AN: Thanks for the reviews and interest everyone!
Maximum Rhapsody - All Might will learn to be a better teacher, yes. Melissa will help with Izuku and Ochako's hero costumes, but you'll have to wait and see who else she helps with. As for other ships: I'm still trying to decide on if anything will happen among the 1-A kids, but there's going to be a whole thing between the Big 3 and Yuyu.
Mugen-Muse - I think your mental image is a good enough reason why it doesn't happen more often! As for what happens at Aldera, read on :)
Melissa looked up at the entrance of UA.
It had been eight long, difficult months, but now was the moment of truth!
She can do this!
Taking a breath she stepped through the gate, her case bouncing against her leg. Inside were the latest prototypes her dad had created: a pair of boots and a single gauntlet. The other gauntlet, of course, had been shipped to Toshinori weeks ago.
They had cut it much closer than either of them would have liked, but the equipment in her hands was a testament to the rapid improvements she had made in controlling One For All, and her dad's attempts to replicate the Full Gauntlet. She was able to control One For All at a comfortable ten percent of its strength with this armor and not suffer any consequences. Without it, she was only able to control about three percent of its power before she began to suffer feedback.
As she reached the doorway to the school itself, she looked back, only to see the skeletal form of Toshinori standing near the gate. She couldn't help but smile as she saw him, waving like a proud parent sending their child off to school.
Don't worry Uncle Toshi, I'll make you and Uncle Might proud!
She flashed him a bright smile before turning back toward UA and heading inside.
Toshinori sighed as Katsuki Bakugo left the interview.
"That boy will never be a hero with that attitude," He mused as he rubbed his chin. "I wonder what this school district is doing to give him such ideas."
He tore off the page of notes he took on the explosive blonde and tucked it into the back of his notebook. It would be several years before the boy could apply to UA, but it wouldn't hurt to report his findings to Nezu anyway, in case the boy doesn't change.
For his sake, Toshinori hopes he does. That attitude, if left unchecked, will turn him into a villain someday.
He sat patiently, doodling a small picture in the corner of his notebook when the principal opened the door again and stepped inside.
"I brought Mr. Midoriya for his interview, but I must say I don't understand why you would be interested in him," The principal observed. "Mr. Bakugo is a much more qualified student for a school as illustrious as UA."
The statement 'because he has a quirk' was unspoken, but Toshinori heard it clear as day.
Deciding to play nicely, for now, Toshinori simply laughed lightly and waved it away. "Part of the secret to UA's success is keeping an eye out for our students' talents beyond their quirk. There's more to a person than just their quirk."
The principal sighed in disbelief. His face made it clear that he thought young Midoriya was talentless as well as quirkless. "Well, I do appreciate you taking the time to look at our star student. I hope you take him into consideration as well."
Not that you gave me much choice, Toshinori thought. The school was so desperate to promote Katsuki Bakugo that they more or less forced him to accept an interview as a condition for interviewing Izuku.
"Don't worry, I will. Now then I believe we've wasted enough time?"
Despite his pushy nature, the principal had enough sense to understand the meaning behind Toshinori's words. With a resigned look, he opened the door, revealing a green-haired student who couldn't decide if he was excited or terrified. After he gave the student a look that said 'don't embarrass us,' he quickly left, leaving the two alone.
The boy quickly walked to his chair and sat down, while Toshinori simply watched. The young man fidgeted nervously, like a rat under a microscope. He couldn't help but wonder what he saw in the boy, but after many months Melissa did learn that he was, in fact, his successor.
It was time to find out why.
"Young Midoriya, did they tell you why I'm here?"
"They told me you were here from UA, and that you were interested in me?" It came out more as a question than a statement. "A-and that I should try my hardest to impress you!"
"I see. And do you have any idea why that is?"
"N-no, sir."
Toshinori frowned.
Melissa was feeling confident as she left the classroom. The written exam was designed to be difficult by Japanese standards, but the Academy on I-Island was on a level of its own, and she was confident in her results.
As she entered the auditorium, she gasped at the sheer variety of quirks and mutations she saw in the room. While she was used to seeing plenty of quirks and heroes on the island, she hadn't expected to see such a similar variety at the entrance exam. A thin girl whose white ponytail looked like it was on fire, mutants covering a vast range of creatures. Her gaze stopped on a pale girl with dark turquoise hair, who had what appeared to be a wreath of water floating around her neck. As she was trying to speculate on the nature of her quirk, an eye appeared in the water, and it was looking right at her.
Quickly averting her gaze, Melissa hurried to her seat. When she shot another glance at the girl, the eye had vanished, and the girl gave no indication that anything had happened.
A few minutes later, the lights began to dim as Present Mic walked out onto the stage.
After a few simple questions, Izuku appeared to relax. Toshinori felt bad as he realized the kid had expected some sort of elaborate ruse or set-up, and couldn't help but wonder what was happening to him at the school.
Even if this young man didn't prove himself to be worthy of his power, it would be worthwhile to do some digging into the school and see what turned up.
Deciding that this was the best Izuku was going to get, Toshinori decided to move on to the important part of the interview.
"Young Midoriya. Answer me truthfully - are you quirkless?"
"What?" Izuku looked like he was about to have a panic attack, and Toshinori immediately felt regret, like he had kicked a puppy.
"There is no shame if you are," Toshinori explained. "I am merely gathering information, and there are no wrong answers."
"Y-Yes, I am," Izuku said.
Toshinori couldn't help but notice that Izuku looked almost like he was ashamed of himself.
Melissa walked to the front of the bus and descended to the exit, her armored boots clanging loudly on the stairs as she did so.
"Check her out," She heard a voice from behind, its owner not even trying to conceal himself.
"The girl with the support gear?" A large, muscled student replied. "It's hard to miss her."
"How does she expect to be a hero like that?" A third voice joined in.
"I know, right? I bet I could give it one good punch and that support gear would break. Then where would she be?"
The three continued talking, but Melissa stopped paying attention. She felt frustration boiling inside her. Looking down at her clenched gauntlet, she saw the yellow lights glowing brightly, warning her that she was coming dangerously close to overloading the armor with One For All.
Why is it so hard?
Why do people feel the need to define someone by their quirk?
She felt a twisting in her stomach as she tried not to think about her own choices.
"Now then, young Midoriya. Why do you want to be a hero?"
Once again Izuku looked shocked, as his eyes grew glassy from tears. "Nobody's ever asked me that before."
Toshinori couldn't help but feel for the young man. "Well, I'm asking now."
"Ever since I was little, I've always looked up to heroes. Seeing them saving people, bringing a smile to their faces," Despite the tears that had begun leaking out of Izuku's eyes, he had a fond smile on his face. "It was the coolest thing to me. And I wanted to be like those heroes one day. Especially All Might!"
Toshinori couldn't help but blink. "All Might?"
"When- when I was only four, my dad left us. I-" Izuku took a deep breath. "-my mom and I were both lost for weeks after that. Then one day, All Might was visiting the hospital my mom worked at. He was visiting the children's wing, but the daycare workers let us see him too!" Izuku looked like he had stars in his eyes. "When I saw him and heard him speak in person, it was the first time I smiled since my dad left. For the first time since that happened, everything felt like it would be alright."
Izuku looked down at his hands. "I know it probably sounds silly, but that feeling. I-I wanted to share it with others. To let people know that everything will be ok because I am there."
"Begin!" The voice of Present Mic yelled over the loudspeaker.
Like a coiled spring, Melissa launched herself toward the gate at full speed, pumping the power of One For All into her legs.
I'll show them!
She heard people following her, but it didn't matter. Right now, defeating the robots took priority.
It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for her to find her foes. A large pack of robots stomped toward the aspiring heroine. A larger robot with the number three painted on its side paused for a moment, a whirring sound indicating it was loading a missile before it fired directly at Melissa. She held up her armored glove as she felt the missile detonate about a meter away from her body. She didn't stop, and pushed through the smoke and flame.
It looks like they have a failsafe. Enough to scare examinees and maybe cause surface injuries, but not enough to cause lasting harm.
With a cry she took a running leap at the robot, feeding One For All into her arm as she pulled it back. She swung her fist forward and felt it connect with the armored shell of the robot, only for the metal to give way to the force of her blow. As she watched, the robot flew backward, only to slam into another three-point robot, both of them erupting into an explosion.
She felt a rush of adrenaline as she landed, unable to keep the smile off her face as she looked at her armored glove. The glow of yellow lights indicated she was able to maintain ten percent of OFA's power, even when her emotions were running high.
I can do this!
A clanking of metal was her only warning as a robot swung an armored fist at her head. Melissa barely ducked out of the way in time, before her fist shot out, hitting the robot with a sloppy uppercut, sending it flying upward. As she watched it fly skyward, she slipped her left hand into her glove to rub her wrist, its soreness a reminder that if it wasn't for One For All, she could have easily shattered it with that attack.
Maybe I need a little more training after all…
Toshinori sat in stunned silence. The young man in front of him admired him, looked up to him, and for ten years wanted to emulate his best qualities.
The qualities he had shown people while he was on a private hunt for vengeance.
"Well, if you want to follow All Might's example, you have some mighty big shoes to fill," Toshinori said, lightly chuckling at his joke. "What kind of training have you done to prepare yourself for such a task?"
Instead of laughing, Izuku looks crestfallen. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" Toshinori couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice. "But the entrance exams are only two years away!"
"I know," Izuku seemed to shrink in on himself, appearing even smaller. "But it's hard when nobody believes in you."
"Nobody?"
Izuku shook his head, the tears returning. "This school ignores me because I'm quirkless. Meanwhile, Kacchan is given free rein because of his quirk. Everyone expects me to just - fade into the shadows. They tell me I can't be a hero without a quirk. E-even mom-" Izuku's voice cracked. "She is trying her best to support me. But I-I can tell. She's just waiting for me to give up on my dream, to face reality and pick a more realistic career."
Toshinori felt his heart breaking for the young man.
Melissa heard another buzzer ringing out, announcing the two-minute warning.
But there was something else going on as she felt the ground rumbling under her feet.
Hearing the panicked cries of her fellow test-takers, she looked around and spotted the source of their distress. It wasn't hard to miss as the form of the massive zero-pointer robot rumbled through the training ground.
"They never told us how big those robots were!" Melissa exclaimed, talking mostly to herself.
She was planning to retreat to safety when she heard a familiar cry. Looking around, she saw the corner of a building had collapsed, and there was a giant boar mutant in the rubble. At least that's what she thought at first glance. As she watched, it turned out to be a transformation quirk instead, the effect quickly fading now that he had lost consciousness.
It was one of the three students making fun of her support gear.
For a moment, she considered leaving them there and retreating to safety. But she was better than that. However, a quick visual examination of the debris told her all she needed to know. She wouldn't be able to clear it alone. Not safely at least. If she used One For All at a higher power, she'd risk hurting him and herself.
But she was Melissa Shield! Her mind was her strongest weapon, after all!
Looking around for a solution, she spotted a nervous-looking man with indigo hair and pointy ears, his hands transformed into a giant pair of crab claws. He was staring at the zero-pointer, just as paralyzed with indecisiveness as others.
Perfect!
"Hey!" Melissa called out. "I need help!"
"M-me?" The indigo-hair boy asked, seemingly startled that anyone wants to talk to him.
"Yep!" She pointed toward their fallen comrade. "He's trapped! I can't get him out alone! Can you cut the girders with those claws?"
The boy looked at the debris, and then back to Melissa. "Y-yeah! But I can't clear the debris that's already on him."
"Leave that to me!" Melissa said, holding her armored fist in front of her.
Seemingly finding his courage, a determined look filled the boy's face. "Let's hurry!"
He began to sprint toward the building and Melissa followed behind him. As soon as he arrived he began using his claws to tear through the steel girders, breaking down the debris into smaller pieces. Giving up all pretenses of trying to balance One For All separately for each arm, Melissa let the full ten percent flow through both of her arms as she began picking up pieces of the debris and throwing them aside, biting down on her lip to keep herself from screaming as the feedback from One For All tore her left arm apart.
"If you can hold up this last piece I can pull him out," The boy said as he knelt next to the unconscious student.
Melissa nodded and looked at her ruined left hand. She had overdone it, and now she only had one hand left. Looking down at her right hand, she realized she'd have to push her limits.
"Dad, I trust you." She said as she closed her armored hand into a fist, before opening it and sliding her hand under a corner.
Opening up the valve, she felt One For All pouring into her arm, filling it with that raging inferno.
11%...
15%...
19%...
The indicator lights grew brighter, her support gear dutifully absorbing the feedback as she felt the debris begin to move, slowly rising.
More… I need more!
20%...
23%...
25%
Melissa could feel the gauntlet begin to disintegrate from the feedback, but she refused to let up. They were so close!
"I've got him!" The boy announced.
With a sigh of relief, Melissa cut One For All, feeling its energy abandoning her arm as she let go of the debris. The boy was already standing, the unconscious student slung over one shoulder. Without a word, Melissa hooked his other arm around her neck and they quickly hurried away from the 0-pointer. As they were moving, she shot a sideways glance at her companion. He was thoughtful enough to position the student on his left side, allowing Melissa to support him with her undamaged right side, and she couldn't help but wonder if he did that intentionally.
As Toshinori examined the crying face of Izuku, he realized why he had chosen him as his successor.
The boy had faced much hardship in his life. But he never let it break him. Even now, he wanted to become a hero with every fiber of his being.
He just lacked the tools to do so.
Fortunately, Toshinori had just the solution to that problem. If the boy said yes, that is.
Slowly, Toshinori pushed his seat back, the metal legs scraping against the floor as he rose to his full seven-foot-three height.
"Young Midoriya. You said nobody believes you can be a hero. You're wrong."
"Huh?" Izuku looked up at the man. Shock and disbelief filled his face.
He reached across the table and placed a hand on Izuku's head. "I believe you have what it takes to be a hero. That passion and drive- it is a mere spark, a flicker in the darkness. But it is strong. And if you carefully cultivate it, you will be a great hero one day."
"Really?" For the third time, Izuku's eyes began watering.
Toshinori simply smiled at him and nodded.
"I- all this time. To finally hear those words-" Izuku broke and began sobbing.
She didn't get a chance to destroy any more robots before the buzzer sounded, but that was ok. She already had fifty villain points, which would hopefully be enough. As the medical robots began appearing she and the other boy laid the unconscious student on a stretcher.
"How's your arm?" The student asked nervously.
Melissa looked down at her left arm and paled at the sight. It was one giant mess of bruises and blood vessels - she may have broken bones as well, but she was afraid to touch her arm and find out. "I'm going to need to see a doctor."
"Your quirk hurts you that badly?"
Melissa found herself blushing. "Y-yeah." She held up her right hand, revealing the shattered remains of her armored gauntlet hanging off of it. "I need to wear support gear to keep myself safe. At least then it's just my gear that breaks, instead of me."
"You remind me a lot of my friend…" The boy said thoughtfully.
Melissa was about to ask what he meant when Recovery Girl walked up to her. She had heard about UA's nurse from Uncle Might but had never seen her in action before. Supposedly, her quirk greatly accelerated a body's recovery abilities, letting people recover from injuries in seconds, instead of weeks.
"What happened here?" The nurse asked as she was looking thoughtfully at Melissa's arm.
"Quirk feedback," Melissa explained as she held out her arm.
The woman held her hand on her chin as she examined the arm before her lips began extending from her face to kiss the arm. Even something as gentle as her kiss made her wince, but she felt its effects instantly as the pain in her muscles began to subside and her skin began to return to its natural color. She watched in amazement as the only thing left behind were a few discolored patches, and began probing her hand.
It didn't hurt anymore.
As she looked up, she saw that Recovery Girl had moved on and was examining the student she pulled out of the debris. Looking around for the boy who helped her, she noticed he was quickly running away.
She couldn't help but sigh, but the smile on her face betrayed her real feelings. "Maybe, if we both get into UA, I can ask him what he meant."
Now that her left hand was healed, she used it to pull off the remains of her armored gauntlet before she pressed the diagnostic button.
Toshinori eventually sat down, waiting for Izuku to finish crying. When he was done, he offered the boy a tissue.
"Now then, if you don't mind, I would like to contact your mother and schedule another meeting."
"Another meeting?"
Toshinori nodded. "Of course! I would like to assist you in your training, but I would need your mother's approval. And–" He paused, choosing his words carefully. He spent enough time with David these last few months to have a good idea of how Mrs. Midoriya would react to the news. "-I would like to know her reasoning for protecting you."
"Protecting me?"
Toshinori nodded gravely before motioning for Izuku to come closer. When he did so he raised his shirt, and Izuku gasped. "Being a hero is risky. From what you've told me, I'm sure your mother knows that, and it sounds like she wants to keep you safe."
"That wound–"
"Is a story for another time," Toshinori quickly explained as he lowered his shirt. "And another reason I wish to speak with you further. But if you and your mother both agree after we speak again, then I'll begin training you."
Despite the shocking revelation, Izuku couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Y-yes! Of course!"
AN: As promised, Izuku's here and we're moving the action off of I-Island. For now at least, I'm sure we'll go back eventually.
In the meantime, there's plenty to do in Japan.