Music: Yes - No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed

II. Quantum Entanglement

Well… Here he was, where the letter told him to go.

Dagobah Beach. Dirty, full of garbage and shit, and it smelled like it too.

Supposedly, this was the place Izuku was to learn more about his quirk, but he honestly couldn't see how this dump would help. Would it have killed the stalker who wrote the damn magic letter to be a little less vague?

Maybe this whole thing was just one huge prank – one big, overly convoluted way to tell he and his quirk were absolute dogwater.

Ha. Ha. Ha!

Hilarious.

This prankster, whoever he/she was, was probably getting a hearty laugh over this, so at least somebody derived some joy out of this farce. Hell, even thinking about it, Izuku started getting a bit of a chuckle about it too – playing on his curiosity and gullibility like this was a lot more classy than just beating the shit out of him and calling him Deku for the thousandth time. A capricious work of art with some actual honest-to-no-god effort, instead of Katsuki's neanderthal-esque posturing to the very same people he called "extras".

Shit, whoever did this, Izuku would love to shake their hand and tell them, "Good Job" – might as well get some practice with workplace manners for when he inevitably gave up on his remaining dreams in this soulless world of corporate drones.

Eh… It was getting late… Should probably head home before Mom gets worried–

–Wait… Who the hell was that over there?

Near the stairs leading down to the beach, an extremely tall and skinny old man – Izuku pegged him as around late forties, early fifties – was picking up garbage with one of those grabber tools you see old people and people doing community service carrying and putting it in a nearby bin. A block down, there was a big, American-style pick-up truck with a couple of full bins already tied in the bed.

Izuku, despite his inner voice telling him to get stepping, stuck around and watched the old man as he went about his nigh impossible task with a sense of serenity.

Then, against his common sense too, he walked up and greeted the stranger.

"So, uh… What'cha up to?"

Fantastic opener, Izuku. Truly, you are a black-belt master of social-fu. Mom must be proud.

The old man paused what he was doing, turned to Izuku with a friendly smile on his gaunt face, "Oh, nothing much, Young Man… Just doing my part for the community," He then pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and coughed wetly into it, before quickly stuffing it back. There was a slight red stain on it, much to Izuku's concern.

"Uh, sir… the–"

"Don't worry, it's an old injury that sometimes flares up after a long day," The old man dismissed Izuku's worries, "Was caught up in a big villain fight a few years ago, and you know what they say – 'Life comes at you fast,'"

Izuku bowed down, "Sorr–"

"No, no – don't apologize. It was mostly my fault for not being careful…" The old man shook his head, going back to picking up litter, "You know, believe it or not, this used to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the whole prefecture."

"Really? It…" Izuku scrunched his nose as a breeze sent the smell of hot garbage his way, "That sounds kinda hard to believe…"

"Oh, believe me, it was," The old man reminisced, "Back when I was a kid, it was pristine white sand and crystal clear blue ocean. But then, a while back… well, I'm sure you know how Musutafu is sometimes."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, knowing full well how the city managed its budget. One only needed to look at the state of Aldera Junior High to know where the city council's true priorities were.

It was like a twisted version of that American quote: "Billions for corporate subsidies, but not one yen for the public benefit."

Izuku checked the time on his phone; he still had a few hours to burn… and he was starting to feel bad for letting this sick old man work himself to the bone over some dumb beach, "I… can help with the heavier stuff if you want."

The old man smiled again, obviously thankful for the offer, "Oh, you don't have to, I got it handled here,"

"Actually," Izuku scratched the back of his head, "I could use a bit of exercise since I'm trying to go to a hero school,"

The old man perked up, "Hmm?"

"Well, not hero hero," Izuku quickly corrected, "Just, uh… I am only applying for the general education track, and, well… I don't want to completely embarrass myself during PE class, y'know?"

"Ah… to be young again," The old man muttered in nostalgia. Wait, did he think that Izuku was trying to impress a girl? "I can help with that if you want – getting in shape."

"Wait, really!? How?"

"That's actually part of my job at the agency I work at. I have to write up a diet and exercise plan once every few weeks and make sure they follow it. Did you think All Might cut his figure by laying around eating TV dinners?"

Izuku was taken aback by the nuclear bomb that the man decided to drop casually. He took a second look at the man and noticed a lanyard hanging around under the tie, around Izuku's eye level. It was a pass; One for…

"Holy shit! You work for All Might!?"

The old man kept his lips sealed, only giving a wink.

"Holy shit…" Izuku forced himself to calm down from his mini-existential crisis, slapping himself, "Just, wow! What are the chances?"

"I trust you can keep this on the… 'down low' as you kids say?"

"Of course! Of course!" Izuku squeaked as a voice crack cut in, "He's like my favorite hero – So it's kinda crazy I met someone who personally knows him, like literally an hour after he saved my classmate– Oh, right, please give him my thanks for saving Bakugou!"

"I'll be sure to pass that along to him," The old man reached down and picked up a piece of garbage too big for the reacher, "I can write up a quick one-year plan for you over the weekend if you really want to get in shape – though, I'm warning you, it's gonna involve this beach and it will not be easy."

To get a workout plan from the guy who trains All Might of all people? What kind of idiot would pass that chance up!?

Izuku took a deep breath and gave the old man a determined look, "I'll do it!"

Besides, even if he wasn't going to be a hero, that didn't exactly stop him from doing something good for the community.

"Great!" The old man's surprisingly pristine smile positively glowed in the sunset, "Meet me here at 5:30 in the morning on Monday-" That early!? "-and we can get started… uh… Oh dear! How rude of me! We've been talking this whole time and I haven't even asked for your name."

"I'm Midoriya Izuku," Izuku bowed deeply, "Please take care of me!"

"Well, Young Midoriya. It has been an honor meeting you – feel free to call me Yagi."

"I won't disappoint, Yagi-sensei!"

A few weeks later…

A very small sliver of beach could actually be seen unimpeded, and by the concrete retaining wall, there was a large dumpster that was rented by Yagi. Izuku laid down on the now nearly clean and warm sand, every single muscle in his body burning in regret.

The comforting sound of the waves, the gentle sea breeze – if it weren't for the garbage, it would have been the perfect spot for a nap…

…Actually, a quick snooze couldn't hur–

"Get up, Young Midoriya," But alas, a rail-thin shadow was looming over him, blocking the sunset, "You still have to eat," A sealed tupperware was dropped right on top of Izuku's stomach, banishing away any hopes for rest.

With a groan, Izuku pulled himself up from the sand. Yagi pulled some wipes from his pocket and gave them to him to clean his hands. With a half-hearted "Itadakimasu", he opened the container and shoveled the food down his gullet faster than he could taste it.

Beef, beans, and rice, as usual – to round out the protein and carbohydrate requirement for the day.

The extreme heavy lifting and constant running were one thing, but the hardest part about the whole training plan for Izuku was actually eating enough. As a skinny teenager, and a Japanese one at that, he would have normally had around 1800 calories in his daily intake. But, under Yagi's insane Aim to Get Fit! American Dream Plan™, he had to triple that to gain mass at a sufficient rate, and that meant that he'd have to shovel down 6 or even 7 full meals a day.

Suffice to say, it was a lot harder than one would think. Yet, so far, the plan seemed to actually work: even after a scant few weeks of training, his arms and legs were already showing to be less twiggy, and he had grown at least a centimeter.

In thirty seconds flat, the tupperware container was completely empty other than a few stray rice grains. Izuku handed it back over to Yagi with the chopsticks, who proceeded to give him a satisfied smile.

Surprisingly quickly, the two of them have forged a strong bond. Despite Yagi's tendencies toward being a slave driver, he was a damn good mentor and trainer, who had this magic ability to make Izuku push himself beyond what he thought was possible. And over the conversations they had in the breaks between, he proved to be quite transparent about himself too, causally revealing his quirkless status one day on week two (in between the truckloads of exclusive All Might trivia).

Even his mother had taken a liking to the man, having him over for dinner a couple of times. Though, of course, she kept silently insisting that the man should eat more, despite the lack of stomach.

Without even realizing it, Izuku's body went back to training autopilot, walking towards a nearby truck tire. He was broken from his trance by Yagi pulling on his sand-covered shirt.

"Young Midoriya, you're done for the day."

"But–" Izuku tried to protest.

"You're done, and you will not train this weekend either," Yagi stated in no uncertain terms, "I see your muscles cramping, and I have seen how hard you push yourself. You need the rest. Trust me, you do not want to get rhabdo."

"…Yes sir," Izuku muttered, slumping his shoulders.

"Come on, cheer up – aren't boys your age normally excited to have a whole weekend to rest and play video games?"

Apparently, not Izuku, at least. He wasn't much of a gamer, preferring more to lurk on old forums in the dead of night or watch one of the billions of hero movies out there.

Yagi glanced at his watch, "Well, I gotta get going. All Might needs to have some late-night paperwork done, and it's probably gonna keep me busy until morning."

"Alright, G'Night Yagi-sensei!"

"Good night, Young Midoriya," Yagi started to walk away. But after a few steps, he paused, turning around and pointing a bony finger towards Izuku, "Remember, no training. If I see you here before Monday morning, I'll call All Might to personally drag you back to bed."

"Really!? You promise!?"

"Nuh-uh! Keep talking like that, Young Man, and I'll call Endeavor instead," Yagi gave the stink eye, which was quite creepy and intimidating under the shadow of his bony brow.

"Alright, alright!" Izuku raised his hands in surrender, "I'll see you then, and not one minute sooner!"

"You better. See you Monday, Young Midoriya" Yagi gave a bit of a chuckle, which broke into a familiar fit of coughing as he disappeared around a pile of abandoned appliances.

Izuku looked back toward the horizon. The sky was firmly orange now, as the sun started to dip under the distant waves; the sea grew darker and darker by the minute. He took a deep breath as the salty ocean breeze brushed by his body…

…

…

…

Tap. Tap.

And promptly choked on it. He whipped his head around and was met with green eyes and green curly hair. In an instant, his body was sent into fight or flight mode, and with him actively trying to squash the latter, he clenched his fists, ready to strike.

"W-Who are you!?" Izuku stepped forward. His voice cracked, taking away some of the intimidation factor along with the stutter.

His doppelganger, way too calm for the situation, raised his hands and backed up a couple of steps, "Whoa, whoa! Calm down. Hear me out before you decide to knock my teeth out…" He spoke in Izuku's own voice.

A copying quirk of some sort?...

Izuku paused, taking in his eerie mirror image. Was this the guy who pranked him with that letter? What in hell did he even want?... If he even was a he…

"…Now, what I'm gonna tell you is going to sound strange, but please listen to what I have to say. I promise you won't regret it!"

Against his better judgment, Izuku was all ears.