The beach was much, much worse than Valley had thought.

He'd never been there before - he'd only heard of rumors and tellings about how the place was a literal garbage dump. But now, seeing it with his own eyes...well, it didn't abate the rumors that swam within his mindscape. Corrugated metal, rusted from use, littered the shoreline. Piles of worn materials and appliances stacked sky high, and above the crest of trash, Valley was barely able to see the crux of dusk.

Poiro, who was standing beside him, winced with a small hiss. "Yikes...I thought that it was bad, but not THIS bad…"

Valley was silent, pensive, as his gaze feasted upon the heap before him. He moved to step forward, but the sound of grunting, followed by a deep voice espousing another with encouragement, stopped him. He gestured for Poiro to be quiet, one that the whiteheaded male immediately understood, the pair crawling up a pile of trash and peeking over the top to watch what was unfolding down below.

A short, frail green-haired boy was struggling to pull a large fridge tethered to a rope, and on top of that fridge sat…

All Might?

"Is that the number one hero?" Poiro whispered, voice laced with unrestrained awe. "The real number one hero? What is he doing here?"

Before any more questions could be asked, Valley quickly interrupted, grabbing Poiro's hand and gently pulling him down while saying, "it's best we do not disturb. Whatever business they have is private. How about we go to the nearby woodland instead? That would probably be a favorable spot. No one usually goes there, and we can practice our quirks freely."

"...as much as I hate to just dismiss this entire ordeal, you make a good point. I just thought that the trash heap would be better cover." Poiro sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "Alright, let's go."

-

South of Musutafu was a strip of woodland, residing with a rather shady district within the city. Heroes and police didn't usually patrol in this area, and while the risk of getting battered by a criminal were much higher, the payoff of being able to practice their quirks without scrutiny won them over. They came here on occasion, but now, they knew that they would have to make this a common training site.

"HAAAAAAAAAAH!" Poiro cried out, thrusting both of his palms forward. A large bolt of plasma shot out from his fingertips and shot through the air, blasting into a tree and causing a chunk of it to explode, showers of bark and debris scattering around the point of impact. It wasn't enough to topple it down, but it was enough to render it in a precarious position.

Valley watched with a smile, gently clapping his hands in encouragement for his friend. "Your bottom-line minimum has definitely increased in terms of output. Much better than what it was before."

"Thank you," Poiro huffed, lowering his hands and relaxing his stance, "but man, that sure does take a lot out of me...your turn, then." He gestured towards the tree and stepped back, providing Valley with a plentiful amount of space.

The other male nodded with a gentle grin, holding up his hand and conjuring a glowing, pulsating blue sphere with a white core that was the size of a baseball. He took a small breath and poured a bit more ki into his attack, causing it to balloon minutely to the size of a basketball, reared his arm back, and threw.

FWOOM!

The sphere slammed into the tree with astounding force, a miniature explosion bursting from the point of contact. The tree in question toppled over, slamming into the ground with a tremendous THUMP. The Earth beneath them tremored, but only for a moment.

"Phew..." Poiro chuckled with a singular exhale, "I still can't get over how strong you are sometimes. That attack was nothing for you, and you obliterated that tree...makes me glad that we aren't facing eachother in an all out scenario."

"Poiro, we're middle school graduates," Valley tacked on, raising a finger to accentuate his upcoming point, "so you don't have to worry about being strong, or tough. Once we get admitted to a hero school, then you can truly prosper and grow. For now, let's push our limits as best as we can, but leave the real heavy work to those who know what they are doing."

Poiro was silent for a moment, staring into open air, before apparently pushing any qualms out of his mind. He flashed out his megawatt grin and shot a thumbs-up in Valley's direction, his white hair briefly jostled from his sudden movement. "You got it! Man, you're so sage-like sometimes, man! Gets my blood pumpin'!"

"Heh, i'm glad." Valley replied earnestly, his tail swishing back and forth - betraying his true excitement behind his rather lax visage.

It became a routine for the two of them, now that they had nothing else to do. They lied to their parents and said that they were going to plant stuff at the park Valley always visits, but really went off to practice in that strip of woodland. They would go to the park afterward and plant, but not before returning home, showering, and changing out of their sweaty clothing.

Why?

Well, both boys had their sights set on one thing, and one thing only - UA.

Valley wanted to be a hero to help people. To inspire people. To give those in need a helping hand; those who the hero society neglected.

Poiro was intrinsically motivated, and as such, he wanted to become a hero because it was his passion, and it was simply a career he wanted to fall into, for all of the benefits. Not fame, not glory, but for the chance to become stronger, and the opportunity to lend his assistance to others who need it most.

'We will take the world by storm', Poiro had once declared, back when they were younger, 'as the best ever hero duo!'

And of course, Valley agreed.

After all, he wouldn't be with anyone else other than his best friend.

-

Before they knew it, many, many months had passed by. It was now the day before the entrance exam, and Valley was feeling quite confident in his ability to pass - both in the written, and the practical.

Poiro was already out cold, draped across his bed with his eyes shut, lost in a land of dreams. Valley decided to go out training on his own today, and was currently doing some martial arts practice against nothing but the air, since he didn't want to destroy any more trees if there was no need to. Hammer strikes, hook punches, ridge hand strikes, crescent kicks, standing roundhouse kicks, back kicks…he had quite a wide arsenal, at least in his opinion, but that still meant that there was a lot to work on.

Yet, that was okay. He had the determination to pull through anyways.

He was in his optimal training gear, which consisted of a baby blue shaolin martial arts robe with a dark blue waistband that had a deep v-neck twist to it, just to make it a bit more unique to him and him only. He, of course, had a hole for his tail, which was curled around his waist like a belt as to not get in the way.

After a few more moments of shadow-training, he stood still and closed his eyes, tapping into his inner ki reserves. He shifted his right foot, clenched his arms with his elbows against his sides, and PULLED.

Immediately, Valley's muscles tightened, his body hunched, and a bright white aura flared around him, bursting to life like a candleflame. It flickered and wavered, conjuring a minuscule squall that ruffled his hair and clothing. Eventually, it settled, and he let out a shaky exhale.

He extended his arm forward and marvelled at the veins criss crossing across the limb, and he couldn't help but let a smile dance across his limbs.

He was ready.