going to be insufferable.

"I met this really nice girl on my way in." Midoriya blabbed, "We talked for a bit be-"

"Bullshit." Bakugo interjected, "You don't know how to talk to women that aren't your mother."

Any further protests from Deku were cut off by Present Mic, who was apparently in charge of preparing them for the practical exam.

He got a chuckle when one of the other participants ragged on Deku for his mumbling. Too bad that the dude looked like a total stick in the mud.

"Alright, that's enough of the pre-show, listeners!" Present Mic said, "It's go time!"

Good. Time to get this show on the road.


To say that Midoriya was panicking was a slight understatement. The others were blowing up the robots left and right, but they didn't have to worry about violent kickback from their Quirks! All Might said that I can only handle five percent of the power right now, but I don't even know what that feels like! He entrusted me with this power, and Mom believes in me! I can't fail! I CAN'T!

He had no idea how much time had passed, which only made his descent into panic worse. Every robot that he saw another participant destroy was another lost chance, another slap in the face telling him that every single iota of effort he had put in over the past year was all for nothing. With a crash, one of the one-point robots burst through the wall in front of him, rubble peppering the building opposite it.

"Target locked, destroy all humans!"

Midoriya froze. It easily towered over him, and was barreling towards him. On top of that, he was paralyzed with indecision. What should I do? What can I do?

The decision was made for him when a blue laser burned through the robot. He turned to see a boy from blond hair run off. Midoriya turned and ran the other direction. He barely made it five steps before he heard the screaming.

He turned toward it, and nearly got knocked down. Soon enough, he saw what had the other participants screaming and running for the hills.

The Zero-point robot. It was as tall as some of the buildings.

He was about join the others in running for it when he saw something the the robot's path.

The nice girl from earlier, trapped by some debris.

He ran. Right towards it.

He ignored the questions from the others, he ignored that the clock was running down, he ignored that he had no points, and would surely fail. There was someone who needed saving, so nothing else mattered.

He felt a tingling in his legs, and looked down. Midoriya's eyes went wide as he saw crimson lightning crackle across his legs. He gathered all the strength he had, and leapt.

He could only gasp in wonder as he soared up to the robot's face. He grinned wildly, if this was going to be his only rescue, then he was going to do it right. He coaxed the power to move from his legs to his right arm, and let loose his battle cry.

"SMASH!"

It was as if the world was held in suspended animation, Midoriya suspended in md-air, and the Zero-point robot was seemingly indifferent to the earth-shattering blow that it had just received.

Then time resumed, and the robot was blown backwards, its face cratered by the power of One For All. Everyone at the rest site was watching in awe.

And Izuku Midoriya was falling, not to mention panicking. Again.

Midoriya also noticed something rather important. His legs and right arm were broken. Moments after this realization, the pain cut through his adrenaline, and there was nothing he could do but scream. It hurts it hurts, have to stop my fall, only have left arm, have to time this right or I'm dead oh God it hurts...

Then, all too suddenly he realized that he had passed the point of action. He was going to die. I'm so sorry, Mo-

His train of thought was rudely interrupted by someone slapping him. Someone slapping him while twenty feet in the air. Instantly, his downward movement was slowed to a leisurely pace, as gravity had apparently decided to take a vacation. Even with his vision fogged over by pain, he looked around and saw a floating robot head. Which was odd. Then he saw the girl on top of it.

Hey, it's that nice girl from earlier. She saved my life!

Then he made it to the ground, heard the girl say "Release!" And then heard her vomit. That sounded about right.


"Okay, Mom. I've got good news and bad news."

Inko pinched the bridge of her nose. "This is going to be a running theme, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah." Midoriya said sheepishly, partly from pain and partly from his mother's exasperation, "Sorry."

She spared a moment to make a mental note to remind herself to give All Might- Toshinori, a talking to about curbing Izuku's obvious self-sacrificial tendencies. "How bad was the kickback?"

Midoriya winced, his mom had theorized that the recoil from full power One For All would be violent, but theory and reality were two different things. "So, that's the bad news! I broke both my legs..."

"Izuku! You have to give me more of a warning before-"

"And my right arm."

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Inko hissed. "How are we going to pay for-"

"UA covers it! Recovery Girl already healed me!" Izuku said, his voice reaching particularly unmanly pitches.

"Was that the good news?" Inko asked.

Midoriya sighed into the phone, "No, Mom. I made a friend."


Being a student that was admitted to UA on a recommendation came with a few perks, if they could be called that. A separate, more stringent entrance exam that took place a week before the exam for the general public, for one. Having passed with flying colors, Momo Yaoyorozu was enjoying one of the other "perks" of her admissions status the night before the new term started.

UA had sent her footage of the entrance exam performances of all her classmates, which she was watching to determine if there were items that she could make with her Quirk that could assist them in combat.

There was a boy with spiky blond hair that obliterated target after target with palm based explosions.

A girl that levitated robots before dropping them... no, that wasn't right. It seemed like she was simply making them weightless, then letting the centrifugal force of the planet's rotation take care of the rest. It also seemed like there was some sort of limit to how much she weight she could handle, maybe some anti-nausea pills would be in order...

Momo's eye twitched. Medicine formulas were difficult to come by.

Her other future classmates used electricity, honest to goodness tape, and sticky balls, of all things. One of them seemed to fight using a sentient shadow creature that was part of his body.

Then there was a green haired boy in a similarly colored tracksuit. He spent the exam time frantically running to and fro, not scoring any points. As the rest was about to finish, he gathered his strength and jumped. The only way Momo could describe it was... All Might. It was so eerily similar to the Symbol of Peace, that she suspected that he might have a similar Quirk.

Then he punched one of the Zero-point bots. The results were similarly... All Might.

As the video ended, the boy's name and score popped up on screen.

Izuku Midoriya

Villain Score: 0

Rescue Score: 60

"That's impressive. That boy could really be someone some day."

Momo didn't need to turn around, she would know her father's voice anywhere. "I'm not so sure, Father. You only saw the end, he spent the majority of the test running around aimlessly. Almost like he could only use his power once, or..."

Tohru Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, "Or what, Momo?"

Momo pondered the conundrum with a sip of her tea. "I don't know."


A/N: Welcome to my first My Hero Academia fic! If this is your first time reading one of my works, welcome! If you're reading this because you're already following me because of my RWBY works, welcome back!

So, recently I read a amazing Izuku x Momo fic by the name of Thank You, and that fic finally lit the fire of inspiration I need to start writing. This fic and some of its subject matter were inspired by it.

First off: I know this fandom can be... intense when it comes to shipping, so I am going to disclose all planned ships upfront. Other ships may come into being through the course of writing, but these are set in stone. If they are italicized, they are important to the story. If any of these are a dealbreaker for you, I understand and bear no ill will towards you.

Izuku X Momo

Bakugo x Uraraka

Toshinori x Inko

Kaminari x Jirou

Second: Let's talk about honorifics. In effect, I will be writing in dub, so most honorifics will not be present. The only one that will be around is the -sensei. If this causes you to not want to read, again, I understand. I will also be using english translation of names. These are creative choices on my part, and I will stand by them for good or bad.

Third: This story is going to feature some very heavy topics, and as such is rated M. Such topics include: Bullying, Abuse, and Death. One could say that these are par for the course for My Hero Academia, but I felt a disclaimer was necessary. If other sensitive topics come up, I will have the relevant disclaimers in the chapters that they show up in.

I hope you all enjoy the ride.