"Izuku. Izuku. It's time to get-" Inko Midoriya's sentence was cut short as she opened the door to her son's room, a frown appearing on her slim face. She stood there, a pink blouse and blue skirt that went down to her knees with an apron over it. Appearance wise, nothing much had changed with her save a few lines around her eyes as well as some minor weight gain that she had never been able to get rid of from the stress of what happened almost ten years ago. Thankfully, it wasn't all that noticeable.

The room she was looking into was practically an All Might shrine, with posters of the Number One hero covering up most of the wall while figures of the blonde man lined most of the shelves. There were a few other action figures of other heroes such as Midnight and Crust, but you would need a keen eye to spot them.

There was one area of the room that was free of All Might, the workbench where Izuku, now a fourteen-year-old teen, sat in front of. Half dressed in his school uniform, the black jacket of Aldera Jr High hung on the back of his chair, the green-haired boy was so engrossed in his current project that he hadn't heard either his mother's voice or her opening the door. Instead, he continued to chisel at the band of metal as he formed it into a highly decorated bracelet with several small red-colored gems embedded into it. Off to the side were several other items Izuku had made recently. Things like hair pins, key chains, rings, and other such items that he had crafted himself now laying in small boxes.

"Izuku!" repeated Inko, her voice louder and full of motherly authority. This seemed to do the trick as Izuku jumped in his seat, the tool he was using flying out of his hand before landing on the floor with a thump.

"W-What?" cried the teen, a hand moving to his heart as he looked around in startled panic, until he looked at the door, his face relaxing as he looked at his mother. "Oh, mom! Sorry, you scared me!"

As Izuku turned in his seat, fully facing his mother, the teen's elbow collided with one of the few books on his workbench: a book on ancient medicines. Already there was a row of small glass vials lining the back of his workspace: each one filled with a green liquid and capped.

"Have you been up all night?" asked Inko, raising an eyebrow at her son as she eyed his uniform looking for any signs that it was the same one he had worn yesterday.

"No," laughed Izuku, standing up, putting on the jacket of his middle school uniform, the sleeve of which slid underneath the shield that had been on his arm since he was four years old. Despite being unable to remove it from his body, the jacket slid underneath the shield as if it wasn't there. "I'm not making that mistake again. I just got up a little early and, well, inspiration hit me as I was getting dressed. Didn't want to lose it so I started working and, ah, well you know the rest."

"Ok," replied Inko, relaxing she was still giving her son a motherly look. "But next time inspiration hits, how about you just jot it down in one of those notebooks of yours?"A smile then appeared on Inko's face as she saw her son's horror-filled expression.

"Mom! You know those are my Hero Journals!" Izuku said in a panic, his eyes darting to his stack of hero notebooks next to the bed. "I can't just sketch something like that in one of those! They'll get mixed up!"

"Better than being late for school," said Inko. "Now come and eat your breakfast or else you'll be going to school hungry."

Later, the green-haired youth made his way down the sidewalks towards his middle school, one eye on his phone as people and even a few filolials passed him by. On occasion he would glance up at the large, feathery ostrich-like creatures, noting the light shading of colored feathers on their heads before going back to what he was looking at. While he still had some interest in them, the shock of their creation a few years ago had worn off as they were now more common.

When he was about halfway to his destination, the young Midoriya spotted an odd sight. Camera crews were taking pictures of a hero he'd never seen before: a blonde-haired woman dressed mostly in purple with horns coming out of her head. Standing next to her, head hung low while being heavily bound, was someone who Izuku could only assume was a villain. His heart sank a little as he began to put two and two together. He had missed a hero fight! Perhaps this woman's big debut!

'I can't believe this!' thought the teen, his shoulders sagging in disappointment. 'I-if I had just left a little earlier, I could have made it here in time to watch the whole thing! Maybe mom's right. The next time inspiration hits, I'll just write it down. Guess I better get a different notebook for them. Maybe a sketchpad so I don't get them mixed up. Or one of those mini-notebooks that-'

Just as Izuku's mind was starting to go into overdrive, he spotted something else that caught his attention. There, on all fours and looking down on the ground, was another hero: Kamui Woods! A mix of horror and excitement washed over Izuku as he looked at the hero. Horror that he had missed out on seeing the wood hero in action. Excitement that, if he helped out, he might have left something behind for Izuku to use!

For the next several minutes, Izuku began looking around any area that wasn't taped off by police until he found what he was looking for. It was a piece of wood, larger and thicker than any of the nearby trees which also had the same patterns on it that the pro hero's mask and gloves. If he was right, and the boy had a very good feeling that he was, then it had been created by Kamui Woods. Most likely it had been broken off during the fight with the villain. Quickly taking it, he rushed over to Kamui Woods, asking if he could keep it. The wood hero just gave a shrug at that as he got up.

With permission given, Izuku held up his shield and stared at the green gem in its center. As he held the wood up, Izuku began to recall memories of what had happened after Midnight and the police had questioned him. Once they had left, the hospital staff had gone to work making sure he was taken care of. As the doctors had further examined Izuku's hand to make sure there was no lasting damage besides the scarring, they had also called upon their own quirk specialist that they had on hand. He was a kindly, slender, middle aged man whose quirk gave him stethoscopes that dangled from his earlobes. Several times, Izuku was brought up to his office in the childrens ward and received tests from the man, who seemed just as excited about quirks as the young Midoriya. This had put Izuku at ease, making him all the more grateful that he didn't need to see his previous doctor who had bluntly told him he was quirkless.

Then, when the tests were finished, the doctor sat before Izuku and his mother just like the last time. Only, this time, the doctor seemed to be rocking back and forth in his seat as he tried to hold back his excitement. Like he was practically bursting at the seams to tell what he had discovered, eyes darting from the boy to the shield on his arm before returning to the boy again.

"Well, this isn't the type of quirk you see everyday," he said with a grin. "Oh my. I-I don't know where to begin. I guess…I guess I should start off by telling you that the name of your quirk is called Legendary Weapon: Shield. I-I never thought I'd live to see it in real life!"

Izuku's eyes had widened when he heard that, almost sparkling with excitement at hearing that. Legendary Weapon: Shield? That sounded so cool! With a name like that, his quirk had to do something amazing! Yet, while the little boy bounced with excitement to match the doctor, his mother just glanced down at the shield with a slight frown.

"Legendary Weapon?" she said in a questioning tone. "Doctor, what is that exactly?"

"To be honest, we don't know!" replied the doctor, his eyes widening while his smile seemed to grow. "And that's what's so exciting! Your son isn't the first one to wield this quirk. Since the dawn of quirks, this quirk has appeared twice before. Nor is it the only weapon-type quirk out there. They are rare and appear just as often as the shield! According to my records, the last time this quirk was seen was around a hundred years ago in Europe along with three other weapons: the sword, the bow, and the spear. And…And because these quirks are not passed down genetically and behave differently than how normal quirks work there are some quirk specialists who believe that these weapons are not really a quirk. Rather they believe that people like young Izuku here have a quirk that allows them to summon forth and bond with these weapons! But there are others that disagree saying that they have to be a part of a quirk and…and…"

The doctor, who had begun to stand as his speech became more and more excited, suddenly paused as he noted the wide-eyed expressions on both the Midoriya's faces. Quickly realizing that he needed to calm down, the doctor took a deep breath before sitting back down to continue his explanation.

"Well, the truth is, I have spent the last few days trying my best to find any records detailing information about the Shield. Sadly, there are very few. For right now, all I can tell you is that he's now a bit more durable. Hopefully, in time, he'll be able to discover what his quirk can do. And, ah, maybe he'll be willing to share this information with me? Pretty please?"

Since that day, Izuku had learned a few things about his quirk. For starters, he discovered that while he could move the shield around his body, he was unable to take it off. He had also learned that, back when he started Middle School and wanted to take up kendo, he was unable to hold the wooden sword. In fact, whenever he tried to pick up any type of weapon, it would be repealed right from his grasp.

While both of those things were interesting, they paled in comparison to the most interesting feature of his shield.

Holding up the piece of wood over the gem, Izuku released it and watched as it sank into the center of his shield. The green gem then glowed for a moment as the image of a massive, interconnecting group of circles appeared in his mind.

Izuku had no idea what prompted him to try this in the first place. He remembered that he had been young and had used a simple leaf at the time. But, from that simple leaf, Izuku learned that by doing this he could gain new shields and each new shield granted him new abilities. With his Leaf Shield, Izuku found that he could learn more about the plants he came into contact with, but also modify them slightly. Not to any insane degree like other heroes, just making them healthier.

At least, at first.

Since then, the green-haired youth had gained an impressive collection of shields from all sorts of materials. From rocks to bugs to animal fur and even everyday items, Izuku fed them all into the green gem gaining all sorts of different shields. Though some of his best shields came from people with quirks.

Izuku stayed where he was, watching as a new circle in his metal grid was added. With a smile, he turned to continue his track to school.

It took Izuku a good twenty minutes of speed walking to make it to his middle school with only a few minutes to spar. Walking down the halls, he passed by several people who greeted him warmly to which the teen waved in greeting as he made his way to his homeroom. Once there, Izuku took his seat only to have one of his fellow classmates approach him with a nervous expression.

"Hey, Midoriya," said the teen. "Look, I know I promised I wouldn't pester you about that request. But, well, Hinata's birthday is coming up really soon and…"

"Oh, right!" Without another word, Izuku reached into his bag to pull out a small box. Holding it out, the green-haired teen opened it revealing a silver pendant shaped like a hydra, blue and green crystals embedded in its three necks. Attached to the pendant was a silver chain. Upon seeing it, Izuku's classmate's eyes softened in appreciation as he pulled out his wallet.

"Midoriya, you are my hero right now," the classmate exclaimed happily, handing Midoriya the previously agreed-upon amount before taking the box in his hand.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," replied Izuku humbly as he put the money away, his head down so that no one could see the hints of the blush appearing on his face.

"I would," replied Izuku's classmate, not letting this go. "I mean, I'm hoping me and Hinata can get into the same school. But if we don't, and she ends up going far away, I at least want her to have something to remember me by. Something special, one of a kind like her. And something that I can afford. Hey, I know you're hoping to get into the U.A., but if the hero course doesn't work out then maybe you should just do this full time. I know I would if I had your skills."

Just as Izuku raised his hand to wave off this comment, the sound of a foot being slammed onto a desk rang out through the room.

"Oh, please!" The loudly spoken words came from none other than Katsuki Bakugo, his voice gaining the attention of everyone in the room. The ashen-haired blond, who was sitting at a desk near the window, turned to fix his seemingly eternal angry red eyes upon the two teens.

"As if Deku has even the slightest chance of getting into a school like U.A!" continued the blonde bomber. "Sure, his quirk might be a step up from the rest of you extras but not by much! Not nearly enough to get into the best hero school in the country! Why would they even consider letting in a nobody with a shitty defensive quirk like his!"

"Well, there's no harm in trying Kaachan."

Bakugo, seemingly enraged by Midoriya's calm and friendly tone, turned in his seat to slam both feet onto the ground. The explosive blond then stood, causing most of the rest of the class to jump back save for two: Midoriya who just continued to look at him with a smile on his face, and the classmate standing next to him who just gave Bakugo a deadpan expression. Snarling, Bakugo began to approach the green-haired teen.

"DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN STAND UP TO A VILLAIN-" began Bakugo before he suddenly cut himself off, the anger in his face lessening for a moment as his eyes shot towards Izuku's scar-covered hand. He then made a face as if the appendage had insulted him, grinding his teeth before turning around.

"Tch. Do whatever you want," said the blonde as he turned around, hands shoved into his pockets. "Just stay out of my way or I'll kill you." With that, Bakugo walked back to his seat. Everyone watched as the explosive blond sat back in his seat, an angry aura seeming to surround him as he did so.

"Has the dude never heard of Crust?" mumbled Izuku's classmate, rolling his eyes as he said this. Just then the bell rang, singling the beginning of class. Hearing that, the classmate then turned to look at the shield user, a grateful smile on his face as he held up the box. "Thanks again Midoriya. I'll be rooting for you."

With that, Izuku's classmate turned away as he pocketed the gift. At the same time, Izuku just pulled out his school supplies and began setting them on his desk just as the teacher walked in carrying a huge stack of papers.

When classes ended, Izuku left the building while exchanging a few words with various students along the way. The only one who ignored him completely was Bakugo who just shot him a dirty look before turning to look away. Not that Izuku took it too personally. Having known Bakugo for years, he was used to it.

As he left the school grounds, he turned and began walking a familiar route towards the gym he frequented. This wasn't one of the larger, more well-known gym chains in the region but instead a small, family-owned gym. And while they couldn't offer the more specialized equipment that the larger gyms offered to people with various quirks, the equipment was well maintained and the price was easy on his wallet.

'Hmm, I wonder how long I should work out tonight?' thought Izuku as he began to plan out his night. 'Two hours would give me the best work out and I don't have that much homework tonight. But I do want to hit the bookstore and see if they have any more books on medicine. Plus I need to get in as much studying as I can if I want to pass the written portion of the U.A. entrance exam. So maybe working out for an hour? No, wait, an hour and a half!'

Smiling at his decision, Izuku reached into his pocket to pull out his phone so he could double-check the time the bookstore closed as well as see if there was any noteworthy hero news that happened since lunch. As soon as he held the phone up, his eyes fell onto his scars. Scars that were a reminder of why he wanted to be a hero. To save others with everything he had and to bring back their smiles. Just like how he had with Raphtalia.

A blush found its way onto Izuku's freckled cheeks as he recalled the last time he had seen Raphtalia at the hospital. She had been brought into his room in a wheelchair and, despite how sick she was, the girl was bursting with so much life and smiling so much that Izuku almost didn't recognize her. Tears had welled up in his eyes, happy that he had been able to give that back to her. That he had been able to do what people like All Might did all the time. The only way that moment could have gotten any better was if the mighty symbol of peace himself came in to give Izuku a thumbs up!

'I wonder how she's doing?' thought the young man. 'Maybe, someday, I'll see her again.'

With that, Izuku continued on his path to the gym. Only ten months remained before the U.A. entrance exam after all.