The one who guaranteed that you're able to read this without throwing up is, once more, RottedKarma. Celebrate them.
What All Might disclosed to them that day was going to change their lives. That much they'd known the instant the hero had revealed his true form before them.
But never would they ever have dreamed that something like that was going to happen.
All Might talked for just about two minutes. He explained that his Quirk was named 'One for All' and that it was something passed on through the generations. He briefly mentioned his predecessor, though neither of them had ever heard the name 'Shimura Nana' before. He explicated his reasons for choosing Izuku, namely that he wanted to be the type of hero One for All was cut out for – a hero who saved people just for the sake of it; not to prove himself and not to make money, not for fame and not out of spite.
Izuku was positively overwhelmed. He'd taken out his notebook, furiously scribbling in it every bit of information All Might gave. The Pro Hero – whose true name was Yagi Toshinori, as he'd stated – had watched him somewhat amusedly. Then, he'd asked Izuku if he wanted to inherit One for All.
Izuku accepted without missing a beat.
And Katsuki had stayed silent the whole time.
All Might had praised the good shape the boy was in, stating that seven or eight months of intensive training would probably be enough to make him suited as a vessel for his Quirk (Izuku had agreed in an instant after the hero had explained that his arms could pop off otherwise).
That was the moment Katsuki spoke again.
"I'll come, too."
Toshinori looked at him in pleasant surprise, though the boy's voice was coarse, and his body was shaking slightly.
Izuku looked at him with a sense of foreboding; Katsuki hadn't yelled or cussed in five minutes now. And the seemed to bottle up the anger he usually displayed on the outside. Izuku was overcome with joy after All Might's proposition, but Katsuki was his best (and more or less only) friend. So when Katsuki said he wanted to come, too, he knew he wasn't over.
"Of course you may accompany us, young Bakugo," Yagi stated. "In this case, we-"
"I'll surpass you." Katsuki took a deep breath and looked them both straight in the eye. "That was always my aim. To be better than fucking All Might. So if you have his power, Deku, then I'll just surpass you, too."
Izuku looked at Katsuki in amazement. Had he just... challenged him?
"Actually, I'm surprised that I didn't already go ballistic." Katsuki smirked. "Fuck, I'd probably have, but you talked about your predecessor, eh? And the fact that even Deku hasn't ever heard of her means that she was a mediocrity, at best. So Deku, you can get All Might's power for all I care. But I'll still climb the top. I am still going to be the top Hero. I don't need All Might's power for that.
I. Will. Be. Better. Than. You."
Izuku looked at him. In his eyes burned an angry fire, but not the usual one that was akin to a lit fuse; this anger seemed colder and more calculating.
Then Katsuki smirked. A little.
"Seems like I made the damn right choice when I said I wanted you as my sidekick. If All Might acknowledged you and I'd have wasted my time with Wings and Fingers, I'd probably have gone off the deep end."
"Well," Toshinori said, relieved that he didn't destroy the strange friendship the two of them had. "In this case, come to this beach again tomorrow. But I have to warn you; this training will put you through hell. Are you sure you can do this?"
Izuku and Katsuki chuckled before nodding, one determinedly, one defiantly. Two fires.
The right choice.
26 February, 20XX – ten months later
08:21 in front of U.A. High School
Hell had been low-key.
The two of them had spent the majority of the last ten months at the beach, clearing away the garbage. That included car tires, microwaves, chairs, beer bottles, something that exhibited an unsettling resemblance to a cartouche, nine sofas, four fridges and a broken van.
For some parts of these, they had had to work together, for others All Might had instructed them to do it alone. Izuku had been positively flabbergasted when he'd seen the amazingly detailed "American Dream plan" All Might had put together (Katsuki had refrained from alluding to the some twenty notebooks he'd filled by now).
When it had come to One for All itself, it had been… anticlimactic. Izuku still felt sick when thought about it.
"Eat this!"
Yuck. How did that hair taste sour?
But at least he'd had the time to examine the reaction of One for All to his own Quirk somewhat.
For his first test, he'd transformed the bones in his right arm into diamond. All Might had confirmed that even One for All was not enough to break the hardest material found in nature, so it had seemed like a safe start (The diamond needed for this they'd bought a bit earlier. It was a small industrial diamond, and he'd seen plastic toys prettier than it, but it fulfilled its purpose).
As he ascertained, it was not the sort of safe start he'd wished for. While the punch hadn't affected his diamond bones, it had still caused injuries in his muscle tissue.
For the second test, he'd transformed the whole left arm into diamond. That was debilitating, but he'd only dislocated his shoulder, and the punch he'd packed had been quite noticeable. However, he'd realized that the 'Diamond Detroit Smash' ("QUIT THE FANBOYING, DEKU!") had only been around 60 percent of All Might's strength. Apparently, One for All was more suited for an organic conduit, thereby lessening its efficiency if used in 'Diamond mode'. But since Izuku had planned to have both of his arms at his disposal when the Entrance Exam came around, he'd refrained from probing without diamond protection.
"I still don't really get why you want to take the entrance exam," Katsuki said in exasperation. "You had the chance to get in via a recommendation by All Might! Why the fuck do you want to try it the hard way?"
Izuku sighed. "Because I don't want to get in just due to the fact that All Might trained me. I want to earn this place by myself. Be honest; you'd have done the same thing."
Katsuki shrugged but didn't object. "Whatever. Let's do this."
With that, he dragged Izuku behind him towards the gigantic building that was U.A. High School. The best, the most elite Hero school in Japan. Their aim since they were old enough to understand the concept of a Hero school.
Izuku was positively awestruck.
"This… is the gate All Might went through when he was a student! The same holds true for Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, Edgeshot, Air Jet, Kamui Woods…"
"Cut it, Deku! You'll be the fucking class weirdo if you don't get your word vomiting under control!"
Izuku nodded apologetically and followed Katsuki into the building. The first thing he heard was…
"Oi, extras! Move it!"
Izuku facepalmed.
"I'm sorry for him. He's a bit nervous, so he kinda lashes out like this. He doesn't mean it!" Izuku apologized and bowed politely before anyone in the entrance hall would start a fight with them.
Before Katsuki could yell that of course he meant it, Izuku tugged him into the auditorium they were instructed to go to.
"Please, Kacchan, couldn't you at least try and be…, well, nice to the other participants? At least one or two of the people you just insulted will probably be our classmates!"
Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Tsk. With some of them I wonder why they even applied in the first place. Did you see that squirt with the ball hair? I swear, if he manages to get into U.A. I'll come to our first school day in a pajama."
Izuku sweatdropped. Maybe, just maybe, he'd underestimated the difficulties that came with policing Katsuki.
After the written exam…
"ALRIGHT, LISTENERS! WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE! EVERYBODY SAY 'HEY!'"
Silence.
Izuku instantly switched to 'fanboy mode'. "I- it's the voice hero, Present Mic! Of course I know that all the teachers here are actual Pro Heroes, but this is a whole different feeling! I listen to his radio show every week! He…"
"Shaddup. We've been over this!"
"WELL, ALRIGHT MY EXAMINEE LISTENERS! I'M PRESENT MIC AND I'M HERE TO SHOW YOU THE GUIDELINES AND GET YOU ALL PUMPED UP! ARE YOU READY? YEAH!"
If he was dejected because no one answered him, he hid it quite well. Present Mic went on in the same style and the same volume, explaining the – quite basic – rules for the Practical Exam. It resembled some old video games Katsuki had brought over to a surprisingly high extent. Suddenly a teenager who was instantly labeled as 'stuck-up' by Katsuki raised his arm and complained about an inaccuracy Izuku was sure Mic had been about to explain. Then the boy turned around.
"And you there, the plain-looking one with the curly hair!" Izuku looked at him, the tiniest bit annoyed. "You've been muttering this whole time! It's distracting! If this is some kind of game to you, please leave immediately!"
Izuku stood up, offended. "I'm sorry, but you were the one who interrupted the introduction in the first place with a question that was clearly about to be answered. Besides, do you really believe anyone in this room is here because they think it's a game?"
Realizing what he'd just done, Izuku sat down again and adapted the material of his seat in embarrassment, though Katsuki smirked appreciatively at him.
"NO NEED TO START A FIGHT, BOYS! THE FOURTH SORT OF ROBOT IS A GIMMICK THAT WRECKS HAVOC IN THE CITY! IT GIVES ZERO POINTS, SO WHILE IT'S POSSIBLE TO FIGHT IT, IT ONLY COSTS TIME! MY ADVICE IS TO JUST AVOID IT!"
Present Mic grinned. "THAT'S IT FROM ME! I'LL LEAVE MY LISTENERS WITH OUR SCHOOL MOTTO! THE GREAT HERO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID: "TRUE HEROISM CONSISTS IN BEING SUPERIOR TO THE ILLS OF LIFE! FURTHER BEYOND…"
A rush of delight made every cell of his body tingle as he shouted, along with the whole auditorium, U.A.'s fabled catchphrase.
"PLUS ULTRA!"
After the introduction was at an end, the 'stuck-up' came over. "I am here to apologize," he stated, chopping his hands around in some weird motion. "I offended you without even knowing anything about you, much less being in any position to judge you! I hope you harbor me no ill will, though I can understand if you do. Please accept my sincerest…"
"I-it's alright!" Izuku hastened to reassure him. "I was disrespectful, too! I don't hold anything against you!"
The boy sighed in relief. "You have my thanks,…"
"O-oh, of course! I'm Midoriya Izuku," he said. "This is Kacc-" Katsuki's look was deadlier than every weapon Izuku had ever heard of. "I mean, Bakugo. Bakugo Katsuki!"
"Well then, I am pleased to meet you, Midoriya-san, Bakugo-san! My name is Iida Ten…"
"Yeah, well, I'm not" Katsuki sneered. "So do me a favor and bugger off!"
The amount of indignation Iida displayed would've been hilarious but for the sheer embarrassment Izuku felt. "How rude! Why would you…"
Bakugo flipped him off and trudged away. Izuku apologized to the indignant Iida before following Katsuki. "Kacchan, please! If you want me to stop my mumbling habit, at least attempt to not just insult everyone who talks to you."
"Tsk."
"Don't 'tsk' me, Kacchan!"
At Exercise Ground B, Front Gate
Izuku looked over the other contestants. Some of them seemed quite unassuming, though of course he couldn't know what lied below the surface. Some were nervous, others brimmed with confidence, and still others were appreciating the competition.
Quickly he'd spotted those he believed to be the most dangerous opponents – Iida, who apparently had some technology-based Quirk, a girl with an orange side ponytail who seemed really tough, a boy taller than most grown-ups with six arms and a face mask, and a boy with an appraising look and jet-black skin.
He would try to stay away from those. No need to scrap over the targets with the strong ones.
"ALRIGHT, START!"
Everyone looked up in surprise.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? REAL BATTLES DON'T HAVE A COUNTDOWN, YOU KNOW?"
Izuku reacted immediately and transformed his legs into diamond. Fortunately he'd already slipped on the rings, so he didn't lose any further time.
Then, he channeled One for All in his legs and jumped.
He realized his mistake quite immediately. Since he didn't have any control over it, he'd blown a crater in the floor that toppled some of the other combatants and was now flying quite high and fast towards the roof of a nearby building. Quickly, he adapted the rubber of his second ring and bounced off of the surface, thereby preventing damage.
Then he got an overview of the situation.
Most examinees were behind him, save for Iida and the black-skinned boy who apparently possessed some type of space-time Quirk, teleporting through the shadows. He noticed that, while a substantial amount of robots were located in the central alley, that was where the mass was heading. Inconvenient. He wouldn't make many points there; too much competition. Instead, Izuku jumped from building to building until he was a good way off from the main fight before leaping down into an alleyway.
The situation unpleasantly reminded him of the two villain incidents he'd survived by now, but then again… "Compared to Lime and the Sludge Villain, you're nothing more than sluggish scrap piles!" With that, he charged in. A quick transformation from rubber to diamond allowed him to fend off the rockets a three-pointer fired at him, then to tungsten to endure the heat.
After that, he was among the robots, quickly mowing them down with One-for-All-inducted punches. They didn't stand more of a chance than he had when fighting Lime. But then again, he wasn't nine anymore.
"Alright", he muttered while counting the remains of the robots in the alleyway, "that's seventeen – no, eighteen points. I don't know how many I'll need, but this certainly isn't enough."
So he quickly moved down the street and began to just make his way through the side streets, systematically clearing them of all robots he could find.
"31 ... 32… 34… 37", he huffed, having destroyed yet another robot squad. "It starts… to add up." Quickly, he dodged a missile and evaded a two-pointer's tail, jumped on its back and adapted copper in his left hand, just before slamming it onto the slightly exposed control panel in the robot's "neck". As he expected, it short-circuited and shut down. "39. Progress!"
Moving on, Izuku had just started to ambush two three-pointers when suddenly the ground started to shake.
"An earthquake? No, it comes in regular intervals. Maybe the effect of someone's Quirk? In that case…"
Then the screaming started, and as Izuku looked up to whatever had just thrown a shadow over the alley, he exactly knew why. "The… the ZERO-POINTER? Isn't that a bit too big?"
Izuku wasn't really aware of where he was. He'd just blasted his way through the side streets; he didn't have any idea where the entrance was located. So he just repeated his technique from earlier, jumped on a nearby building and tried to get an idea of the damage.
Which was colossal.
Like a giant behemoth, the zero-pointer moved forward, wreaking havoc on its way and crushing nearby buildings as if they were made of glass. The examinees scattered in all directions, desperately trying to flee the technological monstrosity. Izuku recognized the gate in the distance and got ready to jump when he saw the girl.
She had grey hair and pale skin, struggling as her left leg was pinned down under a boulder. The zero-pointer was only three steps away. And it was raising its arm.
Izuku rushed in without thinking. Again.
Sorry, Kacchan. He was on the ground in an instant and dashed in the girl's direction, his leg adapting tungsten, fast, fast! I can't just watch! He kicked the boulder off the girl's leg, who groaned in pain. The robot did another step and prepared for assault. Izuku didn't stop to contemplate. He didn't have a plan.
He jumped. His fist collided with the tremendous robot's metal limb and bore straight through it. He still had momentum. How? No, no pondering right now. His left arm changed into diamond.
"Diamond… Detroit… SMASH!"
The robot's head was blasted apart. The familiar smell of explosions perfumed the air. Scrap and pieces of iron came down like rain – and Izuku did, too. His adrenaline-fueled mind cleared, and the pain started.
Izuku nearly retched when he saw the state his legs and right arm were in. He had forgotten to adapt diamond in there before charging in, and even worse, his right leg had still been in tungsten-mode. It was bent in a sickening angle.
But that didn't matter anyway because he was currently falling to death.
Izuku's eyes widened. A smash on the ground, now! Diamond, in his left arm! Quick! No… the ground was approaching… too fast… damn!
Suddenly, his fall slowed down and from one moment to the other, the direction he was moving at changed from vertical into horizontal.
Izuku grunted when he hit the ground with still some force, though he definitely preferred this over ending up as a bloody pulp. His mind was fuzzy, and he couldn't make too much sense of the situation.
"Thank you. Your quick acting prevented me from quite a disgraceful demise. I hope you don't mind that I used my Quirk on you to slow down your precipitation." The girls voice was strained, and her countenance was strangely expressionless, her hands draped down in a zombie-like fashion. She sounded genuinely grateful though.
"My name is Yanagi Reiko," the girl introduced herself. "You should receive medical attention. Your injuries look dire."
Right on cue, Present Mic's boisterous voice announced: "ALRIGHT! THE EXAM IS OVER!"
With a bleary look, Izuku spotted a blurred form sauntering in his direction.
"Oh dear! These are heavy injuries. Your own beloved Quirk did this to you?"
Through the static, Izuku heard "Smooch", felt something moist on his cheek and drifted into nothingness.
A/N: And that concludes today's chapter!
Yes, I put Yanagi into the scene. Why? Who knows? Maybe because she is painfully underrepresented (as is 1-B in general, so expect some more of them in this story), maybe because I like her as a character, maybe because it's plot-relevant at some point… we'll see.
Also, The Sinful pointed out that diamond would shatter under the strain that comes with the repeated use of One for All, which is an issue I had, much to my chagrin, completely overlooked. I will make that a plot point later on (read: yet another issue poor Midoriya will have to deal with).
Next chapter: The Quirk Assessment Test! World's best villainous misty bartender! Aizawa! And will Midoriya manage to not break his arms?
Standard fare: Constructive criticism is welcome, flames aren't.
Remember to go beyond ...
PLUS ULTRA!
Ramses, over and out