Chapter 8: results
The week following the entrance exam was long and stressful. Very stressful. Whilst Neito said, he got around fifty points thanks to copying some very powerful quirks, Hitoshi and Izumi didn't get as many, somewhere between twenty and thirty for both of them. It got difficult to tell how many robots they destroyed. Neito tried his best to reassure them, but when Hitoshi said that he overheard people say how many points they had and that most of them were in the forty-fifty range, the two didn't have high hopes that they had passed.
It wasn't all bad news. Even if they didn't get into the hero course from the start, they could still get in through the sports festival. They just needed to prove themselves. But, they would have to wait for their results to arrive before planning for that possible outcome. At least if that did happen, they would have someone on the hero course to help them.
Another thing that worried her was that All Might hadn't gotten in touch with her since the exam. All of her calls had gone to voicemail, and he hadn't replied to any of her texts. She started worrying, fearing that something must have happened to All Might. She had given Sir Nighteye a call about it, and whilst he said All Might was fine, he was busy with something. What that something was, he refused to say, but the lack of contact with him was worrying.
Isa's death didn't help either. With him gone, Izumi had no one to talk to about her problems. Durandal helped as best he could, but he lacked Isa's experience. Knowledge is useless without the experience to use it. It didn't help that none of the other therapists they contacted was interested in helping her.
But, despite her several sources of worry, the current school year wasn't over yet. So she was mainly focused on schoolwork for that week. Up until seven days had passed since the exam.
Izumi was sitting in her room finishing her homework for the week while chatting to Hitoshi and Neito over Discord, with Durandal sitting beside her. She had wanted to add Ochaco to their group chat, but she didn't know her discord id and was worried about asking for it. Not that she hadn't been keeping in contact with her. She had her phone number, and have been texting each other from time to time.
"You think we'll get our results soon?" Hitoshi's voice asked over the call, "This waiting is killing me".
"They have over a thousand students to grade," Neito replied. "It'll take time to grade everyone after all. I'm just hoping that we all get in. Even if we only get into general studies, we still have a chance to get onto the hero course".
"Well, I guess Izumi and I will have to get in through the sports festival," Hitoshi said, sounding depressed. "We weren't able to get many points. Me because my quirk was useless against robots and Izumi due to being inexperienced with using her quirk".
"That, and people kept beating me to the robots," Izumi added. "Even with me wearing Durandal, there were a lot of people who were faster than me. Not helped by that being the first time I ever had to fight in armoured wolf mode. Still, I'm not sure we were being judged just on the villain points".
"What do you mean by that?" Neito asked.
"UA's a hero school, the best hero school in Japan," Izumi said. "Heroes don't always have to stop villains. They have to save people as well. It's only a hunch, but there may be other criteria we were being judged on but weren't told about. Why would they only score us on fighting people when that's just one part of being a hero?".
There was silence from her two friends. Izumi herself was also silent. She was grateful for all the observation training Sir Nighteye had given her, as she probably wouldn't have thought about there being other criteria.
"Well, now that you mention it, that kind of makes sense," Neito said. "There is more to hero work than fighting people. Rescue and support heroes do exist, after all. It doesn't make sense to judge us on our combat ability alone, so maybe they'll also judge us on any heroic actions we perform".
"So, there's still a chance of us getting in," Hitoshi said, sounding a bit relieved. "Knowing that, there are probably ways to lose points as well. Probably for unheroic behaviour. I remember seeing someone push another student into a robot's attack. Even if they didn't have that kind of criteria, he would have lost points for that or get disqualified".
"Sounds like Izumi's analytical skills are rubbing off on you," Durandal remarked on the voice call.
"Considering how my quirk works, I have to be observant of my surroundings and the people I'm up against," Hitoshi said. "Knowing who to attack and who to brainwash can be the difference between life and death".
"Same here, although in my case, it's more along the lines of what their quirks are and if I can use them," Neito added. "We have to rely on knowledge and information more than most people. Knowing what quirks people have and what they can do with them will be an important part of my strategies. Shame I can't copy Izumi's quirk. It'll be nice to be able to one-punch a giant robot".
"I wouldn't recommend it," Izumi said. "I did break my arm and both of my legs doing that".
She was relieved that the two still wanted to be friends with her when she told them she had a quirk now. A part of her was worried that they would abandon her after revealing it, but they were completely fine with it. Happy even.
"Yeah, it's probably a good thing it's a stockpile quirk if you've got that kind of power stored inside you," Neito said. "How did you end up with that much power stored up inside of you anyway?".
"No idea," Izumi replied. "My quirk registration is still in progress. Power Stockpile is already on the system, but until I get my new ID showing that I have a quirk, I can't get quirk counselling. Their rather iffy about that sort of thing".
"Figures," Hitoshi said with an annoyed sigh before there was a sound of a door knocking. "Hold one," he said before he walked off.
"I wonder what that was ab-" Neito said before a muffled voice was calling from him. "Down in a minute, Mother! Sounds like I'm needed," he said before he walked off.
Izumi blinked, wondering why her two friends had been called away. Suddenly she got her answer when she heard her mother calling her name. Quickly taking her All Might headphones off, she and Durandal rushed out of her room and into the living room. "What is it, Mother?".
Inko had an ecstatic look on her face, holding a letter in her hands. "A letter, Izumi. They came, Izumi, look! You got a letter! They're here! Your test results from UA!" she said happily.
Izumi's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the letter. It was indeed from UA.
She slowly took the letter from her mother and looked at it. Without thinking, she tore a side of it off, and a silver disk dropped out of it onto the table beside them. moments later, a holographic projection of All Might appeared above the disk. "Boo-ya! I am here as a projection now!" he said loudly, smiling as he always did. "I know it's been a while, but with great power comes a great amount of paperwork! My apologies, young lady! The truth is, I didn't come to this city just to fight villains! You're looking at the newest UA faculty member!".
"What!" Izumi gasped with a smile. All Might was going to be a teacher at UA! That was fantastic! He probably wouldn't be a homeroom teacher due to his time limit, but still, it was amazing!
"Let's hope he gives the students better advice than 'Clench your butt-cheeks and yell smash'," Durandal remarked, which got a laugh out of Inko.
The projection of All Might suddenly turned as a hand appeared in the corner. "Hm? Yes, what's the matter? Who's showboating? Oh, sorry, I'll wrap it up, but I have to show her something first! Wait, I need to do how many of these things?!" that got a giggle out of her. "Right, so, moving on! Even though you passed the written test, you only got twenty-nine combat points! Which unfortunately is not enough to get into the hero course. I'm sorry".
Izumi frowned. It wasn't enough. All that hard work, and she failed to get onto the hero course.
"But don't worry, for there were other factors!" All Might said. "You have a quirk now, yes, but it's your actions that inspire others! And that's why I am here! You see, the practical exam was not graded on combat alone!" he said before the projection shifted to a montage of her during the exam, a montage of her saving people. Pushing them out of the way of an incoming attack, destroying a robot that was about to attack someone, carrying that girl to safety, and ending with her punching the zero pointer/Titan. "How could a hero course reject someone who is committed to saving others, no matter the consequences to herself!?" he asked rhetorically before continuing, "After all, that is what makes a hero! And that's what my alma mater is all about, training those who would risk their lives for the greater good! So we have Rescue Points! A panel of judges watches, and they award points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains!".
The projection then changed to show a scoreboard showing the top five participants. And right there, at the top of the list, was her name.
Izumi Midoriya: twenty-nine combat points, and eighty rescue points, for a total of one hundred and nine points.
Unsurprisingly, Katsuki was below her in second place with seventy combat points and ten rescue points.
'Wait, how did Katsuki get rescue points?' Izumi wondered. Last she knew, he wasn't the kind of person who would go out of his way to help people. He probably got them by accident.
She then saw another name she recognised, Ochaco Uraraka, in fourth place. 'she got in, too,' she thought with a smile.
All Might once more moved back into frame. "Congratulations, you have passed the exam!" he said before he stretched out his hand. "Welcome, Izumi Midoriya! You have made it! You're now a part of the hero academia!".
Tears started to form around Izumi and Inko's eyes. This was it, her dream was coming true. She was finally going to become a hero.
"I'm so proud of you, Izumi," Inko said proudly as she hugged Izumi, her daughter returning the hug, tears gushing out of both of them. "Even after everything that has happened, you're finally going to achieve your dream. You're going to become a hero".
Izumi smiled as the two continued to hug, still crying happy tears. She could scarcely believe she had made it into UA's hero course. But she had, she had made it. She had taken her first step to becoming a hero.
"Ladies, I know you're happy, but we're going to get complaints again," Durandal said after a while, not wanting the neighbours to come round again to complain about the 'leaks' but giving the two time to be happy about this. This was a big thing, after all, and he did not want to ruin it for her.
The flood of tears quickly subsided as the two calmed down and broke off the hug with smiles on their faces. "I am so, so proud of you, Izumi. And I'm sure your father will be proud of you as well".
Izumi smiled. Just like her father, she was on her way to achieving her dream. She couldn't wait to tell him the good news.
Speaking of telling people, Hitoshi and Neito probably also received their results. She'd need to tell them the good news. Inko also had the same idea. "You should go tell your friends the good news. I'll go get dinner ready".
Izumi nodded before she and Durandal rushed back to her room and put her headphones back on. "Guys, my UA exam results arrived," she said happily.
"Figured that was the case since we got ours as well," Hitoshi said, sounding excited for once.
"Yep," Izumi said, vibrating with excitement. "I got in! I got onto the hero course!".
"Yes!" Neito said happily, "Three for three. We're all on the hero course. I couldn't be happier".
"You two made it in as well!" Izumi said with a smile.
"Indeed we did," Hitoshi said. "Those hero points came in clutch. I got thirty-fifty place," he said before a muffled voice shouted, "Fuck you, Mum and dad, I'm becoming a hero!" before a second voice scolded the first.
"Who was that?" Neito asked, sounding curious.
"Oh, that was Himiko, another resident of Kouzuki house. She's also applied to UA's hero course," Hitoshi replied. "Sounds like she made it in as well".
"Well, I can't wait to meet her," Izumi said. "Although, why did she say, 'fuck you, mum and dad'?".
"Ok, which one of you taught the cinnamon roll that?" Durandal asked, ignoring the fact that he had sworn quite a lot around her.
Hitoshi decided to ignore Durandal's question, "Himiko doesn't like her parents. In fact, she hates them, so much so she refuses to use her family name. I won't say any more due to how bad things got for her. She's, had it rough".
Izumi nodded, knowing that this was a sensitive subject and that she shouldn't dig into it without the girl's permission 'Wait, why does that name sound familiar?'.
"So, any idea what class we're all in?" Neito asked.
"No idea. There was nothing about which class we'll be in on the letters, just congratulations for making it into the hero course and a list of things we will need," Hitoshi replied. "Guess they're still sorting that part out".
"Well, there are two hero course classes', class A and B," Izumi said, "So there's a fifty-fifty chance that we'll be in either class. But, no matter what happens, even if we end up in different classes, we'll still be friends, right?".
"Of course, we will," Neito replied. "We all worked hard to get here after all, and I'm not the kind of person who abandons their friends after spending so much time helping each other. Had that happened to me a few years ago, and trust me, it is not a pleasant experience".
"At least you had friends, even if it was for a while," Hitoshi said. "And the people I live with don't count. I'm friends with them, yes, but before I met you two, they were the only friends I had. In fact they're more like family to me".
"Same here. Before I met you two, it was just my mother and I," Izumi said. "I'm glad to have met you two and that we're all on the hero course".
"Don't worry about it," Neito said. "From today onwards, all three of us are heroes in training".
"Don't forget about me!" a cheerful female voice added on Hitoshi's end.
"Gah!" Hitoshi gasped. "Himiko! Knock next time, please! You're too quiet for your own good!".
"Sorry, but I wanted to see if you got in as well," Himiko's voice said. "Sounds like you did. So, who are you chatting to?".
"Just some friends from school," Hitoshi replied. "Now, please, go mess with someone else".
"Oh, but Houki and Irina are out with friends, Tsubaki is no fun to tease, Honne and Red are asleep, Naofumi is out with his tanuki girlfriend, Hotaru is still getting settled in, and the less said about Issei the better" Himiko said sounding annoyed "Honestly, I'm glad UA is a boarding school, and he isn't attending, because I do not want to be around that pervert any more".
"Well, thank fuck for that," Durandal remarked, not wanting a pervert to be anywhere near Izumi.
"Besides," Himiko continued "Since we're both attending UA now, we'll be hanging out a lot more," she said. Izumi could feel the smug grin the other girl was making from across the voice call.
Hitoshi let out a tired sigh. "And this is my life, having to live with the madness of a care home".
"And now you have to live with the madness of a dorm full of hero course students," Neito added, probably with a smirk.
"Fun," Hitoshi said with a sigh.
"You know, we've never been around Stadtfeld house before," Neito said. "You've been around our homes several times, but we've never been around yours".
"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not exactly comfortable inviting others here," Hitoshi said. "Plus, I don't want to give Issei another girl to gawp at. Everyone else is fine, I'm sure you'll like them, especially you, Izumi. They have interesting quirks, save for Issei. His does not deserve even to be mentioned in one of your quirk analysis books".
"That bad, huh," Izumi remarked. Whilst this did nothing to make her any less interested in this guy's quirk, something told her that it was in her best interests never to meet this guy. "Well, I would like to meet them at some point".
"Well, I'll see what I can do," Hitoshi said. "Probably won't be anytime soon, though. We recently had a new arrival, and we're giving her time to settle in".
"Understandable," Izumi said. Moving to a care home and living with strangers can't be easy.
Suddenly Izumi's phone started ringing. One quick check revealed it to be from Ochaco. "I'll just be a minute," she said before removing her headphones and answering the phone. "Hi, Ochaco, did you get your results from UA?".
"Yes! And I got in!" Ochaco replied happily, "I can't believe it, I-, I'm going to become a hero!".
Izumi smiled, glad all three of her friends were going to UA, on the hero course no less. "That's great, Ochaco. I, may have already known you had gotten in due to your name appearing on the scoreboard," she said nervously.
"That's ok. I saw your name up there as well," Ochaco said happily. "You got first place, Izumi. That's great. If anyone deserves the top spot, it's you. You helped many people during the exam and saved me from that robot. I wasn't lying when I said you deserved to be on the course".
Izumi was struggling to believe what she was hearing. She was not expecting such high praise from Ochaco, or from anyone for that matter. She didn't do much during the exam. She helped people because it was the right thing to do. She never expected to do so well and have people thank her for helping them.
Tears started to form around her eyes. "T-t-thank you, Ochaco. I'm just so glad that we're all going to be on the hero course," she said happily.
Ochaco smiled on the other end. "Your welcome," she said, "I still can't believe I'm going to UA. It's amazing. We're going to become the best heroes in the world!".
Izumi smiled. "Yes, yes we are!" she said. She was so happy that all her friends had made it onto the hero course. Now she was hoping that they would all be in the same class. But she was worried about something. The teachers at UA may be pro heroes, but, she hoped that she wouldn't have a teacher who was like all the other teachers who taught her. The ones who disregarded her and were generally untrustworthy.
She hoped that her homeroom teacher at UA was a lot nicer than her previous ones.
UA campus
Nezu had gathered the staff of UA to help discuss the make-up of this year's classes, mainly the hero course classes 1-A and 1-B. Most of the teachers were in attendance. He usually wouldn't have so many teachers assisting him with this, mainly the homeroom teachers of 1-A and 1-B. But this year was a bit different, owing to the mental state of a few of their new students. With one, in particular, being the main focus of their worry, as well as her mechanical companion.
"So, we're all in agreement that it'll be a bad idea to have me as Izumi Midoriya's homeroom teacher," Shouta Aizawa, aka Eraserhead, said calmly.
Nezu nodded. "Unfortunately, due to her history of teachers neglecting her and allowing her fellow students to bully her, having someone like you as her homeroom teacher might do more damage than good. Even though I know you would never allow anything like that to happen, your teaching style may prove detrimental to her mental well-being. The fear of being expelled on the first day, for instance, might not have the intended effect on her, not to mention your attitude may remind her of her previous teachers".
"Poor girl," Nemuri Kayama, aka Midnight, said with a frown. "I dread to think what could have happened to her to cause her to try and take her own life. She had such a promising future ahead of her".
Shouta nodded. They were all aware of what happened to Izumi Midoriya. As teachers, they had to be aware of any problems, physical and mental, their students had. Ryo Inui, aka Hound Dog, had informed them of all the new students who were currently undergoing therapy and given them a rundown of their problems so they could best accommodate them, having been given their files from the therapists' who had been helping them. And according to the files provided to them by Isa Tsuneyo before his death, Izumi had been through hell.
Shouta may have a reputation for expelling students, but it was for their own good. He refused to allow students to graduate, only to see them in an obituary a few weeks later. If they don't take this course seriously, then they don't deserve to be heroes. Besides, most of the students he expels get re-enrolled anyway, the scare helping them perform better. But he feared such a thing would have the opposite effect on Izumi. She had already tried to end her life once, twice if you count the sludge villain incident, and an expulsion, even if it was to scare her, could end up pushing her to try again. "I won't take her in one-B then".
"That would be for the best," Ryo said. "I also recommend that we put Katsuki into a different class to Izumi. Despite showing signs of major improvements since the incident, I think it's a bad idea to have them in the same class".
"I concur," Nezu said. "Having the two share a class and dorm might prove detrimental to them both. We should not force them together. Instead, we must let them move at their own pace, and, if they wish to reconnect, it must be by their own volition"
"Fine, I'll take Katsuki," Shouta said with a sigh "Kaina, that means you'll be looking after Izumi in one-A," he said as he turned towards the woman sitting opposite him.
The dark blue and pink-haired woman before him smiled, fidgeting with a loose strand of her hair and slowly moulding it into a bullet. "Fine by me. Poor girl needs a nice teacher for a change. No offence Shouta, you're a great teacher, just not the kind she needs right now," Kaina Tsutsumi, aka the pro hero and ex-HPSC operative, Lady Nagant, said calmly.
"None taken. She needs a teacher she can trust," Shouta said. It was for the best, after all. If circumstances were better, he would have taken Izumi in 1-B without question, but that wasn't the best idea with her current mental state. It's like he said, she needed a teacher she could trust, and his logical ruses would no doubt harm her trust in him.
Kaina nodded before she picked up a file. "I'll also like her to attend quirk counselling because her body is not used to using her quirk. With what happened to her during the entrance exam and All Might telling us she only gained access to her quirk recently, she needs help understanding how her quirk works. She's behind everyone else by almost a decade and is going to struggle to catch up".
"That's probably for the best," All Might said in his emaciated form. He had already told them all that he had been training her for the past ten months so that she could access her quirk. There was no point hiding it since she needed all the help she could get. Only Nezu, Recovery Girl and one other knew the truth that Izumi was his successor and now had One for All.
"So, now that that's sorted out, what do we do about Izumi's emotional support robot Durandal and his quirk emulator?" Ken Ishiyama, aka Cementoss, asked, "The machine made by Paxton".
All Might frowned. He had also informed the staff who had made Durandal and what he could do, but only once Izumi had been confirmed to attend UA. The quirk emulator was the hardest thing to explain and his scariest feature.
"Well, his cover story has already been sorted out," Nezu replied with a smile. "All we need to do is keep an eye on him, tell them not to use the emulator, and keep a list of what quirks he has copied. Speaking of which, Recovery Girl, why exactly did you allow him to copy your quirk?".
All eyes slowly turned towards Recovery Girl, sitting peacefully next to Nezu. "You know full well why I allow that robot to copy my quirk. As scary as it is that Paxton was able to develop a robot that could emulate a person's quirk, you can not deny how useful such an ability would be," she said. "I won't be around forever, you know. One day I will die, either due to old age or at the hands of a villain. This way, even when I die, my quirk will still be available to help people. Besides, she looked like she needed it. Having a robot that can heal people will be quite useful. I'll have to tell her not to rely too much on it. If she keeps breaking herself as she did during the exam, then she could end up causing permanent damage to her body that not even my quirk can fix".
Shouta sighed. "At least we have a rough idea of what quirks he can emulate," he said, "Your sure it's wise to allow such a dangerous weapon to walk the halls of UA?".
"Quite sure," Nezu said with a smile. "We will be able to watch him at all times whilst Izumi is here, and if he does end up causing trouble, I'm sure that we can deal with it".
"Yep, no doubt about that," Higari Maijima, aka Power Loader, said with a slight smirk. He'd destroyed dozens of Paxton's robots before. He could deal with this one just as easily. "Still, a robot capable of emulating quirks. How the hell did that madman manage to do that? How do you even emulate a quirk?".
"I don't know, and I hope never to know." Nezu replied, "The existence of this emulator must be kept secret. Apart from the Midoriya family, no one outside of this room must know about the existence of this device".
"Agreed," Kaina said as she pocketed the bullet she had made. "If the HPSC found out about the device, they'll do anything to get their hands on it. Probably get RAFT involved, the eugenics-loving bastards".
"You'd think the HPSC would try to dissociate themselves from such an organisation," Nemuri remarked with a snarl. "But considering how much power they had to give up after Paxton's war, I'm not surprised they'll try anything to claw their way back up to where they once were".
"I'm just glad that that madman wasn't able to perfect such a device," Ectoplasm remarked. "I dread to think the kind of damage he could do with an army of robots that can emulate people's quirks".
"It'll be the MLA uprising all over again," Hizashi Yamada, aka Present Mic, said with a frown. "Just with an endless army of robots instead of people".
"Yes. Such a shame a brilliant man like him used his *cough* *cough* talents for evil," a woman with a kitsune mutation with brown hair, several tails and fox ears said, coughing into her hand, not that it did much due to the black fox mask she wore "He could have done so much good with such machines *cough*" she said, folding her arms on top of her traditional black kimono dress with red highlights before descending into a coughing fit.
"Are you ok there, Kantō?" Kaina asked, sounding worried, rubbing her fellow teacher's back.
Kantō Izu, aka Blossom, turned her head and smiled behind her mask. "Don't worry about frail old me, I'll be fine".
"Right," Kaina said, glancing at Kantō. She wouldn't call her old, frail maybe, but not old. She looked like she was in her late twenties, for crying out loud, and easily had the largest bust in the room, rivalling that of Midnight and Lady Nagant.
The jury's still out on which of the two had the second-largest bust.
"Well, we can only be glad that the man is dead," Nezu said with a giant smile that unnerved everyone in the room, save for Recovery Girl and Blossom. "All we can do for now is keep an eye on Durandal. Speaking of keeping an eye on things, Eraserhead, when were you going to inform us that you were personally training Hitoshi Shinso?".
Shouta chocked. How the hell did the rat find that out? He did everything he could to keep that a secret. He initially didn't intend to train the young boy to use his capture weapon, just gently nudging him in the right direction. Things just escalated a bit. May have gotten a bit carried away as well. The boy had a powerful quirk. He just wasn't prepared for the entrance exam. It was surprising that the boy managed to get onto the hero course in the first place. Of course, to avoid favouritism, he couldn't take him in 1-B, even though there was no way he would do that anyway. Still, how the hell did the rat find out?
"Seriously, you too?" Kaina said, sounding annoyed, "First, it's All Might personally training Izumi, and now you're personally training Hitoshi. Who else here has been training one of the hero course students before they got onto the course?".
"Well," Sekijiro Kan, aka Vlad King, replied nervously, "I'd say you, but training your eldest daughter is completely different to training a stranger, plus she didn't apply for the hero course. Still, I didn't think you were the kind of person who would take a personal interest in teaching someone privately, Shouta?".
"I'm not," Shouta replied calmly. "He was practising using a mock version of my capture weapon badly. All I did was train him enough so that he didn't accidentally strangle himself with it, I stopped teaching him after that, saying he needed to get into UA's hero course if he wanted to learn more. You'll be surprised how many times that almost happened to me," he explained before he shifted his gaze towards Nezu. "May I ask how you found out about it?".
Nezu laughed. "Come now, Shouta. You, of all people, should know this by now. I know everything!" he said with an unnerving smile, which scared everyone in the room, with only Recovery Girl and Blossom being the only one's not affected. Even All Might was unnerved by Nezu's smile, and he fought All for One! The symbol of evil. To be fair on the principle of unusual size, he was experimented on by Paxton, who had quite the reputation for breaking people. So it's understandable that he's a bit unhinged.
"For that," Nezu added with a smirk "No skipping this year's orientation for class one-B".
Shouta's head hit the table "Fuck," he hated orientation, especially when it was mandatory.
Chapter 9: UA
Once again Izumi found herself standing before the gates of UA. This time not as an examine but as a student. With her was Durandal and her mother, as well as several boxes. Whilst school started tomorrow, today was the day they would move into the dorms. She wasn't wearing her school uniform yet, as officially school started tomorrow, so she was wearing a white shirt that the word 'school uniform' written on it, and a black skirt.
UA, like most hero schools, implemented dorms not long after Paxton's war on the grounds of student safety. Whilst Paxton didn't attack many hero schools, his robots did deliberately attack many of their students. So this was a precaution.
She felt nervous about moving into dorms. She didn't want to leave her mother all by herself, despite how many times Inko said it'll be fine. But, it wasn't that long of a train ride home, so it wouldn't be that difficult to come home to pay her mother a visit.
"Will you be ok without me mother?" Izumi asked, turning back towards her mother.
"As I've told you before, I'll be fine," Inko said with a motherly smile "As long as you remember to call regularly".
Izumi smiled before she rushed over to Inko and hugged her "I love you, mother".
"I love you too, Izumi" Inko said as she returned the hug.
Her mother continued to smile before she broke off the hug "Now, you should go get to your dorm and get set up. Tomorrow will be your first day at UA".
Izumi smiled with a nod before she went over to the trolley with several boxes on it, whilst Durandal had several bags on him. Wavering goodbye to Inko as they headed towards the dorms.
The two quickly made their way through the campus, following Durandal due to him being the only one who knew where they were going. She had been given a map, but with her hands full she couldn't exactly use it.
They weren't the only ones there, as hundreds of other students were carrying their stuff towards their new dorm. Izumi had wanted to arrive early, but it took longer than she had wanted to get everything packed. She had a lot of hero merchandise after all and she didn't want to leave any of it behind.
It did not take them long to reach the dorm Izumi would be staying at, Heights Alliance block 1-A. A five-storey building with four floors dedicated to housing the students whilst the ground floor is a common area with couches, tables, television, kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms.
There were two other students who were arriving at the dorm at the same time as them. One was a floating tank top and shorts, probably a girl with an invisibility quirk, the other was also a girl with pink skin and hair, with two horns on her head wearing a sleeves shirt and shorts. Both of whom were pulling trolleys.
Thank god UA provided trolleys to help the students bring their stuff to their new dorms. With all the stuff some of them were bringing it would be impossible to carry it all.
Izumi was hoping that neither of them would notice her, even though things were slightly better at her new school, she did make two friends there after all. Sadly Hitoshi and Neito were the only friends she made there due to them being outcasts in their school. And ten years of bullying and neglect don't go away so easily, even after spending ten months at a better school and receiving therapy. So she was hoping that they would ignore her.
Oh, how wrong she was.
"Oh hi there!" the pink-skinned girl said as she cheerfully hopped over to them "Are you in one-A as well?" she asked.
"EH!" Izumi said as she froze on the spot. She was not used to people approaching her like this, Hitoshi and Neito were a bit more casual about talking to her, but this girl was like happiness personified "Ur, well, I. Yes".
Then the invisible girl decided to approach "Sweet, that's great. That means we're in the same class. I'm Toru Hagakure. I hope the next three years we spent together are great" she said, holding out an invisible hand.
Izumi looked down at the invisible hand before she nervously brought her hand up and shook it "Izumi Midoriya".
"And I'm Mina Ashido," the pink-skinned girl said with a smile "Nice to meet you Izumi," she said before she looked down towards Durandal "Oh, who's this?" she asked as she crouched down to get a better look at him.
"You can call me Durandal" Durandal replied "I'm Izumi's emotional support robot, and can also help support her with hero work and combat".
"Wow, that's impressive," Toru said "I've never thought of getting a support robot before. You wouldn't know where I can get a robot like him?".
"I think we should put that question on hold and head into the dorm," Durandal said "We do have to get our stuff unpacked after all".
"Oh right, sorry," Toru said "I'm just super excited to be here. Plus we'll be here for the next three years, so that's plenty of time to get to know one another," she said before the two walked towards the dorm. Izumi followed on behind them, already knowing that her fellow classmates will be interested in Durandal. However, the moment they entered the dorm.
"Greetings fellow classmates of one-A!!" a very tall and well-built young man with buzzed, dark brown hair and black eyes and wearing a blue shirt and black trousers, said very loudly with a large smile before he bowed with such force that, if it wasn't for the large pillow laying on the floor before him, would have cracked the floor and his head, probably did at some point due to the bandages on his head "I am Inasa Yoarashi, and I am grateful for this opportunity to train alongside you to become the best heroes we can be!!!".
The three girls and one robot wolf could only watch in bewilderment at the loud and energetic greetings from the boy in front of them.
"And I thought I was excited about being here," Mina remarked with a surprised look on her face.
A loud sigh came from deeper within the common area before a tall girl with long black hair tied into a spiky ponytail and wearing a red shirt and skirt walked up behind Inasa "I apologise about him. He's rather enthusiastic about being here" she said with a polite voice.
"I've always loved UA!!" Inasa added as he zipped back up. "I am so thrilled to be attending this school as one of its students!!".
"I, see," Toru said with a sweatdropped "I'm surprised there was anyone here to meet us. Would have thought everyone would be busy getting their rooms set up".
"Oh, we're recommended students. We arrived here yesterday so our rooms are already set up" the tall girl explained "We're just here to welcome our fellow classmates and help if needed. I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, it's a pleasure to meet you".
Toru and Mina introduced themselves before Izumi. "And I'm Izumi Midoriya. If I may ask, Momo, are you related to Kiryu Yaoyorozu, current CEO of Yaoyorozu Incorporated?".
Momo seemed to smile at Izumi's observation "You seem well informed, Izumi. Kiryu is indeed my father, I'm his oldest daughter and heiress to the Yaoyorozu family. I'm surprised you were able to make that deduction".
Well, that just made her ten times more terrifying.
"Well, my father is currently working onboard one of Yaoyorozu Incorporated Luna harvesters," Izumi said nervously, trying her best to ignore the fact she was talking to the Dragon's eldest daughter "And when I was younger I did a bit of research into Yaoyorozu Incorporated so I could get a better idea of what he was doing".
"Your dad works on the moon!" Mina and Toru said in unison, getting a nod from Izumi.
"That's fantastic!! My older brother is also working on the moon!!" Inasa added loudly "He's a member of the Project Asgard development team!!!".
Project Asgard? That's the Mars colony project. They are still a good seventy-eight years away from even thinking of putting people on Mars, but still, it was amazing to see how quickly mankind was reaching out towards the stars. Still, she wasn't expecting to meet someone else who had a family member working on the moon, or a member of the Yaoyorozu family.
Momo shook her head "We should leave you three be so you can unpack your stuff. We can talk more later" she said "There's a notice board over there that has a list that will tell you which room you've been assigned. And before you ask about there being twenty-one names on it instead of twenty, for some reason we also have one of the students from the support course staying here. A girl named Mei Hatsume from one-H. Apparently, Power Loader didn't want her in the one-H dorm, so she's staying here, with us. No idea why. She moved in with us yesterday but hasn't left her room since".
"Ok," Mina said "I'll talk with you later then," she said before she and Toru walked over to the notice board.
Izumi moved to follow them before Momo asked "What's with the robot wolf?".
"Oh, he's Durandal" Izumi replied "He's my emotional support robot and he's registered as hero support equipment," she said, with Durandal adding a "Yo".
"Durandal?" Momo said sounding curious "So you named him after the legendary indestructible sword of Roland, the leader of Charlemagne's paladins. That's an interesting name for a robot".
"Ah yes, Charlemagne" Durandal said "He always used to call me Durandana, the fruitcake. All the many implements of war to him were in some way feminine. Guessing you know the story, especially the part about Roland breaking me. He couldn't, no one can".
Momo looked at Durandal with a rather surprised look on her face "Ok, was not expecting that response. What's Durandal's AI level by the way?".
"Alpha" Durandal replied smugly.
"You what!" Momo exclaimed with a shocked look on her face "He has a Positronic brain! How did you get your hands on a robot with one of those? I've been trying to get a robot with an Alpha-level AI for years with no success! Best I've ever got was a Beta".
"Ur, that's kind of a long story" Izumi replied "It's not something I like to talk about, especially to someone I just met".
"Oh, I see," Momo said with a frown "My apologies, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'll leave you to get settled in".
Izumi nodded before she walked over to the notice board, Mina and Toru having already found where their rooms were and had left to deposit their stuff in them. all the while Momo watch her 'An emotional support robot with an Alpha-level AI. Just what happened to her to get a robot like that?' Momo said before she had a sudden flash of knowledge 'Wait, Aris Enterprises had a program to give people who tried to commit suicide robots with Alpha level AI's to aid in their recovery and to keep an eye on them. It was canned after only a few months, but, there was one registered patient on the program' she thought, doing her best to hide the shocked look on her face 'Izumi. Just what happened to you?'
Izumi quickly found her name on the list as well as where she was staying. She then check the rest of the list to see if there was anyone she knew who was part of 1-A as well. She smiled when she saw Hitoshi and Neito's names on the list, as well as Ochaco and that Himiko girl Hitoshi was living with, noting that only her first name was on the list. And, for the second time in her life, she wasn't in the same class as Katsuki.
Once that was done she pulled the trolley over to the lift for the girl's side of the dorm and called it. Once it arrived they walked inside just as Inasa welcomed another student to the dorm. They went to the third floor, which was the same floor Ochaco would be staying on. She blushed at the thought and blushed even more when she realised that their rooms were right next to each other.
'I promise, if you fall again, I will be there to catch you' Ochaco's words once again echoed within her mind, remembering the promise the girl had made to her. Calming down, she made her way to her dorm, opened the door and quickly got to work unpacking. It took her about two hours to get everything unpacked and set up. Setting up her hero merchandise took most of the time. She was basically moving her entire room after all.
"There, done," Izumi said with a smile as she finished setting everything up. All her clothes were in the wardrobe, her computer was set up, and the shelves and desk were full of statues of heroes, mainly of All Might. And all her posters of All Might had been put up, including the one with Blitz.
"As I said, if there was ever a shrine to All Might, this would be it," Durandal remarked.
"What can I say, I'm a big fan of his," Izumi said before she frowned "I'm, a little bit worried about going back downstairs".
"It's because of Momo, isn't it?" Durandal asked, getting a nod from Izumi "We both knew this was going to happen at some point. Thankfully we have a cover story that we have used before, thanks to the principal. No idea how All Might was able to get Nezu to help out with it. But, we have it".
"Yeah, I was just hoping that we wouldn't have to test it on someone as rich as Momo," Izumi said "Yaoyorozu Incorporated have businesses everywhere, not just in Japan or on the moon. She's rich rich. Plus it means I have to tell her about my, suicide attempt".
"You don't have to tell her straight away, give it a few weeks and let them earn your trust," Durandal said "It might look suspicious if we tell them about it right away. We only know three people in this class".
Izumi nodded before she stood up "Yeah. Let's leave it for a while" she said before she walked out of the room, and bumped into Ochaco.
"Oh, I'm sorry-. Izumi!" Ochaco said looking surprised "I didn't know you were here already".
"I arrived a few hours ago" Izumi replied, only just noticing that Ochaco was wearing a black top and skirt "I just finished getting my room ready".
"Oh, so have I," Ochaco said "I didn't have much so it didn't take long to unpack everything. But I'm a little worried about where to put the trolley I brought here".
"Oh, I know where to put it," Izumi said "There's a space outside the dorm to put them. A robot will pick them up later. I'll show you where it is".
"Oh, that's handy," Ochaco said as the two walked towards the elevator, pulling their trolleys behind them. Only to find that there was already someone in the elevator. A girl had light dirty blonde hair tied into two messy buns and golden yellow cat-like eyes, wearing a red shirt and long skirt.
"Oops. Sorry, I must have pressed the wrong butto-" the girl said before stopping and looking directly at Izumi "Hay, I recognise that hair, you're the girl who carried me after my leg got broken and let me go ahead of you for therapy".
"Huh," Izumi said, quickly recognising the girl before her "Oh, yeah, I guess that might have been me. I'm Izumi Midoriya".
The girl looked at her with a confused look "Izumi? Wait, your Izumi! Damn it! Why didn't Hitoshi tell me he was friends with you? Gahh! If I knew that I would have asked to meet you so I could thank you".
Izumi looked at the girl with a confused look on her face. Her voice was, familiar, she had heard it before, when talking to- "Wait, Hitoshi? You wouldn't be Himiko perchance?".
"Yep" the girl replied with a smile, showing off her fangs "I'm Himiko, resident of Stadtfeld house alongside Hitoshi, who I am annoyed at for not mentioning you other than by name," she said. She then turned towards Ochaco "Oh, and you must be the girl I told her to go off and save".
"Wait what?" Ochaco asked sounding confused.
"Right, forgot about that. Before Izumi went off and tried to become one punch man, we were carrying Himiko here to safety after her leg got broken" Durandal replied "She told us to put her down so we could rescue you".
"Yep, that I did" Himiko added "Got a lot of rescue points because of it, somehow. Not sure how that works but hay, I'm not complaining. Thanks for that by the way, I don't know how that robot's missile rack exploded on me, nothing hit it. I would have thanked you on the day, but when I saw you on the bus you looked traumatised, like you weren't fully there, so I decided to keep my distance. Good thing you had a cute girl with you to comfort you".
"W-w-w-what!" both Ochaco and Izumi spluttered as they started to blush, all the while Himiko grinned.
"What, who wouldn't want a cute girl comforting them?" Himiko said with a smirk "I know I would. Or a cute boy, I don't really mind~".
Both girls looked at her with deep blushes on their faces, Durandal meanwhile just shook his head "I can see the harem forming already".
"Ur, ok," Izumi said nervously, trying to ignore what Durandal had said "Y-your welcome".
Himiko smiled before she slowly frowned "And eh, thanks for letting me go before you at the therapist, I was, having a bit of a breakdown at the time and I didn't want to spend half an hour sitting there".
"No problem," Izumi said with a smile "You looked like you needed help more than I did," she said. She didn't press further, as she wasn't going to be insensitive by asking why she was there. She knew that the girl needed help. Why she needed help wasn't her business to know.
"Yeah. Isa had been so helpful to me during my, recovery" Himiko said "I don't know what I would have done without his help. But it's been a bit difficult recently, without him".
"Who's Isa?" Ochaco asked.
"Isa Tsuneyo, he was our therapist" Izumi replied "Although Himiko and I only ever saw each other there once. He, died, the day after the entrance exam. He was caught in the crossfire of a villain attack. I-. I haven't been able to find a new therapist since. None of the people I've called wants to help me".
Ochaco gasped as she put her hands over her mouth, keeping her pinkies out so that she didn't accidentally use her quirk. That was horrible! To lose the one person trying to help you recover and have others refuse to help. That's not right.
"Oh god. I-, I'm so sorry" Ochaco cried "Y-you two shouldn't have had to go through that".
"Don't worry, it's ok," Izumi said "UA has a guidance counsellor so I can hopefully ask them for help".
"Same. Although I had things slightly easier since due to my, problems. I need a therapist, so the cares at Stadtfeld house were quick to find me a new one" Himiko said with a frown "But yeah, I know what it's like to not find someone who's willing to help you, not it the right way anyway".
Izumi nodded, hoping that UA's guidance counsellor will be as nice as Isa was "We should probably get moving. We're holding up the elevator and we need to get these trolleys parked up outside".
"Oh, right. We should probably do that" Ochaco said before all three of them crammed themselves into the elevator and went down to the ground floor.
Sadly, upon leaving the elevator they were met by someone Izumi was really hoping to not see again, the blue-haired boy with the engine quirk, who was currently talking to Hitoshi, who was sitting on a sofa with his feet resting on a coffee table with Neito sitting next to him. Most of the other students looked to be down and were milling around. A quick headcount revealed that all but one of the students who would be staying here were down. Guess someone was still setting things up.
"This is disrespectful! You should not put your feet on school property!" the blue-haired boy said, chopping his arm "You are disrespecting those who came before us!".
Hitoshi let out a sigh "Mister, I'm tired. I didn't get much sleep last night, and I just spent the last half hour getting my room sorted out. Could you keep the volume down please?" he asked before he noticed Izumi, Durandal and Ochaco walk out of the elevator "Oh, hay Izumi. See you've met Himiko".
The blue-haired boy turned to look at them and immediately focused on Izumi "You!".
'Oh no not this guy again' Izumi thought, really wishing she wasn't in the same class as this guy.
The blue-haired boy walked over to them and bowed at a nightly degree angle "I wanted to congratulate you, and apologize once again for my shameful behaviour at the exam! You have proven yourself to be the superior hero candidate, having deduced the true nature of the exam while I did not!".
Izumi looked at him with a confused look on her face "What? True nature? Are you referring to the rescue points? Because if you are, then I had no idea that those were a thing until we got our results. I was helping people because it felt like the right thing to do".
The blue-haired boy rose back up "That only makes you more worthy of respect! To protect others at the expense of your own success is an admirable trait!" he said before he held out his hand "I'm Tenya Ida, glad to make your acquaintance".
Izumi nervously introduced herself before asking "By the way, are you related to Tensei Ida, also known as Ingenium?".
"Ah, well, I was hoping to keep that a secret, but yes, I am related to Ingenium. He's my older brother in fact" Tenya replied with a smile "he is a great hero that we should all look up to".
Izumi immediately went into fangirl mode. She didn't expect to meet a relative of a famous pro hero here, plus being Ingenium's younger brother explained why he had engines in his legs. Sadly before she could say anything, Himiko interrupted her "Ok, good for you" she said before she walked past them and over to Hitoshi "Hitoshi! Why didn't you tell me you were friends with the girl with fluffy green hair, emerald eyes and had a robot wolf following them around!?".
Hitoshi looked at her with a tired and confused look "Eh, you mean Izumi-" he said before Himiko grabbed him and started shaking him.
"Yes, I mean Izumi!" Himiko shouted, "Who else has fluffy green hair, emerald eyes and a robot wolf following them around!?".
"She does have a point you know," Neito said "That does accurately describe Izumi".
"Sorry, I was probably tired at the time," Hitoshi said.
"You are always tired!" Himiko said with a frown.
"Izumi, why does that name sound familiar?" one of the other students, a boy with short gold hair with a black lightning-shaped streak, asked.
"I think that's the name of the student who got first place in the entrance exam, ribbit" a girl with a frog mutation and four arms replied.
That got the attention of everyone, something Izumi was hoping wouldn't happen. And soon she found herself surrounded by the entire class, who were all interested that the top scorer was in their class.
"She got the top score, sweet".
"You must be really powerful".
"Why didn't you say you were the top scorer?".
"How did you get your hair so fluffy?".
"Mm".
"Aren't you the one who punched that zero pointer?".
"Yeah, I can't wait to see you in action!!"
"I didn't realise the top scorer was a girl with nice breasts".
Izumi was blindsided by the amount of attention she was getting, not at all used to being surrounded by so many people. The last time this happened was when she brought in Durandal for the first time. This was just like that, but this time, everyone's attention was on her, not Durandal.
Thankfully, Ochaco quickly got everyone to back off "Ok ok, I know you're all impressed, but we kind of have to get our trolleys outside so they could be collected".
With that, the other students gave them space so they could pull their trolleys outside "Wow, not even our first day and you're already popular" Himiko remarked as they walked outside, pulling their trolleys over to where all the other trolleys were.
"Y-yeah" Izumi said nervously "Although I kind of wish that I wasn't".
"Izumi, you're going to have to get used to this kind of thing when you become a pro," Durandal said "Pros have to deal with this kind of thing all the time, especially heroes like All Might. Still, I will have the head of the grape headed boy who made that comment about your breasts".
"Hay, it's not my fault their big" Izumi said with a slight blush "They just, didn't stop growing" which was true. Before she started her training with All Might her chest was almost as flat as a chopping board, but, ten months later, they had grown, a lot. More than she would have liked.
"I can relate to that," Ochaco remarked "One day mine were unimpressive, then, boom! They grew. At least boys don't have this problem".
Himiko smirked as they finished parking their trolleys "Oh, I'm sure the boys have their own problem with things suddenly 'growing'".
Izumi and Ochaco, having taken sex ed at middle school, were blushing up a storm at Himiko's comment, whilst the vampire cat girl giggled at their reaction, 'Oh I like these two'.
"L-lets eh, go back inside," a flustered Izumi said before she turned and robotically walked over to the door, followed by an equally flustered Ochaco and an unfazed Durandal, with Himiko following on behind, still smirking.
As they walked back in, Izumi, still in her flustered state, noticed something flicker against one of the walls. At first, she thought she was seeing things, but when she saw it again a few moments later, she realised something was leaning against the wall, something invisible.
They weren't alone here.
With a sense of urgency she rushed back over to the group, much to the surprise of Ochaco and Himiko "Hay, doesn't anyone have something like a tennis ball? Kind of find myself needing one right now".
Everyone looked at her with confused looks on their faces "Eh, ok. I can make one for you" Momo said sounding confused as a light formed from one of her hands, followed by her pulling out a tennis ball with her other hand and passing it to Izumi.
"Thanks," Izumi said as she took the ball, making a mental note to ask about Momo's creation quirk later. There was no way she was going to approach something that was invisible, especially if it turned out to be hostile, so she was taking the safest option and dealing with it from a distance.
In one swift motion, Izumi turned and threw the ball towards the spot where she saw the flicker. Watching it closely as it flew through the air before stopping a foot or two away from the wall, a partly invisible hand holding it.
The entire class had been watching her with confusion, but now they were looking at the ball with a mix of confusion and fear. Someone was in the room with them, and none of them had even suspected it.
A light chuckle caused several students to jump "Well, aren't your quite the observant one" a female voice said before the rest of the figure who was holding the ball metallised before them. A woman wearing a simple dark bodysuit with two plates underneath her chest and light boots. She had a belt around her waist and a mask covering her face, with dark blue and pink hair on her head. There was also an odd-looking flap of flesh on her right elbow "Don't worry, I mean you no harm" she said as she reached up with her free hand and removed her mask, revealing the face of a beautiful woman with purple eyes "The names Kaina Tsutsumi, also known as the pro hero Lady Nagant. I'm your homeroom teacher for the year".
Most of the class seemed to calm down at that statement, glad that it was just their homeroom teacher and not a villain spying on them. But it did make a few of them wonder why she was invisible and if that was her quirk. Izumi on the other hand.
"Ahhhh, I don't believe it, we've got Lady Nagant as our homeroom teacher!" Izumi squealed with excitement before zipping over towards Kaina, holding out one of her notebooks "Can you sign this for me please!".
'Where did she get that from?' several students wondered, not seeing where she had retrieved her notebook from.
Kaina looked slightly surprised at the speed Izumi moved over to her but wasn't one to say no to a fan that wanted an autograph. Getting out a pen from her uniform she took the notebook and looked at the page Izumi had opened it to, which had both a detailed drawing of her as well as a very detailed analysis of her quirk 'Holy cow, this is the best analysis of my quirk I've ever seen. Nezu will definitely want to meet with her' she thought as she signed the page and passed the book back to Izumi, who was visibly vibrating with excitement.
"Is this normal for her?" Himiko asked looking surprised.
"Yes," Hitoshi and Neito replied in unison.
Izumi quickly returned to the group, looking at her new autograph with a large smile. Kaina then couched to get everyone's attention "Now then, I know some of you have a few questions but-" she said before she paused and did a quick headcount "Damn it Mei. Momo, can you go get Mei for me please, there are things I need to explain and she needs to be down for them".
"Yes ma'am," Momo said before she made her way towards Mei's room, coming back about a minute later with another girl behind her.
The new girl had shoulder-length salmon pink hair that was styled into thick dreadlocks, and green-yellow eyes that had crosshair-shaped irises. She was wearing a plain black tank top with workshop coveralls tied around her waist, with red and gold steampunk goggles on her head.
She also had a railgun slung over her back, the sight of which caused several students to take a few steps away from her, and for Kaina to let out a sigh of annoyance. Izumi on the other hand noticed something interesting about the railgun, it didn't have a scope, just iron sights.
"Mei, why did you bring the Rorsch?" Kaina asked looking slightly annoyed.
"I thought you wanted me for sniper practice" the girl, Mel, replied with a smile.
Kaina let out another sigh "No, I-. I need to introduce you to the hero course students you'll be staying with".
"Oh, so that's who these people are," Mei said with a smile as she turned towards 1-A "Great! I can't wait to make some super cute babies with you lot!".
"WHAT!" was the collective response from the twenty hero course students present, even the one who made the perverted comment about Izumi's breasts was taken aback by Mei's statement.
"She means support equipment," Kaina said "One-A, meet Mei Hatsume from one-H. She's part of the support course but she's staying here because, and I'm quoting Power Loader here, 'I don't want her blowing up the one-H dorm again".
'Again!' several students thought as they turned towards Mei. It's not even the first day of school yet and she's already blown up a dorm!
"What, you can't make an omelette without an explosion or two!" Mei said with a smile.
"Well, that explains why she's not in the one-H dorm," Momo said "But, why is she in our dorm or any dorm with other people in it for that matter?".
Kaina sighed "Due to the policy of homeroom teachers staying in the same dorm as their students, it was decided that, as Mei's mother, I'm the only one who can keep her explosive tendencies in check".
"Mother!" several students gasped.
"If she's her mother, why do you have different last names?" a boy with red spiky hair asked.
"She's adopted" Neito replied with a sigh "Lady Nagant isn't married, so she don't have any-".
"Incorrect" interrupted Izumi "She married Snipe four years ago and had twins over a year later".
"Seriously! How do you know these things?!" Neito asked.
'Finally, someone who's been paying attention' Kaina thought with a smile. It's been four years since she married Snipe, and most people outside of UA still don't know about her marriage. How the hell do people not know about her marital status?
"Note to everyone present, do not challenge Izumi to a quiz about heroes, she will always win," Hitoshi remarked "Learned that the hard way".
"Yep, I'm adopted!" Mei said, "Been like that since my mother died eleven years ago".
The mood in the room suddenly went darker. Eleven years, that meant it was highly likely that her mother died during Paxton's invasion of Japan. And going by her comment, Mei was adopted by Kaina not long after her mother's death. Probably before the HPSC lost the authority to train and control its own heroes. Ochaco felt the worse because they were the same, children who lost their parents due to a madman and his army of machines.
"I-, I'm sorry for your loss," Ochaco said quietly.
"Oh don't worry about it," Mei said calmly "I know I miss having my mother around, and that I can't show her any of the super cute babies I've been making. I know she would be proud of me!".
Izumi let out a relieved sigh, glad that Mei was ok, if slightly eccentric. Losing her mother during such a difficult time could not have been good "That's good to hear. But, what about your father?"
"My father? I don't know much about him. He died before I was born" Mei replied "Well, now that's that all done, I'm going back to my room to work on a few things!" she said before she headed over to the stairs. The rest of the class just watched her leave.
"Is this, normal for her?" Izumi asked sounding slightly worried.
"Yep" Kaina replied with a nod "She's not exactly good at expressing her emotions and prefers to focus on her, 'babies'. But, if you do need support equipment then she will be willing to make something for you, just be careful with them, as they are prone to exploding".
"So, anyone know how she blew up a dorm?" Durandal asked before realising speaking was probably a bad idea, as Mei suddenly zipped over to him, looking at him with a large smile on her face "Oh no".
"Why did no one tell me they had a robot with them!" Mei said as started examining Durandal "You look like a custom model. Who made you? What's your AI level? What can you do? Come on, tell me your secrets!".
Izumi sighed. She probably should have seen this coming. Durandal was a highly advanced robot after all with features that aren't really available on the market. She'd probably have to keep Mei from taking him apart, just so she doesn't find out about the Quirk emulator.
Still, even though things were working out for her, she was wondering how Katsuki was doing.
1-B dorm.
Katsuki let out an annoyed sigh. Today had been well, for the most part. He was the only one from Aldera Junior High to make it into UA, which didn't feel as good to him as it should have. Maybe because Izumi wasn't there with him. The principal (who hadn't been replaced) was overjoyed with the news, but he just had to sour the event by adding that he did well due to not having that quirkless girl around. He held back from saying 'she has a name' which wasn't Deku.
Perfectly crafted backstory his arse. You don't see All Might bullying quirkless children and telling them to jump off a building in the vain hope of being reincarnated with a quirk. What kind of hero does that?
Isa dying didn't help things either. The man had been helpful during his therapy sessions, but then some fucking dumb villain had to go and kill him, which fucking sucked as they were making good progress, and now he had to waste time getting to know a new therapist. At least his anger management sessions were being handled by someone else.
At least now he was here at UA without the rest of the useless extras from Aldera weighing him down, who he refused to call anything else due to how horrible most of them were. He lost count of how many times he had to remove red spider lilies some arsehole decided to put on Izumi's old desk. That was a dick move and not something he would ever do, even before the incident. At least the students here deserved to have names, they were hero course students, after all, training to become heroes like him.
He had long since set up his room, as well as met their homeroom teacher, some hobo-looking guy named Shota Aizawa who introduced himself by, and I'm not kidding here, crawling into the building whilst in a sleeping bag like a caterpillar. Rather creepy, but if he was their homeroom teacher then he must be a pro-hero, even though he didn't tell anyone his hero name.
Izumi probably would have been able to tell who he was the moment he walked into the building. But, she wasn't here, she wasn't a part of 1-B. That didn't mean she wasn't here, he saw the results from the exam and her name was right above his, with far more rescue points than he had, so she was probably in class 1-A.
The old him would probably have been really pissed off by rescue points, thinking they were irrelevant or something like that. But, they weren't here to just learn how to beat up shity villains, they were here to learn how to save people as well. All Might never got to be the number one hero just by beating people up, he was the goddamn symbol of peace for crying out loud, people feel safe around him.
Speaking of the exam, there was that shit Izumi pulled off. He had no idea where the hell she had gotten that suit of armour from, but whatever it was, bloody hell was it effective. She was running around like mad smashing up robots left and right and helped a lot of people out when they needed it. But there was one thing that stuck out the most, her taking on that Zero pointer, and winning. A lot of the other competitors were talking about how strong that suit was, but, when she one shot that massive robot, that wasn't the suit doing. No doubt about it, that was a quirk, a very powerful one as well.
How she got her hands on a quirk he didn't know, she was diagnosed as quirkless after all. To be fair, Dr Tsubasa did lose his medical licence due to misdiagnosing some rich girl as quirkless, so it was possible that other people he treated got misdiagnosed as quirkless as well. Was Izumi one of them? It was possible. If that was the case, then why did it take so long for her quirk to emerge?
At first, he thought she was lying about not having a quirk, but he quickly discarded that idea. It was unlike her to hide something like this, impossible even. She always wanted to have a quirk, so she'd be over the fucking moon if she got one and would let everyone know about it. So that was out. So then, how did she get a quirk?
He had heard of late bloomers, people whose quirks came in late. But, he never heard of one coming out this late. Something happened to her during the ten months between the incident and the exam. But he wasn't going to push it. How she got her quirk was not his business, not anymore. He gave up that right when he was 4 when this shit started. But, he was slightly annoyed that she scored higher than him, all thanks to rescue points. But only slightly.
Speaking of rescue points, there was the small problem that he had them and had gotten them completely by accident.
"So, back in the exam you were, like, totes awesome fam. Blowing up robots like they were, like, paper".
Katsuki sighed. Sitting beside him on one of the sofas and talking to him was a girl with brown hair and eyes, named Camie Utsushimi. The girl he 'saved'. He didn't mean to, he didn't even see that she was about to be stepped on by a three-pointer. The robot was in his way, and he destroyed it. There and simple. Yet, somehow, even without meaning to save anyone, he got points for it, ten of them. Not that he was pissed off about them.
"And then you blew up that robot that was totes gonna step on me" Camie continued "Thanks for that by the way fam".
"Yeah, whatever," Katsuki said looking away from the girl. A part of him wanted to just scream at her to go away, and it took a lot of concentration to resist it. He already messed up one person's life, he wasn't going to mess up another, especially another hero course student. One day he may need to rely on these people for help. Not everyone All Might brought down he did so all by himself, and even he had sidekicks. He just needs to learn how to help people and ask for help when he needs it.
"So, what are you two up to?" a floating head with Green hair and eyes asked with a smirk as it floated up between them. This was Setsuna Tokage, one of two recommended students in class 1-B. That meant she was strong and smart, with a quirk then allowed her to split her body up. And right now, she was busy teasing everyone in 1-B. Him and Camie especially since they were 'talking' a lot.
"Oh, not much. Just talking about how lit the entrance exam was, lol" Camie replied.
'lit' 'lol'? WTF is this girl saying? Who talks like that?
"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that," Setsuna said as her head came to rest between the two "I'm a recommended student so I didn't partake in the same exam, so I'm really interested in what you lot did for the practical".
"We fought shity robots that were based on Paxton's machines" Katsuki replied "Even had a Titan there as a zero pointer".
"Paxton's robots huh? Didn't think UA would be using those" Setsuna remarked "But then again, they probably weren't as strong as the real things. If they were then no one would have passed. His basic machines are as strong as B rank villains after all".
"Oh, don't forget that chick with the fluffy green hair who took down that big robot," Camie said "That was so lit!".
Katsuki let out an annoyed sigh whilst Setsuna smirked "Oh did she now? That's interesting. Would have expected something like that from one of us recommended students. Who is she?".
"Izumi Midoriya" Katsuki replied "She got first place in the practical exam".
"Ah, that means she's in one-A, alongside Inasa Yoarashi and Momo Yaoyorozu," Setsuna said "That means one-A has some serious powerhouses over there. Both first-place students for the entrance and recommendation exams plus the Yaoyorozu Dragon's eldest daughter. Yep, I am not looking forwards to joint training with them, not one bit".
"I'm sorry, but, who's the Yaoyorozu Dragon?" Camie asked looking confused.
Katsuki sighed as he rolled his eyes whilst Setsuna proceeded to explain who Momo's dad was. This was not how he expected his first day at UA to go, but, it could have been a whole lot worse.
At least he can't ruin Izumi's life anymore.