In MHA, With A Pirated Version Of Gojo's Limitless {My Hero Academia}

The green-haired boy was a mess.

Sweat dripped from his forehead in steady rivulets, his school uniform wrinkled and stained with what looked like a combination of dirt, sand, and exhaustion. His hands trembled as he tried to push himself back to his feet, only to collapse again with a frustrated grunt.

'Jeez. He looks rough.'

I thought, watching his sorry state.

'From my understanding of the current timeline, he's probably training with All Might.'

I remembered this part of the story. All Might would have started preparing Deku for One For All, which meant ten months of hell disguised as "beach cleanup." The poor kid was probably pulling refrigerators and washing machines around Dagobah Beach like some kind of medieval torture device.

Painful, possibly traumatic, but necessary and worth it. For him at least. The alternative was having his arms and legs shoot out and turning into a bloody mess if he wasn't prepared for a power that would tear him apart.

I should probably just walk away. Keep my head down, avoid complications. I had enough identity crises to deal with without adding "mentor the protagonist" to my growing list of problems.

"Hey!"

Yeah, I have problems I currently want to take my mind off, so I might as well put my attention on something else entirely.

"You okay?"

Deku's head snapped up, eyes wide with the kind of panic that suggested he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. Which, knowing All Might's obsession with secrecy, he probably had been.

"I'm fine!" he said quickly, scrambling to his feet with renewed energy born of embarrassment. "Just, uh, just fell down. Nothing serious!"

I raised an eyebrow. The kid was a terrible liar. "You fell down hard enough to need a five-minute recovery period?"

"It was a really... steep... fall?"

I looked around the perfectly flat alley, then back at him. "Uh-huh."

His face turned approximately the same shade as a fire truck. "I mean—that is—I was running and I tripped and—"

"Relax," I said, raising my hands in a peaceful gesture. "I'm not going to interrogate you. Just wanted to make sure you weren't having a medical emergency or that I was witnessing a crime scene."

Some of the tension left his shoulders. "Oh. Thank you. That's... that's really kind of you."

Kind. Right. If only he knew I was probably going to end up fighting him at some point in the future at U.A. Can't be the entrance exams since I already got a recommendation, but perhaps the Sports Festival. He's the protagonist. I definitely wasn't gonna go easy on him then.

"You look familiar," I said, studying his face. "Weren't you at that villain attack last week? With the sludge monster?"

His eyes widened again, but this time with recognition rather than panic. "You're the one who saved everyone! The one with the black rod who stopped the villain!"

I shrugged, trying to play it off as no big deal. "Right place, right time."

"Right place, right time?" he repeated incredulously. "You walked through fire like it was nothing! You defeated a villain that had multiple pro heroes stumped! That was incredible!"

The genuine admiration in his voice made me uncomfortable. I wasn't used to being looked at like that - like I was someone worth looking up to. It was different from the reporters and press coverage. Those people were just after a story.

"It wasn't that impressive," I said, scratching the back of my head. "Just got lucky with a quirk matchup."

"Still..." His eyes lit up. "Your Quirk's on the news. Nullification and barriers—it's rare to see either, much less both. And the way you used them—"

I smirked. "You analyze quirks a lot, don't you?"

He rubbed the back of his head, sheepish. "It's a bit of a hobby. Occupational hazard."

"Occupational hazard?" I asked, genuinely amused now.

He flushed. "I study heroes and their quirks. Try to understand how they work, what makes them effective." He paused, adding quietly, "Not that I'm very good at the hero part myself."

There it was. That self-deprecating tone that made me want to shake him by the shoulders.

"You got all that analysis just from seeing me fight once?"

"Um... yeah."

"You get picked on for being a nerd a lot, don't you?" His face went red again. "Relax. That analytical mind will serve you well if you become a hero. Plus, you showed real courage charging that sludge villain."

His head snapped up. "You saw that?"

"Everyone in the crowd saw it. Hard to miss someone running straight at a villain when pro heroes are hesitating." I studied his expression. "That takes real guts."

"That was just..." he started, then stopped. "Just instinct. I saw someone in danger and moved before I could think."

"Yeah," I said quietly. "That's exactly what heroes do."

He seemed to brighten at that, straightening up slightly despite his exhaustion.

I smiled myself and turned to leave, but then he called out.

"Wait! Um..." He hesitated. "What happened to you after? The news said you lost your memories and were..." He struggled with the words.

"Homeless?" I finished for him. "Don't worry about it. All Might connected me with the Hero Commission. They ran some tests and apparently I have family."

"That's wonderful!" His face lit up with genuine happiness for a complete stranger.

"Thanks, I guess." I chuckled, then noticed him swaying slightly. "My advice though - don't train yourself to death. Even Superman needs to eat."

"Superman?"

"Um ... Nevermind. I meant even All Might has to eat"

He froze, blushing again.

"I'm not—"

"Kid, you look like you've been hit by a truck. Even a ten-year-old could see you're pushing yourself way too hard." I said, technically ignoring the fact that I was t most two to three years older than him.

After a moment of silence, he admitted quietly, "I can't stop."

"You can't? Your legs are literally shaking."

"I'm fine!" But even as he said it, I had to steady him as he swayed. "I'm just..."

"Training to be a hero," I completed. "Even though you're quirkless."

He went very still. "How did you—"

"Lucky guess. Plus, you just confirmed it." I watched his face carefully. "So you're training this hard because you think raw determination will bridge the gap between you and kids with quirks?"

"I..." He looked down. "I know it sounds impossible, but I have to try. All Might is my hero, and even if I'm quirkless, maybe if I work harder than everyone else..."

There was something different about him compared to our first meeting. Less defeated, more... hopeful. Like he'd found something worth fighting for.

GROWL!

We both froze as his stomach announced its presence loudly, not caring one bit for its owner's embarrassment. His face turned practically crimson.

I sighed. "And you're so focused on this hardcore training that you're forgetting basic human needs like food?"

Three minutes later, I was tossing him a protein bar and canned drink from a nearby vending machine.

"Eat. It'd be pathetic if malnutrition killed you before villains even got the chance to try."

"You don't have to—"

"Just eat."

He did, and some color returned to his face. After a few minutes, he spoke again.

"I know it's stupid, a quirkless kid thinking he could be a hero, but—"

"It is stupid."

The words hung in the air. He looked like I'd slapped him.

"But," I continued, "you strike me as someone who's naive but not completely unrealistic. So I'm guessing you get told that a lot."

"Yeah..." he said weakly.

"Were you expecting a different pep talk?"

"Kinda, yeah."

I almost laughed. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you. If someone told me a quirkless kid could become a pro hero, I wouldn't dismiss them ..... immediately."

His eyes widened. "You wouldn't?"

"No. But I also wouldn't encourage delusions." I crossed my arms. "Dreams need actionable steps to become goals. Otherwise they're just fantasies. So here's my question - what's your actual plan?"

"My... plan?"

"You understand that even the best martial artist is barely a match for your average quirk-enhanced thug, right?"

"Yes," he said quietly.

"So what's your strategy? Are you just going to throw yourself at villains and hope for the best like you did with the sludge monster?"

I paused, studying his reaction. "Because you don't strike me as someone who'd do something completely pointless. So there are really only two possibilities here."

He was listening intently now, that analytical mind of his engaged.

"Either you're an overly determined kid waiting for a miracle - in which case, I'm sorry, but you'll probably get yourself killed. It's not fair, but it's reality."

His face fell, but I wasn't done.

"Or you have an actual plan. Some reason to believe this training will work."

"What... what do you mean?"

"Well, I can think of a few scenarios." I started counting on my fingers, enjoying the way his eyes tracked every word. Note to self. Having plot knowledge is fun. "One, your body has some kind of unique ability to grow stronger the more you push it. That would explain the extreme training regimen."

"That's not..." he started, then caught himself.

"Then option two - You have connections with a strong pro hero, don't you?"

I watched him freeze up completely. Bingo.

"Your reaction tells me I'm right. So you're not just training randomly - you have professional guidance. That changes things considerably."

"It's not what you think—"

"Isn't it?" I asked with amusement. "A pro hero taking interest in a quirkless kid suggests one of two things. Either incredible potential, and a way for you to become a hero relying entirely on advanced support gear to make up for your lack of a quirk" I paused dramatically. "Or, option three."

"Which is?"

"You're not actually quirkless. Or you aren't Quirkless anymore. You have a quirk that requires this kind of conditioning to use safely."

The way his face went completely white would tell anyone that I'd hit closer to home than expected.

## Deku's POV

My heart was racing. How could this stranger read me so easily? Every guess was getting closer and closer to the truth about One For All, about All Might, about everything I was supposed to keep secret.

"Well, it's not my job to pry. Until a week ago, I was just a street kid, but I can see you have the heart of a true hero," the mysterious boy continued, seemingly oblivious to my internal panic. "You might be scrawny, weak, lacking in physical advantages, and completely outclassed by your peers..."

"Um, are you going somewhere with this?" I managed to ask.

He smirked, and for a moment he looked almost... lighter somehow. Less burdened.

"But when it comes to having a hero's heart, you outclass almost everyone I've ever seen. Even myself - though I guess that doesn't mean much with ten years of missing memories."

My chest tightened. "You really think so?"

"I do. Which is why I think you fall into the second category - you have a real plan. And given your mentor situation..." He shrugged. "Well, we'll see how it plays out."

He started to turn away, then paused. "Midoriya, right?"

I blinked in surprise. "Um, yeah... wait, how do you know my name?"

"Bakugo told me."

My world tilted. "Ka... Kacchan?"

"Yeah. Apparently we were neighbors and childhood friends before I went missing."

I felt my brain short-circuit. Childhood friends? With Kacchan? But I'd never heard of him, never seen him before the sludge villain incident. How was that possible?

"Well, goodbye Izuku. See you in school."

"School?" The word came out as a squeak. Did he mean...?

"You're applying to U.A. too?"

"Oh ... U.A huh?" I saw him pause as he placed his hand on his chin. I could see his amused expression, and that look in his eyes that felt like he was referring to something else entirely and knew something I didn't.

Then ... I saw his irises glow red - a deep, intense red that weirdly enough, wasn't even looking directly at me. I was stunned.

But before I could comment, he uttered. "Well, i did get a recommendation to get in."

My eyes widened, one again sidetracked by something else.

"You, you're taking the recommended exams?"

"Yeah. So technically speaking, if you can pass it, We'll be your classmates."

That strange look was back in his eyes, like he knew something I didn't. "Though we might meet sooner than you think."

"So until then, Deku," he said, using the nickname that somehow didn't sound mocking coming from him. "I guess I'll find out which category you really fall into, if I see you at U.A. of course. So keep getting stronger ..."

Under my gaze I saw his eyes return to normal as he turned around.

"... And try to keep up."

And with that, he walked away, leaving me standing there trying to process everything that had just happened.

Childhood friends with Kacchan. Recommendation to U.A. Those analytical skills that had picked apart my entire situation in minutes. And something about the way he'd looked at me - like he was seeing the real me, the one I was trying so hard to become.

*Damn,* I thought, unconsciously echoing what I'd been thinking throughout our conversation. *This guy is incredible.*

For the first time since All Might had told me I could be a hero, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I wasn't completely alone in this journey. Someone else acknowledged me ... Although not exactly in the way I expected, but it was acknowledgement nonetheless. That I could achieve my dream. That I could ... Become a Hero.

I stood there in comfortable silence for a moment. The sun was setting properly now, painting the alley in shades of orange and gold. In the distance, I could hear the sounds of the city winding down for the evening.

"I should get going," I said eventually to no one in particular as I shouldered my backpack. 'It's getting late, and mom worries if I'm not home for dinner.'

I said, about to leave, then paused.

'Hold On! I Didn't Even Get His Name!'

__

Ken's POV

"She's probably wondering where I disappeared to." I said, thinking of my own mother.

"Scratch that. She's probably worried sick."

I felt bad immediately, knowing that she would probably freak if I just disappeared like I .... Like her son did all those years ago, but still doing it anyway.

But I couldn't deal with, whatever I was feeling then and there at the moment. Thankfully, it was worth it.

I wasn't just chatting with Deku for nothing.

Apart from the fact that getting to know the protagonist of the series in his early helpless year was never a bad thing, if the protagonist wasn't an arrogant asshole of course, spending this time aside also allowed me to sort out my thought and realize .... That I had a big problem.

I never thought that this would happen, but I think it would be best to follow Master Oogways example and sit in a Cave for Thirty years asking myself,

Who The Fuck Am I?

All in due time though.

For now, I'll start making my way home, where my mother was probably about to tear up the neighborhood if I didn't show up soon. In my slight anxiety as I passed through the glass window of a diner, my eyes glowed, displaying a crimson red, but only for a second.

A second that I, unfortunately did not notice.

____

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