CHAPTER 2: Stand Up, Chin Up, And Get Ready To Fight

Izuku trudged back home feeling slightly better after his encounter with Shiozaki. A girl who helped him in his time of despair despite not knowing him.

"Maybe I could try just one more time." He said with a smile as he stopped and looked at the beautiful sunset.

He will be the first quirkless person to be able to become a hero.

'No matter what they say, no matter how hard it will be, I won't falter until I achieve my dreams.' And with that he left for home.

"Izuku! Welcome back!" A short chubby woman with green hair exclaimed as he welcomed his son home.

"Sorry, mom, if I came in late." Izuku said as he rubs his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Nonsense, you arrive just in time." His mom said to him as she took a good look at his son's face. "Oh, what made you so happy today?"

"Well, I, uh, met a girl."

"Oh! A girl! Tell me what she's like! Is she cute? Is she nice?" His mother rambled on as Izuku tried to calm her down.

"Mom, it's not like that, she helped me on something and I feel grateful for her doing it." Izuku told his mom as he looked away from his mother's eyes. "A-and, well, s-she's cute, kind, and caring…" Izuku whispered as his face got red.

"Ohh? Is this love at first sight?" His mother asked teasingly.

"M-MOM!" He shouted as he covered his face as he bolted towards his room.

"My baby boy has finally found a friend." Izuku's mother, Inko Midoriya, said as she went to the kitchen and started to make dinner.

Izuku sat down on his bed as he looked at all the posters and memorabilia of All Might in his room and sighed. He walked towards his computer table and took out his charred notebook. The notebook signed by All Might. He put it aside and pulled out his other notebooks ranging from 1 to 12 along with a new notebook from the drawer and wrote at the cover, "Quirk Analysis."

School was normal for Izuku as he packed his stuff and changed his school shoes for his red shoes. By normal I mean being ignored, avoided, you know, the usual, but something feels missing.

"DEKU!" The loud voice of his once childhood friend called out to him.

Ah, there it is.

"I see that you still haven't canceled your application to U.A., huh?" Bakugo's hands started to produce small explosions, his face had a not so friendly smile etched on it which made Izuku step back in fear. He tried to run but a crowd formed around them, covering all chances to escape.

"I'll teach you a lesson for trying to be an equal with me."

Without warning, he shot towards Izuku with a right hook, his left hand propelling him towards Izuku with explosions.

"DIE! YOU FUCKING NERD!"

Bakugo, didn't know what happened next. All he remembered was him flying towards Izuku, about to land a right hook, then he saw himself lying on the floor, in pain. Their teacher came and when he saw what happened, he shouted.

"MIDORIYA IZUKU! PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW!"

It didn't made sense to him, he really didn't. Why was he being told to go to the principal's office. Bakugo always does this stuff, and yet, he was never reprimanded for his actions. But when he was just only trying to protect himself, this happens.

"Why?" He asked, his head low as his hair covers his eyes.

The teacher and the crowd was confused.

"He does this all the time, he hurts me, he torments me, no scratch that. ALL OF YOU DO THAT TO ME!" His face shot up with teary, angry, green eyes. "THE ONLY TIME I TRY TO PROTECT MYSELF, YOU TELL ME TO GO TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE?! WHAT ABOUT HIM? ALL HE DOES IS MAKE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL, BUT WHAT DOES HE GET?! A PAT ON THE BACK! PRAISE! MULTIPLE WARNINGS EVEN THOUGH HE SHOULD'VE ALREADY VIOLATED A LOT OF SCHOOL RULES! HUH?! I'M THE VICTIM HERE!" He shouted to all the people surrounding him and succeeded in surprising and shocking them.

He took his bag and walked towards the door angrily leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Izuku walked towards the park to clear off his mind. It was his first time shouting with anger and it felt… different.

He sat down on a nearby bench and buried his head in his hands.

"It seems our paths have crossed once more." A familiar voice said as he shot his head up.

"Shiozaki-san!"

"You seem frustrated. How can I be of assistance?" She asked with concern as she sat beside him.

"I-It's nothing, really." His face turned red as he waved his arms dismissively. 'She's so close.'

"Bottling up your emotions can affect your health you know."

"I-I know that."

"Is it because of the bullies that hurt you?" She asked.

Izuku ducks his head low as his hair shadows his eyes.

Shiozaki looks toward Izuku.

"Emotions are what makes us humans, Midoriya-kun. They are a part of us, we cannot just simply throw those out." She looks towards the sky as the birds fly towards the horizon. "Do not keep them your problems to yourself. You can ask for others to help you. I may not know you much, but I want to help, too even though it may be small."

"You don't even know me that much, yet, you are so kind. Why are you so kind when others are not?"

"There are always different types of people in this world. Not everyone are the same. We are all special in our own ways. Remember that." Shiozaki then looked towards the children playing in the park.

Izuku still had his head down. "Had I been given a quirk, would people look at me in a different light?"

"Just like I said before, I'm quirkless. And all the world ever cares about now are quirks. Just like what happened a few moments ago in school."

"What happened?"

Izuku then told her what happened. How Bakugo was about to throw him a devastating right hook, how he protected himself from it but was told to go to the principal's for it for doing it ONCE, while Bakugo got none even though he bullies others everyday.

Shiozaki looks at him with wide eyes. 'He's the victim, yet, he got reprimanded while the bully got scot free?!'

"I'm sorry for what happened." She apologized.

"You don't need to apologize. I've already told you what my school was like yesterday."

"I know but still… Teachers are supposed to protect students and guide them to the right path."

"Though, despite whatever they say, I'm still going to be a hero." Izuku declared making Shiozaki to turn towards him. "There's no harm in trying, right?" He asked her as she gave the boy a wide smile.

"Then I'll meet you at U.A.'s entrance exam."

"W-w-wait, wait. What! You're also going to U.A.!" He exclaimed "Can you tell me your quirk? How it works? What it does? I think it might be based on your hair, right? They look like vines, so probably a quirk related to that or plants. Can you control plants? Or maybe you can make your vines grow and control it however you please?" Izuku then began to mumble as he tries to decipher Shiozaki's quirk whereas the latter seemed surprised, impressed, and a bit creeped out by his mumblings.

"Um, Midoriya?"

"Ah! S-Sorry about that. It's a habit."

"Don't worry about it." She said with a chuckle. "Though I'm impressed by your observational skills. Just with a look you already have known what my quirk does."

"W-wait, really?"

"My quirk is called Vines. It allows me to grow vines on my head instead of normal hair to which I can use for various purposes like defensive barriers and binding foes. And yes, they are detachable."

Izuku looked at Shiozaki with wide, starry, eyes. "Wow, your quirk is so versatile! Though it wouldn't be so effective against someone using a fire related quirk."

"Your right about that."

The sat down in silence as they looked at the scenery in front of them.

"S-Shiozaki-san, I-I… uhh…"

"You want to exchange numbers with me, correct?"

"I-If it not too much a hassle…"

"I don't mind." She chuckled as she gave him her number.

Almost ten months have passed with only a few more weeks to spare before the entrance exam for the U.A. entrance exam. Izuku had managed to avoid any more interactions with Bakugo and the others as he always left the classroom just after the bell rings. He always talked with Shiozaki on the phone due to the exams nearing and they try to help each other the best way they can.

Izuku had made Dagoba Municipal Beach Park, a beach-turned-trash dump into his own training grounds. Most of the trash was almost gone as he pushes a worn down refrigerator towards a huge pile of trash outside the area of the beach with minimal effort. Sweat covered his body which made his now-well-toned body frame glisten in the setting sun.

He grabbed his towel and bag on a nearby bench and proceeded to go back home, not noticing a scrawny blonde man entering the vicinity with wide eyes.

'Just in a few weeks, the entrance exam for U.A. will start. The exam that may change my life forever.' Izuku thought as he walked down the road towards his apartment. 'After so much hard work, I can finally achieve my dream of being a hero.' Izuku then stops his walk as he pondered a question that's been haunting him. 'But what if the heroes just look down on me. Just like what All Might did.'

Just then, his phone rang. He picked it out of his pocket and saw Shiozaki's name and number on the phone.

'No I cannot think that. Not when someone finally believes in me. No matter what, I will be what I want to be.'

"Shiozaki-san! How's your training coming along?"

Life is full of surprises.

Full of twists and turns.

Life can also be dangerous.

But it can also be beautiful.

So, stand up.

Chin up.

And get ready to fight.

And show the world what you're made of.