The Immortal Hero: Phoenix

Chapter 4: Road to U.A Part 2

For three years, Izuka Midoriya trained and learned under her Pro-Hero teachers, strengthening her body and sharpening her mind, with her childhood friend Katsuki Bakugou at her side. As a result, much had changed for the now 13 year old Izuka.

Her tutoring with Nezu had been brutal, even compared to her physical training. The Mouse Principal pushed her hard, setting no homework but giving Izuka the kind of classwork more in line with High School Students than the Middle School/Junior High Student she was. Izuka had enjoyed the challenge and found her time with Nezu passing very quickly, with a whole day of lessons passing in what felt like minutes, though when she finally stopped, Izuka would often mentally crash for a while. Because of this, she only had classes on the Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with all other days devoted to training, but as a result, Izuka was at the level of a 16 year old in intelligence. At age 11, she had also begun direct tutoring in healing with Recovery Girl and was now adept in first aid without her quirk and was quick to diagnose illnesses and injuries, as well as good medicines to help treat them. Her Healing Ace was still her quirk though, and she used it whenever she didn't know how else to resolve an injury. Between her lessons with Nezu and her work in the Nurses Office, Izuka became quite well-known among the students of U.A, with most in the Hero Course having been healed by her at least once. Since she turned 13 and the new school year began, an enthusiastic boy named Mirio Togata had become a frequent patient and the two had struck up a friendship.

But it was in her physical development that Izuka really shone. She'd grown taller, and thanks to vigorous and dedicated exercise with All-Might, she'd managed to accumulate some lean muscle, primarily on her legs and abdomen, though her arms held a fair bit as well. Izuka was happy with her strength, which was easily on the same level as Katsuki, though she was less pleased with her physique. Because of the year of poor nutrition with the villains combined with inheriting her mother's genetics, Izuka would always have a short and petite figure. She was at least an inch shorter than the rest of her age group and was very slender, with only a hint of a womanly figure. This figure also made her muscles less noticeable, but at least she had them; without them, her limbs would be like sticks! Izuka still wasn't allowed to use One for All yet, as Toshinori was worried of the effect it would have on her slender frame. With Gran Torino, Izuka learned how to fight, practicing the basics of kick-boxing, Judo and Taekwondo as well as Acrobatics to create her own fighting style that revolved around using her flexibility, speed and strong legs to dance around an opponent and take them out with rapid kicks. She had named her style Phoenix Might, a name that symbolised her dual origin as holder of the Phoenix Quirk and Successor to All-Might. Izuka's work with Sir Nighteye was more like her tutoring than combat training, as it revolved entirely around Sir Nighteye providing her with a written situation and a set of constraints and tools with which to resolve it, turning difficult hero situations like sieges, hostage situations and natural disasters into complex puzzles.

Izuka took everything in and constantly worked to improve herself, with Katsuki proving to be an eternal source of support as well as a nearly indomitable rival. He studied hard in his own classes, becoming top of his class every year and building his strength and skills as a Hero as well. He joined Izuka in her Kick-boxing lessons and was much more skilled in it than Izuka herself. He and Izuka would spar frequently and were fairly evenly matched; Katsuki had raw power and was a combat genius, while Izuka was more skilled and adapted better to the situation. Over the three years of training, their wins were at 133 to 127 in Katsuki's favour.

Outside of training and learning, the two teens and their families and friends continued their lives quite happily. Sir Nighteye left All-Might's agency and started his own, deciding that now that All-Might had Izuka to become his Successor and future side-kick, it was time for him to begin making a name for himself as a full-fledged hero rather than a side-kick. He and All-Might had separated on good terms, with Sir Nighteye making a final joke that his leaving would give All-Might practice for when Izuka decided to break out on her own.