Ever since Izuku was a four-year-old he desired a quirk. A simple superpower 80% of the world had, unfortunately he was that unlucky 20%.
Yeah, fate was not on his side.
Even so, he was determined to become a hero, even if he didn't have anything but the heart of one.
So, when All Might choose him as his successor for his quirk, One For All, he worked his ass off. He worked day and night to get into the position he was in now. He dreamt of this ever since he was still eligible to wear his All Might onesie.
That last part was a tad bit embarrassing but moving on.
He had already received the quirk he had already dreamed of, well, was going to receive it once it digested into his system.
But there was one small problem he didn't anticipate for.
U.A's fucking Entrance Exam.
Of all the stupid, most ridiculous, things he could overlook in terms of his journey to become a hero, he forgot about the U.A Entrance Exams, his only chance of becoming the U.A he longed to become.
Oh yeah, he had All Might's quirk and all, but there was another problem. Years of being quirkless never really taught him how a quirk felt like.
So, he asked for a hint. "Well my boy, clench your butt cheeks and yell Smash from the top of your lungs!"
Really, it sounded like something out of a century old 2014 SHONEN Jump comic. With how cringy it sounded, Izuku wouldn't rule out the possibility. Maybe All Might enjoyed reading those type of comics?
"Eh?! That's sounds corny!"
All Might coughed into his hand. "Well, it's how I activate One For All, but I can tell you're different. Everyone who's wielded it was different when it came to summoning it. My predecessor included. You should find your own sensation."
The green haired boy put his hand to his chin in extensive thought. 'Clenching my butt cheeks and yelling Smash? I'm not a SHONEN protagonist, so how do I work this?'
"Midoriya, my boy, you alright there? You've been standing still like that for a minute."
The boy's cheeks flushed a color the Symbol of Peace has never seen of before. "Sorry about that All Might, I was just thinking of a sensation like you said." His lips curved downwards into a frown. "I-I, just can't understand what to do here.
All Might simply chuckled at that. "You'll figure it out eventually, that hero fanboy head of yours's is too smart to not come up with anything decent. Get some rest Young Midoriya, entrance exams are tomorrow, best to let your body rest." The man flashed him the most confident smile he could make.
It wasn't enough to completely rid the anxiety out of his system but he could manage a smile for now.
He'd need to smile for what's coming next.
It's been a long ten months for Izuku Midoriya. Tasked with cleaning a trash-filled beach in under a year, by hand, and with only his muscles to help no less. The labor would make anyone quit, anyone other than him of course.
When he opened the door to his house, he was met with tears from his mother as she started to wet his jacket. "Izuku! I'm so glad you're safe." She cried and hugged him tighter. "I was worried when you mentioned you were doing some late-night training, when you didn't come home, I thought you were..."
Izuku frowned. "Caught in a villain attack or, worst?" Inko nodded. "I-I'm, sorry mom, I didn't mean to scare you like that, I just had to finish cleaning up most of the beach by the end of the day, that was my goal for these ten months."
Inko wiped a tear from her face and exhaled a puff of relief. "Ok, just make sure you let me know before doing something reckless like that, alright Izuku? The last time you walked out of the house by yourself was when the Bakugo's knocked on the door and told me they found you on the sidewalk, searching for quirks."
Izuku desperately waved his hands in order to get her to understand. "T-That was when I was f-five mom..."
She giggled. "I know, let's just get you some breakfast, alright? It's eight o'clock at the moment." The younger Midoriya nodded his head in agreement. To him, passing up breakfast made by his mother would be like denying All Might's request to be his successor.
Her cooking is simply that good, no question.
He sat at the table and looked at his phone for the latest hero news, it was his favorite past time looking at the catalogue for new heroes rising up in the ranks and listing which quirks to note.
He was broken out of his thoughts as a loud commercial popped up on the TV they had. For some reason Izuku started to stare at it, it caught his interest.
It said, "Do you want to be like All Might kids? Say no more! With this limited edition All Might action figure you can be just like him!" This caught his interest.
The commercial continued. "Use several superpowers like the famous pro hero with the push of the button! Including, super strength, speed, and even reinforcement."
Izuku stopped and accidentally dropped his hand grip. 'Reinforcement?' He thought.
"All Might figure, reinforcement." He started mumbling up a storm and reached for his notebook, it was only an idea but it was worth putting to the test, no, it was all he had going for the exams.
In his incoherent code he recalled a memory with his last meeting with his mentor. "Everyone who's wielded it was different when it came to summoning it."
"My predecessor included. You should find your own sensation."
Sensation.
Sensation.
Sensation.
His eyes widened so far you could mistake them for saucers. "I've figured it out!" He thought out loud.
It caught the attention of his mother who stared at him bewildered. "Figured what out, sweetie?"
Izuku blushed a furious crimson. "I-Uhm, was muttering to myself again, a-about quirks, y-y'know?" He nervously grinned. 'Smooth move Izuku, you could've accidentally had to reveal One For All.' He mentally berated himself.
Inko seemed satisfied with his answer. "Ok, just to let you know breakfast should be ready in a few minutes."
He nodded. "R-Right." And he took back to his notebook, writing whatever his incoherent mumbling actually meant down on the paper.
He was happy he finally had some type of direction to go off from.
Izuku was happy today.
For one, he managed to squeeze in two extra hours onto his sleep schedule, which to him felt heavenly. The other reason being he had a theory to test out.
He made sure to gain permission from his mom on his short jog to the beach to not worry her. He had put on his signature red shoes and a green training outfit.
Don't judge him, he loved the color green.
Back to something on topic, he had time to test out his theory right before the entrance exams. He had arrived at Dagobah Beach. 'Crazy to think I actually cleaned this. I haven't felt proud of myself in ages!' Izuku snapped out of his morning high behavior, he had a method to test out.
"So that commercial, as weird as it was mentioned something about reinforcement. All Might said to activate One For All I have to clench my but cheeks and yell Smash, right?" He shuddered at the ridiculous thought, he didn't think it'd work. No, he needed something else other than a dumb sensation like that, it might not even work anyways.
"The key here is reinforcement. I should focus on reinforcing my body, hopefully that'll go well." He relaxed his arms shoulders and his body and shut his eyes. He breathed in an out.
He imagined his body being reinforced, by something deep within him, to unimaginable levels. Then he felt something.
His eyes shot open. He could see veins, red veins coursing throughout his open skin. They were like electricity, responding to each and every motion, adjusting their position.
He marveled at how amazing it felt. It felt like he could travel up into the outer layers of the atmosphere and still go higher.
The feeling was borderline intoxicating and addicting to the bone.
He stared on, wide-eyed. "So, this is, One For All?" He tried to ignore the adrenaline he felt pumping through his veins and focused. "Alright, let's see what this can do!"
He walked up to a fridge and grabbed his reinforced arm and aimed it at the piece of kitchen wear.
"Here goes nothing!" And so, he punched the fridge. Nothing happened other than a huge dent and it being toppled over a little.
Izuku stared at it expressionless. "Huh?"
Surely, this had to be some fluke. All Might's quirk at full power was capable of changing the weather itself, surely it wasn't this weak right?
But when his mind flashed back to reinforcement. 'Wait, there are certain quirks that can harden one's body and be mistaken for super strength thanks to the density of one's skin.'
He looked down at his hand. 'Maybe I'm only seeing one side of the same coin? Not the big picture.'
"One For All doesn't just enhance the user's durability, it can do strength and speed as well, I've only been imagining reinforcement." He bit his lip in frustration. "So, reinforcement isn't the way to go about this?"
He thought back to All Might's method. "Clench your but cheeks and yell Smash!" Then it clicked.
"What if I use his sensation, along with my sensation? It's possible but it could work." He grunted as he reinforced his body. Then he clenched his butt cheeks and did what many people would be considered cringe.
"SMAAAAASH!"
The force the punch produced was so strong it managed to split the ocean into two. Izuku's fists remained clenched and, in the air, smoking.
He looked at his fist and then back at the ocean, which mind you was still trying to recover from the wind pressure.
Now, the greenette known as Izuku Midoriya never really swore much in his life, but this time he found it completely acceptable.
"Holy shit."
Authors notes: That concludes chapter 1 of Hero A! I hope anyone who read this enjoyed it, I put quite some effort into it. If anyone asks this does not mean I'm cancelling my other fanfiction, the reason I created another one was because I thought my viewers would like some other content while waiting for my other work's next chapter, simple as that.
Anyways, all I have to say, stay tuned for more, tootles!