My name is Izuku Midoriya, and they say to be a hero you need a big heart. Girls with big chests have big hearts, so I'm definitely on the right path."
Author's Note:
Hey everyone, especially those in the Unrivaled King's Throne tier! I've seen your messages about Hero Trainer and wanted to reassure you: the story is definitely not abandoned. I've been busy fixing some plot holes and tightening up the writing to ensure everything is up to standard.
I'm going to start posting the revised chapters until we're caught up. The story is the same, but the dialogue and character beats have been significantly improved. I'll be keeping it here on this platform until the full revision is complete. This won't impact my other work at all since the heavy lifting is already done, so expect my usual update schedule to continue as planned.
Also, I'll be dropping a new chapter for Only Smut later today. See you then!
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"Move it, kid! You want to die?"
Izuku didn't even blink. His gaze was fixed on the sky, beyond the monster that was tearing up the elevated train tracks. Something much more important was descending from above.
Good God.
"What is that?"
"It's a heroine! A new one!"
A kick. That was the first thing his brain registered. A beige, high-heeled boot connected with the villain's jaw with a crunch that silenced the crowd for a fraction of a second. Izuku's eyes devoured the entire image: the boot, the purple-wrapped calf, the knee, and then... the thigh.
"My God..." someone next to him whispered.
"What a woman!" another gasped.
But it was the movement of her hip as she executed the kick that completely captured his attention.
"My debut day and I'm already taking out the trash!" Her voice was melodic thunder. "A little wink for my new fans!"
She threw the wink, and the flash of a dozen cameras immortalized the moment. Izuku felt the air leave his lungs as his hand clenched into a fist.
Holy shit, he thought. I need that in my life!
The purpose hit him with full force.
"It's All Might! All Might is here!"
The crowd's focus shifted, ready to deposit their worship on a new target. But Izuku's goddess had already revealed herself. As Mt. Lady began to shrink, her work finished, he turned around. He didn't look at the Symbol of Peace; he didn't care at all.
"Hey, watch it, psycho!" someone shouted at him as he began to push his way through the crowd.
He ran with the image of a divine hip seared into his retinas.
I have a plan. And the first step is getting home.
"Mom!"
Izuku burst into the apartment, making the door slam against its stopper. The only light was the blue flicker of the television.
"Turn it off."
On the sofa, a figure moved under a blanket.
"Izuku! You scared me. Are you okay?"
"I'm perfect. Turn off the TV."
The click of the device turning off was deafening.
"Why are the curtains closed? It's mid-afternoon. How long have you been sitting here?"
"I was just resting my eyes, honey..."
Inko's voice was a fragile murmur. Izuku walked toward her, and his shadow covered her completely.
"This is over."
"What? Izuku, I don't understand..."
"It's over."
"What's over?"
"This," he said, gesturing broadly toward the room. "I'm going to U.A."
Inko's laugh was a broken sound, without a hint of joy.
"What? Oh, honey, I know it's your dream, but we've already talked about this. Your quirk..."
"To hell with my quirk!"
The harshness of his own voice surprised even him. He knelt in front of the sofa, reaching for his mother's hands under the blanket.
"My quirk doesn't matter. I'm going to be a hero."
"You can't... the other kids have incredible powers..."
"And I'm going to have you!" he interrupted her. "You're going to help me."
"Me?"
Inko finally pulled her hands out.
"How can I help you? I can barely help myself."
"Exactly!" Izuku exclaimed it as if she had just solved a complex equation. "That's the point! Look at yourself, Mom! Ever since Dad left, you've been sinking into this sofa."
"That's not true! I work, I clean..."
"The house is spotless because that's the only thing you do!" His voice rose in volume. "When was the last time you went out with your friends? Or bought yourself a new dress? Or laughed out loud?"
The tears pooling in Inko's eyes were the only answer he needed.
"It ends today," Izuku continued. "Tomorrow, six in the morning, you and me at the park. We're going to run."
Inko shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I can't. Izuku, I can't even run to catch the bus. I'm fat, I'm... I'm old."
"You're not old," he shot back. "You're going to try again and again. And I'm going to be there, screaming at you to do it."
"Why? Why are you suddenly being so cruel?"
"Cruel?" Izuku's voice cracked for a moment. "Is it cruel to want my mother back? The one who took me to the park to see the heroes? The one who told me I could be anything? That woman wouldn't give up on a sofa!"
He stared at her, his green eyes—so much like hers—burning with a terrifying conviction.
"Here's the deal, Mom: I help you get your life back, I pull you out of this hole. In exchange, you give me a reason. Every time I see you run one more meter, every time you lift something you couldn't before, I'm going to know that I can do the impossible. Your progress is going to be my fuel."
"That's terrible pressure, Izuku. You're putting a huge burden on me."
"Yes, I am! Because you need it! Because we need it!" He squeezed her hands. "We're going to get strong, Mom. Both of us. We're going to destroy our weaknesses. Do we have a deal?"
Inko looked at this feverish, determined stranger who had replaced her shy boy.
"What if I throw up?" she whispered, like a last, pathetic line of defense.
"Then you'll throw up. And then we'll keep running. Do we have a deal?"
Slowly, with the weight of a decade of inertia on her shoulders, Inko Midoriya nodded.
"We have a deal."
"Good." He jumped to his feet. "Now, to the kitchen. We're declaring war on ice cream and cookies. The campaign starts now."
Month One: The Park of Suffering"I... can't... breathe... Izuku... please stop..."
"The 'please' doesn't burn calories, Mom! Keep going!"
"I'm going to..."
The sound of her gagging was violent. Inko leaned against a tree, her body wracked with spasms. Izuku stopped, jogging in place without getting closer.
"Are you done? Are you finished complaining?"
"I hate you..." she gasped, wiping her mouth. "I hate you with every fiber of my being."
"Use that hate! Imagine my face at the finish line! Come on, another lap. Weakness isn't going to walk away on its own!"
This is hell, Inko thought as she forced herself to move again. My son turned into a demon and my punishment is eternal.
But something strange was happening. Despite the pain, she felt a tiny spark of pride when she completed that second lap.
Month Six: Trash Beach"Grunt louder! The refrigerator isn't afraid of your squeaks!"
Izuku's face was as red as a tomato; the muscles in his back defined themselves under his sweat-soaked shirt as he pushed the rusty appliance. A few meters away, Inko dropped the truck tire she had been dragging with a heavy thud.
"You know?" she said, breathing heavily but steadily. "I think my arms look better than yours."
Izuku stopped, letting go of the fridge.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me," she smirked, flexing a bicep. "I've been working hard. While you're playing with appliances, I'm sculpting."
"It's a tire! I'm moving an entire ecosystem of rust and ten-year-old rotten food!"
"Excuses, excuses," Inko mocked. "Admit it, I'm catching up to you."
"When you can move this monster, we'll talk. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with tetanus."
He pushed again with a grunt that now sounded genuinely offended. As he did, Inko watched him and smiled. She could joke with her son in the middle of a junkyard and feel incredibly alive.
Who would've thought, she thought. That the way out of the hole would be paved with rusty trash.
For his part, the image burning in Izuku's brain with every inch he gained was that of a giant heroine winking at him.
Wider shoulders, stronger back, he repeated to himself. I need a solid foundation... for a solid future.
Month Ten: The Home Gym"Are you sure this bar isn't going to bend? I feel bad for it."
Inko was sitting on Izuku's back while he did push-ups; she was casually flipping through a magazine.
"The bar... is fine..." he wheezed, struggling to push up. "It's you... who weighs... less."
"Liar. It's because you've become absurdly strong. Although I think we should work more on your obliques. In this photo, Mirko's suit really accentuates them and it looks spectacular."
"Noted... work... obliques..."
"And about your motivation..." she continued, lowering her voice slightly. "I did some research. Mt. Lady is twenty meters tall in her giant form. That's a lot of inches of woman, Izuku. You're going to need a lot of stamina."
Izuku failed a rep and his chin nearly hit the floor.
"Mom!"
"What? I'm your support coach and your romantic strategist. It's a full-service package."
She patted him on the back.
"Now come on, ten more."
He let out a groan of effort and continued. They had found their rhythm: a symbiosis of physical training and family therapy based on sarcasm.
Mom's back, Izuku thought between push-ups. And all it cost was becoming a ruthless drill sergeant and confessing my attraction to a woman who can grow to the size of a building. A small price to pay.
Day of the Practical Exam"Don't trip on your way in. It would be a bad first impression."
Inko's voice was calm, with a hint of amusement. They were standing in front of the U.A. gates.
"Only if you promise not to buy a tub of ice cream to celebrate being rid of me for a few hours," Izuku replied, adjusting his backpack.
"Deal."
She gave him a quick, firm hug.
"Now go. Kick ass. Metaphorically, of course. You don't have permission to kick real asses yet."
He smiled.
"I'll try."
He turned around and blended into the stream of applicants. His eyes scanned the competition: a guy with glasses and engines in his legs (weird); a pink girl with antennas (weirder); Bakugo... idiot. He looked away from the ash-blonde. Today wasn't the day for old rivalries.
Okay, Izuku. Game plan, he told himself. The written exam was a piece of cake. In the practical... I'll have to improvise. Find a loophole. I don't have a destructive quirk, but what else is there? Help? Rescue? There have to be points for something other than simple violence...
His line of thought was cut short. A girl with brown hair tripped, letting out a stifled cry.
She's going to fall.
But she didn't. She floated a breath away from the pavement.
Gravity quirk. Interesting.
She stabilized herself, touched her fingertips together, and landed. A deep blush covered her cheeks.
That girl has good reflexes.
The young woman stood there, mortified. Izuku watched her, and his brain made a final connection. His gaze slid from her embarrassed face to the front of her tracksuit.
Wow, such big breasts.
And then came the logical conclusion, the universal law that had become the pillar of his new philosophy of life:
Big heart.
The equation was perfect. A + B = C. Big breasts + heroic instincts = good person. A law of life. Pure logic.
She's definitely one of the good ones.
The decision made itself. In a hostile environment, an ally is a valuable resource. And an ally who, according to his impeccable logic, was intrinsically good, was a treasure. He shook off his intensity so as not to intimidate her, replacing it with a somewhat goofy but genuine smile, and closed the distance between them.
"Hey!"
His voice sounded more confident than he felt.
"That was amazing! You almost fell, huh?"
The girl blinked, looking at him with her huge brown eyes. Her face turned even redder.
"Wh-what? I... yeah... it was embarrassing..."
"Embarrassing? Not at all! Your quirk is great. Anti-gravity?"
"Yes... Zero Gravity..." she stuttered. "I can make things float if I touch them with all five fingers..."
"That's incredibly useful for rescues," Izuku said. "And for combat too. Strategically speaking, you could neutralize opponents without even hitting them."
Relax, Midoriya. Don't scare her with tactical analysis in the first thirty seconds.
The girl blinked again, this time with surprise instead of embarrassment.
"Do you really think so? I mean... it's not a combat quirk like explosions or fire..."
"The best quirks aren't always the flashiest," he replied. "Think about it: rescue, support, battlefield control. You have versatility. That's worth more than raw power."
And there I go again, sounding like a tactical nerd. Great.
But instead of looking scared, the girl smiled.
"Thank you! No one has ever told me anything like that before. Usually they say it's a 'cute' quirk, but not very useful for being a hero."
"Then those people are idiots."
The answer came out without a filter, and she laughed.
Okay, definitely one of the good ones, Izuku confirmed mentally. Big heart verified. Potential ally secured.
"I'm Uraraka Ochako," she said, extending her hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Midoriya Izuku," he replied, shaking it. "The pleasure is mine."
When their hands touched, Uraraka had a moment of visible panic.
"Ah! Sorry, I almost activated my quirk. It slips out sometimes when I'm nervous."
"No problem. Floating might be interesting, though I'd prefer to do it after the exam, not before."
She laughed again.
"Sorry for my behavior, I'm super nervous. I've been practicing a lot, but I don't know if it'll be enough. There are so many amazing people here..."
"You're going to be fine," Izuku said, and he meant it completely. "Your quirk is strategically sound. You just need to use it with confidence."
"And you? What's your quirk?"
There it was: the inevitable question.
Moment of truth, Midoriya. Do you lie to her? Do you tell her it's something generic?
He decided on a third option: strategic evasion.
"Let's just say my focus is more on physical skill and tactics than raw power. I work with what I have."
Uraraka nodded thoughtfully.
"That makes sense. Not all heroes need flashy quirks. The hero Eraser Head... his quirk only erases other quirks. It's not offensive on its own, but it's super effective."
Great, this girl knows hero facts. Definitely my kind of person.
"Exactly."
They reached the large gates of the area where the practical exam would take place. The flow of students pushed them forward.
"Well," Uraraka said, looking a bit more nervous now that they were about to enter. "I guess I'll see you inside. Good luck, Midoriya-kun!"
"Good luck, Uraraka-san."
She gave him one last smile before being absorbed by the crowd. Izuku watched her walk away, processing the exchange. He looked at the sea of applicants. They all looked confident, powerful, ready to prove why they deserved to be there. And he, Midoriya Izuku, was standing among them.
But he wasn't afraid. He thought of Mt. Lady, her confident smile, and her overwhelming presence.
I'm getting into this school, he promised himself. I'm going to become a hero. And someday, when I'm strong enough, I'm going to stand tall with people like her.
Not for the curves. Well, not just for the curves.
But for the ability to stand in front of the chaos and say: "I've got this."
He took a deep breath and stepped into the crowd.
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Release Schedule:
I will be posting new chapters exclusively on Mondays and Fridays. Today is an exception as it is the debut of this first chapter. You can find advanced chapters at patreon.com/itszeroo