Izuku Midoriya groaned softly to himself as he wandered the streets of the false city. His mind barely registered the written exam he did earlier as he focused on his current predicament. Ever since he met All Might, he'd been trying to prove him wrong. That he could be a hero without a Quirk. So he did the only thing he could think of to do so. He worked out each day before and after school for the last ten months. Probably more than he should've if he was being honest. After all, it was most likely due to the stress of working out that he looked how he did at the moment. Izuku ran his hand over his head, now missing any sign of his shaggy green hair. "Man," he groaned. "Maybe I should've stopped while I was ahead. I probably would still have my hair now." He put a finger to his chin as he looked at the sky. "Not like those assholes from school made things better. At least they stopped once I started fighting back. Huh. Still think I should've held back more from hitting Ebisu into that wall. I think Mom had to pay for the wall to the school out of pocket. Oh man. We're gonna be eating rice in tea for a long time, aren't we." Izuku paused as he remembered he was in the middle of a test. "What was I supposed to do again?"
His thoughts were brought down a side street as he saw someone smashing a robot to pieces. "That's three more points," said the kid.
"Yes," exclaimed a girl down the other street. Izuku turned and saw a girl over the remains over a slightly smaller bot in a heap on the ground. "One more point!"
"Oh, so the bigger bots offer more points, huh?" Izuku thought for a moment before he heard the announcement that there were only three minutes left in the exam. "Oh crap!" Izuku stumbled slightly and saw a robot as big as the buildings around them rising onto the street. The other attendees bolted past him as he stared up at the bot.
Tenya Iida rushed past the bald kid as he struggled to get more points. Iida assumed that he was frozen in fear at the sight of the Zero-Pointer, and just kept running. He clearly wasn't cut out to be a hero. 'Sorry,' he thought. 'It's nothing personal.'
Izuku smirked slightly as he stared at the robot. "Oh. That's a big one. It must be worth a lot of points." He looked down and saw someone trapped under some rubble. "If that doesn't stop, it might crush her. Crap!" Izuku rushed forward as fast as he could manage.
Tenya paused in his running as a shockwave could be heard in the streets of the mock city his exam was in. He turned around and stared as the giant robot that had towered over them only a moment before as it scattered down the street and destroying multiple robots of varying points as it did. He stared down at the one responsible and saw the bald kid throw a piece of rubble off of a girl and practically shatter a building as it crashed through. "Holy crap," muttered a girl beside him. Tenya couldn't help but silently agree. "He took out the Zero-Pointer like it was nothing."
Ochako Uraraka couldn't help but stare as her mind tried to register what the hell had just happened. When the Zero-Pointer had appeared and started chasing them down, she had been trapped under the rubble it caused as it smashed the building next to her. Then she blinked as a bald boy was suddenly in the same spot where the bot had been a second before. She stared as he stood there with his arm outstretched. But where was… She gasped as she heard the clattering and crashing of metal on metal and concrete. She turned around and saw the bot in pieces from where the boy's punch shattered it. She saw it crush several other robots from its weight and speed. Then the boy amazed her even more as he threw off the concrete on her foot before it shattered the building behind him. "Th-thanks," she said.
"You okay," he asked.
"Y-yeah. Thanks. That Zero-Pointer would've crushed me if you hadn't done anything." Ochako rubbed at her bruised ankle as she tried to see if it was injured. She looked up at him and saw the dead look in his eye. "Uh… are you okay…?"
"Did you say 'Zero-Pointer'?"
"Yeah, why?"
"And time's up listeners," shouted Present Mic over the speakers. 'The exam is over!"
"Gah," exclaimed the boy, startling Ochako. "I didn't score a single point!" Ochako stared slightly before looking at the wreckage he caused. She spotted a few messed up bots sparking from their impacts with the remnants of the giant Zero-Pointer. 'Uh,' she thought. 'That might not be true…'
Toshinori Yagi stared at the footage he just saw. He remembered that boy. The boy from the sludge villain incident. The one who claimed he was Quirkless. Was he lying or… No. Can't think like that. He has to be gone. He has to be.
Izuku groaned as his arms hung limp beside him as he smiled to hide his depression. "Ten months down the drain. So long UA," he muttered.
"Uh," said Ochako. "I don't know if they count, but you managed to crush a few bots when you sent the giant one in pieces down the street. Maybe they'll count for you!"
"Wait, I did?" Ochako pointed to the line of wreckage that used to be the Zero-Pointer robot. A few pieces of two and three point bots could be seen scattered around the shrapnel and sparking circuitry.
"You managed to beat them, if indirectly, but you never know!" Izuku breathed out and collapsed on the ground.
"Oh god I hope so."
"But, I'm curious why you didn't use your Quirk to score points until the last point." Izuku looked at her with a bland expression.
"What Quirk?"
"Your superstrength? How else did you do that?"
"I don't know. My training regimen maybe? I don't have a Quirk." Those within earshot stared at the bald kid in exasperation. Tenya Iida was even more perplexed by this. How could this boy be Quirkless. No one like that could possibly possess that strength. Could they?
When the applicants were released to be able to head home, Izuku once more stood in front of a mirror as he rubbed his now shiny head. "I mean why all at once? Couldn't you have given me a few more years looking adorable and less… Is it manly or like a deviant?" Izuku turned around and came face to face with the boy he spotted earlier with engines in his calves. "Oh, hey. Engine Legs."
"My name is Tenya Iida," said the bespectacled boy. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Izuku Midoriya." Izuku paused slightly as Iida stared at him. "What? I got something on my face?"
"Are you truly Quirkless?"
"Yeah. Been that way since I was born." Izuku started for the exit.
"So how did you do what you did back there?" Iida followed after him.
"I trained myself." Iida paused as Izuku kept walking.
"You trained yourself to possess strength comparable to All Might?"
"Yeah, I guess. Wasn't the plan but that's what ended up happening."
"How?!"
"Wish I could tell you. About a month ago I started doing things I really couldn't, not that long ago. I'm faster, stronger, more durable. Heck, I knocked one of my old bullies so hard, he was embedded into a wall after crashing through several walls at school. Yeah, we're still paying off those bills for the damages."
"You were bullied," asked the girl from earlier. Izuku turned around and nodded.
"Yeah. People tend to look down on us for being what we are. It's like Germany all over again. Just without the internment camps. Or would that be school?" The girl chuckled slightly as Iida started chopping the air, almost robotically.
"You shouldn't belittle the education system in such a way," he exclaimed.
"Not like it's of any importance." Izuku started walking to the exit again.
"It is of every importance!"
"Whatever you say, Locomotion."
"My name is Tenya Iida!"
"I'm Ochako Uraraka," said the girl as she smiled at the two.
"Izuku Midoriya," said the bald kid as he cleaned out his ear from Iida's shouting. "Can you not shout? I get enough ringing in my ears from Kachan during school."
"Kachan?"
"Old friend. Well. Not sure about that now days." Izuku shrugged as he kept walking, heading out of the front gate and to a bus stop. The two exchanged a look before following after him.
"What kind of training did you do, exactly," asked Iida.
"Why does it matter?"
"Because if the training could accomplish this with you, I want to know how. It could help other Quirkless as well." Izuku paused before turning to the two and jumping slightly as they were both leaning in close. Izuku sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Fine. But can this wait for another day. I'm gonna miss the bus."
"Can't you just run home," asked Uraraka. "Your speed seems to be faster than public transportation."
"Can't be bothered to keep running that much. Plus if I get a fine for using a Quirk I don't have, my mom is going to freak even more than when we first got the bill from the school. We're already living off of green tea and rice. I can't make it any worse than that." Iida grunted before holding out his phone.
"If you promise to reveal to us how you came to be this strong, then we should exchange numbers to keep in touch," said Iida
"Yeah, sure." Izuku took the phone with disinterest as he swapped numbers with Iida and then Uraraka. "Got nothing better to do anyways."
"By the way, Midoriya," said Uraraka. "Did you shave your head?" Izuku instantly sat on his ankles as he drew symbols on the ground.
"Oh, that. I think my training actually overdid it and forced my hair to fall out. I woke up this morning and it was all gone. I think my mom woke up the neighbors when she screamed as she tried waking me up this morning. I worked out so much the stress caused my hair to fall out."
"I-Is that even possible," exclaimed Iida.
"How else do you explain this?! It's not a choice! I look like a delinquent!"
"I think you look fine," said Uraraka with a smile. "It looks tough! You'll definitely stand out!"
"This isn't how I wanted to stand out! Being a bald freakshow does not a hero career make!"
"I don't think you're a freakshow."
"I just punched a four story tall robot to pieces without a Quirk. How is that not me being a freak?"
"I for one think it's a testament to your hard work, Midoriya," said Iida, adjusting his glasses. "It shows you're dedicated to being a hero."
"I know I'm grateful for it," said Uraraka. "You saved my life. Thanks again!"
"Sure," said Izuku. A yell nearby alerted them to the train speeding towards the station.
"It's gonna crash," shouted a civilian, pulling her children from the platform.
"Everyone get away from the platform," shouted Iida, helping to usher some people away, not registering Izuku moving passed him. "Midoriya, we should…" Iida turned to the bald kid and gaped as he saw him in the middle of the tracks. "Midoriya get out of there!" Izuku reached out and grabbed hold of the train right as it reached his distance before lifting it off the tracks. He caught the end of the train as it came through and skidded along the tracks as he pulled back, slowing down the train and bringing it to a stop after a dozen feet. He stared blankly at the caboose as a few people stared at him in surprise and awe. Izuku hopped back to the platform and looked at the two exam takers he was talking to.
"Were you saying something," he asked.
"Midoriya, that was extremely reckless!"
"Letting the train derail and get people hurt was reckless, stopping it the safest way I could think of to avoid too many people getting hurt was the only option. I didn't see any heroes nearby capable of preventing it so I did the only thing I could think of." He put his hands in his pockets and dug out a pack of gum. "Gum?"
"Why are you so nonchalant about this?!"
"I figure anything I do from now on is going to be freakish. Why worry about it?"
"You should be in pain after doing what you just did!"
"I'm more worried about the damage prices," said Uraraka, looking at the bent metal and ruined tracks, missing the bald boy tense. "Without having a hero license." Izuku paused before drawing up his hood and starting to walk away.
"Some jobs are better left unrecognized."
"Midoriya," exclaimed Iida.
"Don't know him!"
"Come back! Midoriya!" Uraraka sighed as Iida followed after the bald boy.
"Guess if we all get in, it's gonna be an interesting year," she said to herself.