Chapter Text
Izuku let out a yelp as the claws nearly glazed his cheek. He grabbed a tree trunk and swung to the side dodging the creature’s next swipe. Fortunately for him his destination had been at the top of a hill so leaving was a lot quicker than arriving. Unfortunately, the unchecked momentum of going down a wooded hill at full tilt was a perfect recipe for a twisted ankle so he couldn’t run quite as fast as he wanted to.
Izuku heard the leaves crackle behind him and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He dropped and rolled to the side just in time to avoid the creature’s pounce. The boar-sized cat skidded to a halt a little past were he had been running. Its forked tail lashed with excitement. It bared its teeth in what looked disturbingly like a grin.
Izuku hauled himself to his feet and hightailed it, weaving around trees and brush in hopes that it would slow the beast down.
“Wildcat Nekomata are pretty rare,” Bill commented with interest. “I’m surprised that you actually managed to find one.”
Izuku did not have the energy to respond at this point.
Just then, the big cat pounced on Izuku. He slammed hard into the ground. The air left his lungs all at once. One of the Nekomata’s large paws pressed down on his chest making it hard to draw in another breath. The warm moist air puffing against his face smelled of corpses. Izuku fumbled at his side and grabbed his water bottle. He tore the lid off and flung the contents in the creature’s face. It drew back with an angry yowl.
Not wasting a second Izuku was on his feet and running again. The breath in his lungs burned, but Izuku pushed himself to go faster. The leaves crackled as the cat pursued him but he didn’t look back. Ahead of him the trees opened up. Something was shining in the sunlight.
A river!
Izuku drew on the last dregs of his strength and flung himself forward. The water was cold, for a second his body seized up, but Izuku recovered and clawed his way to the surface. He quickly turned around. The Nekomata was on the riverbank watching him. It paced up and down a few times and snarled at him.
Izuku let himself relax a little; it wasn’t going to follow him. Now he just needed to get into town. The few supernaturals he’d encountered didn’t seem to like populated areas. However, now that he thought about it he had not really looked for magic items within the city yet.
The Nekomata let out a frustrated snarl and slunk back into the forest.
Izuku began to swim as fast as he could.
Izuku stopped off at the deserted coin locker on his way home to recover his clean dry clothes, backpack, and some bandages. He retreated to the bathroom to change and dress his injuries. Potential grounding aside, he didn’t particularly feel like explaining the puncture marks from the beast’s claws.
He paused in front of the mirror to inspect his handiwork.
“Nice shiner! You should tell your mom you’ve taken up boxing! Or better yet cage fighting!”
“No,” He firmly told Bill.
Izuku fished around in his pack and pulled out a makeup kit. Carefully he covered the bruise and then inspected his appearance again. He nodded. Time to head home.
“How’s your story research going?”
Izuku looked up from his place on the couch to see his mom looking at him.
“It’s going well,” He said adding a final line to his sketch of the nekomata as well as a note that it disliked water.
He had realized early on that it was better to hide his new knowledge in plain sight, thus his cover story.
His Mom sat down beside him and leaned over his shoulder to look.
“Your artwork is really improving.” She leaned over to give him a little side hug. “I’m really looking forward to your story. You’ve always been so creative.”
Izuku hid his impulse to grimace under a smile. He really had no idea how he was going to fit writing a story into his already busy schedule, but if he was going to keep up the excuse, he needed to at least pretend he was working on it.
He closed the notebook and leaned into his Mom with a sigh. He really hated lying to her. Not only that but it seemed like every one he told lead to another.
She rested her head on his for a moment.
“You should get to bed early,” She said giving his shoulder a squeeze. “You have a big day tomorrow.”
Then there was that.
Izuku kept to the edges of the crowd as he passed under the towering gates of UA High School. All around him, the other students talked and laughed, most having separated off to cluster with other people from their school. Speaking of which…
Izuku’s head swiveled around as he looked for a familiar head of yellow hair. Eventually he spotted it. Just in time too. Katsuki was coming in Izuku’s direction. He quickly backed up trying to hide in the crowd.
“Oof.”
His back hit someone and he stumbled but recovered. He turned around to see a tall black haired teen looking down at him with a severe frown.
“You need to watch were you are going,” He said in a loud voice, adjusting his glasses. “You could have caused someone an injury! If you are going to be a hero you must be aware of your surroundings at all times!”
Izuku winced.
“S-sorry,” He stuttered, shoulders up around his ears. “I was… I was distracted!”
“A moment’s distraction could cost a life!”
The boy chopped his arms violently. Based on his voice he was just getting warmed up.
“Sorry,” Izuku said again, eyes darting around as he tried to find a way to escape.
“Hey, can you tell me what time it is?” A girl’s voice to his right asked. “I don’t want to be late.”
The dark haired boy sharply brought his wrist up. He blinked and then made a chopping motion with his arm.
“We have exactly five minutes before the introduction starts! We must hurry!”
With that, he pivoted and made a beeline for the auditorium.
Izuku blinked with surprise staring at the girl. She looked back at him and gave him a smile that dimpled her round cheeks.
“You looked like you needed some help.”
Izuku blinked again before flushing, waving his hands about, and sputtering something he hoped sounded like “Thank you”.
“Nialed it,” Bill commented in his head.
Fortunately she seemed to understand him.
“You’re welcome,” She said.
They stood there for a moment before she glanced toward the auditorium and said, “Well… We should get going. Maybe I’ll see you later?”
With that she gave him a wave and took off into the crowd. Izuku watched her brown head disappear in a daze before shaking his head and starting toward the auditorium himself.
I talked to a girl. Izuku thought feeling inordinately pleased with himself.
“You really didn’t.”
Giant. Robots.
He had heard rumors about U.A.’s entrance exam but he had always thought they were exaggerated. Something resembling a large scorpion came after him. The number painted on it indicated it was a two-pointer. He dodged behind a car and flicked his lighter.
He rolled out from behind the car and, hardly a moment later, the robot smashed it into the wall of the building behind him. As he came up from his roll, he directed a stream of fire from his lighter at the robot. It wove around the plates and into the circuitry behind them. The robot crackled with electricity and collapsed.
One more down.
Who’d have thought running from things that wanted to eat me would be such a useful skill for getting into my dream school?
“I’m the best teacher,” Bill said smugly.
Teacher didn’t seem like quite the right word, but Izuku wasn’t really in a position to argue.
There was a crunch behind him and Izuku spun around just in time to see a beam of light cut through the robot that was about to pounce on him. Izuku rolled to the side to avoid its collapse.
“Merci,” Said the blond who had just helped him. “Nice team play.”
He winked at Izuku and took off in pursuit of another robot. It looked like he was wearing some sort of support gear belt. What did…
“6 MINUTES, 2 SECONDS LEFT!” Present Mic’s voice announced.
Izuku’s pulse picked up. He slapped the sides of his face. He needed to focus.
He spotted another two-pointer and took off after it.
Was there a way he could harness its firepower to take down the other robots, maybe? It was risky but it he got astride it he could…
BOOM!
The ground shook violently and a shadow fell over him.
Izuku looked up and felt his mouth go dry. Another robot had entered the scene.
It was as big as… No! Bigger than the buildings.
“Man! I need to meet the principal!” Bill said, sounding impressed. “Anyone who lets something like that loose on a group of kids is my kind of person!”
It was bedlam. Everyone began sprinting away from the robot as chunks of concrete rained down. One slammed into the back of Izuku’s leg. He gasped with pain.
There was no time to focus on that. He had to get out of here.
Izuku started moving as quickly as he could, hopping and favoring his injured leg. He could feel the fatigue building from all the magic he’d used. He would have very little time before he passed out now that he was bleeding.
He hazarded a glance back. The robot was moving quickly. He wasn’t going to be able to outrun it. Stress tears welled in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and swung his gaze forward. He needed to…
“Ugh…”
He heard a groan to his left.