A.N: Wow, so I think people genuinely like this story! Really hope that this success streak continues. Onto Reviews, and very important ones at that.

MrWinteck+GreyWolfDen: Thank you, glad I managed to scope out Rappa's character as well as I could. As for both of your positions regarding Yu, which are completely valid, it's something that I try answer (mostly) this chapter. Also further explanation on my choice in my notes below. I have to say, thank you both very much for your constructive criticism, it's actually really refreshing!

(Also hope I'm not reading the reviews wrong, but there's apparently two MrWinteck's? Eh, kinda funny ngl)

JaxtheGamer: Yup! The impact of scene itself is greatly inspired by Whitebeard's last stand, and I'm happy that you, among others feel a similar way. (Not trying to say I'm on the same level of writing as a professional mangaka, if I was then I'd be making cash). Glad you're enjoying my crazy story, fellow man of culture! (Tips fedora and raises glass of tea)

Notsae: Happy you like it so far! Also good catch on the Whitebeard reference as well. As for the Ashura name... well, yes and no. No, because he does have a proper Hero-name, but at the same time YES. It's not one that he actively uses (at least in the future), but consider it an alternate name for him given by peers and adversaries alike, the same way I'm giving him two different music-themes. Ashura/Shura still has a negative connotation to his character (Shura in Japanese literally meaning Carnage), while his proper name falls more under the Heroic spectrum. As for Rappa getting OFA, I definitely entertained the idea, and you'd be right that he'd be damn near unstoppable with it right off the bat. But you also nailed why I didn't want to give it to him: as strong as he is, Rappa isn't exactly a symbol and doesn't want to be a symbol like All Might or eventually Deku. Plus, he'd be just a goddamn BROKEN character so early into U.A, and in general. Either way, thank you for your thoughts and support, and I hope my story maintains your interest!

Onto the show!

Rumble, young man Rumble!

Chapter 4

The first step forward

'You're amazing Takeyama-san! I've never seen anyone so smart!'

'Straight A's once more, Miss Yu, as always.'

'Your Quirk is super-strong Yu-chan, I know that this thing will be a breeze for you!'

These were the taunting thoughts echoing in her head at the current moment as she sat in the infirmary, fidgeting on her blanket. Physically, she was completely fine, if not a little tired. It had come as a surprise to her when the Heroine Recover Girl was the one to completely patch up her wound to her forehead with ease, not a single scar in sight. Emotionally and mentally however… she was badly shaken. Her entire life so far had been showered with praise and glory from family, peers and teachers alike, something that she had no shame in basking in: after all, was it not her right to do so? She was constantly on top of her classes, to the point where she'd already skipped two grades entirely.

Her Quirk? The combat exam was a breeze with it, as far as she was concerned, her Gigantification letting her crush the Faux Villains underfoot like cardboard, or bubble-wrap. Hell, the entire reason she had opted to take the regular exam was not just to show off to her future teachers that she didn't need a special exam to get in to U.A, but to show off to what were going to be her fellow classmates early to establish the food-chain. In short, she worked hard to get where she was, she was prideful of her ability to do so and vain in showing off to others how hard she worked, if only for their attention and personal gratification. It had worked well too: she knew that based on the amount of Villains she destroyed that she had passed.

Yet she almost died. The moment she'd come out of her giant-form to relax and preen at the looks of awe directed her way, the Zero-Pointer had launched debris that knocked her out cold, almost splitting her skull wide open for that matter. As if to add further insult to injury, she was nearly responsible for the death of the boy… the hero that saved her. In the back of her mind, she was constantly replaying the scene: the wrathful roar, the sound of screeching metal, and finally the sunlight pouring through to reveal his unconscious body. She was horrified at the realization: It was her foolish pride, her vain desire, her ignorance that caused that. She wrestled with her mind for a while, sitting in the infirmary.

Yet, despite the reality of the situation, it was ultimately her childish pride that had finally won out after a good hour of debating: the mind of a teenage girl was a fickle one, to be truthful. 'I was just caught off guard. Nobody died. Everyone still saw how amazing I was. I know I passed.' Her gaze drifted over to the one who had saved her, a small vein of annoyance on her forehead as he snored away like he was having an afternoon nap (which he was, really), the majority of his upper-body covered in bandages. 'It was his choice to jump in for something so stupid. Of course nobody would be allowed to die in an entrance exam. Idiot.' When she was finally allowed to leave, she couldn't shake the bad taste or shame in her mouth at her own thoughts, as much as she wanted to convince herself that she was right. '…Idiot.' The mind of a teenage girl was a fickle thing indeed.

…

'…Ooooowwww…' Kendo's mind groaned as his eyes slowly began to open. Blinking hard, he was surprised to find out just how tired he was. Also that he was currently in what looked like an infirmary, even though the last thing he remembered was… "Oh shit!" On pure instinct, the slammed his eyes wide open and tried to sit up, his 'fight' response almost making him throw out punches at the mere thought of the Zero-Pointer bearing down on him. What stopped him were his own injuries, a sharp pain ringing through every single fiber of his being, his vision going hazy as he collapsed down onto the bed again. It wasn't just his muscles that were sore, he swore that he could feel his own blood-vessels sting, his brain suddenly aching, and his heart burn. "…pft… ahahahaha!" He laughed, revelling in the somewhat hazy memory of his fists flying and his blood screaming. "That was… goddamn awesome of me!" He laughed.

"Also foolish, dangerous, reckless, and not to mention life-threatening." Kendo's eyebrows shot up: he knew that voice.

"You're the lady from the park!" Recovery Girl smiled a bit at the recognition before her stern, frankly outraged expression returned to her face.

"Yes, it's good to see you again young man," She greeted, "But I should've seen behaviour like this from you."

"Fair enough, but I ain't stopping anytime soon ma'am," He laughed.

"Well if that's the case, then allow me to dissuade that fantasy from your head," She snapped, pulling a small clipboard from behind her. 'Did she strap that thing to her back?' Kendo thought with an amused grin.

"A badly fractured left-femur, three broken ribs on each side due to extreme compression, multiple fractures in both of your forearms, and an extreme amount of muscle-tears in your biceps, triceps, back and shoulders. You're lucky that I managed to heal the worst of the damage in time as well."

"… that sounded awesome!" He roared with laughter. "So can I fight now?"

"NO!" She said quickly, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Like I said, I healed the worst of the damage, anymore healing and you might slip into a coma. You'll be fine for light physical activity in about two weeks."

"TWO!?" He cried out in protest before visibly deflating. "Awww… fine."

"…Fine?" She parroted, glaring at him suspiciously.

"I get it," He sighed, "I really wanna get back to fighting right now, it's what I do best. But… as I am right now, I ain't gonna be able to do that at my best. So, I'll give my body a break to catch up with my guts, and the moment it does, I'm fightin!"

"Well it's good to know that you've got a lick of common-sense up there. Though… I do give you credit where it's due: you saved that girl's life." She sighed before glancing to the door. "Oh, and speaking of which, you have someone who's been waiting to see you."

"DAMN RIGHT I'VE BEEN WAITING!" Rumi barked as she stormed into the room, a look of worry turning to relief as she laid eyes on Kendo. "Thank God you're okay! I heard about what happened, jumping in and saving that one girl. Nice save!"

"Yup, punched the living shit out of its arm and tore it off," Kendo laughed, managing to raise his fist. "Got eighty-something points as well too."

"Only eighty?" Rumi leered with a smug grin. "I won this round Meathead: One hundred and ten!"

"Wa- HUH!?"

"Dude, you may have greater physical strength than me, but I'm way, way faster than you overall. You can cover short distances with a quick shift – I can do that from ten times the distance at full tilt."

"Shit, that's a good point," He growled, "But don't let that get to your head! Did you manage to beat your Zero-Pointer?" At that, her eyes drifted away from his, her cheeks a bit pink. She was silent. "…thought so."

"Bastard, you wanna go right now!?" She barked, still flustered at getting caught off guard.

"Hell yeah-!" He started, rising off the bed before his body froze, his expression twisting in pain. Rumi's ears shot up in shock as his body trembled slightly. "…s-still wanna fight?"

"NO you idiot! I knew you got messed up, but for you to be hurt this bad with Recovery Girl's quirk… crap, I ain't letting you try to walk your dumbass home like this. Hey miss, is he at least okay to leave the infirmary?"

"… as much as I'd like to say no, there isn't much else I can do for him here. His femur is… one of the first things that I healed, so he should be able to walk. Granted, assistance in doing so would be the best option."

"Alright then, up you get big guy!" Rumi gently wrapped a hand around his waist, helping him sit up and get onto his feet. He shook for a bit before finally managing to steady himself with Rumi's help, the girl also managing to put his shirt on without much difficulty, his boots following soon after/

"Thanks for the help again park-lady!" Kendo called out right before the door closed. Recovery Girl sighed and sat down at her desk, idly gnawing on her lip. He was going to fully recover, that much was certain. He healed remarkably well, nothing out of the ordinary in that regard, just a young man with a strong, healthy body. And yet… she gnawed on her lip a bit harder, taking out the clipboard and looking at his listed injuries again. Specifically, the three that she didn't list off to him.

Numerous ruptured blood-vessels. Healed successfully.

Extreme muscular strain on his heart to the point of multiple tears. Healed successfully.

Mild brain-haemorrhages. Healed successfully.

All three ailments were healed by her quite easily, come to think about it. It was the injuries themselves that put the Medical Heroine off. They seemed in no way related to his Quirk, which were centred entirely on the use of his shoulder-muscles. The multiple muscle-tears could attest to that. But this? She had seen what a fight/flight response could do to people in times of great stress, giving someone that extra burst of strength, speed, stamina when they needed it. What had happened to Kendo Rappa's body was as if the fight response was activated forcefully, kidneys literally dumping every ounce of stored adrenaline into his bloodstream. His heart… it must have shot up to 500, maybe even 600 beats per minute. The only, the only thing that saved his heart from literally exploding was his extreme built-up and natural fitness, along with just how tough his heart was as a result of it.

"…What on earth happened to you under there, Kendo Rappa?" She muttered, trying to massage the stress from her head. It didn't work.

…

"…And then I smashed my knuckles right through its own fist!" They both laughed, still riding the high of what they felt was a genuine victory.

"I'll be damned, you got me there," Rumi sighed, still snickering a bit. "I got a higher score, but you took down the final boss. I guess that means we're still even."

"And finally she sees it," He teased her again, an annoyed pout on her face.

"Watch your tongue or I'll trip you." He burst into laughter once more, doing his best not to stumble as he made his way up the stairs. "Seriously though, you gonna be okay Meathead? You got messed up pretty bad, all things considered."

"Yeah, Park-Lady said I'd be ready to go in two weeks, and I'm sure I'll be able to walk around after I rest up for the night. I'll still meet you in the park tomorrow, if only to watch." He chuckled. She grinned a bit at that. "Wouldn't mind the company, just don't kill yourself trying to walk down the stairs."

"Hah, it'll be a cold day in hell when stairs manage to kill me, no matter what condition I'm in!" He laughed, wincing a bit as his ribs ached. "…I'll still be careful though." Another snicker from Rumi, one that he let slid with an annoyed grumble. They finally managed to reach his room, Rumi opening the door for him.

"Take care now," She said, a genuine smile on her face. "And nice job today. Juuust don't let your win over the Zero-Pointer get to your head, we're still even."

"For now," He agreed, grinning back. "And thanks for the help. Guess I owe you one."

"You don't owe me crap," She laughed, before she thought about something. "…Actually, let's meet up at the café tomorrow. You wanna pay me back? Then I want a carrot-cake, your treat."

"That's fair," He chuckled. "See you later then Usagi."

"You too Meathead. Don't keel over and die!" She said as she walked off, a thumbs up and a grin shot his way before he bounced down the stairs. Kendo chuckled again and closed the door behind him, sighing in relaxation as he sat down on his chair.

"… what a damn awesome day."

To be Continued...

A.N: So, although this story is essentially a crazy what-if scenario, I still want to be as faithful as possible to each respective character, and the subsequent world around them. I will be introducing a small number of original characters, but that's beside the point. In the case of Yu Takeyama (aka Mt. Lady), she can be a vain, prideful and a slightly manipulative person in the show proper. Don't let that fool you though: she's still an incredibly hard worker (if not largely for the sake of her own image), and she does truly care about her work as a hero, plus she wants to help others. To be entirely honest, I quite like her character because of those features (hell, I couldn't help but laugh at her 'charming' debut), and it's because of them that I want to further flesh out how she is the way she is, and how deeply that mentality runs through her, especially as a prideful, young, and immature teenage girl.

Also, I needed people to fill out the general character-roster. Can't have everything focusing on Rappa and Rumi, and with how I can flesh out Yu, I felt that she'd be a great addition to the cast. It's her (among other characters') mindset of being a hero for things like fame and money that plays a good deal of importance on the plot in the pre-Deku era... especially when we get to see more of Stain, specifically when he was the vigilante Stendhal.

Either way, I hope my reasoning makes sense, and I plan to fully stick to my guns on this one. Above all else, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter. Peace out!