All Might was standing in the middle of the cleared beach, waiting for his successor to arrive for their afternoon training.

It's been one month since they had started hand to hand combat. Their time was being split between simple sparring and quirk training. Today they will start testing the limits to Izuku's control. Past tests had shown that at this moment Izuku had little over a 5% control over one for all, which was pretty impressive considering he shouldn't have any control.

All Might, checked his watch again. Izuku was late. He was usually always on time. this particular thought worried the hero. Izuku would always show up on his training sessions, even if it was raining, even if he was tired. He would always show up. All Might, once, had to send the boy back home, on a day when the kid showed up pale and shivering, he had later given him a lecture on taking care of his health and knowing when he had reached his limit. So Izuku being late now was quite alarming, to say the least.

His mind swirled with the possibilities. What if something happened to the boy? What if he was hurt? His was cut off from his speculating by a green tuft of hair showing up in his field of vision, he turned around fully towards the direction the boy was coming from, smiling in relief.

That smile was abruptly whipped off his face as he took in his successors state. The boy was limping, he had a black eye forming on the right side of his face, the bruise still fresh and standing out against the paler of his skin. To say the kid looked tired was an understatement. He looked nothing short of exhausted. His eyes were looking directly at the hero but not quite seeing him. The usual light All Might would see in them was gone. Dull green replaced his once bright emerald eyes.

"My boy, what happened to you?" He asked, voice soft and tinged with concern.
The boy seemed to just notice the hero, shaking his head and looking at his mentor, he smiled, the anomaly not quite reaching his eyes.

"Oh, no- nothing really All Might. I'm f- fine, just fell down some stairs. You know me, I'm always clumsy" He stuttered, tone light. The clear lie sending a red flag to his mentor but the urgency in Izuku's voice pleading the hero to let it go did not go unnoticed. All Might knew that this was not something he could easily overlook, he opened his mouth ready to push on, but the look he saw in Izuku's eyes made him think better of it. it was a look of utter defeat.

"What do you say we skip the training today and go out for ice cream, it's a nice day today and I know this great place near the park that sells hero themed cones." The older man offered.

Izuku beamed at his mentor, tension leaving his shoulder in relief. He was glad the symbol of peace didn't ask any questions. This wasn't something he could explain without getting in trouble and complicating things.

He was in his room, getting ready for his afternoon training workout with All Might when his mother suddenly burst into the room, looking furious, animosity and rage pouring out of her like a river. In her hand she held a paper, one Izuku recognized as his high school application for UA, he had sent it about two months ago but kept a copy of the application anyway for good measures.

This was by far the stupidest thing he could have done. Since Inko seemed to have gone through his stuff. His heart rate spiked and the air was abruptly knocked out of him as he realized the trouble he was in. His mother had found the application, she had found out about his aim to still be a hero. No matter how many time it had happened, Izuku couldn't be ready for what happened next.

Inko needed to teach him a lesson. He should know by now that someone as pathetic as him could never dream of being a hero. This particular lesson had Izuku limping to the beach sporting a black eye, some burns from his mother's favorite punishment for him and many other bruises; most of them probably future scars to add to the list of the endless scars adorning his body.

Even with a quirk, Izuku was still nothing but a weakling. His mother had raised one hand and all he could do at the time was freeze and wait for the inevitable pain to come. What a hero right? How could he ever save anyone when he couldn't even protect himself.

The woman had pushed him to the ground, her figure towering over him despite her relatively small frame. Her glare piercing through him, cutting away at every ounce of confidence he had gathered over his time training with the number one hero. He tried getting back up but that seemed to anger her even more, so he opted to stay where he was, but even that didn't seem to appease her, since she proceeded to kick him right in the face with her heel and drag him out into the kitchen with strengths that shouldn't have been possible for someone her size.

This next part, made Izuku's skin crawl just at the thought of the experience, phantom pain making its way to the old scars he had gathered from the particular punishment over the years, his mother would go towards the kitchen's drawers and pull out a fork, she would then proceed to heat the utensil and abruptly press it against Izuku back. Just between the shoulder blades. The pain was excruciating. One of the most painful he felt throughout the years of abuse. The slow-burning sensation and the smell of burned flesh forever engraved in his memories. His mother finally relents and tell him that maybe if he becomes a hero he would finally die and relieve her from her misery. That though follows him, gnawing at the back of his mind for the rest of the walk towards the beach

All might lead him to a small coffee shop near the neighborhood's park. It was a nice change of scenery for the boy. That day, they had spent the afternoon in a blissful silence. Pleased to just sit there and enjoy each other's company, occasionally making small talk and unimportant chit-chat. An unspoken understanding dawned between them as neither of them brought up Izuku's injuries. Unknown to the boy, the hero was starting to form some conclusions.

The entrance exam came quicker then Izuku expected. Before he even realized it, the fateful day had arrived and Izuku was now standing in front of the towering gates of the
School of his dreams. Here he was, making his first step towards his future. As he walked, he missed the slight bump on the ground and tripped. He closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable humiliation and pain to arrive but after a moment or two, nothing happened. He opened his eyes and found that he was floating, suspended in mid-air.

"Hey, you alright?" A female voice called out to him in a tone more cheerful than any he'd ever heard directed at him before. "Sorry about, uh, using my Quirk on you without your permission!" Steady hands gently righted him, before the tug of gravity pulled him back onto his own feet. He stared up with bulging eyes at the sweetly smiling girl in front of him, she had brown short hair, resting just above her shoulder. "I just figured you wouldn't mind not hitting the ground."

Izuku stared at her in a sort of dazed wonder, no one was ever nice to him in the past without a catch or without it being some kind of prank. He quickly snapped himself out of it, realizing he hadn't actually said anything yet. "A-ah, sorry, uhm, thank you very much!" he didn't know what kind of smile his face was making but he hoped it didn't show the fear that bubbled in his chest.

"No problem!" She soothed, her genuine grin making him feel both inadequate and strangely warm inside. "Hey, good luck on the exam! See you inside!" She performed a cutesy little wave and bounced away, leaving him awestruck in place. He made a strangled noise when she was already twenty feet away and managed to make his legs move about five seconds after.

The written exam went fairly well, Izuku having studied for it thoroughly had a feeling that he had aced it. The practical exam on the other hand...
Present Mic, the voice hero, introduced the exercise, Izuku gushing over the hero the whole time until one of the students called him out for mumbling out loud and disrupting the explanation, they would be fighting robots, three types of mechanical faux villains are stationed in each arena. You earn different amounts of points for each one you destroy based on their level of difficulty

Basically, the participant had to destroy as many robots as they could to wrap up points and pass.
Standing in front of the massive gates of Battle Arena B, Izuku tries to gain some semblance of calmness. This was the moment of truth. That girl from the morning is being assigned to the same arena he's in. So is that loud boy from the presentation who called him out for mumbling. Said boy was going around shushing anyone who would dare engage in casual conversation.

Present Mic's energetic voice comes through the speakers hung up at the sides of the gates, "OKAY START!" Yells the man from the top of his lungs

Everyone is stunned - they'd been expecting a countdown, or a signal, any sort of warning before the actual exam.

Izuku, however, having been used to reacting instantly, whether it is from training of the years of having to react lest he gets seriously hurt from his mother's very well thought out quirk use. Doesn't hesitate to run at full speed into the arena. strengthened legs pumping furiously as he runs over gravel. Behind him, it seems like the others are only just starting to realize that the practical exam has indeed commenced.

"What's wrong, what's wrong?" Present Mic laughs gleefully, as the other students begin to run in after Izuku. "There are no countdowns in real fights! Run, run! Examinee Number 18091 has the right idea!"

Even with the rest of the examinees running in after him, Izuku still has a massive head start.
As he runs, he notices the mechanical whirring that's heading his way.

He spots a three-pointer running towards him, followed by two two-pointers. Quickly a plan begins forming in his mind. He rushes towards it, fist forming, 5% of One for all's energy begins coursing through him as he retracts his hand and throws a punch. Like what happened with the trash at the beach, and the countless dummies he's trained with. A small shockwave resounds through the arena and promptly destroys the three robots in its wake.

Izuku stands there, eyes wide and grin forming as he looked at the wreckage before him. He did that. He destroyed these robots. With renewed confidence and resolve, choosing to ignore the shocked stares he gets from the other examinees as they gape at the destruction he caused. He rushes in taking out as many robots as he can, left and right. Gaining many points by the second.

Until now, he doesn't know how many points he's got. he'd lost count after having to save a couple of reckless examinees from getting crushed by debris or injured by someone's irresponsible quirk use. As he runs ahead, trying to make up for the time he lost. Hoping that he's somehow managing to get enough to pass. A whirring sound resounded through the arena, making Izuku turn around to see a gigantic metal abomination lumbering towards them. Black steel glinting menacingly in the light. All the examinees collectively drawback, the exam forgotten as they gape at this mechanical monster slowly approaching them. It's the zero-pointer Present Mic talked about, it apparently didn't have any purpose in the exam, destroying it doesn't get you any points.

The robot crushes a building in its wake and that seems to get the examinees to start running.

Izuku think that maybe 5% wouldn't be enough to destroy the robot, he turns around to try and follow the others but a girl's voice reaches his ears. He whirls around looking for the source, only to find the girl that helped him that morning. She's stuck under some rubble, directly in the rapidly approaching zero pointer's path.

His legs move before he even realizes what he was doing.

He channels One for all and leaps through the air, using as much energy as he could muster with his level of control, knowing that a 5% hit won't be enough. He tries using more power into his punch. He draws his fist back, willing one for all to course through his body but focuses more on the energy in his hand. yelling at the top of his longs the phrase his idol was known for the most. "SMASH"
He punches the robot and promptly destroys it, sending a chain reaction of explosions through its metal frame. He thinks he got away with the amount of energy he used but quickly pain erupt from his arm as he falls rapidly towards the ground.

The power he used must have broken his hand.

As he nears the ground, Izuku braces his body with energy to absorb the impact or somehow cushion his fall but he suddenly feels a sharp smack on his cheek and a familiar feeling of weightlessness.

"Thank goodness," the girl says breathlessly, her arm still outstretched towards him. Somehow, she's actually managed to free her ankle from the debris and limp towards him, even as her foot twists painfully. Her face abruptly turns green, and she covers her mouth for all of two seconds before emptying the contents of her stomach. Meanwhile, Izuku is still floating, grimacing in sympathy as she tries to clean herself up. Around them, the other students begin to approach, many staring in awe at the ruins of the zero-pointer.

Face scrunched up, she recovers gradually. "Oh, right, hold on!" she says once she's done, before clapping her hands together. Izuku slowly sinks onto the ground as his gravity is restored.

He feels consciousness beginning to escape him as the exertion from the whole day finally catches up on him and the pain in his arms begins to make itself more pronounced. He thinks he hears someone calling the nurse before his consciousness fades and his world turns dark.

Izuku wakes up to the omnipresent smell of antiseptics and is faced with a bright light coming from the ceiling lights above him. looking around, taking in his surroundings, he concludes that he must be in the school's infirmary, seeing as the last thing he remembers was being saved from his fall by the girl at the entrance exam.

The entrance exam. He doesn't know how many points he got, he hopes it was enough. Anxiety starts pooling in his stomach at the thought of failing and disappointing All Might, the one person that put his faith in him and trusted him with his most precious secret and honored him with is power.

Izuku starts as the Curtin around him suddenly retracts and a small elderly woman approaches him, his mind instantly recognizes her as the youthful heroine: recovery girl, the retired hero now working as the school's nurse. His mind instantly fills with questions he's had about her quirk and he ultimately begins gushing over her awesome powers. Her quirk allows her to heal people by kissing them, effectively using the patient's own stamina to accelerate the healing rate, but could she heal already healed wounds? Could she reduce scarring tissue?

"I'll answer all the questions you have kiddo but let me check on you first dearie" He abruptly clams his mouths shut, not realizing he had been thinking out loud. He had to do something about his mumbling habits.

"I - I'm sorry" he smiles sheepishly.

"Oh, don't be, I like the enthusiasm but please in the future refrain from acting so recklessly, the stunt you pulled was dangerous young man. Thankfully you didn't suffer any more damage than your arm. It should heal nicely but keep away from any heavy activity for the next two days. The exam ended a couple of hours ago, you should probably be going home now dear." The elder says as she ushers him outside with her cane.

That night Izuku submerges in restless sleep, thinking about the exam and All Might and finally about the girl he saved. He saved this girl. Maybe he had hope after all.

Weeks past and he still haven't heard from either UA or All Might, he tries to distract himself from it all by training, and soon enough as he's walking home from one of his morning runs, he sees the mailman deposing some letters in their mailbox. He thanks whatever twist of fate that prevented his mother from getting the letter before him and promptly runs to his room to read it in privacy.

Izuku ripped open the letter with trembling fingers, a little round device clattering onto the surface of his desk. He flinched when it burst into light and color, illuminating his bedroom with All Might's imposing figure.

"I AM HERE, IN HOLOGRAPHIC VIDEO FORM!" It was a pre-recorded video, depicting All Might in front of some yellow background. The hero glanced off-screen, perhaps receiving instructions from someone else. "AHEM, WELL. Young Izuku Midoriya, you passed the U.A.'s written exam with flying colors! Congratulations! But not only that. You also exceeded my expectations, you earned fifty combat points in the practical exam. young Midoriya! With these points, you could already get in having one of the top 10 scores! But that is not all. There's something I think you'd like to see!"

Another video burst to life in the corner, depicting the same girl he had saved, she appeared rosy-cheeked and lively again, approaching Present Mic with a sheepish look on her face. relief flooded his system, she was okay.

"Uhm, excuse me, Mr. Present Mic? Sorry to interrupt, but... do you remember the boy with messy green hair" She gestured at her head, " Had lots of freckles and a blue tracksuit? I wanted to ask if it'd be alright if... I maybe gave him some of my points from the exam? He gave up on his chance to earn points to save me! And it wouldn't be fair if he didn't pass and I did even though he was the one who saved me." She pleaded looking down, her hand clenching into a fist.

The video paused, nothing more than a smear of color due to the sheen of tears that blurred Izuku's vision. He twisted one hand in the fabric of his shirt, the tactile sensation just barely keeping him in one piece. He'd never- no one had ever spoken up like that for him before, had ever cared enough to ask after him, to want to help him. He swallowed down a sob when All Might began speaking again.

"Seems you made quite the impression, does it not? You, young Midoriya! Chose the safety of others first, going around helping other examinees and saving that girl even though those actions weren't demanded in the exam, even though you had nothing to gain." All Might turned to face the camera directly, his face pulled into a shining grin. "For you see, the practical exam was not graded on combat points alone! A second factor was voted on by a panel of judges. And for that reason, I am proud to say you passed with EIGHTY RESCUE POINTS!" All Might flashed a thumbs up, beaming at the screen.

"You passed the exam my boy, 130 points! Highest score in the history of UA!. Your heroic actions, bravery, and selflessness are now there for the whole world to see! Welcome Izuku Midoriya to your hero academia"