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Chapter Text

Izuku decided that today would have been a good day to stay home.  Not that he ever did miss school on a regular basis, however today would have a been a particularly great day to not show his face to the world.  Not only did he almost die at the hands of a sewage villain , but he met his idol (All-Might), got his dreams crushed by said idol, then almost died AGAIN (this time with a guest appearance from Kacchan), was saved again by his idol, remembering why he idolized him in the first place, and now was sitting with a shock blanket wrapped snug around his shoulders, shivering, not because he was covered in sludge, but out of shame because three different pro-heros were chewing him out for being an idiot.  

“I mean honestly, kid!  What were you thinking!”   I don’t know, Izuku thought to himself.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed!”  Well, I’m not trying , he thought again.

“You’re lucky All Might showed up,” Yeah, I know . “Or you would have been toast, you and your friend.  Just leave the saving to us, kid.”

“I mean you’re quirkless, for pete’s sake!” Yeah, I knew that much.  “What did you think you could do?  Just leave the saving to the people who have the quirks to do so.”

Izuku felt the familiar feeling of tears streak down his face as the hero grounded his dreams even farther into the dirt.  The heroes had not given Izuku enough room to breathe, much less take in all that they were saying.

“Hey, man, I think you went too far,” One of the other heroes, Kamui Woods, pulled his coworker back from where he was leaning over Izuku, “The kid was obviously just trying to help his friend.”

The hero, probably a sidekick, thought Izuku as he had never seen him before, shrugged Wood’s hand off his shoulder, “Yeah, well, that doesn’t give him an excuse to just-”

“Excuse me boys,” One of the EMTs had come up behind the trio, cutting off the presumed sidekick, “I need to look over this young man before he is allowed to go home.  I need to make sure he didn’t sustain any injuries.” She had what looked like to be a couple towels and a water bottle, standing confidently in front of the pros, her stare giving no room for them to argue.

The sidekick huffed, walking away without another glance at Izuku, followed by the other two, Kamui shooting a sympathetic look at Izuku, leaving him behind with the EMT.  She looked not older than his own mother, her dark brown hair pulled up into a ponytail showing off her kind brown eyes with wrinkles lining the edges. She came up to Izuku without another word, handing him the water bottle and squatting down in front of him.

Izuku could still feel the tears running silently down his face, as the lady took one of the towels and began patting down his arms, removing patches of sludge off his arms as she went.  Her hands were gentle as she went about cleaning him, letting Izuku calm down, his breathing coming becoming less harsh and tears slowing down as she started on his other arm.

When she was finished the EMT sat down besides Izuku, breaking the silence with audible sigh, “I think… what you did was very brave.”

Izuku felt his heart stop, he didn’t think he heard her right, “W-wait, what?”

She turned her kind eyes on him, wrinkles becoming more prominent, a small smile gracing her lips.   Wow, I really want to see my mom right now, thought Izuku, as the EMT reminder him more of Inko Midoriya with every passing moment.

She repeated her statement, “I think what you did was brave.  You saw your friend in trouble and you went to save him,” She paused, looking deep in thought before she spoke again, “I think I would have gone insane if I saw my friend like that, and then to not do anything to help, when everybody was just watching it like a movie.  No, I think you did the right thing.”

He couldn’t believe it, no one has ever said anything like that to him before.  His mind went reeling before he could stop. “Ma’am, I-I don’t think you have it right!  I’m not brave! H-he, Kacchan, I couldn’t leave him l-like that! It just looked-It looked like he was asking for help!  He looked l-like he was hurting and I just had to help! I don’t- I don’t think that’s bravery… It was stupid of me! I-I, I mean, you heard the other hero, I’m quirkless!  I could have gotten-We could have gotten hurt, or worse, I-I could have gotten Kacchan killed! I- I…” Tears had started rushing down his face again. God, Izuku felt like such a crybaby.

The EMT however, through all of Izuku’s ranting, didn’t interrupt once, letting Izuku say all his thoughts aloud.  After Izuku had come to an abrupt sort of halt, the EMT looked down at her hands for a moment and then looked over at the distressed Izuku.

“Last week we had a little boy, maybe four or five years old, just come into his fire quirk,”  She took one of Izuku’s hands into her own, trying to calm the boy down again as she told her story, “A type of pyrokinesis quirk, y’know.  Anything he touched with is forefingers caught on fire. You can imagine how dangerous it was. They were at the hospital because he had burned himself and his mother pretty bad. This kid’s quirk didn’t give him any resistance to fire and his mother just trying to help.”

Finding his voice again, Izuku commented, “T-that’s awful…”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.  I was the one incharge of treating his burns.  He had been passed out for a while there, and his mom was beside him so she wouldn’t freak out when she woke up.  I had left the room to go get some more gauze when the kid woke up in a panic. I don’t think he remembered his quirk, so on his way off the bed to get to his mom, he set the sheets on fire.”

The EMTs eyebrows scrunched up, another sigh passed her lips as she continued.  “By the time he realized what he had done, poor kid had trapped his mom and himself in the room, the entrance pretty much blocked off by the burning bed,” Her voice trembled a bit, and Izuku still didn’t know why she was telling him this if it was hurting her to say it.  “I saw the smoke from down the hall, and before even thinking about it, I ran in, pushed the hot metal bed away, and grabbed the kid and his mom and pushed them out into the hall.”

As she said this, she flipped her hands over, Izuku not having paying much attention to them earlier.   The EMT had what looked to be old burns that littered the expanse of her palms, her fingertips looking smoothed over, missing the swirls of fingerprints and details unique to each set of hands.  

“I got them out just fine.  The kid was pretty rattled after, y’know, it was the second time in forty-eight hours that he nearly burned himself and his mother alive,”  She continued, “I, however, didn’t really pay attention to myself until the fire was out and they were being looked over. I had burned my hands pretty severely, lost all the nerve in both of them and the hot metal had ripped almost half the skin off my hands.”

Izuku was looking up at the EMT with wide eyes, his empathy getting the best of him as he started crying for umpteenth time today.  He felt as though he was never going to run out of tears.

The EMT just took it in stride though, starting to dab at Izuku’s face with clean towel.  “My supervisor chewed me out pretty thoroughly afterwards. ‘What were you thinking?’ was his main concern and you know what I told him?  It wasn’t much different that what you said earlier,” She turned her face towards Izuku, looking him in the eye with nothing but empathy and understanding, “It looked like they needed help, and I just.  Went.”

It felt as if someone just gripped his heart, squeezing with all their might.  She knew how he felt. She knew.  When Izuku went to help Kacchan, he didn’t think about himself.  All he thought about was how much Kacchan needed help. And like she said, he just went.  There was nothing else to it.

Izuku couldn’t help when he said, “... I think- I think I know how you feel.”

The EMT squeezed his hand, “Yeah… I thought as much.  When they told me what you did, I had a feeling that it was a similar experience.”

She stood up and dusted off her pants. “Kid, you got something in you that most people don’t.  Now, as to what it is, I’m still asking myself the same question. But what you did was brave, and I don’t give a damn what anyone else says.”

Izuku felt a warmth pour into him, a comfort only a mother could give, or in this case, a really, really nice EMT. “I, um… Thank you.” Maybe today wasn’t all that bad.

She gave a small chuckle, patted Izuku on the head, and started to walk off, “Hey, no problem, kid.  And by the way, my name is Akito Sasaki. Look me up if you ever head into the health profession.”

Izuku stumbled to get his name out, “Ah, my name- my name is Izuku Midoriya!”

Sasaki gave him a bright smile, “It was nice to meet you Midoriya!  Stay out of trouble!” She called to him as she went to rejoin her colleagues.

He gave her the biggest smile he could muster as the EMTs started packing up to leave.  Izuku didn’t know what to do with himself. He had probably just met the nicest person he’s talked to in a long time, and in one conversation (a very one sided one, but a conversation nonetheless) she had lifted the lead weight that had settled in his stomach.  Someone believed in him, or at the very least, knew how he felt and that alone gave him hope for the future. Whatever the future had in store for Izuku, he felt he was ready.

“Midoriya, my boy… I was wondering if we could have a talk?”

Or maybe not.

____________________________________

Izuku was muttering the entire walk to the diner.  All-Might had approached Izuku and asked him to talk.   To talk about what?   Izuku’s muttering interrupted by his own internal monologue, the thoughts coming in quick bursts accompanied by incomprehensible rambling. What do we need to talk about?

After All-Might, or Toshinori as he asked Midoriya to call him, came up to him, they had decided (or really All-Might had decided, because once again Izuki was rendered speechless by his presence alone) to head down to the diner around the corner from the ally were the, uh, incident had just happened.  All-Might had returned to his deflated form, the skeletal like man scaring Izuku out of the stupor he had been in after talking to Sasaki. After the police cleared Izuku (and Izuku asking about Kacchan, to which they responded that he was fine and had left already), they started heading towards the diner.  

All-Might had not said a word on their walk over, his face set in a solem, somewhat thoughtful expression.  To Izuku, it almost looked like he was nervous, glancing down at Izuku every so often as to make sure he hadn’t run off or something of the like.  Izuku, on the other hand, kept replaying their earlier conversation in his head. No, I don’t think you can be a hero, kept going in his like a broken record, but he couldn’t help thinking of what the EMT said either, What you did was brave.  She had said Izuku was brave.  And heroes were brave. Why couldn’t Izuku be a hero?   I know I’m quirkless, but is that all there is to it?  Is that it?

Izuku nearly jumped a foot in the air when All-Might finally spoke, “I’m sorry, my boy, but what did you say?”  Looking down at Izuku, geez All-Might was tall , concern now lining his face, the nervousness still present.  Before Izuku could respond, All-Might continued, “Ah, well, no matter.  We’re here!”

Before he had realized, him and All-Might had stopped walking and were standing in front of the diner’s entrance.  The diner’s open sign lit up a neon green above the door, and in the reflection of the glass Izuku could see himself and All-Might; himself looking a bit shaken up and All-Might still looking down at Izuku.  All-Might held the door open for them as they walked in, Izuku sitting down at the first booth available as the place was packed for the dinner time rush. Izuku schooched into the booth and started picking at the torn leather of the seat beneath him, his muttering barely audible over the noise of the diner.

A waitress came by, getting orders from both of their drinks rather quickly; Izuku getting a water and a coffee for All-Might.  After she left, the tension became palpable as Izuku refused to make eye contact with All-Might and the other not saying a word, creating a silence that Izuku thought he was going to drown in.  He started picking at the seat with a renewed vigor, trying to think of anything other than what was happening right now.

All-Might was the first to speak up however, and at his words, Izuku didn’t think he would ever breathe properly again.

“I am sorry, Midoriya.”

Izuku’s neck snapped up so quickly, a twinge going down his neck but that didn’t really faze him because All-Might just apologized to him.   All-Might just said sorry.  But for what?

As his face started to heat up, Izuku realized it wasn’t out of embarrassment or the usual awkwardness that would envelope him, but out of anger .  He didn’t need anyone’s pity, or even All-Might’s for that matter.   Yes, I’m quirkless, but so what?  What is so pitiful about being quirkless?

Polite as he was, Izuku could never yell at All-Might but it didn’t stop him from trying to voice his opinion.  And despite his lack of social skills and stutter, Izuku pushed on through it all to get his words out. “Um… T-thank you All- I mean- Toshinori, but I do not need your pity.  I know - I know you don’t think I can - that I can be a hero, but I do not need your pity! I kno- know that I’m quirkless but that doesn’t make me useless! Please do not pity me… everyone else already does it enough.  I don’t - I don’t need it from you too.”

And from the look All-Might had on his face, Izuku knew he went to far.  Grabbing his backpack, Izuku made to leave the diner and his favorite (was he still his favorite?) hero behind, but just as he made to leave, the waitress came with their drinks, asking if they were ready to order.  All-Might politely declined and asked if she could come back later, but by the time he looked back Izuku had his head facing down and was visibly shaking.

All-Might reached a hand over the table to pat Izuku on the shoulder, but Izuku had flinched back, and All-Might thought it best not to try that again.  Instead he spoke up again, his voice laced in concern, “No, no, my boy, my intent wasn’t to convey pity! No, that wasn’t my intention at all!”

Izuku brought up his arm to wipe at his eyes, his face feeling raw from all the salt dried on his cheeks, still refusing to look up.  His voice was uneven as he spoke, “Then… then what do you mean? Why - why apologize?” Izuku was feeling light headed from all the emotions that had been running through him all at once.   What is All-Might trying to say?

All-Might took a deep breath, his chest looking like to would crack from the pressure.  “What I said, when I said you couldn’t be a hero, was a cold and heartless thing for me to say.  I know better and I am ashamed to call myself a hero because of it.” At that, Izuku opened his mouth to speak up, but All-Might held up a hand to stop him.

He continued, “When you rushed forward to save your friend despite the odds, you reminded me of what a true hero looks like.  And it is only because of you that I was able to come to your friend’s aid. You sparked a light in me that I haven’t felt in a long time.

“What I said before was wrong and I am sorry for ever saying it.  And if you give me the chance, I would like to answer your question again.  This time the right way.”

Izuku didn’t think his heart could take all the ups and downs that this rollercoaster of a day has presented him.  Looking up slowly from up under his bangs, all he could do was nod at All-Might’s prompt, wondering if the words he says next actually manages to kill poor Izuku Midoriya.   I definitely should have stayed home today.

All-Might crosses his arms on the table and leans over towards Izuku, his gaze never faltering as he tells Izuku his answer, the noise around them falling away as Izuku puts all his focus on what All-Might says to him now.

“You asked me if you could ever become a hero even without a quirk.  And my answer, Midoriya, is yes. I… I believe you can become a hero!”

_____________________________________

Yagi Toshinori starred across the table at young Midoriya and watched as the meaning of his words sunk in.

The boy stared up at Toshinori, his green eyes wide and watery, as he whispered, “You… you believe I can - that I can be a hero?”  Izuku looked up at Toshinori, disbelief etched across his face.

Izuku Midoriya was not the boy that Toshinori expected.  He had written him off as an everyday fanboy, and having been in a rush, not really thinking there would be any more interactions.  But, boy, was he wrong. When young Midoriya finally saw him in his true form, Toshinori had not felt so exposed before. It had been years since the last time someone had seen him deflate like so and it had hurt.  A slap to the face is what it was, another sign that his power was waning.

Toshinori had finally chosen a successor for One for All, a spunky young man named Mirio Togata, at the request of a former colleague and friend.   But passing on the power had only sped up the deterioration of his quirk even more. He was becoming weak. Yagi Toshinori would once again become quirkless.  Just like the boy sitting in front of him right now.

In a moment of weakness, forgetting himself and everything he stood for, All-Might, no, no that was Toshinori, had crushed the dreams of boy.  A boy who only saw the best in him.  Someone had asked him if they could be a hero, despite what the world told him, and he gave them the most shallow, ignorant answer he could have.  Toshinori had turned his back on his former self, so quickly to throw away those years of being quirkless, of being seen as lesser for something as trivial not having like the others, and had thrown that hurt back into Midoriya’s face.  It was the most un-hero like thing he had ever done; worthy of a villian, were the words that crawled up from Toshinori’s conscious to grip his throat in vice grip, the shame choking him.

And, oh, how the world made him eat his words when he saw the very same Midoriya, quirkless Midoriya, unable to be a hero, be the first to rush to save his friend.  It was brave, and idiotic, and the most heroic thing he had seen someone do in a long time.  And when he saw Midoriya sitting off by himself in the midst of police officers and ambulances, he knew.  It was a sign, a second chance to make things right. To do right by those who believed in him by believing in young Midoriya.  Because this kid, yeah this quirkless kid right here, had a light in him that Toshinori never wanted to see go out.

But Toshinori knew how hard it was to be quirkless in this society, the memories of his childhood ever present even when he had One-for-All, and even more so now.  Little Midoriya could set the world on fire if he wanted to. And now that he knows Midoriya, the smallest spark of regret lit up in Toshi’s mind. If only I had met Midoriya sooner, maybe I would have… But, no.  No, that wasn’t fair to Mirio who deserved One-for-All just the same.  But Toshi still wondered how it would have went if he had waited just a bit longer, searched a little harder.   Again, Toshi shut those thoughts away for another day, a dream he could have later.  Right now, though, he wanted to help Midoriya as much as he possibly could.

Looking across the table at Midoriya, Toshi took a deep breath and continued, “Yes, my boy, I believe you can be a hero, but I think…” A pause, Toshinori forehead creasing in contemplation, “...You will become a different kind of hero.” Yeah, that sounds about right. “One that people don’t think of, but appreciate just the same.”

Toshi could see the boy deflate a little at this, “Like a nurse or a policeman, right?” Midoriya whispered, his mouth quirking at the corners in slight agitation.  But Toshi could remedy this!

“Do not think of them as any less!” Toshi’s voice a bit louder than intended, but none of the other patrons turned around.  Midoriya’s cheeks reddened at this, almost looking ashamed. “Doctors, firemen, policemen, they save lives just the same as heroes!  Heck, they are heroes! Do you think the lives saved on an operation table are worth any less than the ones that are pulled out of rubble?”  Toshinori didn’t give Midoriya any time to answer, “Of course not! So why is their work seen as any less?”

At this, Midoriya spoke up, clamoring over his words, “It’s - it’s not that!  I just- it’s not what I…” His voice softer now, “I just always wanted to be a hero…”

Oh, and if that did not pull at Toshi’s heartstrings.  He knew exactly what this young man felt, and if Nana, his mentor, his teacher, his friend, had never picked him up off the side of the road, him, a scrawny, quirkless thirteen year old at the time, Toshinori doesn’t know what he would have done with himself.  But there is something nagging at the back of his head that this kid was going to do something big. Something was telling him that this kid was going to great all on his own.

“I believe the world is pushing you in a different direction,” To put it lightly . “ You have everything within you to do as you aspire to.  Because in the end, what is it that you really want to do?” There you go, Yagi, make him really think!

Midoriya’s eyes went wide, green and full of curiosity, as he answered Toshi, “I… I want to help people.  I just - I just want to help.”

Toshi smiled wide at this, “And you will, young Midoriya!  But the road ahead will be difficult! People will underestimate you.  They will laugh and say things that aren’t true. They won’t believe in you.  But you don’t need them as long as you believe in yourself. In the end, you are the only thing holding yourself back from your destiny.”   Wow, I’ve gotten pretty good at these speeches, huh?  I think I even motivated myself there.

And when Midoriya looked up at Toshinori with a thousand watt smile, Toshinori knew he did the right thing, and thanked the stars for giving him a second chance.  

Then Midoriya’s cell phone rang and when he went to look at it, Toshi could see the screen lit up with hundreds of notifications.  The look of panic that struck Midoriya’s face reminded Toshi of all that just happened not an hour ago and that Midoriya’s family is probably more than a tad worried.  

Before Toshi could say anything, Midoriya grabbed his backpack and stood up, “Ah, thank you All Mi- I mean, Toshinori!  Thank you - you for, uh, talking-” His phone rang again, and Midoriya let out a small eep, “I gotta go! My- my mom is waiting for me!  Thank - thank you for everything!” And the boy dropped his head in an almost ninety degree bow, almost slamming his face into the table, and was out of the diner before Toshinori could get a word in.

Man, is that kid something, Toshi thought as he finally took a sip of his drink, I feel a lot better now about a lot of things.  I think that kid will go far.  And in his contemplation Toshi noticed that the kid had left something behind in the booth.  As he leaned over to grab it he recognized it as one of the many notebooks the kid seems to lug around everywhere.  This one wasn’t the one he had signed, that one being mostly empty. No this one looked a bit older and had some sludge residue on it from the villain from earlier.

Hero Analysis for the Future NO. 9

Toshi couldn’t lie, from the little bit he saw earlier in the other notebook, he really wanted to see some more of Midoriya’s work.  Toshinori didn’t have anything else to do for the evening, and he didn’t think Midoriya would mind too much if Toshinori just took a peak at his notebook, would he?  So Toshi ordered some food and more coffee and opened the notebook to the first page.

Chapter Text

Out of breath and dripping in sweat, Izuku Midoriya opened the door to his home and proceeded to collapse in a heap on the ground.   I made it, Izuku thought, the voice in his head sounding breathless as the exhaustion from today, and his recent marathon home, caught up to him in one go.  Izuku felt kind of bad for leaving All-Might like that behind at the diner, but his mom had sent him over a hundred text messages and sixteen missed calls.  So for the uptienth time that day, Izuku prepared himself for an imminent and swift death at the hands of a caring mother.

Izuku could hear some noise from the kitchen, probably mom making tea, she does that when she’s nervous.  Or anxious. Wow, I’m a terrible son.  He didn’t bother getting up from the living room floor as he called out, “Mom, I’m home!”

He heard a gasp, a clang of metal, and then hurried footsteps coming his way. “Izuku, honey?” He could hear her coming into the room, “Izuku- Oh my god!” Oh, she saw him.  He could hear her running to his side, Izuku still breathing pretty heavy, probably worrying his mother even more.

Inko dropped to her knees next to Izuku and started frantically pulling at Izuku’s shirt, tears starting to stain her face again, “Honey, oh my goodness!  Are you okay?! What happened to you?!”

Everything, mom, everything happened to me.   Izuku rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling as he finally got a hold of his breathing.  

When Izuku didn’t respond, his mom continued prodding at his shoulder, “Izuku, honey, you’re making me very worried!  First I see you fighting a villain on the news, and now you won’t talk to me! Say something please, you’re making me-”

“I met All-Might today.”

Silence.  

Then a gasp, and the hands on Izuku’s clenched in excitement, “You met All-Might!  Honey that’s so wonderful! You’ve wanted to meet him for such a long time now! What did he say?”

In all the rush of emotions he has felt today, Izuku didn’t have it in him to lie his mom.  

“He signed one of my notebooks.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, Izu-”

“And then he told me I couldn’t be a hero ‘cause I was quirkless.”

The silence that followed was heavier than most.   Oh, that sounded a lot harsher than it did in my head.  But then again, it was even harsher to hear in real life.

In his peripheral, he could see his mother start to tear up again, but this time it was a watery smile that accompanied it.  He could tell his mother didn’t really know what to say, just like when he was four. But I can’t hold that against her, she’s really trying her best to be comforting.

I should probably continue before she gets the wrong idea, but his mom beat him to the punch when he heard the familiar line, “I’m so sorry, Izu.  I -”

But Izuku was quick to continue, sitting up abruptly, startling his poor mother a bit.  He looked her in the eyes and grabbed onto her wrists with both hands, “But then… Mom, he said I could be a hero!  He took it back!”

And then finally, like a freight train, he finally started to register what exactly happened today.  “Holy shit, mom I met All-Might! Like the All-Might!”

Inko looked a bit taken aback by the sudden change in attitude, but Izuku couldn’t hold it in any longer because, holy shit I met All-Might.  Oh my god, I spoke to All-Might!

And the spew of words the proceeded to leave Izuku’s mouth were not entirely his fault as it was just his coping mechanism for situations like this when he realizes that he met All-Might.  A burst of energy flew through his body and he got up, pacing (more like clipping through) around his living room, his body buzzing with the sudden rush of adrenaline.  

“I - I got attacked by a villain, then All-Might saved me, and then he told me I couldn’t be a hero, but then Kaachan got attacked and I tried to help him, then All-Might saved me again, but then I met this really nice lady, and then All-Might said he wanted to talk to me, then he said I could be a hero, oh my god he said I could be a hero, and then you called me then I left- Oh my god!  Mom, I ditched All-Might! I have so many questions! And I just ditched him ohmygod, ohmygodmomwhatdidIdo-”

“Izuku!”

His mother’s yelling startled him out of his ranting, not realizing that in his monologue Izuku had jumped up on the couch and had begun jumping up and down while tugging at his hair.  And in all of that, Inko could only watch as her son fell into madness as he gave her a play-by-play that left her mind reeling. She only stopped him when she couldn’t hear the spaces between his words anymore.

Izuku, on the other hand, could feel his heartbeat racing and started to take deep breaths.

Inko, recognizing when her son was close to a panic attack, stood up from the ground and walked over to the couch.  As she sat down, she held her arms open, and Izuku recognizing the invitation, sank down to his knees and into his mother’s arms.  After a few moments of just quiet breathing and Inko’s soothing touch as she combed his curls with her fingers, Izuku felt a bit more in control of his emotions.

Inko looked down, “Do you feel a bit better now?”

Izuku nodded into her shoulder.   Gosh, I love my mom.

A pause, and then, “Do you want to tell me about your day?”

Nodding once again, Izuku added in a soft voice, “In a moment, please.”

She kissed the crown of his head, “No problem, honey,” She continued to comb his hair, “Would you like some tea?  I got that Chai one that you like so much.”

A third nod, and then Inko was gently laying Izuku on the couch and heading towards the kitchen.

God, I love my mom.  She makes the best tea.

____________________________________

It’s been a week since Izuku had met All-Might and that nice lady, Sasaki he thinks, and Izuku is now experiencing a midlife crisis at the tender age of fourteen.  Izuku had seventeen different tabs open on the screen in front of him, all of various academies and institutes around the world. If Izuku wants to be a hero, he has to do it his way.  After the encouragement from All-Might and Sasaki, Izuku began looking into the medical profession. However, all the schools for medical research seem to be located away from Japan, most of them in America actually.  And the thought of leaving Japan made Izuku homesick already. And besides, he didn’t know English! Just the handful of phrases heroes like All-Might would use here and there.

And then U.A… Well, Izuku thought sadly, without a quirk, there’s no way I’m getting into their hero program.  Maybe their general education program? Another sigh, And to get into the tech or business programs you need to apply two years in advance!  And have years worth of experience! Izuku closed the tab and began his search aknew for other tracks.   Yeah, there’s no way I’m getting into U.A.

“Izu!  Dinner is ready!”

“Coming!”  Izuku left the rest of the tabs open and closed his laptop.   God, this is all a lot harder than I thought.

Izuku walked down to the kitchen to see his mother serving up two plates of egg and rice, “I know it’s not a lot, but I came home late today, and this was the fastest thing I could whip up.”

Walking over to grab his plate, he kissed his mother on the cheek and gave her a one armed hug around her shoulders, “It’s perfect, mom.  Thank you.”

As they sat down for dinner, all the school websites kept nagging at his brain and before he knew it Izuku was muttering away at the dinner table.  He’s never been very attentive either as to what he was doing when muttering, so he continued trying eat while talking, effectively making the biggest mess of rice, egg, and ketchup on the table.  Inko, having been so used to Izuku’s habits by know, knew not to interrupt him unless he started to panic as theses muttering sessions of his usually helped him think through things at his own pace.  

And as Izuku’s muttering slowed down, coming to from his trance, he looked up at his mother and asked, “Where do you think I should apply for school?”

From her position next to the sink, Inko came back to sit in front of Izuku, her forehead scrunched up in contemplation.  A few moments pass, Izuku patiently waiting for her to answer, knowing that his mom was trying her best to think of a good response.  It wasn’t an easy question, and his mom knew that he had been searching for schools for days.

“Well,” she started, “Your father went to Genkei for his schooling, you can try and apply there.”

Izuku blinked up at his mom, “No way!  Dad went to- to Genkei!! That’s the elite school for the elite!  How’d he get in?”

Inko looked surprised, not knowing previously of the apparent prestige of Genkei, “Well, he got in on scholarship, or at least that what he told me,” then she said, “He was the top student for his year… I don’t know how we’ve gone for so long without telling you…”

“Well, uh,” Izuku started, “It’s a bit out of the question for me to apply, mom.  You have to at least be top of your class, and have a certain amount of zeros in your bank account, ” muttering the last bit.  Hey, there was a reason why Genkei was a closed tab on Izuku’s laptop.

Inko went back to sink, finishing up the dishes, “I… well, I don’t really have a preference where you go to school, Izuku, as long as you are safe and happy, I am content,” A pause, then Inko turned to her son one last time, “But I do think you should at least try and apply to Genkei…” Izuku was about to interrupt, but Inko continued, “You’re father was so happy there, and he’s told me so many stories of his times there!”

Still not convinced, Izuku said, “I just don’t think I’ll get in mom, you have to be the best of the best!”

“Izuku!  You are the best of the best!” Inko’s cheeks were flush out of anger as her baby didn’t think highly of himself.   I have awakened momma bear Inko, thought Izuku fearfully.    

“And-” the final blow, “-when has that ever stopped you from applying to U.A.?”

Izuku hung his head in utter defeat, I can never win with mom , he thought just a bit mirthfully, “I- I, you’re right, mom...  Okay, I’ll apply to Genkei.”

Before he knew it, Izuku was in his mother’s arms, “Oh, honey, you know I just want you to be happy,” A squeeze, “But you shouldn’t think so badly of yourself, either!  You are such a bright boy, you can do anything if you set your mind to it!”

A couple of happy tears fell from Izuku’s eyes, such a crybaby.   “Thank you, mom, for believing in me.”  

Man, I love my mom, Izuku thought.  And for his own sake, he said it out loud, too.

___________________________________

A couple weeks passed and Izuku has a somewhat set list for all the schools he’s applying too.  Most of them were abroad, go big or go home , and only two were in Japan: Genkei and U.A..  Izuku couldn’t let go of his dream so easily, he had been wanting to go to U.A. his whole life and he just couldn’t bring himself to just let go.  But he’s not applying for the hero course, only the general department. Yeah, Izuku reassured himself, it’s much more reasonable, and I can most definitely get in!

Every other day, Izuku was finishing up some sort of study book or practice exam.  He’s taken two practice exams for each school already, but he’s taken four for Genkei and almost seven for U.A..  And not just the official one’s either, he’s taken bootleg ones off the internet, paid for practice exams from testing companies, and made some up himself from his study guides and textbooks.  And when he wasn’t studying for the exams, he was studying for class. I need to get my rank up in this last half, Izuku running through his Algebra notes once again, I can’t afford to look mediocre or less than in any area.  

Izuku’s grades in class have become exponentially better, and his teacher’s seemed to have noticed by giving him extra material to study on the side.  To be honest, Izuku thinks his teacher’s are just relieved that he’s moved on from his hero path.

Besides his current obsession with studying, Izuku also contributes his improvement to the fact that nobody has picked on him since the attack.  And even more so, Kacchan has not even looked at Izuku since then. Kacchan had confronted Izuku the day after the attack at school, telling Izuku that he didn’t need his help or his pity.  And then, after not letting Izuku get even one word in, Kacchan stomped away, and since then has not spoken a word to Izuku.

Izuku has always considered Kacchan as one of his closest friends, and while the separation seem to be good for his overall schooling, Izuku still felt a bit bad.  But, in order for him to get into the schools he wants, he needs to focus. So Izuku did his best to stay out of Katsuki’s way for the time being, and Katsuki did the same.

However, Izuku is currently having a hard time trying figure out which trigonomic function fits into this problem.  Math is usually Izuku’s best subject, and once again his teachers had noticed, so now he’s working on some upper level trigonometry to supplement his studies.  Izuku knew the kids that usually apply to Genkei are a bit farther ahead than normal students like him, but he wasn’t sure by how much, so he asked for more advanced material daily.  And right now, trig is kicking his ass.

Just when he was about to give up and move onto history, Izuku heard his mother yell from downstairs.

Panic set into Izuku as he immediately thought of the worse, but before he could make it to the door, he heard a flurry of footsteps come up the stairs, and his mother burst into his room.  Inko tripped on the floor, but in her panic, she sat back on her knees, arms waving in multiple directions.

“Izuku!  Izu- honey, oh my god!”

Izuku dropped to the floor in front of his mom, her panic not helping in the least to help his own. “What, mom?  What is it?! Are you okay, are you hurt!” And his panic kept rising, “Is there someone in the house?! Mom, say something!”

But instead of answering him, his mom waved a piece of paper, no, an envelope in his face that he had not noticed before.  Izuku gently grabbed his mom’s trembling hands and brought them down, still not understanding why this envelope is the cause for such panic.   Is it an eviction notice, or overdue bills?  Is it a letter from dad?  But when Izuku flipped the envelope over, he found that it wasn’t any of those things.

It was a letter from U.A..

____________________________________

It has only been a few days since the slime villain incident, since meeting young Midoriya, and Toshinori didn’t know what he needed to do, but he needed to do something .  The notebook that the young lad had left behind was remarkable!  In just one notebook, Midoriya had managed to analyze the quirks and abilities of over twenty something heroes, all of them written with acute attention to detail and so accurate that Toshinori thought that the boy had worked with each hero one on one. Toshi had worked with some of those heroes personally and even he could attest to the accuracy of the analysis for some.  

But that doesn’t even begin to cover the ingenious of some of the quirk theories that Midoriya had filled even the margins with.  One in particular, Magnanimous’s quirk magma manipulation , Midoriya had theorized that not only could the pacific islander hero manipulate magma, but the tectonic movement of the planet.   According to Midoriya’s theories, Magnanimous could stop earthquakes in his wake, and even prevent tsunamis from ever occurring.  And that was just one of the dozens of theories Midoriya had for Magnanimous alone.

The notebook was filled cover to cover with analysis and theories like that, all pertaining to a heroes quirk, their fighting styles, heck, even their public approval ratings at the time were recorded and treated with the same intense attention to detail.  

And from what Toshinori could deduce from the name of the notebook, this was only one of series of notebooks that young Midoriya possesed.  The notebook Toshinori had signed himself, he believes, was number thirteen in the series if he remembers correctly. Amazing, nonetheless.

After he had read the notebook cover to cover in the diner, he couldn’t help but feel as if he needed to something.  If Toshinori didn’t do something more to help young Midoriya, his talents might go to waste.

So here he was, standing in front of his alma mater, Midoriya’s notebook in his messenger bag, about to do something.  What that something was was a mystery to Toshinori as well.

______________________________________

Principal Nedzu sat a tea tray on the coffee table between Toshinori and himself.  As Toshi went to make his tea, Nedzu beat him to it, making it just the way he likes it, two sugars and a splash of cream.  Handing over the cup, Nedzu began talking.

“Toshinori!  Nice to see you again.  I take it you have come to tell me about your final decision?”  Before Toshinori could answer, Nedzu continued, “I think you’d be a wonderful addition to our staff, and the kids would absolutely adore you.  Of course we would have to start you off as a subject teacher, probably history, and then in time you could get your own homeroom, of course that is if you want your own homeroom.”

Taking the chance to talk during Nedzu’s pause, Toshinori said, “Ah, yes, Principal Nedzu-”

“Just Nedzu, thank you.”

“Nedzu, yes, that all sounds lovely and I do accept-”

Nedzu stood up, hoping off the couch in glee, “Ah, that’s fantastic then!  We should get started on the paperwork! I have most of it already signed and prepped since I didn’t think you’d turn down my offer-”

“Wait, Nedzu!  I come to you with another matter.”

Nedzu looked back, intrigued, the emotion being somewhat lost however in his facial features of a bear?  No… a mouse? A dog? An inquiry for another day, one would suppose, as Nedzu prompted Toshinor to continue. “Oh?  Well go ahead.”

Toshinori took a deep breath, gathering himself in a somewhat serious manner, “Do you remember the slime incident from last Thursday?”

“Yes, who doesn’t?  It’s one of the few times the press has caught you on camera in the past few months.  Those poor boys, as well. Good thing you were there to help, no?” Toshinori could see that Nedzu did not see where Toshinori was going with this.

“Yes, well, the young Midoriya boy…” And Toshinori continued to explain to Nedzu how they had met and the events that ensued said meeting.

Silent for only a moment after, Nedzu asks, “And you are telling me about him because?”

“Because I think he would be a good fit at UA!  No, a great fit!”

Putting his tea down, Nedzu began, “Well, Toshinori, you know how it is for quirkless students.  It would be rather difficult for him to get into the heroics program, much less our highly competitive general ed department.  And the tech program, well, that’s just out of the question. You need to apply three years in advanced with those, and have a repertoire of at least three original creations or modifications.  I just don’t think the programs we have will-”

“Wait, wait!” Toshinori in a bit of a panic, realizing his plan (not really a plan as you need to actually think those through) was not going so well, interrupted Nedzu, “Please hear me out!  Just - I don’t know how to explain it, but just… Just take a look at this.” And reaching into his bag, Toshi grabs Midoriya’s notebook and hands it over to Nedzu.

Nedzu takes the notebook, looking at the cover for a moment, and then back at Toshinori.  And while it was difficult to see expressions on the principal’s face, his curiosity shown bright in his eyes.  “And this is?”

“Young Midoriya’s notebook.  He had left it behind by accident after speaking with me,” Toshi answered, “I just ask that you read through it some, and then tell me what you think.”

And fulfilling his wishes, Nedzu opens the notebook and starts reading Midoriya’s work.  

Ten, twenty, almost thirty minutes have passed since Nedzu started.  It has been quiet for the most part, besides Nedzu humming at some points and laughing at others.  About halfway through the notebook, Nedzu closes the book and looks up at Toshinori, grinning in amusement, or from what Toshinori could tell Nedzu was as blank faced as ever.

“Ah, Toshinori!” Nedzu’s voice much more content and lighter than it had previously been, “Why didn’t you start with this first!”

Happy with where this was going, Toshinori smiled back at Nedzu, “So there is something we can do for young Midoriya?”

Looking down once again at the notebook in his lap, Nedzu says, “Oh, I’m I can think of something.”

____________________________________

To the Parent(s) of Izuku Midoriya and Izuku Midoriya himself,

You have been invited to U.A. High School for a meeting with the principal.  With the recommendation of the number one hero All-Might, Izuku Midoriya is being considered for a spot in one of U.A.’s world renowned educational programs.  We ask that you come to U.A. Monday the 21st of December at 9:00 am.

Please bring a progress report of young Midoriya’s current school year, an unofficial transcript of his schooling, two teacher recommendations from his current school, and any supplemental materials that young Midoriya may deem noteworthy.

We also ask that it be both the parent(s) and Izuku Midoriya attend this day, as there is much to discuss.  Please let us know that you will be coming by sending us an email to the address written on the back of this letter.

We hope to see you all, and are excited to see what the future holds for young Midoriya at U.A.

Sincerely,

Nerumi Kayama

Head of Admissions at U.A. High School

Plus Ultra!

___________________________________

Young Midoriya!

See!  I told you the world had something in store for you!

Toshinori

Chapter Text

Standing in front of the closed gates of U.A. High School, Inko and Izuku Midoriya were at a lost as to what they were supposed to do next.  The letter didn’t really go all into detail as to what today would entail and the following email had even less information. Inko can still remember the day the letter had arrived just six weeks prior.

After handing Izuku the letter, Inko had sat waiting for Izuku to say something.  She hadn’t read it, Inko just saw the official U.A. symbol on the seal and she panicked!  No time for rational thinking, or even reading that the letter was addressed to both Izuku and his parents.  All she could think was there was a letter here addressed to Izuku from his dream school. Oh, how many times has he told me he wanted to go to U.A.?, thought Inko.   Too many times to count.

But when ten minutes had passed and Izuku hadn’t spoken a word, Inko began to worry.   Is it a bad news?  Why hasn’t he said anything?

“Oh, honey?” Inko began softly, “What does it say?  Is it good news?”

She was met with no response.

Inko, a little panicked now, this was her baby’s future after all, started to tug at Izuku’s shirtsleeve, “Baby, what does it say?  Izuku, honey, you’re making me worry.”

And at that, Izuku looked up at his mom, noticeably shaken up, which surely did not help with Inko’s anxiety, “M-mom? They… they…”

“Yes, honey?  What did they say?  What is going on?”

Izuku broke eye contact, looking back down at the letter.  He mumbled something that Inko didn’t catch.

“I’m sorry, Izu honey, what did you say?”

Looking back up, Izuku spoke again, “They- they want us to… the- the principal… All-Might…”

Rubbing his back, Inko tried to calm Izuku down, “Take it slow, honey, okay?  Deep breaths, okay?”

Nodding, Izuku tried to calm his breathing, Inko still rubbing his back.   This family is not good a surprises, Inko thought, trying to calm herself down as well.  Izuku leaned into Inko, putting a half his weight on her.   Not at all.

After a couple minutes, Izuku’s breathing was back to normal.  Inko took it as que to ask her previous question again.

Hand still rubbing circles into his back, Inko asked, “So, Izuku, honey, what did the letter say?”  Inko could bypass all of this hassle if she just took the letter and read it herself, but for all she knew, that letter was meant for Izuku’s eyes only.  

“The principal of U.A.,” Izuku said slowly, “wants us to... meet with him?” The disbelief in his voice making it obvious to Inko that Izuku can’t believe what’s happening either.

But even then, That’s a bit cryptic, even for Izuku.  “Wants to meet with us about what, honey?”

“They- they’re-” A pause.  And then, Izuku sprang up to his feet, basically vibrating in his clothes in excitement, taking Inko by somewhat surprise (it was her baby after all, he’s always been a bit excitable.)

And off Izuku went, pacing around the room once again, not paying attention to where he was going, the words just spilling out of his mouth, “Mom, mom!  They’re considering me for a spot in one of their programs! Homygod, and All-Might was the one to recommend me! Holy god, oh my god! Mom, I walked out on All-Might and he recommended me for U.A.!  Me! For his alma mater!”

Izuku continued to talk, sometimes speaking normally, sometimes mumbling, and even at times full out yelling.  But Inko could tell that he wasn’t getting too worked up, in fact it seemed to help him calm down even more as he dispelled most his anxiousness.  A few minutes in and Izuku was starting to lose steam, ending up on the floor once again next to Inko.

Then Izuku actually directed a question at Inko, “Why me?”

Used to these bouts of self-doubt, Inko easily countered with, “Why not you?”  And for the moment, that had seemed to satisfy Izuku.

Soon there was an RSVP email sent to U.A. and Izuku was off to gather what he needed for the meeting.  According to Izuku, acquiring his recommendation letters was a bit tougher than expected. And it became apparent to Inko just how difficult it was for Izuku to acquire the two letters when Izuku’s homeroom teacher called Inko in the middle of work to ask her to him up from school.  The teacher had thought Izuku was hallucinating from a fever when Izuku had told them he needed a recommendation letter for, get this, U.A. high school.

“ I don’t think he’s feeling well, ” Inko heard through the phone, “ I mean, that’s just crazy… ” Her Izuku! Crazy!  Delusional, even, for thinking he could garner the attention of such a prestigious school!  The nerve! After a lengthy email to the principal with scans of the original letter from U.A., Izuku had no more problems getting his letters.

But the real hurdle was the acquiring of ‘supplemental materials.’  And not just any supplemental materials, no, they had to be deemed ‘noteworthy’ by Izuku. As if that boy didn’t have enough self-esteem issues already.  For weeks Izuku littered the house with essays and projects from years past, all thrown into the not-noteworthy pile. Finally Inko had had enough and told Izuku that, “Maybe, you should try bringing your notebooks.”

Pausing his examination of an essay he wrote in the third (second?) grade, Izuku looked up, a bewildered look on his face, “I… I didn’t think of that… Could I?”

Inko didn’t see any reason not too, “They never said it had to be school work.”

Then after gathering all the littered school work (honestly, how far back did he go? preschool?!), Izuku had gone up to his room to gather his notebooks.  With only a week to go until the meeting, it was obvious that his notebooks were going to be the only supplemental material he was taking with him. And then that idea almost fell through when Izuku came tumbling down the stairs saying he couldn’t find his ninth notebook.  

“That’s the one with my only Ermite page!  He was only active for so long, and never caught on video!”

“It’s okay, Izu, I’m sure it will pop up at some point or another.  In the meantime, you still have about, what, twelve other notebooks to show off?”

“Yeah, but that was a good one!”

“I know, honey.”

And finally, it was the night before when uncertainty turned its ugly head at the dinner table.  Izuku had been fairly quite and Inko could tell that he was fretting about the next morning. And once again, the question from before was asked again.  This time, though, it didn’t seem like Izuku was asking Inko. He might not have even meant to say it aloud, thought Inko.

“Why me?” Inko knew he was talking to her just as much as he was talking to the carrots on his plate.

But like any good mother, Inko still replied, “Why not you?”

At that, Izuku looked up startled.   So he actually didn’t mean to say it out loud.  But the gloomy look that had been haunting her baby boy found its place on his face again, back to moving the food on his plate around, “Mom, you know what I mean.”

And, oh, how Inko wished she could shake the doubt and uncertainty out of Izuku.  “And you know what I mean, Izuku.”

Putting down his utensils, looking back up at Inko, Izuku fell silent.  

But Inko wasn’t going to leave it at just that.  She knew he needed some convincing before tomorrow, so she’ll use what always remedies these situations: rational thought.  “Here, answer me this, Izuku. How long have you wanted to go to U.A.?”

Izuku’s mouth quirked into a bit of a frown, “... Since preschool…”

Inko continued, “And are you a good student, Izuku?”

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Izuku took on a contemplative face, “Well, as of now, yes.”

And the final blow, “Then tell me why you shouldn’t be at U.A.?” Before Izuku could answer, Inko tacked on, “That doesn’t have to do with you being quirkless.”

Again, Izuku fell silent, struggling to find an answer.  He opened his mouth as if to speak multiple times, each lacking an actual response.

Knowing she won the argument, Inko threw a big smile her baby’s way.   One day, I hope he will realize that he is worth it, Inko thought, that I won’t have to have these conversations anymore.  “Well, okay then.  I stand by my first answer.”  

Dinner continued on without a hitch, Inko telling Izuku about a packaging catastrophe they had at work today.  Izuku talked about a particularly difficult bout of math that he’s working on, that even his school teacher had difficulty answering.  By the end, the tension had completely slipped away from the air and the worries of tomorrow would be that of tomorrow.

And now Inko and Izuku Midoriya were standing in front of the massive gates of U.A. wondering what will come next.

_____________________________________

Izuku has never seen gates so large in his life.  They were huge! Imposing, even. But most importantly they were closed.  And Izuku and his mom had no way to get in. After ten minutes of just standing at the gates, Izuku got the idea to knock on the gate.   It couldn’t hurt after all, he presumed, maybe some might actually answer.

And just as Izuku went to knock, his mother holding onto the back of shirt behind him, a face appeared right before Izuku’s closed fist.

“Hi!”

If you were to ask him, the high pitched yell that rang through the air after the disembodied head greeted him was not Izuku’s.  It was his mom’s. Yeah, for sure. And sure, Izuku’s world was filled with people with all sorts of different kinds of quirks and abilities. He should be used to it all.  But that doesn’t mean he’s used to this guy’s quirk, or his apparent affinity for popping his head through solid steel!

But as Izuku was (NOT) yelling, he lost his balance and started to pinwheel backwards, almost toppling over his mother, and if it weren’t for the disembodied head’s hand that reached out to grab him, he would have.  

“Whoa there little guy!  Didn’t mean to scare you!  Just saying hello!”

Unfortunately, Izuku didn’t catch most of that as blood was still busy rushing through his eardrums.  But that sure didn’t stop Izuku from noticing that the floating head now had a body. And that that body was considerably, um, naked.

The flush that rushed to both Izuku and Inko’s faces were dark enough to rival the red of Izuku’s shoes.  Fortunately, his mom is quicker on the uptake, and despite being just as flustered as Izuku, she spoke up, “Pardon me, young man, but you seem to be missing some rather important pieces of clothing…”

The guy looked down, but not one shred of embarrassment or shamed passed over his face.  In this moment, this blond dude was the embodiment of indifference. “Yeah, its a downside to my quirk!  I can become intangible, but that means my clothes go with me as well!”

And while that quirk sounded really cool, and had Izuku itching for some paper and a pen, something didn’t make sense.  “But why couldn’t you just get clothes that can become intangible along with your body,” and without realizing, Izuku fell into a spiral of mumbled words, “Didn’t the Americans make a cloth that can be customized to follow the same molecular structure variation or physics your body follows?  I think it was made during the first generation of heroes, no, during the Pendant era? Or the American Golden Age?” And the rest dissolved into an incoherent mess that even Izuku failed to follow at some points.

But unphased by Izuku’s odd habit, naked-boy jumped in saying, “Yeah, I think they did.  But there was something about the evolution of quirks that made the material obsolete at some point, I think.  Couldn’t hear what you said near the end there, but man you sure do know a lot of random stuff!”

Blushing at the fact no one’s ever complimented Izuku’s mutterings, Izuku was a bit taken aback by his personality; he was just so happy!   This guy is weird...

Continuing, ever naked on a public sidewalk, naked-boy introduced himself, “I’m Mirio Toogata, but you can just call me Mirio!  I’ll be escorting you to the principal’s office. Follow me, please!”

And with that Mirio disappeared into the gate.  The Midoriya’s, once again confused as what to do as neither of them, from what they knew, had a intangibility quirk.  

Then, with a sudden clang, the gates to U.A. opened and there stood Mirio actually dressed.  His uniform seemed to have a lot of wrinkles and dust marks as if it was constantly thrown or discarded on the ground.  Which very well might be the case.

“Sorry, had to get the gates open!” And without warning, Mirio started walking further into the school.

Scrambling to keep up ( this guy’s got some long legs!) , the Midoriya’s followed behind Mirio.  Before they got to far, Izuku’s mom perked up with a quick question.

“How did you know we were the Midoriyas?” A valid question.

Without missing a beat, Mirio answered, “All-Might told me to look out for a broccoli headed kid with ambition!  I saw the broccoli head, and man I can sure smell your ambition from a mile away! So I assumed it was you guys!”

And as if this guy couldn’t get more quirky, he turned around backwards with a skip in his step, and started up another conversation with Izuku, “Anyways, about what you said on the American Golden Age…”

_____________________________________

Toshinori didn’t know how or when the conversation started going in this direction, but he would do anything for Mirio to walk in with the Midoriyas right now.  

Nedzu sat besides Toshinori, his ever present tea cup in his paws, and the care in which he took to carry the conversation was effortless.  And as much as he’d like to, it was hard for Toshinori to appreciate the Principal’s conversation skills at the moment. Especially since the current topic was Toshinori’s rapidly deteriorating health.

Not taking a moment to breathe, Nedzu spoke, “You shouldn’t be exerting yourself so much now that you’ve passed on your quirk.  It’s a miracle you are still able to live at all. That monstrosity of a human basically ripped you in half! You don’t have half of your internal organs anymore and the others are barely still intact.  The wonders of modern science, no?”

A sip of tea, and then he continues, “And the fact that you have no stomach at all makes it difficult for some to process how you’re still alive.  The stomach has many uses, y’know, other than being apart of your digestive tract. You would think the pills they gave you in America would be rendered mostly useless by your decimated organs.  Maybe the pills have a different function entirely? Or maybe they’re just sugar pills? Because, truly we don’t know all the aspects of One-for-All from what you have revealed to me. Maybe it keeps you in a sort of stasis we don’t know of?  Well, then that wouldn’t explain why the previous holders of One-for-All have passed away. Maybe it is a limited sort of stasis that-”

Someone must be looking out for him up above because just when Toshinori was dozing off, incomes the familiar chatter of his successor and the soon to be familiar speak of one Izuku Midoriya.

In came the trio with Mirio and Midoriya speaking animatedly in the front, and who Toshinori presumed to be a Mrs. Midoriya behind young Midoriya.  The duo were still talking rather enthusiastically about a topic that to Toshinori sounded rather familiar…

Nedzu, however, probably excited about another conversation, began to interject  Mirio and Midoriya’s dialogue, “Ah, are you talking about the post-Pendant era policies that ensued after the repeal of the seventy-third amendment concerning public use of quirks?”

And with that, Toshinori knew that he was going to be completely and utterly lost for the next ten to fifteen minutes.

With an eagerness Toshi had never seen in the boy ( well, you haven’t seen him all but two or three times, and that was all the same day ) Midoriya replied to Nedzu, “Yes!” And gone was the stuttering from before.   Was it something triggered by anxiousness or nervousness?  How nervous was he around me? “And we were just talking about the supreme court case de Pena v. the U.S. after the incident with the Arizona State student in ‘63.”

At this, Mirio interjected, “Didn’t they rule that as a manslaughter?”

Then the freakiest thing happened, noted only by what seemed to be himself and Mrs. Midoriya.  Nedzu and Midoriya had said in the exact same tone, at the exact same time, “A murder charge, actually.” And from there, the conversation turned into a tennis match between Nedzu and Midoriya.

Midoriya continued with, “That’s why the protest started.”

And then Nedzu said, “And why they fell under military rule for two years in California.”

Then Midoriya again, “Which lead to the repeal of the seventy-third amendment-”

“-making it the second nation behind Germany to make public use of quirks illegal,” Nedzu finished.

Midoriya said, “Which is quite ironic considering their past with weaponization and public safety regulations during the Modern Stone Age.”

And Nedzu countered with, “Yes, well, all that was before the disestablishment of their electoral college in ‘48.”

Then Mirio spoke up, “I thought that was passed in ‘46?”

And Nedzu answered, “Wasn’t set into motion until ‘48,” Then he took a deep breath and said, “And while this has been quite a riveting talk, I must insist on putting our actual agenda for this meeting into motion.  Mirio thank you for your help, you may head back to class now.”

Making to leave, Mirio said his goodbyes, “No problem sir!  Hope to see you around Midoriya!”

Once again, Toshinori is grateful for the guardian angel he keeps.  But while lost in his thoughts of gratitude, Toshinori almost missed his introduction by Nedzu.

“And this is Mr. Toshinori Yagi, ” Nedzu said, gesturing towards Toshinori where he sat awkwardly.  “He will be representing All-Might in our discussions as our Symbol of Peace is needed elsewhere today.”

And with that, the meeting began.

____________________________________

Izuku was going through a rush of emotions; he was anxious, but excited, and curious, but apprehensive.  The principal, who he had just been talking too in ease, was… Well, he couldn’t tell what he was. A bear?  A mouse, maybe a dog? A question for later is what it is,  thought Izuku.  And oh my god, All-Might is sitting right here in front of us.  Izuku has replayed their first meeting in his head hundreds, if not thousands of times before this meeting.   And after all of that, Izuku pondered, he still recommended me for U.A… But why?

Izuku listened attentively as the principal introduced All-Might, I mean, Mr. Yagi , to him and his mother.   Oh! Izuku remembered, I have to act like I’ve never met Toshinori before…

“I-It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Yagi,” Izuku greeted.   Wow, smooth.

At this, All-Might smiled, “And you as well, young Midoriya, but please just call me Toshinori,” Then turning towards Izuku’s mother, “And it is nice to meet you as well, Mrs-?”

Izuku’s mom answered, “Mrs. Midoriya, yes.  I’m sorry my husband couldn’t attend, he is currently working overseas and cannot be contacted.”

The principal nodded, “Yes, well, that is no problem at all.  We just needed some sort of parental figure in attendance, you both might be making pretty big decisions today!”  At that, the principal hopped down from his perch and began to make tea, “I am Principal Nedzu, by the way, and I would like to be addressed as such.”

Izuku and his mother sat mezmorized at the speed in which Nedzu prepared the tea, and as if he could read minds, Principal Nedzu made his tea just the way he liked: no cream and three sugars.  

Principal Nedzu handed out the tea, and when passing Izuku’s his he asked, “May I call you Izuku, for us to avoid confusion in our talks today?  And Mrs. Midoriya as such.”

In his haste to make a good impression, Izuku nodded vigorously, spilling some tea on his hand, “Uh, y-yes, please go- go ahead.”

At that, Principal Nedzu hopped back up on the couch and began, “Well, Izuku, I am sure you have been wondering why you’ve been invited to this meeting, no?”  But before Izuku could answer, the Principal continued, “All-Might had come to me a few days after he had met you and had something to show me. At first I thought he had just come to claim the job position I had offered him here at U.A., but no!  He had come to tell me about a quirkless boy he had met that, apparently, inspired him with his heroics.”

Izuku couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  He had inspired All-Might! And, yes, he should already know this as All-Might had told him a such during their talk. But that was so long ago, and with the amount of times Izuku spent fantasizing about that moment, it had started feel unreal.  Like he had dreamt it all. But here he was, being told by the Principal of U.A. that he had not dreamt it all! That this was real! Oh my god, this is actually happening.

But before Izuku let himself runaway with his thoughts, he forced himself to focus back onto what Principal Nedzu was saying.

“At first, I thought All-Might’s heart of gold had gotten the best of him.  That he had taken pity on this quirkless child with a hero’s heart. Even though his recommendation comes with the highest regard, this is an institute for higher learning, not a charity ball.”

There, Izuku winced, but also begrudgingly thought I am not a charity case, either.  He could feel his mom shifting uncomfortably on her side of the couch, seeming to not like the charity bit either.  Looking over at Toshinori, Izuku wondered how he felt that day when he came to talk to Nedzu. At the moment though, Toshinori was looking at the hands he had folded in his lap.

Nedzu continued, “So while his words mean quite a bit, they are certainly not enough.  But I didn’t think All-Might knew as much, so imagine my surprise when he handed me this.”  And there Nedzu reached down next to the couch and pulled out a very familiar notebook. My missing notebook.

And either Izuku said that outloud, or Principal Nedzu can read minds, because then Nedzu said, “Yes, Izuku, your missing notebook.  Most specifically your ninth notebook,” Nedzu then opened said book up, flipping the pages quickly, but carefully. From where Izuku is sitting, he can see dozens of sticky notes littered through the pages that were not there before.

“When All-Might showed me this, I finally understood why he had come to me for this matter,” Nedzu began, still flipping through the thin pages of Izuku’s book, “Izuku, you have a wonderful knack for analyzation.  Even more so, the theories you’ve filled the margins with are what interest me the most. And here on page seventy-three, you have written an analyzation on one of our most respected teachers here at U.A..”

And before he could stop himself, Izuku could recall exactly which hero Nedzu was talking about.  His ninth notebook is one that he had worked months on, focusing solely on underground heroes. “Eraserhead works at U.A.?”

Principal Nedzu nodded, “Yes, he certainly does work here.  However, he’s not very busy at the moment since he just expelled his whole first-year classroom,” Izuku’s jaw dropped, and from what he could see, Toshinori was also just as shocked, “So I thought with all that free time, he might want to take a look at the analyzation page you had on him,” And Izuku’s jaw dropped even farther.  

“W-wait, you- you showed him my- my notebook?”   Deep breaths, Izuku, deep breaths.

Again Nedzu nodded, “Yes, I certainly did.  However, I might have forgot to mention that it was a middle schooler who wrote it, and not a professional quirk consultant,” At this point, Izuku was fairly certain he was going to faint. “I showed it to him at lunch the other day, he quite liked commentary on the soul aspect of his quirk.  Usually quirk analysis stays pretty secular, but the thought you had put into the possibility of temporarily erasing apart of someone’s soul was quite thought provoking. While the talk of quirks being attached to souls is mostly philosophical, you did quite a fantastic job at tackling that topic.  And then your thoughts on the DNA manipulation were ones that could truly be explored. The idea of being able to control the genetic makeup of one’s quirk with just one look is extraordinary, and to be put in such a simple way as you have done in your writing is truly ingenious. And if you-”

“Ahem,” Toshinori interrupted from the other side of the couch, speaking up for the first time since his introduction, “Principal Nedzu, I think it’s time we get back to the topic at hand, yes?”  

Izuku had been so enraptured by the talk of quirks that he almost completely forgot about the real reason why they were here.  But Izuku has never heard anyone else speak so extensively about quirks, and then to even praise his analysis! Izuku was truly elated.

“Ah yes, well, let’s get back on topic.  Thank you, Toshinori,” Then turning to look at Izuku, “After All-Might had showed me this notebook, I knew I had to do something to not let this mind go to waste.  Not that it would at any other Japan’s high schools. Speaking of which, what schools have you been looking into, Izuku?”

Izuku hadn’t planned on telling them that, he hadn’t even told his mother yet, but he wants to make a good impression.  Trying his best not to stutter, Izuku recalled his potential school’s list, “Well, um, U.- U.A. obviously… I- I mean, most are out of the country, but, um, U.A. and Genkei are the- the only two schools in Japan I’m looking at.”

Nedzu hummed, looking contemplative, “Yes, Genkei is a wonderful school.  I actually was an adjunct there for a semester or two after my arrival in Japan.  Lovely staff, the school is a bit cutthroat however. Students don’t really mingle there, focused mainly on their studies and getting to the top,”  Clapping his hands (paws?) together, Nedzu continued, “Anyways, before I get too off topic again! I didn’t want your talent to go to waste, so I began thinking of possibilities for you here at U.A.!

“I went to talk to the board about having another recommended student this year, but all four spots have been filled for the heroics department, as well as the technical and business departments.  And, to be honest, I didn’t think you would fit in any of those departments anyways. Which leaves us with two options: you can either try to apply for a position in the general education course or the heroics program.  However, the heroics test is heavily reliant on physical quirks, a shame really, and I don’t think the general education will offer you enough in the first place.”

Izuku knew all these things.  He knows that the heroics department is nearly impossible to get into, even with a basic quirk.  And he knows that the general department is just that, a general department. And with the medical routes Izuku was looking at, it would be to his disadvantage at this point to go to U.A..  And here he was, so close to his dream, but from what it sounds like, Izuku doesn’t belong at U.A. after all.

But before Izuku could express his distress, Nedzu continued once again, “However,” And the look on Nedzu’s face was… well, Izuku couldn’t really tell what the expression was, but the gleam that took over the Principal’s eye was almost piercing, “I have something else in mind for you, Izuku Midoriya, if you are, of course, up to it.”

Izuku could feel the air stuck in his lungs, refusing to break free.  Not trusting his voice, Izuku simply nodded. And what was to come next would change Izuku’s life forever.

Chapter Text

__________________2 & ½ years later________________

Bakugou Katsuki was seriously contemplating dropping out of school.  His shitty-haired best friend was currently riding the sugar high of the century after having some of Round Face’s breakfast, Aizawa-sensei’s ‘exciting’ announcement not helping his mood either.  Apparently, the class had a special surprise for them today from Principal Nedzu. God knows what that’ll mean for the class of almost graduates. Katsuki wasn’t generally against the idea of sweets or surprises, but right now it was the fuel to Kirishima’s incescent poking and prodding, pushing Katsuki closer and closer to the edge.  He’s not entirely sure whether Kirishima knows he’s close to eminent death or not, but he’s toeing the fucking line, that’s for damn sure. It’s been a while since he’s exploded (figuratively, of course) on anyone in class, but, god, is Shitty Hair getting on his nerves today.

It was the first day of their last year together, as the infamous Class-A kids of Yuuei push onward into Pro-Heroism, and Katsuki couldn’t have been more ready to get the fuck out of dodge.  Finally, the heroes-in-training will be able to take on their own assignments with the help of their practicum placements. In the end, Katsuki decided to stay with Best Jeanist, because while he had been a pain in the ass in the beginning, his field work is exactly where Katsuki wanted to be: in the thick of things.  Best Jeanist got the best cases to work on, so whatever trickled down to his sidekicks was always better than whatever trash-ass agencies the extras in his class where placed at. Katsuki wanted nothing but the best, and he’s got it.

Katsuki could have been working with IcyHot’s old man, Endeavor, if he wanted, but there was no way he’d work there willingly.  He couldn’t stand to watch peppermint head get special treatment cause he worked at his daddy’s hero agency. No way. Katsuki was gonna make IcyHot watch from afar as he got the number one hero spot without anyone’s help.  And definitely without familial favoritism.

Bakugou Katsuki and Todoroki Shouto have been butting heads since the first Sports Festival where they tied in the end, knocking each other out in a final blow that nearly took out the stadium along with their fight.  All-Might had declared their tie at the podium, congratulating them both. However, when Todoroki had exhaled an almost holier-than-thou sigh at the medal, Katsuki tackled him off the stand in a fit of rage, earning him three weeks worth of detention, and two months of grounding for embarrassing his mother on national TV.  From that day on, Todoroki and Bakugou were rivals.

Even now, as IcyHot walks into class ten minutes before the bell, Katsuki can’t help but sneer from his seat.  Todoroki looks as indifferent as ever as he takes his seat in class. He’s never talked to anyone outside of Ponytail, Four-Eyes, and goading Katsuki into another fight.  Besides quick pleasantries and somewhat off-hand comments during class exercises, Todoroki has kept to himself. To Katsuki it seemed like Todoroki is looking down at them, but Katsuki has had enough of that in his past to not want to deal with it now.  

Just you wait, Katsuki thought to himself, I’m gonna be fucking number one.

“Hey, man,” Kirishima said, continuing to prod and poke at the somewhat sleeping bear, “You’re glaring pretty hard at Todoroki over there.  I thought you guys got over this last term!”

Katuski scowled even deeper, “I was only nice to him because I wanted to pass the fucking final.  Fucking stop twitching so goddamn much! You’re pissing me the fuck off, Shitty Hair!”

“Aww!  And you just started calling me Kirishima!”

Mina started giggling from up ahead, “Aw, Kiri, is Bakugou being a meany again?  Starting off the year with a bang, yeah!”

Kaminari poked up then, “Haha, yeah that’s for sure!  Especially if he keeps bothering him like that, it’ll be more like a boom!”  Kaminari and Mina high five, grinning wide at their dumb antics, Sero shaking his head in the background.  Two years of hero school and they were still as silly as ever.

“Eating Uraraka’s breakfast probably wasn’t the best idea, Eji,” Sero piped up, a bit more serious than his goofy friends, but not by much, “You know you can’t have sugar like that.”

“Yeah, I know, but Uraraka said she didn’t want the rest of it and it’s from that new place from down the road and I really wanted to try it!  Wouldn’t you have taken it?”

“Yeah, but I can handle my sugar,” Sero snarked, “Unlike someone who passed out from one to many pixy stixs at the halloween party last year.  You almost-”

“Stop!  We do not speak of that night!” Kirishima jumped up at Sero’s words, his face as red as his hair.

“Haha, or how about that one time at Karaoke with the cherry soda!  You ran straight into-”

“Stop it!  I can feel my manliness depleting!  This is supposed to be a good year!”  

Just as it was getting to be a little too loud for Katsuki’s sanity, Aizawa popped-up from behind his desk.  Having been their homeroom teacher for two, now starting three years, Aizawa has been instrumental in his class’s growth despite not changing much at all himself.  Staring back at his class with the ever present bags under his eyes, Aizawa begins their first class.

“Good morning, class.  Today marks the beginning of your final year into heroism.  It is also the beginning of your final field experience in practicum.  I remind you all that not only do you represent Yuuei out in the field, but this will also show the world what you have to offer as a Pro-Hero.  Impressions started a long time ago, but these are some of the ones that will always last. And like I said in the message I sent out before class, there will be a surprise for you all after lunch.  Principal Nedzu believes that this will take you to the next level, and even to the level of a Pro-Hero. Please take advantage of this, and do your best. There is always room for improvement. Always.”

Katsuki scoffed to himself, Ain’t nothing better than the best, and that’s exactly what I’ll be.  That’s exactly what I am.

“And this year, class,” Aizawa continues, “will be harsher than ever before.  There is no room for mistakes this year. If in anyway you exhibit behavior that might, or even potentially be detrimental to the life of a civilian, or if carelessness is exhibited in your work as a hero, you will be expelled from Yuuei.”

The mood in the air changed.  No longer was it a room of high schoolers bickering over silly things, but a room of heroes who knew the weight of Aizawa-sensei’s words.  Aizawa would expel them in a heartbeat if he had too, however they all knew that they have come too far for it to all end now. This year was going to be different, and they all could feel it.

“The public relies on heroes like you.  Do not screw this up.”

_______________________________________________

Izuku was absolutely lost.  Years of travelling abroad and he still can’t seem to figure out how airports work.   There’s no rhyme or reason!  Every single one is different and I can’t find a bathroom anywhere!

However a light shown through the darkness when he could see his terminal from afar, his destination lit up in neon red above the check-in desk: Tokyo, Japan .  Izuku was finally going home after being abroad for ‘technically’ two years under Nedzu’s tutelage.  He couldn’t believe it had already been this long, feeling as if he had spent a lifetime with friends from all over, making memories he’ll never forget.  But it was time to go home, and start his final project towards graduation.

Yuuei, after all of Izuku’s contributions over the years, has allowed for Izuku to come back and graduate with the current senior class, albeit in his own special class, of course.  Genkei had offered a spot at their graduation as well, but Izuku would much rather have Nedzu to be the one to hand him his degree. He would have done both, but sadly they were both scheduled for the same day, and besides, it’s not like he would never see his professors ever again, quite the contrary.  Izuku is fairly certain some of them would hunt them down if he didn’t say hello at least once a year after graduation.

It has been a very eventful few years for Izuku, and though he had been afraid of leaving home at first, he wouldn’t trade his time abroad for anything in the world.  The friends he’s made, the things he’s discovered; it was all a little hard to let go of, if he was being quite honest. The freedom of traveling alone….But, he had said his goodbyes already, and it wasn’t the first time he has said them either.  This airport in LA is just one of the many Izuku has seen over the years. From Germany to South Africa to Brazil and back, Nedzu has sent Izuku all over the world to adventures Izuku could have never imagine himself taking. And the wealth of knowledge that Izuku has accumulated is astonishing, and all he wants is to learn more.  Do more. Be more.

There is still so much to do...

But for right now, in order to finish up his track with Nedzu, he needs to now apply all that knowledge he has accumulated. Izuku has been working on this last project remotely from wherever he was and has taken up a good portion of his work load over that past couple months.  Now that all the prep is done, he can focus completely on the actual task and hopefully graduate.

Izuku would have never imagined ending up where he was now, almost three years after his first encounter with All-Might.   Oh, yeah!  I get to see All-Might again!  That thought alone made him more energetic about his return. He hasn’t seen the enigma that is All-Might, or Toshi as he calls him in his deflated form, since his time working with Mirio, or as Japan knows him, number 5 hero, Lemillion.   Man, that feels like such a long time ago.  I wonder how everyone is doing… Well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough!

Walking up to his terminal, Izuku pulls out his phone to see all the messages of well wishes he has gotten from friends and colleagues on his way back home.  He sees that he has a missed call from his mother and proceeds to dial her number.

She picks up, “Hello?”

“Hi, mom!”

“Oh, hello, honey!  How are you? Are things going well for you over in America?  Toshinori has told me great things!”

Another factor into Izuku’s excitement in going home- it’s a surprise for his mom!  The only contact he’s had with his mom since the end of middle school are phone calls when he has reception (which is not often) and a monthly skype call for when he has time to sit down and talk.  Izuku tried very hard have frequent conversations with his mom, especially after what had happened only after being three months abroad by himself. That wasn’t fun for anyone, and it was probably the most Izuku’s ever wanted to go home to just hug his mother… But if he was meant to stay on track with Nedzu, going home was not an option.  It was hard, but they got through it.

Some of his most recent phone calls with his mother have been a little more than teary-eyed as they begin to feel the distance between the two now more than ever.  The ‘ I miss you’ s number as much as the ‘ I love you’ s now a days, and sometimes even more.  But Izuku has no regrets. His life has been rather busy, and more than a little hectic, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.  And right now, it’ll be worth the surprise on his mother’s face when he knocks on the front door.

“Things are great, mom.  I got to work with some of the quirk studies professors at UCLA last night; we stayed up a little late re-watching hero films from the Golden Age afterwards, too.  I also found out that grad students cannot hold their liquor against Dr. Kismat very well.”

“Well, it sounds like you are having a fun time… I miss you, Izu.”

There it is.

“I miss you too, mom.  I promise it won’t be long now.”

A pause, “Do you have any idea when you’ll be back?  Even if its a short time?”

It’s almost like Izuku can hear how much it hurts his mother that he’s been go for so long.  When the idea was first proposed, Izuku and his mom had sat down and, just, talked. For a rather long time.  She understood that this was a once in a lifetime chance for Izuku, and that she would come to hate herself if she had made him stay.  By the end of that night, full of softly spoken words and the tightening of a bond that will never be broken between mother and son, Inko gave her son her blessing.  But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

“I… I am not sure when I’ll be back,” Aw, I want to tell her so bad that I’m coming back!  No, I have to wait for the surprise!  “Nedzu told me it would be soon.”

Over the intercom came the voice of a flight-attendant, “ Flight 317 for Tokyo, Japan is boarding.  Flight 317 fo-”

“Who was that Izuku?  Are you with somebody right now?  Is it a girl?”

Blushing to the tip of his ears, Izuku responded frantically, “N-no! No, mom!  I’m sorry, I have to go! I love you, talk to you soon!”

“Alright, Izu honey, love you!”   End call.

Whoo!  That was close, the announcement almost ruined the surprise!

“ -ight 317 for Tokyo, Japan now boarding Elite Gold Member passengers.  Flight 317 for Tokyo…”

Looking out the window one last time at the city he called home for the past two months, Izuku said one last goodbye.   Well, I guess it’s finally time to go home.

__________________________________________

This has been the most boring class day of Katsuki’s life.  All of this stupid paperwork is pissing him off. At least Kirishima finally hit the wall and is currently passed out with his head almost in his soba.  Lunch came as a relief for the entire class as they filed in line for Lunch Rush and sat down, mentally weary at the amount of paperwork it took to be a hero.  And not even a Pro-Hero, an unpaid intern .   Complete bullshit is what it is, thought Katsuki as he stabbed the meat on his tray, they’re lucky they even have me .  Not that any of the students cared about not getting paid (besides Uraraka, of course), but doing all this paperwork for free wasn’t necessarily making it any better, either.

“C’mon you guys, it isn’t that bad!” Kaminari proclaimed, flicking a bit of his rice towards Mina and Sero, who both sat slumped besides Katsuki.

Mina snorted, “That’s easy for you to say!  My hands are cramping, and I keep smudging the damn paper with my left handedness!”

“C’mon, Kami.  Everyone knows you workout your wrists enough at night that this isn’t anything for you!”  Sero said slyly, dodging a clump of rice thrown his way, “And I hate writing, it’s already uncomfortable as it is, but for prolonged periods like this, my elbows really start getting in the way!”

Kaminari rolled his eyes, “It can’t be as bad as you guys say, right Kiri…. Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s dead.”

“That sugar hit him hard.”

“Good thing, too cause I was gonna hit him way fucking harder if he didn’t shut the fuck up soon.  Fuck, is shitty hair annoying when he’s like that. No more fucking sugar!” Katsuki couldn’t stand his talking, it reminded him of a just as annoying friend from before.   Nevermind that, Katsuki thought, wherever that fucking useless Deku went…

“Hey!  We weren’t the ones who gave him the sugar!”

Katsuki pushed back his seat, standing up, getting ready to leave, “I don’t give a fuck, it was fucking annoying.”  Picking up his tray, he dumped it in the trash can next to the lunch table. “And make sure shitty hair makes it back to class on time.”

As Katsuki turned his back to the table, he could faintly hear Pikachu say “Aww, he really does care!”

The loud eep from said Pikachu that came after Katsuki let off a small explosion near the back of his head was satisfying enough that Katsuki left him as is.

On his way back to the classroom however, Katsuki’s small grin fell off of his face, replaced by a grimace.  God, why did Kirishima have to remind him of that kid so much. Who gives a fuck, Katsuki thought bitterly, He fucking disappeared off the face of the planet anyways.  Why am I even thinking of Deku anyways, he was nothing but a quirkless pebble in the road. Whatever that idiot is doing now is no business of mine.

He can remember the last time he saw the green haired idiot on the last day of middle school.  He had been talking to their homeroom teacher, thanking them for something or another. Deku had changed drastically over the past few months, his back was straighter, he didn’t stutter anymore, and he was excelling at everything in the classroom.  Of course Katsuki had noticed this and it had irked him to no end. How dare Deku look down at me like he’s better than me, he had fumed, rubbing his grades in my face.  Who the fuck does he think he is?

After Deku had finished talking to the teacher, Katsuki trailed him halfway home when he finally called out after him.

“Deku!”

Izuku had startled easily, jumping to turn towards Katsuki, “Kaachan!” Even now Katsuki could remember those big green eyes staring back at him, taking note of everything Katsuki did, as if he was waiting for him to fuck up.

“You didn’t help me,” Katsuki wanted to make this clear before both went their separate ways after today.  The sludge villain incident was in the past, but he didn’t want some pebble thinking he was the one who saved Katsuki.  If anyone saved Katsuki, it was All-Might and All-Might alone. Not some quirkless idiot who threw himself into a fight that wasn’t his.

Confusion masked Izuku’s features until it finally hit him, “Oh,” a pause, “Yeah… I know.”

I know?  What the fuck does that mean?   “I’m gonna be fucking number one, and I don’t need a useless Deku to get me there, you got that!  I’m gonna get there on my fucking own. I don’t need your help!”

Katsuki’s words echoed into the street around them, nobody but them stand there.  Neither of them made a move to talk or anything for seconds that felt like years. Having enough, Katsuki turned to walk in the other direction.  But as he was leaving, Deku finally said something.

“Goodbye, Kaachan.”

Not saying anything back, the only indication that Katsuki had heard him was a slight pause in his gait.   Whatever, thought Katsuki.  But what he didn’t know that day was that that was the last time he would see his childhood friend for a long time.  

It wasn’t until after his first day at UA that Katsuki thought about Izuku again.  Finding out the hard way that he wasn’t as gifted, or as far ahead as he thought in the hero world, he tried to find someone to talk to.   This wasn’t supposed to happen, Katsuki thought angrily, I was supposed to be the best .  And in his moment of vulnerability, he had found himself in front of the Midoriya’s home, not knowing why, but feeling like he needed to be there.  Trying to muster up the courage to knock on the door, or even a good reason why he was there in the first place, Auntie Inko had opened the door.

“Is De- I mean, Izuku home?”

Looking at him with what looked like pity, they have the same eyes, Inko finally said, “Didn’t he tell you?  I thought he had said goodbye to you before he left?”

Izuku was gone.  Going abroad for god knows what.  But it was then that Katsuki steeled himself, making damn sure that he would never have a moment like that again.   Of course he was the best, and he didn’t need a quirkless Deku to tell him that either.  He was just going to prove it to the world how good he really was.

Now, two years later, Katsuki found himself thinking of Deku once again.  The memories however only served to sour his mood even more as he pushed them to the back of his mind where they belonged.

Back in the classroom, empty besides himself and that creepy purple-haired guy, Katsuki sat and dropped his head onto his desk.   God, what a fucking waste of a day. When is it going to be fucking over.   But not wanting to complain as much as his classmates, Katsuki instead just sat and waited for the rest of the day to come and go, so he could go the fuck home.

________________________________

Izuku was home.  It’s been… quite a while since he’s been home.  It was the same little apartment, nestled snugly outside the city’s edge in a suburban area.  The paint was chipping and the banister was a bit rusty if anything, but it was still the sturdy home Izuku grew up in, and is now returning to.  

It’s only really been two years, Izuku, he said, smacking himself on his cheeks, some people have been gone for longer.  A lot longer.  Then he could feel the tell-tale signs of crying, but he sucked it up as quick as it came.   No crying, he steeled himself, but then faltered with a sniff, well at least not yet.

It was fairly late at night when Izuku’s plane touched down in Tokyo, the earliest flight he could manage with short notice from Nedzu.  It wasn’t all that bad however, actually it was really nice. He had accumulated quite a few bonus points from all his international flying making this final trip home rather lavish indeed.  But it was still a total of twelve flight hours, not to mention the two hour train ride back home from Tokyo. It’s been a long day.

Now here he was, standing in front of his home, almost afraid to even knock.   Oh god, should I have just told her I was coming home?  What if it’s too much a surprise and I scare her too bad!  Does she have a heart condition? None that I can remember…  What if she’s not here. The lights are out. Wait, her bicycle is here so she must be here.  And the way the mat is nugged looks like she just came home and not left because of the grai- Wait!  I’m getting off track! Just open the door, idiot, it’s your home. You’re home.

A deep breath and he turned the knob to enter, “Mom, I’m home!”

And as he walked in, Izuku had to remind himself that he did not have a heart condition either, even though it had almost lept out of his body when he was met with the loud surprise of much more than just his mother.

“Surprise, Izuku!  Welcome home!”

Surprise indeed, “W-what, oh my god!  I- I thought I was su-”

Izuku had been met with much more than just the face of his mother.  All-Might was there, and so was Nedzu, Aizawa-sensei, Mirio, and even… is that who I think it is?

But before Izuku can confirm for himself that it is who he thinks it is, his mother has swept what she could of him in her arms,“Thought what, that you were supposed to surprise me?  Now, what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t make my own child a welcome home party?”

And then squeezing him real tight, Izuku’s mom whispered to him in a wobbly voice that can only be attributed to the Midoriya’s, “I missed you so much, Izuku.”

Okay, now I can cry.

_________________________________________

Nedzu was tickled as a peach to find out the end result of Izuku’s studies abroad.  Izuku had sent in his final grades from Genkei four months ago, passing with flying colors across the board.  His worries of online classes not being enough being demolished as he looked at Izuku’s test scores and how not only did they hold up against the national average, but exceeded that of many of his upperclassmen taking the same exams.   An enigma this kid, really.   From the teacher comments left, it could be seen that Izuku continues to leave lasting impressions wherever he goes.  One teacher going as far as to ask if Izuku was looking for another internship after Nedzu.

Oh, I don’t know about that, Nedzu had responded in an email, Izuku has quite a few offers at the moment… However, I’ll be sure to mention yours on his return to Japan.  Well wishes!

Midoriya Izuku had become much more than what Nedzu had initially expected.   He was everything and then some!   Looking back at it now, Nedzu should have seen it coming….

The day that Nedzu had invited Izuku and Inko over for their initial meeting, Nedzu knew he hit some sort of gold mine on their first conversation alone.  But foreign legal knowledge at his age is not entire uncommon, Nedzu can remember his own obsession with the legal systems of Post-Europe Germany and their advancements in quirk tech.  The obsession had taken over most of his thoughts to the point that his friends had an intervention. We all love that you love this one particular thing, they had said with trepidation (this was Nedzu they were talking to after all), but this hyperfixion has been going on for nearly half a decade.  Half a decade!  Ha! Nothing to boast about, his weaponry phase was much worse.  Nedzu had hoarded more ammo than the American South in their seventh civil war.  However, he digressed.

No, it wasn’t that.  Enthusiasm is fantastic, obsession even better at times.  But due to Nedzu’s quirk, his gut instincts were a little more than just a good guess.  When Nedzu felt something, he knew something.  Izuku had triggered Nedzu’s creativity.  To Nedzu, Izuku looked like the perfect chunk of clay.  A marble slab that no matter where he hit, the give would be just perfect.  Izuku, from what Nedzu could tell, was going to be his next obsession. One that he felt would span much more than just a half decade.

So he offered Izuku a job as his assistant.  A simple job really, go where Nedzu couldn’t and learn by osmosis.  Well, osmosis and an almost overwhelming amount of school work. For Nedzu’s plan to work (because, yes, he had a plan for Izuku - the kid deserves as much), Izuku needed to finish his high school diploma a year early… along with a few other degrees.  But most of them had overlapped anyways, so it wasn’t entirely too bad. Most of the required classes could be exchanged with field work, and with the places Nedzu was sending Izuku, the hours wouldn’t be an issue. At all.  

He almost felt bad for the kid when he had finally laid out everything for Izuku.  Anybody other than Nedzu would have paled at the track. Most people with any previous knowledge of Nedzu’s overzealous tendencies would have jumped ship the second he mentioned it.  Of course that meant that he never let Toshinori see the entire plan. Just a few… bits and pieces, here and there. The hero had a tendency to be overprotective at times, despite Toshinori himself working his students half to death.  

And yet, when Nedzu presented his full plan to Izuku, instead of running away screaming like most people with a hint of common sense would have done at Nedzu’s suicidal plans, Izuku replied simply with “Okay.”  At first, Nedzu didn’t think Izuku knew the extremes to which he would have to push himself to achieve all of this. That Izuku did not understand how serious this was. But one look at the resolve on Izuku’s face, the trembling, shy kid gone, even if just for a moment, Nedzu knew.  It was a resolve that shook Nedzu to his core.

Oh, and if that didn’t make Nedzu want to push him even harder.

And that is exactly what he did.  After their first months of initial prep, of course.  For Izuku to be the representative Nedzu needed, he needed to go through a bit of change.  

“You’re going to have to take some prep classes before going abroad, Izuku.  The first being one on leadership and public speaking.”

Immediately, Nedzu could see Izuku deflate.  Not because of the prospect of more classes, just because it seems like his speech is a big frustration and point of insecurity for Izuku.

“I, um, yes.  Oh- okay.”

Nedzu patted Izuku on his back, trying to reassure him, “This is not to say that your stuttering is a problem.  I know it’s hard sometimes to have your words to try and catch up to your thoughts. Many others have also had this issue as well.”

“Really?”

“Why, yes indeed.  And these classes are not going to try and fix that either.  They focus more on being able to portray your ideas clearly through your words.  Some of your ideas, like many others, are very complex and will need to be explained as clearly as possible.  You understand this, yes?”

A nod from Izuku.

“And along with clarity comes leadership.  When you are able to clearly speak to a group of people and get what you need out of that group of people by words alone, it becomes a cornerstone of your leadership skills.  Again, something I believe will help you immensely, especial in some of the areas I am sending you. But this is just the start!”

True to his word, Izuku went on to take these classes and few more in his last months of middle school, coming out a much more confident and upstanding young man in the process.  His peers and teachers at school also seemed to take notice as Izuku’s demeanor, while still meek at times, grew an air of assuredness, and saw how his grades skyrocketed. This attracted not only positive but negative attention as well.  

Two months in and Izuku had shown up to one of their meeting beat and scratched up to hell.  Nedzu had called in Recovery Girl immediately and asked Izuku what had happened. Eraserhead had also been in the room at the time, wanting to finally speak to the infamous middle schooler that was taking up quite a bit of the principal’s time.  Of course, Aizawa wasn’t expecting to see a beat up, scrawny kid walk in.

“What happened?  Are you okay?” Nedzu sat across from Izuku as Recovery Girl looked at Izuku’s injuries.  Izuku didn’t receive Recovery Girl’s healing kiss as Nedzu would like to have conscious Izuku or their conversation that afternoon. Instead, Chiyo was just to patch him up.   And were those burn marks?

Aizawa sat besides Nedzu, looking thoroughly unimpressed, “I didn’t know you had taken in a delinquent, Nedzu.”

At this Izuku’s face fell, but Nedzu was quick to fix this, “Haha, surely you jest, Aizawa.  Izuku is no delinquent. However, I would like to know what happened. Care to explain, Izuku?”

Scratching behind his head in shame, Izuku started, “Ah, well, you know how I have been, um, rising in the student ranks?”

“Yes, last we talked, you had been number one in your class after the last exam,” Aizawa said nothing at this, obviously still unimpressed, sipping slowly at his tea.  Nedzu understood why; there were plenty of number one students in the world, why is this one special? Just you wait, Aizawa.  You’ll fall into this kid’s trap, too.

“There are some kids at my school....w-well, really one in particular, that doesn’t like the fact that I’m, um, ahead of the class.”

Nedzu knew exactly what he meant by this, “What you mean is that students in your class don’t like the fact that someone quirkless is outperforming them in school.”  

There Nedzu could see both Aizawa and Chiyo stiffen.   Whoops.  Nedzu maybe might have forgotten to mention to many of the staff and board that Izuku was quirkless.   It doesn’t really matter however, does it?  Izuku is my student, not Yuuei’s, for that reason exactly.  Their loss, really.

Nedzu continued, “So they continued on to bully you, and by what it looks like, all out beat you to a near pulp,” Turning to look at the other two in the room, “How cruel some kids can be, no?”

Still looking awful stiff, Chiyo addressed Izuku directly, “They did this to you….because you were quirkless?”

“I- um, yes?  I’m mean, I am fairly used to this by now, really.  Uh, but, yeah, today was, um, worse th- than usual…. Yeah.”

Aizawa set his tea down, setting his gaze on Izuku, “Then you wouldn’t mind telling me the names of these peers of yours, would you?  I just want to make sure none of them end up at UA thinking behavior like this is acceptable. Honestly, I would rather them not make it into any hero institution at all,” Pulling out a notepad and pen from his scarf, Aizawa asked again, “So if you would please, the first name?”

Izuku looked visibly flustered at this, almost frantic as he waved off Aizawa’s request, “No, no!  There’s no need! They didn’t actually mean it, really! It’s alright!”

Chiyo bristled at this, “Young man, it is absolutely not okay for a student, for anyone, to be treated this way because they were quirkless.  Honestly, what do people teach their children nowadays?”

Aizawa looked at Izuku once again, “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me anything?  Not even the one who gave you those burns on your neck and arms there?” That made Izuku quickly cover said areas with his hands, turning his face away from the adults in the room.

Izuku shook his head,“Um, no, especially not Ka- I mean.  Thank you, Eraserhead. But no.”

A bout of silence followed Izuku’s response.  Which Nedzu of course felt the need to dissipate.  

“Ah, well, now that Izuku is all patched up, thank you Recovery Girl by the way, I think we should continue on with our meeting.  First, however, I would like to ask you, Eraserhead, do you remember that analysis I showed you a few months ago?”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, not knowing how this was relevant at all, “Yes.”

“And do you remember the quality of said analysis?”

“Yes, it was probably one of the better ones I have seen in my career as a hero.  And whoever wrote it obviously wasn’t a complete dunderhead like the one I had at my previous agency, god the tech he had suggested was idiotic.”

“And you would say that it was graduate worthy, no?  Work of someone who has spent years researching quirks, and in this instance, quite a while just looking at your own.”

“.... Yes, but I don’t see what this has to do with anything-”

“That analysis, Eraserhead, was written by none other than Midoriya Izuku.”

Aizawa’s snapped over to look at Izuku, whose own head had turned a bright shade of red at the compliments Aizawa didn’t know he was giving.  

“You wrote that?”

Izuku nodded, “Y-yeah, I mean, yes.”

“There’s no way, that must have taken you years.  Even the best quirk specialist haven’t figured out what you did without extensive observation.”

Izuku’s arms again migrated up to cover the top of his head in embarrassment, muttering a response, not looking at Aizawa.

And Aizawa couldn’t believe the response, “Wait, it took you how long to write that?”   Here we go.

Izuku slowly brought his arms back down, the red leaving his face, but the muttering not getting any better,. “Um, like five, maybe six days…. It took longer than usual because you’re an underground hero and when I made that notebook it was like… four years ago?  You didn’t have many videos online, and your official hero profile was very limited. However, after I figured out what sources were best to find information on you, and when an actual televised video of you went up in HD, I was able to do a lot more. Of course, you’re fighting style was made to be not seen or heard, so the videos usually got the brunt end of your rescues and captures.  The civilian reports on you were also hard to come across as, once again, you usually don’t stay around for the police to get the criminal. But the videos from, I want to say two years ago did some justice, haha, to your hero work. Besides all that, however, my analysis is based mostly on other heroes work and careers like those of older generations whose quirks were not so specific. Again, your quirk is almost the antithesis to quirks, or one of the many antithesis I have looked….”

Wrapped up in his own world, Nedzu let Izuku continue to talk himself round the world as he looked over at Aizawa.  To which Aizawa met him with a slightly incredulous look that had been forming as Izuku spoke.

Gotcha.

Two years later, Nedzu isn’t the only one eager to see what Izuku had in store for the senior class of UA.  For years now, Izuku has had to deal with people underestimating him, having to prove himself over and over again.  Now all Nedzu can do is hope to god the students at UA do not join the ranks of people that have underestimated Izuku.  Well, maybe he does… just a little. Have Izuku show them a lesson. Have them all learn rather quickly that quirks won’t help you if he can see right through you.  Yes, I think that’ll work just fine.

_______________________________________

Class 3-A had never been more ready for a school day to end in their lives.  It’s just been paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Usually, the class can remain positive in the face of any adversary, but at the moment even the ever positive Hagakure was sulking with the rest of her peers.  But the end was in sight as class president Yaoyorozu announced that this would be their last packet for the day. A whoop came through the class as they raced to the last page, ignoring the pain in wrists. Finally, with Kaminari being the last one to turn in his packet, the class had finished with the monstrosity that was their practicum forms.  

At this, Aizawa-sensei rose from underneath his desk where he was taking a nap while his students filled in bubbles, signed blank lines, and read terms and conditions.  He had already done his fair share of that back in the day and did not feel like participating any more than handing the heavy packets out and playing cat games on his phone.  But now that the class had finished the main priority of the day, Aizawa guesses he could stop pushing it off for much longer.

Addressing the class of tired eyes and sore wrists, Aizawa began, “Now that that’s all done, I suppose I should let you all have your surprise now.  You have been waiting long enough.”

A few “Finally”s and “Yay”s were said sporadically around the classroom.  Aizawa took a second to send a message to Nedzu and addressed the class once more, “It shouldn’t be more than a few minutes now.  You may speak quietly amongst yourselves. Quietly. ”

The class erupted into hurrieds whispers as students cluttered into their respective friend groups, speculating what the surprise could be.

Ochako bounced up to Iida, the excitement clear on her face, “What do you the surprise is?”

And Iida responded with just as much enthusiasm, his hands making their usual, awkward chopping motions, “I don’t know, Uraraka!  Aizawa-sensei said it was from Principal Nedzu so it must be something rather important.”

“Or maybe something silly, kero.  You know how the Principal is,” Tsuyu said, coming up from behind Ochako.

“Do you think it’ll be something big?  Like more than just a good job surprise? Aizawa said it would take us to the next level,” Hagakure said to Ojiro.

“It has to be something fantastic to be able to take us to pro-hero status.  You never know with Principal Nedzu. Did we ever figure out what he was?”

“A bear?”

“A mouse?”

“A dog?”

“Who cares, I just want to see the surprise!”

“Maybe it’s something to reward us for our good work as student over the years,” Momo said to Jirou, her friend aimlessly twirling her ear jacks around her fingers.

“Mm, maybe… I don’t really care though, I just wanna go back to the dorms and sleep.”

“Whatcha think it is, Katsu?  Maybe it’s something really cool like a class trip!”

“Don’t fucking call me that, and I don’t give-”

“-a fuck, we get it, bro.  You don’t care about things, you’re edgy!”

“Watch your fu-”

A knock at the door makes the class quite.

“Alright, class settle down,” Everyone shuffled back to their seats as quickly as they could, Katsuki letting Sero’s shirt go with a huff.  Walking over to the classroom door, Aizawa opened it slowly to reveal-

A large stack of manila folders.

Kaminari let out a wail as the rest of the class let out a deep sigh.  

“I knew it was too good to be true!” Mina let out, clutching her wrist in exaggeration at the prospect of more pages full of words that mean nothing.

But then the stack of folders began to move forward to reveal-

Mirio-senpai.  Better known as number 5 hero, Lemillion.

Kirishima was the first to say anything, “Whoa!  Mirio-senpai, what are you doing here? I thought you worked on the other side of the country?!”

Mirio had come in holding the towering stack of beige, bringing it closer towards Aizawa’s desk before plopping the whole thing down.  The stack seem to wobble back and forth precariously until it finally settled into a dangerously leaning skyscraper of paper.

“Ah, hello, everybody!  Long time no see! I hope everybody has been well!”

A resounding yes swept the classroom when Iida spoke up, “Are you supposed to be the surprise from Nedzu?”

Mirio laughed, “Haha, me?  No. I just came by to see a good friend who has been gone for a while.  Oh, and I got roped into helping with some stuff as you can see,” turning to look at Aizawa, he said, “He should be here in a second, he’s just finishing up with 3-B, they finished with their work way earlier.”

Walking out the classroom, he waved back at class 3-A, “See you guys around!”

Aizawa looked bored as he looked back at his classroom, then at the leaning stack of folders, then at the doorway, “I guess now we just wait for the problem child to get here,” Whispers erupted across the room.  Where they about to meet the problem child of Yuuei?  The one they’ve been hearing about all these years!

“Kiri, we finally get to meet them!  Finally!”

“From everything we’ve overheard, they have to be so cool!  I’m surprised they’ve survived Aizawa’s rage for this long.”

“Holy shit, I can hear footsteps coming down the hallway!  Quiet down!”

“Mirio said he was just down the hallw-”

Just as Aizawa was finishing his sentence, another tower of folders materialized at the doorway.

“Hey, Jirou, where did you say the drop out forms where again?”

“Oh, they’re just by Nedzu’s office, I’ll come grab one with you, Pinky.”

“Hush, you two, these are not more forms.  They’re actually some paperwork I think you all will thoroughly enjoy.”

The stack of paperwork started to shift forward again towards Aizawa’s desk, this time the figure obscured by what looked to be a baseball cap and hoodie.

Putting the stack down, the figure finally spoke up for the first time, “Ah, sorry for being late ‘zawa, the other class got a little rowdy near the end and Blood King had a little trouble holding them back.”

At this, for the first time in the students lives, they heard Aizawa-sensei laugh.  Like, genuinely laugh. Who was this guy?

“I can imagine.  Sometimes you go a little overboard, don’t you, problem child.”

“Sorry, something I picked up from some pretty intense people abroad.”

“And you’re accent is a bit rusty.”

“Again, intense people, intense accents.”

The students sat quietly, still stunned at the ease of which this guy is speaking with Aizawa.  Still not able to see his face, his back turned to the class. From what the class could see, this guy was built.  Like, holy shit, built.  Mina and Hagakure would have said something by now, but still shocked at the light banter going between Aizawa and the new guy, the class remained silent.

Finally, the stranger said something that made Aizawa chuckle ( chuckle!) , and Aizawa ended their little conversation by saying, “Well, I think you’ve already made an impression with the class.  You might as well introduce yourself before half of them explode from anticipation. And take off your hat! What, were you raised in a pigsty?”

And as he took off his hood and cap, revealing bright, forest green hair, the stranger said, “I’m telling mom you said that.”

“You wouldn’t da-”

Turning to fully face the class, a gasp was heard from the back but ignored as the problem introduced himself.

“Hi, I’m Midoriya Izuku, and I will be your classroom assistant for the year.  Please take care of me.”

And before anything else could be said, a slam of a desk and a voice no one expected to hear exploded from the back of the classroom.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Deku?!” Katsuki had toppled his desk over in rage, small explosions going off in his hands.  The sight was one the class had not seen in a while. What is up with this guy, and why does he keep getting weird reactions out of people!

And to everyone’s continuous surprise, Midoriya responded.

“Oh, hi, Kacchan!  Long time, no see.”

Awake just in time from his sugar coma, Kirishima whispers a small, “Holy shit.”

Oh yeah, this year was going to be different.