I Will Never Be Your Hero

by Hok14

Most times when we act with the best of intentions we are still prone to making things worst. For Haru it meant everything that those he cared for were to be better off with everything he's done for them. After all is said and done can he justify everything that had come to pass?

5. Chapter 5

Guild Master here again, again.

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Gamemastersden and then .com

Nothing could have prepared Izuku for something as stressful as this. He stood in front of towering walls that were only accessible through a set of double doors that were so massive it was a wonder that they were even able to move in the first place. Izuku was in a bit of a sensory overload as the events so far were moving along so quickly. All the other students were all marveling at the massive expanse of the practice arena that had stretched so far out from one side to the other that it was like it was a biome by itself. He was trying his best to find some familiar grounds since it was a rather foreign experience to be treated as someone who was expected to have mastered a specific ability up till this point in their lives. A familiar face was the rather adorable girl who had saved him from face planting in front of the school. Her face was free of the crumbs that peppered her face when he first met her, but right now he just needed some familiar ground to get some footing on. Right as he went to introduce himself, there was a firm hand on his shoulder that stopped Izuku from making his intro to the familiar face from earlier that morning.

"What are you doing here? Are you here to interfere with the other's urban arena combat results?"

This guy was hounding him to a rather obsessive degree. The other student's there had caught sight of Izuku, but the general mumbling was a rather startling revelation to both Izuku and the student who was intent to keep Izuku from interfering with the other students.

"Hey, isn't that the guy with the hot girlfriend?"

"Yeah, word is that his girl tried to have her way with him right in front of the school."

"How does that guy have a girl that's a ten when he looks like a four at best?"

Both Izuku and the student who was gatekeeping him were rather embarrassed by the words being overheard from the other students. No further discussion was necessary as the boy who had Izuku by the shoulder released him and was a few paces away from him.

"Okay, start!"

The other student's looked up at the source of the announcement and saw Present Mic up on a concrete structure that had the perfect vantage point on all the arenas.

"What's wrong? Don't you know that real fights don't have countdowns? So get going already!"

The other students were all turned and ready to get their start on the exam already. What had startled them was that the kid who had made himself a bit of an embarrassing topic of discussion was already through the opening of the gates and was well ahead of the group. It had thrown off the rest of the group enough to stagger the applicant's enough for a few of them to push and shave against each other and create more discord between the individuals behind him.

Two Months Ago

During his training, one of the topics Haru had Izuku prepare for was the concept of fighting and combat. He disclosed a few things he's learned through his years living as a quirkless man from day one.

"Izuku, what do you think is an important factor when starting a fight?"

The beach was just about cleared with the few heavier wreckages being left for the end of his ten months. Izuku and Haru stood about three meters apart from each other while facing the other person.

"Uh… Whoever has an appropriately matched quirk to counter the others?"

"Not even close."

Haru raised a finger up and shared his answer to the question.

"For any fight; the first to strike while keeping their opponent in a reactive state is key."

"... Wait, while keeping… Why does that matter? Also, what does that mean?"

Living as a pacifist has made all of the boys' knowledge on fighting and combat abilities second hand at best. There wasn't enough time to go through the rigamarole of starring and practical exercises before he was able to pick up on what Haru was putting down. He best explained to the kid in a way that Izuku could best understand.

"Out there in the real world, one of the things that could make or break a fight is who gets caught unaware first. When a punch is thrown at your head, what would your response be to that?"

"I would try to block or dodge it."

It felt like an obvious answer to that scenario. Not many would just take a hit like that without some sort of good reason.

"Right. If I tried to kick your leg?"

"I'd do the same thing as before."

This felt like Haru was just giving Izuku the runaround without much reason at all. Midoriya bit his tongue against speaking out to the adult.

"Now, what if you didn't know which was coming?"

"... Uh. I would have to wait and see if it was either and block either one."

"Yes, that would be the normal reaction to take. But between a punch and a kick you're doing three things while your opponent just needs at least two to get to you."

The logic was still a bit lost on Izuku as the explanation only explained what it was that was happening in the scenario rather than what these factors equal into.

"Let me explain. For a reaction to occur; typically you do three seperate things to prevent yourself from getting hurt. First, you would register the danger coming in. Then, you see where or how the threat is approaching you. It's after these two things that your body can move to do something about it."

That made much more sense for Izuku to break down and understand. A scientific explanation of a reaction.

"All the other guy has to do is decide where and when he wants to make his move and just like that, he's ready to move in for first blood of the fight."

Now it was clear to the boy. Haru was teaching Izuku that there was an inherent advantage to being the first to make their move.

"Mind you that it gets more complicated with more experienced opponents and different weight classes; right now the likely case is that most of the competition haven't the slightest bit of experience in fighting. With this, take advantage of the rest of their lacking reaction time. Strike first and as hard as you can to get ahead."

Present day

Izuku was in a dead sprint fueled by the initial burst of adrenaline from hearing the starting signal. A few of the other applicants were already closing the gap he had created from the start; thankfully the majority of the group were trailing far behind still. One competitor who caught up to Izuku first was the boy in glasses that accused him of being nothing but a hindrance to the entire entry process.

In hindsight he may have been harsher than necessary as it was rather impressive that the boy he thought was just someone who was taking this all like some sort of joke had been the first through the doors before anyone. Now wasn't the time to give out such minor apologies for the first batch of enemies appeared out of the alleyways and leapt into action for Izuku. It was also this initial advantage that Izuku grasped for himself that the enemy robots decided on targeting him first. He tried to figure out how the robots would react while keeping up his running speed.

His lungs were on fire and every joint in his body was begging for him to just stop; Izuku ignored these demands as he found a high point target that was close enough for him to land a blow on. He went for broke and called on the power he had just received from All Might as instructed. The flow of energy in his limbs made his skin go numb with the amount of energy flowing through his veins. Before striking at the machine the next part of that very memory played out inside Izuku's head.

A Few Hours Ago

Midoriya had swallowed another person's hair without a second thought. It wasn't so much that it was the hair that he swallowed; it was the sensation of the thin strand dragging on his throat as it slithered down that got him to feel rather nauseous. The lack of a spectacle caused Izuku to look down at his own body in disappointment and question whether or not it was something that actually was happening.

"... I don't feel any different."

"Ha, of course not! What do you think your stomach does to things you consume?"

The prime of All Might's physique turned to the digital clock to take note of the time of Izuku's consumption of his DNA.

"Give it about two or three hours until you feel something."

The teenager then started to worry about his schedule after he had just cleared a space of several kilometers of dense garbage and heavy metal. As a bit of cautionary knowledge to Izuku; All Might had warned Izuku of the potential consequences of using his power.

"Young Midoriya. Your efforts were great and not to be downplayed in the slightest; but your body was the results of ten months of rushed progress. As much as the spirit is a part of this whole process; your physical body is just barely able to contain the power of One for All."

Midoriya was looking at All Might slightly puzzled as the hero elaborated on what it was he meant on his warning of using the quirk the boy just obtained.

"Be ready to feel the repercussions of using a powerful quirk like One for All on your body. When you use it; Wrench every muscle in your body and scream from the bottom of your soul this word…"

Present Time

It was almost a burning sensation as the flow of One for All through his body scared him with how much power he felt was about to pop him like a squeezed grape. An uncomfortable amount of pressure under the skin of his arm stopped the boy from striking at the machine in front of him. This slight moment of hesitation would have cost him dearly if it were not for the sudden bright and glittering beam of light that eviscerated the machine that was intent on flattening him to the asphalt.

Behind Izuku was a foreigner with blonde hair and eyes glimmering with all sorts of… emotions. Around his waist was a rather bulky looking belt that still had a faint trail of light traced where the beam that saved Izuku was just at. A rather extra looking person with extravagant looking tastes was rather proud of his unique looking attack.

"Merci, dear comrade. You distracted the machine marvelously. Although we have teamed up well, we shall likely never meet again."

The few french words thrown in was a rather telling sign that this other potential student was fond of keeping up a persona rather heavily associated with the french.

"Adieu!"

Just as he came, he left. Izuku was left rather befuddled for a moment until the intercom announced the remaining time.

"Seven minutes remaining!"

Now with a better context of the power given to him; it was clear that he was at the mercy of his powers rather than benefiting from them. That moment of hesitation made him realize that had he struck the machine from before; he would have likely immobilized his arm. He only had one shot at this whole thing. His only option was the riskiest one at that.

Behind him the ground trembled with a deep vibration that felt like the deeper layers of the earth were shaking. Izuku looked over his right shoulder and was confronted with a mech that was easily twice the size of any building in this whole arena. The array of sensors made it look like it had several eyes that stared down right at Izuku; really it was mapping terrain and targets to engage. Within parameters it struck the ground in front of it and sent the applicants into a panic with the massive shockwave that radiated from the impact zone. Izuku stumbled and almost fell back onto the ground when something close to a memory kept him from doing so.

Izuku stopped himself just short of letting his fingertips brush the road under him. He clenched his hands and grit his teeth as he kept himself on his shaky legs to look up at the colossal titan that was making craters in the hardened concrete and asphalt with each swing of it's fists. He was frozen with fear; but there was no way he would allow himself to grovel on the floor in fear. Years of ridicule and doubt that built up to him almost losing himself in his own self pity was enough of a motivator by itself. A mentor who was still so strong after experiencing something that was so much more depraved and hellish was enough for Izuku to steel his spirit as he kept himself on his feet by pure willpower.

All the other competitors were all running past Izuku as he just stood and refused to move in front of the advancing colossus making its way down the street. The bespectacled student was one of these fleeing students who took one look at Izuku to then keep running for safety. In his mind he couldn't see this as something that would warrant his own personal safety beyond what was necessary. It was foolish for anybody to try for the guaranteed entry target. It was several stories of pure metal and destruction; nobody here would have had the capacity of taking that target by themselves. It would require an enormous amount of teamwork to even the odds, and even then only one of them was capable of claiming the prize after taking it down. It was a challenge that was not only tremendous in scale, it was something that inherently dissuaded those from engaging it further by the lack of motivation of getting people to work together.

From an undisclosed location there were multiple heroes seated in a monitoring room. The several arenas were all being displayed on the individual windows on the monitor that was practically one wall of the room. A careful and sharp set of eyes were assessing the pragmatic abilities of the students in a high pressure environment.

"I see, not only was the written exam an exercise to push the students into a state of mental fatigue of sorts; the number of available targets as well as their ability to react and utilize the information given to them are all there to simulate a real situation where they are being heroes in the thick of it all."

One of the instructors commented on the recently upgraded curriculum that now included the written exam and the practical exam on the same day. There were some rather odd requests from those of the educational board after they had suddenly made the request to make such changes for academies all throughout Japan. They worried for the students' well being at first; but now it was clear that this was to fine tune the process to better create an actual fight that would be not only predictable, but stressful and demanding of their mental capacities.

"Being a hero in this day and age is no longer just about powers, abilities, or physical capacities alone. We face enemies that learn and adapt to our efforts to keep the public safe; so in order to combat this growth we too must find those who can grow and adapt in the same capacity."

It was a fair assessment by the principal's response to the instructors comment on the exam process thus far. Nobody could argue with such sound judgment, but there was someone who wanted to at least voice one point of contention.

"Isn't it still a bit much to release such a high profile target so early? How would the students be able to gather points and keep themselves safe with such an obstruction in their way?"

The principal only smiled in his usual calm demeanor with a rather short and telling response to his thoughts on such unorthodox practices.

"... How, indeed?"

Four Minutes Later

"Two Minutes Remaining! Better get to working harder if you wanna come ahead, future heroes!"

Present Mic was giving the time remaining as well as some perfectly useless advice for everyone who was fighting for their place in UA Academy. This was already a rough start for quite a few of the applicants since their heads were still recovering from the written exam just a little while ago. Many students were already pretty much decommissioned with many of the other students still barely able to stand. A large remaining number of students were already roughed up and were near or past their limits. It was a non stop barrage of enemies and it was going at a fairly high intensity with so many multiple mechs just pouring onto the examinees. Most inferred that since the point system existed that it would be a limited amount of enemies that not everyone could cash in on. They were on the opposite side of the spectrum of things.

The only applicants who were lying down or left alone were those too injured to move or were out cold. Nobody in any of those arenas were given a moment of respite for eight minutes straight. They all underestimated how difficult this exam was going to be this year. The teachers themselves were not planning to increase the intensity of the exams from where it was from last year since it was seen as difficult enough without the lack of funding being too much of an issue. Much to their surprise there was a sudden spike in their government spending and a request to follow the recommended designs and structure of the current exam. They saw little reason to say no to such a thing like additional funding and newly approved methods of assessing future heroes more thoroughly.

"Where are they? Where are they?"

There were mechs on the field that Izuku saw from the introduction presentation that were high enough to make up half the required points necessary to get into UA. He was uncertain how much damage that his new quirk would inflict on his own body; if he could hold out for at least two of these larger targets then he knew he stood a chance at getting to his goal. So far it was a hellish battlefield littered with mechs all trying to get to the group of students who were still on the defensive after all this time.

"Oy, watch it!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Don't let them break the group!"

Desperate screams from the remaining applicants barking to each other were the only audible thing over the sound of rumbling and machinery being stuck and ripped apart. Despite the multitude of targets; there were too many lower point targets getting in the way of the larger machines that were still a fair distance away. Time was still racing against Izuku and it was now do or die if he wanted to even have a chance here. All of this came to head with the appearance of the towering mech now turning the corner and sending those high value targets away to some other unseen location to give this unit the space necessary to unleash its power.

"Run! It's here!"

"Go, go, go!"

The dispersal of machines gave the young combatants enough room to run off to another spot in the arena for cover. Izuku was knocked down by the stampede of teenagers and was only able to shield himself with his arms as those less considerate were stepping over and on him to get away. He was sure that this was going to make him lose consciousness before somebody reached down to grasp him by the jacked and free him from near death. To Izuku's surprise it was the same student who was admonishing him earlier.

"What are you doing?!"

An outburst slightly startled the young Midoriya. Even now this other applicant was diligently correcting Izuku.

"Be careful! We have to go now!"

Without a second thought the reluctant savior turned heel ang got to running with the group away from the impending destruction this one piece of heavy machinery was clearly set on delivering to any human in range. Izuku was just as eager to follow before he heard something that stopped him from moving another inch.

"Please… Please, help…"

Looking behind him he could just make out the bunny of a girl from earlier that morning. It was hard to make out her shape through the dense cloud of dust, but that didn't stop him from ignoring those thoughts of second guessing his senses and to just keep fleeing. She was piled under a loose pile of rubble stacked high and large enough to keep her down. This arena was built to enough of a safety standard that if any piece of debris from the environment was still fragile enough to break much easier on impact as well as having a reduced weight. It didn't directly translate to the material being weightless as the brown bob cut girl was finding out just now.

Another deafening stomp that vibrated through Izuku's ankles and into his teeth was just the icing on the cake illustrating how powerful this thing was. He had to look past the height of the neighboring buildings to even see the whole thing coming towards him. The morning greeting from earlier was still repeating itself ad nauseam in his head.

"... H-help… me…"

It was like Izuku blacked out for a blink of a moment to then return to his body running right at the mech at full speed. It was all instinct at this point that was moving Izuku's body. His rational fears were trying without results to stop the boy with intense fear and rational thinking. Now at the base of the robot; the boy then charged his legs to leap at a rather peculiar spot on the robot he was intent on getting to. The speed he flew at the machine was reminding him of the flight he had with All Might when they first met. That one part of the mech was dead center where he was flying towards.

Four Months Ago

Izuku was done with the day's exercise with his body in an immense amount of pain after hauling several broken kitchen appliances across the beach to the designated discard pile next to the parking lot. Haru was eyeballing Izuku a little as he was certain that there was something that Izuku was doing behind both his and All Might's back. There was going to be physical pain and fatigue as expected; but what was transparent to the white haired chef was that he was passing the realms of simple pain into the realm of irreversible damage to his body.

"Kiddo! Come here."

The young Midoriya dragged himself to the food truck serving nobody and stood just short of the stools at the serving bar. He tapped the counter in front of the center stool which got Izuku to slowly and painfully crawl up feebly onto the seat. All the movement just seen was confirmation to him that the boy's muscles were dangerously close to undergoing rhabdomyolysis. He still wanted Izuku to be the one to come clean and indirectly confronted the green haired boy wincing in his seat.

"You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Y'know; still feeling the workout just now is all…"

A failed attempt to diffuse the situation that didn't change Haru's facial expression of concern and underlying disappointment.

"... Izuku."

He could sense that Haru was about to say something rather serious based on the look he was getting.

"Yea?..."

"You wouldn't lie to me, right? You know I'm just trying to make sure that you're okay…"

There was a new emotion in Izuku's stomach that hadn't been there just a second ago. It was guilt that decided to rear its ugly yet necessary head.

"... Of course not, Haru-san. I wouldn't do that."

Everything that Haru saw so far didn't let him believe the boy. For now he would give the boy a little more time before he would intervene to confess what was actually happening. Changing the subject to ease the boy's apprehension was all he would do for now. One sigh and Haru got to lending the boy his ears and words of wisdom; long as Izuku was the one asking.

"Alright. Just… Talk to me if there is anything you need. I don't want you to get hurt over something preventable."

"Actually, there was something I wanted to know."

Haru gave a look at Izuku that told the boy he wanted to answer the question reserved for him.

"UA has a practical section of their entrance ceremony that I'm gonna have to take part in if I want to get in… Is there anything that you could tell me that would help me through it?"

Taking a moment to contemplate what he would say to the boy that would be important for such an occasion; Haru answered the boy with one piece of advice.

"As you know I got involved with some altercations when I was a kid. So taking on a bigger and stronger enemy than yourself translates like this…"

Haru exited his kitchen and approached Izuku face to face after spinning the boy around. He put his fists up in a brawler stance to illustrate his point.

"No matter how big, small, weak, or powerful the opponent; There's usually a common design flaw that many ignore when making something in our physical design. One; the important bit's tend to be either in the head or center of the chest area."

A slow and deliberate hook with his right showed the boy the part of the chin to strike for a KO in a straight brawl.

"Doesn't matter how advanced or tough it seems, we're creatures of habit; and habit dictates that the important parts go there. Second, there's a major exploit that even you could use no matter what…"

Present Day

Izuku was flying right towards the section of the robot that connected it's head to its body. It's larger build prevented it from properly blocking the small human projectile aiming for its neck. The arms were too large and swinging in too quickly to properly stop the boy's ascent. The air pressure produced from it's flailing just made it easier for Izuku to ride the air pressure up and through it's limbs without touching anything. While screaming out the word that All Might lent him, he was moving instinctively now at the guidance of Haru's advice.

Four Months Ago

"... and it's this right here."

Rather confused by the pointing of Haru's finger to his beard, Izuku asked for the adult to elaborate.

"... Their beard?"

"No."

Haru just took a step back and tilted left and right as if he was dodging the punches of an invisible opponent. There was a clear example shown that Izuku still couldn't quite pick up on.

"Their chin."

Haru stopped shadow boxing and went up to Izuku to illustrate his point.

"Humans are a rather uniquely designed animal, kiddo. We're designed to walk upright at all times for traversing and our body reflects that need."

He put his hands on his hips while explaining to the boy.

"We have a habit to keep our hips the least mobile part of our body; meaning that it drags behind the body's movements whenever we actually move around. Up here…"

The bottom of Haru's sternum was the next allocated spot for his finger.

"Our center of gravity is about roughly here. When you move or want to move; it's this part of the body that requires the most effort for the body to coordinate. Moving left will force me to send my chest in that direction. Moving right will do just the same in a similar principle. Before even this starts to move, there's another thing that is required to move around."

Curiously the part Haru pointed to next wasn't the chin like he indicated was important in a fight. It was his ear that he pointed at.

"Most people think that there isn't really a sixth sense and that the five we use in our daily lives is all there is to it. Our sense of balance is just as important and all of it takes place right where another sense happens to be. In our ears."

Haru squared up again and did some light dodging to show what it was that connected the fight to the chin.

"There's a saying among fighters who physically use their punches and kicks to deliver damage known to be true; where the head goes, the body follows suit. It's by instinct that we tilt our heads towards any direction we are about to move towards. For you, it should be enough for now for you to keep looking at the chin of whatever it is you're scrapping with."

This was all easy enough to realize for Izuku. There were vulnerabilities in the bipedal design of humans that Haru spent so many years realizing on his own. A conclusion that stuck with Izuku even past all those months of training.

"Even then, the lower you go the less the body begins to move around. Keeping your eyes on their hips will tell you where they are, looking at their chin will tell you where they're going. Plus, the chin is an easy way to shake up whatever important delicate parts are inside their skull."

A fist bump to his own chin to illustrate the mechanics of a knockout. It was the next part of his advice that Izuku was utilizing up till the present time.

"And if anything, hitting the necks is effective. Hard to make something as flexible as the human neck tough like the rest of the body. Which is why a lot of new fighters tend to look down at their opponents feet the first few fights they get into."

His hand then patted Izuku on the shoulder, making the boy wince slightly from its additional weight.

"But keep your eyes on where they're going and you'll read them way before they read you."

Present Day

Izuku's initial jump was aimed slightly to the left as the mech took a step with it's right leg and made it tilt ever so slightly. Aiming here when he leapt was key as the machine was still one foot in the air right as Izuku sailed up at the machine's head. Izuku waited for the exact moment for the mech to move exactly where he wanted it to be. While sailing up and towards the robot; it's sensors went haywire and detected that there was an unknown threat flying straight for it's head. It needed to preserve its core functions and sensor arrays at all costs, so it decidedly tilted it's elongated head out of the way just as Izuku was close enough to strike. It just barely cleared the threat as it suddenly registered that there was a sudden spike in corrupted activity in it's system. Izuku never intended for the head as the original target, it was it's neck.

"... SMASH!"

The numerous hydraulics and tubes that actuated the machine's neck began to pop and rip apart like sausages wrapped too tightly as they fried on a cast iron grill. Oil, fluid, rubber, as well as chunks of metal flew all over the rooftops of the simulated city skyscrapers. Izuku honored his months of training by utilizing both All Might's abilities and Haru's wisdom in taking down this massive enemy in one blow. It's head was now detached and began to plummet to the streets behind it as half of its hardware functions were indeed in it's head. Without its head; the mech lost all ability to detect its environment, secondary system functions, and alerted a critical error script that made the machine go limp in the direction of little to no bystanders registered around it before it lost that function.

It was still impressive how powerful that thing was since it's design was not intended to be compromised by any amount of young quirk users in a single blow. Those who were running were privy with the live version of seeing the goliath's head tumble free from it's body along with the rest of it to the floor in a single massive earthquake. Most of the applicants there were wondering what on earth could have done this; only the bespectacled student knew it was that green haired boy that he left behind that was likely responsible. In fact, he could just make out a speck of a human silhouette just barely visible that glowed green in the sun.

Inside of the secured bunker; the teachers were all in awe that a single potential student alone was enough to take down the most dangerous target on the field. All Might felt a swelling of pride at how it was clearly visible from his perspective that Izuku reacted to save the other applicant without giving his own safety a second thought. He knew there and then that he had made the right choice in investing his quirk to this boy with a heart of platinum. However, in contrast to All Might; another mentor of Izuku's was feeling rather different about the whole affair at that very moment.

Outside UA Academy Grounds

From that very first leap at the machine that Izuku made, Haru knew something was already off with the boy's movement. Rather than using his body to stabilize his flight; Izuku just let his legs trail behind him like loose sleeves. Upon closer inspection of the footage they were moving exactly like loose sleeves. To his horror he realized that Izuku had shattered the bones in his legs to the point of rendering them loose and flexible without any sort of solid structure inside of them. Watching that head of the mech come loose didn't fill the man as much with pride as it did with fear over Izuku's safety. He was focused on Izuku's figure as it began to fall and plummet towards the earth. There was no time now and so he used the emergency line he had prepared in case something like this were to happen.

"Yes Sir?"

"Send them in NOW!"

"Immediately."

The closer the boy was getting to the earth the more Haru's heart fell with Izuku. It was some of the longest few seconds Haru had to endure during his life here in this mortal realm. The team assigned were not slackers by any means, but it was still painful to imagine what would happen if he failed to get Izuku proper help immediately.

Inside UA Academy's Simulation Arena

The adrenaline was finally clearing enough for Midoriya to realize that he succeeded in taking out the mock villain. The streets below were blown to bits with the heavy and now nonfunctioning piece of electronic equipment crushing the ground below into an imprint of it's back. He felt the sudden relief and pride that he managed on his own for the first time ever.

"Thirty seconds remaining!"

The time announcement brought Izuku out of his emotional high and now back in reality; he was now aware of the rushing wind and sensation of dropping to the ground at terminal velocity. While plummeting there was a moment where Izuku rationalized that there was the possibility that with All Might's power came the ability for him to survive such a deadly looking fall. A sense of pain that wiped his brain clean of all other thoughts just then radiated from three of his four limbs. It was unholy how much this hurt. His skin felt like it was blistering and boiling with blisters after taking second degree burns. His muscles just screamed pain. Not a minor form like after a workout; it was like a truck ran over and backed over his legs and right arm until they were rendered indiscernible from week old roadkill. His bones were broken. All of them. Every one. Even the smallest ones. He wasn't wrong there.

HIs body wanted to render him unconscious to spare him from the pain that was driving him to the brink of literal mental insanity. He knew that if that were to happen then it was over. The flopping of his pulverized limbs was just adding to the overwhelming experience of pain and panic. The reality of what All Might said was now a reality and not just a word of caution anymore. The exhaustion was settling in now and it was making the edges of his vision go gray and black.

He spent all of last night and the past few days clearing out heavy debris all by himself. The past few days were led with little to no sleep with his constant effort to complete the conditions of his training. Now he was about to black out before hitting the ground and splattering himself onto the mockup build of a city street below. With the ground now coming up at a frightening pace there was no time to think about the pain. Izuku wasn't even sure whether or not he succeeded in striking the critical point on the robot for him to benefit from taking the risk he did just now. It was now just a matter of time until gravity finished him off before he could even know if he qualified to enter the school of his dreams.

He tried to use his last functioning limb to try and soften the landing to survive. He was fading into unconsciousness too quickly to enact his plan. He was now just above the skyscrapers when he completely blacked out and fell limply to the earth. All Might was now feeling a sense of intense panic with the young Midoriya now just short of colliding with the hard earth below. It was short lived with what happened just when Izuku collided with something.

Less Than One Minute Ago

There were many officers and divisions of the Emergency Security Department that existed to serve public safety to the highest caliber possible. They ranged from law officers, urban and natural environmental conservation, as well as medical services and rescue. Underneath the simulated arena's were a series of tunnels that the ESD medical division utilized to train and prepare their medics and doctors with events such as this. The entrance exams were such an extreme example of a possible scenario where an extreme and large case of multiple injured people would exist.

From these tunnels the medics and other attendants were on standby in case of any sort of unintended emergency situation. Ten minutes was not a very long time, but to these men and women it was an amount of time that might as well resign their patients dead. They followed and divided themselves systematically while the majority of the group migrated alongside the majority of applicants. The team leads were given holographic wrist monitors that displayed every available camera option at the press of an option. It was right when they all felt an earthquake that shook the tunnels that an emergency call to the group near the site of the impact was made.

"Miura."

"Move to save the descending civilians."

It took no further explanation for his team to then exit the hatch that led into an empty building near the feet of the downed robot. They all exited the building and were immediately prepared for the impending impact of the young boy falling from the sky. They were still standing rather far from the impact zone at first glance; but there were four medical staff with rather odd looking devices large enough to be suitcase sized standing in a square like formation from one another. They all slammed their devices into the ground and activated the controls on their individual units to activate their primary functions.

Each separate suitcase device spewed a soapy cloud of bubbles that increased in mass and size quickly. In less than a second there was a mass of foam that was turning all of it's smaller bubbles into larger pockets of air that were growing in number. Izuku was just past the top of the buildings by the time the mass of bubbles reached a rather impressive height. The rest of the team were on standby while waiting for their patient to descend into the bubbles. It was a rather unworldly sight to see a body falling at ridiculous speeds into what looked like a pile of bubbles to then have some medical staff enter the mass of bubbles from the sides and retrieve the body unharmed from the fall. In fact it was as though there were no bubbles to speak of when they exited the bubble mass and layed the boy carefully on a prepped medical gurney.

"Times up!"

An alarm signaled to all the applicants that the allotted ten minutes to gather points was now at its end. The sound of the alarm went on for less of a second before numerous ESD medical staff dressed in white military gear were pouring out of the buildings and attending to all the injured applicants. There were drones with speakers attached that made an announcement to all applicants to put their minds at ease.

"All Applicants; please standby as ESD medical staff come to attend to your physical conditions. All Applicants; please standby as ESD medical staff come to attend to your physical conditions."

Their reputation was only set in stone as there was no waste in time or effort in getting the more injured of the students stabilized and under acceptable condition to transport them to a proper medical facility. Every medical staff member that attended to the teens' well being wore a gasmask with full vizors so as not to restrict their vision. No expense was spared since the threat of contact or airborne contaminants were often a factor in dealing with medical emergencies. In no time all students who were injured or in another sort of more serious condition were being tended to or were already well on their way to get proper care elsewhere.

A familiar face was being helped by ESD medical staff with his minor scrapes and bruises. Before he could muster up any sort of meaningful protest the majority of his cuts and bruises were already cleaned, treated, and dressed before he realized what was happening. In all honesty; if he were not following in his family legacy of heroism, his next choice would have been to apply into the Emergency Security Department before going back into another form of heroism as his other choices. If heroes represented an aloft hope for a better future; then the ESD were that element necessary to safeguard that very safety.

This government funded division was a success from the very first day. It only has grown from there as once the entire country knew of their work, the amount of applicant's rejected from the getgo was just another boost to their reputation. They clearly had no interest in the commonwealth and were in a state of maximum efficiency to keep the civilians of Japan safe from those who intend to do them harm. Best of all they were working as a response group to any sort of danger that warranted their intervention. They never had officers patrol or keep tabs on the public; it was a strict emergency service type deal that they never broke.

This sort of commitment to such intentional and deliberate safety was enough to allure him to join them had it not been for his original goals of attending UA. The applicant with glasses was only able to look on in awe as an elderly woman exiting an ambulance transport approached the boy who was being stabilized by the competent medical staff tending to his wounds. She passed another student she then randomly offered gummies to for no discernable reason. She was then escorted past the rabble as they asked who it was that deserved an escort of several ESD officers surrounding her in a secure perimeter.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Recovery Girl. She is one of the greatest healers known in this country to Work with UA Academy."

The blonde french boy with eyes glittering like diamonds elaborated on everyone's curiosity as ESD medics finished up in cleaning and bandaging the boy. The elderly woman spotted Izuku who was still being attended to by the expert staff before he was qualified to be moved. She noted his limbs being completely pulverized from the inside out before noting that his body was like that of a newborn that let their quirk injure them. When she came to a stop the ESD officers who were escorting her all set a perimeter from her with all of them facing outwards to the rest of the rabble.

"Oh my. It seems as though your quirk has exceeded the limits of your physical body. Like newborns not ready for their potential power…"

Her lips comically stretched to ridiculous lengths to kiss the young teenager unconscious on the gurney. Everyone looking out of interest for such a vip of the medical staff here to help the injured saw something rather miraculous.

"Wh… What is that?"

A random person not familiar with this scenario voiced his confusion over what it was he just saw.

"Madame Recovery Girl has the ability to heal most injuries by simply kissing them. The regeneration from any sort of bodily harm short of replacing organs."

The purple skin disappeared under a green light that creeped across the boy's limbs and snapped all of his bones back into their rightful places without invasive surgery.

"Whatever injury that needs immediate mending is her specialty. That is why the ESD considers her a hero who warrants a security team at all times provided by them."

The disappearance of all of Izuku's injuries made everyone realize how valuable this elderly woman was for cases that were rather serious in this simulated battle. The training exercise for the ESD medical division personnel was finished off with the most critical of patients being transferred to Recovery girls location for immediate care. Oddly it was at this point that Recovery Girl was more or less working with the ESD rather than UA. Her position as a UA alumni was the only connection keeping her here at UA as their nurse. ESD and their protocol were still watching and protecting her at all times from those who wished to do the elderly women harm. Not even the government could touch her without the permission and followed protocols set by the ESD being completed.

She was a system for UA to utilize until the ESD perfected their medical equipment and knowledge to produce results that rival that of Recovery Girl's quirk. She was one of their highest security protocols from now until she died of natural causes. It would be ridiculous for a school to just depend on one person for any sort of medical emergency after putting so many potential students through such a dangerous exercise.

The analytical mind of the student who was judging Izuku's actions from the very start of this admissions exam realized something rather critical. The knowledge of Recovery girls abilities being only second to the ESD medical division being present was currently known by only top hero families with the resources necessary to know about such extreme practices. Her security detail and following social ambiguity was thorough and secure enough that even top heroes couldn't pinpoint her location anywhere but here at the UA entrance exams. Izuku was clearly someone who wasn't so privy to such knowledge; so it dawned on him that he had reacted with the knowledge of…

A Week Later

Izuku was on autopilot the whole time since his attempt to enter UA Academy. The only times he wasn't so emotionally dead was waking up to Mina crying and hugging him at the side of his hospital bed and hearing about Mina's acceptance into UA. He owed Mina after so much time apart and fell asleep with her after she demanded that she be let into his bedroom. Both sets of parents were surprisingly okay with the arrangement after being completely transparent with every responsible party member. It was only Mina's dad that sounded as though he was talking through his clenched jaw.

From that day it was a rather off set of events that Izuku failed to commit to memory. He would just wander through the neighborhood aimlessly without a thought in his vacant mind and come home to the sight of either Haru or his mom being a bit disheveled. The two of them would act awkward at times and be flush with a slight warmth to their bodies that even Izuku could feel just standing next to either of them. Izuku was finally able to come home more often and it was something the two adults were reluctant to acknowledge. They both loved and cherished Izuku with all their hearts; both Haru and Inko were still slightly bitter in their own ways that their time alone would be cut short by the absent minded Izuku despite their best efforts to get the boy to spend more time out of the Midoriya household.

This was not an allusion that they were neglectful of Izuku's needs since Haru knew not to overstay his welcome and Inko didn't skip a beat in caring for her only son as she usually did. The only time they were able to keep Izuku out of the house long enough was when they convinced Mina's parents to sleep over at his better half's home. The father who had peeked through a hole he bored into the wall through the neighboring room all night was hard pressed to say that Izuku had any sort of malicious intent. What broke his heart was how intimate his daughter was trying to be with the green haired boy. He was on the wrong end of things as it were.

Izuku was having dinner with his mother and he hadn't taken a bite of the fried mackerel with how disillusioned he had been feeling up till now. His mother tried to snap her son out of his stupor while he absentmindedly just kept up his many muscle training assignments charged to him from the past few months. Izuku's mother had finished up the dishes when the door had gone off with the bell signaling someone at the front door.

The green haired boy was in the living room and pondering how much his life was affected by everything that has happened so far. His own mom was aware of everything he was doing to get into UA with Haru now being more involved with the happenings of the Midoriya household. This all was something she was rather partial to getting her only child out of since it was leading to her boy only experiencing pain so far. By Haru's word to her it was barely enough of a guarantee that it was alright to allow Izuku to continue his training with All Might and himself. Another mundane evening where all he could do was just wait till he could see the results of his maddening efforts.

"Izuku, honey?"

Peering over his shoulder Izuku could see his mother standing at the hallway entrance with an envelope in her fingers clenched tightly in her hands. Weight was often a subject of personal preference in whether or not something was too heavy or too light. It was a fact of life that some people were simply meant to be stronger than others from the very beginning. A piece of squared paper folded into a pouch was the only thing Izuku could stare at in his room. While he had the nerves to do so he reached over and peeled the wax seal ever so gently. The envelope had a widget that was rather mysterious to the boy. There was a folded piece of paper as well with other information; it was secondary to the mystery of what this piece of technology meant for Izuku. There wasn't much of a mystery as it were as it suddenly projected a holo video as soon as he placed the mysterious device flat onto his desk.

Just Then

"Where is he?! Where is it?! What's happening?!"

Inko calmed down Haru when he suddenly burst through the front door of the apartment with nothing but questions to what Izuku had just received. As in control the man was in secret; this was all up to Izuku whether or not he passed. Inko and Haru waited for Haru in the living room while they both sat side by side and held each other's hands like any parents would in concern for their child's results for their potential future. Inside the boy's bedroom the youngest Midoriya was getting his answer just then.

"Ha ha ha! Good day, young Midoriya! If Nakamura is present as well; Greetings to him as well!"

All Might popped up in the holo video dressed in a golden pinstripe suit that made the broad shouldered figure look like some cartoonish oversized cartoon of a host rather than the most renowned hero in the world.

"I have to say that the results I have to present are nothing short of something unprecedented in the history of UA's history! It is likely you have set a-"

Off camera, there was a muted voice whispering to All Might from behind the camera."

"What? I'm talking too much?..."

More inaudible whispering followed by All Might's belligerent and ignorant commentary.

"I'm wasting time?... We have how many left?... How much time?... I'm wasting time?... I need to stop repeating everything you- Ah! I see!"

The hero on screen had finally collected himself enough to deliver the message he had prepared for Izuku just now.

"Ahem… So your written exams were nothing short of exemplary with someone who seeks to be a hero through nothing but diligence and sacrifice! Beyond that, the passing student's results are being announced through their rather tedious holo video projectors."

As the information of what this implied set in for Izuku; All Might elaborated further on what it was he meant to communicate through this video.

"Looking at this example image that the introduction had used at the start of the exams; one would be forgiven for thinking that a threat like this was something that would only warrant a rational response to run away. It's not only physically tougher than any other target, it also has no confirmed location for it's destruction point!"

It wasn't out of desire to get into UA he almost killed himself. This was throwing off the boy who was still overthinking as All Might provided the clear information that Izuku was meant to hear.

"No other student in the past had managed to strike this randomized point before they took down this difficult opponent. As of now; you are the only student in UA history to ever get themselves into this academy through such a brave and reckless means!"

A feeling of relief that lifted all of his stress and concern from after the exams took all of it away. Nothing was tying Izuku down to this freeing sensation of validation that Izuku had been lacking for his whole life.

"You have gone past plus ultra and demonstrated something that this school is lacking indeed! I look to see what it is you will achieve past this moment of true heroism, young Midoriya."

Izuku was too excited to tell his mother the good news. In the living room he also found Haru waiting with her and with all of them there they all celebrated then and there with a rather pleasant family atmosphere heavy in the air. The rest of the night was spent celebrating the results of Izuku's success.

Two Days Later

After the emotional highs had worn off enough for Izuku, he revisited the video left to him by All Might and saw additional footage still left on the holo video projector. Scrubbing the video let Izuku see where he left off; patience was a much easier thing to exercise now that the tension polluting the boy's psyche was nothing but a memory at this point.

"But do not take this as an invitation to allow yourself to slack off on your efforts in achieving your goals. From now it begins!"

More rants on heroism followed in All Might's usual style of bold speech and strong gesturing was enough of a motivator for the confirmed UA student. What caught Izuku's attention was the sudden cut to a video feed of Haru sitting on a folding chair in a blue suit. The man then took a moment to clear his throat before speaking to Izuku with a one sided speech style of speaking.

"Hey, kiddo. I asked a friend of mine at the company that edits these video's to include this bit of footage for you."

Rather than cutting the video short, Izuku kept watching the private message unique to his video message.

"... I'm scared. I know it sounds like a lame way to say 'congrats'; but it's the truth…"

In the video the man he recognized as Haru was lacking the usual swagger and confidence he knew the man for. It was such a vulnerable looking man that it was almost too uncomfortable for him to continue watching.

"Being a hero isn't just glory and ideal fantasies being realized… You're going to be someone who's going to do this for a very long time."

Such a tired voice came from Haru in the video. Where All Might was vibrant and iconic, Haru was formal and rather limp.

"You're going to face some rather dangerous things through your efforts of being a hero that is as great as All Might… And it scares me…"

An unfamiliar pain in his chest was affecting Izuku quite a bit. All this time he thought that Haru was someone who was gung-ho on making Izuku a hero like he always wanted to be as a kid. Seeing his closest guiding figure telling him something so private and compromising was an unprepared change of pace in how he saw the man.

"... I can't stop you. You need my support and I'll give you as much as I need to give you."

Harun looked up into the camera and connected to the boy through a recording alone.

"So don't stop. You run to that goal and keep running for however long or fast you need to go to make it. Don't you dare stop for me or anybody else. You are a hero in training, so don't ever stop moving."

It instilled a rather strong spirit of resolution to see his mentor revealing his personal feelings to then share how much he cared that Izuku was capable both physically and mentally to achieve his dreams. He was wishing for something from Haru that was evading the edges of his memories still.

"... I love you, kiddo. No matter what; I'll be on your side. Remember that always."

The video ended.

Izuku remembered what it was he wished from Haru. Now it was likely that Izuku had it the whole time without realizing it was there the whole time. He wanted a dad. It was so painfully apparent what Haru was to him that it made Izuku shed a few tears over how much of an ignorant fool he was to Haru's attempts to make sure that Izuku was taken care of under his watch.

At the Bakugou Household

Katsuki was not a very emotionally revealing individual from the very start. Especially after the passing of someone very near and dear to his family. His mother still kept up appearances but worked so hard to the point where Katsuki himself recognized that he needed to fill in a few responsibilities to help her out in the family. His entrance letter to UA was celebrated by his mother and him with cake and all sorts of other decadent food items with a celebration even the youngest Bakugou would remember fondly. Haru even stopped by when the news was realized and with him the Bakugou family shared an evening with Haru and his food truck. Day's after the news was announced he too realized there was additional footage on the holo video that he skipped over in the excitement.

The whole video Haru shared with the young blonde was a very revealing video of Katsuki's oldest mentor. How it was he felt after everything that happened to the boy. What irritated the young Bakugou the most wasn't the constant lectures or probing in his personal life. Once in a while there was a look he got from Haru that filled him with an emotion that made him react with so much frustration it even scared the boy at times with how much he was against Haru showing such an emotion on his face. The video was sharing Haru's fears for the boy and what he wanted for Katsuki. Hearing that Haru felt like he wasn't enough of a role model hurt quite a bit. But the next part was what kept Katsuki from finishing the video for quite some time.

"... I know it must have been hard for you. I want you to know this and remember it for the rest of your life; what happened with your dad isn't-"

He had slammed down on the small projector suddenly with his open palm. Bakugou was still at his desk with the fear of what was about to be said keeping him from finishing the video. It shook him to the core that someone he looked to for strength and guidance was still fearful for his emotions over something he wanted to bury in the past. The reason Haru was so insistent was because of Katsuki's reluctance to speak about the past. It was because of this that Haru feared for Bakugou Katsuki.