Chapter Start

Beep

An alarm sounded in the room, a painfully annoying sound. Though, it did it's job as the young green-head woke up with a yawn, stretching his arms up to get the stiffness out. His emerald green eyes opened as he glanced at the time.

6 A.M.

As much as he appreciated sleeping in late, he knew that getting into UA wouldn't allow him to slack off. He had been slowly trying to update his sleep schedule to wake up early and sleep late, but the bags under his eyes were reminders that it wasn't all perfect. Yet, he persisted.

He quietly got dressed and exited his room. His mom wasn't awake yet, so he didn't want to bother her. He understood she had been through mixed emotions about his previous quirklessness, so he gave her room to breath. However, now that he had the quirk of the number 1 hero, he should be able to cultivate it and achieve his dream. He smiled at the thought.

A quick drink of coffee and he was out the door, backpack slung over shoulders and his UA uniform on. Thankfully, the train station was only about a block over, so he didn't need to walk far. In the mean time, he decided scrolling through his phone would cure his boredom.

Breaking News: Two dead bodies found last night. One found in Harajuka district, another just outside the Roppogni district. We advise against solo-night travel among these areas while we still investigate. Contact the local police or nearest hero agency if you have any info on the deceased or the murderer. Stay safe.

Izuku grimaced a bit. Roppogni district was just a block away from him, he didn't like the prospect of not being able to take a night walk (not that he did, but he liked the option open). It had been awhile since detectives were stumped on a murder. After all, with the numerous info quirks and intelligence quirks, the average killing was bread and butter for these guys.

"Hey kid, do you know which way a nearby café is?"

Izuku looked up from his phone, meeting eyes with a man who looked around 20-ish, maybe older. He had brown hair with brown eyes and no visible quirk. The man wore a comforting smile, one that had Izuku smiling slightly.

"Sure, there is a ramen bar just around 23rd, or a buffet around 25th."

The man nodded and seemed to think.

"Well, I am visiting in town. Do you have the time to show me there?"

Izuku looked at his watch. He had 2 hours until UA started. Each train arrived at 15 minute intervals with a 10 minute ride there. The station was right next to UA, so minimal walking time. He would give himself about 1 1/2 hours of downtime.

"Sure. What is your name sir?"

"My name is Osamu Dazai, but call me Dazai. I don't care for formalities."

"I'm Izuku Midoriya. You can call me Izuku then."

Izuku began to walk, as Dazai followed him. He kept that slight grin on his face, looking at buildings around him. Izuku found the man to be pleasant company, not much was said.

"So, Dazai-san, you mentioned you were new here. What are you visiting for?"

Dazai turned towards Izuku, making a thoughtful expression.

"I am interning at a travel company, so we have a long layover here. I will actually be here for a month while they sort out trips."

"Oh, that sounds nice."

Another small silence ensued, not an awkward one, but just a necessary one.

"What about you, Izuku, I see a school uniform on you. Are you in middle school or college?"

"Actually, I am attending UA Highschool in the hero course. I am training to become a pro hero."

Dazai made an expression of admiration. His eyes glimmered at the teen, as his mouth hung a bit open.

"Oh, no way! I've never met a hero before. Hehe, my home doesn't really have many pro heroes, just some local ones."

Internally, Dazai was grinning. He spotted the kid from the train station with a UA uniform. Hopefully, he could weed out some info without being too obvious. Maybe, if he impressed the kid, he could possibly get the name of UA staff so he could apply for substitute teacher. Once inside the hero school, he would be approved to much more sensitive info. Though, it banked on this kid right here.

"Wait, Izuku, you must have a super strong quirk to get into UA, right?" Dazai found it was customary to praise people with strong quirks to gain appeal. Weird, but he understood.

"Well, umm, it's a super strength quirk. But, right now, whenever I use it, I mess up my body."

Dazai made another thoughtful expression, thinking to Atsushi. The powers weren't really the same, but he could see so much semblance between them. All the easier to play off of.

"I knew a colleague that had a similar quirk, though it worked differently. Maybe I can give you some tips." Dazai claimed this nonchalantly, shrugging with his eyes closed.

"Well, I feel like my body can't handle my quirk. Like, whenever I use it, I break my bones." Izuku didn't know why he felt so open with Dazai, but he didn't see the harm in this type of info. After all, he would likely never see Dazai again.

"I guess my student also had a similar problem, though it wasn't from injuring himself. Might I suggest regulating it through your whole body like an electrical current. You will boost your power immensely and become way faster."

Izuku's eyes went wide at this. It made sense, and it irked him why he hadn't thought of it like that. Circulating it like an electrical current, he would have to try that. For now, both had reached a nearby restaurant, where Dazai waved over his head.

"I have a feeling I will see you again, Izuku. Best of wishes." Dazai was slightly inconvenienced he didn't get any extra info, but he knew pushing further would trigger warning bells. Unlike Atsushi, Izuku was attentive and would be able to see his deception before he got anything good. A shame, though he did mean he would see more of Izuku.

Izuku, meanwhile, hurried to the train. He wanted to get to school early to practice the new trick Dazai suggested, as he knew they had hero training today. After around 20 minutes of travel, Izuku found himself on the UA campus. It still felt surreal that he was a student of this famous school, but it wasn't the time for thoughts like these. He was a student, and he needed to keep it that way.

Izuku wnet inside the school towards his classroom and set down his bags on his desk. He wasn't really worried about anyone stealing anything, as it would be stupid to do that in this type of school. He went back outside to an empty field, where stood. He could feel One for All inside of him, like an immense river merely stopped by a dam. He needed to control those floodgates and regulate it through his body.

Izuku closed his eyes as he slightly opened the gates of One for All, feeling the energy. Steady. Careful. Flow. Spread. Now! Izuku felt the energy surge around his body, materializing small sparks of green lightning around his body. His eyes shown in amazement as he could feel faster. But, it wasn't that fast. He would guess this was like 0.5% of One for All. He would call this, Full Cowling.

He began to jog around slightly, enjoying the wind rushing by him. He would guess he was around triple the speed of an ordinary human. Of course, through the excitement, his control faltered. Izuku suddenly felt his body flood with One for All, sending him flying forward at high speed and crashing into dirt. His legs felt hurt, but at least not broken.

Ow. That really hurt. He slowly picked himself up, looking at his scraped up hands in disappointment.

"This isn't strong enough. Merely 0.5% won't be able to save anyone. I need to get stronger. I need to get faster."

Izuku clenched his fist in determination as he pulled out his phone to check the time.

7:50

Shit, 10 minutes till class. And his uniform was really dirty. He needed to clean it a bit before people saw him.

Izuku spent the next 5 minutes cleaning his clothes, rubbing off any obvious dirt. Once he was satisfied, he ran back in the building. He dashed up stairwell after stairwell, reaching the right floor and stopping in front of his class.

7:59

He opened the door to see everyone else inside, as they glanced towards him. He stiffened from the stairs, but continued on to his desk.

"Yo, Izuku, what happened. Your clothes are all dirty and a bit torn on the shoulder." He heard Sero point out from next to him. Izuku rubbed his head sheepishly, sighing.

"Oh nothing. Just, well, a rough trip over here. Bad weather and all."

"But, it's perfectly sunny outside, not even a cloud."

Izuku froze as Sero caught his lie. Well, he needed another excuse.

"I meant not weather, but lots of dust and stuff near my house. A rock probably tore my shoulder."

Sero stared at him. It was so obviously a lie, but he didn't question it. He didn't care all that much anyways, it was probably something embarrassing like tripping on his shoelaces or something.

Izuku saw the door as Present Mic entered the class. His posture and demeanor was energetic and enthusiastic.

"Well listeners, ready for some English class!"

...

"So, your name is Dazai right?"

Dazai nodded at this question. The man in front of him was very tall, he guessed around 10 feet. His body was partially covered in fur, and his face was shaped like a wolf. He guessed a wolf mutation quirk.

"So, what qualifications make a hero?"

"Well, sir, I believe it's to keep the heart of the innocents at ease and protect everyone with comfort and safety."

The man nodded at his answer, showing a liking to it. It wasn't often you see men of purity with good ambitions. He glanced left at the man in the corner. The man had a passive lie detection quirk that worked by checking for nervousness and doubt. He gave a thumbs up as the interviewer continued.

Dazai, meanwhile, was very relaxed. He didn't even need to use his nullification ability, he could easily avoid his quirk with his wits alone. Dazai didn't understand how people fell for this. Well, he did, but he couldn't show any empathy for them.

"What is your quirk, Dazai?"

"My quirk is called No Longer Human. It's a touch based nullification quirk."

The man's eyebrow's rose. A quirk nullification quirk was extremely rare. He might need to pass this man purely for how useful his quirk is. After all, the police might leave a good word if they don't even need to use cuffs to detain a villain. Maybe he'd get a bonus.

"That's quite an impressive quirk Dazai. Have you thought about a costume and hero name? After you decide those, we will send you to the combat and rescue tests. If you pass those, you will get your hero license."

Dazai nodded at this. "My costume will be just my trench coat and pants with my attire underneath. I don't need anything flashy. And my hero name shall be Zero."

The man wrote all of this down before handing Dazai a nametag with his hero name and number on it.

"Since you've brought your costume, head to the change rooms behind me, then follow the hallway all the way down. That will be where the test is."

"Thank you examiner. Have a good day." Dazai waved over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway. It was a long hallway, a solid 2 minute walk of just walls. Needlessly long. However, when he opened the door, he saw why. It was a giant dome with a collapsed city and multiple other artificial environments inside it. He saw around 100 other participants. Most, by a glance, were utterly weak and incompetent. Scratch that, all of them were incompetent, but some might have more firepower than the write-offs.

"Good morning hero participants!" Dazai heard a loud voice speak over the crowd through a speaker.

"This will be your test. The premise is based on your combative abilities. You will need to defeat 5 other participants by whatever means necessary. No fatal damage. You will be handed 5 pairs of quirk-cancelling cuffs to put on your opponent once they are defeated. This test will take 1 hour. The boundaries are the entire stadium. Now, one of our staff will guide you to a selected spot to start at. If you complete this, you are deemed ready to be a hero."

At the mention, a bunch of people wearing blue clothes and hats came running in, each grabbing a person and guiding them towards the starting position. Dazai was met with a gruff man who looked very bulky and macho.

"Morning sir. I'm assuming you're my tour guide for today." Dazai exclaimed cheerfully. The man glanced at him.

"Kid, you don't have the right mindset to win. Just surrender, you are likely too weak to fight these guys."

Dazai just laughed at this. A truly irking laugh that made his skin crawl.

"Now-now, escort-san. No need to be so hostile. Tell you what, I will beat 10 people just in spite of you."

The man just sighed and turned his head away as they walked in silence. Once they reached the spot, the man just left without a word, sending glances back at Dazai. The detective merely waved back at him and smiled.

Dazai looked in his pocket to find his gun. Now, it wasn't a normal one, it had rubber bullets in it. Regular bullets were deemed "too much" for an exam. But, he didn't care. These things would still hurt. And, it doesn't help that he has put a subtle amounts of needles laced in a toxin that caused dizziness and shaking imbedded in the bullets.

"Alright participants. You may begin to search for your opponents!"

Dazai immediately ran across the streets, staying safely out of sight for an ambush. He saw a man across the way. He had electricity sparking from claw-like appendages. His quirk must be electric claws. Those might hurt if they hit him.

Dazai revealed himself to the man, giving a fun wave. The man stupidly took the bait and charged at him. His speed was above average, and he looked slightly skilled with those claws. But, as soon as the claw impacted Dazai, it merely vanished in particles of blue as his quirk was disabled.

The man stepped back in shock. Dazai grabbed the man's jacket and pulled his stomach into a knee that sent spit flying out of his mouth. Dazai dropped down and kicked the man upwards in the chin as the man fell to the ground.

Dazai grabbed his cuffs and placed one around the man's wrist. The man was cursing at Dazai as the brown head left him sitting on the ground. He needed more victims.

Dazai, once again, raced around building after building until he heard an odd sound to his right. He turned the corner to see two girls fighting each other. Both looked tired. A girl with neon pink hair was carrying a whip made out of plasma, while the black hair girl had a numerous amount of stones floating around her.

Dazai just pulled out his gun and shot two bullets at both of their necks. Both clutched the wound as the impact stunned them. Dazai had hit their esophagus, temporarily stunning their breathing. He dashed forwards as stones flew at him. A mere touch and they were nullified into nothingness.

He grabbed the stone girl and threw her at the plasma girl, who had just regained her breath. Both tumbled to the ground as Dazai quickly jumped in the air and kicked both of their heads into the pavement. He could see a tooth fly out of one of their mouths as two grunts of pain came from the women. Dazai put cuffs on both of them, his score at 3.

But, he was about to get 4 as he dodged a small fireball aimed for his head. He looked across the street to see 3 men, all around 30 years old, teamed up searching for people. Make that score now 6.

"Come on Darrell, how'd you miss a still man."

"Shut up Tay, he obviously dodged it. I can't magically curve my fireballs."

"Guys, pay attention!" The third guy yelled as he materialized spectral boxing gloves in his hands as Dazai rushed at him. The man had blue hair and blue eyes.

The fireball man stopped fighting and materialized 10 small fireballs above him, all circling his head like a halo. He had white hair with orange eyes. His name was revealed to be Darrell.

The last man had an aura of purple envelop his hands, the aura dripping around him like poison. His name was revealed to be Tay.

Dazai dashed at the blue haired man, weaving under an uppercut from his spectral boxing gloves. He then jumped into an axel in the air as 3 fireballs raced under him. His legs grabbed the boxer and he twisted their positions so the poison aura hit the boxer. The blue haired man clutched his skin as a sizzling was heard.

"Damn it Tay, your aim fucking sucks! This shit hurts like hell!"

Dazai watched as over 50 small marble-sized fireballs formed in a sphere around him. Quite a strong quirk. It seemed he could make fireballs. But the more he made, the smaller they were. And he could summon them around opponents like a cage.

"Now, burn up you dickhead."

The fireballs impacted Dazai as he nullified the man's quirk into nothingness. The man had the same reaction as all those he fought, shock at how easily their powers were taken away. He smirked as he gave a precise chop to the throat. The man keeled over, his breathing hoarse and struggled.

Poison was about to hit him, but it was nullified as well. Dazai did a flip over the man, chopping his neck as he passed out. Quickly, Dazai restrained all of them in cuffs as he strolled onwards. He looked in the sky, seeing the timer at 30 minutes remaining.

Dazai knew the city wasn't the best spot to find large amounts of people. The center would be way better. So, he traveled towards the center. When he saw sight of the large open field in the center of the dome, it looked like a warzone. He saw bright yellow fire and spikes of calcium covering the majority of it. It all obstructed his vision. He touched the fire and the spikes as all the obstructions disappeared in his nullification. He saw around 14 people in the field total. Most were engaged in 1 on 1 fight, but some had obviously teamed up.

Dazai, no care in the world, rushed into the fray. He always kind of loved the idea of pure combat, but most of his foes were those he needed to beat with wit, not fists. Though, his bouts with Chuuya and Akutagawa were slightly fun.

Dazai saw a jet of scalding water get blown from someone's mouth at him. He touched it and activated his ability. He quickly lept at the man, jumping in the air and grabbing his shoulders. When he landed, he flipped the man over him as he landed with a painful thud. He cuffed him and continued on. 7

He saw next to him a man with a strength quirk pick up a large boulder. He looked mad, clearly the water man was an ally of his. And he planned to hurl the large boulder and crush him. Dazai just picked up the cuffed friend and waved him by the scruff of his neck.

The man flinched and put down the boulder. Dazai took no time and shot the bullet at him. He made sure to hit a vein so the poison would spread immediately. The man's arms began to shake as he stumbled around like a drunken idiot. He walked over and cuffed the boulder man too. 8

All of the sudden, he began to feel quite woozy, like he wanted to take a nap. He looked around to see a girl with her arms in a scope-like shape and focusing on him. Her quirk may be to make people sleep with some invisible beam. Oh well, no issues.

Her face turned to shock as Dazai continued to walk over to her without falling asleep.

"Wait, how can yo-" A quick punch to her face knocked her lights out. She was out cold. 9

Dazai just wanted one more opponent. He would leave the scraps for everyone else. He saw a man on the ground, clutching a bleeding injury. He didn't have any cuffs, so he was still in the battle. Hmph, well, it would be so anticlimactic.

Dazai just trotted over with a smile. The man didn't even notice. Dazai saw him using a green glow to slowly heal the wounds. It wasn't regeneration, he could see small bits of black sand patching the wound. Perhaps a metallic sand. Well, a shame, his wound would reopen if he cuffed him and he might get pretty hurt.

Dazai slipped the cuffs around his wrist as the sand faded away. The man looked up in panic and anger.

"What the hell man, I can't use my quirk to heal."

"Oh that sounds quite tragic. I do hope you get better." Dazai just walked away skipping his legs. He eventually found a comfy rock to sit on and watch the chaos. After awhile, time was called as everyone went back to the dome center. A leaderboard was revealed, with Zero listed at number 1 with 10 captures. Dazai searched the crowd for his escort and gave a cheeky thumbs up, irritating the man.

The rest of the scores meant nothing to Dazai as he listened to the man drone on about how enthusiastic the staff were to help and how Japan needs them to step up to become excellent heroes. It was quite the boring speech. Dazai's shoulder's slumped slightly as he just saw someone fall asleep standing up after the 10th minute of the man talking.

"...And that will be it. Winners will follow me towards the judges as they explain the basics of hero work and requirements you will face, along with classification."

Dazai nearly jumped for joy when the talk ended, following the man with a giddy step. He bounced on his toes like a child at a toy store, but it was all in good fun for him. He wore his plastered smile on his face as he seemed to be unaware of the world around him.

He went inside the room, joined by 7 other people. There were only 8 winners total. A man in the front coughed to get attention. He was a bulky man, about 7 feet tall with huge muscles and flowing black hair. Dazai recognized him wearing a government tag.

"Gentlemen, take a seat. Now, I will leave this quick. First of all, you will need to submit a weekly report of civilians saved and villains captured. This will go into your public file, along with property damage and public opinion. If you don't submit the form for over 3 weeks, you will be considered off of active duty. To regain active duty, just meet with one of the hero officers and they will sign you back in. For classification, you either have normal or underground hero."

The man handed out the form as everyone began to sign their info in it. Dazai made sure to be meticulous about the info. He also chose to be an underground hero, because he didn't like too much attention. And, he wanted to be a hero for two reasons. One to get into UA as faculty. Two to gather more info on Fyodor's whereabouts. He didn't care to save people.

After some more paperwork and talking and more boring stuff, Dazai left the complex as a certified pro hero. The pro hero Zero. Now that the background stuff was out of the way, he was ready to move onto step 2. Infiltrate UA.

Chapter end