"Principal Nezu, please, I urge you to reconsider!" begged Toshinori as he sat in front of his associate's desk. Said associate, a small, bipedal rat-like creature dressed in a formal suit, with his head in his paws in a somber manner. "I'm sorry, Toshinori, but rules are rules. Young Midoriya is clearly not fit to attend our Hero Course."

"But, that's the whole point of this course, isn't it? To train kids how to handle their Quirks?!" said Toshinori. "Yes, but the fact of the matter is that One for All is clearly far too dangerous for Midoriya to wield consistently. Considering the fact he has only had it for about a week now, I shouldn't be surprised." Nezu countered.

"I can help him learn to control it, the boy is an incredible learner." "Do you honestly think you can get him to control it in a month, when it took you nearly a year just to keep it from killing him?" Toshinori tried to find an arguement, but he couldn't, so instead, he simply slumped in his chair.

Nezu let out a dejected sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he would have been a wonderful student, but as both a principal and a Hero, I have to look out for the safety of everyone who comes into my school. Even if that means turning them away." Toshinori simply got out of his chair, and left, his head hanging the whole way.

The #1 hero left U.A., heading straight for his home, not even bothering to stop at his favorite corner store. As soon as he closed the door, the frail man plopped down on his couch, staring at his coffee table for what seemed like an eternity, before finally placing his head in his hands with a dejected sigh.

"What am I gonna do now?" he groaned out loud. "I was so certain that Midoriya would get into U.A., that I never bothered to make a Plan B. But, what kind of Plan B COULD I make? Midoriya was dead set on getting into U.A. I don't even think he had any other choices." He stood up from his couch and began pacing back and forth nervously.

"Oh, god. How am I gonna tell him? He'll be crushed beyond repair. Maybe it'll be easier if I tell him. No, it'll just be even worse, because then he'll think I'm disappointed in him. But, then if I don't tell him, he'll think I don't even wanna see him anymore. Damn it, Nezu! The one person I was counting on for this whole thing to work, and he just backhands me like that!"

Yagi started to get a bit angry, to the point where he started channeling One for All. Quickly realizing what he was doing, he calmed himself, his anger vanishing in deep breaths. "Calm down, Toshinori. Getting angry with anyone won't help. Gotta think of something, fast. Surely, we can just apply to another school."

"Oh, what am I thinking? U.A. rejected him! No one's gonna want a student who was rejected from U.A.! No one's gonna want a reject from them! There's not a hero course in the country who'll take him now!" he yelled in frustration as he resumed his frantic pacing. Suddenly, he stopped. "Country…"

Suddenly, he took off at record speed, rushing upstairs to his bedroom and throwing open his closet doors. Rummaging through the jungle of clothes, he eventually found a small brown box covered in dust. The label, yellowed with time, read "American Memoirs". Yagi smirked. It had been years since he had touched this box.

Setting it down on the bed, he pulled the lid off, and scoured its contents. A few pics of him and David, spare AllMobile keys, etc. Buried within the mess, however, was a small business card, brandished with a logo of a red, flaming bird: a phoenix. With a smirk, Yagi pulled out his phone, and dialed the number on the card.

(MUSUTAFU, 1 WEEK LATER)

To say Izuku Midoriya was depressed would be a massive understatement. He should have known something like this would happen, it was just too good to be true. All Might offering to give him his Quirk, and then actually giving it to him, Kacchan seemingly mellowing out after the sludge villain incident, it was all just one long string of flukes.

And it finally came to an end yesterday, after he'd received a letter from U.A. He hadn't passed, his Quirk was too dangerous for him to use, they said. Izuku had only read the first few sentences. He couldn't bear to read the rest. To make matters worse, he hadn't heard from All Might since the morning of the exam, and he had a sneaking suspicion as to why.

Fortunately for the boy, today had been a calm day at school, mostly just rehashing old lessons to prepare for final exams. Izuku was eternally thankful that the teacher hadn't told everyone about his U.A. exam failure, though he figured it was probably just because everyone knew he would fail, so why bother?

Well, whatever. At least the day was over, and he could finally relax on his couch. Although, perhaps "relax" wasn't the proper term. The whole time, all he could think about was his failure, not just to U.A., but to All Might. He had no had the #1 Hero's Quirk, and no way to properly use it. His mother had tried to comfort him, but there was little she could do to ease his pain.

The poor kid was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear a knock at the door. "Oh, dear. Izuku, could you get that please?" his mother called from the kitchen. "O-Oh, sure, mom." Izuku replied as he sulked over to the door. As he pulled it open, his expression immediately shifted. "ALL MI-HMPH!"

Toshinori immediately covered his mouth before he could finish. "I told you to call me Yagi when we're in public!" he whispered, before he removed his hand. "Sorry, Al-Yagi-san." The boy moved aside so that All Might could enter. Behind him, was another boy, who appeared to be around Izuku's age.

He had tan skin, black hair, and orange eyes, dressed in a black and white suit with an orange tie. The trio made their way into the living room, where Inko could finally step out of the kitchen to meet them. "Hello, Mrs. Midoriya. I'm Toshinori Yagi, young Midoriya's trainer for the past year. I'm sorry we came on such short notice." All Might introduced himself with a bow, as did his companion.

"Oh, it's no problem, at all. In fact, I'm glad to finally meet you. Izuku's had a lot to say about you. Come, have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?" Inko asked. "Oh, that won't be necessary, ma'am. We'll only be here for a moment." the strange boy replied in fluent Japanese. He then turned to look at Izuku.

"So, you're Izuku Midoriya, huh? I've been itching to meet you ever since Yagi told me about you." Izuku looked confused, glancing at All Might, who simply nodded with his famous smile on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ashton Fawkes." The boy held out his hand to Izuku. "And I'd like to offer you a place in my school."