Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 3:

"I am…" Every student in Class 1-A looked to their doors with eyes growing wide. Their smiles spread over their faces, their chests started pounding, and the man threw open the door and leaned inside. "Coming through the door like a normal person!"

Behind Zach's desk and to the right one row over, Kaminari's face lit up and he exclaimed, "It's All Might!" Half of them let out similarly amazed gasps and excited noises, and many of them had been doubtful that All Might would really be there in person.

"He's wearing his Silver Age costume," Zach whispered, then Tsuyu mentioned the same a few seats away from him but in a more confused and louder voice.

Jirou Kyoka leaned to the side after hearing the boy in front of her say that, and the look on his face made her sweatdrop. "Didn't take you for the fanboy type," she remarked as the boy who had been quiet most of the day in front of her had a look of childish excitement on his face now.

Zach spun back to Jirou, then he turned away from the girl with earphones sticking off of her earlobes. He tried to better compose himself with a small blush on his face, but he could not stop from smiling wide at the hero who walked in.

All Might stopped behind the podium in the center of the front of the room and he put his fists at his sides. He wore an old-fashioned red uniform, with white lines on the front in a cool style, cool yellow arm spikes and wrist-guards, and a cool blue cape. So cool, Zach thought, as every part of the uniform looked cool to him. He looked at All Might's face as the hero turned and stared into the room. "I teach Hero Basic Training. It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. You'll take the most credits of this course than any other here!"

All Might tensed up and twisted his body, "Then, let's get right to it!" He slammed his arm forward with a small index card on it labeled, 'COMBAT.' "This is what we'll do today! Combat training!"

Everyone was getting excited, but Zach started staring up at All Might with his smile lowering down a bit. Combat training, right now? Against each other probably, he glanced around the room nervously. "And to go with that are these!" All Might pointed at the wall on his right where panels started sliding out to reveal numbers on each other.

Zach looked at the number '13' where he knew his costume would be inside of. As much as it excited everyone else in the class, he kept staring at All Might while the rest of them looked to the wall. Even after All Might pointed, he kept looking ahead, and there was only one student still looking at him as he said, "Costumes made based on your Quirk registrations and requests that you sent in before school started." All the students started getting up, and All Might continued, "After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

"Yes sir!" Everyone called out at the same time.

Zach stayed quiet as they all called it out. He started walking for his costume, while a strange feeling churned around in his chest. Does he, not remember me? Zach did not see the recognition he had hoped for in All Might's eyes, and his smile lowered while he got his costume out and looked at it. He was so excited when he had designed it, even asking Jenny to come over and help work on it with him since he did not consider himself very artistic. It came out looking amazing, and his smile lifted a small bit as he looked it over. I shouldn't be surprised. How many hundreds, no thousands, of people has All Might saved over the years? I thought though, since he knew my dad he might have… I don't know.

Zach started for the locker room with the other guys, trailing behind just a bit. He noticed someone walking pretty far back near him, an anxious look on his face, but he did not look his way. The boy next to him thinking about his costume, and on how he was going to manage combat training, glanced to his left and stopped muttering to himself. Zach had not even noticed Midoriya's muttering, his thoughts too jumbled and his emotions out of balance at what had just happened. Did he recognize me? We made eye contact, for that brief second. He probably made eye contact with everyone in the room at least once- but, he would remember me. If not for my face, then my Quirk for sure!

Midoriya relaxed a little at the look on the boy next to him's face. "You're pretty nervous about this too, aren't you?"

The darker haired boy turned to his classmate, and he hesitated then nodded as he tried refocusing on combat training which he was also having tough feelings about. Midoriya looked like he had another question to ask, but he stopped himself and glanced at the costume that Zach was carrying with him. His eyes focused on Zach's right hand, and he realized while his eyes widened that the other boy was always wearing that glove, even though he did not have one on the other hand. "Sazaki-"

"Call me by my first name," Zach cut in. "And we should really be focused on combat training," he added, picking up his pace to catch up with the rest of the guys.

I saw where you were looking. He doesn't look like one to be nosy, but at this point people have to start getting interested. I haven't shown a Quirk yet, but I denied being Quirkless. That was the first step, the first step towards telling people what it is. Gah, why is this so hard? Zach slowed down when he was right behind a few guys talking about how cool their costumes were, and they all headed into the locker room. When people asked about my glove in middle school, I had such a good excuse. Telling them it was contagious fungus, a genetic disease, I could make up as much crazy stuff about it as possible and it was still believable. I told them that just taking my hand out of my glove would have been dangerous, so for any of them to try taking it off of me would have been suicidal! Literally…

I can do this. Maybe I'm making assumptions too fast. All Might could come talk to me later. He might not have wanted people to know about how he saved me, yeah, yeah that must be it! After that day, only dad ever talked to me about it, and only that one time. All Might could have only told him. Actually that's probably what he did do, at least, that's what I hope. Zach's hands tightened around the uniform he was holding. I tried to kill myself, but he saved me. In more ways that one, you saved me All Might. Zach rubbed an arm over his eyes and bit down hard, clenching his uniform even tighter in his hands. So why am I so mad at you right now?!

Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock

Five knocks, Zach thought while getting up from his dinner table. "What do you want Jenny?" He asked while walking to his door. No one else knocks so many times- Zach opened his front door and his eyes opened wide and shot up to the tall man standing in front of him. The muscular hero in the same outfit he wore to school that day, stood in front of Zach with his arm held up in a fist ready to knock again. He brought his arm down and smiled wide at the boy standing in front of him in the doorway.

"I am here," All Might said, though in a whisper. "May I come in?"

Zach realized the teacher and hero probably did not want to be seen, which was why he knocked so many times and was speaking in a low voice. "Y-Y-Yeah, All Might," he moved back and let the hero step in through the door.

"I can't stay for long," All Might began. A few more minutes in all today, still so much I need to get done! He had a rushed look on his face and began speaking rapidly to the boy who had yet to even close the door behind them, "You did a fantastic job at the combat training today. I was surprised by your technique, but on my way here I saw some things on the roof. I had my suspicions but you really shouldn't be using your building's roof as a place to train. Also I had a look into it but now I am fairly certain but do you live here on your own?"

"Uh, thanks, and um, I guess since I'm training at school now, I won't need to go up there as much. I heard there are plans for another apartment complex just down the street that's going to be bigger than this one too, so I'd have to stop anyway…" Zach trailed off as he thought back to everything All Might said, wondering if there was a third thing before the final one he did not really want to talk about.

I'll take that as a yes. The half cup of instant ramen on the table is not a good sign, but I see signs of healthy eating in the kitchen. A cabinet in the kitchen was partially open and All Might could see some brands of food he had suggested for Izuku Midoriya to eat as part of his training regiment. Then the ramen is likely a result of how he was feeling earlier. "Earlier, I apologize. I did not want to-"

"No, no I get it!" Zach exclaimed, before lowering his voice in case his neighbors would hear him through the wall talking to All Might. "I'm glad you didn't say anything to me, but I'm really just glad you remember who I am."

"I remember everyone," All Might said. Zach's mouth curled up into an even bigger smile, as the doubts he had had that All Might could not remember everyone he had ever saved were wiped away by that single declaration. "Well, I will see you in school, young Sazaki!"

"Thank you, sensei," Zach said, feeling a weight off his chest from that small conversation alone. All Might started walking for the door behind Zach, but when he was at the boy's side, Zach looked up at him and said, "I'm going to do it. I'm going to become a hero."

All Might's smile grew even larger as he looked back down at his student. He stuck a thumbs up at him and said, "Go for it. Go beyond," All Might opened the door behind him and bent his knees, then he shouted as he leapt out and away from Zach's apartment, "Plus ultra!"

Zach shouted it at the same time, "Plus ultra!" He shouted and ran out the door to watch as All Might soared off, then he let out a long sigh of relief. All Might, said that I did good in training. I, I earned that… Zach saw something out the corner of his eye and slowly started turning to the left.

Standing outside the doorway of the room right next to his was his neighbor with long red pigtails falling more than halfway down her back. Jenny's jaw was dropped and she just stared into Zach's eyes with an eerie silence hanging between them for a minute straight. She had come out because she was going to go check on him and see how things were at U.A., as she had not heard enough about the number one hero academy yet from her best friend. Her jaw was dropping farther and farther and her eyes growing even more huge which made Zach feel nervous about what was about to happen.

"Don't," he said, running over and lifting a hand to cover her mouth with. He stopped himself though when his arm was only half lifted, then he brought his right arm back down to his side and reached forward with his left. Zach grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her back towards his apartment, while she looked on the verge of screaming.

He had wanted to cover up her mouth at first, but he realized she was way too frantic for that short term solution. All Might was in such a hurry, I wish he would have just checked before jumping out my door. Zach closed the door behind him all the way this time, then Jenny shouted, "That was All Might!"

"Shhh!" Zach shushed loudly at her.

"Why was he here?!" Jenny shouted, almost as loud.

"Well, didn't I tell you?" Zach began, trying to come up with an excuse. "All Might is… a teacher at U.A.," he said it, then realized immediately how ridiculous an excuse that was.

"But why was he at your apartment?" Jenny asked, her voice still loud but calming down as this was turning into more of an interrogation. The way he responded the first time made it seem like he was hiding something from her. "Don't tell me, you got in trouble? Did he find out about the roof-"

"Well he did, but-" Zach started it, then he froze and his eyes opened wide. "But he didn't treat it as just some unsafe training I was doing. He said it was breaking building codes, and even counted as trespassing…"

"Oh no," Jenny held a hand over her mouth. Her skin turned bright blue and she asked in a worried voice, "Did you, get expelled?"

"Huh? No," Zach shook his head, and Jenny's skin flashed a warm yellow before shifting back to its usual beige shade. "He just told me to keep my training at official facilities for now on."

Jenny sighed and relaxed before giving her neighbor a pout. He leaned back at that look on her face, and she said in an annoyed voice, "If that's all it was, then you should have texted me to come over. You get to see All Might all the time now so it might not be as big a deal for you, but you know I want to meet him." Zach looked at her apologetically and scratched the back of his head, promising to do just that if All Might ever came back. She frowned for a few more seconds, but then the corners of her lips curled back up and she said, "Now tell me, what kind of exciting things did U.A. have you doing today?!"

"Oh, you would not believe it…"

Rescue training, Zach thought, looking around the amazing interior of USJ with wide eyes. He was listening as Thirteen talked about how important rescue work was, and he was smiling wide while wearing his costume and hearing all this. The most important part, of being a hero. His fists clenched at his sides, his right in the black glove, and his left in the thicker white one.

Zach's entire costume was white. He had long sleeves on his arms and pants that all matched the same white color. He had a silver belt around his waist as well as silver wrist-guards, and steel plating scattered on different parts of his body. On his knees, his elbows, and on the white glove of his left arm, Zach had hard pieces attached to his body with softer sides on the interior to prevent the damage he normally did to himself fighting only barehanded. Today's when I show my stuff. The reason I'm here. The reason I'm becoming a hero!

"…this class is a fresh start. You shall learn how to use your Quirks to save people's lives. You do not have powers so you can harm others." Thirteen stopped talking and then bowed, followed by a chorus of cheers from the students. Thirteen knows what it's like to have a power like this, Zach thought while looking at the hero in a puffy white costume ahead of him. While Zach's head stuck out of the white collar of his uniform though, Thirteen had a black dome over his head so that Zach could not see the teacher's expression. I wonder if those Black Holes ever hurt people, right when his power developed? He says it's one that can easily kill, so maybe it has. But he can at least use it in other ways too. I can't, learn how to use my Quirk in a way to save lives. But he's right, we don't have powers to harm others. They're for saving people. Zach threw an arm up with the others and shouted with some classmates, though it was his left arm he threw up with them.

When the clapping and cheers started settling, Aizawa pointed his finger at the area behind where he stood at the top of the stairs. Only he and Thirteen were there as teachers with the students, as All Might was missing for some reason. Aizawa began to the class in front of him, "Alright then, first-"

Aizawa stopped talking as the lights on the ceiling cut off. Zach looked up in confusion as the entire building dimmed a few notches darker. "Huh?" He looked down to check if Aizawa was smirking at them and this was just part of it. When he looked at Aizawa though, he saw behind the teacher, and his eyes opened wide. Aizawa started turning his head with eyes growing in size, a bad sign for Zach who could see that expression even as he focused on the swirling purple circle at the bottom of the stairs just in front of the fountain.

The swirling circle exploded out in all directions, two yellow eyes appearing on the top of the largest part of the purple shadow-like being that just appeared. This is part of the training. They're trying to scare us- A hand reached through the shadows and pulled them to the side, and the face of the figure behind it moved forward. Zach looked into the single eye showing behind the strange hand attached to that man's face. Those eyes. He thought, right as the man walked forward along with others stepping out of the dark shadows at his sides. They're, the same…

2 Years Ago

"Everyone stay back," Zach said, holding his arms out to the sides as he saw movement behind him.

"But Captain," one of the first years began. "That's Best Jeanist! I want to see what he can do-"

"The police haven't arrived yet," Zach said. "In a situation where villains arrive, civilians get in the way too often- hey you," he shouted towards a couple of guys running towards the area across the street. They stopped and spun to the boy in a pair of sweatpants and matching gray sweatshirt who had a serious look on his face. "Don't get any closer. There could be accom-" Out the corner of Zach's eyes he saw him. His head started turning back towards the smoke that was coming out of what he knew was a Chinese restaurant. He knew it because this was a path he and his cross country team took at least twice a week on their runs.

Best Jeanist must have arrived in seconds after I heard that first blast, but it hasn't been that long! He must not have seen this guy, Zach leaned back, as did all his teammates. The man running towards them had a body made of steel, a brutish look on his face and a muscular body to match that made him look like a body builder. He had a panicked look on his face too, as any criminal would when one of the world's best heroes showed up to stop them.

His feet left marks in the ground with every step, and he was holding a bag in one hand and a gun in the other. A gun?! Zach saw the weapon and then yelled, "Move out of his way-" He saw one of his teammates, a third-year who had not voted with the others to make him the team captain since he was only in his second year. "Nagiso, don't," Zach began, but his upperclassman got in the way of the villain anyway while the others moved to the side of the sidewalk.

Zach looked farther down the road and saw Best Jeanist looking their way, but he was a good distance away from them. There were not any other heroes in the vicinity yet, and Zach heard the sirens but still did not see any cops. His left hand shot to his right wrist, but his hands were both shaking as he grabbed his glove. Move! He shouted at himself, trying to run up to Nagiso's side. He looked past Nagiso though, into the eyes of the glinting silver man charging at him.

The man punched forward without hesitation, using the arm he was holding a bag with that looked like one of those sacks in bank robbery films. His fist slammed into Nagiso's chest, pushed in, and came out of the teen's back. Nagiso just smirked though at the villain who got a confused look on his face at the feeling of the boy's insides. The villain decided to keep running, even as his arm got stuck inside the boy's mushy body. Nagiso opened his mouth, "My Quirk is Jello, but it's not as- Ah!" His feet came off the ground as the villain kept running, using his excessive strength to drag the kid with him as his arm was stuck lodged through the boy's chest.

"This is bad," one of the third-years on Zach's right began. "Nagiso's got his limits. He can't…"

Zach could hear his heartbeat pounding in his head. He was just out of the way enough that the villain would run by in front of him, taking Nagiso with him. The older boy had a terrified look on his face as he realized what the villain was doing, and then that terror intensified ten-fold as the villain seemed to decide he didn't want this extra weight. His other arm with the pistol in it rose up, and Zach started yanking his glove off while stepping forward.

Nagiso had looked towards Zach in a desperate way, and when Zach saw the look in his eyes, he stopped thinking about what his power would do and what the consequences would be. He saw the gun lifting and he started pulling off his glove, and then he froze, and the villain slammed into the ground. Zach's eyes opened huge, while Nagiso pushed against the arm in his chest to slide off of him. He pushed himself away from the man who just slammed into the ground, strange blue fibers on his legs and back.

"Best Jeanist," Zach finally whispered in relief, as he realized what had happened. He let out a deep breath and took another step forward, then he reached down his left hand for the older boy sitting there and staring at the struggling victim with a terrified look on his face. "Nagiso, are you alright?" Zach asked. Nagiso turned his head and looked at the younger boy's outstretched hand. He was a year older, the main reason he did not want this kid joining in the first place as a first-year, why he did not want him to be captain. Seeing that outstretched hand should have made him angry, but instead his gaze shifted from Zach's hand slowly to the other one, the one he saw Zach running towards him while grabbing, while taking off that strange black glove he always wore.

Zach stood up fast, realizing what Nagiso was thinking of. The perfect lie he had used for years now, he wondered how many of them had seen through it with that one action alone. So many of them were focused on the villain though and their own fear, he started finding it more surprising that Nagiso had picked up on it during that intense situation. "Zach, you-"

"You kids there, get back," Best Jeanist ordered as he ran towards them. "There could be other accomplices." The students all agreed and started running off, Nagiso scrambling to his feet on his own. They ran while the cops went the other direction, all of them talking about how crazy that was. Some of them started telling Nagiso how brave he was to stall for Best Jeanist, but the older boy said nothing about it. He just felt stupid for thinking he could stop a villain, felt terror that had not subsided even after the villain had been taken down and disarmed, and he felt angry that he had not been able to do anything. And he felt something else too as he looked back towards Zach.

Zach had his eyes pointed at the floor as he ran. He thought about how Nagiso would confront him over this. He thought about how he had almost used his power, after swearing that he would never use it again. He had made that promise and reminded himself of it every day, yet right there he almost broke it. In a single moment, his conviction to never remove the glove in a fight was shaken. And he knew why it was shaken too. More than anything that happened during the action, during the moment when he decided to run forward, one thing stuck with him. It filled his mind and he shook as he ran, wondering for the first time in years, if he really did want to become a hero. That hesitation was because of what he saw when he looked in that villain's eyes, a look he would not see again up close in person, until rescue training at U.A.

Present

"Gather together and don't move!" The others who did not realize what was going on yet turned to their homeroom teacher in confusion. "Thirteen. Protect the students."

"What is that?" Kirishima asked, getting nervous for a second before calming himself and leaning forward. The boy with spiky red hair said in some awe, "Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson's already started."

"No," Zach said on his left side. "That's not it." Kirishima glanced next to him and got some more sweat on his face at how afraid the boy next to him looked.

Midoriya made to take a step forward and get a better look, but Aizawa commanded, "Don't move," again in a much stricter tone. They looked towards him and watched as their teacher grabbed his specially made yellow goggles for his costume and put them over his eyes. "Those are, villains."

That's a villain too? Zach thought, staring at a monster that just walked out of the portal. Its skin was black and its body muscular, and its brain showed on top of its monstrous head. It gave him the creeps as bad as the man next to it who had gray hands all over his body. These are all, villains!

A/N Thanks for reading. Rescue training at USJ is interrupted by villains! Hope the pacing isn't too fast, and that you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review below, and I'm going to start review responses this chapter!

Limit-Breaking chapter 1 . 23h ago

I have to say the premise for the story is a really interesting one, I'm definitely going to be reading more of it. So far I feel like I'm reading an actual anime story with a dark sense of dread and feeling suspense.

Glad you like the premise and that was some high praise! As for changing him with Deku, I get the idea of not having an OC main, as I've barely ever- really only once ever done it before in all my stories. And even the one I did it for DBZ I still had Gohan and Trunks as mains splitting it with the OCs... Anyway! Not gonna switch in Deku, because he's got a role in the story anyway, and because I'm already 130 thousand words through, and it's just not the story. I figured people might get turned away since it's an OC, as I often see OC stories myself as self-inserts or Marie-Sue kind of characters, so while I wrote I had to try and make sure I didn't fall into that trap. So yeah, I figured it might not get as much attention as other fanfics on the Boku no Hero category, but I'm gonna stick with Zach. Hope you enjoyed the last chapters!

Byzan chapter 1 . 16h ago

I like it. I like the way that his quirk is meant for villain yet his past is the thing that made up a protagonist. keep it up. I have followed this story. I'll leave a review again when I have read the next chapter. promise.

Thanks for the review! Glad you liked his backstory, and I hope you enjoyed the recent chapters!

Guest chapter 2 . 12h ago

This is super interesting! Having a quirk called death... I wonder if there's more to it than that though? Like, maybe he can train it to make people go unconscious? Either way, I think Zach is great, and the fact that he wants to be a hero because he loves life is amazing! Quick question though, does his quirk only work on living things? If not, he would've been able to 'kill' the robots, right?

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the start, and there'll be a lot of mysteries surrounding this power which will come up through the story. For that question though, I'm going to go with yeah only on living things, which was why he scored so low on the test and needed the points from helping out Ashido. Thanks for the review!