Chapter 7: Decisions, decisions
"It's here!" She extends the letter to him, urging him to take it.
"Mom!" He sighs in chuckle. "You scared me. I thought you were hurt!" He says taking the letter.
"Hurry! Hurry! Open it!" She wiggles, fiddling with her hands.
"Okay." He laughs, pulling her to sit with him at the kitchen table. He opens the letter and a circular object falls out.
"Hmm?" The two lean in close blinking at it. Then a bright light shoots out of it.
"OH!" His mom closes her eyes. When she opens them, she finds a buff man standing on their table.
"WAH-MIGHT!" She falls back in a fright. Izuku catches her chair, setting her safely back down.
"It's okay mom," He takes her hand. "It's a holographic projection." He explains, pointing at the circle object still on the table.
"A-Ah." She nods her head in understanding, but still holds onto Izuku's hand, giving it a squeeze as she forces herself to relax. He welcomes it, having felt like falling back too at the sight of All Might.
"Hello, I am here!" All Might thumbs at himself proudly. "I don't have much time, so I'll cut to the chase. For villain points you got a total of 5 points." He turns to show a screen next to him, replaying Izuku's fight with the robots.
I guess the third robot was worth 1 point, Izuku notes from the 3 robots he took down himself. He hears a small gasp from his mom. She looks at the screen in terrified awe. Izuku gives her hands a squeeze. His mom glances at him. She swallows down her terror and takes a deep breath. She smiles at him, then turns back to listen. Izuku hopes she doesn't start to feel faintish.
"Unfortunately, that's not enough points to pass."
Figures. It doesn't make it hurt less. A squeeze in his hand draws his eyes up. His mom gives him a fierce look. Not an ounce of pity in her eyes or words of apologies on her lips. The pressure in his chest feels lighter.
"If that was all we're counting."
Huh? They both tune back in.
"How can we not pass someone who saved so many!" All Might raises his hands to the air. Series of short clips pass on the screen of him pulling others out of the way of stray quirks. Him catching the arms of robots to keep those that tripped from harm. Him helping the fairy out from under the rubble. And last, a clip of him jumping out from the 0 pointer's eye as its head explodes behind him. A wall of fire at his back as he whips out his grapple gun and shoots it out to swing away.
Dang, Izuku awes. That looked freaking cool!
Oh wait! He looks down in elation. That's me!
"Saving is what being a hero is all about! And that is what we at UA counted as well. 90 rescue points! Giving you a total of 95 points! You passed!"
Rescue points? 95? I passed?
"And I'd like to say," All Might gets a serious tone, his smile slightly down turned. "I didn't get a chance to tell you back then, but I was wrong about you. And for that I am sorry young man. You are a better and more heroic person than me. You, Izuku Midoriya, are a hero! Come," His smile returns tenfold, "this is your hero academia!"
The projection closes and the device clicks off.
"Izuku?" His mom gently breaks the silence.
"…He," Izuku breathlessly starts. He swallows. "He apologized." He actually apologized. Even said he was wrong. And...he called him a hero. Better than All Might himself.
THE All Might.
He told himself he didn't care. He wasn't going to let anyone tell him what he was or isn't. His mother believed in him. He believed in himself. So, what if All Might tells him he can be a hero? He already told him he couldn't.
But that there is the problem. The tiny hole in his heart that he refused to acknowledge. The faint lingeringly feeling of doubt. No matter how much All Might things he tosses, no matter how much he changes, no matter what words All Might told him on that rooftop, in truth, he could never pass off All Might as someone who doesn't matter.
Because he does.
A terribly great big much.
More than his mom's words, All Might held more weight. When his mom didn't believe in him, all he had was All Might. He saved him from crushing despair. From an early grave. To hear him say he couldn't be a hero broke him. And to hear, from the very same mouth, that he could be a hero, well, that fixed the last pieces of him still shattered on the floor. Wiped away all lingering doubt.
"Mom." Izuku hiccups. "Mom, I'm a hero. He said I was a hero." He turns to her, leaking from every opening on his face. He freezes, his face drying right up. His mother's eyes are rolled back.
"Mom?!" He shrieks, taking hold of her shoulders.
An hour later.
"I'm sorry for worrying you sweety." His mom pats his hand, as she adjusts the wet towel over her forehead.
"Please get stronger mom. You can't be fainting so much. It's not good for your health." He passes a cup of tea to her.
"I know. I'll do better." She smiles, thanking him for the tea.
The two spend the rest of the afternoon together, chatting and reeling about his acceptance. She asks about the scenes she got to see in between her fainting. He gladly tells her, accidentally mentioning the beautiful chocolate haired girl.
"Oh, my little boy has finally grown up."
"Mom, I barely spoke to her!"
"Sweety, you held her in your hands. I think you should take responsibility and ask her out."
"Mom!" He squeals turns beat red, looking like a strawberry with his green curls and freckles.
"I'm just joking Izuku. You're still too young to date. Not to mention, you have to focus on your hero studies. But that doesn't mean you can't be friends."
"I don't think she'd want to be friends with me."
"Izuku!" His mom narrows her eyes at him. "You are a smart, strong man with a heart of gold. Girls will be falling left and right for you. And the boys will either praise you or scoff in envy because of how awesome you are. In fact, you are too good for anyone! But," Her face softens in a sorrowful look. "I don't want you alone anymore. UA is different. Don't be afraid to reach out to your teachers for help. Talk with your classmates. Make friends. And if anything, you come to me. I can't do anything about Aldera anymore, but," Her eyes sharpen in determination. "I will never let anyone, or any school hurt you again. They won't get away with it. Never. You hear me."
He gulps. "I understand."
"Good." She pulls him in a hug. "I love you, Izuku."
"I love you too, mom."
Just like that the days go by quick. A little too quickly.
The day of Shiketsu exam comes up. His mind isn't as stir crazy as it was for UA's entrance exam day, but he still has an excitement.
The school was nice. It wasn't as big as UA's, but it still had a wide expanse of area. It had a lot more smaller buildings around with open terrain. The school seems to be built around a mountain and forest area, providing natural décor to contrast the brick and cement buildings. Probably used as training sites or for recreational activities. As for the exams, they were fair. No crazy robots with four arms. Just fleshy normal humans. Villain actors willing to get hurt and do the hurting. Fighting people was way easier than fighting robots, but it was also harder on the heart. He may have been terrified to fight against a robot, but fighting against a human, who was flesh and bone, was a whole other kind of terror.
He pulled some of his punches to which his nose was broken in retaliation to his hesitancy. He learned quick not to do that again. Or at least, avoid head on attacks and go for some throws or submissive techniques.
The quirk assessment was a bit strange. Since he had no quirk to speak of, his exam consisted of him showing off his skills. Target practice, combat moves, etc. It went fine until he pulled out his trustee last resort.
"Why do you have a gun?!" An examiner shrieks.
"Finally!" The examiner in a red and black suit stands. "This was so worth the mandatory volunteer hours."
"Mr. Todd," The lead examiner sighs. "Sit down."
"Whatever." Mr. Todd sighs, flopping down to lean back in his seat with his feet on the table.
"Midoriya-san?" The lead prompts Izuku for an answer.
"I had it logged in with my support items in my application?" He blinks innocently at them.
The examiner glances at his colleagues. They shrug, clueless on how to proceed.
"I took a safety course." Izuku adds.
"Carry on." The examiner waves, sitting back down.
Izuku wasn't sure why they reacted so strongly to the gun. I mean sure, society has mostly done away with them, quirks being utilized in its place, but police still use them. There were still plenty of heroes that used them as well. Snipe, for example. He wields a pair of customized guns to complement and maximize the full extent of his quirk, homing. It allows him to make any projectile he releases lock and home in on any target he can see. He wonders if the examiners' reactions was because he was a middle schooler? But they let middle schooler's face gut exploding robots, how is shooting a gun so shocking? How old was Snipe when he first started to use a gun? All the first years in high school get hands on experience with pro heroes during their internships. Which means, 14 to 15 year olds are being exposed to hostage situations, possible murders, and the like.
Isn't society basically normalizing raising child soldiers and exposing them to violence to the point where they don't question how not normal that should be?
Eh, he shrugs, focusing back on the exam.
Following the quirk assessment, there was a short interview. They asked him why he wanted to be a hero, what kind he wanted to be (an underground hero or limelight), what his goal was, and just some more personality and ethical questions that wasn't on the written exam. He answered as honestly and as eloquently as he could (only a few stutters and awkward pauses). Once he finished, he was told that he'd get his results within 1 week. He received an email four days later. He passed.
Now the question was...which school should he go to?
On the one hand, Shiketsu is where All Might and Kacchan isn't. On the other hand, Shiketsu is where the fairy girl isn't. She obviously passed. She had some sort of float related quirk that could give her lots of villain points.
Decisions. Decisions.
Maybe he'll ask his mom.
"Mom, where do you think I should go?"
"Well...I like Shiketsu's uniform."
"Their uniform is nice." It was a dark blue jacket and pants with a white collared shirt underneath. Both the shirt and the jacket had Shiketsu's logo on the arm of the right sleeve. Officer dress caps were used at all times. The outfit was accentuated with a dark orange for color as was the logo.
"And girls love men in a uniform." She smirks.
"Mom!"
"Haha!" She reigns her laugh in. "Okay, let's see. I'm sure you know more than me on the schools. What is it that you found out about each of them?"
"Well, Shiketsu is a military like school. They are second to UA only in popularity. UA has the best facilities and connections across Japan and foreign countries. They both have great courses. But UA does have greater opportunity for internships. Top pick."
"Sounds like UA is the school to go. It even has your girl friend."
"Friend that is a girl." He emphasis with jerked hand movements. "And she's not my friend!"
His mom smiles amused then hums in thought. "I don't like that UA used robots." She says. "They even let you get hurt. What were they going to do if the robot didn't stop in time? You would have been killed!" He had told her that he got hurt. Almost got crushed by the 0 pointer. Then she saw the video of his exam. It cut off before it showed that he did in fact get crushed and very well near died. And the explosion that showed was more than enough to assume the worst. No matter how cool it looked. What she doesn't understand is that there is going to be some risk and harm involved with any school because of his career choice.
"Yes," He agrees with her on the being killed part, "but that risk was for everyone at the exam. And they have safety features installed in case of anything going wrong. Pro heroes were readily available and they had cameras on everyone." They told him so. "I was okay." Eventually.
"It sounds like you want to go to UA." Izuku is taken aback.
"I...I guess I do." He realizes.
"But, All Might is there. Are you sure you want to go?"
She never asked why he got rid of his All Might collection, but he assumes she thinks it was because he didn't like him anymore. He does, but not the same way. A normal like. Not the biased obsessive idolization.
Going to UA though, as a quirkless kid, that will be a statement. With All Might teaching there, media coverage would be at an all time high. He would be able to show Japan, the world, that quirkless are still here! They are not useless! And they can be whoever they want to be. If he wants to be an elephant, he can be an elephant! Okay, no he can't, there are obviously limits, but you get the point.
Maybe there's someone out there right now, he thinks bringing a hand up to look at. Like him. Quirkless. Sitting in their dark room, drowning in sorrow. He curls his hand into a fist. He'll show them there is light. He'll help them out of the deep waters.
He thinks of the purple hair guy. Angry at those with powerful quirks. Ashamed of his own quirk. Afraid to speak, should others react poorly to him.
He'll be there for those like him too. Those are his goals.
"I'll go to UA." He states in finality.
"Wherever you are, Izuku." She cups his face. "You will shine."
Chapter 8: Logical
Time flies by and the next thing they know, April runs up on them. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Skies are clear and blue with slight remnant winds from winter times to cool the warm days. And on April 4th, UA's gates open welcoming in the first-year students.
Izuku was ready, sporting the uniform that came in the mail. A grey blazer over a white top with a red tie and green-blue slacks. He wore his signature red high tops and new beige backpack. He honestly had been ready since late last night, minus the shoes. He hadn't slept since two nights before yet he doesn't feel sleepy in the least. His mind spiraling in the same rabbit hole he gets lost in whenever something big, bad or good, happens in his life. The conversation he had with himself ended well though, so he does feel mentally better.
"Take care." His mom hugs him at the door.
"You too." He smiles opening the door. He grips his shoulder straps staring out in front of their apartment. With a deep inhale and exhale of breath, he steps out the threshold of his door for UA. The train is packed. He gets squished flat against the doors, the air hot and suffocating. There was a collective breath of relief when the train stopped letting the passengers out.
Seeing UA's gates is as grand as he remembered. He still can't believe they accepted him. He was sure that they would have rejected him from being quirkless alone. Guess, they aren't as discriminatory as he thought. Or maybe there was no explicit rule against quirkless joining?
Finding his class was a challenge from how many floors and doors there were. He also got distracted from all the pro heroes around. He thinks he saw Satoru Rider! He hopes they get a tour of the campus. It so big, it requires a map after all. Something he's grateful for.
Sooner than he'd like, he finds his class. He couldn't decide if he wanted to be early (to pick his seat) or late (to avoid awkward quiet and possible failed conversations). Everything about UA was grand, even the size of their doors. At least a 15 foot sliding door stands in front of him with a class 1A sign around halfway up to its side.
He takes a deep breath. This is it, he exhales, psyching himself up. As soon as he opens the door, he hears very familiar screaming.
"Get your feet off the desk! That's unbecoming of a hero!"
"Shut up, you prick!" Kacchan rocks in his seat. "I bet you're one of those rich snobs. What school you go too?"
"P-Prick?!" The guy adjusts his glasses. "I'll have you know I went to Somei Academy."
"Hah! I knew it. How about you go whine about how your chair isn't cushioned for your bony pampered ass."
"Are you seriously trying to be a hero?" The guy leans back, astounded at his vulgarity.
Believe it or not, he is, Izuku answers in his head, feeling sympathy for the guy.
"Ah!" The guy voices when he spots Izuku. Izuku flinches at his loudness. Then flinches again we he realizes the class is filled and all their eyes turn to look at him at once. He had been standing at the door like an idiot, and is now reaping the consequences of his actions.
"I am Iida Tenya, from Somei Academy. What is your name?"
"Izuku Midoriya." He greets, looking for a seat to sit down. The only one available that he finds is the seat behind Kacchan. Great, he deflates.
"Midoriya, you have bested me!" Iida turns his head to the side in shame. "I failed to see the true nature of the exams, but you had greater discernment than me. I applaud you." He begins to clap. This guy does not know embarrassment, but he sure can give it.
"I didn't discern anything!" Izuku stops his hands, glancing around with rose colored ears. "Oh, sorry!" He yanks his hands off of Iida's like he touched a hot pan.
"Wait!" A red head stands from his seat. "I knew I recognized you!"
I don't recognize you, Izuku blinks at him.
"You're that guy from the exam! The one that save me from the robot! Thanks man, that was super manly!"
"Oh, yeah! The little green dude!" A girl speaks up from the back.
"He helped me as well." The girl with earphone jacks for earlobes nods at him.
"So you all were at the same test site as me! That's so cool!" The red hair sheds a tear from the coolness of it all.
"Did you see Midoriya jump out from that robot!" A yellow-haired guy with a black lightning streak on the left side of it speaks up. "It was so cinema!"
"I know, I saw it too!" The red head pumps his fist, hyped.
"I thought he was crazy!" A blonde guy who seemed to have sparkles glitter around him disapproves. His comment goes ignored.
"Hey! The broccoli guy!" A girl's sweet voice sounds from behind Izuku. He turns slowly, feeling his heartbeat raise higher than he's gotten used to after his accident. There in all her glory, was the fairy. The beautiful chocolate haired girl.
"You passed! I'm so glad!" She jumps with her fist close to her in a squeal. "I didn't get to say thank you, so it's awesome that we're in the same class!" Her smile turns into a look of concern. "Are you okay? I saw you get hit."
"Ah, um, I…" Really?! Just speak!
He pauses sensing something. He pulls the girl inside the classroom, standing defensively in front of her. He looks at the ground and finds a man in a yellow sleeping bag. Only his face showing, as he sucks on a fruit pouch. A face Izuku has seen many times before. As Ghost.
He won't recognize him, will he?
"You have good situational awareness and reaction time." The man stands, slipping out of the bag. "The rest of you need work. I am Aizawa, your homeroom teacher." He pulls out P.E. uniforms from his bag, tossing one to Izuku. "Put these on and come outside." He says turning down the hallway. The uniforms set down on the desk right near the door.
Izuku holds up his uniform, glancing at the other students then back at the open door. Aizawa doesn't seem like the type that likes to be kept waiting. He picks two uniforms from the pile giving them to the girl and Iida before following after his teacher. Everyone else follows, entering their respective lockers to change. Izuku does so quickly being the first one there. Of course, using a stall to hide in. He's not ready to change in front of others. Maybe ever.
He waits outside the doors of the lockers with Aizawa as the rest of the class gets changed.
"Um, sensei." Izuku calls.
"Yes." He huffs. He keeps his eyes closed as he leans against a wall with crossed arms.
"Is it hard being a pro hero and teacher at the same time?"
At that his sensei open an eye to look at him.
"You're the first to guess who I was without me using my quirk." He says, closing his eye again. Recalling the first day he met Izuku at the infirmary.
"I'm a big fan of your work." Izuku's ear redden. "Um, why did you decide to be a teacher?"
"You mean I don't look like I'd be a teacher?"
Izuku flinches. He knew he shouldn't have said anything.
"I get asked that all the time. What does appearance matter in this line of work?" He gravelly answers, moving his greasy mangy hair from his face. "I don't really like teaching kids. But I don't want a bunch of reckless idiots in the streets playing hero. I'm here to keep only those with great potential. Nothing more."
"O-Oh." That was unexpected. Honest, brutally so. Was that why Aizawa was chasing him when he was out as Ghost? To keep another reckless idiot out of the streets? Izuku can't help a prickle of sadness sting his heart at the revelation.
After the last student exits the lockers to join them, Aizawa leads them outside to a dirt track and field.
"You'll be participating in a quirk assessment." He says.
"What? What about orientation?" The fairy asks.
"A waste of time. You only got 3 years to learn to be a hero and even that's not long enough. I know you all did physical assessments in middle school, but here your allowed to use your quirks. Let's get started."
"Oh, I'm excited!" A girl all in pink, from hair to toes, hops around.
"Yeah, this sounds fun!" The lightning bolt guy agrees.
A record scratch noise sounds.
"Fun?" Aizawa growls. "Okay, let's make things more fun." He grins with a hint of malice. "Last place will get expelled." Audible gasps sound out. "Welcome to UA." He snarls.
"That doesn't make sense." The words slip out of Izuku's mouth before he can slam his hands over it.
"What was that?" Aizawa side eyes him.
"I-I mean, it's not logical." Izuku restates.
"Logical." Aizawa drops his head, then looks up at Izuku in a glare. "What's not logical is thinking you're here to make friends and have fun. Being a hero isn't as glamorous as it sounds." He begins to walk towards Izuku. "People die. You get injured. It gets bloody and fear is something every hero fights against to continue working and moving forward. Trauma and PTSD are real things. Those who lag behind will get booted. Only the best of the best can last in this field. Nothing less. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Then stop wasting my tim—"
"But you're also wrong." Izuku stands firm.
"Really?" Aizawa quirks an eyebrow.
"Having a friend out in the field can save your life and minimize property damage and casualties." Izuku explains, something he's noted before in his notebooks.
Just speak as if you're speaking to yourself. List your points out. You're just reading from your notes, he tells himself. Out loud. In front of an audience. To Eraserhead, your sensei that just threatened you with expulsion. Yeah.
"Networking is big in the hero industry." He continues. "And having fun, well, if you don't laugh every now and then, you really fall into despair. Ms. Joke is a great example."
Aizawa groans at the mention of the smile hero, seeming to develop and instant headache. Izuku chooses to ignore this and carry on.
"And heroes, they can take on every burden, but they're only one person. No one can last with that much weight on their shoulders alone." He thinks of All Might. How he pushed himself past his limit. Until he can only be All Might for a few hours. Weak and weary. Missing pieces of his lungs and intestines. Yet, he's still looked at as the symbol of peace. Because he's the strongest. Because he's who they call when people and heroes need saving. But who does he get to call?
"Even heroes need help. And if smiling, instead of showing your fear and anger, is something the public sees, then I'd smile. The people need to know everything is going to be okay. And the hero, they need to trick themselves into believing it too." Izuku looks up, a small smile made in thoughtfulness. He flinches in a quiet gasp when he sees the nasty look on Aizawa's face.
"That's a rainbow view of things. You're young." Aizawa waves his hand at him in dismissal. "You'll learn. And it's my job to teach you before you go out there and die a useless death."
Useless. The word triggers Izuku, lighting a flame in his chest. He doesn't know where the boldness comes from, but he glares at Aizawa in a defiant act.
"Since you're so energized." Aizawa pulls out a ball from his jumpsuit. "You can go first." He tosses the ball to Izuku.
"You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't move from that circle. You get two throws. When you're ready." He holds out a distance tracker in wait.
Izuku grips the ball fiercely and walks into the designated circle. He stares out into the field, putting his right leg back and winding up his arm.
You think I'd die, he glances at Aizawa. Jokes on you, he looks back to the field. I already did.
His arms whips, a small cracking sound pops in his ears as the ball is released. It soars long and far within a second. Everyone loses sight of it. He stands tall, turning to look to Aizawa for the score, but his teacher stares at the tracker silent and unblinking.
"Aizawa-sensei?" He calls, hesitantly walking out of the circle. Aizawa whips his head up and stares him dead in the eyes. He raises the tracker, showing for all to see.
"700.2 meters." He relays.
"What?!" The class shouts, bug-eyed and mouths hanging open.
"How is that possible?!"
"He looks so small, where is he hiding that kind of strength?!"
"His quirk could be super-strength?"
"DEKU!" An animalistic roar rises above all the noise, silencing everyone in a jumpscare.
Izuku feels a chill, a visible cloud of breath escaping his lips. He finds Kacchan squatted low, his arms spread out with glowing orange hands and the most murderous face he's ever displayed.
"What the hell was that?!" He charges for him. Izuku, having fought multiple criminals and villains, and trained his body to lift a whole minivan, was more than prepared to take on the vicious Kacchan. But his body doesn't listen. He was frozen in conditioned fear at the sight and sound of Kacchan. And it was then he realizes that no matter how much stronger he becomes, his heart was still too weak to stand up against Kacchan.
"Enough!" Aizawa's scarf wraps around Kacchan, keeping him in place.
"Why can't I get out?" Kacchan grunts, barely able to squirm from the stiff restriction.
"It's a special scarf, weaponized for capture and immobilization. And don't make me use my quirk." He huffs, his hair falling back down and his eyes blinking away the red glow. "I've got dry eye."
'What a waste.' Everyone collectively thinks.
Aizawa brings back his scarf around his neck, shoving one hand in his pocket.
"Whoever's next, hurry up." He waves, trudging off to the side.
Izuku's gawks. He never had someone stop Kacchan before. It was strange. Nice. But strange. He hears grinding noises. Kacchan is gritting his teeth, scowling at the ground, barely holding back his fight response.
He doesn't want to trigger Kacchan again, so he slowly shuffles around him, then runs back to his classmates.
"Deku, are you okay?" The fairy asks.
"What?" He whips his head to her. Hearing his years long nickname that was more a curse word come from the beautiful girl's lips was both jarring and alluring.
"He called you Deku, is that not your name?"
"Ah, no," He shakes his head, "it's something he uses to insult me. It means u-useless." He looks down, feeling shame.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" She holds her hands over her mouth.
"It's okay, you didn't know." He placates, feeling warm from her apology. "My real name's Izuku Midoriya."
"Midoriya. It matches you." She giggles from the greeness of the boy. "My name is Ochako Uraraka."
"That's a beautiful name."
"Oh, thank you." The permanent blush on her cheeks brightens.
Izuku's face turns red, realizing what he said.
"Um, anyway, I'm okay." His eyes spin, in their rapid shifting. "Aizawa stopped him so, no harm done."
"Midoriya!" Iida and his class step close to him. "What was that?! Bakugo said you were quirkless."
Izuku stills, feeling his barely there heart fall to his stomach.
"Quirkless?" His classmates look to each other in surprise.
That's it. Izuku color pales. It's going to start again. He'll be ridiculed, harassed, and shunned. Uraraka is going to be disgusted with him and ignore him. It's over.
"WOAH, DUDE!" He's slapped on his shoulder in a side hug by the lightning bolt guy. "Your quirkless and you threw that ball 700 meters! That's wild!"
"Huh?" Izuku looks up. The guy is smiling at him in...wonder. Amazement. He's shining, a brilliant yellow outlining his body like the sun was directly behind him. Shining, and brining the color back to Izuku's face.
"Dude, you're like a super man!" The red head with sharp teeth, comes up close to exclaim.
"I don't think even I can throw that far! And I have a strength-based quirk!" A really buff dude walks up. He has short spiky black hair and big protruding lips.
"Wow, wow, wow!" A curly pink haired girl with horns, gets in his face. "I've never met a quirkless person before? How is that like?"
More and more people come up to talk to him, praising him or asking him question about how in the world he got so strong or what's it feel like to be quirkless. He physically couldn't open his mouth to answer a single thing. Instead, he burst out crying.
"Wah!" The class backs away from the fountain of tears.
"Are you okay?!"
"Why are you crying?!"
"Did I do something wrong?!"
"Who hurt him?!"
"Quiet!" Aizawa steps in. "He's just overwhelmed. You all need to give him space."
"Oh, okay!" The class readily complies, but still look on in concern.
"Midoriya, go wash up in the lockers. Take a moment to calm yourself."
"Huh?" Izuku gawks again. Aizawa is doing a complete 180 from how he was talking to him just seconds ago.
"I'm still a teacher." He voices calmly. "I don't need you using crying as an excuse for how poor you did in the assessment. Go clean yourself up."
The level of care Aizawa was showing him made him cry harder. And from the bitterness of being treated differently just because he found out he was quirkless.
Aizawa flinched at the cry, thinking he did something wrong, but Izuku reassures him in babble talk that he was fine. He walks over to the lockers, feeling better the moment he enters. He washes his face with water until he stops crying. Rising up to look in the mirror, he freezes at the realization of what he did. He just cried in front of all his classmates like a baby! How can he possibly face them now?! And what's more, they actually like him?! They didn't get mad at him or disgusted. They didn't sneer or ridicule him. UA really is different. It's so different. He stares off into the distance with a vacant look.
...
ARGH! He holds his face. I can't believe I cried in front of them!
He lets himself flail in mortification for little while longer, but quickly leaves. His anxiousness winning out, feeling like he was taking too long. And he did not want to keep Aizawa waiting.
He rushes over to the class. They finished the ball throw and have moved on to the 50-meter dash test.
"Izuku!" Uraraka waves at him. He gives a small wave back. The rest of his class looks to him giving him nods or smiles. His shoulders relax, glad they didn't comment on his crying.
"Hey, man. You're next." The red head welcomes, patting him on his shoulder.
"Ah, thank you." Izuku hunches, scurrying to the start line. Two lanes are marked with robots at the start and end to keep track of their scores, for accuracy and making sure they didn't cheat. And of course, he's paired with Kacchan.
Should he hold back? Kacchan got mad when he showed off his strength. No, that wouldn't be fair. Should he ask to switch out? No, he doesn't want to ask more of Aizawa. He's already shown him plenty of patience and leniency. He really thought he'd get expelled the moment he disagreed with him.
"Start!" A beep sound. Izuku takes off in a cloud of dust.
"4 seconds." The robot relays. Wow! Izuku stares at the time and then back at the lanes. He didn't know he could be so fast! And with the ball too! He really got strong!
"4.13 seconds." Kacchan's score reflects.
"DEKU!" Kacchan roars to life again.
"Bakugo!" Aizawa's shout stops him. "If I have to call you out again, you're expelled. Now, step aside, the others need to test too."
Kacchan stomps away, smoke rising from his palms in silent seething.
Izuku knows that Kacchan wants to be in UA more than he wants to explode him, but he doesn't know how long his patience will last.
The rest of the tests pass by smoothly. All his scores are mind blowing to him and his classmates alike. A drastic difference from his middle school performance. He's a whole different person. And Kacchan sees it. He looks like a volcano ready to erupt. That, or he's severely constipated.
"All right, I'll just go ahead and show your test scores all at once." Aizawa drawls, pulling out a little object like the one he got in the mail on his acceptance letter.
The space above Aizawa lights up in a huge scoreboard. All their names are listed, ranked from first to last. His name was right next to the number 7. That was first place for a quirkless nobody.
"No!" He hears a girl cry. Izuku looks to the girl. She had neon yellow green hair with streaks of all colors running through. Her eyes were crystal, reflecting multiple colors at once. He hadn't noticed her from all the emotional commotion, but she was beautiful. Mesmerizing in an enchanting kind of way. Of course, Uraraka was number 1 to him, but he can appreciate others' beauty.
But that poor girl placed last. Expulsion, Aizawa had told them. The girl looked weak. She had barely any muscle. She didn't show any sign of quirk use either. Something he more than likely just missed in seeing, since she couldn't have possibly have passed the practical as she was without a quirk. Even so, nobody should be expelled before they even had a chance to grow.
"Please!" Izuku steps in front of her, facing Aizawa. "Expulsion based on ranking of a quirk assessment is wrong! Quirk assessments are just that, an assessment. A baseline for what you need to improve on. If it's about numbers, then I'll withdraw. She can take my spot. But if you expel her, I won't hesitate to appeal to the principal." His mom will definitely support him. And Principal Nezu technically owes him one.
"You'd withdraw from UA? Voluntarily without a fuss?" Aizawa clicks off the projection, walking towards him.
"Yes." Izuku squares his shoulders, his hands fisted at his sides.
"Why?" Aizawa looks down at him.
"I don't need to graduate from UA to be a hero. It's just a school. Being a hero, that's something you learn in your heart. So, no matter where I'm at, I will be a hero."
"A foolish decision, really." Aizawa pivots. "But your little sacrificial act is unnecessary. I wasn't going to expel anyone. It was a logical ruse to get you to go beyond. Plus Ultra and all that." He waves his hand in annoyance.
"WHAT?!" The class shrieks. The neon girl faints, Izuku's there to catch her.
"That's all for today, go home." He commands, burying his face in his scarf and he trudges back to the school.
...
"Anyone else feel like you got cut off mid poo?" The lightning bolt guy says.
"That's disgusting." The earphone jacked girl tells him. "But that sounds like the most accurate statement for this situation."
"I can't believe you guys thought he was being serious. Of course, it was a ruse." A tall girl with black hair slicked into a pony tail says, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Oh." The class sighs in relief.
"That's not true." Izuku speaks up, drawing everyone's attention. "Aizawa expelled his whole class last year." He remembers that clearly. "It was why he was sighted more doing hero work." A logical guess made after seeing him when he was Ghost on one of his late night outings. UA teachers have a busy schedule. He wouldn't have seen him had Aizawa been needed as a teacher. Like he is now, conducting an assessment so early in the morning. Therefore, the logical conclusion for Aizawa's first year class last year, was that there was no class.
"It wasn't a ruse..." The class pales in horror. The ponytail girl in particular having a faint shade of pink on her cheeks. Izuku focuses back on the girl that fainted.
"Are you okay?" He shuffles his thighs to the side of the girl to get a good look at her.
"Yes, I'm fine now." The girl slowly rises. "Thanks for helping me. With me fainting and the whole expulsion thing."
"Of course. It was the right thing to do." Izuku smiles standing up to offer her a hand. She extends her hand in acceptance, but Izuku reaches her first, pulling her up.
"You know, I've been wondering this for a while..." The girl looks nervously at Izuku. "But, can you see me?"
"Yes, why?" Izuku quirks an eyebrow up at the strange question.
"Dude, she's invisible." The yellow lighting haired guy answers.
Izuku's brain goes into overdrive.
She's invisible. Her quirk makes her invisible. I'm the only one that can see her, which is not normal. I'm not supposed to see her. I'm supposed to be quirkless, so there's no reason how I can see her. But, being a half ghost apparently let's me see other invisible people. Which is cool. No, not cool, terrible! Oh, they're still looking at me to answer. Okay, think! What do I say? What do I say?
Oh, I know!
"I have infrared contacts." He blurts out.
"Contacts?" The guy repeats, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Contacts." Izuku nods.
"I should get me some!" The guy smiles, completely fooled. Everyone else seems to accept it as well and begin to head to the lockers to change.
The girl thanks him again, introducing herself and Toru Hagakure, before running off to the lockers, completely red in the face. She doesn't seem used to being seen. He can't imagine what that's like. He only recently developed the power of invisibility, forgettinv when he is invisible and when he's not. He wonders if she was lonely? Can she see herself? Was she born invisible?
"Izuku, are you coming?" Uraraka asks.
"Oh, yes, coming!" He jogs after her.
Izuku waits until he sees most people done changing, and for Kacchan to leave, before changing himself.
He walks out and is met with Uraraka and Iida waiting for him. Waiting. For him. And not in ambush. He really must be dead. Living out a fantasy. So be it.
Before he could meet up with them, he's blocked by his other classmates.
"Hey, I didn't get to introduce myself earlier. But I'm Eijiro Kirishima." The red-haired guy introduces.
"I'm Mina Ashido!" The pink haired girl smiles with a peace sign.
"Denki Kaminari." The yellow haired lighting boy winks.
"Rikido Sato!" The buff dude poses with two flexed arms and his thumbs pointing at himself.
"Hanta Sero!" A black-haired guy with tape dispensers for elbows nods at him.
"Ah, uh, nice to meet you." Izuku bows. "I'm Izuku Midoriya."
"Midobro, you are such an amazing guy!" Kirishima slaps Izuku's back. "I'm glad you're in my class. See you later, bro!"
"Midori, you've got guts! I like that. See you in class!" Ashido waves as she leaves with Kirishima.
"You look like such a tiny guy, who knew you were hiding all that muscle! Let me know what your training's like, yeah?" Sato asks as he takes his leave.
"Dude, your ball throw was out of this world." Kaminari gestures wide with his hands. "And when you spoke against Aizawa, I nearly wet my pants!"
"Yeah, man. That was wicked cool." Sero leans back with his hands in his pockets. His face turns serious, looking down at the floor. "If it wasn't for you, invisigirl would've been expelled. I was too focused on myself to say anything." He raises his eyes to meet Izuku's.
"The words slipped out before I could stop it." Izuku replies, a light blush on his cheeks. "I tend to have a problem with speaking my thoughts aloud."
"Thank God you did then. I'll catch ya later."
"Y-Yeah!" Izuku smiles.
"Peace out, dude!" Kaminari finger salutes as he walks with Sero out the school gates.
"Midoriya!" Iida greets him, chopping his arms up and down. "Once again, you have shown to be a better person than me!" He gripes, fists shaking in front of his face. He swipes his hand out and starts chopping his hands again.
"I see you are getting along well with our classmates. I will strive to do the same!" Seems Iida plans to stick with him, feeling that he lacks something Izuku has. Definitely social skills, coming from a private academy, but Izuku lacks that too, so guess they're both out of luck.
"You sure are popular Izuku." Uraraka comments, fidgeting with her fingers. Just like the way his mom does when she's bothered by something.
"I didn't used to be." He shares in honesty. "It's a little weird that they like me. I'm not used to...positive attention."
Uraraka's hands slowly drop to her side, the implications of the statement tossing her jealousy aside.
"So, you were mistreated in your previous school." Iida surmises. "Those scoundrels!" He shouts.
"I'm guessing Bakugo wasn't the only one who was mean to you?" She asks.
"No, but it's okay now. Or it will be. I'm happy how everyone is so nice, but it will take some getting used to."
"Well, I have niceness to spare, so you'll have plenty of exposure therapy!" She throws a fist up in the air with a little jump.
"I will do my best to help you in whatever you need!" Iida promises in a shout. "As for Aizawa, I can't believe our teacher would threaten expulsion." He brings a hand to his chin in thought and goes off on a tangent about lying.
Izuku thought Iida was scary, but he's just earnest. The guy's not really yelling at you, but just naturally speaks at a higher volume then normal. Very expressive with his hand gestures as well. The chopping motion he does though, he's sure that will hurt someone ssomeday.
The two chatter all the way to the train station, Izuku chiming in every now and then, but mostly just listening. Listening and smiling as he walks side by side with his…friends.
Yeah, friends.
Isn't that something?
Chapter 9: You're my friend
The second day, the schedule progresses in a regular fashion. With regular classes. Math, english, etc. It was not what he expected in a hero school. But he guesses every school has general requirements. The last course though, the last course is dedicated to heroics. And the one teaching it, was All Might.
He really hopes he doesn't try speaking to him. It'll just be awkward.
"All right, everyone," All Might clicks a button on the remote he holds. The wall along the hallway side opens up in columns, holding numbered cases. "For today, you will be doing mock battles. For that you will need your hero costumes! Our people in the support course have prepared your costume according to the designs you sent in before the start of class. Change and meet me at ground beta!" He bolts out the door right after.
"Hai!" Everyone eagerly grabs their cases. Some open them up then and there, unable to wait until the lockers to get a look inside them. Izuku didn't share such feelings.
His costume is basically the one he used at the entrance exam, except it was more form fitting than he would've liked. Something he noticed of his other male classmates' costumes. Kirishima's though, his pants were baggy. Probably as compensation for his being shirtless with a single shredded strip of fabric across his chest. What was the practicality in that? Once he walks onto Ground Beta, he sees now that the support course loves to make sure guys got to show off their muscles and girl's…well. The females' costumes were very accentuated. Uraraka was particularly embarrassed in her skintight body suit that left nothing to the imagination. The ground became of great interest to him.
"Dude you look so cool!" Kaminari slings an arm around his shoulder, jabbing at his chest.
"Yeah, it gives me Aizawa vibes." Sero nods.
"Ah, uh, thanks." Izuku hunches, turning red. "You guys look amazing!" He shouts, realizing he didn't say anything nice back. He spots the ear phoned jack girl.
"You added speakers to booster your quirk?" He tells Jiro, taking notice of her punk outfit.
"Yeah," She feels a little awkward being called out, not expecting Izuku of all people to talk to her. "I'd like to test them to see what they can do." She smiles.
"Kaminari, I love your lightning theme. Leather suits you."
"Ha! Thanks man! I hope the ladies love it too." He wiggles his eyebrows at Jiro.
"Buzz off."
"Are those wings?" Sero points.
"Oh, yeah." Izuku touches his chest.
Along with the size of his costume being changed, so were its colors. His costume was made dark green, almost black. Lime green accents were added throughout his costume, his belt the same color. A dove like symbol woven on his chest and back. He had always loved the idea of flying and being free. A bird suited that idea well. And what better bird to choose than a dove, a symbol of hope.
"I like birds." He simply explains.
The quiet guy, Koda he thinks, actually approaches him. Izuku watches him whisper something and lift his hand in the air. A bird lands on it and he offers for him to pet it.
"Wow!" Izuku zips to him. "You can talk to birds! That's so cool! Is it just birds or is it all animals? Do you have to give a verbal command or do you just summon them? Do you speak their language or do they understand only you?"
"...!" Koda gets flustered with each increasing number of questions, then covers his face running away.
"I'm sorry!" Izuku shouts in equal embarrassment. "Thank you!"
"Ha, you're so funny Izuku." Kaminari laughs. "One minute you're all shy and the next you scare someone away with your questions."
"Sorry!" Izuku covers his head with his arms, trying not to turn invisible. A little hard with the helmet he added to his costume. Iida was the only one with a helmet as well—along with a full suit of armor—so he guesses that's why his classmates were able to figure out who he was. His helmet was a last-minute addition. He didn't want to cover his face, because he might scare children or feel untrustworthy, however he decided to keep it in the end. He was lucky during the entrance exam, but head injuries are the number one injury heroes suffer from. And based on UA's entrance exam, he just knows this heroics class, hit helmet will be the difference between life and death.
"Seeing everybody in costume is making me excited!" Ashido spins on his toes.
"I feel like an actual pro right now!" Kirishima shouts.
"You all will definitely be pros." Izuku smiles.
"Don't forget to include yourself." He nudges him with his elbow.
"Oh, yeah." Izuku rubs his neck.
"Midoriya the mysterious small guy that likes birds." Sero jokes.
"Are those your normal shoes?" They all look at his feet.
"Oh, ah, I really like my shoes, so I just asked for something to slip over them for protection."
He's only ever used red high tops. He was first introduced to them by his mom when he was small, and fell in love, unable to wear any other shoes. The particular brand he had also fit his foot nicely, despite his extra toe joint. There were plenty of custom shoes made to fit him, since there were many mutation quirks and augmenting-types. He just preferred his little red high tops.
So of course, his costume didn't feel complete without his trusty red high tops. The iron soles encasing them are for his shoe and foot protection. UA may have a limitless budget, but he doesn't want to take advantage on a shoe cost. No matter how measly it would seem. Plus, the iron soles would allow him to produce greater damage against his sturdier opponents, such as those with diamond skin, while not taking on any damage himself.
"Everyone!" Iida yells, his armor shining like warning lights. "All Might is going to provide instruction now! Gather around quickly!"
Izuku had wondered where Iida wondered off too. Of course he'd be by All Might's side. More than likely speaking about UA's rules and expectations.
"As young Iida-kun has said, gather around!" All Might gestures to the class. "For today's exercise, you will be participating in mock heroes vs villains battle!"
That seems a little sudden, Izuku scrunches his eyebrows in concern. What about combat classes, safety courses, or just, I don't know, getting to know you time?
"You'll be split up at random!" He says, having Iida help him set up two boxes to his side. "Come up to choose your teams and sides!"
All his classmate look as much as they are strong. Kaminari's quirk is electricity. Iida has speed. Sato has hulk-like strength. This will be tough. Tough not deadly. Not like his classmates would actively try to kill him.
What does he know?
He's the first one up to fight against Kacchan. He's as good as dead.
"Looks like we're a team!" Uraraka smiles at him. "It must be fate!"
Maybe dying won't be so bad, Izuku smiles, squinting from Uraraka's radiance. He already did it once, what's one more time?
"Listen up!" All Might's voice booms. He pulls out a stack of notecards and starts reading off them.
Seriously, notecards? Izuku stares, shaking his head internally. He's believing more and more that All Might was simply allowed to teach at UA because he was All Might with no ounce of teaching skills whatsoever.
"Villains will head inside the building first to set up their paper mâché bomb. The objective for the heroes is to capture the villains," All Might shows a small white item, "with this tape or touch the bomb. Villains are to try and do all they can to keep the bomb safe until time runs out. But remember, it's a mock battle, no maiming or severely injuring is allowed. Understood?"
"Hai!"
"Good!" All Might puts all his things away. "Let's gets started." He claps his hands together. "Bakugo, Iida. You may now enter the building. You have 5 minutes to set up. Midoriya, Uraraka, please wait outside the building until I signal for the battle to start." He raises his fist in the air. "Plus Ultra everyone!"
"Plus Ultra!" Some of the class answers back.
Izuku walks numbly to the building. He thinks Uraraka's talking to him, but he can't hear her. He'd feel bad if his mind wasn't going 100 miles an hour on how many ways he will get maimed or severely injured.
Ground beta is one of the many battle centers UA used to administer the practical exams. Certain buildings were sectioned off to prepare for the mock battles. Probably a few spares should a building become unusable. They're going to need them with someone like Kacchan participating.
Why does it have to be Kacchan? His eyes look up to the sky in weariness.
"So, what do you plan to do with Bakugo?" Uraraka's words finally register in his ears. "He seems to really have it out for you?"
"Yeah..." Izuku rubs his head. "Kacchan and me...we grew up together. But then, when he found out I was..." He shuts his eyes and mouth, regretting starting that sentence. He'd rather everyone forget he was quirkless, but here he is bringing it up again. Ugh!
"Hey." Uraraka brushes her hand against his shoulder. She waits until he meets her eyes to speak. "I don't care if you have a quirk or not. The person who saved me was Izuku Midoriya. The crazy kid that threw me like a baseball and attacked a 0 pointer."
"That!" Izuku lights up red in mortification.
"And you're my friend."
Izuku feels a warmth spread in his chest. His mind calming down in a strange peace.
"And you're my teammate!" She nudges his arm gently.
"Yeah!" He laughs. He takes a deep breath then gets his brain to think of a strategy.
"Kacchan won't work with Iida. He'll come straight for me. Iida won't abandon the bomb. Knowing him, he'd keep it on the top floor so we'd waste time making our way up. He'll more than likely play keep away. Can you use your quirk to climb up to the top floor?"
"Yes, but I won't let you face Bakugo alone!"
"I have to. While he's focused on me, you can float around at the ceiling and try and touch the bomb without Iida noticing."
"I know you're strong, but Bakugo's...he's," She tries to find the right words, "he's like a...a wild mutt!" She blurts out.
"Pfah!" Izuku snorts. "I think that's the first time I heard someone call him something other than awesome." He quickly reigns his laugh in, turning serious.
"Too be honest...I'm scared to fight him. I'm not sure I can. I freeze up on instinct, just from hearing him call my name."
"Then come with me!" She holds his hand, making sure to keep her pinky up. "They won't expect us both to go from the outside straight to the top!"
That's true.
"That's true." He admits. Kacchan would check every floor, looking for him. If he was calm, he'd dominate them in a one-sided massacre. That's one blessing from Kacchan's constate state of anger.
"Heroes!" All Might chimes in from their provided ear pieces. "You may now enter the building. The battle starts, now!"
"Let's go!" Izuku nods at Uraraka. Uraraka puts her pinky down, for a five-point contact. They lift off the ground weightless. Izuku uses his grappling gun and reels them up to the top floor. He holds Uraraka to his side, as he keeps himself and her flush against the wall. Scooting towards one of the floor's windows, he leans his head over to peek inside.
"Iida is with the bomb." Izuku whispers. "He's alone, but the room is cleared out. No place to hide. I'll draw his attention from the front, then you can sneak inside."
"Be quick," Uraraka swallows back her nausea. "I've never tried to hold my quirk on something for long." She warns in urgency.
"Release your quirk." He hands her his grappling gun to hold onto as he jumps onto a protruding lip of the building.
"Release." She touches her fingers together. The minute he feels gravity take hold of him again, he jumps around to the middle of the building, where a hallway window resides. He meets Uraraka's eyes before slipping inside. He races to the room where Iida decided to hole up in. He slows down when he comes to the opening to the room's entrance. There are no doors, so he just leaps straight in.
"Midoriya!" Iida startles in surprise. He thought it'd be longer before any one of them would reach him. But no matter.
"Haha!" Iida laughs deep from the gut. "You made it hero!" He points at Izuku. "You will not win today! I won't let a hero—" He's cut off by a knife clanging against his armored chest.
"Midoriya?!" He screeches in high pitch. Then has to move out of the way of Izuku trying to body slam him.
"You are no match for my speed!" Iida boasts, having moved the bomb with him. "Bakugo!" He touches his ear piece.
No! Izuku throws more knifes at Iida.
"Wah!" Iida covers the parts of his body not shielded by armor. Izuku rushes him again. But Iida takes off each time he tries to get close.
He changes tactics. Iida likes to make a show. Let's use that.
"Stop you villain!" Izuku shouts. He's willing to sacrifice his dignity if it means getting out of here before Kacchan catches up. "If the bomb goes off, you won't be safe either!"
"My speed will get me out in time. But you however won't make it! Hahaha!"
"Coward! All you do is run! Too scared to fight? Or do you not know how?"
"Nice try hero, but I won't be goaded by you into your obvious trap!"
"Your partner has already been captured." Iida flinches. "We've called reinforcements. It's only a matter of time before you're captured as well. Give up now, and we won't hurt you."
"Bakugo!" Iida calls on his comms again. "Bakugo, come in!" Izuku sees Uraraka above the bomb, all she has to do is drop. He smiles. They won.
But a deafening sound pierces their ears followed by a blinding light. He feels the ground give way, his body being thrown in the air.
Then darkness.
He wakes to a ringing sound. The first thing he sees is his hand. It twitches in response. This feels like déjà vu he thinks, while lying thrown on his side. Then the pain registers. He doesn't believe there's a single part of his body that isn't hurt. Once the ringing in his ear stops, he starts to hear yelling. He thinks he hears All Might's voice. Maybe Iida's. Then he hears an angry growl.
Kacchan, Izuku breath catches. Why's Kacchan here? No wait, where am I? If Kacchan's here…
The explosion, Izuku's mind sharpens. It was Kacchan. He set it off from the bottom floors. But they weren't alone.
Iida and Uraraka! He springs up, then falls harshly on his knees from the dizziness. That was definitely the wrong move. But his friends need his help. He grits his teeth and stands back up, looking around. His vision is blocked, half his visor missing from his helmet.
What the? He takes it off. His mouth opens at the sight. The helmet is crushed. The whole front part of his visor broken and the back of his helmet caved in. That could have been his head, he runs his hands on the crumpled mess. He chucks it, focusing back on his surroundings.
A massive hole is in the floor of the room, leaving only a small ledge skirting along the walls. The paper bomb was tossed upside down against one wall, his friends nowhere around it.
"Iida! Uraraka!" He shouts.
"Down here!"
Izuku follows the voice down, scanning the wreckage. Iida was waving at him from far corner of the floor below, his legs caught under a pile of rubble. Uraraka was lying next to him, just having missed the rubble. Iida's doing most likely.
"I'll get you out!" He jumps down.
"No, don't—"
"DEKU!" Kacchan crashes into him, sending him skidding across the rubble. He stops on a piece of the roof. Or is it the wall?
"Think you can outsmart me, Deku!" Kacchan yells, spit flying from his mouth. He walks past his Iida and Uraraka without so much as a glance.
Forget being scared. Izuku is livid.
"Kacchan," He holds himself up by his elbow and hand, "they need help!"
"They're fine. And right now, you're the hero that's supposed to stop me. The battles still on, so, fight!" He pounces.
"Stop it!" Izuku grabs his outstretched arms, flipping him over his shoulder. He makes sure to put extra force into slamming him onto the floor.
Kacchan quietly turns over, eyes popping out in withheld pain. His face is red and his veins pulse showing. He waits until the air comes back to his lungs before speaking.
"You finally grew a back bone, huh, Deku." He sneers.
"Hold on, Iida!" Izuku ignores him, rushing to where his friend is still pinned.
"Don't ignore me!"
"Watch out!" Iida's warning comes too late.
Kacchan blasts him in the back, then yanks him around by the arm. He smacks his palm flat into Izuku's chest, blasting him back a few feet.
"You think you're some hotshot now!" Kacchan yells. "Think you're too good to fight me! Well, think again! You're nothing! You hear me! You will never be better than me!"
"I know!" Izuku yells, startling Kacchan. He's never really raised his voice against Kacchan before. Or, really, anybody for that matter. "I know I'm not better than you! I never thought I was! I just want to help people, Kacchan. Can't you understand that?" He pleads.
"You can't help anyone!" Kacchan swipes at the air. "You're quirkless! You'd just die or get in people's way!"
"I may be quirkless, but I'm not useless." Izuku glares.
"Yeah."
Huh? Izuku is taken aback. Did Kacchan just agree with him?
"If you passed UAs exams, it must mean you did something useful. Probably let you in on pity points. But so what?! Even trash like the pervy grape passed. Doesn't mean anything!"
What did I expect, Izuku grinds his teeth.
"I don't care what you say." He stands. "I don't! Not anymore! So, get out of my way," He raises his shaking fists, "or I'll make you."
"Just try it!" Kacchan launches at him with explosive speed. Izuku meets him. The two engage in a fury of hand-to-hand combat. Kacchan using his fists propelled by his explosions to quickly change the direction and speed of his attacks. Izuku keeps up with well-placed kicks, but is spending most of his time blocking Kacchan's hands from injuring him further. He's starting to feel weary, his body pleading for him to rest. His lungs are on fire, his breathing erratic. He was getting tired too fast. His endurance and cardio should be far greater than this. He glances at his friends. Iida is squirming, struggling to free himself.
"You must focus." His sensei's words echo in his mind.
"But!" Izuku looks around the dojo, flinching every time he hears the pained sounds of the other students in the middle of sparring.
"In a fight, you must put your full focus on the opponent in front of you. Be aware of your surroundings but don't let your feelings of fear or panic get in the way. When you're focus is scattered you lose precious energy and risk endangering yourself. The faster you deal with the opponent in front of you, the faster you can help those around you."
"Yes, sensei." Izuku nods, getting back in his stance. He ends up glancing around him, flinching when he sees a student get punched in the face. His sensei catches him looking.
"Sorry!" Izuku cries.
"It's okay." He laughs. "These things take time to learn, so don't worry too much. One day you'll learn to tune out everything and master the art of sei."
"APA-PA!"
Izuku whips his head to the booming voice. He hears before he sees a student, a teen, with his head stuck in the wall.
"Kenichi-sensei!" Another student yells. "He did it again!"
"Apachai!" His sensei runs to the six-foot-tall man in muay thai shorts and accessories. "I told you to hold back!"
"Apachai did!" He whines.
How does a 100-year-old man still move like he's 20 years old?! Izuku wonders for the hundredth time over Apachai-sensei's insane strength.
"You daydreaming!" Kacchan backhands him across the face. "Don't think I'm worth your time, huh?!"
I need to focus! Izuku zones in on Kacchan. His classmates' injuries are minimum. He can get to them after he deals with Kacchan. The problem is, Kacchan's intimidating aura is still too much for him. He can feels his body way too tense making his movements stiff.
I need to end this quickly! He rushes in close to Kacchan, switching to elbow and knee attacks. However, Kacchan seems to have the same idea. Izuku steps back from the arms grabbing for him. Except it wasn't a grab.
Kacchan brings both his arms together, his palms open facing Izuku.
Bomb! Izuku ducks, getting under the blast's wave. Except no bomb goes off. Instead, he's blinded by a burning light. His eyes slam closed at the same time his neck is grabbed. He feels his head crash against a hard surface, his back and the rest of his body following after.
He feels himself being jerked up and down by the front clothing of his chest. His vision slowly returning with each movement.
"How long were you hiding your power!"
He thinks he might've missed some context. He definitely blacked out there for a second.
"No way you'd get that strong without a quirk! You had fun lying to me huh? Had a good laugh all these years, pretending to be a Deku!"
He thinks he had a quirk...and hid it?
Izuku grips onto Kacchan's wrist.
"If I had a quirk," he snarls, "I wouldn't have had to live such a miserable life, you egocentric psycho!"
"No one gets that strong that fast!"
"Except me!" Izuku double kicks him off.
"I spent my whole life under your shoe!" He sweeps Kacchan off his feet from his stumbling. "I thought I had to have a quirk to be a hero," He swings his leg up, his heel coming down for Kacchan's head. Kacchan catches the foot. Izuku twists around, kicking out of the hold with his other leg.
"But I realized that wasn't true." Kacchan scrambles up, Izuku facing him. "A quirk is just a tool. I made my own tools. I trained myself. I grew stronger on my own. If you think I'm strong, it's because of my own effort, not because of a quirk!"
"You belong under my shoe!" Kacchan holds one hand up. Izuku sprints as several small explosions chase him. "You're just a pebble! A pebble that would follow me around like a stray dog!"
"Because I thought you were cool!" Izuku throws a stray rock at Kacchan.
BOOM! Kacchan explodes it to dust.
"Throwing rocks like a snotty 3-year-old!" He yells swiping a hand through the dust. "Pathetic!"
"How's this?!" Izuku appears through the dust, decking him in the face. Kacchan twists in the air, body thudding against a pile of rubble in a loud crack.
"KUGH!" He coughs, struggling to push himself up. Something warm tickles down his face. He brings a hand to wipe at it, finding it to be blood streaming from his scraped forehead.
"You bastard!" Kacchan growls, launching off the rubble with two explosions.
Izuku stops from his run towards him and throws a fist. Kacchan snatches it, elbowing Izuku in the face, then following with a bomb to the stomach. Izuku hunches over, gagging, but Kacchan wasn't done. He holds onto Izuku's wrist and swings him onto the floor stomping onto his back for good measure. Then he lifts him in the air and kicks him into the wall.
Shouldn't someone have come to stop them by now? Izuku wonders in the back of his mind. He two body shots, doubling him over, but Kacchan pulls him up by his hair to continue his assault.
He really thought Iida and Uraraka getting hurt would have ceased all activity until they got medical attention. Kacchan decks him in the face then knees him hard enough to stand him back upright.
Yet, here he was, being ragdolled. Maybe All Might wants to see him hurt? Is the number 1 hero a sadist?
"I've had enough." Kacchan pulls back, raising his arm at Izuku. He puts his finger through the pin of his bulky grenade gauntlet. Izuku thought it was an aesthetic piece in reference to his quirk. Kacchan clicks on his earpiece, someone obviously trying to warn him to stop whatever it is that he's planning on doing.
"He won't die." Kacchan grins. "Not if he dodges."
He's bluffing, Izuku tries to lift himself up with the support of the wall.
The pin is pulled.
No, Izuku's eyes widen.
An ear-shattering explosion erupts. The walls blow out. The rest of the top floor comes down along with the 4th floor. The flames envelop the entire area. It looked like a war zone.
"Woah!" Bakugo's voice rings out. "That was stronger than the first one." He laughs. "Oi, Deku, you alive?" He calls out through the smoke and dust.
He gets no answer. He strains his eyes to try and find the telling mop of green hair. The haze too thick making it hard to see.
"Deku!" He calls louder, the smile wiping off his face. "Stop playing and answer me!"
"You really tried to kill me?" Izuku's small voice croaks but still heard clearly in the dead silence.
Bakugo squints trying to find Izuku. He sees a figure standing in the dust on the far-right side of the building. The only part of the 3rd floor left intact. When the dust settles and he gets to see Izuku, really see him—not hindered by his anger and need for answers—his stomach drops. His heart feels as if it stopped, his breath leaving him.
Izuku is painted red in blood. He's propped up by pieces of rebar and cement. His deep green hair with strands of vibrant green was dyed a blackened red. His entire left side is burnt a blistering red. His arm is broken and protruding out oddly from his shoulder. Every bit of him is cut up and bruised. His lip busted open, his right ear torn, and his right eye swollen, barely showing his blood shot sclera.
"I thought you were my friend." Izuku wheezes. It almost makes him lose consciousness. He can barely stand. He can barely breathe. He can't even see right now. But he needs to say this. He needs to tell him.
"Stupid," he takes in a small breath, sounding and awful like a whistle. "I know. I wanted to hate you, I should've, but you were everything I wasn't. Confident, strong, and fearless. I wanted to be just like you." His voice chokes up as he feels the tears burn his eyes, but he keeps going, unwilling to give Kacchan a chance to interrupt. "I admired All Might, but when I close my eyes and picture what victory looks like, I see you."
Kacchan's eyes somehow get wider.
"I see you from that day when we were little and you beat those two older kids by yourself. All Might may have been the symbol of peace, but were the one actually in my life." He hears Kacchan's breathing. It's coming in fast and desperate.
Woah, Izuku looks on. He didn't think someone like Kacchan could hyperventilate. He feels sorry. And then, he doesn't.
"I really am pathetic." Some strange gurgled noises come from Izuku. A laugh. "That I would think someone who tormented me, and told me to kill myself," His wheeze comes stronger, his voice turning to a light whisper, "was a symbol of anything to me."
All Might's voice chimes in. Maybe from a building speaker. Something about time. But both boys pay no attention.
"I had this strange thought," Izuku groans, his body starting to sway, "that maybe now that we're in UA, you'd be different. Jokes on me, huh?" Part of his lips curls up in a bloody smile. Then his eyes roll back, and he begins to fall forward.
"Midoriya!" Iida slides in, catching him with his body.
"Izuku!" Uraraka falls at their side. "Izuku! Izuku, what happened to you?! Oh God!" She blanches at his bloody broken body. "Oh God! Iida, take him to recovery girl!"
"My engines are damaged, I could barely make it to catch him!" Iida exclaims, eyes tearing up in panic. And though he could barely see, his glasses crushed under some rubble, Izuku's dire state couldn't be clearer.
"I'll use my quirk!" She touches Izuku's chest. He gently rises into the air, Uraraka maneuvers him in front of her and starts to run out the crumbled building.
"Don't worry!" All Might's voice stops Uraraka. "I am here!" He appears in front of her with a gust of wind.
"I'll take him from here, Uraraka." He transfers Izuku into his arms.
"Hurry All Might!" She pleads in tears.
"Go join your classmates in the comm room!" He says before disappearing with a sonic boom.
Uraraka stares out the opening in the building, feeling her body turn an icy cold. Her fingers twitch at the loss of Izuku's touch. She slowly looks down at her hands. Her stomach lurches. She wipes her hands on her costume, frantically trying to rid them of the putrid red color.
"Agh!" A sharp cry startles her. She whips her head around and finds Bakugo hunched, clutching at his chest. His breaths erratic.
Her eyes lock onto him in a deadly glare. The cold is burned away by the fiery furnace exploding in her chest.
"You!" She growls.
"Uraraka! Don't!" Iida's voice pleads.