Rewind
Chapter III: Start Line
After school that day, All Might took Izuku to an empty gym close to UA so he could test out One For All. "Alright, young man, let's see you try to use your quirk on this," he said, pointing out a punching bag.
Izuku tried for several minutes, but he just couldn't figure out how to activate One For All. "It's not working, All Might. I need something, something to help me figure out how to use it... a trigger! That's it! All Might, I want you to describe a scenario where I would have to use One For All to protect others."
All Might considered that for a minute. "Very well, close your eyes to help envision the scenario. It's a peaceful day after school. Myself and some of your friends have gathered just to relax and reflect." Good idea, but who would work for friends? Two faces were quick to come to mind: Shoto and Uraraka. Yeah, Mom would love to meet them, especially after Shoto deals with some of his issues. "A good time is being had by all, until a villain shows up, intent on killing all of us."
Izuku could see it all too easily: Kurogiri's warp gate opening up, and Shimura stepping out, hand on his face and murder in his eyes. "Stay away from us! SMASH!" Izuku yelled out, throwing a punch to where he saw Shigaraki. The greenette opened his eyes just as the pain started to hit, but pain was an old friend by now thanks to sparring with Kacchan, so Izuku was able to ignore it long enough see the damage. The bag was gone, as was the entire wall behind it ... and his arm was completely shattered. Izuku groaned, upset at having to deal with the shattered arm again, while Toshinori called Recovery Girl as quickly as possible.
When Izuku was recovered, he was quick to assured Toshinori that he'd have One For All figured out in time for the entrance exam, and he promised to ask for help if he hadn't figured something out in two weeks. Fortunately, thanks to his previous training with Gran Torino after the Sports Festival, Izuku knew where to start. By the end of the two weeks, Full Cowl had been perfected. With that done, Izuku decided to experiment and went to another source for help: the Internet. The teen had found a website all about giving advice for quirk use, so he set up an account and posted something.
Small Might: So, I have a power accumulation quirk, but I have too much power to safely handle. I know someone with a similar quirk, and he seems to be able to use it to become invulnerable, but his control was fantastic even from an early age. Does anyone know someone with a quirk like invulnerability? I'm something of a quirk nerd, so I'd be glad to help out with any other quirk questions you might have.
By the end of the week, Izuku had received a response, and from a very surprising source.
Red Riot: Hey, Small Might! I actually have a quirk like that, so maybe I could help out. I don't actually need help with my quirk, but I do have a friend that could use an idea, if you're still willing.
Small Might: I'd be glad to help your friend, Red Riot! If you know Takoba Beach near Musutafu, I train there most evenings after school.
Phantom Thief: Takoba Beach? Why would you train at a dump?
Battle Fist: You clearly haven't been near Takoba recently. Someone has been cleaning it up for the last few years. I went by yesterday and didn't see so much as one speck of trash.
Small Might: That was how I started my training there: cleaning it up.
Two days later, Izuku was swimming at Takoba when he saw three people show up, all around his age, so he started swimming towards them. By the time he got to the beach, Izuku had recognized two of them from his previous life. "Hi, I assume one of you is Red Riot?"
"Yeah, but my real name is Kirishima Eijiro, this is Kaminari Denki, a friend of mine. Are you Small Might?" the black-haired boy asked.
The response caused Izuku to freeze for a moment before noticing enough features that he could recognize Kacchan's best friend. "Yeah, Midoriya Izuku," he finally replied. Then he turned to the 'unnamed' blond and asked "So, who are you?"
"Monoma Neito, or as you might remember me, Phantom Thief. I just couldn't believe Kendo when she said the beach had been cleaned and I had to see for myself. Besides, I want to see if you can help this poor idiot here when our quirk specialist couldn't."
Izuku though about that, as for the most part Kaminari seemed to have a good handle on his quirk before, so he was curious. "So, why do you need help, Kaminari?"
"Well, alright, but if my quirk counselor couldn't help, I don't know why you could ... no offence. I have no way to use my electric quirk at long range, I just hit everything. Also, if I use too much power, I ... have a problem."
Monoma laughed at that. "A problem, you say? Kaminari, you turn into a buffoon if you go over your wattage limit!"
Immediately his mind went to work on the problem. "Well, for long range, that's easy: you need a support item, some kind of conductive wire that can work along the lines of a taser. As for your power problem, I'd have to suggest an electrolyte-heavy diet to boost the amount of electricity that you can use." The trio just stared at the greenette in shock. "What? I told you that I was a quirk nerd. I have thirteen journals worth of notes on the top heroes as it is."
Kirishima was the first to recover. "Yeah, I think we underestimated you, Midoriya. So, how can I help?"
"I want to know how you activate your quirk." With a quick explanation of infusing power into his bones, muscles and skin, Full Infusion was born. Interestingly, it worked fairly similar to the change between Toshinori and All Might: Izuku bulked up a little and grew a few inches in height while also making him tough enough that he barely felt it when Kirishima hit him.
The final three months until the exam were focused on increasing his power output ... not that it helped much. Even with Cowling and Infusion, Izuku still couldn't handle more than 15% at a time without straining himself. In any case, the day of the entrance exam came. He was determined not to make a fool of himself, but in his excitement, Izuku still tripped over his own two feet. However, that resulted in "Are you okay? I stopped you with my quirk, sorry I didn't ask first. But I figured you wouldn't mind me catching you."
"No, thanks for that!" Izuku said with a smile before offering his hand. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, and I hope to see you again."
"Uraraka Ochaco, and I'm sure we will. Well, good luck!" Izuku smiled, already looking forward to renewing his friendship with the gravity girl. The first two hours were taken up by the written exam which wasn't too bad this time. After that they gathered to hear the rules for the practical exam. Present Mic's address went as normal, including Iida's interruption, then they broke for lunch and went to their practical examination locations. Unfortunately, Izuku didn't see Kaminari, Kirishima or Monoma so the moment he saw Present Mic, he charged up Full Cowling and Infusion, then charged into the area.
Izuku spent most of the exam keeping track of where everyone was and only destroyed a few of the small robots. There was no freezing this time, the robots were nothing compared to Shigaraki, Stain or any of the other actual villains he had faced. Then it arrived, and with its first punch, the Zero Pointer once again trapped Uraraka under some rubble. Immediately Izuku ran to her, threw the rubble off her and rushed her to the others. Midoriya turned to go back when Iida grabbed him. "What do you think you're doing? There's no fighting that thing, nor is there any point."
"Isn't there?" Izuku asked before wrenching himself free. "That thing is too dangerous to leave standing! How many people could it crush if we just leave it alone? What kind of hero are you if you're unwilling to face a true threat?" To further motivate himself as he leapt between buildings constantly gaining altitude, he remembered what All Might told him he was thinking at the time. Now things get interesting: an overwhelming threat has appeared. A person's true character is revealed when they're faced with danger. There are no points awarded for taking on a humongous villain. But there is opportunity. A chance to shine, to show what you're really made of! Once Izuku was in position, he focused One For All into his arm and shouted, "United States of Smash!"
Iida Tenya just stared at where the green-haired boy had gone, utterly confused. What did he mean there was a point to taking on that giant robot? It made no sense! Suddenly an explosion rocked the area, causing everyone to look back towards the Zero Pointer. But rather than see what caused it, all anyone could see was an enormous twister surrounding where the robot had been. "Midoriya!" the girl cried out.
"Did you say Midoriya?" a new voice asked. Iida turned and found a black-haired boy with sharp teeth walking up. "I looked for him when I got here and never saw him. Where is he?"
"He took on the Zero Pointer to protect all of us," Iida said. Wait, was that it? Had he just subconsciously realized why Midoriya thought there was a point in facing it? Just then, the weather changed andit started raining. How did that happen? Did the twister change the weather?
"Hey, the dust is clearing!" another examinee shouted. Everyone looked up and stared at the results. The massive Zero Pointer had been utterly destroyed, the height of it crushed down to no more than nine feet of metal, and on top of it, Midoriya with his left arm raised in All Might's typical victory stance. Kirishima chuckled at that, having learned just how much of an All Might fan his new friend was ... but wait, why was his left hand raised? Midoriya was right-handed, so there could only be one reason for why he raised his left: he couldn't use his right. That was confirmed when Recovery Girl showed up and healed his right arm. "Hey, Midoriya!"
"Kirishima!" he called out with a smile. "How'd you do?"
"Thirty-nine points overall, I just hope that's enough to pass. How about you? I mean, besides that massive one you were standing on."
"Oh, couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen points."
Kirishima stared at his friend in confusion. "Aren't you worried at all? That doesn't really sound like enough points to get in."
"And there's more to being a hero than beating up villains," the greenette responded. "All Might's debut was saving people from an earthquake, remember?" Iida smacked himself. Of course! That was what Midoriya had meant! Heroes weren't just there to stop villains; they were there to protect the civilians!
Eight days later and Izuku met with All Might again. This time, he actually gained a few more Rescue Points, and ten Villain Points, putting him at 80 points overall in the practical. Uraraka still tried to give him her points for saving her, which meant she still gained her Rescue Points and also made it in. "Toshinori-sensei!" Izuku called out.
"Young Midoriya, congrats on getting in," Toshinori said with a smile. "Hey, just so you know, I didn't pull any strings at UA. All I did was observe, no one in Acceptance knows I've been training you, and I wasn't one of the judges. I know you'd think of that as cheating." Midoriya nodded at that, glad that his mentor understood him as well as he did, and that he himself hadn't changed too much. "So, what happened? You said you had control, but you still broke your arm."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to take down the Zero Pointer with the power I can use right now, so I just hit it as hard as I could." Toshi just laughed at that, though the thought process was understandable. "Oh, umm, I did hear something that you might want to have someone look into."
Toshinori raised an eyebrow at his successor. "This isn't going to be something like the Todoroki Situation, is it?" Tsukauchi was starting to get a little curious about who had put him on to ... whatever the Todoroki Situation was turning into. However, the detective refused to explain how it was developing, no matter how many times Toshinori asked.
"Well ... maybe?" Izuku replied. "I heard one of the examinees, I didn't see who, mention something about a drug called Rewind. He said something about the Yakuza developing it from a human source and that it could make quirks stronger."
"A human source?!" All Might growled out, his rage causing him to change form. "I guarantee that not only will this drug be found, but whoever did this will be utterly destroyed." Naturally, his transformation once again caught the attention of the civilians on the pier, and they had to run.
One month later, Izuku walked into 1-A and found the same situation he had walked into before: Iida berating Kacchan for how he was sitting. Izuku just shook his head, knowing that neither of them would ever change. "Kacchan, leave Private School alone, he doesn't know any better. He'll learn ... eventually."
"I don't need your help with this extra, Deku," Bakugo replied. Iida on the other hand stared at Izuku in shock at being called 'Private School.'
"I know you don't, Kacchan," Izuku said with a smile. "Speaking of extras though ..." Izuku then called Kirishima over. "Kirishima, meet Bakugo Katsuki. Kacchan, meet Kirishima Eijiro, I've got a feeling the two of you will be great friends."
"If you're just here to make friends, you can pack your stuff up now and leave. This is the hero course; we don't have time for that." With that, Aizawa stood up and got out of his bag, criticizing them for irrationally wasting time. "Right, let's get to it. Put these on and head out to the field." Izuku raised an eyebrow at that, as he had assumed that Aizawa-sensei had them do the test due to how horribly he had done in the entrance exam, and that threatening them with expulsion was his own way of protecting Izuku. Then again, Aizawa and Toshi had always had a bit of a problematic relationship, and Izuku had chosen to act more like All Might than his previous life, so maybe that was the reason.
Uraraka again complained about Aizawa's methods, only for him to counter with his speech. "You think natural disasters are fair? Or power-hungry villains? Or catastrophic disasters whose time or place can't be predicted and can wipe out whole cities? No, the world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to combat that unfairness. If you want to be a hero, you're going to have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years, UA will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond, Plus Ultra style. Show me it's no mistake you're here. Overcome it with everything you've got." The quirk assessment test went as before, with one exception: since he had greater control of OFA, Izuku was able to move faster and use his strength better than the first time.
However, it seemed Aizawa's bias got the better of him, as he still erased OFA and gave his speech about Izuku not being able to be a hero, despite his drive. "You're wrong, Aizawa-sensei. I have control, and I will be a hero, no matter the cost!" With that, he turned and threw the ball as hard as he could using 25% of One For All, sending it flying a full kilometer away. Using that much power put a strain on his body, but for the test, it was worth it, especially for such a short amount of time. By the time the test was over, Izuku had made it into fifth place overall.
"Deku, you've got some explaining to do!" Kacchan yelled out.
"Later, Kacchan, I promise."
"You have some explaining to do, Midoriya. You haven't been showing off the power that would be needed to take down the Zero Pointer, so what's going on?" Aizawa demanded.
"I have a power accumulation quirk, sensei, but if I use all of it, I break my own bones."
"I don't believe that, but let's test that claim." With that, a large machine was rolled out onto the field. "This, as you might have guessed, is a punching machine. Hit it and it will measure the strength of the blow. Don't worry about breaking it, the last person to do that was All Might, and it's been reinforced since then. Midoriya is going first, and no holding back this time."
Izuku nodded before pulling his arm back and yelling out "Texas Smash!" Immediately, the machine was shattered into a thousand pieces. "Still don't believe me, sensei?" he asked as he held his broken arm. "I'm going to Recovery Girl now, unless you have something else to say." Aizawa just stared in shock, allowing Izuku to leave.
