Knock-Out!

Round 1: The Boxer

...Six Months Before UA...

A Fifteen-year-old boy was seen jogging around the streets of Musutafu. He was wearing a grey tracksuit, the jacket wrapped around his waist. Featured on him were the green boxing gloves tied to the jacket. The boy was Izuku Midoriya, rising star of Japan's Featherweight division. He was currently running as a form of endurance training for his next match, currently having run Four Kilometers prior. He slowed to a stop next to a water fountain, wiping the sweat from his brow before drinking some water. He wiped his face with a last spray of water before jogging down to his local gym, known as the Hansuke Boxing Gym.

The gym Izuku went to was one normally seen in things such as boxing movies. The walls were lined with punching bags and boxing equipment, with a ring in the center for practice or spars between patrons. He entered, greeting a few regulars to the building before seeing a man by the name of Kaito Hansuke. He was a rather tall man, once the former champion of the Middleweight Division. He had tan skin, glasses, and short blond hair, a scar across the bridge of his nose. He wasn't as muscular as he used to be, but it had been roughly a decade since his last fight before retiring as the Middleweight Champion of Japan.

"You done with your run, kid?" He asked.

"Yup! If you need me, I'll be practicing punches." Izuku said. He walked over to a punching bag, where Kaito stood with a clipboard and a stopwatch. He then activated his Quirk, which would give him much faster eyesight and processing at the expense of becoming nearsighted after his boxing career ended.

"Ready? Go." Kaito said, as Izuku began to wail on the bag. Kaito counted each and every punch thrown, even though anyone else who frequented the gym would see a blur attacking the bag. "Stop." He said after Izuku spent two minutes consecutively punching. "You're getting faster, but make sure that you maintain the same amount of strength. Not bad, kid. I'll set up a match with the next fighter soon."

"Can't wait!" Izuku said, grabbing a pair of dumbbells from a rack, each one about fourty pounds. He stood straight up and curled them in place as his trainer followed him.

"So, how's the home life doing for you so far?" Kaito asked, counting his reps. After about one hundred reps, he put down his weights and took a minute to breathe. After his quick break he made his way to a pull-up bar, using it as he responded.

"It's been pretty weird living on my own since mom got sick, but at least the fight money pays for her treatment." Izuku said. "Other than that, it's been relatively the same."

"Good, good. Any school you're planning on going to?"

"I'm thinking of trying to get into UA's hero course, actually." Izuku said, to Kaito's shock.

"UA?! How are you going to balance your boxing career with trying to become a hero?!" Kaito asked.

"I know It'll be hard, but I know I can pull it off." Izuku said. "The extra training will help me in both fields." Izuku said, jumping down from the bar. He took a drink from a water bottle, transitioning into leg work as soon as he put the bottle down.

"While it is surprising that you're going to pretty much try for two careers at once, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Now, step in the ring. I wanna give you a little practice session to make sure you're good to go for the next fight." Kaito said, grabbing a pair of mitts from a box next to the ring.

"Let's do it!" Izuku said. He climbed the ropes to enter the gym's boxing ring, his coach following a second after as he was currently putting on boxing mitts.

"You know the drill, right?" He asked.

"Yep!" The boxer responded. Kaito stuck up the mitt on his right hand, and Izuku punched it with his left.

"Good." Kaito said. He held up the right, and Izuku punched it with a left cross. Kaito held up both, and Izuku punched one after another, ducking suddenly when the mitt flew towards his head.

"Perfect. Again!" Izuku and Kaito would spend the next ten minutes doing the same steps, punching each mitt with the opposite fist, moving and ducking under Kaito's movements as if this were an actual boxing match. The boxer would strike each and every lifted mitt with a different type of punch depending on the distance. If it was a little too far to one side he would throw a hook. Too close, a quick jab or cross would work well. If the mitt was pointing towards the ground, he would solve the issue by throwing an uppercut or a quick upwards blow.

After they finished, Izuku pulled the gloves off of his hands, placing them on the side of a bench as he chugged from a water bottle. His mentor retreated to his office to handle the gym's finances while the boy went back to the bag, another member of the gym holding the stopwatch for the boy to repeat his sequence of exercises again for a second set. A moment later he heard the door open, to see a girl roughly his own age enter. She had a black ponytail, with a single long bang framing the right side of her face. Grey catlike eyes scanned the arena before finding the young boxer, intrigue now present in those same eyes. She walked her way towards him, as he now noticed a clipboard tucked under her arm.

"I was sent by my parents to look for one Kaito Hansuke to present an offer of a sponsorship for one Izuku Midoriya. Do you perhaps know where I could find either of them?" She asked.

"T-That's me." Izuku said, not used to talking to people his own age. In response the girl blinked in surprise.

"Well that makes my job easier." She said. "Momo Yaoyorozu, it's a pleasure to meet you." She introduced while holding out her hand, and Izuku blushed slightly, shaking the outstretched hand.

"It's n-nice to meet you as well." He responded, unwrapping his hands. "What was this about a sponsorship?"

"Oh! My parents enjoy seeing the youngest professional boxer in Japan fight. They wanted to sponsor you by doubling the pay you earn from each match." She said, and his eyes widened in shock.

'That's a lot of zeroes.' "I-I'm grateful, but I would rather if the money went directly towards my mother's treatment." He said.

"Oh, is she doing alright?" Momo asked. "What happened?"

"A villain's Quirk hit her a year ago, and forced a dangerous illness onto her. I'm using the fight money I don't use for rent to pay for her to be treated." He said.

"I hope she makes a return to good health. Also, I can talk to my family about that instead of the original terms of the sponsorship if that is what you desire." She responded. She checked her watch, and frowned.

"Oh dear, it seems I must take my leave. Can I have your contact information before I go, to inform you of their decision?" She asked.

"S-Sure!" He said as he blushed, fumbling for his phone. The two exchanged phone numbers quickly before Momo left, Izuku remaining in his position next to the bag to process what just happened.

'I JUST GOT A PRETTY GIRL'S NUMBER!' He screamed within his head, shaking it to clear his mind before standing up. He then noticed a poster of the current Featherweight Champion of Japan.

'One day, I'll beat you.' He thought, before he entered the shower rooms to clean the smell of sweat from his form. Izuku took the time while he was there to remember all that happened that day, returning to the main gym area to a grinning trainer.

"Found a lady for yourself kid?" Kaito teased, making Izuku jump with a blush knowing that his mentor saw the entire interaction he had with the girl

"N-N-No! S-She just presented an offer for more funding to my mother's hospital bill, is all." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Suuure. You tell yourself that. Anyways, I have the next fight set up for you. It'll be next week at the Musutafu Arena. Be ready and keep up your training." He said.

"You got it! I'll be ready to fight!" Izuku beamed, exiting the shower room. After learning of the next fight, Izuku was pumped full of hype and determination. He was so pumped that he didn't bother going to bed when he finally went home, opting to train by himself until he felt exhaustion and the need to sleep begin to take over his form.

...

Fixes: Added more content, improved descriptions and some overall spellchecking. Chapter length is still short compared to the length of the later chapters, though I'm satisfied with how this works as a quick little introduction to my story as a whole.

A/N: Yo! If you're new, welcome to Knock-Out! I hope you'll be able to give my story a chance. Maybe you'll like it! On another note, if you have read the earlier chapters, this is a much shorter one compared to that because of a specific purpose. I changed it since the whole "bad man tries to take advantage of main girl, gets stopped by main male and two main leads meet" made Momo seem much weaker compared to her old self. It lost a few hundred words shifting over, but I hope this makes up for it. I'd love it if you'd stick around for the ride. See you next chapter!