chapter 1

"Neji! Run away! Run away and don't look back!"

"But m-mom-"

"Run!"

A small child, barely 5 years old, cried as he ran, as fast and as far as his small legs could. He ran and ran and ran.

"HAHAH! Do you think you can run from me, boy!!"

He heard his voice but he still ran.

"You think this woman could hold me?! HAHAHA!! I will come for you boy!! I created you!! Become strong so that it would be fun!!!"

*Ring*Ring*Ri-*Crash*

"Ha..ha..ha.."

He looked at his side, inbetween his left fist was a crushed alarm clock.

"Another nightmare.."

He pushed his blanket aside and wiped the tears from his eyes.

After folding his blanket and making bed he went to the bathroom.

"Huff" he exhaled a deep breath and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Good morning, Neji" he told his reflection, he splashed some water at his face.

×~×~×~×~×~×~×

Through the streets of Musutafu, A figure was running.

Wearing a green tank top and black shorts, Neji was running through Musutafu doing his morning run.

It was 5 in the morning, the air was fresh and cold.

Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead, he wiped the sweat and kept running.

Not caring about the looks he got he kept running.

Stopping infront of a gym, he got ready for the rest of his training.

×~×~×~×~×~×

"Roll no. 17, Neji Imasuji!"

"Present"

"Roll no. 18, ....."

Answering his roll call he stopped listening to the teacher, opening a book from his bag he started reading it.

His mind however, started drifting towards the dream he had this morning.

He recalled the women, the man.

How he toyed with her, as if a cat playing with a mouse, and in the end he kill- no, stop thinking. He shook his head and continued reading.

'U.A entrance exam is in 10 months' He thought to himself.

'Don't worry mom, i will forever keep the promise'

...

"Hey Imasuji! Wanna come to the arcade after school? Everyone from our friend circle is coming, even Hina is coming!" A voice from behind made him look behind, there stood several students of his class, most of them he only talked a few times.

The one who called him out was a leader of sort of the whole group.

"Sorry, Takehashi-san i would have to decline the offer, i have to train for the upcoming U.A high exam and thus i would not be able to hang out with you guys, thank you for the offer tho" He bowed politely, turned around and kept moving.

In the corner of his eyes he caught sight of long blue hairs.

'Hina Hiruki' he thought, he had only talked to her a few times, she was a beautiful girl with long dark blue hair reaching her back, he had seen her as a cheerleader for their sports team. She was usually outgoing and cheerful but in his memory she was always shy and timid when he was around.

He thought it was because of his stature, he was 196 cm(6'5") and muscular. A lot of people are intimidated by him.

The blue haired girl caught him staring at her and immediately turned away, she shyly peeked at him and send a small wave. Neji smiled towards her and returned the wave and then left.

Walking through the streets while drinking orange juice. He scrolled through the latest news and articles, his eyes caught an article about the new heroine in his area.

'Mt. Lady huh?'

He skimmed through the article describing her debut this morning.

*Boom**crash**boom*

"What is happening.."

He looked ahead to see smoke rising from down street, sound of explosions reverberated throughout the street.

He reached the place and saw a huge crowd standing there watching some villain.

Due to his height he was able to see a little bit of what was happening.

"What happened!"

"Apparently some kid got held hostage by some villain"

"What are the heros doing"

"Hey, isn't this the villain All Might was chasing?!"

"Really? He's coming?"

"Don't know what's taking him so long"

Neji pushed his way through the crowd towards the front,"sorry" he apologised to the man he accidentally stepped on.

Reaching the front he saw a green mud/sludge villain, who held a teenager. Explosions was thrown everywhere.

'His quirk' Neji thought.

His eyes scanned through the heros present.

Kamui woods would not be able to get closer due to the fire, Mt. Lady was a bit too big for the street, Backdraft was trying to put out fire, Deatharms' punches does not have any effect on the amorphous villain.

He saw a few other heros but was not able to identify them, his eyes then landed onto the red fiery eyes of the kid help hostage.

'that expression...'

He was far too familiar with that expression.

His hands clenched in fist as he stopped himself from running in to save him, he could not do that.

'30 seconds', he said to himself.

He would wait for that much time, if the heros does not do anything till then, then he would go.

His grey eyes were glued at the ash-blonde haired kid, looking to see is he was in mortal danger.

"Hey kid! Come back!"

A green blur pushed past the barrier and rushed head first into the danger.

'what..'

The kid, same age as him threw his backpack at the sludge and then tried to pry his friend form it's grasp.

"Fuck it!" Neji cursed under his breath and moved.

Muscles underneath his skin rippled as he was besides the green haired boy in instant.

...

Deep within the crowd a blonde haired man was holding his stomach, looking at the green haired kid run in to save someone without thinking, steam started leaking from his body.

He started inflating, a drop of blood leaked from his lips but he wiped it away and pushed his body to the limit.

Then he stopped.

He looked at the other kid that appeared besides the green one and smiled.

The steam disappeared and he returned to his original form, breathing heavily with a smile on his face.

"Young Neji..." He muttered under his breath.

...

Neji appeared infront of green haired boy and used his arm to block a sludge tentacle.

He grabbed both teenagers in one hand and cocked his other hand back, clenching into a fist.

Muscles formed around his arm, as he delivered a punch to the sludge.

"Holy..."

"What the.."

"Is this even human.."

A wave of shockwave and wind hit everyone as the sludge was blasted into million pieces.

"Rain.."

"It started raining!"

"He fucking changed the weather!"

"Is he All might 2.0?!"

"Huff" Neji release a breath and dropped both kids onto the floor, muscles receded back into his body.

...

Silence, everyone went silent for a few seconds.

Everyone was waiting for his next action.

Seeing so many eyes and cameras on him, Neji stiffened a bit but then he bowed and left.

"Hey! Wait! What is your name!"

"We would like to get a few words with you!"

"Kid! Public quirk usage is prohibited!"

"Oi! Where the fuck you think you are going! I didn't needed your help! I was good on my own! I would still-"

"T-Thank y-you"

Hearing the calls Neji quickened his pace and dashed out of sight.

"I think i am far enough.." he muttered to himself.

He does not like to be in the spotlight, thus he left.

He would have been yelled at for interfering with hero work and get asked about by the media, both of which he would rather avoid.

"Shit!"

"I dropped my juice"

At the same time, infront of the green haired kid stood a blonde figure.

"You can become a hero"

...

All Might smiled as he saw Midoriya leaving with a smile and determined expression. He had found his successor.

'Now, there is one more thing left...' he thought.

...

Entering a normal sized apartment Neji put his bag down on a table and went ahead to get changed.

Changing into comfortable t-shirt and shorts he slumped on the couch and picked his phone, scrolling through Herogram, he didn't have an account at first but his classmates forced him to make one and now he usually scrolls through memes in his free time.

*Ding Dong* *Ding Dong*

"Hum?"

He got up from the couch and opened the door.

"Good afternoon, young Neji" A blonde haired man greeted him.

"Ah, good afternoon to you to, Mr. Yagi"

"Can I come in?"

"Please"

Mr. Yagi entered the apartment and sat onto the couch.

"Tea?" Neji asked the man with a smile.

"If it isn't too much"

"It isn't "

Neji smiled at the man and went to kitchen to make some tea.

"How is school going?" Mr. Yagi asked.

"Hmm it is going great, i am a little focused on the U.A exam and haven't been close to my classmate a lot but other than that it is good, need a little more focus on the academic side tho" Neji said as he poured hot tea in two cups.

"Here, Mr. Yagi"

"Thank you, young Neji"

Both sipped tea in silence for a few moments.

"Your tea is always good"

"Thank you"

"Preparing for the future is good but you should spend more time with your classmates, make friends and enjoy your time as a kid"

...

"Here" Mr. Yagi passed Neji an envelope.

"What is it?" Neji eyes the envelope with curiosity.

"Open it later" Mr. Yagi said as he stood up.

"Going already?"

"Haha, being All Might's manager comes with a ton of work, i would love to spend more time with you Young Neji but i am afraid i have to go, i came to check if you were alright and deliver that envelope."

"See you later Mr. Yagi"

"And young Neji....Happy belated birthday "

...

After the blonde man left Neji closed the door and laid down on his bed.

In his hands was the envelope Mr. Yagi left.

Thinking about the blonde man a small smile bloomed on his face.

Toshinori Yagi was someone very important to him, he helped Neji at his lowest. Pay for his expenses and be there when need like a mentor/father figure.

Even the flat he lived was paid by Mr. Yagi.

He carefully opened the envelope, inside lied 2 pieces of paper.

One was hand written while the other was printed with the familiar symbol of U.A.

He picked the handwritten letter and read it.

'Dear Neji Imasuji,

As you have already heard from my manager, Toshinori Yagi, i am a little busy and thus not able to meet you, when i first met you i remember vividly how you exclaimed wanting to become like me and save everyone, i am sure you will become what you inspired to be, i for one already see the image of an inspiring hero capable of saving other, just like today. This is a small gift from me and Toshinori Yagi. Happy Birthday young Neji. Again, i am extremely sorry, i wished to meet you personally but saving others can't be put on hold.

-All Might'

He put the letter down and picked the other paper.

'U.A recommendation program' it read.

'we at U.A. are happy to announce that candidate Neji Imasuji has been recommended to our Hero program by the No.1 hero and symbol of peace- All Might. Please check backside for candidate profile as well as exam information'

Turning around he was that the exam would be in 7 months, 3 months before the normal entrance exam.

"I guess its time to grind"