The heavy metallic doors of the support department groaned as they slid open, revealing a sprawling workshop filled with dozens of students hunched over machinery, sparks flying in bursts of orange brilliance as tools clanked against metal. The air was thick with the scent of oil and burnt circuits, the hum of whirring gears blending into the chatter of students who barely looked up from their work. Izuku took a hesitant step inside, his breath shallow.

Eyes flickered toward him, brief and assessing. Some merely glanced before returning to their blueprints and welding torches, others whispered in hushed tones, their voices carrying over the constant hum of machinery.

"Is that him?"

Izuku did his best to keep his breathing steady to ignore the murmurs. He wasn't new to being stared at, whether it was for being quirkless as a child or now, and now for being the center of one of the most controversial events in recent history. The weight of judgment had never truly left him.

But here, it was different. These weren't his classmates in 1-A, who had made the decision silent or not… to accept him. These were strangers, students who had no reason to believe in him, no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt. Still, he had a reason to be here. He had to push forward.

"Oi!"

The sudden shout rang through the lab like an explosion, startling more than just Izuku. A few students winced at the sheer volume, while others sighed, clearly used to the disruption.

Izuku turned toward the source of the voice. A girl was hanging upside down from a steel beam, her wild pinkish hair sprawled out in every direction, goggles strapped tightly to her forehead. She had a wrench clamped between her teeth, her arms fully extended as she adjusted a mechanical limb attached to an unfinished suit. It was only when she heard the whispers rise around her that she looked down, her sharp, perceptive eyes locking onto Izuku.

She grinned.

"You're the guy they assigned me to, right? Midoriya Izuku?" The wrench clattered to the floor as she flipped down with an effortless motion, landing right in front of him. She leaned in uncomfortably close, peering at his face with unbridled curiosity.

Izuku blinked. "Uh… yeah?"

She grinned even wider, reaching out and grabbing his arm before he could react. "Great! You're mine now."

He tensed. "What?"

"Mei Hatsume, U.A.'s number-one genius inventor!" She dramatically gestured to the sprawling room behind her, as if presenting some grand kingdom. "And you, my friend, are my newest experiment. Well, more like my assignment, but same thing, really."

Izuku had read about her before, heard rumors about the eccentric support course student who single-handedly created hundreds of prototypes and had an unhealthy obsession with "babies"... which, as it turned out, referred not to living creatures, but the countless gadgets she produced at an alarming rate.

Mei's grip was surprisingly strong as she pulled him deeper into the workshop, weaving effortlessly between cluttered workstations, unfinished projects, and piles of metal scraps. When she finally stopped, she spun on her heel, crossing her arms with a look of sheer delight.

Mei wasted no time, grabbing his wrist and dragging him forward with strength that didn't quite match her frame. "So! Let's get straight to business, what's your quirk? And how can I make it better?"

The simple, direct question was one Izuku should have been prepared for, yet it immediately sent his mind into a panicked spiral. He had no idea how to explain One for All, no way to tell her that it was a quirk passed down, that it was a secret between him and All Might, that he barely even knew how to use it himself.

His silence must have lasted too long, because Mei tilted her head, narrowing her sharp golden eyes at him.

"Huh. That's weird," she mused, tapping her chin. "Didn't expect you to hesitate like that. Most hero students are obsessed with talking about their quirks."

Izuku tried to force words out, but the best he could do was a scrambled, "It's… complicated."

Mei hummed thoughtfully, then smirked. "I like complicated."

Something about the way she said it made him feel strangely relieved.

Mei studied him for a long moment before shrugging, completely unbothered. "Eh, doesn't matter," she said breezily. "We'll figure it out."

Izuku blinked. "Wait, you don't—?"

"Look, dude." Mei suddenly leaned against a nearby workbench, her expression shifting to something more serious, more grounded. "People keep whispering about you, making their assumptions. I don't care. I've got a pretty good eye for this sort of thing, and I can tell you're not what they think you are."

He stared at her, unsure of how to respond.

"I make things," she continued. "That's what I do. My job isn't to judge people, my job is to give them the tools they need to do their job better. So whatever's up with your quirk, we'll figure it out."

Mei clapped her hands, her usual manic energy returning in an instant. "Now then!" She pulled out a small remote from her belt. "Let's see what you've got."

Before Izuku could ask what she meant, she pressed a button. A loud mechanical whirr sounded above them as the ceiling split open. A metal hatch released, and with a clatter of gears, a humanoid dummy was lowered into the center of the room.

Several of the support students groaned. "Oh, come on Hatsume…"

"Someone secure the loose tools before she destroys everything!"

Mei ignored them entirely. Her eyes shone with unfiltered excitement as she turned back to Izuku. "Alright, mystery hero! let's see what you've got."

Izuku swallowed hard. He had never used One for All before and for the first time since inheriting it, he was about to find out exactly what his body could withstand. His hands curled into fists at his sides, his mind flashing back to the conversation he had with All Might just days before.

"Midoriya," All Might's voice was steady, but there was weight behind every word. "This power I have given you… it is not something to be taken lightly." All Might paused for a moment. "Your body is barely holding it together." His expression was far more serious than usual.

"Like a glass barely containing the weight of an ocean. The moment you unleash it, even once, you'll feel it down to your bones."

Izuku sat across from him in the hospital bed, gripping the sheets so tightly his knuckles turned white. "But I can handle it, right?"

All Might exhaled, watching him carefully.

"One for All has grown stronger," he said finally. "Much stronger than when it was passed to me. Even at my prime, I struggled to contain it. And you…" He hesitated. "Your body was resilient… even more than I expected, but it is still barely enough."

Izuku swallowed.

"I won't sugarcoat this," All Might continued. "Once you use this power, your body will break. And unless you learn to control it, it will take everything from you."

Izuku had felt his stomach tighten at those words. "Then… how do I use it?"

All Might's lips curled into a knowing smirk. "Clench your butt."

Izuku had choked on air. "What?"

"Clench. Your. Butt." All Might repeated seriously. "And then internally, yell out SMASH!"

Izuku had stared at him.

Surely, he wasn't serious.

But All Might had only laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "You'll see what I mean soon enough."

Izuku inhaled sharply, grounding himself.

Mei was still watching, waiting. The support students had paused their work, their curiosity outweighing their skepticism.

He braced himself, planting his feet firmly against the tiled floor. He could already feel it—the raw, untamed energy bubbling beneath his skin, coiling around his muscles like a storm ready to be unleashed.

Clench your butt.

Izuku grit his teeth.

SMASH!

A crackling surge of power ignited through his arm, electricity streaking across his veins as his muscles exploded with strength.

The moment he swung—

A shockwave ripped through the lab, sending gadgets, tools, and even people flying back from the sheer force of the impact. The training dummy ceased to exist, obliterated into unrecognizable fragments. The metal walls groaned under the pressure, shelves toppled, and the entire space was momentarily consumed in a gust of chaotic wind.

Mei was launched backward, her feet skidding across the floor as she barely caught herself on a workbench. Support students clung onto whatever they could, eyes wide with absolute disbelief.

When the dust settled, Izuku stood in the center, hunched over, gripping his arm. His breath was ragged. His limbs trembled. He had done it, but there was intolerable pain.

A searing, unbearable agony shot through his right arm, so intense it almost blinded him. His body shuddered violently, his vision darkening at the edges. He barely heard the gasps, the shouts, the hurried footsteps.

Mei ran forward, but her excitement had turned to concern.

His arm was ruined. It hung limply at his side, mangled, the skin a sickening mix of deep bruises, raw flesh, and dark purple veins that pulsed unnaturally. The bones, though unbroken, were shattered internally. His body had barely held it together.

He forced himself to smile through the excruciating pain. "H-how was that?" he rasped, looking up at Mei, his vision blurring.

He collapsed onto the ground to his knees. It hurt. It hurt more than anything he had ever felt before. But through the pain, through the trembling of his broken limb, through the ringing in his ears… one thought persisted, repeating over and over in his mind.

This… this is One For All?

Holy crap…

Mei grinned, eyes practically sparkling.

"Now that," she said, flipping through her notes, "is interesting."

The atmosphere inside the gymnasium was electric, a charged anticipation settling over the students of Class 1-A as they stood in neat rows, eyes flickering between the towering figures of Aizawa and All Might, both present to oversee their latest challenge. The large arena-like structure, typically used for combat drills, was a marvel of reinforced steel and impact-resistant flooring, designed to withstand the raw force of quirks in action. The high ceilings loomed above them, casting long, faint shadows from the overhead lights, creating an environment that felt both expansive and suffocating at the same time.

For some students, the upcoming trial was nothing more than an exhilarating challenge, a test of strength and ability. For others, it was a moment of quiet self-doubt, an inward struggle hidden behind neutral expressions. And then there were those who stood completely at ease, either confident in their own power or uninterested in the stakes at play.

Izuku saw Todoroki stand motionless, his mismatched eyes scanning the room as if assessing each of his classmates in turn. There was no visible tension in his body, no sign of nerves… just quiet, unwavering focus. He had no intention of underperforming, but neither did he care about proving himself.

Mina bounced lightly on her feet, hands on her hips, shifting from one foot to the other with an eager grin stretched across her face. "Man, this is gonna be fun! We finally get to test ourselves properly!" she said, nudging Kaminari, who grinned back, though there was the faintest edge of nervous energy beneath his casual demeanor.

"I just hope I don't fry my brain right out of the gate," Kaminari admitted with a sheepish chuckle, scratching at the back of his head. "Gotta keep it cool this time."

Jiro, standing beside him, smirked. "Yeah, no promises on that one, Sparky."

Further down the line, Iida stood perfectly straight, his hands locked behind his back in disciplined formality. His expression was one of deep contemplation, as though already strategizing in his mind. This was another opportunity to prove himself, and he had no intention of wasting it.

Yet Izuku trembled. It wasn't noticeable at first, just a faint quiver in his fingers, a slight unsteadiness in the way his breaths came and went. He tried to keep his arms folded tightly across his chest to suppress it, but the more he thought about what was coming, the worse it became. He forced himself to breathe through his nose, focusing on the rhythmic in-and-out motion to keep himself from outright panicking.

It had been two days since the incident in the Support Course. Two days since he had unleashed One for All for the first time. He had lost control of his own body, the sheer force of the power rendering him completely immobile, his limbs battered and broken despite Recovery Girl's immediate intervention.

And now, here he was, standing in line, waiting for a match he knew he wasn't ready for.

He hadn't even had the chance to speak with All Might yet. Izuku knew his mentor must have heard about what happened, how could he not? The entire support course had been witness to his moment of recklessness. And yet, in the hours since, there had been no time to talk, no moment to process everything.

His classmates didn't know the full extent of it. They had heard there was some kind of accident, maybe even some rumors about him overexerting himself, but none of them had asked. Not yet. They were too focused on their own battles, their own preparations.

But that wouldn't last forever. Eventually, someone would want to know what had happened. And sooner or later, he would have to answer.

Aizawa's voice cut through the hum of murmured conversations. "Alright, listen up. Today's exercise is a one-on-one mock battle." His tired gaze swept over them, pausing briefly on certain students as he continued. "You'll be testing yourselves against a classmate in a controlled match. This is an assessment, not a tournament so don't get cocky and don't be reckless. Be rational."

"However," All Might chimed in, his usual booming enthusiasm subdued but still present, "I do want to see all of you give it your best! This is a chance to apply what you've learned and push yourselves forward!"

The large digital screen flickered to life, the randomized pairings appearing in bright letters.

Todoroki vs. Kaminari.

Izuku exhaled as the two stepped onto the designated battlefield, the space between them marked by white chalk lines. Todoroki's expression was as unreadable as ever, his mismatched eyes locked on Kaminari without an ounce of doubt. Kaminari, on the other hand, rolled his shoulders, stretching out his arms as he grinned, though there was an unmistakable flicker of nervousness beneath the bravado.

The second Aizawa gave the command, the match erupted.

Todoroki wasted no time, ice flooding the battlefield in a rapid, seamless wave, streaks of frost expanding outward in jagged veins across the ground. Kaminari responded immediately, electricity crackling along his fingertips as he vaulted over the frozen terrain, narrowly avoiding being locked in place. Sparks danced wildly, illuminating his figure as he charged up an attack, sending a blast of lightning streaking toward Todoroki.

The battle unfolded with sharp precision as Todoroki maintained his distance, keeping the battlefield under his control with calculated movements, while Kaminari zigzagged across the ice, pushing his speed to the limit. But in the end, Todoroki was Todoroki. A wall of ice shot up just as Kaminari made his final leap, blocking his trajectory mid-air, leaving him no room to maneuver.

Victory was clear.

Izuku tensed, fingers tightening around the hem of his shirt. He wasn't sure why, but something

More names were called.

Yaoyorozu vs. Ashido.

The two girls stepped forward, exchanging brief nods before the match began.

Yaoyorozu took a defensive approach, keeping her movements calculated, her hands shifting rapidly as she formed objects to counter Ashido's unpredictable offense. Ashido, on the other hand, danced across the battlefield with ease, her fluid movements keeping her out of reach while acidic projectiles splattered against the ground in quick succession.

It was an intense match, but ultimately, Ashido's aggressive, close-range combat proved too difficult for Yaoyorozu to fully defend against.

Match after match was called. Each battle was another reminder of how far everyone had come, how they had grown, refined their abilities, sharpened their instincts. They had to, U.A. was threatened, their lives at risk. And yet, Izuku remained on edge, a pit forming in his stomach as his turn drew closer and closer.

Then—

Midoriya vs. Kirishima.

Izuku stiffened. The moment his name was called, a sharp exhale left his lips, his entire body going cold for just a second.

Kirishima, standing only a few feet away, let out an enthusiastic cheer, rolling his shoulders before stepping forward. "Finally!" he grinned, clapping his fists together. "I was hoping I'd get a shot at you, man! Been itching for a real fight!" His voice was easy, excited, genuine.

Izuku tried to return the energy, tried to offer something in return. But all he could manage was a stiff nod as he stepped forward.

The gym felt smaller. The battlefield felt heavier. And for the first time since he arrived back at U.A., Izuku realized… He was about to fight using a power that wasn't his own. A power that wasn't meant for him. A power that could break him if he wasn't careful. His heartbeat pounded in his ears when suddenly Aizawa's voice cut through the tension.

"Begin."

The moment Aizawa gave the signal, Kirishima charged forward like an unrelenting force of nature.

There was no hesitation in his movements—only sheer determination, the kind that burned brightly in his eyes as he clenched his fists and pushed off the ground with frightening momentum. His quirk, Hardening, activated instantly, his body taking on a jagged, rock-like texture that shimmered under the fluorescent lights of the training hall. He was a human wrecking ball, and he was coming straight for Izuku.

Izuku barely had time to react.

His instincts screamed at him to move, to run, to do something, but his body felt sluggish, disconnected. His breath hitched as he barely managed to sidestep the first punch, Kirishima's hardened fist swinging past his ribs, missing by inches. But the momentary relief was shattered as Kirishima pivoted on his foot, bringing his other fist around in a brutal follow-up.

This one hit.

Izuku felt the impact ripple through his bones, his feet skidding backward as pain exploded across his side. His balance wavered, his vision momentarily blurring from the sheer force of the blow.

"Come on, Midoriya!" Kirishima grinned, practically radiating excitement. "You can't just take hits all day! Show me what you got!"

Izuku didn't answer. He could barely breathe. Each strike carried enough force to crack stone, his hardened knuckles gleaming under the arena lights, moving in a brutal rhythm that left Izuku scrambling just to keep up.

"He's fast." Izuku thought to himself as he ducked. A fist soared past his temple. He pivoted. Another slammed just inches from his ribs. But he wasn't attacking back.

The students watching from the sidelines murmured, shifting uneasily as they exchanged glances.

"What's he doing?" Kaminari whispered, his brows furrowed. "Why isn't he fighting back?"

"Maybe he's scared?" Sero added, watching Izuku backpedal frantically across the gym, barely keeping himself from being knocked flat. "I mean… he did just get back from being kidnapped by a bunch of villains, right?"

"But he fought Aizawa!" Mina interjected, eyes flicking toward Aizawa, who stood still, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. "And he almost won! He was insane back then! So why—"

She trailed off, watching as Kirishima lunged forward, catching Izuku's shoulder with a glancing blow, knocking him slightly off balance. Izuku staggered back, barely keeping his footing. His breathing was ragged. His body trembled.

"Is he holding back?" Jirou muttered, narrowing her eyes. "Or does he not want to fight?"

From the observation area above, All Might stood silent with Aizawa. His gaze locked onto the boy below. His fists clenched.

"He's holding back," All Might finally said to Aizawa, his voice low.

Aizawa gave him a side glance, skeptical. "Holding back? He hasn't even tried to fight yet. What are you hiding, All Might?"

All Might didn't respond immediately, his arms still crossed over his broad chest. "It's not that simple."

Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "Midoriya was quirkless after he was rescued," he stated plainly. "You told me that yourself. So tell me, how is he supposed to fight Kirishima at all?"

All Might inhaled sharply but remained silent.

Aizawa's frown deepened. Whatever had happened in the support room, whatever had caused such a massive disturbance, he wasn't being told the full story. Even when he had pressed Principal Nezu for answers, he had only received a vague response, something about "monitoring the situation." It was frustrating, and Aizawa didn't like being left in the dark, especially when it involved his students.

Meanwhile, back in the fight, Izuku wiped his mouth, feeling the warm trickle of blood at the corner of his lips. He winced as he straightened up, his ribs throbbing from the hit. Kirishima hadn't even gone full force yet, and Izuku was already feeling the damage.

"What the hell?" Kaminari breathed, staring wide-eyed at Izuku. "That should've knocked him out."

"That's what I'm saying," Mina said, her fingers gripping the edge of the railing. "What's going on with him?"

Kirishima pressed the attack relentlessly, fists swinging like iron sledgehammers. Izuku dodged when he could, barely keeping his footing, barely keeping himself from getting crushed under the onslaught.

Another fist slammed square into Izuku's ribs. Pain erupted through his side, white-hot and searing. The force sent him skidding back, his knees buckling as he barely managed to remain standing. Blood dripped from his lips, a thin red trail running down his chin.

The room fell silent as Izuku staggered. And yet he was still standing. His vision swam, but his body—his body moved.

"Why?" Izuku thought to himself. He had been expecting to drop immediately, to crumple under the first few blows. And yet… his body had moved. Not well, not gracefully, but something inside of him had reacted before he had even registered it. It wasn't perfect, he had taken hits, sure—but there was an efficiency to his movements that didn't belong to him.

His breath was uneven as his mind raced. "What the hell is happening? Why does my body feel… like it knows what to do?"

Kirishima cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders. "Dude, you sure you wanna keep going?" he asked, though his grin never wavered. "Not gonna lie, you're still acting kinda weird."

Izuku blinked, looking up at him.

"Weird…"

That was putting it lightly. He still didn't understand One for All. He still didn't know how to control it, how to regulate its power so that it wouldn't tear him apart the moment he used it. And yet, his body and instincts were responding in ways that made no sense. Like they were functioning on muscle memory that wasn't his own. Like they had already been trained for this.

His fingers twitched at his sides. For a brief moment, he considered activating the power.

"Just a little," Izuku thought. "Just enough to see if I can even use it properly."

But the second that thought crossed his mind, fear coiled around his ribs like a vice. Because if he messed up, if he miscalculated… he knew what would happen.

Kirishima took another step forward, preparing to engage again, but Izuku remained frozen. His chest rose and fell with uneven breaths as his nails dug into his palms.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I—"

"Midoriya!" A voice cut through the noise. Izuku's head snapped up, eyes wide.

It was All Might.

The room fell silent as all eyes turned toward the towering figure standing near Aizawa. All Might's expression was unreadable, but there was a quiet weight in his gaze, something steady, something reassuring.

"Trust yourself," he said simply.

Izuku's breath hitched. For a split second, the roaring in his head stopped.

Kirishima tilted his head slightly, watching the exchange. Then, with a smirk, he clenched his fists again. "Alright then, Midoriya," he said, stepping back into his stance. "You ready now?"

Izuku exhaled slowly. His heart pounded. But this time, it wasn't entirely from fear. This time, there was something else. Something thrumming beneath his skin. And for the first time since the fight started, he stepped forward. It wasn't a conscious decision, not entirely. It was instinct, raw, unfiltered, and primal. His heart pounded in his chest, his breath coming sharp and fast as he pushed forward, legs tensing, body coiling like a spring before he launched himself at Kirishima.

"To hell with it." If he was going to learn, if he was going to master this power, then he had to commit, to trust his body, to let go.

Kirishima's grin widened, his teeth flashing, eyes alight with excitement as he saw Midoriya finally stepping up to the challenge. "Yeah! That's more like it!" he roared, hardening his body to its maximum, bracing for the impact.

Izuku faked the punch.

A blur of movement. A shift in stance as his mind slowed everything down to fractions of a second.

Kirishima was already reacting, his hardened arms raising in preparation to block a strike that would never come. Izuku's gaze flicked to the slight shift in Kirishima's footing, the way his weight distributed toward his back leg, the millisecond where he adjusted his balance in preparation for the incoming blow.

There.

Izuku redirected.

A subtle twist, a pivot of his body, an adjustment so smooth it felt like he had done it a thousand times before.

His other foot shot out low, sweeping against Kirishima's ankle with precision, cutting through his stance like a knife. Kirishima's eyes widened as his entire balance collapsed. He felt himself falling, body tilting backward, the world shifting as gravity took hold.

All he could see was a fist. A fist unlike anything he had ever seen before.

It came down like the hammer of a vengeful god.

Izuku felt it before he saw it, the raw energy coursing through his veins, igniting every muscle fiber in his body with unbearable heat. It was like liquid lightning, crackling through his arms, coiling around his bones, roaring through him with untamed ferocity. He hadn't meant to use it like this, only just a fraction of his power, but his body reacted on its own, and before he knew it, his fist was already descending toward Kirishima with everything.

"No—no, no, no—!"

His mind screamed at him, his voice tearing out of his throat as he begged Kirishima to move.

"DODGE IT!"

Kirishima saw it… he understood it in that single moment of clarity. Even in midair, even as the world spun around him, he felt the weight of what was coming. This wasn't an ordinary punch. This wasn't something that his hardened skin could simply shrug off.

This was death. And for the first time in his life, Kirishima knew he had no way to block it. The sheer weight of the attack, the deadly force behind it, the realization that this was it. He had unleashed a beast.

A cataclysmic shockwave detonated through the gym, sending concrete flying in all directions. The very ground beneath them shattered, spiderweb fractures tearing through the floor as dust and debris exploded outward.

Students screamed, scrambling backward, arms thrown up to shield themselves from the sheer force of the impact. Some stumbled, nearly falling over from the raw, uncontrolled force of the blast.

"What the hell was that?!" Oijiro's voice cracked, his eyes wide with panic.

"Holy shit!" Mina gasped, her hands covering her mouth, eyes darting frantically between the settling dust and the remains of the gym floor.

Todoroki's expression completely changed. His gaze was usually sharp, cold, calculating, but this time he was shocked for the first time.

Then, as the smoke finally began to clear, the scene came into horrific view. All Might stood right by Izuku and Kirishima. His massive form loomed over them, his signature grin completely absent, replaced instead with something dark and grave. His right hand was gripping Izuku's wrist, just inches from Kirishima's face. The very air around them felt thick, charged with the remnants of an unfathomable force.

Kirishima, still on the ground, exhaled shakily. "…Damn," he muttered under his breath, his chest heaving. "Man… That was intense." His voice, though hoarse, still held that same unwavering excitement. He wasn't angry. If anything, he sounded impressed.

For a moment, nobody moved. And then, the real horror set in.

Because Izuku's arm… The moment they saw it, the students gasped in sheer, unfiltered horror. It was mangled. Skin torn and blood dripping. The bones shattered, twisted in unnatural angles.

"Oh my God—" Iida took a step forward before stopping himself, face pale with shock.

"No way…" Uraraka whispered, her hands clamped over her mouth.

Even those who had been laughing earlier, those who had been skeptical were now frozen in place, unable to tear their eyes away from the sheer gruesomeness of it. Several students looked away, unable to stomach the sight. Some instinctively pressed their hands over their mouths, suppressing the urge to gag.

All Might turned to Izuku, his face filled with barely restrained rage and concern. "You lost control," he said, his voice heavy with something deeper, something painful.

Aizawa moved closer to where the fight was. His eyes were wide, his instincts already in motion, the telltale red glow of his quirk having been seconds away from activation. But what startled him more than anything was the look on All Might's face.

Not in the way Aizawa had ever seen before, not in the way of a hero reprimanding a reckless student but in the way of a mentor, of someone who knew exactly what had happened and was barely restraining his emotions.

Izuku barely registered it. His whole body throbbed. His mind was spinning, drowning in waves of exhaustion and pain. He looked down at his arm, at the grotesque way it hung limply at his side, and for a moment, he barely recognized it as his own.

His lips trembled, his breath uneven. "I…"

All Might knelt down, his hand firm but gentle as he gripped Izuku's good shoulder.

"You need to control this," he said, voice quiet but firm. "Because if you don't…"

Izuku swallowed, throat dry.

"Someone is going to get hurt." All Might finished.

Izuku looked at Kirishima who had barely escaped a deathblow, from the destruction he had caused in just one miscalculated hit. This wasn't a quirk that merely made him strong. This was power without limits. And if he didn't learn how to wield it, how to hold back, he knew he wouldn't be able to stay here. He wouldn't be able to fight alongside his friends.

Because this power… One for All.

Could kill them all.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Looking forward to the next one! If you have favorited and followed the story, thank you. It means a lot!