Haya!

Izuku was afraid, afraid of facing the villain that had left him traumatized not too long ago. His mind was in disarray.

'It's all my fault. I'm sorry!! If not for me it wouldn't have escaped from All Might… And whoever is caught can't move. Hang on…! Just a little!!... Someone will surely come to save you…' Izuku pleaded but in contrast to his thoughts, his body reacted differently which shocked the present crowd of civilians and heroes. Among them, All Might was also there in his skinny form so no one recognized him.

*Whoosh*

He didn't know why his body moved but he couldn't bear it. The pleading eyes of the victim… his excuses… he knew the pain of being the hostage of that villain… suffocation… as if you are losing control over your body and no longer command it at will… slowly but surely, warmth releasing your body… abyss trying to entrap your visions… that's how he had felt. So how could he hope for someone to bear the painful experience that he didn't want to, ever again… pathetic…

He cursed himself while sprinting toward the villain and midway, he recognized the hostage to be his childhood friend, Kacchan! ...which further reinforced his reckless decision.

The crowd was in uproar and the heroes were in a panic, but Izuku listened to none.

"You again… missed me, kid?!" mocked the villain after noticing Izuku.

"Haahhh…"

He swung his backpack with a twist of his hip and threw it towards the enemy distracting it from his next action.

He dived to the victim and caught his hand. He then activated his quirk and pushed the sludge monster off of Kaatsuki's breathing organ but not enough to remove it completely.

"…Izuku…!" said Kaatsuki haggardly.

"It's okay... it's okay!" replied Izuku with a quivering creepy smile, which was more of a cry than a smile. He was not calm at all. He tried to pull out Kaatsuki from the sludge but was noticed. If he didn't take any further action, he'll be captured too.

Taking a final gambit, he tried to repel the villain with everything he had which was a success since it finally let go of Kaatsuki. Seeing the chance, Izuku immediately pushed Kaatsuki towards the direction of heroes with his quirk and tried to escape from the reach of the villain…

'Huh…?…not again…' darkness claimed his vision. He had strained his mind too much due to the overuse of his untrained quirk. Without being able to ponder about his condition and situation, he blacked out…

When he finally opened his eyes he was already in his room lying on his bed. He looked around… it was already past midnight.

'How did I…?' he pondered on how he had returned to his bed but eventually gave up when his head started hurting. It seems he still hadn't recovered fully. With that thought, he decided to find out about it tomorrow and fell asleep peacefully after one of the stressful days of his life.

"…"

-------

(Time Skip)

At the entrance gate of U.A.

Many students from different schools, inside and outside the city, had gathered to take the U.A.'s practical skill exam which will be held today. Some were excited and some were nervous.

Among them were two that attracted the attention of a few.

"Hey, aren't they two…"

"Yeah! From the sludge incident…"

"…"

The two were Midoriya Izuku and Bakugo Kaatsuki. Both were in their school uniform and walking side-by-side. They both stood 5'7" tall with Kaatsuki being quarter inches taller than Izuku not that anyone noticed or cared. Izuku was very excited which could be seen in his smile while Kaatsuki was grumpy as always.

Ten months had passed since the incident and both of them had improved themselves in their own ways. They had learned their lesson… they have to take their ambition seriously… they have to give their full.

Walking all the way to the orientation, the two didn't say a word. Entering the room, they took their seats and after the room was filled, 'Present Mic' appeared on the stage. He was also a pro hero with a slim build and blonde Mohawk-styled hair.

He started explaining the rules for the upcoming test.

The test would be a ten-minute practice run held in the replica city district owned by the facility. The students were allowed to take whatever they liked or specifically, that would help them in the run. They were to gather at the designated meeting area.

"Oh… so they don't intend on letting friends or classmates cooperate with each other, huh? …It seems we will be on different fields." Izuku analyzed.

"Tch… it's probably set up so I don't get to crush you." Kaatsuki stated with annoyance.

"…"

Izuku was speechless to that dull-witted remark. After the incident, Kaatsuki has become a lot calmer but still exploded from time to time and his competitiveness has also increased a lot. It seemed Kaatsuki was challenging Izuku in the upcoming test.

Their little conversation didn't stop Present Mic's speech where he explained the enemies that students will be facing. The enemies were three variant robots with point value scaled according to difficulty. The examinees were to rack up a high score by dispatching these 'villains'. A bespectacled student pointed out that there were supposed to be four types on the hand-outs given to them which was clarified as a zero point that supposed to be avoided… though it's not that it couldn't be beaten it was a zero pointer so there's no meaning why to…

With the speech finished, all students advanced to their designated area. Izuku also headed to Area B after changing.

He wore black shorts and a blue sleeveless T-shirt with a sports bra underneath and a pair of red shoes. He was also equipped with black elbow & knee protectors and red protective gloves. After the intense training in these ten months, he had gained some muscles compared to his pre-10 months self. With his hair swept back a little, he looked pretty decent.

But that was not important since the test was about to start. All the students had arrived and were ready for the countdown so that they could rack up as many points as possible.

"Aaaand Start!" the voice of Present Mic sounded which confused all, except one, since there was no countdown.

"What's the matter!? There's no such thing as a countdown in a real battle! Run! Ruuuun!" the voice-type hero shouted again.

This time the examinees without hesitation dashed towards the arena only to see a green-haired already confronting a 'villain'.

'Haya!' was the thought they had before looking for their own point givers.