At Aldera Junior High School, a class took place in the yard for Phys Ed. The students were in their gym uniforms and lined up facing the area. A boy with spiked blonde hair stepped forward over the line with a menacing grin. He crouched on the ground and crossed his arms then stretched them out behind him. Spontaneously, his palms gave out incredible combustion, launching him towards a small wooden wall.

"Die," the boy shouted and swung his right arm at the wall unleashing another explosion, decimating the construct. He landed behind the smoking debris and stood back up as his classmates gave applause. One student with messy green hair clapped with a more bored and solemn face.

"Nice work Bakugo," smiled the gym teacher writing down the performance data on a clipboard. "Now go ahead and get back in line. Midoriya, you're up."

The green-haired kid jolted with nerves as the other kids gave chuckles and small laughs. He stepped up past the line while the exploding boy walked by still grinning as the teacher set up a blank piece of paper held on a thin wooden pole. The teacher returned to his original position and waited.

"Umm… coach," Midoriya asked? The teacher looked up from his clipboard annoyed as the nervous smiler. "Can I… get a light?" And the present student body burst into laughter, one student even said, 'Every time!' Only Bakugo didn't laugh, still grinning with confidence at the embarrassed student.

"Again Midoriya?" asked the teacher. Moping, he complied, pulled out his cigarette lighter, and sparked a small flame. Midoriya, still smiling nervously, reached out to the puny fire. The base of the miniature blaze pulled away towards Midoriya and shot into the center of his palm as its color turned from red, orange, and yellow to a mixture of light and dark greens. Pulling back his arm while the laughter died down, he pitched it at the paper, and it burned up in green flame colors.

"I can't keep helping you out like this kid," the teacher shook his head while writing on the clipboard. "You need to work on making your fire."

"Yes sir," Midoriya acknowledged woefully as he turned to move back in line.

"Just give up already," Bakugo smirked at Midoriya. "You'll never be a superhero with such a weak quirk, Deku."

The green-haired boy sighed as he went about his day.

'The first incident was in Qing Qing, City,' Midoriya narrated. 'An extraordinary child was born who radiated light. After that, reports of people with superpowers popped up across the globe. No one knew who was causing these 'quirks.' Before long, the supernatural became the normal, dreams a reality.

'The world became a superhuman society, with about eighty percent of the population possessing some uncanny ability. Our streets looked like scenes from comic books, a city swirled with chaos and confusion; a new profession dominated our collective consciousness. It was an age of heroes. With the rise of superpowers, came an explosive increase in criminal activity. While governments were stuck trying to figure out how to reform laws with quirks in mind, courageous people started performing heroic acts to keep our city safe.

'Protecting us against villains who abuse their powers for evil. With overwhelming public support, heroes found an official place as peacekeepers overseen by the government. Those who performed the best were paid the most and got all the fame and glory. Their careers depended on their ability to stay in the spotlight.

'But here's the sad truth; not all men are created equal. When I was four years old, I learned that some people had more power than others. But that won't hold me back. If anything, it pushes me to do better.'

In their homeroom class, Midoriya hunched sat and hunched over on the fourth desk in the fourth-row writing something in his notebook while sulking. Bakugo sat with his feet on his desk at the third desk in the fifth row.

"So," the teacher began, "as third-year students, it's time you started thinking seriously about what you want to do with your lives. I could hand out some career aptitude tests but…" The teacher swiped the whole stack of mentioned papers in one hand. "Why bother?" His students began activating their quirks and he smiled tossing the test papers in the air behind him.

"I know you all want to go to the hero track!" The middle schoolers cheered while showing off what they can do as potential superheroes. The only one not cheering while using his power was Deku. He managed to absorb a pinch of fire from an orange-haired girl sitting next to him who seemed to replace her entire hand with a red-hot flame. "Yes, yes you've got some impressive quirks, but no power usage allowed in school."

"Get a hold of yourselves."

"Hey, teach," Bakugo called out, changing the cheering to confusion. "Don't let me in with this bunch of losers. I'm the real deal but these guys will be lucky to end up as sidekicks to some busted D-Lister."

"You think you're better than us Katsuki?" asked an enraged classmate. He was joined by the entire antagonized class.

"Let's go," Katsuki accepted with a smile, "I'll take you all on!"

"Huh," the teacher observed his clipboard, "you've got some impressive test results. Maybe you will get into UA High." The classroom was in shock as Midoriya bent over covering his face and head.

"He's going to try for the national school?" asked a female student.

"That school has a four-point two percent acceptance rate," stated a male student.

"It's impossible to get into," another student finished.

"That's exactly why it's the only place worthy of me," Katsuki began again. He jumped out of his seat onto his desktop to stand. "I aced all the mock tests, I'm the only one at this school who stands a chance of getting in. I'll end up more popular than All Might himself and be the richest hero of all time! People all across the world will know who I am, and it all starts with UA High!"

"Oh, yeah Midoriya," the teacher began again, "don't you want to go to UA too?"

Katsuki froze as Midoriya looked up from his desk to a quiet classroom with everyone else blankly staring at him. After a moment only Bakugo and the teacher kept silent as all the other students began laughing hysterically at him.

"Midoriya?" a student laughed. "You're kidding, right? There's no way you're getting into the hero course when you're super weak!"

"Oh, come on that's not fair," Midoriya stood up from his desk. But the classmates kept on laughing. "The whole point of the hero academia is to learn how to better yourself and your quirk so you can be a hero. I know I can't do much with my quirk right now but with enough time and practice I think I at least have a chance."

Bakugo turned around growling and roared leaping off his desk at Midoriya, slamming his hand on his desk. Making an explosion that sent him out of his chair to the back wall of his seat.

"Listen up Deku," Bakugo addressed, "you're even worse than the rest of these damn rejects you pathetic wannabe! You think they'd let someone like you in when they could have me?"

"Huh?" Deku asked. "No wait, you got it all wrong! I'm not trying to compete against you!" He scooted away until his back was pressed against the wall. "You gotta believe me!

"It's just that… I've wanted to be a hero since I was little. I may not have a strong quirk, but I can still try my hardest, can't I?"

"You'll never be able to hang with the best of the best," Katsuki bared both hands making smoke rise to the air from them, "you'd die in the exams! Defenseless Izuku, this school's crappy, you want to embarrass it more by failing so hard?"

Later at 12:02 pm in the same city as Aldera Junior High, a woman screamed in terror as she fell after a horrifying sight rushed past her. On instinct, she activated her quirk, a blue forcefield while sitting down.

A man in an orange-striped uniform walked out of a small store in a fit of rage.

"Hey, get back here" the employee called out to a thief. Running down the sidewalk, a bipedal form of dark green sludge with eyes, teeth, and pants manically laughed with dollar bills sticking out of his body. "Someone, stop that monster!"

"Yell all you want sucker," the sludge villain ran, "this cash is mine!"

"Dude where are all the heroes?" asked a bystander on the other side of the street.

"Normally somebody would swoop in right away," said his friend.

"Maybe they're still busy from that scene this morning," considered a third.

"Remember when we didn't have to worry about randos with quirks all the time?"

"Seriously, there's no stopping him."

As they spoke a skinny man in a baggy white t-shirt and baggy green pants holding a plastic bag packaging two two-liter sodas. He coughed in his hand as he heard the conversation and noticed the sludge villain. In reaction, his entire body expanded into a tall and muscular form.

"Yes, there is," the now muscle-bound man corrected the three. They turned their heads to see who was speaking and fully turned around in excitement upon recognizing him. "You know why?" The sludge villain heard the booming voice and turned his head, still running. He widened his eyes in panic at the sight of the man stepping out of the shadows and making a wide and grinning smile.

"I am here!"

At 3:32 pm, classes were over at Aldera Junior High and students were leaving for the day. But Izuku stayed for a minute longer scrolling the internet on his smartphone.

"Man," he said to himself, "that fight from this morning is all over the news." Earlier on his way to school that day, he witnessed a giant villain attack. He was defeated by an even bigger and highly attractive superheroine who knocked him out with one kick after several other heroes intervened. "I better write some notes down before I forget anything." He picked up his notebook from his desk, but it was yanked out of his weak grip by Katsuki Bakugo. He waved it back and forth scowling at him.

"I don't know what you think you're doing Deku, but we're not done," Katsuki said.

"Whatcha got, his diary?" asked one of two boys of the same class walking up from behind Bakugo. He had short, long hair that reached the top of his neck and the other had short hair with some short protrusions. Bakugo showed it to them, and they read the title Deku wrote on it; 'Hero Analysis for the Future No. 13.' "Huh? Don't tell me you're taking notes on how to be a hero.

"That's so pathetic!" And the two laughed at Deku again.

"He's delusional," laughed the short-haired boy.

"Yeah, real funny guys," Deku stood up and smiled nervously. "Just give it back." But instead, Katsuki slammed his fist on the journal and blew it up, making Deku scream. He whimpered at the sight of its burn barks. "That's so mean…" But Bakugo was not done, he tossed the journal back over his shoulder out the window, making Deku scream again.

"Most first-string heroes show potential early on," Bakugo said calmly scowling at Deku shaking with despair. "People look at them and just know they're destined for greatness. When I'm the only student from this garbage junior high to get into UA people will start talking about me like that. They'll realize I'm legit, the next big thing. That's not ego talking I just know I'm good."

'Ego,' thought the short-haired kid.

"Here's a little word of advice nerd," Bakugo pressed his hand on Deku's shoulder and smoke rose from the cracks between his fingers. "Don't even think of applying or else." And he and the other two started walking away.

"That's just sad," said the short-haired boy. "I thought you'd at least have some fight in you."

"He finally gets it," added the long-haired boy, "he'll never be a hero. Better to find out now instead of later I guess."

"You know if you really wanna be a hero that badly there might be another way," Bakugo stopped at the door. "Just pray that you'll be born with a better quirk in your next life. And take a swan dive off the roof of a building." Deku's shaking then came from anger as he turned around with his best scowl. But Bakugo raised his hand to chin level and fired off some small explosions.

"Something wrong?"

And Deku stood still whimpering in fear again, waiting for them to leave. Once the coast was clear, he dawned his backpack and walked outside to where his journal was thrown.

'That idiot,' Izuku thought, 'you can't just go telling people to kill themselves. What if I jumped, what would he do then?' Then he found his journal, floating in a small above-ground concrete pond with koi fish trying to eat it. 'My dreams have turned into fish food.'

"That's enough, give it back," he said reaching out and taking it out of the water, scaring the fish away as his depression evolved to anger. "Damn it. Stupid jerk."

As he left school scowling, he recalled a time as a kindergartener. A blackout took over his neighborhood, and for hours no one had electricity to use. Young Izuku's apartment had been only dimly illuminated with multiple candles. He was only three feet tall sitting on the couch, moping, and holding his favorite action figure with both hands. It was a muscular man with blue leggings, a red top with a white line pattern and yellow wrist guards, and a long blue cape.

The figure had big teeth showing a smile with closed eyes, blonde bushy eyebrows, and head hair with tall protrusions at the front of his head shaped like a V.

"What's wrong honey?" asked his green-haired and slim waistline mother, Inko Midoriya. She sat next to him as she set a candle down on the coffee table and wrapped her arm around him.

"Nothing," Izuku still moped.

"Excuse me," came a man's voice from the hallway.

Hasashi Midoriya was a skinny man with messy black hair and glasses. "I believe it's half past someone's computer time." He smiled and held up a closed laptop. "But I believe I have the answer to that."

Izuku gasped with a smile making his mother giggle. They set the laptop up at the kitchen table next to a candle and his mother set up the website.

"Are you sure this is a good idea honey?" Inko asked. "I mean it is your work laptop." Their son was rocking himself back and forth in his chair with an open smile.

"Nah," Hasashi shrugged, "They know I've been responsible with it this far. Besides the video's innocent enough." Inko nodded at her husband's reassurance.

"Faster," Izuku continued rocking back and forth, "let's go!"

"Geez," Inko smiled, "I think you added ten thousand views to this one yourself Izuku. I don't know why you like it I think it's scary." She was finally done searching and stepped away from the computer for her son to enjoy and he stopped rocking and stared at the screen so he could.

The video Izuku loved was an old one. Disaster footage from a long time ago. But more importantly, it was the debut of the greatest hero the world has ever known. The video began displaying the remains of a building, illuminated only by the light of a distant fire.

"Who is he?" asked the filmmaker. "The guys already saved about a hundred people at least and it hasn't even been ten minutes! This is crazy, I can't believe it!" The cameraman then focused on a crashed bus, which Izuku savored with anticipation for his favorite part. A man rose from behind the bus, climbing up on two feet with the weight of others, and laughed.

"Look, he's got more!"

The man continued laughing and holding the rescued with his massive muscles. Upon a zoom-in from the camera, it was clear to see the protrusions coming from his blonde hair. And the colors of his costume were blue, red, and white. The sound of his voice always lit up Izuku's world.

"Fear not citizens," the buffed-up rescuer began with his right foot reaching the top of the collapsed bus, "hope has arrived," Izuku's world brightened still, "because I am here!" The young audience was once more blown away by the tagline.

"He's the coolest in the universe," young Izuku proclaimed full of excitement. But he was over joyous, and he hopped in his seat so excitedly that his chair began to tip over. The boy's face went blank while the parents panicked and ran over in a failed attempt to help. Izuku, with his free hand, reached out to the smiling face on the video. "All Might?"

He and his chair were on the floor and his parents arrived by his side too late. But the boy did not cry from any pain, for he was oblivious to it. Next to the laptop, the candles' wick had only smoke remaining, and the nuclear family was in awe and a gasp at the green fire in Izuku's palm. As he stared at the green flame, the child squealed small, it grew into a crying shriek as he sat up on the fallen chair.

"I got my quirk," he uttered. Izuku stood and jumped up and down with his burning hand in the hair. "I got my quirk, I got my quirk, I got my quirk!" He raised his action figure in the air with his flame. "Now I can be a hero, just like All Might!" He mimicked the hero's laughter as he heard on the video as his parents smiled with him.

But during the laugh, Izuku felt a pinch from underneath the fire touching his hand and it grew into searing pain. He screamed in pain as he waved his arm trying to shake off the fire.

"It hurts," Izuku cried, "it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

"It's okay sweetie we got you," Inko reassured him. She and her husband picked up Izuku and took him to the sink and turned the faucet on his hand and extinguished the flame. It left a blister that stuck with him for a long period even at his doctor's appointments.

"I see," the doctor speculated from the story. "That is a rather interesting quirk." He leaned over in his desk chair towards Inko and Izuku. "Tell me miss, what quirks do you and the boys' father have?"

"Nothing too special," Inko answered. "I can float small objects towards me, and my husband breathes fire. They're pretty useful I guess."

"Ah, well then," the doctor concluded, "it's no wonder he's reached a rather interesting development. Izuku has manifested a combination of the two, the power to extract flames into his hands. The blister is a clear sign that his body still needs to adjust to his quirk before practical use, common knowledge among quirk users of this caliber. I recommend he sticks with small candle flames for now.

"And once his skin no longer blisters or feels pain from the burns he can work his way up, repeating the steps. If he wants, he can make this quirk and himself into something great."

The next day, Izuku exercised his quirk back home with another lit candle, only to end up with two blistered hands after putting out the small stolen flame by sticking his last good hand in a cup of water. Izuku held back his tears, sniffing and whimpering from the pain.

"It's okay son," Hasashi assured patting his son's head. "Just remember what the doctor said, just keep at it and it won't hurt anymore. And I guarantee you'll be a great hero someday." Izuku turned and smiled at him, but then noticed the suitcase next to his briefcase.

"Are you traveling for work again dad?" Izuku asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Hasashi answered. "I don't know when I'll be back this time but when I do, and you've gotten better with your quirk I'll help you out with training. I'll shoot the fire and you take it for yourself. It'll be our way of playing catch."

"Seriously?" worried Inko entering from the hallway. Izuku then smiled wide at his father, no longer hurting from the burning pain.

'But that never came to pass,' Izuku shared with himself. 'After that dad came home from work less and less. And all I've been able to do is adjust to a small candle fire. Aside from not finding any other opportunities, I've been too afraid of being burned by bigger flames.' In his current life, on his way home, he found himself in front of a concrete tunnel under a street bridge.

'Every day I promise myself to fight back against this fear and take my training to the next level. But even though I'm still afraid I still have a dream that I want to fight for. And no matter what anyone else thinks, I have to believe in myself, and I'll keep smiling just like him!'

Izuku entered the tunnel with a funny walk and a fake laugh. But halfway through the stops laughing and walking when he hears a fluid noise echoing in the tunnel. He turns around to panic at the sight of an oozing monster wickedly smiling at him.

"A villain?" Izuku asked.

"You'll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in kid," the sludge villain grinned. His body finished rising out of the closed manhole cover and lunged at Izuku. Trying to escape, Izuku dropped his precious notebook, and the villain was pressing his sludge inside Izuku's mouth. "Don't worry I'm just taking over your body, it'll be easier for both of us if you don't fight back. It'll only hurt for a minute; you'll feel better soon."

'I can't… breath,' Izuku thought in his struggle to rip the monster off of him.

"Grab all you want my body is made of fluid," the villain bragged. "Thanks for the help, you're a real hero to me kid. I didn't know he was in the city, I gotta get out of here fast before he tracks me down."

'My body…' Izuku still struggled, 'getting weak. I think I'm dying. No, I… this can't be the end. Somebody…. Help.'

The answer to his prayer popped off the manhole cover as if it were a coin toss. Confused, the sludge villain turned around to see his pursuer.

"Have no fear you are safe," said the musclebound and athletically built man with spiked protrusions at the front of his hair still holding his grocery bag, "now that I am here that is!" In a desperate panic, the sludge villain swung its expandable arm at the strong man. Easily ducking it, the villain only managed to break part of the wall spreading concrete dust and debris. The man pulled back a fist and threw a mighty punch in the space between. "Texas Smash!"

The strike unleashed a powerful streaming air current that blew back the sludge villain.

"I can't… hold… together…" the sludge villain struggled and finally dispersed all over the cave. Falling free from captivity, Izuku could barely keep his eyes open looking at his rescuer.

'Is that…' Izuku wondered still faint and fading, "All Might?" And his world faded to perfect blackness. There was no telling how long he had been out of consciousness, but he was being awakened to repetitive slaps to his cheek.

"Hey," the slapper called out to Izuku, "wake up! Hey!" Finally, Izuku opened his eyes and the slapping ceased. "Thought we lost you there!" Izuku was nervously star-stricken at the sight of seeing his favorite hero in person.

He screamed as he quickly crawled backward.

"Well, it looks like you're moving around all right," All Might smiled and observed. "Sorry about that back there, I didn't mean to get you caught up in my justice-ing. Usually, I pay more attention to keeping bystanders safe, but it turns out this city's sewer system is pretty difficult to navigate!" All Might laughed his iconic laugh, mesmerizing Izuku. "Anyway, you were a big help, thank you!

"I've captured the evildoer!" All Might held up the two liters, now filled with the sludge villain.

'The most amazing hero in the entire world; All Might,' Izuku thought, 'the real thing, in the flesh, standing right in front of me. He looks so much cooler in person!'

"Holy crap," Izuku realized and began searching himself. "I gotta get an autograph, I got a pen around here somewhere." That's when he saw his dropped property. "Please sign my notebook!" He opened it to the center pages to find them already covered with the hero's signature. "AAH! He already did! Thank you so much, that'll be an heirloom, a family treasure past down for generations to come!"

All might pocket the evil-filled bottles in his pockets and give the boy a thumbs up.

"Well," All Might began, "I gotta get this guy to the police so they can take care of him. Stay out of trouble, see you around!"

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Izuku asked disappointed.

"Pro heroes are constantly fighting time as well as enemies," All Might explained while stretching. But Izuku was too scared to let him go.

'He can't go yet,' he thought, 'there are still so many questions I still want to ask him.'

"Now stand back, I'm taking off," All Might warned. And in a single jump, the man was already sky-high. "Thanks for your continued support!" But that was when he noticed an extra feeling of weight in his left leg. He looked to check his limb and realized the fanboy was latching on to him and screaming with the wind rippling his face.

"Hey, hey, hey what do you think you're doing?" All Might asked. "Let go, I love my fans, but this is too much!" All Might tried to tear the boy off of him.

"No way," Izuku denied, "we're flying! If I let go, I'll die!"

"Oh," All Might realized, "that's a good point."

"I just have a lot…" Izuku managed to say, "of thing I want to ask you personally! You're my all-time favorite hero All Might! Please!"

"Okay, okay," All Might recognized, "I get it, just keep your eyes and mouth shut!" Izuku buried his face into All Might's thigh as the hero gently grabbed the boy's collar for safety. He felt a cough coming on and covered his mouth through it, but he felt some blood escape his mouth.

'Shit!' All Might worried.

They landed safely on a building and Izuku slowly recaptured his breath in terror.

"My whole life just flashed before my eyes," Izuku said.

"Not a very smart move," All Might criticized. "Bang on the door for a while, someone will let you in. Now, I have to go! See you on the flip side!"

Izuku immediately recuperated in worry for this one chance.

"Wait not yet,' Izuku pleaded, "one second!"

"No!" All Might answered, completely done with this morbidly obsessed fanboy. "I don't have any time!"

"I have to know!" Izuku shortly explained. "Is a powerful quirk all it takes to be a hero?" All Might reached the rails at the hearing of the question and halted. "I'm an average kid whose power is super weak, could I ever hope to be someone like you?" All Might slowly turn to give the boy a long sideways glance.