His arm came back mid way through school.
And he chose not to use his quirk again, despite the constant harassment from his friends.
As the last bell rang, he walked to the gates and waited.
Three years younger than him, his sister went to the same school. And he would discuss this with her on the way home.
And then with his parents.
"Rumi." He called as he watched her come with her friends.
She looked at him and then down at his arm. A flash of disappointment flashed in her face. "What is it?"
"We need to talk." He said.
Rumi looked to her friends and shrugged, "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" And then walked up to her brother.
The two siblings began their walk home.
"I did something stupid today." Rakuro began.
Rumi looked at him in shock, "Did you ask someone out on a date?"
Rakuro was taken aback, "What? No!" He brought a hand to his face and continued, "I applied to UA."
"Their general course is good. Best Jeanist was endorsing it a couple weeks back." Rumi nodded.
Rakuro sighed.
The fashion freak obviously knew about everything happening in the fashion world. Best Jeanist being on her radar should have been obvious.
"I applied to the Hero course."
She nodded along, "You applied to the Hero course. What's wrong about that?" Then it clicked. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "YOU APPLIED TO THE HERO COURSE?!"
"Peer pressure." He answered.
"Yeah. You are right." She looked at him as if he was a stranger, "You did something stupid."
"I guess I shouldn't have applied huh?" Rakuro put both of his hands behind his head.
Rumi walked in silence.
"You think I can ask them to change it?" He asked again not hearing a reply the first time.
"No." Rumi answered, "I called you stupid because you don't train your quirk. Not like everyone else. Not as hard as everyone else. Even the weakest quirk user applying to the Hero course can beat you easily. Your friends should be able to beat you without breaking a sweat."
"One spews acid and the other hardens." Rakuro waved her off.
Rumi squinted at him, "Are you saying you could beat them?"
Rakuro chuckled, "I beat the worst possible games with the hardest settings. This should be easier."
"You are comparing your friends to games?" Rumi asked, "Your friends who are fitter than you. Faster than you. And most likely.... stronger than you."
"I... could find a way." Rakuro answered but the stutter failed him.
Rumi chuckled, "Even you don't believe it. Now tell me. What made you choose the Hero course? What did those two say?"
"I got baited." Rakuro looked at his feet, "They told me that I could set a high score."
Rumi raised her eyebrows, "And who do you have to beat to set this high score?"
Rakuro mumbled something.
"Louder please."
"All Might." Rakuro spoke louder.
Rumi doubled over in laughter, "You want to beat All Might's score?! You?"
The laughing continued all the way till they got home.
"We are home!" The two announced as they removed their shoes and stepped in.
"Where are you going?" Rumi asked as Rakuro sprinted to the kitchen.
Rakuro rummaged for something in the fridge and walked out with two cans of Riot Blood. The energy drink he never seemed to get tired of. "I'm going to do some research."
"On?"
"On everything required for me to set a new high score." He answered and ran up the stairs without waiting for a reply.
Frankly, his sister had gotten on his nerves.
Laughing for a few minutes was fine. But for that long? That was just looking down on him. And he could not have that.
She had overstepped her boundaries.
The hierarchy in the home.
The superiority of the older sibling.
He'd have to put her in her place now.
-x-
"We are home!" Eika and Senji Hizutome walked into their home and were immediately met with Rumi peeking her head out of the main living area.
"Welcome back!" She said.
Eika entered the room and looked around, "Rakuro's playing again?" She asked.
Rumi shook her head, "I guess you'd have to wait for dinner."
"Then that's good. We brought food from outside already." Eika chuckled.
Senji walked in with two heavy plastic bags, "Here you go." He placed them on the coffee table and walked out of the room, "I'll freshen up and come right down."
"What's the occasion?" Rumi asked.
Eika pointed at her lab coat, "The institute was handing out coupons for a local fried chicken restaurant and your dad and I decided to just get it today."
This was another Hizutome family thing. Senji always picked his wife up from work. Not only was it good for their relationship, it was also the most optimal way to get hope. They both would save a lot of time and money if they came together instead of separately. And this often resulted in unplanned early dinners.
"I'll go get Rakuro to come down for dinner then." She ran up the stairs and knocked on his door. "Rakuro!"
The door swung open. "What?"
"Dinner's waiting for you downstairs."
"This early?"
"Some coupon thing from mom's institute."
Rakuro nodded and began walking down.
"Were you playing?" Rumi asked.
He shook his head. "I'm working on something."
"For the Hero course?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I will not be saying anything more than what is absolutely necessary." Rakuro answered.
As the family sat down for dinner, Eika asked, "So... how was school?"
Rumi coughed as she looked at Rakuro.
Both parents turned to Rakuro questioningly.
Glaring at his sister, Rakuro answered his parents, "We had to hand in our applications for high school today."
Both parents looked surprised.
"That early?" Asked Senji.
"Seems like it." Rakuro answered. "And I filled up my form."
Eika leaned forward, intrigued, "Where did you apply to?"
"UA."
Senji nodded, "UA's general course is very good. Just what you wanted right?"
Rumi started breathing heavily trying to hold in her laughter.
The two parents looked at her in a confused manner.
Taking a deep breath, Rakuro spoke, "UA's Hero course."
For a moment both parents froze, their breath hitching. Did they hear that correctly? Did their son.... the one who had exhibited zero interest in the hero business.... that son.... applied to the Hero course at UA?
"Are you sure?" Senji asked.
Rakuro looked at both parents and then explained, "The Hero course has an extra exam tacked on after the end of the written exam for the general course. That's all. Failing the Hero course means I just go into the general one."
"No. I think he means that are you sure you want to be a Hero?" Eika asked. "It is not something you go into without completely making up your mind."
"The goal isn't to become a hero mom. I just want to try out the exam." Rakuro answered, "My friends convinced me to attempt it.... and I think I'd regret it if I didn't at least attempt it."
Senji placed his chopsticks down, "Then you will have to train your quirk. And your body."
"I've got two months from now." Rakuro nodded, "I won't be able to make a big change in my body but I can build up stamina and train my quirk as much as possible."
"And by train you mean?" Eika asked.
"By train I mean roll as much as possible and familiarize myself with as much of my quirk as possible." Rakuro answered, "Just enough to be able to adapt to any situation with any ability I manage to pull before the exam as well as work out some strategies before hand that will always be constant." He looked at his food and started picking at it, "I was looking through online forums of previous examinees and though they change it every year, the overall setup is still the same. Beat villains and save as many as you can. Obviously the villains are fake and the situation is controlled but that leaves a lot of loopholes to be exploited. Quite like preparing for a boss raid. I just need to assess everything before making a move. And my actual performance on the day will quite surely be based on what I get. But if I really wanted to put my mind to becoming a hero that path is also doable. I just need to save as many as I can, while eliminating some villains. That's all. Since most people will be going after the villains, I'd have enough time and space to save as many people as I can. A pacifist route. Even though I'm not planning to become a hero.... this route is still very attractive. Simply because I want to set as high as a score as I can."
He finished and ate a piece of fried chicken and leaned back into his chair.
Only to see the startled faces of his family looking at him.
"What?" He asked.
Eika's hand rose to her mouth, "You are actually sure about this...."
"He is actually serious...." Rumi muttered.
"If you have done the necessary research..... then I don't see why not. It is an opportunity you might regret missing." Senji said, "For now train in the yard outside and once school's over you can train at the space behind our company warehouse. It is wide open and spacious enough for you to do whatever you want without putting anyone in harms way." He then turned to the rest of his family, "Lets finish our food, don't want this getting cold."