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I’ve been locked in the locker
I was picked up last in soccer
And they say that it’s all fun
But their fun, it ain’t fun, man, I’m done.
//
Izuku is done, so done. Everything hurts. Every bruise and every cut. Why was he enduring all of this again? Ahh, right. Because he’s quirkless. He is quirkless, helpless, useless Izuku. And because he’s useless, it’s okay for the other students to toss him around like a lifeless doll. Poor helpless Izuku, he can’t defend himself, come on, let’s beat him up more.
Pathetic Izuku.
Too lost with his thoughts, Izuku didn’t notice he has climbed up all the way to the roof top of their school building.
Wow, even his body is sick of all the beatings. Now it wants to end all of this.
But isn’t falling off the roof hurts too?
Well, at least it will be just one big ouchie and poof! no more beatings, no more ridicule, no more locked closets.
Even maybe Izuku will see his parents once more on the other side? Specially his mom. Izuku misses his mom. It has been a year now and going home to an empty apartment hurts more than being pushed off the stairs.
Izuku approached the end of the roof. He saw the school track field. It looks so tiny. Funny how hours ago his classmates played catch with his shoe there. Hah, fun times.
Then he looked below. Four stories is pretty high, huh?
Then this means the success rate is pretty much 100%. If he’s lucky he won’t feel the pain at all.
“Nice view, huh?” came a voice behind him. It spooked him but luckily being pushed around developed his sense of balance.
Izuku turn around to see who decided to spook him like that.
And then he saw the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.
Piercing ruby eyes, smooth flawless face, medium height shiny blonde hair tied in a side ponytail and a dashing smile.
Some people may call it a smirk, but it’s Izuku’s perspective, he can call something anything he wants.
The last thing Izuku noticed about her is her uniform. She’s wearing a grey blazer and skirt with blue designs and a white blouse and red tie. There are only three high schools in the area and none of them has this kind of uniform.
Maybe some school had their field trip here? But what’s to see here?
“W.. who are you?” he asked the girl.
“Bakugou Katsuki, 2nd year, UA academy.” The girl answered as she also approached the ledge.
“Wow,” She commented when she looked down below. “Your school should put a fence in here, it will be a sure death if someone ‘accidentally’ fall in here.” She said sarcastically but Izuku was too stunned to reply.
She’s prettier up close.
Wait.
UA Academy? Where is that? How did she get in here? Why is she here? Why is she talking to me?
Fingers snapped in front of him and Izuku went back to his senses. The girl has already pulled him away from the ledge and they are halfway to the exit.
“You talked a lot dude, are your gears loose?” she asked.
“I don’t talk to strangers!” Izuku answered dumbly. And made the girl laugh out loud.
“Idiot. I already introduced myself, you’re the stranger here.” She teased. Smiled teasingly.
Izuku.exe stopped responding. He thinks he just saw an angel.
Then another snap.
“aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” oh. Yeah.
“Midoriya Izuku, also 2nd year, Aldera High.”
See? It’s not that hard.
“I know.” She answered with a bright smile.
Huh?
“I’ve been following you for a while now”
HUH??!
“the truth is, UA Academy is a secret dorm-type school for heroes”
Izuku didn’t say another word so far so the girl continued.
“for the past few months, I was sneaking out from the campus due to extreme boredom. Then I saw you at a villain fight intently watching and jotting down notes. I sneak behind you out of curiosity and saw that you are writing observations and analysis of the fight, the villain, and the hero. And it was very on point and interesting. So since then I am looking out for you every time there is a villain fight so I can peak at your notes again.”
“that was you?” Izuku concluded.
“you’re the reason I have goose bumps during those times? All this time I thought it was the ghost of my mother who is mad that I’m putting myself in danger just to watch.”
The girl’s eyes blew wide at Izuku’s outburst. Calm down Izuku, TMI.
“but how can I miss you? You.. you’re..” Izuku trailed off.
“I’m what?” the girl challenged.
So beautiful.
“hard to miss.” Izuku choose the less creepy answer. “your uniform is so different from the uniforms of the schools around the area, people would really notice you.”
The girl was pleased with his answer and smiled victoriously.
“it’s part of the training, currently our lessons are about stealth. Aizawa-sensei would be proud. Anyways, I decided to reveal myself to you so I can stop you from jumping off the roof.”
Oh.
She knows.
“God, I want to smash the faces of those bastards so bad.” She spat angrily and stomped her feet. Izuku swears it cracked the floor.
And are those tiny explosions that came out of her palms?
“but I can’t.” she said defeatedly. “the school then will find out I snuck out and then I will be in house arrest. Man, house arrest is the worst. I have to clean the whole dorm! The last time I was on house arrest I almost killed someone.”
Yikes. Remind Izuku not to be on the bad side of the girl.
“and I can’t protect you when those bastards try to retaliate on you.”
Oh. That’s something.
“what do you want from me Bakugou-san?” Izuku asked carefully.
“well, I’m not planning to show myself yet. Not before I talked to the admin of the school and convince them to invite you to attend UA. You see, you can’t just enroll to UA without invitation from the school. Hell, you can’t even locate it if you haven’t been there or accompanied by someone who’s been there. So how can you attend UA if you’re dead?” she explained.
“you want me to attend to your school? A school for heroes?” Izuku asked in disbelief.
Him? A hero? Pfft. In his dreams.
Izuku can’t even believe there is a school for heroes. Sure, Izuku is obsessed with quirks and heroes but he just thought these heroic beings just decided to help the community full time and then designed fancy and techy costumes.
Though a hero school would make so much sense. Those heroes are too badass, they have to learn it from somewhere. They have to have training for it.
“Are you saying I can be a hero? Even without a quirk?” he asked again, now with more hope.
That question earned Izuku a flick on the forehead. But as far as forehead flicks could go, this one is so painful it felt like he’s been shot by an air gun at point blank.
“of course, idiot.” She said unbelievingly. “A quirk doesn’t make a hero.” Then she pointed at his chest. “this is what makes a hero.”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“but right now, this is faltering, and I have to do something to save it. You are so much more than what you think of, Izuku.”
And cue the waterworks.
Can you blame him? It’s the first time someone said he could be someone he wanted to be.
The first time someone believed in him.
This strange beautiful girl just came out of nowhere and told him he can be a hero.
The girl patted Izuku’s nest of a hair to comfort him. She could be Izuku’s very first friend after a long time.
“Can I call you Kacchan?” Izuku blurted out. The girl stopped patting his head.
“hah?!”
“you’re my first friend ever since kindergarten” ever since I was declared quirkless. “I wanted so much to call someone by a nickname.” Izuku pleaded.
“Ugh. Fine, I’ll let it slide since I made you cry.” Kacchan relented and Izuku tried so hard to keep himself from hugging her.
She stepped back and extend her arms side wards; she raised a brow as if asking “what are you waiting for nerd?”. And Izuku jumped at the opportunity to hug his new friend.
Izuku was hugging her for while when she pushed him and looked at him directly in the eyes.
“let’s sneak you into UA”
EH?
//
UA is surprisingly near to Aldera High. Who could have thought there are kids training to be heroes just a few kilometers away from his school? Though the way was too steep for a normal stroll.
A perfect strategy for a school to stay secret.
Surely, no one would walk around here for fun.
“Welcome to UA, nerd.” Kacchan said after they step out of a clearing.
They came face to face with a gigantic fence which guarded a massive twin building joined in the middle.
Behind the massive building where smaller apartment type buildings that Izuku guessed as the dorms.
Then way behind those are massive domes in diverse designs, some have roofs, some don’t, and some where elevated way too high.
“how could they hide a place like this? I’m sure this building can be seen till the next town.” Izuku asked in amazement.
“Technology”, Kacchan shrugged, then went around the fence to the opposite direction of the gate. “but all technologies have some defects.”
She smiled sinisterly and pushed a part of the fence and it parted. The gap it made was large enough to accommodate a medium sized high school student.
Luckily, Izuku is smaller than a medium sized student.
After they cross the fence, the UA campus just got more overwhelming. Izuku froze in place in awe.
“Oh Nerd, wait till you see the training grounds.” Kacchan promised and dragged Izuku to the domes.
Those freaking domes are training grounds?!
//
Kacchan is an excellent tour guide. She has a funny way of describing the concept of each training grounds, and how the students are using it for training.
Example was the residential area type training ground and some cannon balls just flew overhead.
“that’s Ponytail. That girl was lately into cannons so Aizawa sensei instructed her to play wack-a-mole with Engine there to train her precisions and Engine’s speed.”
And Engine is a person. Does she know any names of the students here?
After they visited every training grounds inside the campus, Izuku realized it’s his time to leave.
It’s kind of sad. But he just relished the thought that this is the happiest day of his life. And it is all thanks to Kacchan, his only friend.
“I’m surprised you haven’t used your notebook the entire time” she commented as she ushered him back to where they sneaked in earlier.
“I was itching to, but with all the running and sneaking, I think it will just hinder me with my observations. But I have a great memory, so it won’t be a problem. Not that I will ever forget a single detail of experience. This is the best thing ever that happened to me. Thank you Kacchan.”
“Nah, no worries, Nerd.” She said. “And you will attend here anyways, so treat this as a preliminary tour.”
Izuku smiled fondly at his friend. “Do you really think I have the chance to be here? All the students here have great quirks, there’s even someone with two! I don’t belong here.”
“Izuku” she called, clearly annoyed. Izuku gulped.
“what is this school for again?” she asked.
“for heroes?” she nodded.
“and what does heroes do?”
“saving the day?” she nodded again.
“do you remember the hostage taking last month? when the heroes who responded are overwhelmed by the quirk of the hostage taker?” Izuku nodded. That was nerve wracking situation.
“do you remember when you analyze the villain and his quirk and his weaknesses and openings?” He nodded again.
“do you remember how you approached the police to help and told him about it, and then luckily, Kamui Woods also heard you?”
Eh?
Was that really Kamui Woods who thanked him and ruffled his hair? That moment was so surreal that Izuku thought it was just a part of his dream.
“You saved the day, Nerd. You were a hero for those hostages.” She declared.
Izuku didn’t even try to hold himself from crying and hugging the blonde.
This girl, she just hadn’t told Izuku he could be a hero.
She also told him he’s already one.
“What’s the meaning of this Bakugou Katsuki?”
Uh-oh.
“sensei, fancy meeting you here.” Kacchan turned to face her teacher.
The two teens found themselves face to face with a glum looking guy who, if Izuku didn’t knew any better, looks like every homeless guy you can see on the streets.
“Please don’t punished her!” Izuku immediately pleaded and bowed so hard he almost hit the ground. “I was just so depressed earlier and Bakugou-san just wanted to cheer me up. She brought me here because she knew I am fascinated with quirks. I am willing to surrender to the police, just don’t put her under house arrest.”
“What the hell, nerd?” Kacchan whispered beside him. But Izuku stood his ground.
For all the things that Kacchan did for him, this is the least he can do.
Unfortunately, Kacchan doesn’t appreciate it.
“He’s the reason I keep sneaking out of the campus.” She admitted. “he’s a nerd who is fascinated with heroes and quirks and keeps on watching villain fights. He’s good with analyzing quirks and situations. You can ask Kamui Woods if you want. But he’s lonely, and he’s being bullied by other students because he’s quirkless and helpless. I brought him here because I want to make him happy and make him realize that he’s more than what he thinks he is. I want him to attend this school.”
She approached her teacher.
“This is what the school is built for, right? To give hope to kids that the society already deemed as hopeless? To make them realize that they are more than their past and circumstances? If not for this school most of us could be dead already, or worse villains.”
“I’m just doing to him what you did to me. I just wanted to save him.”
Wow. That’s just wow. Once again Kacchan is saving Izuku. She’s not just his friend. She’s his hero.
The man pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
“Fine, let’s go to the principal’s office."
//
If you say principal, Izuku would imagine a grumpy looking lady on her mid-40s with a cat’s-eye eyeglasses and pristine dress.
But what Izuku got was a bear? Mouse? Dog? Izuku is too overwhelmed by the events to process things right now.
So, he just stopped understanding the appearance of the principal altogether.
“So Bakugou-san said you liked analyzing quirks?” principal Nedzu asked.
“Yes Sir”, Izuku answered politely.
“and that you wanted to enroll here and become a hero?” he followed up.
“yes sir” he answered again.
“are you sure? And not just because you don’t want to disappoint your friend?”
Well, that made Izuku think. What does he really want?
Izuku inhaled deeply and gathered his thoughts before answering.
“Nedzu-san, all my life I’ve been told that I won't amount to anything. All my life I’ve been bullied for being quirkless, helpless and useless. Even my parents never believed that I could amount to something without a quirk. A few hours ago, I was so convinced that my future was set on stone that I planned on ending my life. But then Kacchan stopped me. She made me realize that I don’t need a quirk to be someone I wanted to be. That I am not helpless nor useless. So now I decided that I wanted to be a hero. A quirkless hero. I want to show the world that a quirk does not define your worth. It’s how you lived your life and how your actions help others and the community.”
Izuku paused. Wow, he finally got it out of his system.
Nedzu-san applauded him. “Well said, Boy.”
He then jumped out of his chair and approached Izuku and extended his hand. “Welcome to UA Academy.”
Izuku’s emotions were so in chaos. So, instead of shaking the principal’s hand, Izuku lounged at him and embraced him.
Izuku is now ready for the next chapter of his life.
//
I know a place where the bruised and broken
Lived like the kings and queens of tragedy
//
A year has passed and Izuku sometimes could still not believe all of this is real. He’s now training to be a hero and he has a lot of friends who appreciates him for who he is.
If Middle School Izuku would see him right now he would totally faint.
Izuku now knew why UA was so hidden from the public eye.
It’s because almost all the students here were outcast of the society.
Some are children of villains who wish to deviate from their parent’s lifestyle.
Some are rescued from abusive parents.
And some are just victims of uncontrollable circumstances.
Like Kacchan.
She was an orphan who grew up in an orphanage.
Then one unfortunate night, the orphanage was attacked by thieves and has been ransacking the place.
Kacchan, on her attempt to protect the other kids, almost killed on the attackers and almost put to Juvie.
Aizawa-sensei, who turns out to be the homeless looking guy who busted them the first time Izuku went to UA, was the one who invited Kacchan to attend UA.
So, he realized he does belong here.
He was considered a freak by the society and so is the whole student body here.
Together, they will strive to raise above society’s prejudice and be the best version of themselves.
All of them would be the kind of heroes the world needs so that no one would experience the things they had.
A finger snapped in front of him and Izuku was back to the reality. Back in front of his girlfriend.
Yes, he has girlfriend. And guess who.
“Earth to nerd”
Yes, it’s Kacchan.
And the story how they got together is so surreal it’s only fitting for his surreal beloved.
After Izuku got in, Kacchan’s punishment for sneaking out was to shadow Izuku until he settles in.
That gave the two of them a chance to know each other more.
Izuku found out that Kacchan is not just beautiful on the outside, but she is also beautiful in the inside. Sure, she is rough around the edges. But she cares a lot.
Maybe she shows it in a strange way but she cares, nonetheless.
She’s also bold and tackles things head on. And she never does things half-assed.
After months of getting to know each other, Izuku has finally have the courage to confess to Kacchan and ask her out.
But she, like always, has ruined his plan.
It was their prom night. And she was bored to death that she hijacked the DJ booth and changed the whole playlist.
She then got the mic and said, “hey nerd! Be a good boyfriend and help me out here.”
See? How romantic.
He can’t wait to tell their kids that story.
A slap in his shoulder wake Izuku from his musings.
“we haven’t even graduated yet and now you are thinking about kids?” she teased. Oh, Izuku is mumbling again.
“Sorry Kacchan, I’m just excited about the future.” Izuku replied while hugging her.
“Me too Nerd, Me too.” She answered fondly.
//
Come to the land of the lost and lonely
Don’t be afraid, we’ll be one big family
//
Fin