As he walked home by his alone, the streets around him basked in a golden glow by the setting sun, the sky above him a light orange, he felt like a loser. All Might was held up by the mass media. Kachan was pampered to by other pro heroes, and he, the boy who had risked it all, was left empty handed. Life did have a strange way of dealing out rewards. Often times, the people who tried the hardest were the ones left with nothing.
Though he supposed this was what he should expect. If anyone up there was on his side then he wouldn't be going through this dilemma in the first place.
No point in standing around moping, he told himself. If he really wanted to become a policeman, then he shouldn't waste time being be a wimp. Time to do some push ups like he planned on doing.
"Deku!"
He turned around, having not expected to be engaged at this time of the day. Rushing at him in the same direction was Kacchan. Somehow, the boy's voice sounded less hostile than it did before. Like a friend calling after another.
"I never asked you for help!"
There was the anger again.
Perhaps he just imagined whatever amiability that he heard. Or perhaps Kacchan was just too out of breath to growl at him before.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder what made Kacchan run all the way over here for him. If Kacchan came all the way over here just to tell him off, then it was a bit too petty for him to accept.
What followed was yet another breaking speech about how he was quirkless, how he was useless, and how he didn't help anyone. It was nothing that he hadn't heard before nor was it anything that he needed to hear again. After all was said and done, Kacchan marched off, his movement exaggerated as if he came out of a comic.
As Kacchan disappeared from his view, he turned to continue his trekk back home. The boy proceeded to get the fright of his life as a big blonde muscular dude skidded right into his path.
"I am here!"
"A-All Might?! Why are you here?" He stammered out, then shifted his eyes behind him, to the place that they came from. "You were surrounded by reporters until just now…"
All Might let out his characteristic laugh. "Getting away from them was a piece of cake."
"Why?" All Might turned away from him and posed. "Because I am All Migh-"
Then almost anticlimactically, All Might deflated in a ball of steam. Replacing the iconic hero, was the skinny man that he spoke with on the rooftop.
Albeit skinnier than before, All Might wiped away the blood that had spilled from his mouth and picked up where he left off.
"Young man. I come with thanks, a correction and a suggestion."
He was confused. What would someone like All Might have to say to him. Besides it was all his fault that everything happened in the first place.
But All Might continued to talk and explained to him that it was because of his bravery that he was able to act. That every top hero had a similar experience as him regarding how their body "just acted on their own."
One sentence followed another, and whatever mental barrier he had built up during the course of the day started to break down. When the last bastion of his mind shattered, he was left with an uncomfortable truth.
He really wanted to be a hero after all.
He dropped down to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably.
In front of the golden sun, tickled by the cherry carrying wind, All Might uttered the words that would change his life forever.
"You can be a hero."
Thus began months of hellish training. At the end of it, he inherited All Might's power. The power that All Might had described as a holy torch.
As he swallowed All Might's hair, a horrific image flashed through his mind. An image of a flame frozen in place, drifting ceaselessly into an endless abyss.
By 8:40 A.M of the same day, he was standing outside the U-shaped building of the U.A. entrance exam.
Whatever confidence he had was quickly killed off as Kacchan told him to move under the threat of murder. Although Kacchan hadn't done anything to him since the slime incident, forces of habits were still a pain to deal with.
With Kacchan gone, Izuku set his sight on the facility door again. If he didn't hurry up, he might end up late.
He took a step forward, only to trip over himself out of nervousness. He felt himself slant over, the ground underneath him seemingly rushing up to his face. Then he felt something, possibly a hand, hit him in the back. His face proceeded to smashed against the floor.
"Ow…" He rubbed his aching face as he sat up. Looking down on him was a brown haired girl with a roundish face. She blinked dumbly at him as if something that wasn't supposed to happen just happened. Then the girl's mouth opened and words came out.
It took him a brief moment to realize that the person speaking to him was a girl. When he did, he felt his mind go blank.
He simply stood there like a fool as the girl rambled on and when she left, he was filled with an unearned sense of triumph.
I talked to a girl! He thought as faint blush crossed his face. Though even he couldn't remember what exactly he said.
He was now in the middle of the mock test and things were not going well. While everyone else was racking up points, he was simply a moron in a blue jacket. He had zero points so far and time was running out.
Though he hadn't captured any points, the rumbling of the earth and shaking of the buildings shortly captured his attention. Coming seemingly out of nowhere was a towering mechanical behemoth with hands large enough to seize the roofs of entire buildings. Eerily, the behemoths' seven crimson eyes gazed down upon them, and without warning, it slammed its gargantuan fist onto the ground. A roaring wave of sand overcame them, debris whipping mercilessly against their face. In mere moments, a group of promising examinees was reduced to nothing but panicked children as they scrambled for their lives.
Shaken to his core in front of an overwhelming threat, Izuku Midoriya dropped to his butt in horror. He knew he needed to get out of here. Or else he would be crushed to death. Not to mention he was still at zero points.
He flipped onto his rear and attempted to crawl away, driven solely by a lack of desire to let his efforts go to waste.
A feminine yelp of pain stopped him in his tracks.
He turned around and watched as the cloud of dust gave way to the girl trapped underneath piles of broken rubble.
He could recognize that head of brown hair and that round face anyday. It was the girl who spoke to him before.
Before he could stop himself, he was running. Like that time when Kacchan, he was once again charging towards a certain doom. Still, the thoughts of stopping did not cross his mind.
He leapt, floating across the damaged streets with a fist reared behind him.
The words of All Might echoed in his mind.
Squeeze your buttocks...and yell this inside your heart-
"Smash!"
Huh…
Nothing happened. He was still standing on the ground. Though his fist made contact with the machine, it ached like crazy.
Did he fail to inherit the power of All Might?
What to do?
What to do?
What to do?
He looked in front of him and was stared down by the machine's shining eyes. Then he looked behind him, towards the girl that he just tried to save.
With no time to waste, he quickly ran over towards the girl and started to push the rubbles off of her. He would just have to figure out everything at a later time. Without a doubt that giant machine was going to make a move again soon. The only rational thing to do at this point was to try and get to safety.
As the final slab of stone slid off the girl's legs, he grabbed her and ran. The ground behind them exploded from the force of the robot's punch and both of them were propelled forward from the ensuing shockwave.
Just at that time, the whistle blew to announce the end of the exam.
He was still at zero points.
... As everyone went their separate ways, he received a call from All Might.