Chapter Text
Midoriya Household
“It’s just gotten worse, Papa…” Inko lamented into the phone as she made Katsudon for the third time that week, hoping it would cheer up her Son. “Every day he walks through the door I can just tell he’s closer and closer to giving up on his dreams! And every time I try to bring it up, he brushes me off!” Her quirk instinctively flared as she shouted, and she dutifully ignored the sounds of glass shattering; she could replace it.
Her Father, however, laughed boisterously on the other end of the line. “Hahaha! Quirk rage as powerful as ever!” He also dutifully ignored the annoyed huff of his Daughter before getting serious. “Look, sweetie, being quirkless or even having a weak quirk is different from when you or I were younger. You have to know that.” The sigh she let out told him she did, and he pushed through. “The recruits with weak or no quirks on my ship took months to come out of their shells and explain why they transferred to my command. Izuku is probably the same, he doesn’t want to burden you with the fact everything and everyone in his life is targeting him… Aside from Mitsuki’s brat.”
Inko let a small smile slip through at that and nodded. “Yes, Katsuki actually got suspended the other day for throwing someone through the cafeteria windows after they tried to spill Izuku’s lunch.”
“Ha! Never thought that brat would wanna risk his record for anything!” The old Midoriya could only laugh again but settled down pretty quickly. “… Alright, I’ve made up my mind. I’m coming home.”
“WHAT?!” Inko’s eyes went wide, and her quirk flared again, causing another three plates and two bowls to shatter. “Really?! What about wor-”
“Oh, please! These seas have never been safer!” The old man’s pride slipped through in his proclamation, and he let his chest puff up. “Besides! If my Grandson is feeling down, it’s my job to lift his spirits and toughen him up!” He stood up at this and began to make his way out of his quarters as he heard a commotion. “Don’t worry, my little firecracker, give me a week and I’ll be home.”
Inko knew that nothing short of All Might could stop her Father when he put his mind to something, and just nodded. “Alright, Papa… I’ll see you in a week.”
One Week Later, Underpass
Izuku ran as fast as he could. “Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!” His legs, while not the most built, were far from chicken legs and had experience in track and escape. “Woah!” Which, really, the greenette was extremely grateful for since he probably would’ve been dead otherwise.
“Get back here, you little shit!” The villain chasing him agreed with that sentiment and was also extremely annoyed at it. “Just let me take over your body and we won’t have any problems!”
Now, Izuku absolutely put himself in this situation, but he also didn’t think the fault should fully rest on him.
To start, with Katsuki still out on suspension leave, Izuku had to be careful when leaving school so that the three kids the blonde threw through the cafeteria walls – he lied to his Mother – wouldn’t find him. This led him to walk the longer way home and, unfortunately, through the Unexplored Underpass, where he knew no one short of Katsuki would follow because everyone was convinced villains lived there.
Unfortunately for the greenette, they were right.
And again, he didn’t think this was entirely his fault; how was he supposed to know a villain actually lived down here?
“Ah!” Izuku silently cursed as a tendril snagged his leg and frantically searched around for something that could help. ‘There!’ Eyes landing on a pipe, he snagged it just as the sludge began to pull him back and smashed it down on the tendril with a shout. “Shove off!”
The pipe did its job, and the sludge actually flinched a little at the contact, confusing it. ‘The fuck?’ However, the green-haired teen boosting off got him back in motion and he grinned despite himself. ‘Thought this kid was gonna be temporary but he might actually be a good vessel.’
As if feeling the sludge’s thoughts, Izuku’s feet picked up the pace. ‘Freedom!’ Especially after he finally saw a light that would lead to somewhere that would be – if not public – less restricting than his current path. ‘Wait…’
However, that hope in his heart was quick to turn to confusion and slight trepidation as a giant, looming figure dropped in front of the light, casting a dark shadow across the entire underpass.
“The shit?” The figure caused even the sludge to pause as it felt its body tremble and everything in the underpass fell silent. “Who the fuck are you?” Inwardly, he hoped it wasn’t the hero that he had lost in the sewers before finding the kid.
Because losing that man was a fucking miracle and he knew he wouldn’t be able to pull it off twice.
“Who am I?” Unfortunately, not even a miracle would work here. “The last pair of eyes you’ll look into before you rot in a cell…” The figure’s voice had a palpable weight to it and the sludge instinctively slithered back a few feet as it took a step forward and let the underpass’ lights reveal it. “Trying to take my Grandson… Unforgiveable.”
“Grandpa?!” Izuku looked at the man in shock and relief before running into his arms, completely forgetting the villain behind him. “You’re home!”
Garp D. Midoriya looked down at his little soldier and smiled widely. “Inko’s been worried about you, so I came to take a weight off my Daughter’s back.” Before putting his arm out and catching a tendril of slime and sewage out of the air with a giant grin. “You.”
‘The fuck! I’m a logia-type; how is he touching me?!’ The sludge had thought he’d gotten off Scott-free when the kid said the man was his Grandfather, but it seemed he miscalculated. ‘He’s gotta have an effect-type quirk that disrupts logia-types… Shit.’ Worse for the villain, he was now only realising how menacing the guy in front of him was.
This monster was a giant, fucking mountain of a man. At least nine feet tall and the old timer, despite his advanced age, was built like a fresh brick wall made out of pure muscle, grit, and spite. The black coating on his arm only made it more defined and the sludge could feel the power it held.
And those eyes…
Garp’s black eyes flashed red and a wave of something passed over the area before the sludge began to recede, revealing the villain to be nothing but a short, frail, pasty man in nothing but a trench coat and boxers.
And after its de-transformation, the sludge-now-man just… Slumped to the floor, foaming at the mouth.
“Ha… Absolute disgrace of a man.” With that done, Garp shook the sludge off his hand before plopping his Grandson on his shoulders. “He didn’t touch you, did he, Zuku?” His eyes were still on the unconscious monster’s form, and he was debating his next actions based on what answer he would get. “Wanna know if I’m taking him in personally or letting a hero do it.”
Luckily – for the sludge – Izuku shook his head. “Nope! I was able to outrun him and would’ve escaped even if you didn’t show up.” Before looking down at the man with a raised eyebrow. “But… Shouldn’t you be taking him anyway in case he escapes?”
Garp’s eyes flashed red again and he smirked widely before walking out of the underpass. “Nah, someone special is gonna be taking this one in.” Before holding onto his descendant’s legs just a bit tighter. “Now let’s get home, your Ma’s gonna be working late so I’m taking care of ya.”
Knowing what was coming, Izuku held onto his Grandpa tightly and smiled. “Alright! Let’s go!”
“Hahaha! That’s the spirit!”
And, as the two Midoriya D.’s blasted off into the sky, they both missed a man that anyone in the world would’ve been able to recognise blasting upwards from a sewage grate with a smile.
“HAHAHA! I AM-” Though, the hero’s smile turned to a confused expression as all he saw was the unconscious, human form of the villain he had been chasing for the past twenty minutes. “Here?”
Midoriya Household, Late Night
“So, wanna tell me why I had to potentially save your life from a villain today?” Garp asked as he set a dinner fit for twenty bodybuilders down on the extra-large dinner table.
Izuku just looked down and chewed on a steak. “I…” Before looking at his Grandfather with a raised eyebrow. “How’d you even find me?”
“Your Ma told me what time you finish school and so I waited for you outside the gates. Then I saw you running off, getting chased by some punks before they backed off right as you entered that underpass.” His eyes flashed red, and he scoffed down two steaks himself before looking at his Grandson. “Wanna explain that?”
The greenette just continued to chew on the steak and shrug. “They were just messin’ around and-”
“Hahaha! Holy crap, Inko was right, you are a terrible liar!” Garp barely let the young man get halfway through his excuse before busting a gut laughing. “Izuku, you think I don’t know what those kids were doing? No. I wanna know why you were running away from those cowards instead of standing up for yourself.”
At this, Izuku’s own eyes flashed green for a second before he looked at his Grandfather in a mix of confusion and anger. “Because I’m quirkless, Grandpa. I-I’m weak. Those three have some of the strongest quirks in the school and are all hero candidates… What could you expe-”
“Ha! Them? Hero candidates? I wouldn’t even let them on my ship, and I take anyone!” Again, Garp just let out a laugh before scoffing down a turkey. “Don’t you wanna be a hero yourself? Why won’t you fight back?”
Izuku stood up. “Of course I want to be a hero! But I’m-”
“You’re what?” This time, Garp’s smile and laugh were gone and his serious look put the fire in his Grandson’s eyes out immediately. “Quirkless?”
“… Yes.” The greenette admitted it without a hint of shame but still sat down. “Most hero schools won’t accept a candidate if they don’t have a quirk, and the ones that do are prestigious, progressive ones like U.A, Shiketsu, and Slayers. Getting into those with a quirk like Katsuki’s is already hard enough; the hell kind of chance would I have?”
Garp’s smile came back as a grin. “The kind you make yourself, kid!” He stood up, crashing his head through the roof as he did so and leaned down to his descendant with a smile. “What do you think I did when I was younger? Sit at home and watch everyone else get stronger?”
Izuku uncharacteristically rolled his eyes at that and scoffed. “No offense, Grandpa, but your quirk’s power doesn’t let you understand-”
“Ha! My quirk?” Garp’s exclamation cut Izuku off again and the old man did his favourite thing; laugh. “Izuku…” Before leaning in closer. “I’m as quirkless as you are.”
Izuku’s eyes almost bulged out of his skull, and he looked at his Grandpa like he’d finally lost it. “Grandpa… You’re a Naval Hero with one of the largest battle-logs on the planet. One of them was won because you broke a pirate ship in half with a single punch.”
“Amazing, right? You’ve told me nothing about a quirk though.” At his Grandson’s disbelieving look, Garp just leaned back into his seat and raised an eyebrow. “Alright, how about this; tell me everything that I can do. I know you keep notes. From there, try and come up with a quirk.”
Confused but obediently, Izuku started, albeit slowly. “Well, to start, you’re probably as strong as All Might, tough enough to get shot by a tank and shove it off, and you can run faster than a car with ease.”
“And what’s a quirk that would let me do that?” Garp asked, too happy for someone that seemed to be losing the argument.
“Something like All Might’s. Overpowered but generic enhancement-type.” The greenette continued though. “Plus, you always get that black coat over your arms, so I’d call it Obsidian.”
Garp nodded sagely at that, before his eyes flashed red and the room around them shook, cracking the table. “Last I checked, quirks were singular abilities, how would you fit that into the quirk?”
Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise, and his mind blanked. “I, uh…”
“Not to mention that villain before, he was a logia-type, but I could touch him just fine, that’s three aspects…” Again, Garp’s eyes flashed red, and he turned to the door with a smile. “Your Ma is about to knock on the door three times in seven seconds.”
“Wha…” Izuku’s thought process stopped entirely as his brain turned into a timer and he looked to the door with trepidation. ‘-even, six, five, four, three, two, o-”
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Izuku! Papa! I’m home!” Garp relished in the look his Grandson gave him as he walked up to the door and opened it, revealing his Daughter, still in her scrubs, holding takeout. “Oh, you already had dinner!”
“My Observation’s pretty good as well, scrub. How’s ‘Obsidian’ looking now?”
It took Inko all of three seconds and looking between her Father and Son to figure out what was happening, and she floated upwards to slap her Dad on the back of his head. “Papa! You could ease your way into the explanation instead of dropping it on him!”
“The easy path blooms flowers, my path sprouts forests.” The man, of course, didn’t need any power to tank the slap to the back of his head, and continued to look at his Grandson with a raised eyebrow. “So, Izuku, I’ll ask one more time…” Before walking over and sitting back down on his chair. “Do you wanna be a hero?”
“I…” Izuku was quickly coming to the realisation that – despite all laws of the world – what his Grandpa just showed him was the truth. Quirks held power. But not all power was held by quirks. “Yes.”
“Then stop looking up at the mountain in front of you and crush it with your fists!” Garp’s eyes flashed red one last time and he picked up the table before letting the rest of the food slide into his mouth. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be strong.” Swallow. “Back then, the amount of quirkless people totalled to a tenth of the population, so my dream was doomed from the start. But you know what I did?”
The greenette shrugged. “Push throu-”
“I pushed through!” Garp exclaimed, slamming the table back into the floor with a smile. “Even when I questioned myself and wondered if I should continue my path, wondered if it would be worth it, I shouted to myself one thing… Keep on living and you’ll find out!” And with that said, he walked off to his guest room, happy and content. “You wanna be a hero, Sonny? I’ll make you one! Just get ready for Hell!”
Takoba Beach, The Next Morning
“Grandpa…” Izuku groggily started as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. “Did we have to be here at five in the morning?”
Garp’s answer to this question was a good ol’ slap to the back of his Grandson’s head, waking him up immediately. “You said you wanted to be a hero, right?” He got a very energetic nod this time and he smiled. “Then you gotta get rid of all these sad and weak habits of yours!”
The greenette felt a little insulted at this and couldn’t help but bite back. “I don’t think I have any-”
“You have plenty!” Of course, par for the course with his Grandpa, he couldn’t finish his rebuttal without an interruption. “To start, you’re lazy.” Garp held his hand up before his scrub of a descendant could answer back. “You talk about being a hero, but I can barely see any muscle on you. For God’s sake, Izuku, you’re almost eighteen-years-old and you look like you’re twelve!”
“I-” This time, Izuku cut himself off and looked down in shame before his argument could be made; his Grandpa was right. “Yeah…”
“You don’t go to the gym, I know from your Mother that you don’t take martial arts, and don’t even get me started on your eating. You’re all skin and bones!” Garp turned around at this and presented the once-beach-now-junkyard to his Grandson with a smile. “Luckily for you, I can fix all of this before the U.A entrance exams and still have enough time to teach you Haki!”
Izuku’s eyes widened at his Grandpa’s last statement, and he looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “The U.A entrance exams!??!” The greenette actually fell on the sand. “S-shouldn’t we try to aim for somewhere a bit more reasonab-”
“Absolutely not!” Garp shouted, slapping the younger Midoriya on the head again. “Dreaming small won’t achieve anything. If you want to be something, be ready to put your heart and soul into it, otherwise there’s no point!”
The green-haired teen couldn’t actually find a way to dispute that and nodded slowly. “I guess…” Before tilting his head and raising his eyebrows. “Wait, what’s Haki?”
At this, Garp shook his head and jerked his thumb to the heap of trash behind him. “If you want the answer to that question, then I want this dump cleared in two months. That’ll leave me enough time to teach you about it and how to fight.”
“TWO MONTHS?!” Izuku’s eyes actually did leave his skull for a second and he shook his head furiously. “No way! There’s no way I can do tha-”
For, hopefully, the last time, Garp slapped his Grandson on the back of his head and lifted him off of his ass. “Izuku.” Before kneeling down and looking him in the eyes. “That right there is the most self-destructive habit you have.” Poking him on the chest, Garp shook his head. “You don’t believe in yourself enough.”
The greenette didn’t really feel like his worries were unfounded, but his Grandpa made him sound like some kind of pathetic coward, and that didn’t sit right with him. “But you have to unde-”
“You have to understand!” Garp’s eyes flashed red and he inwardly smirked when Izuku’s flashed back, even if the teen didn’t know it himself. “You’ve drawn a circle around what you think is possible and immediately reject anything outside of that circle. If you want to be strong, much less a hero, you have to erase that circle and embrace everything! Push yourself to new heights, ignore the cries of your body and mind, and fan the flames of your soul!”
Izuku’s eyes slowly grew harder as his Grandpa shouted at him and he took a moment to himself to really think about what he wanted.
He wanted to be a hero more than anything, he knew that.
But what kind of hero?
The kind that treated it as a job?
The kind that tried to work their way up the ladder like it was a popularity contest?
… No.
He wanted to be like All Might and Endeavour.
Kyomei Himejima.
Gang Orca.
Fat Gum.
Heroes that fought with everything they had to bring a smile on the face of those around them.
He wanted to be the kind of hero that was free and could share that freedom with others.
He wanted to be like his Grandpa.
“I…” Izuku’s eyes flashed green again and a grin much like Garp’s worked its way onto his face. “I’ll do it, Grandpa! I’ll clear this beach in two months and become a hero!”
Garp grinned back and pet his Grandson on the back. “That’s what I like to hear!” Before grabbing him and throwing him into the middle of the dump. “No time like the present! Get started!”
Takoba Beach, A Month Later
Smiling, Garp watched his Grandson make oath after oath into the sky as he forced the car in his hands off the ground.
“Come on! Come on!” Izuku shouted to no one in particular, heaving the broken car off the sand and above his head with heavy breaths. “Aaaagggghhhh!!!” Before walking towards a truck and just shoving the vehicle onto it before falling down on the sands, a heavy sweat over his whole body. “Hahaha! That’s seven!”
True to his words, that had been the seventh car – of about eighty-or-ninety on the shores – that Izuku had managed to lift in the last couple of hours. It was leagues above what he had been doing the week prior and Garp couldn’t help the prideful smile that crossed his face.
In just a month, his Grandson had cleared a fifth of the beach with nothing but his hands and a truck that an old scrapper Garp knew donated to them. And, even better, he was growing at an exponential rate that even had Garp surprised. With how he was moving, the old man had no doubt that the beach would be cleared by the end of the next month.
‘Leaving me about eight months to teach him Haki and how to fight.’ The old man was pretty sure that, with what his Grandson’s strength would look like, he could leave Haki out of the question, and he’d still do well.
However, the younger Midoriya was already showing signs of it, and he didn’t even know. Having that in particular bloom out in an uncontrolled environment – anywhere he wasn’t – was a disaster waiting to happen, so he was morally obligated to train him.
“Come on…” The young boy’s hoarse croaks as he dragged himself to another pile of rubbish cut Garp out of his musings and he smiled again before walking over to his student.
“Alright, I think that’s enough for today.” Picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder, the old man started walking back home, pride on his face. “You’re doing good, sonny… You’re doing good.”
Another Month Later
“Well, looks like you held up your end of the deal.” Garp started as his Grandson stood triumphantly on the sands of the beach, taking in the morning Sun with a smile. “I knew you could do it!”
For his part, Izuku just turned around and smiled even wider, tears in his eyes as he ran into his Grandpa’s arms. “Thank you, Grandpa…” Before lifting him off the ground, surprising the old man. “Thank you so much!”
Garp just laughed and let himself get put down before picking the boy up like a sack of potatoes and slinging him over his shoulder. “That’s what family is for, Izuku.” Then, he began to walk off, carrying the younger Midoriya with him. “Anyway, now that you’ve cleaned the beach, we’ll need somewhere new to teach you Haki.”
At this, Izuku leaned down so that his face was in front of his Grandfather’s. “Grandpa, what is Haki?” Across the past two months, when he wasn’t conditioning his stomach to eat for twenty or lifting enough weight to rip his muscles into pasta, the greenette was trying to figure out what this ‘Haki’ that his Grandpa kept talking about. “I’ve gone as far as combing the internet for any video documentation of your fights, but I still don’t fully understand how it’s not a quirk.”
“Well, what have you got so far?” Garp loved to do this; his Grandson was smart, so forcing him to bring forward his own conclusions was good for his brain. “What do you think Haki is?”
“From what I’ve been able to tell so far, Obsidian was pretty close.” Izuku started, bringing a notepad out from thin air. “Your arms turn black and seem to work as some sort of armour that protects you from the effects of quirks while also letting you disable them.”
“Aren’t you forgetting this part?” Garp’s eyes flashed red and smiled as a group of robbers a street over all crumpled to the ground, confusing the police and solo hero chasing them. “How does that fit in?”
Izuku nodded and turned the page over. “Well, that’s why I broke it up into two parts; Obsidian and Emperor.” He started, getting a grin from his Grandfather. “They’re both separate abilities, but then I got around to conditions, and I figured that maybe its emotion related.” The widening of Garp’s smile told the teen he was on the right track. “And so, I came up with the idea of everything being centred around laughter or joy, since you’re always laughing when fighting someone. From there… I got nothing.”
Garp took this all in as he walked through to the forest they would be training in and nodded. “Well, I’ll say, I’m impressed. If Haki was a quirk, you’d be two-thirds correct.”
“Two-thirds? How am I two-thirds correct?” Having already come to the conclusion that his Grandpa wouldn’t be lying to him, Izuku decided to focus on what he missed. “Did I mess up the emotional connection?”
“Yes and no.” The elder Midoriya took a second to laugh as his Grandson continued to be confused and plopped him down after they reached their destination. “There is an emotional aspect to Haki, but it’s not powered by laughter, it’s brought forth by sheer force of will. I just love using it and punching people so much that I laugh all the time.” Before ripping a branch off of a tree and holding it out to him. “And to demonstrate the last part you missed; I want you to try and hit me with this…” Then, he ripped a sleeve off his jacket before tying it around his eyes. “As hard as you can.”
Tilting his head, Izuku took the sturdy branch with a raised eyebrow. “Uh, are you sure, Grandpa?” It’s not like he was All Might, but the greenette was proud of the level of strength he currently held. “It might hurt.”
Garp just laughed. “Ha! Good to see that cleanup gave you some confidence!” Before turning around and crossing his arms. “On the extremely low chance that you land a hit, I still won’t feel it! You’re ten years too young to even try to hurt me!”
‘Alright, this is now a matter of pride.’ Gripping the stick tightly, Izuku burst in between his Grandpa’s leg, getting in front of him, before striking at his knees. “Woah!” Only to trip forward as the old man swivelled to the left, making the greenette miss. ‘What?’
“Straight for the knees, huh?” Garp ducked as his Grandson went for his head and laughed. “Instant disabling move, pretty good.” Before reaching behind him and catching the greenette as he tried to get his back. “But you’re sloppy, a street thug could’ve dodge that hit.” Taking off his blindfold, he revealed his eyes glowing red. “I’ll fix that though.”
“My Observation’s pretty good as well.” Izuku whispered to himself as his Grandpa put him back down on the dirt. “You can see through obstruction?”
Garp shook his head and tapped it. “I can sense intent and presence.” Before plopping down on the ground and crossing his legs. “Anyway, that’s the third aspect of Haki you were missing; the other two were spot on for basic applications.”
“Basic?” Izuku looked at his Grandpa incredulously. “They can go further?”
“Oh yeah, much further.” For his part, the old man just nodded. “I’ll explain it properly now, though. Haki is essentially a source of power that can be manifested through – and this is important – willpower. Without the will to bring Haki forward, there is no Haki, so remember that.”
Izuku nodded and – again – brought out a notebook from nowhere, before beginning to write. “Haki equals willpower…”
‘Nerd.’ Smiling, Garp continued. “Like you’ve seen, Haki is broken into three parts. The names you gave it are close, but the three aspects of Haki are officially called Observation, Armament, and Conqueror’s.”
“Is Observation the sixth sense?” Izuku asked, jotting down the names.
“In a matter of speaking, yes.” Garp nodded. “Sticking to the theme of willpower, Observation, at its most basic level, lets us who can use it to sense others’ willpower, presence, and emotions.” His eyes flashed red, and he caught a bird flying by before tenderly letting it go. “And in its most advanced form, you will time itself to bend to your eyes to let you see into the future.”
Izuku’s pencil snapped in his hand, and he looked at his Grandpa with wide eyes. “What?!” He noted the red eyes Garp now sported and raised his eyebrow. “Can you…?”
“Not my strong suit, but I can see a dozen or so seconds ahead.” Garp admitted before lifting up his right arm and rolling up his sleeve. “If you want my strong suit, then you move onto Armament.” A black coat followed by a red aura covered the man’s arm and he grinned. “Armament is your willpower manifested as an armour, giving you strength and an unbreakable defence… But it has a specific specialty that works wonders for quirkless folk like us, even at its basic level.”
“Hm…” Izuku thought again for a moment before a lightbulb appeared in his head. “The nullifying effect!”
Garp laughed and slapped the ground, nodding approvingly. “Got it in one! Armament’s true power comes from the fact that it – for whatever reason – can nullify the effects of quirks, which only enhances its defensive capabilities.” Then, reaching out to the stick Izuku had hit him with, he concentrated before the branch also became coated in black. “Continuing, though, Armament Haki can be imbued into anything you touch. Weapons, clothes, my Grandmama used to imbue her slippers with Armament and hit me on the head with it!”
Izuku laughed at the thought of anyone being able to hurt his mountain of a Grandfather, before tilting his head in thought. “Hold on… Does imbuement only extend to what you touch, or can you transfer it through the air into another object-”
“Ah, you smart boy.” Garp’s hand ruffling Izuku’s hair cut the boy’s revelation off, and he nodded. “Yes, imbuement without a medium is moving into the advanced usage of Armament.” Before reeling his fist back and aiming it a tree. “However, a step above that, is being able to increase the size of the ‘aura’ Armament gives you to reach out into other objects or people.”
As the old man released his fist, Izuku watched on with wonder as he watched a wave of something pass through the air and crash through the tree… And the tree behind it… And several trees behind that one.
“Wow…” It was mesmerising for the greenette, and he wrote all that down before flipping over to a new page. “And… Conqueror’s? What’s that?”
Garp was too happy to show this one and began laughing. “HA!” His exclamation brought forth a wave of force that snapped the trees in their immediate vicinity while forcing the ones further away to bend away. “Conqueror’s Haki is a special one, Izuku. Armament and Observation can be trained, honed into abilities, but you have to be born with Conqueror’s. Be born with the will to seize what you want with your own two hands and reduce the mountains in your path to dust in your palms! You must hold the qualities of a Supreme King!” The red in his eyes quickly went back to their usual black and he shrugged. “But usage wise, it’s more or less a war cry that’ll knock someone out if they can’t handle your will or boost your own power.”
“Right…” The elder’s speech seemed to resonate with something within Izuku but the greenette couldn’t help but look down. “Grandpa… Are you sure I even have Haki to be trained?” His question seemed to confuse the naval hero, and he restated. “I mean, what if I-”
“Izuku D. Midoriya!” Garp’s shout forced Izuku’s eyes to meet his own and the man smiled. “Thinking like that won’t bring out your Haki, and trust me, it’s there!” Despite his Grandson looking unconvinced, he pushed through. “It may take the entire remaining eight months to even get a sliver out, but once you find it, it can only grow! So, there’s no point lamenting on what ifs! You’re not sure if you have it? Keep on pushing and you’ll find out!”
The fire in Izuku’s eyes returned again in full by the end of his Grandpa’s speech and he nodded resolutely. “…. Alright, Grandpa! I’ll… I’ll do it!”
“Amazing!” It was all Garp needed to hear before he wrapped his makeshift blindfold around the greenette’s eyes. “Like I always say, no time like the present! You’ll be learning Observation first!”
Confused but still determined, Izuku tilted his head up to where he imagined his Grandpa’s head would be. “How do I learn that?”
Garp just grinned as he picked up the stick Izuku tried to hit him with. “Hahaha…. Dodge.”
Takoba Beach, Eight Months Later
“I know I say it a lot, but damnit, I’m proud of you, Izuku!” Garp bellowed as he gave his Grandson a hefty pat on the back. His pride only grew as the greenette didn’t even budge from the contact. “You’ve assured this old man of the future’s safety.”
Izuku wisely decided not to remind his Grandfather that he was the Naval Hero of Japan and a man who’d put away more pirates than hero agencies put away criminals. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Grandpa… And your roundabout way of teaching.”
Honestly, the greenette had a lot of ways he could describe his Grandfather’s training sessions.
Harrowingly hard.
Pitifully painful.
Disgustingly dangerous.
But, above all of that, it was exasperatingly effective.
In the first month after the beach was cleaned, Izuku had already unlocked one aspect of his Haki out of sheer necessity to live.
However, instead of it being Observation Haki – like his Grandfather had been trying to force out – he had drawn out a hefty and potent burst of Armament Haki that kept him safe when Garp caught up to him. After that, it took him three whole months to learn to control it to the level where he could bring it out on his call.
From there, the day that he unlocked his Observation was – again – from his body’s own unconscious sense of self preservation. Garp had been going extra hard on him since he had gotten Armament, but his was better, so the new armour around him was as effective as a thick shirt against a baseball bat.
That was when his Observation kicked in, trying to help the boy out.
It still was not enough.
Though, after Garp clued into Izuku getting his Observation – three days after he got it – the beatin-Training… Wasn’t as aggressive.
With his Haki now unlocked, the greenette’s Grandfather saw it fit to instead teach him how to fight. The man specifically stated that the strength and proficiency he used his Haki with was now up to the experiences he would face and how he would deal with them.
So, he learned how to fight.
His Grandfather fought like a boxer with a bit of brawling as well. Mostly jabs, hooks, uppercuts, with a mix of knee strikes, and heavy kicks assisted by his Armament. And with his Observation helping him duck and weave for counters, it was the perfect fighting style for him.
For Izuku, however, despite wanting to be like his Grandfather and forever a worshipper of All Might, that fighting style didn’t work for him.
After the last ten months, especially in the last two, Izuku had grown into a body fit for someone that was entering adulthood. Just an inch under six feet tall with his build sporting a healthy amount of muscles and holding a leaner figure. Though, his chest was visibly bigger than most lean body types and – because he would never give up his cookies the same way his Grandfather wouldn’t give up meat – he didn’t have any visible abs.
That all being said, the boxer-style that Garp had isn’t what Izuku thought would be using his body to its fullest and instead had begun opting to be a martial-brawler.
Fast-paced, well-placed series of backhanded jabs, powerful palm strikes, swinging and hooking kicks, elbows, flying knees, throws.
Essentially, a brawler-oriented style of Kung Fu.
Now, he only had the last eight months to fit in time at a dojo that would take him despite his quirkless status, but he liked to think he was going well. With his strength already there, he had been able to focus solely on technique and conditioning his body to move more flexibly.
He had even made it to a Purple Sash already, which his Sifu had said was a rare accomplishment that only a dozen or so that entered his Dojo had been able to claim, and that was because they had the quirks to help.
Big confidence booster there.
So, everything was going well.
…
Unless you asked Garp.
Now, he was proud of his Grandson, he had turned from a twig into a tree – especially with his hair growing out to the point he kept it in a ponytail – but that wasn’t an issue.
The problem was that Izuku hadn’t had his Conqueror’s burst yet.
Garp had tried his best to force it out. Punching harder during spars, throwing him into a wall, exposing him to his own Conqueror’s, but nothing had worked.
Izuku not seeming to have Conqueror’s Haki wasn’t the problem, it was that Garp knew he had it, and he’d officially run out of time to help him.
The seas – more specifically, his superiors – were calling him back from his time off. Garp didn’t like to toot his own horn – he did – but he was like the All Might of the seas. Him not being around had led to more illegal shipments being let through, if the recent surge in drug crimes were anything to go off of.
He had to get back out to sea, so Izuku would be by himself when his Conqueror’s bloomed.
Hell, he hadn’t even been able to get him to the level of advanced techniques; Izuku’s Haki was all basic – baby basic.
‘… Guess I just have to hope he can bookworm his way around it.’ Garp thought to himself in a small spark of hope. ‘Or that Toshi is around; I think he said something about teaching at U.A.’ Turning to look out to the sea, he could sense his battleship getting closer and sighed.
“Grandpa?” Izuku didn’t miss this and turned to his old man with a raised eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
“… Izuku.” Kneeling down – the kid had grown, but Garp was still almost ten feet tall – Garp put his hand on his Grandson’s shoulder and smiled wistfully. “It’s been the best ten months of my old life, getting to train and raise you into a tough young man, but…” He looked out to sea and saw his battleship had gotten marginally closer, visible to anyone even without Observation.
And, sure enough, Izuku saw it. “… You’re going back out?”
Garp nodded. “Drug crimes are on the rise, meaning that imports and exports aren’t being as well guarded as they should be.” The old man explained. “As an Admiral, I have an obligation to go back and get the seas back in order… I’ve also been ordered to by the Fleet Admiral and your Grunkle Kong.”
Izuku gave him an understanding look at that.
Great-Uncle Kong – Garp’s Brother, Navy Commander in Chief – would be at the end of his rope by now.
“I…” Didn’t make it any easier. “It’s fine, Grandpa… I’ll pass the exam and won’t disappoint you.”
The old man just smiled and ruffled his hair. “Oh, my little soldier, you could never do that.” Before picking him up in a giant – literally – bone crushing – almost literally – hug. “I love you, Izuku.”
“I love you, too, Grandpa.” Izuku gave as good as he got though, and hugged back just as hard, keeping his tears down. “Good luck.”
Garp let go of the hug with a smile and stood back up with a laugh. “I should be wishing you luck.” Before ruffling his hair one last time and walking to the end of the beach. “Show U.A that the Midoriya D.’s are still kicking and roaring.” Then, with a powerful burst of strength from his legs, Garp shot himself off of the beach – creating a sand cloud and crater in the shore – and flew towards his ship.
“… I got this, Grandpa.” Izuku finally let a tear out as he watched his Grandpa turn into a dot on the horizon and clenched his fist hard. “I got this.”
U.A University, Day of the Entrance Exam
Izuku stood in front of the entrance gates to U.A with a smile.
It had been about a week since his Grandfather had gone back out to sea, and the greenette had been working his ass off to make sure he would be in peak condition for this exam… Well, as peak as he could be while still being able to eat his cookies.
Still no abs.
In addition to his formal training, the young adult had taken a few aspects of his daily life and turned it into a workout.
Walk to school? No, he had been jumping and flipping across buildings for the past two months.
Take out the trash? He ran to the dump himself and benched a car while he was there.
Friendly spars at the dojo? Discrimination was no stranger there, so it was easy to get a more aggressive spar from the ones he thought he could learn from with a well-worded taunt and easy hit.
His Haki was hitting a bit of a speed bump, but Izuku was fine with that seeing it was currently out of his control.
Like his Grandfather had told him, his Observation and Armament could be trained so that he could harness it more efficiently and in different ways, but the power of it wouldn’t increase unless he was thrown into battles where he would fight for his life.
Izuku doubted that would be happening any time soon, especially at U.A, so he was riding on his current Haki, current martial arts skill, and his pure strength to help him until one such situation presented itself.
Despite that, though, he was pretty confident in himself and was happy in doing all that he thinks he could have done to prepare for what lied behind these fates. All he had to do now was walk in an-
“Izuku?!”
The greenette’s ears twitched in delight at the voice that entered his ears, and his nose suddenly became acutely aware of the beautiful scent of burnt caramel in the air. “Katsuki?” So, turning around, Izuku found himself looking at his oldest and best friend in the entire world. “Kat! You’re here! How have-”
“Where the fuck have you been, you ass?!” Izuku paused as the blonde stomped up to him and got right in his face. “I haven’t seen you in two months and-” Katsuki quickly stopped as he realised he wasn’t looking down and had to take a step back to actually look at his best friend. “And when did you turn into… This?”
At this, Izuku awkwardly laughed as he suddenly realised something. Since his last two months were an intensive that took up every hour of his time, he hadn’t seen the blonde in a while….
Whoops.
“Uhhhh…” The greenette rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly – leaving Katsuki baffled as his arms stretched the fabric as if trying to breath – and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, Kat… Grandpa was back in town and-”
“Donated his muscles?” Katsuki couldn’t fully wrap his mind around what he was looking at, but a small part of his brain suddenly clicked onto a point that made everything else irrelevant. “… You’re here for the hero course exam.”
It wasn’t a question; it was an observation. “Hahaha.” Again, Izuku just laughed awkwardly before nodding. “Yeah, I am. Grandpa trained me up until last week when he went back to his ship, and-”
“Stop.” Katsuki held up his hand, stopping his friend before he could give him his version of the last ten months and just gave him a once over. “What about…” Then, walking up, he gave him a test punch to his chest, and was pleasantly surprised when it felt like he was punching rock. “… Yes.”
Izuku just looked confused. “Wha-”
Not that Katsuki cared, he just laughed loudly. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing, I’m really pissed off that you’ve been ghosting me, but.” The blonde poked his friend’s chest. “Whatever you’ve been doing has turned you into an absolute fucking unit, which means my dream of us becoming heroes together isn’t dead. I can yell at you all I want after this.” With that said, he grabbed his Brother’s arm – and, again, surprised by how hard it was – before running inside. “The Dyna-Might Duo is back, assholes! WHOO!”
‘Ah.’ The greenette just let it happen. “WHOO!”
U.A Auditorium, Three Hours Later
Izuku and Katsuki both sat with smiles at the back of the auditorium after their written tests.
A solid chunk of people in that room would probably score higher than them, but they were beyond confident with what they had done and had managed to be two of the first people to finish.
They were both, as Katsuki liked to call Izuku, nerds.
Either way, with that portion of the exam tucked away, they were just waiting at the back, hoping to survey the competition for the second part of the exam.
They had no idea what the second exam was – the forums talked about military grade robots, but that couldn’t be right – but a battle royale wasn’t impossible, so they wanted to know what they’d be facing.
And, as the students all trickled in, one by one, they marked them in their heads.
Korasanto Private Academy.
Kureito High School.
Takodana Academy.
Arrogance.
Nervousness.
Hope.
Despair.
Young men and women from every high school in Japan – from the most pretentious private academy to the most rundown public school – walked in with every emotion on the spectrum painted on their faces.
Some of their quirks were obvious from the get-go, primal-type and imitator-type mutation quirks were easy to spot, and some of the emitter-type power quirk users were absentmindedly playing around with their powers. The two swore they could even see a couple logia-types, despite being rare.
Overall, their observations led to one unanimous conclusion.
This was going to be fun.
“WELCOME, EVERYONE!” The lights suddenly cut out and a bellowing voice echoed throughout the large hall, stopping all conversations and causing the last batch of students to rush for a spot. “I hope you’re all doing well today!” The figure in question who the voice belonged to was a man with long blonde hair held upwards like a cockatoo in rock clothes.
The Voice Hero: Present Mic.
“Can I get a yeah?!”
His introduction garnered many a gasp and even some chuckles, but Izuku was the only one to take the man up on his request. “Yeah!”
The action received him a round of chuckles from a few examinees and a large smile from the hero on stage. “I’m loving the enthusiasm, tree trunk, thank you for that!” He turned to everyone else with an equally large smile. “Alright, I’ll be explaining the rules to all y’all kiddos today! Are you ready for it?”
This time, when Izuku jumped up to shout, many in the hall couldn’t help but find his cheerfulness contagious and stoop up with him. “YEAH!/WHOOO!/HELL YEAH!/FUCKIN’ AY!”
Shouts, hollers, and whistles went crazy in the hall, and some kid that must have had a firework emitter-type even let out some flares.
‘Finally!’ It only made Present Mic smile wider. ‘This routine didn’t work for the last two exams; I was losing hope!’ The blonde was quick to school his thoughts though and turned on the projector to start his show. “Great, glad to see everyone’s hyped! Now, this practical exam is going to be pretty simple.” The screen came to life and showed an aerial of twenty small city blocks. “These mock cities here are where we hold the practical exam. Today, you’ll all be split evenly between them based on a random raffle and…” The stretching of his words did their job, and many found themselves on the edge of their seats. “You’ll be fighting robots!”
On the screen, a pixel animation of All Might running up and punching a robot came up before three more similar animations were shown, each one representing a different robot.
‘Video game much.’
The style and presentation didn’t fail to make a few of the examinees laugh.
Izuku just looked impressed. ‘Holy crap, they actually have the robots?! Where do they get the money for it?’
Meanwhile, Present Mic continued to smile at the positive reactions he was getting. ‘Yes, I knew it! These animations were cool!’ He made a mental note to brag to one of his co-workers that his ‘stupid idea’ worked before focusing again. “The robots you face will have a point-value assigned to them that you’ll see on their chests; one, two or three points.” The screen changed again to show the silhouettes of four robots. “Your task is simple, destroy as many as you can within the time limit. Please keep it heroic as well, no sabotaging others or it’ll be an instant disqualification.”
The grumble of a few examinees at the end of the blonde hero’s statement – including Katsuki’s – did not inspire the hero at all. However, before the blonde could make a mental note on that or finish off his explanation, a new loud voice echoed in the hall.
“Excuse me, Present Mic, sir!” The interruption surprised everyone, and they turned to the source of the noise to find a tall, well-built, blue-haired teen with glasses standing straight up. “I have a question!”
The blonde hero seemed to recognise the interrupter and tried his best to repress a smile before he spoke. “Sure, what’s your question, examinee No. 7111?”
“This pamphlet here and the screen behind you shows us that there are four robots in this exam!” The blue-haired teen exclaimed, chopping the air as he spoke. “And yet you have only given us an explanation for three of them; is this a misprint? Exemplary students such as the gathered body here today came here because this is a prestigious school! A mistake such as this simply will not do!”
By the end of his triad, a number of students began to chuckle with a few outright laughing at the boy. Izuku was most certainly part of that statistic.
“Pffft, hahaha…” The greenette tried his best to be silent and hoped that the repressed laughter of the others would help hide his. “Someone make him stop, I’m gonna pee!”
Unfortunately, the blue-haired teen’s ears seemed to lock in on him specifically and the young man turned around to him with a stern look. “You!” The seriousness and volume of his voice silenced all the laughter in the hall, and everyone turned themselves to focus on the development. “Do you think this exam is a joke? You’ve been yelling like a child since Present Mic started speaking and interrupted his presentation! If you are here to sabotage us, then I’d suggest-”
BOOM!
The sound of a quirk going off so blatantly and unapologetically caused everyone that wasn’t paying attention to tune in, and all in the hall saw Katsuki look up with an angry expression. “Oi, glasses, can you shut the fuck up?!”
“I beg your finest pardon?” The vulgar language didn’t seem to sit right with the blue-haired teen, and everyone saw him raise his arm, ready to start again. “Such langu-”
Katsuki didn’t let him get there though. “I want to go to my exam and crush it already!” He yelled, raising his hand and letting a few more explosions off. “But, instead, I have to listen to you interrupt the presentation and cause a fuss before the cockatoo up there could even finish!”
Everyone – including the hero the blonde referenced – laughed at the name.
All except for ‘Glasses’, though, who just looked offended. “How have I interrupted-”
“Rockstar blonde asked for a reaction when tinker bell over here and the others yelled, you on the other hand.” The blonde stood up and leaned down in hopes that Glasses would be able to see how pissed off he was. “Started running your mouth before the presentation could even finish. The last slide is literally up on the screen; if you had been paying attention, you’d have noticed!”
Sure enough, looking at the screen, all the examinees saw the silhouette of a fourth robot with the number zero in the middle of it.
‘Oh no…’ The blue-haired teen seemed to realise this as well and turned around in hopes of salvaging the situation. “I-”
“Shut up and sit down, blueberry.” Katsuki wouldn’t let him though. “If not, get out. You’ve wasted enough of our time.” And with that all said, he sat down, ignoring the blinding, thankful smile that his best friend gave him. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Zu.”
Meanwhile, all around the room, all the young adults found it really hard to keep in their amusement and the joyous sounds of laughter filled the hall.
‘Damnit!’ It was embarrassing for the blue-haired teen who just sat down and prayed to whatever God would listen that what he just did wouldn’t affect his exam results. ‘Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Tensei said to stay hip and ‘coolio’! But I can’t!’
Present Mic kept a straight face throughout the laughter but was internally frowning. ‘Shit, I owe Tensei my baby pics now.’ He thought to himself before deciding to finish his presentation off; they were on a time limit. “Alright, settle down everyone; now, as I was about to say…” The blue-haired teen’s cheeks flushed red as he ducked down. “The fourth and final robot is worth zero points; zero, nada, nothing.”
His proclamation garnered no small amount of confused looks and tilted heads from the gathered student body.
‘Zero points?’
“You can just think of those robots as an… Obstacle of sorts; avoid it if you come across it since there’s really no point in fighting it.” The blonde hero continued, internally smirking at the clueless looks on the students’ faces. “Well, that’s basically all from me.” He said as he looked at his watch. “I’ll sign off with a little present though; our school motto.” Smiles broke out throughout the hall as he said this. “The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, ‘A true hero is someone who overcomes life’s misfortunes.’ So, my dear little listeners, go beyond…”
Everyone stood up with Present Mic at the end and threw their fists up to the sky.
“PLUS ULTRA!”
Battle Centre Beta
Unfortunately for Izuku and Katsuki, the raffle that decided who would be at what arenas hadn’t gone in their favour, and they’d been separated. The former was taken here at Battle Centre Beta while the latter was taken to Battle Centre Omega.
Though, with the challenge being a mock-villain invasion instead of the battle royale they were expecting, them being in the same arena didn’t matter.
No harm; no foul.
Izuku was just wearing a pair of loose dark-forest green hakama pants and a similarly coloured hoodie for his attire. A nice, loose outfit that allowed him to move while also acting as a way to hide his Haki.
Now, if he was being realistic, he didn’t actually need to cover up his body. His Grandfather had explained that the only way others would be able to see Armament Haki would be if they were to have a low level of Haki themselves, or if his own Haki was extremely potent. And, like his Grandfather loved to point out, Izuku’s was nowhere near that level yet.
But, you know, the greenette figured better safe than sorry.
So, aside from all of that, Izuku wasn’t looking like much of a threat. As far as they were all concerned, he was the excited, plain, laughter-bringing guy from the auditorium.
Some of them had even come up to him with smiles and thanks for taking their nerves away with his excitement.
It was nice-
Izuku watched the gates open to the city and his mind cleared as he locked in. Though, looking around, he was a little confused when he saw everyone just stand around and watch the doors open while continuing to stretch and limber up.
That observation stopped him for all of two seconds before he decided that the exam was now on and immediately burst forward.
A few others saw this, but only three followed the green-haired teen in.
“Alright!” A pink-skinned girl with pink hair and horns.
“Might as well.” A purple-haired teen with visible insomnia.
“What?! Have we started?!” And a panicked looking blonde with a black lightning streak in his hair.
The now four examinees running through the opened gates was enough to garner the attention of all the students gathered and they all shouted at them.
“Oi! They’re all cheating!”
“Dudes! We gotta wait for the go ahead!”
“Yeah, guys! Present Mic hasn’t called the start yet!”
“What in the hell are you all doing?!” Speaking of the rock hero, the blonde man was situated on the top of a building that sat in the centre of the ring that the mock cities created. The ones that could see him could tell he was confused and unhappy. “You think a pro hero is gonna wait for a villain to say start before trying to save someone! Get movin’ already!”
At this, everyone in Battle Centre Beta – minus Izuku and the small handful of students that ran in after him – looked a little embarrassed before locking in and rushing into the city.
“WHAT THE HELL?!?!”
And what they found was a stack of at least nine robots, smoking and sparking in malfunction, and the three students from before standing still with shocked expressions on their faces.
A few blocks down, Izuku was continuing to run through the streets, running simulations through his mind on how to deal with the robots now that he had run into all but the zero-pointers.
The Villain Bots! Courtesy of Yuuei High School, these military-grade robots are designed by all the support course students throughout the year! First years design the one-pointers, second years design the two-pointers, and third years design the three-pointers! Their attacks won’t kill you but it ain’t gonna tickle either!
- One-Pointers: The Victory Bots – These monkey-styled bots are fitted out with wrist guns that are loaded with rubber bullets! What their hull lacks in defence, it makes up in lightness and agility.
- Two-Pointers: The Imperial Bots – These human-styled bots are programmed with various types of martial arts and three different levels of mastery! What they lack in strength they make up for in skill and the most defensive hull!
- Three-Pointers: The Venator Bots – These large, beefy, bots are outfitted with hard-hitting jackhammer pistons in their arms and legs for maximum offence! Their size and instalments also make them incredibly heavy and hard to lift off the ground.
“Target locked.” As soon as he turned a corner, Izuku found himself staring down another three-pointer, which had evidently been waiting for him if the hand coming towards him was any indication. “Exterminate.”
Throwing up his arms to block, the greenette stood his ground as the punch connected and just smiled. “Target locked.” Before reeling his right hand back in a palm. “Exterminate!”
The sound of metal resonated in the street as Izuku’s palm met steel, and the three-pointer barrelled down the road, knocking into three one-pointers on its way and landing all four of them at the feet of a two-pointer.
“Assessing danger level…” The robot looked at its fallen brethren before its eyes snapped back up to the teenager responsible for their defeat. “Initiating Boxer Programme; level one.” Then, crouching lightly, it put up its hands in a boxer’s stance and began to approach the greenette.
Izuku noticed the builds of the two-pointers were roughly his size and build, albeit just a bit bulkier and much bigger fists. ‘Interesting…’ So, deciding to humour the robot and bring a bit of his Grandfather to the exam with him, the young adult switched his stance to a boxer’s in response. “Come on then.”
“Confidence detected; likely hood of arrogance low.” The bot, however, was – impressively enough – able to realise Izuku could beat it pretty easily and knocked its fists together, creating a loud banging sound. “Danger level high; assistance advised.”
Then, as soon as it finished speaking, three more two-pointers fell behind and on the other two sides of Izuku, before also entering boxing stances and all four of them spoke at once. “Initiating Boxer Programme; level three.”
Now, seeing this, and realising that he was now surrounded by four robots his size ready to strike him with their best hits, Izuku reasoned that any sane person wouldn’t stick to trying to fight them in a fighting style they weren’t fully confident in.
That being said, Izuku was not fully sane, and so kept his hands up like a boxer before running towards the first two-pointer in front of him. “Hah!” Jumping forward and swinging a right hook with a burst of speed, the greenette was able to catch the two-pointer off-guard and nailed it in the face, sending it straight into the ground. ‘Behind!’
Then, feeling his Observation out, Izuku was able to turn around just in time to put his hands up before the other three started assaulting him.
One of them striking towards his liver and kicking at his legs, another going for jabs and hooks, and the last jumping in every now and then trying to superman punch him. An effective combo that would probably take apart most people that didn’t have any martial arts training.
Of course, Izuku was not a brawler, and so was able to dodge all of this before finding an opening.
“Chest caved in.” The robot said as it exited from its stance and stood stock still, unaffected by the dent in its chest area. “Likely hood of continued fighting, null; shutting down.” Before crumpling to the ground.
“Shoryuken!” Making an over-exaggerated uppercut, Izuku sent another two-pointer flying as it watched its fellow bot ‘die’, before gesturing for the last one to come.
It, of course, did not take kindly to the taunt and went up to the green-haired man before throwing jab after jab in much faster succession than what it was doing before.
Luckily, Izuku was still able to process them just fine and blocked the blows, before ducking under a right uppercut and giving it a left hook right into where its liver would be if it was a person. “Weave!” Then, spinning under a left swipe, the teen followed his spin into the air and gave it a superman punch with his right. “Finish him!” And, seeing it stagger in place, the greenette let some Armament into his feet before running up and dropkicking the bot. “You win!” Which, of course, turned the robot into scrap metal. “Hehe. Nice.”
“Holy crap, man, that was so cool!”
And it seems like he has a watcher.
“Huh?” Turning around, the greenette saw a blonde-haired teen about his size with a black-lightning streak in his hair waving. “Oh, thanks!” So, of course, he waved back.
“Yeah, man! You went all Road Rager III on it!” The blonde smiled widely before seeming to spot something behind Izuku and holding his hand out. “Duck!”
Having heard this command alongside ‘Dodge’, ‘Block’, and ‘Roll’ for the past eight months, Izuku’s body shot out of the way immediately.
‘Woah...’ And was just able to avoid a trio of one-pointers trying to get the drop on him, as well as the blast of yellow lightning that took them out. ‘Huh…’ The greenette watched them short out and drop to the floor with ease but quickly scrunched his face up. ‘I’ve really gotta work on my passive Observation.’ Thoughts for another time though; he turned back to the blonde and smiled again. “Thanks for the save.”
“Eh, least I could do after the show you gave me.” Lowering his hand – which Izuku could see had electrical residue around it – the blonde gave a small bow of his head.
Izuku nodded his head back at that and walked up to the blonde before extending his hand. “Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you.”
A hand which the blonde took happily. “Denki Kaminari.” Before wincing with a laugh as they shook. “And you’ve got some real grip. Ouch.”
“Ah!” Taking his hand away with an awkward laugh, Izuku bowed lightly in apology. “Sorry, my strength’s shot up a lot recently, still having a hard time getting a lid on it.”
Kaminari just waved him off. “Ah, don’t worry, dude, quirk problems are a constant.” Before turning around and beginning to walk away. “Well, can’t waste another second. Hope to see you in class, Midoriya.”
And, before Izuku could even begin to correct him – he was comfortable with his status – the blonde was gone. “Hope to see you, too, Kaminari!” So, leaving a yell to his fellow examinee, the greenette turned back around and looked around for more robots. ‘If examinees are all the way out here, that means everyone’s properly filed in and getting a robot is going to be more difficult. Even if I’m confident with what I have so far, I should keep trying to find some to secur-’
RUMBLE!
The ground of all twenty mock cities shook lightly and, even though it wasn’t large enough to cause any damage, it stopped everyone in their tracks.
“The hell?”
“Is this an earthquake?”
“What in the fuck is THAT!?”
The last exclamation and similar phrases were what diverted everyone’s eyes to the source of the rumbling, a giant, steel, kaiju.
The Zero-Pointer! These robots are the combined inventions of the first year, second year, and third year support course departments and finished off by their Head of Department; Power Loader!
- Zero-Pointer: The Executor – These steel titans reach beyond city buildings in height and pack terrifyingly strong punches – mostly because of the custom-made titan-pistons in their arms! However, Power Loader made them with self-destruct buttons just in case of worst-case emergencies; a trick he picked up from an old villain-turned-old-inventor from some town called Gimmelshtump, in the country of Drusselstein!
Of course, seeing such a sight, there was only one, logical course of action.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
Panic.
“Run for the hills!”
“This is way too much for an exam!”
“Who signed off on this?!”
Examinees far away from the zero-pointers continued to fight, but continued to look back at the gigantic, robotic behemoth just in case it would head their way. Meanwhile, everyone that was right next to the bot immediately started sprinting like their lives depended on it.
And, as far as they were concerned, they did.
‘Holy crap, this thing is almost as big as that giant Grandpa faced at the Pirate’s Den!’ Izuku was less intimidated by the giant, but he was still a far cry away from wanting to even take a step in its direction. ‘Best just to go to another part of the city and-’
“Oh, come on! Really?!” A high-pitched voice called out in frustration amongst the booms of the robot’s steps, stopping the greenette right in his tracks. “Damn it!”
Turning around, Izuku found himself staring at a harrowing sight. ‘No.’ A pink-skinned girl had been trapped underneath a mound of rubble and was directly in the zero-pointer’s path.
And she was looking right at him.
Observation Room, Just Before
In the observation tower, a large building placed in between the four main training grounds, the faculty viewed the examinees with keen and judgemental eyes. Multiple hologram screens covered the front of the room and showed any student of interest that a teacher told it to.
There was Katsuki and a red-haired teen in Battle Centre Delta, the former displaying an explosive – literally – show of force while the latter fought off the bots that his fellow examinees could no longer handle in defence of them.
A boy with a dark-feathered, raven head slowly walked the roads of Battle Centre Alpha as two dire wolves, seemingly made of shadows, protected him from any robots.
A girl in Battle Centre Eta with orange hair was growing and stretching her fists and feet to humorous proportions in order to crush anything that got in her way.
Battle Centre Rho had a girl with bobbed brown hair flicking her wrists and sending robots that got too close either caving in on themselves or flying into the atmosphere.
These examinees and more took the forefront of the U.A staff’s attention and they all watched with apt attention, especially after just releasing the zero-pointers.
“I like her.” A hero – that could only be described as a space-marine without their helmet – said, their galaxy-like eyes staring at her screen with interest. “Her quirk seems similar to mine, but it’s a bit more versatile.”
A tall man in a trench coat at the back of the room had three different screens around him, watching an examinee in Alpha approvingly. “Aside from a small bit of overreliance on his quirk, I’d pin this one as a candidate.” Even with his mask on, the others could tell his smile got bigger. “We help them grow out of that habit anyway.”
“This one here reminds me of that heiress from the recommendation exams last month.” A block-headed hero said aloud, chuckling. “A heavy string of profanity second only to the number of explosions they cause.”
A hobo-looking man at the back rolled his eyes as he took a peek at his coworker’s screen before continuing to look for troubled examinees.
The exam wasn’t as bad as it was when he was a teenager. Back then, the robots had been much bigger, bulkier, and caused a lot more damage than professional thugs did on a bad day.
Now though? These robots were much more human-sized and simulated real scenarios. Hand-to-hand combat, group attacks, getting shot at, some of them even took examinees hostage if they could just to see what the others would do.
That all being said, some people had quirks that would render these opponents useless if they were of flesh and blood, but they weren’t.
It let possible potential fall out of their reach; this was not something he wou-
“Hm?” The man made an audible noise of confusion – garnering stares from his coworkers – and he sat up to bring the screen his eyes skimmed past closer to him. “Oh.” And saw a green-haired kid in Battle Centre Beta looking at a pink-skinned girl trapped under rubble… “Oh.” And in direct path of a zero-pointer. “Nezu, you might want to hit the pause button on the Executor in Beta. There’s a kid trapped under some rubble and is gonna get stomped in a minute if she can’t get out.”
Throwing the screen to the front, the surveillance footage enlarged itself to be the main screen, and everyone saw Izuku staring at the trapped examinee and right back up to the zero-pointer.
“Yeesh.” Present Mic commented with a sigh. “Tough situation for the greenie if he doesn’t have the quirk for it. Even if it’s fake, as far as he’s concerned, it’s either survive or risk it all.”
“I don’t even know if some of my kids would be able to make a call like that.” A hero with a mask and cowboy hat said solemnly, spinning a revolver around his fingers. “Can’t blame forest here if he chooses to run away.”
At this, a muscly figure at the back in a pair of dark suit pants and a white button up shirt – that was really stretching against his form – walked up. “No.” His shadowed eyes were contrasted as their blue irises glowed brightly and he smiled an all too familiar smile. “Look at that young man’s face… He’s going to save her.”
A rat… Dog… Be- A small chimera in a suit in the middle of the room nodded at the large man’s assessment. “Indeed, All Might, he is.” Before smiling as he watched his prediction come true. “I would expect nothing less of him.”
That got everyone’s attention, and they all reared their heads to their Principal with raised eyebrows.
“Do you know him, Principal Nezu?” A woman with dark purple hair asked, readjusting her glasses to get a better look at the chunk of mea-young man.
“I know of him.” Nezu replied, smiling as he poured himself a new cup of tea and drank it. “His Grandfather speaks of him often to me.”
Any interest the hobo man may have had slowly began to dwindle at that. “A legacy then?”
“No.” Alright, never mind. “Officially, he’s the first in his family to take the hero route. His bloodline is military; proud military.”
“Oh.” Interest renewed then. ‘Depending on how active his military family are in his life, and whatever branch they were in, he’d be either very well disciplined or uniquely creative in problem solving…’
Interest thoroughly renewed and curiosity peaked, All Might decided to dig through the examinee files a bit until he found what he was looking for. ‘No… No… Nope, no-aha! This looks like him.’ And, luckily for him, he found it pretty quickly. ‘Oh.’ And then he read the name. ‘Midoriya D….’
Everyone but Nezu became confused when he started to laugh madly.
Battle Centre Beta
Back at Battle Centre Beta, Izuku had just reached the pink-skinned girl and was taking stock of the situation. “Hello! Nice to meet you!” Alright, not what he wanted to say but he could roll with the punches. “Are you okay?”
Holy crap, that was even worse.
“…” The pink-skinned girl, luckily, could tell he regretted asking the question and just sighed. “My ankle’s trapped between all this rubble.” Before laying back in defeat. “I’d melt it – my quirk lets me make acid – but the acidity that I’d need to get through this would get past even my resistance to acid.”
“Alright.” Nodding at that – and trying to think before he spoke – Izuku walked over towards the rubble. “Let’s get you out of this.”
For whatever reason, the trapped girl didn’t look to hopeful. “I appreciate the sentiment, and you’re pretty built-” She missed the greenette turning a shade darker than she was. “But I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more weight here than just what’s keeping my ankle tra-”
WHOOM!
The sound of stone whizzing through the air and a feeling of lightness around her foot cut the girl off before she could continue and she watched on with wide eyes as Izuku dragged piece, after piece, after piece of debris off her and flung them off towards the zero-pointer.
“And… There!” Pulling the last piece keeping her ankle down – that was as big as a fridge – Izuku tossed it behind him towards the still-heading-toward-them robot before grabbing the no-longer-trapped girl and picking her up like a doll. “You’re safe now!”
‘Huh… That was hot.’ And the girl was at a loss for words. Though, she did find some after her eyes were able to spot a car-sized piece of debris flying at them. “Duck!”
Again, months of conditioning forced Izuku to lower his head, and this time he was really glad about it. ‘Huh…’ Because, as soon as he did, the girl he was carrying shot out acid from her hands like water from a fire hose, turning the debris about to hit them into sludge which further melted into the road. ‘… That was hot.’
And with that last thought, the exam ended.
“Time is up, folks! Exam is over! We! Are! Done!”
Following this, Izuku remembered that the girl still had a messed-up ankle and went to take her to an infirmary.
“Young man, where do you think you’re off to?” Luckily, he didn’t have to go far. “If it’s healing you need, I’m right here.”
Turning around, Izuku – and, subsequentially, the pink girl in his arms – found themselves staring at a very well-known hero. “Recovery Girl!”
“That’s me.” The old heroine confirmed with a smile, before walking up and whacking Izuku lightly on his leg. “Well, sonny, put her down now. No need for princes in this neck of the woods.”
The greenette almost dropped her at that statement but managed to gently lay her down at the last second. “Sorry, Recov-”
“Alright, looks like a simple broken ankle.” Cutting him off, Recovery Girl just leaned down and gave the girl a kiss on her leg, causing a light green glow to cover it. “Well, it shouldn’t give you any more problems.” Before throwing her a handful of gummies. “Take these though; my quirk isn’t perfect; it uses your own energy to speed up your body’s healing.”
“Oh, okay!” If the pink girl was affected, she didn’t show it and simply took down all the gummies at once. “Thanks, ma’am!”
Recovery Girl smiled one last time before turning around to Izuku. “Usually, I heal everyone I come across if I think they might be injured.” Then she grinned. “But your Grandfather said that would be counterproductive to your training, and I know how tough he is.” She visibly relished in the confused look on the young adult’s face and walked off. “You’re fine, sonny! Do those breathing exercises you were given!”
‘Grandpa knows Recovery Girl?! Recovery Girl knows Grandpa! When-’ Immediately ending that train of thought, Izuku just smiled. ‘Actually, this is on track with him.’ Before ultimately deciding that there was nothing left for him at the exam and walking off.
“Hey, hold on a second!” Well, until the pink girl he saved slid right in front of him, arms and legs out like a starfish. “You can’t just walk away after saving my life like that!” She pouted and poked him in the chest. “I need to know your name!”
Now that Izuku wasn’t in battle mode and saving the life of a fellow examinee, he finally was able to get a proper look at the girl standing in front of him.
And she was beautifully exotic.
Sure, Izuku had seen his fair share of beautiful young women, but this was a new type of beauty.
He also hadn’t talked to a lot of girls in his life aside from his Mother, Aunts, and a few cousins, so it was understandable that his face turned a shade of pink darker than that of the girl in front of him.
Again.
“Uh, I-I’m Izuku D. Midoriya.” He started, trying to smile through the blush and the stutter. ‘Holy crap, she’s beautiful!’
The girl definitely saw his blush – there’s no way she couldn’t – and smiled back just as brightly. “Well, Midoriya, I’m Mina Ashido!” She bowed down low before jumping right up to the greenette and bopping his nose with her finger. “Thanks for the save, cutie!”
Oh, look at that, he’s gotten even pinker; that’s probably red, actually.
“Hahaha…. No trouble at all, A-Ashido!” However, Izuku was able to keep his smile up, if just barely. “I know you’d do the same; you actually did! It was really cool!” He kept the part where he thought it was attractive to himself.
Mina’s smile lost its teasing edge and became softer. “Aww, that’s really sweet of you!” She brought her hands up to his face, holding it in thought for a second, before leaning right up to Izuku’s cheek – dangerously close to the edge of his lips – and leaving a kiss there. “Hehehe….” A light violet dusted her cheeks, and she quickly walked away with a wink. “Don’t forget me when we get in!” Letting herself blush fully only after she turned around. ‘Aah! He was so cute! I can’t believe I just did that!’
And in her wake, she left a red-faced Izuku on the verge of passing out. ‘A girl kissed me…. And she was cute!’ A large, goofy smile was on his face, and he had to take a minute to process what just happened before moving out of the arena. ‘HAHAHA! YES!’
To Be Continued…