Chapter 3: The Bird in the Forest
After that, the two spent some time on the roof trading stories of their lives, All Might learned that Izuku and Mellissa were as close as siblings and one of her friends taught him how to skateboard when he and his family stayed in California for Christmas along with the Shields. Izuku learned that All Might's real name was Toshinori Yagi and was an avid movie fan, mostly spy thrillers. They leaned that they both like pro wrestling as All Might was in his school's wrestling club in middle school, even if he was one of the worst members due to a lack of a quirk related to wrestling like most of the other members, while Izuku likes the storylines and seemingly larger than life struggles, after-all, in wrestling the world wasn't actually at stack so it wasn't a dangerous as real-life fights between heroes and villains.
They were able to catch the local supermarket before it closed for the day and since the owner knew Izuku, he allowed them to shop before closing up for the day. Toshinori was disheartened when Izuku made him buy lighter foods and even drew up a diet plan for him since his stomach couldn't handle what it used to, he especially hurt when he saw that his diet would now consist of mostly finger sandwiches, soups, porridge, and pure fruit drinks. He complained about it, saying it reminded him of his mother's diet to which young Midoriya merely stated.
'If you gonna insist of doing hero work, then you gonna have to eat like a grandma since that what's your body can handle and still provide the nutrients you need. And speaking of what you can handle, if I see you drinking coffee…'
It was funny how the boy knew that they would see more of each other as time went on.
Afterward, they said their goodbyes and left for their respective home.
Sadly there was something Izuku forget which made themselves known when he rounded the last corner leading to the apartment blocks where he lived. Such forgotten then grabbed him from behind to give him a noogie.
"You know, you're a hard person to find today, Izuku-kun." A feminine voice spoke from behind him, stopping his struggle as he realized just who was behind him.
"Takeyama-chan!? What are you doing here?" Izuku asked as she let him go so that he could face her head one, even if she was shorter than him by a couple of cm, she still made him feel like the younger with those eyes. She wasn't in her hero custom so she must be off work, it still amazed him that she looked so different in regular clothing than she did in her work clothes.
"Isn't it obvious? I saw you today and wanted to make sure you were okay." Yu stated is if it was a fact but Izuku wasn't stupid and he knew how she thinks so he didn't fall for it.
"Is that all?" Izuku asked with a raised eyebrow as he led them back to his apartment. He knew she wasn't going to leave just yet.
"Well, there could be something else…" Yu started as she poked her cheek and pouted as she followed along.
"Which is?" Izuku asked as they climbed the stairs leading up to his floor.
"Weeeellll, I saw adorable little Izuku-kun and I figured that you were recording the fight," Yu started, trying to play off the real reason with compliments, which only made it sound more obvious.
"And you just wanted to get your hands on a copy of the video of your big debut." Izuku decided to state as they were nearing the front door and he knew she would try and hide her true intentions till kingdom come.
"For memories sake, nothing else." Yu tried to defend as she jumped in front and waved her arms about to try and clear the tension, Izuku just cracked a smile to let her know he was just messing with her but she wasn't off the hook, he was getting good at talking to girls and not sounding like a stuttering nervous wreck.
"Riiight…"Izuku replied as he dug through his pocket for his key before unlocking the door and entering the apartment itself. "Mom, I'm home, I brought company." He called out as they both removed their shoes and in Yu's case, walked in with just socks since he put on house slippers. As they walked into the living room, they could hear the sound of running water coming from the kitchen telling them where his mother was.
"That's nice Izuku, I'll be with you in a second. I'm still washing vegetables for tonight's dinner." Inko replied from the kitchen as she was in the middle of preparing dinner for the evening.
"That's fine mom, we'll be in my workshop." Izuku said as he led the older women down the corridor of the small apartment.
"Okay, sweetie." They heard his mom call out before she went back to her things. They continued walking down the hallway till they came to the end where there was a door that used to lead to a coat closet.
"Your mom is as busy as I remember." Yu commented as he opened the door to reveal a small elevator which they both got into.
"You were here for dinner like two weeks ago, not much can change in that time." Izuku shot back as he dialed in number 2 on the touchscreen along with a password and fingerprint recognition input before the falsely wooden door closed and the elevator took them down.
"You'll be surprised by how wrong you are little man." Yu teased as they went down for another few seconds before they came to a stop and the door opened up to reveal another hallway, only this one was all white and can two cameras watching them along with a sentry gun mounted on the ceiling at the end of the hallway.
"I'll just have to take your word for it then." Izuku said as he and Yu walked down the rather spooky-looking hallway till they came to the last door, which looked like it was built to take a direct hit from anti-tank rockets and villains alike. Once they got there, a panel slid up to reveal another keypad-this one requiring a different code which Izuku set to be a 21 character number code, after that he put in full handprint scan, retinal scan, and voice authentication as well as stating he had a guest when an automated turret popped out and pointed towards Yu, which got gun the turret to back down and the door opened up for them to enter. Once they did, it slit shut as all 8 titanium locks slid back into place.
The room they had entered was large, easily twice the size of Izuku's apartment above and decked out. There was a 50-inch minter screen with wireless keyboard and mouse set up in the corner along with a sweet looking office chair, a workbench on the opposite end with some pieces of tech laying on it, mechanical robot arms along with that work station, a drawing board near the entrance and 3 pods by the end which Yu knew held his finished prototype armors. There was also a bathroom with a toilet and shower and a small area set aside to act like a med bay with a bed and a cabinet with medical supplies and other over-the-counter top drugs the kid got his hands on. "…Why do I have the feeling that this place has changed?" Yu commented as she made her way over to the mini-fridge to grab a bottle of water she knew he kept in there.
"Added a new supercomputer, straight from the folks at I-Island. Also got a new workstation that uses 3d hologram models rather than the real thing, less noise, and explosions that way." Izuku boasted as he pointed to the rather large-looking system unit which was decked out with glowing blue highlights. Nice touch.
"Hard to believe that you brought out the 2 apartments under yours." Yu said as she followed him to the computer where he booted it up and log in to access his files, she found it funny that his desktop wallpaper was a grumpy cat meme.
"Well, I do make some serious cash selling some of my tech to support companies and small-time heroes aboard, which reminds me. I need to complete that order for those special handcuffs for El Primo." Izuku mentions as he opens up the file where he keeps recently shot videos and pictures.
'Only Izuku-kun could be selling his products to Mexican hero agencies at 14.' Yu thought to herself with a sweatdrop as she recalled how he made nearly as much money as she did just by selling what he made every month.
"Do you have a flash drive I can send it to?" Izuku asked, gaining her attention as she looked down to see his hand being held up in request.
"Yep, here it is." Yu answered as she handed him the flash she had brought since he refused to send anything from his personal work computer to unshielded/untrusted servers. "You gotta love the unknown camera angle, you somehow manage to get the best shots." She added as she watched the video play and once more, he got a great shot from his positions, most of the video from the scene was taken from smartphones by inexperienced (regular) people so they weren't very good.
"I try to, can't analyze with crappy video footage, besides you always manage to put on a show every time I see you." Izuku shot back with a small smile as he looked back at her as the video was sending, Yu responded with a chuckle and giving him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Hmmm, well lookie here, the little kitty has fangs." Yu teased with a smirk as she turned the chair around and took a place on his lap. In response to this, his arms went and wrapped themselves around her small waist and his fingers tapped the small of her back, he knew it was a sensitive spot and he knew to exploit it.
"Well with a friend like you, one needs to learn quickly. Besides," Izuku started as he pressed a spot he knew would get a reaction, one where she let out a little moan that was so damn cute. "I like to see you flustered, Yu" Izuku said as he nuzzled her neck to take in her natural scent, getting her to shiver in anticipation.
"How is it you know how to say my name in such a way that it makes me feel so good?" Yu asked him as she played with his rather wild hair, it was the same as always but had the appeal of a cat's fur, you just wanted to pass your hand through it and feel the texture of it against your palm.
"Don't know, don't care." Izuku answered as he nibbled at the flesh of her neck, she let out a louder moan at that one.
"Oh but I do know this," Yu shot back with a Cheshire cat-like grin before she claimed his lips for her own with a hot make-out session that lasted till they both needed to breathe again. "It's been too long since we had some quality alone time, this place soundproof?" Yu asked him after they broke away with a trail of spit still linking their lips, his response was to tighten his hold on her and stand up before leading carrying her to the bed in the corner, it was meant to serve as a medical area in case he was caught in an accident but right now it was going to serve a different purpose.
"Do you need to ask?" He asked as he dropped her onto the double-sized bed and crawled on top of her, keeping her cage with his slightly larger bulk.
"How long do you think we have till your mom calls us up?" Yu asked him as he laced her fingers under his shirt to feel up the well developing 6 pack he had going him while he went to work getting her jacket off.
"About 30 minutes, so we have some time to properly greet each other." Izuku stated as he was successful in removing the first layer of her clothing while she was removing his.
"Plenty of time, I've been waiting for this all day." Yu finished as she pulled him into another kiss which devolved into a full-blown make-out session as they tore each other clothes off.
The relationship between the two was certainly an odd one. The primary reason being that Yu was 7 years his senior and already a member of the workforce while he was in his last year of middle school but it did have a funny story to go with it.
About 2 years prior, Yu Takeyama was working as a sidekick to Best Jeanist and wasn't the best of them due to her rather lazy nature and love for the spotlight which Jeanist never liked at all since he believed these weren't attributes a hero should have or rather ones they should indulge. One day she was sent to the forested area outside of town due to reports of a large birdman swooping down on low-level thugs and carrying off. At first, people didn't make much of it since it only targeted thugs and common criminals but once it made the jump to villains that sought refuge or cover in the forests, the local police and hero agencies decided to investigate. They believed that it was just some vigilante with a flight quirk (which was rather rare) or a mutation quirk that gave them wings (which was more common). Since it only went for criminals, Jeanist thought it was the perfect assignment for Yu, but she knew he was just sending her off since it was out in the wilderness where there weren't any crowds to watch her. She objected at first but being tied up and scolded like a schoolgirl made her give up and leave to see what was all the fuss about.
She didn't like the assignment one bit since the thing only struck at night and used the cover of darkness to fly and out with warning and she was sent in the early hours of the morning, she spent the day dealing with bug bites and branches hitting her in the damn face since she had to look in the areas without a trail…and she knew next to nothing about the outdoors having grown up in the city and never going a camping trip. By nightfall, she was ready to pack up and leave and just tell Jeanist it didn't show but she did stumble across something while she was out there.
She found a whole camp of villains she recalled seeing on the news the previous day, they had robbed a jewelry store and were hiding from the heroes and police looking for them.
(Flashback)
'My, my, what do we have here?' Yu thought to herself from a hiding spot as she watched the camp activity. She could see the stolen goods being kept in some large hiking bags in the corner being guarded by 4 guys.
'I count at least 12 of them, if I take them all down then Best Jeanist will surely see how great I am and never send me on one of these wild goose chases again. But how to go about it? There are too many trees around for me to really let loose and I don't feel like dealing with the ranger about forest destruction later so maybe the silent approach?' Yu thought to herself as her quirk wasn't the best for confined spaces and somewhat limited her options so she decided to listen in and see what she could find.
"Man, do we have a haul." One of the grunts called out as he and another walked near to her position, she had to calm herself and remember they didn't know she was here. The one that just spoke looked normal but did have elf-looking eyes and was yellow-skinned.
"Yup, over 1,630,000 yen's worth of jewelry, Overhaul would be happy about this one." The other said, this one looking like a dog.
"You sure? You know how he can be." The first one asked it seemed that this…Overhaul? Wasn't a fan of failure.
"I hope so, this was about half of that they had on hand. By the way, have you heard back from the lookout?" The dog-looking one asked.
"Yeah, she didn't see anything, I'm telling you. It's just some punk who thinks he's hot shit." The yellow elf replied as grunted in annoyance.
"Nay man, he took out Tanaka man, Tanaka!" the dog told him which judging from the face the elf made, must have been some kind of big deal.
"T-that's impossible! He was champion for three straight weeks in the bull ring, now way he lost, not without a lot of noise." The dog said, now she knew why it was a big deal, she had heard rumors of the infamous underground fight club around the office. Apparently, you only held the championship for a single night since you had to defend it every night so holding it that long did sound impressive.
"But he did lose, I was there when they found him. He was black and blue and dangling from a flagpole man, the coppers did him a favor arresting him." The Elf said as he shook like a leaf, must have been an ugly sight since she could imagine the beast it would take to do that and not get caught.
"S-so what, it's gonna be different this time, I mean we have more people than all the sightings of him did and we're armed and ready." The dog said as he banished his rifle, they all had one and she could spot a few with shotguns instead so they must be expecting her target to come for them.
"I hope your right." The elf said as he took out a cigarette and lit it before taking a drag.
'Whatever this thing is must be scary if these guys brought guns with them, I haven't seen one of those since the training sessions in high school.' Yu thought to herself as guns were a rare sight in Japan even before quirks, these guys must have an important or powerful boss to have smuggled some in, looks like she's gonna have to book them for illegal possession of military grade firearms too, man, she was going to look great capturing them. But as she daydreamed of the interview she would do about her feat of heroism, she moved her leg and broke a small twig by her knee.
[CRACK!]
'Shit.' Yu thought to herself as she saw the two grunts had heard her and the elf started aiming his gun down her direction and looked like he would fire if he so much as heard her breathe.
"What was that?" The elf asked, looking scared as hell.
"Calm down you cry baby, it was probably some rat or something." The Dog said, since he didn't bother trying to sniff her out, maybe he just looked like a dog or just didn't think it was worth the effort.
"But what if-?" The elf tried to say but the do dude cut him off.
"Whatever that thing is, it's a flyer so it would have come from the sky, not the bush you dumbass." The dog said as he pointed to the dark sky which was covered in clouds so the light from the stars and moon wasn't all that visible.
"You don't know that!" the elf clearly must have been new to this whole villain thing or was a coward, either way, he wasn't handling the pressure all that well.
"You know, why don't you sh-!" The dog was getting tired and look like he was going to punch the other dude if not for an interruption.
[PING!] Was the sound of something hitting the elf in the neck, it had a fuzzy-looking end and came out nowhere.
'The he-!' Yu thought to herself as she watched the elf pick the…dart! From his neck, where did that come from!
[BOOM!] A small tube-looking thing that landed right at their feet. A second later, it went off and the entire area was covered by a blinding light and deafening bang, Yu was mostly protected from the blast as the two grunts acted like human shields but the loud bang still rang in her ears, she just barely stopped herself from yelling in pain from it.
"My eyes!" One of them yelled as that got the attention of the entire camp, though she couldn't tell who since she was still trying to get back her hearing.
"Dammit, I can't see, Josui, you there?!" The other called out but she didn't hear anything that sounded like an answer.
"Josui!" she heard the same voice call out, she peeked out the bush and saw he was looking down at the body of the elf, clearly whatever was in that dart had finally taken effect and he was out. Suddenly she heard the sound of a muffled jet coming towards them. Since when was there a jet? She didn't have much time to question it since, at that very same moment, a large winged creature crashed down.
It was massive, it wasn't so big from what she could see since its glowing green eyes were only about 1.5m off the ground but it had a near-impossible wingspan as the wings looked like they were 5m across and larger than the body since they cast an eerie shadow over the already scary looking bird figure. It seemed she wasn't the only one scared since the dog grunt stood frozen in fear as the massive bird of prey turned its gaze to him.
"…Your friend isn't here right now, don't worry, you'll join him soon." It spoke in perfect Japanese which meant it wasn't just a bid bird and she could tell it was a person since the voice wasn't normal so whoever it was had opted to speak through a voice changer as she couldn't even its gender. She didn't have much time to think more about it since he pounced on the dog who found his marbles and tried to fire but before he could pull the trigger he was already off the ground being held in its massive talons and being flown somewhere she hoped it would be recovered, murders were never a pretty thing.
"THE HELL! HELP! HELP!" he begged as he disappeared into the night….
Only to come crashing down into another-taking them both out with serious injuries, showing that whoever this was had been smart enough to use its size and bulk to pick up and drop opponents on each other to lessen their numbers.
"Shit! It's here!"
"Where?!"
"I don't know but start shooting!" Was the last thing said before almost every one of them fired into the sky, hoping that they'll hit something as they spray and prayed. All the fire and noise would surely bring the local police since this wasn't something that happened every day, Hell was she was betting that Jeanist himself would show up if these morons kept this up. Sometime later, they can all fired their entire magazines as she could hear the clicking of the spent guns.
"Did…did we get it?" one of them asked but before he could hear an answer, the thing they had tried to kill came crashing down on him, smashing the poor sap's face into the ground with enough force to crack it. From its position with a taloned foot still on top of the knocked out goon's head, the birdman turned to see he was surrounded but she couldn't tell if that was of any concern to it since it didn't do anything to show this. By now the clouds had cleared and allowed them to get a better look at their foe/target.
It was a breathtaking sight.
The figure was mostly humanoid and stood at a height of around 1.9m making it much taller than she was. It was covered head to toe in shining black and green armor which looked like it was fashioned to look like a bird and knight rolled into one. The feet had deadly sharp-looking talons extending from parts of the shin and behind the leg while the claws didn't look like a joke either. On its back were a pair of powerful-looking wings that had special-looking motors with 4 bladed fans located on each wing, she could also see the tell tail signs of some kind of jetpack. The helmet looked like it was a cross between fighter pilots and an eagle with the design. The eyes were still glowing green but now looked to be watching everything around it like an apex predator.
"Surrender and you'll suffer fewer injuries." It spoke at last, not at all sounding scared about the numerous guns pointed at it.
"The hell we will open fire!" One of them called out as they all fired but like a graceful swan, the assailant quickly opened up its wings and used them to cover itself as the bullets harmlessly bounced off them as it jumped up and blasted off using the thrust from the jetpack it was wearing before it swirled to the right and used its wings to strike at a group of them before it kicked another so hard in the chest, he went flying into to a tree and painfully smacked into it.
'Shit, he's dead, I gotta go something!' Yu thought to herself as she figured this was the time to step in before someone died. So with that, she activated her quirk and grew to tower over just about everything in sight, she'll deal with the ranger later.
"Why don't we try and even things!" Yu called out as she pounded her fist onto her palm and looked down at her opponents.
"Shit, now there's a pro here too!"
"You idiot, she's just a sidekick!"
"Whaa-!" Was the response of the first one who found himself pinned to the ground by the bird thing before an electronic discharge left the foot and shocked the man into unconsciousness.
"Shouldn't have taken your eyes off me." The bird said before it delivered a heavy wing swipe at the next grunt which sent her flying into dreamland. It wasn't long after this that they were able to finish off the rest of them, leaving many with bruises, black eyes, and broken bones in the case of those who challenged the man in armor.
"Thanks?" Yu said as she wasn't quite sure what to do with the situation as is as this person wasn't any pro she heard of which meant that they must be a vigilante.
"You're welcome." The assailant replied as it started looking around for something.
"Soooo, what are you? Some kind of vigilante or something?" Yu asked, she wasn't one for subtle probing and wanted to get her answers as soon as possible.
"Or something, now." The unknown answered as it found what it was looking for, a still awake grunt who looked like he had a broken leg. "Where is Overhaul?" it asked him, leaving Yu to wonder who the hell this Overhaul was.
"Who?" the grunt answered but it was plain to see he was playing dumb, something she figured wasn't going to end well for him which a moment later proved to be right.
[CRACK]
"Lie to me again and I'll break the other finger. Now, where is he?" The armored figure threatened as he head on to the man's hand which now had a broken pinkie finger.
"I can't tell you!" the grunt caved and told him, looking scared for his life.
"…Why?" The figure asked after letting him strew in his fears for a moment.
"He'll kill me if I do!" The grunt cried as he tried to crawl away but was caught in the feet of the figure.
"And I won't?" The figure stated as he opened up his wings and took to the sky faster than Yu had ever seen any pigeon, it lifted off so fast it left a dust cloud in its wake.
"THE HEEEEELLLL!" The poor grunt screamed as he was carried higher and higher into the sky, the ground and the bodies of his comrades becoming more and more distant. This went on for another few moments before they stopped and just hovered with the fan blades of the figure's wings providing the lift.
"Did you know that the Gypaetus barbatus, otherwise known as the Bearded vulture likes to drop the bones of animals from high heights to crack them open to get at the juicy bone marrow on the inside?" The figure asked as they were about 300m off the ground at this point.
"No." The grunt answered, nearly pissing himself as he could see where this was going.
"So…" The birdman started as he flipped the man in his talons and expertly caught him again but now he was facing the ground. "Maybe if I drop you, then I'll get to see your insides and see your secrets." He finished which got the poor bastard to finally piss himself as he whimpered in fear.
"HEY!" Yu called out to them, still in giant form since she couldn't just stand by and let him drop the poor bastard to his death.
"Hm?" The bird asked it came down to only around 150m, still holding the grunt like an eagle carrying a mouse.
"I'm not gonna let you drop him! Let him go now!" Yu ordered as he got ready for a fight, she figured she could slow him down since that little firearm's expedition must have alerted others so she knew she would have back-up soon. Sadly the birdman did what every villain or anti-hero would do in his situation.
He let him go.
"Sure." He answered as he released his hold on his prey and let him go.
"AAAAAWWWWWW!" the grunt screamed in terror as he plummeted to the ground.
"Shit!" Yu called as she moved to catch him but just before he landed in her hands, the birdman swooped in and caught him again before bringing him back to earth and dropping him as a shivering, whimpering pile.
"Ready to talk now?" The birdman asked him, watching him with those glowing eyes that seemed to peer into his soul, he cracked like a wine glass in a tumble dryer.
"I'll talk, I'll talk!" He answered.
It didn't take long to learn that he was one of the many fodder squads this Overhaul person used to steal and sell things to raise funds for their criminal activities. He and the rest were supposed to meet up with some broker named Giran and sell the goods to him but Yu could guess he must have booked it when they didn't show. She was still pissed with the damn bird and after it was all said and done, she reported what she saw to Jeanist and the local police. They started watching the area more closely and Yu herself went there almost every day to assist, Jeanist thought she was shaping up but she just wanted to catch that little bird and throw him into a cage.
This went on for weeks as each time they met, they helped each other take down some criminals or thugs before he would fly off before she could get him. He was classed as a vigilante at this point and had a warrant for his arrest posted to every cop in the prefecture. But for Yu, these encounters started to change, it went from the silence and annoyance of seeing each other to comradery and trust. By the 5th month, they were exchanging jokes and stories whenever they meet. She learned he (yes, it was he) was pretty relaxed and smart. By the 7th month, she started looking forward to their encounters and so did he. They built up a solid friendship and trust since she didn't have to worry about him ogling her like most and he found a partner. She was in for the shock of her life when he revealed himself to her and the fact he was quirkless. Yu was…understandably shaken by this revelation and worried that she might have to arrest him now that she knew who he was but he explained that his activities were perfectly legal as the law said nothing about hero work without a license if you didn't have a quirk to use or didn't use your quirk. She never figured that the lawmakers forget to just keep the laws of vigilantism as they used to be but she supposed they didn't think anyone would try this kind of work without a quirk to back them up.
By the time a year had gone by, she had met his parents and grown to love Inko's cooking, she didn't live with her parents anymore since they lived in Hokkaido, away from most of the action of the Pro hero scene but she greatly appreciated the feeling of home. Hell, she never thought she would develop romantic feelings towards some kid, but like most things in life, they did. They tried to think of others things, focus their energies and time on their hero work or in his case (his hunt for the suppliers of a dangerous and illegal street drug. They would also date other people because they didn't believe it would work with the age gap between them but oddly enough, Hisashi didn't think so. He sat them both down and explained that as long as they cared for and expected each other and their boundaries that it was just fine to explore such a relationship-he himself was 5 years his wife's senior and started dating her when he was in veterinary university and she was still in high school so he didn't feel like he or she had the right to tell their son she was too old for him or vice versa.
After that, they took his advice to heart and started dating. Something she would never regret, sure their dates were awkward and full of guesswork, and the people around them thinking she was his big sister taking him out to have fun certainly didn't help but after a while, they found their groove and started to not give a damn about what those around them thought. They went out one night to watch the full moon on a camping trip and shared their first kiss under the moonlit sky. As she progressed up the ranks as a sidekick-Izuku would always stand by her side and cheer her on or helping her with training. As this went on, they still did their thing and took down bad guys and he started to pass along information he acquired to her so that he made it to Jeanist. She learned that he had been tracking Overhaul for a while ever since he was able to connect him to numerous drug-related deaths over the years but was unable to pick up a solid trial as whoever they were, they were good at staying in the shadows and didn't act like how villains tended to act nowadays since they didn't even know what they looked like or their gender.
Whatever this 'trigger' stuff wasn't something she was keen to mess with after seeing first-hand the damage it can leave on addicts. Then mid-way through his 3rd year, the boy hit a growth spurt and within a month, he was taller than her which he held over her head for a while before she both kicked him in the balls and kissed him till he passed out from pain and bliss. No one made fun of her height.
Not even her Izu-kun.
He did learn to always wear a ball-guard after that though.
(End of Flashback)
"How (huff) is it (huff) that you are (huff) so good at this?" Izuku asked out of breath, as he and Yu were laying on the now messed up bed, wearing only their underwear, their other articles of clothing were scattered all over the place.
"Don't ask me, I never got this far or…intimate with any of my other boyfriends, guess it's just instinct." A tired but pleased Yu answered as she twirled and danced her finger over his heaving chest, it never ceased to amaze her that he had better abs than most men she saw while working. This kid knew how to pump iron.
"I can't wait for when I ace that exam and get into U.A." Izuku said as he circled his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Oh, is it because it will be your first step to becoming a full-fledge pro? Being able to fight side by side with me in the field without the cover of darkness? Or is it because we promised to give the other our virginity if you do get in?" Yu asked with a grin that somehow was still sexy to the hormonal teenager than any other he had seen. God, the girls in his school had nothing on the goddess he was with.
"All of the above Yu," Izuku answered as he lifted them both up and headed to the small bathroom. "We should probably shower and head back up, wouldn't want to make mother uncomfortable now would we?" Izuku asked as he led her to the small shower since they were covered in sweat and still somewhat hot and bothered.
"Your mom's super cool but I don't need to smell like sweat so I'll take you up on that shower." Yu said as she started removing her underwear and stepped into the shower but before Izuku could get another peak, the door was closed on him. "Alone, we don't have time for that." She finished with a smirk before she turned on the water.
"Damn that woman for getting me addicted to her." Izuku muttered himself with a fond smile as he left the bathroom to try and gather up their clothes.
Chapter 4: Making a New Friend
It had been a few days since Yagi last saw young Midoriya and if he was honest with himself, meeting the boy helped with his outlook on life. It had been years since he had met someone who wished to be a hero solely for the chance to help others, not fame, not fortune, not even recognition, no young Midoriya shared his dream and reminded him so much of himself, it was scary. He would have offered the boy One for All but after hearing how he wished to become a symbol for the quirkless, he opted not to as he felt he would be disregarding the boy's dreams.
He had gotten a call from him the previous night asking for him to head over to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park the next day to meet up with him, at first he was confused as he recalled how that place had become an illegal dumping ground and that no one went there but he figured the boy had a plan so he agreed. Which lead him here, to a junk-filled shore at 6 in the morning.
"Wonder where he is?" Yagi thought to himself as he walked around the messy beach and took a sip of his drink. As it was still pretty early out, he had opted to wear a jacket which like most of his clothing was oversized so he wouldn't rip it if he needed to change into his muscle form.
"Hello?" he heard a voice call out from behind him.
"Hmm?" Yagi sounded as he turned to face the newcomer. She was a slim woman she kept her rather short green hair which was kept in a ponytail on the left of her head. She had green eyes which looked similar to someone else's he had seen and she was, in his honest opinion, in great shape. She was wearing a form-fitting tracksuit and mittens and was holding a cup of what looked like tea. "Yes Mam, how can I help you?" Yagi asked.
"Are you Mr. Yagi?" The mysterious asked him as she walked closer to him with a small smile.
"Yes, that would be me." Yagi answered but he was intrigued by this new development. 'How does she know me? Now that I think about it, she does seem familiar.' Yagi asked himself as his name wasn't known to the public to keep his private life just that. She didn't seem like a threat but he had long learned that looks could be deceiving.
"Oh that great, I'm Inko Midoriya, my son has said a lot about you over the past few days, I can see he wasn't wrong about your diet." Inko introduced herself as she reached out her hand to give him a handshake while pointing at the steaming open flask he was holding.
"I'm glad I made an impression but this isn't coffee mam, it's just a protein shake. Where is young Midoriya anyway?" Yagi chuckled as he shook her hand and gestured to his flask, he had a feeling young Midoriya wouldn't react well if he saw him drinking coffee like he usually did. Afterward, she started to lead him back the way she came.
"Hmm, last I checked, about 9km out at sea." Inko said as he pointed out to sea which got him to raise an eyebrow.
"On a boat?" Yagi asked, he didn't know the boy had a fishing hobby.
"No, flying." Inko said like he was nothing but truly she wanted to see the look on his face, something she didn't have to wait long for.
"What!?" Yagi yelled as he spewed out blood in his shock.
"Calm down! Your spewing blood all over the place! Oh dear, let me get you a tissue, here sit down, sit down." Inko ordered him like he was a child as she looked through her pockets for something to help.
"I-I'm fine man, that happens a lot." Yagi tried to tell her as she was starting to remind him of the young lad he had come here to meet, but like Izuku-she wasn't taking no for answer.
"Just because it happens a lot doesn't make it any less worrying, have you talked to your doctor about this?" Inko scolded him as she handed him a bunch of tissues and lead him over the where she and Izuku had sat up shop and gestured to a chair where he could sit.
"Yes, yes I have but she says there is nothing she can do about it, she recommended that I try to keep calm and not laugh too hard though." Yagi said as sat down and cleaned up the blood spatter from his jacket, lucky for him he chose this brand because it was easy to wash out blood. 'She seems to be caring, Young Midoriya is fortunate to have her as a mother.' Yagi thought to himself as Inko dotted over him concerned for his general health. After he cleaned up he was able to see that they were in a clearing where a van had been packed. It was simply set up with a table, some computers, and what looked like a really big satellite dish facing out to sea.
"If you say so but please try to help it, it's not a good sign when someone coughs up blood no matter what." Inko finished as she sat down herself and turned her attention to one of the three screens in front of her.
"I'll keep that in mind but back to the matter at hand, you said that young Midoriya is flying out at sea, at this time?" Yagi asked as it was odd for a boy his age to be flying at this time.
"Yes, and according to this little tracking device, he's around 13km out now." Inko replied as she followed a blinking dot on the screen as it moved further and further away from shore.
"Why would he be in a plane this early? Is he observing something?" Yagi asked as he stood up and walked over the screen and see this for himself and the dot was moving pretty fast.
"Oh no, he isn't using a plane, he's using a set of wings he built. Right now we're testing them over the open water." Inko told him with a smile, proud that her boy had been able to do such a feat.
"Is he going to get back soon?" Yagi asked as he was able to put two and two together and figure out this had something to do with how the lad planned to become the hero he wanted.
"He should be back in about 10 minutes. In the meantime, why don't we sit and talk? I want to see you for myself." Inko suggested to while Yagi agreed as it wasn't often he was able to have a simple conversation with someone he wasn't close to.
(Sometime later)
While the adults were getting to know each other, Izuku was flying over the Pacific Ocean at speeds he never thought he would be capable of a few years prior but he had long since accepted that he would have to keep breaking his expectations to achieve his goals. The day was still young and the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, that combined with the sea-gulls he would fly by and calm waters gave him a great view. He was wearing a newer version of his suit than the one he wore than he first met Yu, the key difference being that it was smaller, more streamlined, and it wasn't painted yet as Izuku got into the habit of not finishing the paint coatings till a model proved to be a success.
"Izuku, how are things?" Inko asked over the helmet-mounted radio as flew over a fishing boat.
"Everything performing as we expected, mother but we may need to change the type of fuel I use for the jets. I've burned through 12% more than planned." Izuko replied as he read the reading off his gauntlet-mounted touchscreen. He was flying pretty low to the water surface, about 15m(49ft) or so.
"We'll have to look for a new type then but I don't think we'll be able to find another one in town, maybe Tokyo?" Inko suggested as they had already gone through just about every store in Musutafu for parts.
"Seems like it." Izuku answered as he climbed to a higher altitude.
"Young Midoriya, is that you?" All Might asked, getting Izuku excited by his presence.
"Yagi, you made it!" Izuku answered his question as he was happy All Might was able to find the time to make an appearance, after all-crime never sleeps so he was more hoping than expecting the number one hero.
"Just what are you testing out there?" All Might asked, most likely his mother didn't tell him much and the man was curious.
"I'm testing the Mk VII right now, I chose the beach since I love flying over the open water." Izuku answered as he decided to lead the man on before he saw just what he had created.
"Young Midoriya, just how fast are you going?" Yagi asked as he tried to make sense of the movements on the screen but he didn't have anything to refer to here to give him an idea.
"Right now I'm flying at around 161km/h(100mph) at an altitude of around 500m(1,640ft)." Izuku answered as he leveled out and adjusted the power output of both the thrusters and prop blades. "Speaking of which, mother are we clear?" He asked as he looked around but only saw clouds.
"Clear?" Yagi asked, clearly confused.
"Yes sweetie, air traffic is clear for about 20 minutes, go nuts." Inko answered with a smile as she knew that Izuku was dying to take this test flight to the next level.
"Finally, now to see what these new wings can do."Izuku said as he increased his speed and flew the oven higher, lucky for him there were no bugs at 800m(2,788ft) and above.
"What does he mean by clear?" Yagi asked as he saw the dot representing Izuku had increased in speed and the number underneath it was increasing steadily.
"Yeah! Come on!" Izuku yelled in joy as he went faster and higher, the scream of his thrusters and fans echoing on the clouds"Neko, how fast are we going right now?"Izuku asked the onboard OS as he switched the readings from the touchscreen to the HUD in the helmet, giving him a better view of his performance.
"Right now are traveling at 217km/h(134mph) and climbing." The artificial and somewhat female-sounding voice replied as he flew ever higher.
"And our altitude?" Izuku asked.
"1,600m(5,249ft) and climbing." Neko replied.
"What's our previous record?" Izuku asked as he increased his speed once more but was careful to keep a lookout on the fuel he still had left.
"2,723m at 324km/h sir." Somehow Neko who he created to be his digital assistant answered.
"Let's see if we can't break that." Izuku called out as he once more increased power. While he flew, he performed some aerial acrobatics to test the strength of the design and how well his own body coped with the G force. These were the times when he felt at his most excited when he felt that all of life's problems could be dealt with by simply flying away. After some time, he had already passed the 2,400m mark and was still going strong as his speed ever climb along with him. As he approached his old record he watched as everything was still firing at normal levels. Once he passed the 2,600m mark, he opened up his wings to their maximum wingspan of 5.2m and put both the props and thrusters to their operational limit, it may damage everything but in the here and now, all Izuku wanted to do was to fly higher than even the legendary Icarus.
Once he input that last command, there was a booming sound as his thrusters were pushed to their breaking points while his prop fans generated additional thrust to help him soar even higher. It took less than a few seconds for him to not only beat his previous best but continue onwards, unaffected by the laws of gravity that normally kept him grounded. "Sir, I recommend that we land soon, the main thruster is overheating." And Neko just ruined it.
"Pump more coolant to it then." Izuku ordered as he was in the zone, he didn't want to go back down to earth.
"Sir, coolant levels are below 30%, redirecting it from other systems will result in system failure." Neko informed him as he knew what would happen if less coolant went towards the other 5 thrusters, but then another warning came. "Prop 1 showing signs of fatigue cracks, recommend immediate landing." Neko informed him as he was shown a scan of the prop's structure and how at this speed, it was being pulled apart.
"Grrhh, Fine! Chart back our course back the landing pad, ETA?" Izuku relented as he came to a stop to hover before he turned back to what he came, it would have been hard to see with all the clouds around and the open sea as it reached a distance of more or less 16km but the suit came equipped with a compass, GPS and radar which was locked into the van he and his mother drove out to the beach in so he could find his way back quite easily.
"At current conditions and maintaining a speed of 175km/h(108mph), 4.32 minutes." Neko informed him as he flew back towards land, dropping altitude as he went to make the landing easier.
"Do it, oh, and set the altitude to drop to around 800m(2,624ft) and hold it there." Izuku told the AI as he watched as the cloud cover disappeared as the morning sun bathed him in light as he glided along, relying on the lift his wings could provide to minimize the thrust on the thrusters and prop blades, last thing he needed was for one to fail.
"As you wish." Neko replied as the altitude was inputted into the system. It was a quiet flight back as he let the AI guide the suit back to shore while he thought about what he needed to repair, replace and otherwise upgrade to ensure the suit was as good as he could make it for the U.A entrance exams. At this point, he has able to increase their resistance to fire and frost but he imagined that Katsuki would be able to destroy it none less, he needed to get his hands on a whole new type of building material to ensure that the suits he built are combat-ready.
(Back on the beach)
"Amazing, I never imagined this was what he was building." Yagi praised as he looked through the few sample pictures Inko had given him of Izuku's pride and joy.
"That's my boy, he had been at it since I was 6. My husband and I have been helping him with it ever since." Inko replied with a smile as he recalled all the times her son did something he thought was noteworthy and how excited he would get.
"I can see how he plans to get into U.A but it seems to me like he'll be more at home in Support than the Hero Course." Yagi commented as he looked around at the set-up and it seems like the boy should be aiming for support, he had the intelligence for it.
"Yes, he does…but it's his dream, after all, I can't take that from him. He can't control his genetics or his quirklessness but, but he can control what he does with the cards he's been dealt." Inko replied with a tired smile, she wished that the boy could achieve his dreams but it didn't mean that thought of being called and told he was killed on the job didn't scare her half the time.
"That is very kind of you Mrs. Midoriya." Yagi complimented as even though he wasn't a parent, he could understand her position.
"Stop it, you're making me feel old." Inko replied with a blush across the face.
"I don't think that's possible." Yagi told her, thankful to Gran Torino for teaching him how to talk to women before he noticed something coming in the distance. "Here he comes." He finished as he pointed out to sea. Inko grabbed her binoculars and set her sights on the approaching Izuku before she gestured towards the van.
"You might want to stand clear of the landing platform." Inko said as she and Yagi got behind the van. The pro hero didn't have time to ask before Izuku came crashing down, landing in a crouch as the dust kicked up from his landing would have covered the both of them if they didn't move.
"So," Izuku started as he went about removing his helmet. "How did I do?" Izuku asked now that his helmet was removed and revealed his breathless but excited face to them.
"You blew your old record out of the water sweetie, 3,102m(10,177ft) at 367km/h(228mph). Looks like we met the goal for the year." Inko told him as she came out from behind the van and helped the boy to the work beach where they removed the jet-pack and wings and closed off the valves and disconnected the cabling which connected them to the suit itself.
"Yeah, but the suit drained more fuel than we thought it would and I'm low on coolant." Izuku noted as he inspected the jetpack and to his expectation, the main thrusters were showing signs of heat damage, maybe he should swap out the metal used.
"Do you think we should head on back then?" Inko asked as from what little she picked up about mechanics and engineering helping her son, she knew any lasting repairs needed to be done at home, and the damages she was seeing needed more than a tune-up.
"Not necessary, I might not be able to fly till I do a complete system examination of it but I can still complete the rest of the tests." Izuku said as he turned to Yagi as he walked towards him.
"Which tests?" Yagi asked, he thought they were testing flight.
"Clearing this beach of course!" Izuku announced as he gestured to the mountains of trash around them. "What better way to test me than helping perform a public service? I'm free all weekend anyway so why not?" He finished as he walked towards some of it and become to carry it to the trailer they can come with. And that was how they started cleaning the beachfront, Yagi would assist whenever Inko would drive off to dispose of the stuff they piled into the trailer. While they worked, the pro was able to see just how well engineered the suit was since it could deadlift up to 1,450kg(3,190lbs), drag 1,810kg(3,990lbs) worth of weight on a wheeled trailer, and could produce a shock wave capable of shattering some of the coastal rocks they found buried in the trash, Yagi was greatly impressed by the fact he shattered them with single, well-placed kicks. According to young Midoriya, he had built-in shockwave generators and absorbers in the legs since birds fight with their legs, not their wings. The suit was also built with powerful claws and talons which the boy used to tear into the more heavy trash such as vehicles and fridges to see if he couldn't salvage some of it for himself, savvy lad, that one.
By the time the sun was setting, they had cleared quite a bit of it and young Midoriya was able to get his hands on more than a few old engines parts or fridge components which he assured me that he'll be able to restore and sell to a friend of his.
'If only he would be willing to take on a quirk, looks like my search for a successor continues. Maybe Nezu will have some suggestions.' All Might thought to himself as he watched young Midoriya pack up for the day before getting into the van and driving off with his mom.
(Two weeks later)
"Man, I got some good money selling those parts to Levin. I have enough to pay for those new parts and maybe treat myself to something nice." Izuku said to himself as he put the last of his money from Kenny into the ATM. It took a while but he was able to fix up just about everything he picked off the beach and sell it to the old mechanic. It took some haggling but he got fair prices for it all and left the place with 310,000 yen in his pocket. Okay, he left with 14,000 yen in his pocket since he couldn't carry all that cash and not get robbed but Kenny said he'll send the rest electronically which he did, Izuku got the notification to prove it.
Afterward, Izuku went to the market district since his mother texted him that they needed some ingredients for supper. It wasn't hard to find everything she asked for and a little extra since he found afford it. It also helped that most of the store-owners have known him since he was a toddler so he could get discounts and deals here and there which his wallet would forever be grateful for. While he was out, he bumped into someone and as a result, they both dropped their shopping.
"I'm sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going." Izuku apologized as he rubbed his head to wear off the slight knock.
"No the fault is mine, I was standing in the middle of the way." The other person counted as he got back up to his feet. He was wearing a simple but clean and ironed white dress shirt along with a black unbuttoned vest. For pants, he was wearing black pants and flats. The strangest thing about him was the fact he had a black-feathered bird head.
"Come here often, I don't recognize you?" Izuku asked as he got up and started gathering his stuff and putting them back into the bag, thanking the lucky stars he bought everything in its packaging.
"Not really, I just moved here with the family and I was sent out to purchase some groceries." The other boy replied as he grabbed his small bag.
"Oh, find everything you need?" Izuku asked as the bag he was carrying with him was small, no way that was all he came to get.
"Not at all, I'm unfamiliar with this new shopping district and I cannot seem to find someone who sells fruits." The other boy sighed as he looked around the place, seemingly hoping that he would just spot the stores and stands he was looking for.
"Oh, I can help with that, Miss. Hirano sells most of the fruits here. Come on, I can guide you to her." Izuku said as he patted the boy's shoulder and lead him through the crowds.
"I wouldn't want to intrude on your afternoon activities." The boy tried to turn down, so Izuku could see that he had manners at least-so one point over Katsuki already.
"No problem, I was heading in that direction anyway." Izuku counted as he led him around the place, pointing out the better merchants and stores to the newcomer and giving tips on which days were best for getting a good deal. They went around for another hour or so before they stopped by a small cafe for a bite to eat. Izuku ordered ginger tea and three Japanese rusks while Tokoyami ordered a coffee with apple-flavored pancakes.
"Thanks for assisting me today, it would have taken considerable more time if I was to locate the merchants by myself." The bird-headed boy thanked him as he took a sip of his coffee through a straw, he had already explained that the beak made these kinds of things difficult.
"It wasn't a big thing really, besides I got to talk to someone my age while I shopped so we both won." Izuku replied as he took a bite of one of his rusks and washed it down with some tea. The café was pretty quiet as besides them, there were only around 5 other people, all of which seated on the other side of the place so they could watch the afternoon news updates on the wall-mounted TV.
"Still, there must be some way I can repay your kindness." The boy insisted as he put his cup down to look at him.
"Well then if you're serious, why don't you tell me about yourself, we sitting here for lunch and I know next to nothing about you." Izuku suggested as he laid back into his seat.
"Is that so? My apologies for my rudeness, my name is Tokoyami Fumikage." Fumikage stated as he did a small bow while still seated as he said his name.
"Midoriya Izuku at your service. So why the move?" Izuku followed in kind.
"I moved here away from home so I may try to gain a place in U.A. My parents thought it best that I have a family member close by to my place of study so I am currently lodging with my uncle." Fumikage stated as he took a piece of his pancakes.
"So you're another U.A hopeful?" Izuku asked him to which Fumikage nodded his head. "Figures, that's like the only reason people move here with kids, they all want it." Izuku finished as he took a sip of tea and looked out the window.
"You don't approve?" Fumikage inquired of him.
"I do, I just find it somewhat nerve ranking when the competition increases by the day." Izuku commented as he pointed out the window at all the teens watching around, most of which were only in town for the U.A try-outs coming up.
"You are applying as well?" Fumikage asked him as he put his cup down.
"It's the best hero school in Eastern Japan, of course, I'm applying." Izuku answered with a smile.
"You must be confident in your abilities if you believe you can get in, U.A and Shiketsu are notorious for having high standards." Fumikage stated as those two only took the best of the middle school crop…well that and those who had friends in high places to recommend them.
"One must be confident in their abilities if they are to go anyway in life, the only real challenge is knowing where the line that separates confidence and arrogance is." Izuku said as he recalled how arrogant Katsuki became when his quirk came in, all the adults praising his quirk didn't help much in keeping his ego in check and it has only swelled since.
"That is true, if you don't believe in yourself, who will?" Fumikage put in his thoughts.
"No-one, that's who." Izuku finished as they sat in silence for a couple of minutes, eating their food before he asked another question. "You hoping to get into the Hero course?" Izuku asked his lunch mate.
"Indeed, and what say you? From what I've observed today, you would fit in well in the Management course." Fumikage questioned as watching Izuku bargained and navigate his way around the stores had shown him that the teen had a natural talent for such.
"What can I say, I can be a jack of all trades but no, I'm aiming for the Hero course as well." Izuku answered as he knew that hanging his mother had given him his eye for deals and discounts, knowing each person since he was a child helped too.
"Then let us hope that we both passed the entrance exam." Fumikage stated as they went back to eating their food, it wasn't an awkward silence but it was comfortable. After some time they had finished their food and paid the bill before they walked out of the diner. By now, it had been some time since they entered as they noticed it was late afternoon. As they walked through the marker towards the exit onto the road, Fumikage realized there was a question he had to forget to ask.
"By the way, I had been meaning to ask but, what is your quirk?" Fumikage asked him, he figured there was no harm in asking, Izuku could even refuse to tell him if he wished.
"None." Izuku said with a straight face as they approach the street.
"….Your quirkless?" Fumikage asked after he gathered his wits after that rather blunt reveal, by now they had reached the main road and Izuku was reaching for the skateboard attached to his backpack. The board itself was rather large and was painted red, white, yellow, and blue. The same colors he noted, were the colors All Might almost always used in his costumes.
"Yup and proud, got a problem with that?" Izuku challenged him with a grin as he placed the board down and got on as he reached for a blue and yellow helmet.
"N-no not at all, it's just, well it's considered…" Fumikage tried to explain as this wasn't something he was expected and it threw him for a loop, luckily Izuku laughed it off as he strapped on his helmet.
"Blasphemous? Wrong? Crazy? I've heard them all, 'quirkless shouldn't be taking the U.A entrance exam' but screw them." He stated as he turned to look at the road for any incoming traffic.
"My deepest apologies, I meant no disrespect to you, I was merely caught off guard." Fumikage apologized with a bow as he didn't mean to offend only for Izuku to wave him off.
"It's fine, last I checked, I'm the first one to ever attempt so there are bound to be people who find that strange." Izuku stated as he waved goodbye before he skated down the street, leaving the bird boy by the stop since he needed to wait for a taxi. After that, they wound bump into each other now and then. They eventually exchanged numbers and kept in contact with one another and formed a friendship. Through this, Izuku learned about Dark Shadow and how Fumikage was really into the dark stuff. Fumikage would have to travel to his middle school by train every day but the edge lord didn't mind.
It was nice for the both of them to have a friend as Izuku was left to his own devices by all the kids he knew either because he was far smarter than them and made them feel dumb, because he was quirkless or because he was the only one with the balls to talk back to Katsuki and not flinch. Fumikage found it hard to make friends as most were put off by his general demeanor or preference for the less popular merchandise.
The months trickled by for the both of them as they finished their last year of middle school. As the days went by, Izuku would regularly train by the beach with All Might and cleaned the place while they did so. He was also able to complete his Mk VIII suit which unlike all the others before, it was much more compact and came in the form of red boots, metallic gloves, and a backpack that stored the majority of it. It was a hassle getting permission for the local government to wear it at all times but he soon got the okay. After he got that, he filed his gear for his support equipment with U.A since he wouldn't be allowed to use them otherwise. Plus he was matching some good money fixing up all the tech they found on the beach and selling it, though Levin refused to buy any more after Izuku tried to sell him a near industrial sized pump he built, he was forced to find other clients to sell his wares to which took time but in the end, he got his clients which meant for money, more money meant better material, better materials meant he could upgrade his suits how he pleased.
By the time the day for the entrance exams had come, Izuku and All Might had cleaned the entire beachfront and left no trace that there were over there, to begin with, leaving the local public to wonder who took the time and effort to do the deed, though there were rumors that some skinny guy and a kid with wings had something to do with it.
(And now)
It was the day of the U.A entrance exam which meant all the students that had applied via mail or online were now walking onto the grounds of one of the if not the best hero school in Japan. Izuku had skated the all way like he was being chased and nearly crashed 4 times he wouldn't have been in such a hurry if he hadn't overslept and woke up an hour later than usual.
"Good, I made it in time. Wonder if I'll bump into someone I know." Izuku said to himself as he pulled up his board and strapped it for his backpack. As he planned, he was wearing his newly built red boots and gauntlets but compared to some of the things the other hopeful students were wearing, he didn't stick out all that much.
"Move it Deku." He heard a voice yell at him from behind and when he turned to face it he saw Katsuki walking towards him while wearing a scarf to help keep him warm.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Izuku muttered as he let a wry smile grow across his face as his explosive classmate walked past.
"What was that?" Katsuki growled at him, his famous near non-existent temperament on full display.
"Never heard of expression have you, mister walking bomb?" Izuku egged him on, enjoying that at this moment, he couldn't fight back or else he'll risk his shot at getting into the high-ranked school.
"Tck, I'll kill you later." Katsuki muttered as he brushed past him and continued into the building.
"Man, I don't think he'll ever change." Izuku said as he continued to walk in but was once more stopped by someone.
"He is a rather rude one, isn't he?" Another familiar voice spoke up from behind him, getting him to jump forward in surprise as he didn't even hear them coming.
"What!" Izuku screamed as he turned around to face Tokoyami who although looked as stoic as ever, could see that he was grinning at him. "Tokoyami, when did you get here?" Izuku asked him as he turned to face him. Like everyone else, he was wearing his school uniform but his was navy blue with a white-collar.
"Just now, I witnessed what he said to you. Does he say that often or is it new?" Fumikage asked him as they walked side by side into the building.
"I think that's his catchphrase or something, well that or 'Die!'" Izuku answered with quotations when he said 'die'.
"I wonder why he wishes to become a hero with that rather uncouth attitude." Fumikage stated as she shook his head at the thought, only for Izuku to defend the temperamental lad.
"Well he has his flaws…among other things but he has the drive." Izuku stated as they looked around for their hall.
(Later in the Hero Course Exam Orientation Hall)
"For all you examinee listeners, welcome to my show today!" The voice hero: Present Mike tried to hype them up as he stood on the stage for all of them to see. "Everybody say 'Hey'!" he finished with a pose as he called out to the crowd of U.A hopefuls.
.
.
.
"What a refined response." He said as he brushed off the cold response like he was used to it, which he might have been. "Well then, I'll give you a breakdown of the practical exam you all must complete. Are you ready?!" He began to explain before he tried to hype them again but…
.
.
.
.
"As stated in the application requirements, all you listeners will be conducting a ten-minute mock urban battle after this! You can bring whatever you want with you so long as you registered to do so beforehand. Once you leave here, you will each head to one of 7 battle zones called A-G respectively." He soldiered one after that cold reception as no one thought this was a good time to act like there were at a concert.
"In other words, it minimizes the chances of you working with someone you know." Fumikage stated from his seat next to Midoriya, they had both arrived somewhat late and as a result, were in the back seats near the exit.
"Seems like it." Izuku agreed with him as he analyzed what he could from the form they had been given.
"Three types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You earn for each of them based on their difficulty. Your goal my dear listeners is to use your quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains. Of course, attacking other examinees or any other unheroic behavior is strictly prohibited." Present Mike explained as the screen behind him flashed with all the information they needed which to their students' concern, were modeled after characters from the Super Mario game series.
.
.
U.A. must like Super Mario games.
"May I ask a question?" A tall student asked as he stood up and raised his hand.
"Okay!" Present Mike said as a light overhead came on and shined down on the curious student.
"On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of such a foolish mistake. We, examinees, are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes." The student began as he drew the others attention due to his…enthusiasm
"Someone sure his passionate." Izuku commented as Fumikage nodded his head in response, but their conversation it seemed hadn't gone unnoticed.
"In addition, you over there with the curly hair, your discussion is loud. It's distracting!" The student called out as he pointed towards Izuku with a straight but irritated face. "If you're here for the fun of it, then you should leave immediately!" He finished, getting some of the others to chuckle at Izuku's expense while Midoriya himself looked like he wanted to argue with the dude before Present Mike broke up the fight before he could happen.
"Okay, okay examinee number 7111. Thanks for the great message." The pro hero called out as the screen flashed with new information and a dark silhouette of…Bowsette?
.
.
.
.
Okay, U.A really liked their Super Mario games.
"The fourth type of villain is worth zero points and is more of an obstacle than anything else. There is one in every battle zone and will lose its marbles in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat but there's no reason to either. I recommend that you listeners avoid it." Present Mike finished as he once more posed but this time it seemed better timed.
"Thank you very much. Sorry for the interruption." The student said as he sat down the light over went out.
"That's all for me folks but before I go, ill like to drop the school motto as a present. The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Present Mike announced as he looked over his shades at the ground towards them.
'Overcoming life misfortunes hey, then this is the place for me.' Izuku thought to himself as he looked down at his gauntlets and remembered to try his absolute best.
"Go beyond. Plus Ultra!" Present Mike called out as the platform he was standing on started sinking into the floor but before he disappeared, he dropped one last one-liner. "Now everyone, have fun suffering."