Izuku's Resolve

The softball Izuku threw landed on the ground. The machine displayed: 46 meters.

"I clearly felt like I was about to use it." Despair washed over Izuku. His arm had already sensed the power of One For All. If this softball throw had been even slightly better, he might not have come in last, and he would not have been expelled.

"I erased your Quirk," Shota Aizawa said coolly from the side. White ribbons danced around him, making him look utterly cool.

Izuku turned around and was startled when he saw Shota Aizawa like that. Shota Aizawa said somewhat impatiently, "That entrance exam really lacks any sense of reason. Someone like you actually managed to enroll."

"Quirk erasure..." Izuku looked at Shota Aizawa and suddenly remembered. "Those goggles... I see."

A Quirk that could erase another person's Quirk simply by looking at them—the Erasure Hero, Eraser Head.

"Eraser? Never heard of him." The classmates gathered and discussed it, but most of them did not recognize the name.

"I've heard of him. He's a stealth-type hero. He hates appearing in front of the media because he says it interferes with his work."

Chiffon spotted All Might on one side of the school building. He wore a grin that seemed as though it would never fade. At that moment, All Might was watching Izuku. This boy truly worried him.

"That's right, young Izuku. I simply can't get along with him," All Might said helplessly as he watched Izuku standing beside Shota Aizawa. After all, Shota Aizawa was Izuku's homeroom teacher.

Shota Aizawa stared at Izuku with red eyes. "It seems you can't control your Quirk, can you?"

"If you become unable to move again, are you expecting someone else to save you?"

"I-I never thought that..." As soon as Izuku said that, Shota Aizawa's white capture scarf pulled him in front of him. "No matter what you think, the people around you will have no choice but to save you. Once, an overly passionate hero created a legend during a major disaster, saving over a thousand people by himself. Even if you possess the same foolhardy courage, you'll only become a puppet after saving one person."

"Izuku Midoriya, with your power, you can't become a hero." After withdrawing the scarf, Shota Aizawa said flatly, "Your Quirk has been restored. You have two chances to throw the ball. Get it over with."

Chiffon did not remind Izuku again. One For All was fairly confidential, after all. Now that Shota Aizawa had said this much, Izuku already had his answer.

"It seems he's receiving guidance," Tenya Iida analyzed while stroking his chin.

"He's being expelled, more like," Bakugo Katsuki said with his hands on his hips. Izuku had saved him back then, and now he had entered U.A. High School and stolen his spotlight. Bakugo had wanted to vent his anger for a long time.

He could no longer openly bully Izuku as he had when they were children. Instead, he had to use reasonable means to make Izuku understand that only Bakugo Katsuki was the strongest, and only he could become the strongest hero!

Nearby, Aoyama Yuga smiled as he chatted with Ochaco Uraraka, even reaching out to touch her shoulder as though they were close. Ochaco Uraraka stared at him blankly and asked, "Who are you?"

A dark line drifted through Aoyama Yuga's mind.

Izuku kept thinking about what he should do and which choice he should make. He seemed deeply conflicted.

Shota Aizawa watched Izuku with one eye half-open. "Will you fail to learn your lesson, go all out with everything you have, or shrink back and accept the fact that you'll come in last?"

"Neither choice offers any hope."

At last, after finishing his thoughts, Izuku raised his right hand holding the softball and threw it toward the sky.

"Teacher Aizawa is right. If I keep going on like before, I'll never become a hero." Izuku clenched his teeth as he looked at his right hand.

"Hey, hey, no way." All Might thought Izuku was going all out. Even if his right arm broke, he would rather that than come in last.

"I have to work several times harder than everyone else. I'm not someone like Kacchan or Chiffon. What I need is persistence day after day, so I'll give it my all and do what I'm capable of right now."

Power erupted from Izuku's fingertips as he shouted, "Smash!"

The softball shot forth in an instant, streaking through the air at high speed. After passing through three white rings of airflow, it flew into the distance. All the students cried out in shock. They had not expected Izuku to unleash such powerful strength at this moment.

"It doesn't hurt as much as before." Though Izuku could no longer move at that moment, his mind was clearer than ever. Teacher Aizawa's words still echoed in his ears: "If you become unable to move again, are you expecting someone else to save you?"

The softball landed. 705.3.

"Teacher..." Izuku stared at Shota Aizawa with resolute eyes. He clenched his right hand into a fist and said, "I... can still move."

Shota Aizawa finally opened his eyes wide, red veins visible within them. The corners of his mouth rose as he smiled. "This kid..."

"I came over because I was a little worried about you, but what is this, young man? You still can't regulate your power, yet you also can't fall into a state where you can't move. I see. You used One For All through just the final force used to push the ball, only through your fingers."

"Achieving the greatest power with the least possible injury—splendid, young man. You're so cool!" All Might punched the air, thinking proudly.

Chiffon was deeply moved by the scene. He remembered watching this moment on his tablet while following the series in the Taoist Temple, and how it had brought tears to his eyes. Now that it was happening right before him, he swore that he would also become someone worthy of everyone's trust.

He could not let little brother Izuku take all the spotlight for himself.

"Over 700 meters!?" Ochaco Uraraka said happily with both hands raised. "We finally have a hero-level result!"

Chiffon had to admit that Ochaco Uraraka really did have feelings for Izuku. Otherwise, how could such an outstanding handsome guy like him fail to earn Ochaco Uraraka's admiration?

All he could say was that Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya had far too much chemistry. It seemed impossible for anyone else to affect them.

"His fingers are swollen." Tenya Iida said in surprise, "It was the same during the entrance exam. His Quirk really is strange."

Aoyama Yuga smiled with his mouth shaped like a V. "Not stylish at all."

"Th-then what was that power?" Bakugo Katsuki's mouth hung open in shock. "A person's Quirk awakens before the age of four without exception. That's impossible, but the truth is..."

"What is going on?" Bakugo Katsuki could not understand at all why Deku had suddenly become so strong. Filled with rage, he charged out, explosions crackling in his hands as he reached for Izuku. "Explain yourself right now, Deku!"

Just as Bakugo Katsuki was about to grab Izuku, the white capture scarf wrapped around him. "What is this cloth? It's so hard."

"This is a capture weapon woven from carbon fiber and steel wire made with special alloys," Shota Aizawa said irritably. "Seriously, stop making me use my Quirk over and over. I have dry eye syndrome."

"Such an amazing Quirk, what a waste." Everyone complained.

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