AN: Thanks for checking this out, I used to write under a different name on this site, but am a bit rusty right now. Reviews, favorites, and follows are nice, if you end up finding this story interesting.

As far as actual notes, Izuku isn't and has never been quirkless. His relationship with Bakugou is more reasonably strained, as he doesn't have the same level of ridiculous admiration for him that he does in the source material. Line Breaks represent a change of scene or perspective, though perspective changes are somewhat rare.

-ALL CAPS- ALL MIGHT (powered up)

-Bold- Special Attack

-Italic- Heavy Emphasis

- 'Single Quotes' - Thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own the original material this draws inspiration from.

A shivering young boy with black and green hair stood between another child, crying and kneeling on the ground, and a group of three other boys the same age, all bearing smirks on their faces.

"That's mean, Kacchan. Can't you see he's crying? If you keep going, I-I-I'll never forgive you!"

Saying this, the nervous boy put his fists up to defend the one behind him. The three bullies let their smirks grow, the chubby one on the left growing wings and the skinny one on the right extending his fingers into long tendrils. The blond boy in the middle just raised his fists.

"Even though you're useless…" the leader of the bullies pounded his fist into an open hand, making an explosion at the impact, "you're pretending to be a hero, Deku?"

Deku shuddered in fright as the explosive bully gave him a dark grin. All three of the bullies rushed forward, Deku shrinking back before taking a hard right to his cheek…

Izuku Midoriya opened his eyes with a sigh, sitting up from his bed as he tried to banish the memory he had relived last night. He rubbed his cheek and shook his head as he got up, arranging his school uniform before he left to take a shower. It'd been awhile since he had last remembered that incident, normally his mind was completely satisfied beating him over the head with his recent troubles with Bakugou.

Just as he was starting to think it was going to be a bad day, he heard the news on the TV in the living room. A villian with a giantification quirk was wreaking havoc nearby, currently surrounded by police and several minor pro heroes. Feeling upbeat and excited for the first time since getting up, he dashed to where it was happening as fast as he could.

Izuku was practically vibrating with energy as he ran through the streets of his hometown, even jogging in place when forced to stop at a traffic light. He slipped through the gathered crowd with a wide smile, edging his way to the front just as the giant villain swiped his hand through an electric tower. A hero with short, wild white hair and a wide body rushed under the tower to catch it, the hero Death Arms, a super strength hero. Closer to the crowd, another hero dressed like a firefighter created a caution line with a water manipulation quirk. This was Backdraft, a rescue specialist. A cheer from some of the crowd signalled the approach of another hero, this one looking like a stereotypical ninja save for what appeared to be wooden boots, gloves, mask, and belt.

"Ah! That's Kamui Woods, he's a rising star right now!"

An old man standing next to Izuku smirked as he shot the teen a look, shaking his head at the clear hero fanboy. Izuku pulled out one of his hero notebooks, hoping to record some info on the popular new hero, only to be disappointed as a woman with a stronger giantification quirk knocked the villain out with a flying kick. Immediately after, the blonde woman in a skintight suit introduced herself to the onlookers ass first, grinning widely as Kamui stood forgotten, still in his special attack pose.

"Hm… her quirk is quite powerful, but given her size not overly versatile. She needs wide streets to walk around without damaging things, and will likely cause significant collateral damage in many fights…". Izuku muttered to himself as he wrote in his notebook, earning another glance from those standing near him.

"Hey kid! I can tell you want to be a hero with how serious you are right now. With a head like that on your shoulders, I'm sure you can make it!"

The old man from before gave Izuku a thumbs up as he muttered, earning a brilliant smile from the hero fanatic.

The bell rang in Izuku's class at Aldera Middle School, signalling the start of the last few minutes of Homeroom. The teacher passed out application papers for the schools his students hoped to attend for high school.

"Now, with the end of this school year and the entrance exam period both in sight, it's the time for all of you to start thinking about what you want to pursue as a career."

The teacher smirked before throwing the rest of the papers he had into the air in celebration, calling out to his students.

"Or that's what I'm supposed to say! I know you all plan on becoming heroes!"

His students cheered with him showing off their quirks as best they could, all save two. Katsuki Bakugou just leaned back in his chair uncaring of the excitement of those around him. They were all extras, rejects with Quirks that would be lucky to make them sidekicks.

"Now, I know that most of you are aiming for whatever hero academy you can get, but I'd like to congratulate our class star Bakugou, as he is aiming once more for the top and applying for UA! I also must warn our other applicant for UA this year that he should try for something a little… less a waste of his time. UA only accepts the best, Midoriya, and with your Quirk you should stick to something less dangerous."

The good mood in the room was immediately gone as Bakugou sat up and turned to glare at Izuku, while the rest the class started laughing at the idea of Izuku actually trying to enter such a prestigious school with a Quirk even lamer than any of their own.

"Oy, Deku! You think you can compete with the likes of me? You might as well be Quirkless, there's no way someone as pathetic as you could ever make it as a hero!"

Izuku held up his hands in a placating gesture as he mumbled about not trying to compete or some such, but Bakugou didn't care. He even swiped Izuku's current hero notebook (#13, with information on recent heroes of this year) and burned it lightly with an explosion before throwing it out the window.

"Bakugou come on, just 'cause no one cares when you take my stuff doesn't mean you should. You're aiming to be a hero."

At least he heard him that time, but complaining and insulting his heroism never failed to catch his ears.

"Deku, if you wanna prove you could be a hero, why don't you jump out the window after your book? Who knows, maybe you'll actually have a useful Quirk the next time around. Though, knowing you, you'd probably just end up Quirkless."

Izuku ducked his head in shame as the final end bell rang, slowly putting what he still had out into his Limited Edition backpack designed after All Might's face before he went to the pond his book had landed in and fished it out.

Izuku sighed as he walked slowly home from school, still confused that his teacher didn't care when Bakugou would openly bully people in class. He had straight up recommended suicide today, not that that was particularly new. He knew deep down that his Quirk wouldn't help him be a hero, not in anyway that training wouldn't. It still stung, remembering as he had gone to the hospital and been tested for hours. No fire breath like his dad, no minor telekinesis like his mom, no odd flame control combo quirk. As far as the tests could determine, his heart pumped blood more efficiently. That was all, and it wasn't even like it did much then. He probably wouldn't get heart disease or have a heart attack, but that didn't really strike fear into villains.

He sighed again as he went through a tunnel, mumbling about ways he could even use his Quirk to get a leg up in his chosen school. He spun back in fright as a loud scraping sound gave way to a metallic clank, a being of living sludge streaking towards him faster than he could react.

"Heh, must be your unlucky day kid, I need a new skin suit to escape and you'll do nicely!"

Copious amounts of fluid began forcing itself into Izuku's mouth as he struggled against the villain holding him, desperate just to breathe. His eyes began to close just as he heard a boisterous voice shout out from where the Villain had come from.

"TEXAS SMASH!"

Izuku woke to rapid light slaps to his face, gasping and staring as his idol, All Might, the #1 all time hero.

"AH, YOU ARE AWAKE! I WAS BEGINNING TO WORRY! OH, BEFORE YOU ASK, I HAVE ALREADY SIGNED YOUR NOTEBOOK!"

Izuku could barely process what was happening, not only his personal hero, but his country's favorite hero was here, saving him! If he wasn't so embarrassed about how helpless he'd been when he first met his hero, he might not be in shock at the moment. As such, he didn't realize exactly that All Might was turning to leave, most likely to give the criminal he had stuffed into a water bottle to the police. When he did realize what was going on, he dove for All Might and grasped his pant leg just as the hero leapt high into the air.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CHILD?! THIS IS DANGEROUS!"

Neither of them noticed on the way down that the bottle had slipped out of All Might's pocket. Izuku struggled to catch his breath as the two of them landed, All Might taking a minute to look over his accidental passenger before he walked to the edge of the roof they were on.

"Wait, All Might, Please!"

The hero turned to look at Izuku as he stood up fully.

"I just wanted to ask you a question, just one before you go."

Taking All Might's silence as permission Izuku took a deep breath to ready himself.

"I want… no, I need to know. All my life, I've been ridiculed because of my dream, I lost my oldest friend, and even my mother and teachers have all told me that it's not something that I can do. I have to know, can someone like me, with a Quirk that barely manifests at all, and has no combat potential, can someone like me become a hero?"

Izuku was barely speaking by the end of his question, holding back the tears that he hated so much as All Might sighed while looking at him,

"NO, YOUNG MAN, YOU CANNOT." It was the most subdued he'd ever heard his idol sound, and he was gritting his teeth painfully to hold back the tears and cries that wanted to escape him. All Might started coughing shortly after, flecks of blood appearing on his lip as he started steaming and clutching his side. Pain forgotten, Izuku began moving forward in worry.

"All Might?"

A large cloud of steam obscured his idol momentarily, before an emaciated man even smaller than Izuku was able to be seen through it.

"What?! All Might what happened?"

Izuku was now panicking and mumbling rapidly about whether this was even All Might or an imposter, or a disease or…

"Calm down, boy. I'll explain everything, just so long as you promise not to tell anyone what you have seen. If people knew that the Symbol of Peace was so badly crippled, crime would rise drastically, understand?"

Izuku quieted and nodded, seating himself on the roof as All Might explained that he had been nearly killed in one of his fights with a villain years ago, his lungs heavily damaged and his stomach destroyed utterly by his foe. He lifted his shirt to show the scars that the surgeries he had underwent left, including a notable depression in his side.

"Now, it's already taken longer than I had wanted to explain, I need to drop off that…"

Reaching for his pocket, All Might and Izuku found that the bottle was missing, shortly before an explosion rung out nearby. Izuku immediately began running down the stairs afterwards, knowing only one person capable of using explosions with their Quirk.

"Boy! Don't run out there, you won't be able to help!"

"At least I can try to!"

All Might sat in stunned silence for a moment as the green haired youth who's name he had forgotten to ask ran towards the explosion, only one thought on his mind.

'I may have been wrong…'

Izuku was running as fast as he could to where he had seen the explosion from before, which had been joined by more since. The moment he turned the corner and looked at the scene, he could have sworn that time itself had stopped, as he felt a dagger of ice in his heart. He had a lot of issues with Bakugou, and he didn't even really want to be his friend again anymore, but he respected his strength and skill. Seeing his former best friend covered in sludge and struggling to breathe while the heroes on scene could barely act was painful. He didn't notice the world start moving again as he shook his head and took a breath, dashing into the fray while throwing his backpack at the monster holding Bakugou as hard as he could.

"Deku" a cough sounded as Bakugou's mouth was uncovered, "what are you doing here? I don't need your help!"

Izuku smiled in spite of himself, only Bakugou would get mad at someone helping him while being strangled to death.

"My feet just took me here on their own, you looked like you needed help."

The assembled pro's were shouting at him for being reckless as Bakugou began glaring at him, but Izuku didn't care. He would help if he could, and nothing his friends, family, heroes, or even All Might said would stop him.

"DETROIT SMASH!"

For the second time that day, Izuku heard All Might shout his attack and save someone from this same villain, knowing that it was his fault that this villain had escaped the first time just made the situation worse. He smiled wider as he saw the other heroes move in after the shock wave dissipated, though he frowned as they began simultaneously scolding him for his foolishness and praising Bakugou for his bravery. He knew that his actions weren't safe, but if none of them would do anything, why shouldn't he?

Izuku was once more walking home, this time only about a block away when he was ambushed.

"Deku!"

Izuku turned to face Bakugou as he was glared at once more.

"I'm not going to thank you for what you did today, got it?! I didn't, and have never, needed your help!"

Saying this, Bakugou turned and started walking home, his hands in his pockets. Izuku let out a breath, certain that he was about to be punched in the face for daring to think that someone like him was worthy of helping Bakugou.

It was a short few steps later when he heard another voice ambush him, this one a bit more welcome.

"YOUNG MIDORIYA, I AM HERE!"

Izuku was stopped dead in his tracks by All Might somehow sliding at a 90 degree angle from the direction he was facing on a concrete sidewalk, slightly bowed and with his hand already reaching for Izuku's shoulders. This impressive display unfortunately ended with All Might coughing up blood and shrinking into his weak form.

"Ack- As I was saying, I am here! To apologize for my earlier words and thank you for your display against that villain. I had gotten so used to acting cautiously concerning my injury, I forgot just what a hero was supposed to be. Basically, I'm saying I was wrong, Midoriya. You have exactly what it takes to be a hero."

Izuku was stunned at the words coming from the #1 hero of Japan, slowly shaking his head in disbelief as he recalled the very different opinion that had been shared with him when they had first met.

"What do you mean? I'm no different than I was earlier today, why can I be a hero now if I couldn't then?"

All Might smirked as he looked at the stunned face of the boy before him, catching his breath before he began explaining.

"It's true that without a way to fight back against villains, or rescue people in hazardous situations, that being a hero is nearly impossible. The most important part of being a great hero though, is the heart. You, young Midoriya, have the heart of a true hero. I saw your reaction to that villain controlling your friend, how you rushed in despite the danger that held back the pro heroes around you. This is the foundation of becoming a hero, and with my power, you could be the next Symbol of Peace."

Izuku was shivering, slowly overcome with emotion as his idol told him the one thing he had wanted to hear since he was four years old.

"With your power? All Might, I don't understand."

"My Quirk, One For All, is a quirk that stockpiles power and transfers it to another. I was born entirely Quirkless, even worse off than you are in an attempt to be a hero. I'm now choosing you, as my predecessor once chose me. If you agree, Midoriya, you will meet me at Dagobah municipal beach tomorrow at 8 AM. I will tell you more then, just know that I can and will give you this Quirk that crystallizes power."

Saying this, All Might held out his hand and a ball of rainbow light began gathering in his palm, creating wind pressure in every direction. Izuku could no longer hold everything back, and fell to his knees crying as he nodded. He would work as hard as it took to gain this power, and he would not fail to grasp at this opportunity. For the second time that day, he felt a painful pressure in his heart as he swore that time had stopped, giving him just a moment more to absorb the scene before him.

Izuku woke up even earlier than normal the next morning, his routine passing in a blur as he assured his mother that he was alright once more. With an excuse about meeting a friend at the beach, he was running towards the greatest opportunity of his life.

He was surprised to find All Might sitting in his small form on the bed of a truck in the center of three massive piles of trash, mostly broken furniture and heavy appliances.

"Ah, young Midoriya, it is good to see you! Early as well, you understand the importance of what we're doing quite well." All Might grinned his wide grin as he spoke.

"I was just excited, All Might. To think that I could really be a hero, it means everything to me."

All Might nodded his head at Izuku's enthusiasm before realizing a potential problem with what they were doing.

"Midoriya, please refer to me as Yagi-sensei when I am in this form, I don't want anyone to walk by here and hear you say All Might and come investigating. It is imperative that the secret of my quirk not get out."

Izuku was practically bouncing with excitement as he agreed to All Might's request, nearly as glad to know All Might's real name as he was to be receiving his Quirk. Yagi grinned wider at Izuku's excitement, as much as he thought it was a little excessive, it would be useful in making sure that his commands would be followed closely.

"Good, now young Midoriya, we will need to train your body to handle the incredible strength of my Quirk. If I were to give it to you now, your limbs would blow off your body from the strain of keeping that much power bottled up."

Izuku shivered as the thought of going through that crossed his mind and cringed a little as All Might began laughing. Feeling that his laughter had appropriately cut the tension from his last sentence, Yagi resumed speaking.

"So, I have come up with my American Dream PlanTM, to help you on the way. This is a detailed diet and exercise regimen, with time spared for sleeping and breaks to avoid overstressing your body. Now if your natural Quirk affects you in the way I believe, you should replenish your stamina faster than an average person by a significant degree. This means less breaks than I otherwise would have put in, so be sure to inform me if you start experiencing problems from muscular stress. I will tone down the plan if necessary, but you should have a whole month after you finish before the entrance exam if you keep to it."

Izuku read over the plan with his eyes bulging from his skull at the sheer amount of work he would have to put in to becoming a hero. He had never thought it would be easy, even back when he had hoped to inherit his dad's fire-breath, but he was being given nine months to clear the entire illegal dump at the beach, as well as more traditional strength and endurance training and even a strict diet and study schedule.

"Now, I want you to make sure that you keep up with your studies as well. That might mean less time hero watching, but your mind is an important tool. I might seem like a meathead to most fans, and I'll admit I'm not a genius by any means, but it's important to keep your brain as exercised as your brawn. After all, when you truly control One For All, you need to make sure not to accidentally destroy the five buildings full of innocents behind a Villain."

Izuku nodded along as he was lectured, though personally he thought hero watching was a more viable form of study than basic academia. He was studying heroes in order to be a better hero, but if Yagi-sensei wanted good grades, he would provide them. He wasn't about to catch up to Bakugou, the lunatic turned out to be more mad genius with anger issues than simple bully, but he was near the head of his class already.

"Right, Sensei. I'll make sure that I do well in class. For now though, what should I start with here?"

Izuku immediately regretted his question, as the glowing blue eyes of his mentor shone like a Revenant through the early morning fog.

The next nine months were just as much torture as they were training, Izuku forging his body from the subpar vessel he had been into one ready for the stresses of super-powered combat. He had started with lifting and flipping large tires, continued by dragging heavy appliances with All Might laughing as he sat on top of them. Considering that the Number One Hero weighed 255 kilograms, he might as well have been dragging around a full grown bull. Izuku was actually glad for the first time ever that he had no real social life, as all he had done the whole time was train, study, eat, and sleep. The only people he regularly spoke to during this period were his mother and All Might.

When it had turned out that All Might had been correct about Izuku's stamina, things had only gotten worse. Even while he was doing homework he was doing dumbell curls, and he practiced the "air chair" exercise instead of sitting down during meals. His sleep was haunted by nightmares of glowing blue eyes and the iconic laughter of the Symbol of Peace, sometimes even hearing variations of his trademark phrase.

"I AM HERE, YOUNG MIDORIYA, TO INCREASE YOUR WEIGHTS!"

Suffice to say, it was a trying time in his life.

Shortly before the end of his final semester in middle school, the months of agony would prove their worth. All Might arrived to Dagoba Beach early one morning to hear a primal scream of victory. Izuku was staring into the sunrise shirtless, sweating, and covered in almost as many bruises as he was lean muscle. All Might was so proud of his pupil that he just had to enter his muscle form to share in the moment. Then, Izuku turned to face his idol, shortly before he seemed to appear half as far away as he had before. He was clutched his chest and panted, before fainting.

He had finally done it, a whole week ahead of schedule. Everything in his life was turning around in the best way, and only a single unbroken roar of triumph could express his emotions for that second. Then, it got better when he turned around to see All Might gazing at him with pride. At that moment, just like it had nine months before, the world gave Izuku more time to soak in his surroundings and emotions. Until Izuku realized that the wind had stopped blowing, the waves had stopped crashing, and the seagull just to the left of All Might was hovering perfectly still in midair.

He blinked in surprise, tumbling down the large sand dune he had been crowing from towards his frozen mentor. He feared that this was just another new nightmare as he stepped slowly forward, until his chest heaved in pain as he fell to his knees and the world restarted. The last thing he heard before closing his eyes was All Might calling his name…

Izuku woke up to the sounds of slow, steady beeping and loud crying, blinking rapidly at the vast amount of white in the room. Why was he in the hospital? Today was the day he would gain the power of All Might, he was supposed to be at the beach… Then he remembered, the final bits of trash removed, bellowing from the sand dune, meeting All Might's gaze as the world froze around him; his chest twinged as a phantom of his previous pain caused him to sit up.

"I-Izuku! I'm so glad you're awake, All Might brought you here and then the doctor called me and I came as soon as I could but-" The gruff sound of a man clearing their throat interrupted his mother's frenzy, hopefully she would be shocked into breathing from it.

"Young Midoriya, I am pleased to see you awake, but we need to talk about what happened. I thought your Quirk was a minor mutation that increased the efficiency of your cardiovascular system, but on the beach you seemed to teleport" Toshinori Yagi was sitting in his relaxed form barely five feet from his mother, who seemed oblivious to the fact she was sharing space at his bedside with the most famous person in Japan.

"I don't know what happened exactly, Yagi-sensei," Izuku began, assuming that an excuse had already been made to distance his emaciated teacher from his hero form.

"I had finally completed your task, and I felt incredible, then I turned and saw you and everything froze. No wind, no waves, there was even a seagull hovering at a dead stop just a few feet away from you. I was shocked, it seemed like some sort of nightmare. Like I was being stopped from having my moment. I tripped and fell down the dune and tried to walk up to you. When I was about halfway there, my chest started hurting worse than anything I've ever felt and my lungs were burning for air. I dropped to my knees and everything started moving again like it had never stopped."

Yagi frowned as Izuku explained his experience, before shaking his head.

"I don't really understand how that's possible, unless you're original Quirk diagnosis was wrong and the doctors only noticed a side-effect of your real power. I think we should take you to see Nedzu, the principal of UA. He's the smartest being I know and I'm sure he could explain what happened. Of course, we would need your permission Mrs. Midoriya."

Inko Midoriya frowned, not liking how this weird man that was apparently tutoring her son for hero school in spite of never meeting her before had interrupted her earlier, but couldn't think of anyone more qualified than the principal of a hero school to diagnose a Quirk problem.

"All right, but Izuku, no more hiding things like this from me. It's great to see you coming out of your shell and fighting to achieve your dreams, but whatever you've been doing is clearly too much. The doctor here said that you were recovering from a heart attack. Normal exercise and training doesn't do that."

After further stating that she would need to be there for this meeting in order to allow it, the three of them headed to the most prestigious hero school in the country. They were met outside of the front gate by a small white creature that looked like a teddy bear in a suit with a scar on its face. Inko and Izuku were shocked to see that this creature was Nedzu, only ever having heard his commentary from the Sports Festivals they had watched. They were led inside to his office, where a pot of tea was brewing and they were all offered cups to soother their nerves. All Might explained while they sat what he had seen compared to what Izuku had said he had seen.

"Oh? This is a very interesting Quirk, but it shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Have you ever perhaps noticed a similar sensation, but over a shorter period with less pain?"

Izuku nodded his head and described his attempt to save Bakugou from the sludge Villain nine months previous.

"I see, if I were to make a hypothesis, it would be that your Quirk isn't a superior heart. While quite rare nowadays, Quirk misdiagnosis is still very much real. If your story is to be believed you have a 'time' related Quirk, something that can't really be tested for. Considering the symptoms that arise from its use, my guess is that your heartbeat stops, and the flow of time stops with it. Which could help explain why you never noticed it when you were younger. The only way your heart would have been slowing or stopping without body control training is when you sneeze. You would hardly notice time freezing for that brief an instant. This 'heart attack' was most likely just you subconsciously drawing on your ability in an attempt to gain more time. Oddly, your body most likely understands this better than your mind does."

All three humans in the room were stunned. In spite of how Izuku described his experience, he didn't really think time had stopped. He thought that perhaps he had super perception and super speed in small bursts, but this was something terrifying. All Might had similar thoughts, but now he was just thinking of how Izuku could be trained to use this Quirk in conjunction with One for All. To all but the most perceptive of foes, or those with powerful super speed Quirks, his ability would just seem like powerful super speed. Hell, at his prime All Might could move fast enough that some thought he could teleport. Inko was catatonic in worry about the government trying to experiment on her son to see if his Quirk could be replicated.

"This is conjecture, of course, but I doubt it could be anything else. Your heart and lungs are more efficient so that you can recover from using this power. Also, as your resting heart rate slows it should take less and less time to stop your heart entirely. I must admit, this is the most 'powerful' time related Quirk I've ever seen if I'm right. Then again the only other one I've ever seen was Nighteye's perfect precognition. The only reason I can consider your Quirk stronger is simply because it would be near impossible to counter. For your sake, I hope you get a handle on it before you apply here next month. Self endangering Quirk's like yours must be trained as quickly as possible. You don't want to have a heart attack mid-battle."

His piece said, and the tea cold, Nedzu ushered the three of them out of the building. After getting home, Izuku called All Might to try and figure out how they would proceed. Training two possibly life threatening Quirks at the same time would be even worse than the torture he had just finished, but he knew that as strong as his own Quirk could be, it wouldn't help him in the practical exam. He couldn't just timestop enemies out of existence or something. This last month before the exams was going to be insane, but he refused to give up now.

That's a wrap ladies and gentlemen, hope it was enjoyable so far. Next chapter will be a peek at Izuku's training in both of his Quirks, as well as the Entrance Exam and Quirk assessment test. Hopefully this is likable enough, and more information will be given at the end of next chapter.