A black-haired boy was running from a 3-pointer when he tripped and fell. The robot pointed its blaster at him and prepared to fire.
"AHHHHH! Help!"
A shadow passed over him and another teen stood in front of him. That teen wore a dark blue, almost black hoodie, had red eyes and pale skin, yes, that was Tenori. He slammed both hands on the concrete ant it almost instantly broke down and the particles formed a shield around the two. The robot shot but it only left cracks on its surface. Tenori jumped out from his cover, hand touching the head of the machine and destroying it, winning him 3 more points.
'Wow! He is so cool!' – the black-haired boy thought, eyes sparkling while looking at the stoic boy in front of him.
'Damn it! I only have 21 points! I have to start wrecking more of these robots…' – Tenori was not calm at all!
"I have to go. Be more careful." – he addressed the boy.
"Y-Yes! Thanks for saving me!"
Those words made Tenori feel all warm and tingly inside. It was like he was in heaven. No matter how many times he heard the same phrase, he was sure it will never make him not like it. Unlike the screams, the terror, pain and begging for mercy… This was nice. THIS is something that will never make him feel dirty.
Tenori didn't wait more and ran ahead, looking for more robots. He crossed a few streets, earning 7 more points. There were more robots but he wasn't going to be the asshole that steals someone's hard-earned points only because he has a Quirk useful for combat and they don't.
"KYAAAAAAH!" – someone shouted from his right.
His legs stopped. He looked between the robot just around the corner and the direction the scream came from.
"Che!"
Biting back a curse, he left the robot and headed towards whomever had screamed.
A girl was trapped below the fallen remains of a robot as some winged dude flew off to fight more robots.
"Friggin' asshole! Wait a bit, I'll help you out."
He quickly disintegrated the robot, its particles floating around like dust.
"Thank you for helping me! I was trying to find some weaker robots when that robot just fell from the sky! And that guy just flew off even when I shouted for help! I thought I'd be trapped here until the exam was over!"
"No problem. I have to go now."
"Good luck! It will be a shame if this school missed a hero like you just because of points."
He nodded, then sped off again, a faint blush on his cheeks.
'Grr! It's the 6th time today! Give me a break…' – he grumbled but didn't really think any of it.
Recovery Girl was looking through all the students that came from the exam. It was mandatory to make sure none were injured before sending them home.
'So far so good. Other than that green-haired boy, no one had anything more serious than a sprained ankle.'
She looked up from her clipboard and surveyed the room. Just then a boy with light blue, shaggy hair entered, a can of energy drink in his hand. He had been taking a sip when their eyes met for the first time. He slightly jumped, staggering a step back, almost choking and spitting his drink on a nearby participant. He managed to recover and swallow the mouthful, coughing a bit and taking a few deep breaths to calm down. During that moment she saw a lot of emotions flash through his red eyes – surprise, shock, fear, disbelief… then realization, a bit of mirth, maybe even something funny, judging by the slight smirk.
"Hehe. Sorry…" he hesitated a bit, looking around "Madam, can I ask you something?"
"Of course and you don't need to be so formal with me." – she said a bit surprised by the respect the boy showed her.
"Sorry, habit." He scratched the side of his neck, maybe a nervous tic "Have you seen a boy, his name is Midoriya Izuku, he had big round eyes, green hair-"
"Ah! Yes, I know him! Why do you ask?"
"I'm with him. My name is Shimara Tenori and we are supposed to go back home together…"
"I see. He's in the infirmary right now, sleeping. I can bring you there after I'm done here."
"Yes, that would be great! Thank you very much." – he bowed and went to sit in a chair.
'What a strange boy.'
'Agh! What the hell?! I didn't expect this-'
Tenori awkwardly sat in a chair, his half-finished drink in the trash, looking at Recovery Girl as she treated the hurt participants.
'It saw a shock, seeing someone that looks so much like the Doc that I almost bathed the guy next to me! She even has a similar Quirk!' he eyed her again 'Now that I look at her more carefully… She looks a lot less badass, lacks the smell of cigars and doesn't always lug around a weapon. She also looks to be milder? Calmer? Well, she isn't going to threaten to cut my fingers off for not greeting her with a bow, that's for sure.'
=== With Izuku===
Izuku woke up and he felt drained.
'Ugh… I guess it is possible to feel worse than having your limbs broken…'
"Young Midoriya, you are awake!"
"A-All Might! What are you…"
"I got worried when I heard you fainted from the shock. How do you feel right now?"
"Not very well. It's like I've been juiced and spat out. My limbs also broke."
"Well, that was kind of expected."
"You knew this would happen?! How?"
Izuku stared at his mentor as he explained what actually led to him being in the infirmary.
"…Also, Recovery Girl should be coming soon, after she checked over the other participants."
"OK." Then Izuku remembered something "Um, All might! Has anybody asked about me? Another boy more specifically. We are supposed to get back home together."
"No, no one has come here to look for you at least. I haven't gone out either, so I am not too sure. Do you want something by the way? I can bring it to you while you rest."
"Some water, please. I feel a bit thirsty."
"Alright, I'll be back soon." – All Might stood up from his chair and left the infirmary.
Izuku stood there, laying down and staring at the ceiling. He probably failed the exam and disappointed everyone, he even broke both legs and his arm in the process, almost died… Yeah, that had hurt a lot and was scary, but he saved someone and that was enough for now, knowing that girl is fine.
The door slid open and a short elderly woman walked it.
"Thank you dear." – she said, hands full of a cane and a bunch of papers.
"No problem, madam." – that voice!
A familiar face poked inside the room.
"Oh, Zuku! What's up?"
"N-Nori-kun! Hi! You came!"
"Of course! I won't leave you alone. I'm not a jerk and your mom would have grounded me if I did so." – Tenori walked and sat next to the bed, on the chair All Might had used moments ago.
"Haha! You are right." – Izuku's mood got a bit better.
"So, how was it? Did your secret training help? You have been awfully quiet about it these days."
"Umm… kinda? I probably failed though…"
"What?! Why? Did someone steal all your robots? Did they leave you trapped somewhere?!" – Tenori was getting angry at the mere thought.
"NO! I mean, nothing like that happened. It's just I couldn't get a single point."
"Why? I saw a few kids with support Quirks handle a few 1-pointers. What happened?"
"Well… I kinda… destroyed the 0-pinter robot and that's how I ended up in the infirmary. I was looking for robots and was about to run from it when I saw a girl trapped underneath some rubble. My legs moved and it just happened." – Izuku was looking at his lap.
"Sigh… Yeah, I know what you mean. I managed to get only 31 points. SO! I probably failed too." – Tenori acted like it didn't matter to him.
"How?! Your Quirk is amazing!"
"I got a good head start but then some of the others started panicking, messing up… Just when I'm about to move to a new place, someone would scream, so I ended up saving around 8, maybe 9 participants, if you count the one with the Doubler-like Quirk."
"Doubler-like Quirk?"
"Oh, yeah. There was this guy where I came from. He was called the Doubler and could create a perfect, functioning copy of anything using his Quirk. The only downside was that if the copy was hit with enough force, it popped like a balloon and disappeared. That kid had cloned itself and it just looked similar to me." – Tenori explained with gusto, obvious sign he was talking about a hero.
Recovery Girl had gone out a while ago to handle some documentation, so the two boys were all alone.
"So, can you now tell me HOW exactly you managed to do that?" Tenori looked Izuku straight in the eyes "I have a feeling this is not the whole story."
Izuku started fidgeting and sweating. He wasn't sure what to say to the otherworlder.
"I- I, uh… got my Quirk! Yeah! It suddenly appeared and I couldn't control it very well, so I got hurt and wound up here! I guess I am a late bloomer."
"Oh, really? You suddenly got the Quirk you lacked your whole life today, when the exam was, is that right?"
"Y-Yeah!"
"Please, who do you think I am? I KNOW how a quirk can be given, have seen it. You can't trick me with such a half-assed lie." – he stared Izuku down, not believing a word.
===With All Might===
Toshinori held a plastic bag, two bottles of water and a pack of egg sandwiches inside, just in case. A few kids heading home looked at him and moved away, leaving him with a lot of space to pass by them. Was it because of how frail he looked? Or was it because of his current resemblance to a walking corpse?
He shook his head, chasing away these kind of thoughts and focused on his successor. He neared the infirmary and could tell there was something different. It sounded like Midoriya was arguing with someone, the voice sounding very familiar. He quietly approached the door and slid it just enough to see what was happening inside.
Beside Izuku's bed stood the same boy that had judo-thrown him. The two seemed to know each other and were arguing. He strained his ears to hear what is it that they were talking about.
"… Stop playing dumb!" the boy shouted and his student shrank back "Somebody GAVE you the Quirk, didn't they?"
Those words chilled Toshinori to his core.
'H-How?! How does that boy know?!'
"You are not a very good liar, Zuku. Yes, it may be unbelievable, to transfer Quirks from one person to another but I KNOW it is possible! You know from where I come from! I have not only heard but have SEEN someone receiving a Quirk." – The boy stated as if it was a matter of fact.
Toshinori felt weak in the knees, nauseous, phantom pain in his side. Did that boy somehow know of All for One? Where had he seen it? WHEN?! Who ws that boy?!
"So, tell me, what was he like? How did he look when you saw him? I never had the chance to speak to him with the thing with my grandma and him being on opposite sides…"
Toshinori felt sick. He pushed himself away from the door and staggered away towards the nearest bathroom. If he had waited for a bit more, he would have heard what followed next.
…
"Don't tell me your trainer was actually this world's version of ALL BRIGHT?! Where did you meet him? How was he like? Is he also a hero here?" – Tenori was almost bouncing in excitement, the anger from a moment ago almost gone.
"Wha-? No! I didn't meet him. The one that gave me the Quirk was –" –Izuku clamped his hands around his mouth.
"Who?"
"I'm sorry… I can't tell. You won't like it."
"Come on tell me!"
"No! I can't, it's a secret."
"What can be so secret, bad and nasty to not tell me? I told you all the horrible stuff I had done to survive! It can't be worse than tha-"
"It was All Might! He gave me his power!" Tenori stood there without moving a muscle "I know you don't like him and the fact that he can pass on his Quirk IS a secret, so I kept it to myself. I-I was also afraid of what might happen if you learn I was being trained by him."
"WHAT?! The devil can do that?! You have not willingly become an energy-sucking vampire, right?!"
"NO! One for All doesn't work like that! It's an enhancement Quirk! It makes me stronger but I couldn't control it, so my hand and lags broke! Here! Are you happy now? I told you what happened!"
Tenori flopped down on the chair and gripped his forehead, trying to process the information he just received. Izuku on the other hand was regretting shouting at his friend and failing yet again by telling someone about One for All.
"Ok." Tenori suddenly said "I trust you, Zuku. I won't do anything to that man and will help you, BUT if you get hurt like this, I can't promise to not tell your mom."
"Thank you, Nori-kun. I know it must be hard but things are not the same here. All Might is a great hero and-"
"No, it's not that." he interrupted Izuku "If this version of that bastard is a hero… do you think there is a villain All Bright out there, somewhere? Hiding somewhere?" – his voice was cold by the end of the sentence.
Izuku gulped. He had heard what All Bright's Quirk was and how strong he was, for how long he had lived… A villain with such power at his fingertips was something terrifying.
"I-I need a bit of air. I will be back in a while." – Tenori didn't even wait before going out.
Izuku was left alone, All Might forgotten for now.
…..
Tenori was out, by a vending machine. He had bought himself a can of juice but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't open it.
"Damn it!" – he shouted when he felt the juice seep through the slowly disintegrating can and threw it in the bin beside him.
He grit his teeth, sat on the pavement, palms up with his fingers spread. The boy sighed and looked at the sky with the occasional cloud drifting by.
"What the hell am I…?"