A small, mammalian creature sat at a desk, reviewing footage recorded from exam site B, recorded only a few hours previous. He pressed a button near his computer and spoke into the nearby microphone.
"What is your progress on finding whoever hacked our Zero Pointer, Maijima?"
"Not much, sir. Most I've been able to find was a hidden back door into our systems, but they left no trace. I can't even find a trace of the program they used to disrupt the robot's functions." A bang was heard on the other end of the line. "I swear when we find whoever messed with one of my Zero Pointers, I'm going to shove them into a trash compactor lined with explosives and see how much pressure is required to set them off!"
"Now, now, Maijima. There is no need for such unheroic language."
"With all due respect, sir, whoever did this almost got two potential students killed."
"While that is true, we as heroes must set a proper example. It wouldn't do for one of our students to hear you speaking like that."
A sigh was heard from the speaker.
"You're right, sir. This is just frustrating! I've never seen someone hide their tracks like this, where there are basically no tracks to be found. I'll keep digging, maybe I'll find something while checking our other systems."
"You do that, and please keep me updated on what you find."
"Yes sir!"
As the line went dead, the small man turned towards a nearby monitor, showing the live camera footage of the hallway outside his office.
He drained the last of the tea sitting nearby before pouring a fresh cup.
This conversation was not going to be pleasant.
'I told you I'm fine, Mom! Recovery Girl healed me, it's practically just a sore throat now. We shouldn't be bothering the dean over this.'
As fast as Izuku wrote his words on the white board given to him by the aforementioned nurse, Inko Midoriya read it and responded. Never missing a step as she and the three 18 year old friends headed towards the office of UAUs Dean.
"And I told you that I will be having words with the man. This was just an entrance exam; what kind of entrance exam puts actual lives at stake!" Inko huffed.
'This is UAU, we weren't going to be killed! I just… she looked like she needed help, and I overreacted…'
Inko stopped in the hallway, gaze softening at the downcast look on her son's face. She wrapped him in a hug.
"I know, sweetie…" Inko pulled back just enough to grab her son's face in her hands. "But do you have any idea how worried I was when I got that phone call? That you were not only hurt, but that you needed surgery to recover. It… it scared me, Izuku."
Izuku eyes watered at the look his mother gave him, her eyes on the verge of tears.
"After Hisashi, I can't…." Inko gulped, a lump in her throat. "Izuku, the thought of losing you too…"
Izuku swiftly wrapped her up in a hug, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"I know." Izuku's voice was raspy, his throat raw from the overuse of his quirk and the recovery. He strained to get the words past his aching voice box. "I promise, you won't lose me. I love you mom."
Inko shuddered as the sobs broke through her. She cried into her son's shoulder, Izuku paying no attention to his quickly dampening shirt.
Himiko and Tsuyu watched the two of them with wet eyes. Himiko held onto one of Tsuyu's arms, wiping her eyes with the sleeve.
Tsuyu had a soft smile as she watched the two Midoriya's have their moment.
It took a few minutes, but eventually the mother and son were able to get a handle on their emotions. They were finishing wiping their tears away when a voice crackled out from a nearby speaker. A squeaky voice spoke.
"I apologize if I am interrupting an emotional moment, but it has come to my attention that you wished to speak to me, Ms. Midoriya?" The four of them were startled when a nearby door opened. "Please, do come in. We have much to discuss. Ms. Asui, Ms. Himiko, would you mind terribly waiting outside? I believe it would be best if this meeting was just between the three of us."
Himiko scowled at the open doorway. She had just opened her mouth to yell at the speaker when he spoke again.
"They are of course free to discuss with you anything brought up in this meeting at their own discretion afterwards."
Himiko grumbled as she watched two of her three favorite people walk into the room. Her eyes widened as something dawned on her. She shared a look with her froggy friend.
"Did he just refer to me as Himiko, and not my biological family name?"
The two looked back to the door as it closed, an ominous feeling creeping up their spines.
As the two Midoriyas walked into the office, their eyes landed on the figure sitting behind a desk.
"Am I mouse, a bear, or a dog? That doesn't matter, I am Nezu, the Dean of UA University!" The so-called Nezu chuckled at their shocked non-reaction. "Apologies, a force of habit. This talk is a bit more serious than my usual antics are fit for. Please, sit."
The small creature before them lifted a "hand" before him, indicated two chairs before his desk.
He was a small creature covered in white fur. He was reminiscent of some kind of anthropomorphic mammal with black, beady eyes, a scar over one of them. He had small paws shaped similar to human hands. His chair was specially designed to raise his small frame high enough to work comfortably at his wooden desk.
While Inko worked to regain her indignant motherly anger, her son only got excited.
'Nezu! It's so good to meet you sir.' Rather than sit, Izuku stepped up to the man's desk, a notebook appearing in his hands as he rapidly flipped through it while somehow managing to keep the whiteboard in his hands. 'I know you've been spending most of your time as dean of this school, but the investigative and support roles you've played in major villain raids is incredible!'
Izuku stopped on a specific page. He practically juggled his notebook and whiteboard as he continued to write.
'Here, the raid on The Ascendant Life! The investigation you put into it was pivotal to finding and destroying the group of villains experimenting on quirked animals. It was inspiring!'
As Izuku gushed, he missed a slight twitch in Nezu's lips.
"Oh? And how, might I ask, did you conclude that I was involved with that case?" The mammalian man sipped at a cup of tea. "The heroes who fore-fronted that raid were Shishido, Sir Nighteye, and Gang Orca."
Izuku continued to stare down at his notebook, not glancing at the Dean. If he had, he might have noticed a predatory gleam in the 'man's' eyes.
More words were written rapidly on his whiteboard.
'Oh? During that time, you had taken a sabbatical. While it wasn't announced to the public, there was a small note on UAU's website mentioning that you would be taking some time away from work. I thought at first you might have been taking some vacation time, but then I realized that you hadn't taken any vacation time in all the years you had been working at UA.'
Nezu staired at the young man with a raised brow.
'A week later my suspicions rose even more when the raid itself was announced. You had expressed in an interview around the time you were inaugurated as Dean of UAU that you would donate money to assist animals with quirks, citing that you yourself were like them, that your intelligence based quirk made you more aware. More…able to recognize what people saw in animals. Or more accurately, what people didn't see in them.'
As Izuku wrote, a smirk grew on the furred man's face. Quickly growing into a large grin.
Inko struggled to come up with words to speak. The more her son wrote, the more her nerves increased. She had expected to tear the mammalian a new one, but here her son was spewing out the man's accolades like the small man hadn't done anything wrong.
'All that on its own was mere coincidence, but then this image surfaced.'
Izuku slipped an image from his notebook. It was a grainy image showing what looked like an oversized chameleon.
'This chameleon was claimed to have been seen somewhere near the site of the raid.' He pulled another piece of paper out. This one a news clipping, titled, 'UAU's new Class Pet'. 'This was released on social media a week later about a chameleon that had been brought into the school. While it wouldn't be the first animal to be brought in as a communal animal for people to care for, this one was unique. People had spoken online about it being able to not only turn invisible, true invisibility, it could also secret certain chemicals that were used to help teach in chemistry classes.'
Something about the smile on Nezu's face had sweat rolling down Inko's back. It showed off all of his teeth, most of which seemed so sharp they could easily rend flesh.
'Again, most of this could be seen as circumstantial, a quirked animal sympathizer taking in a refugee of terrible experiments. However… the timing of your sabbatical, the nature of the research lab being raided at the time, and the reptile taken in coincided exactly with you coming back to the school lined up a bit too perfectly.'
Izuku dragged a finger down the page before staring intently at it.
'While there were many other quirked animals in the lab, the chameleon was the only one brought into UAU. But then I considered that maybe the reason the chameleon was brought in was that it was more intelligent than most assumed. After all, the knowledge it takes to recognize the chemical compound it must produce to assist an organized class must be incredible! It's so sad to hear that he passed away a year ago, I would have loved to meet him'
Izuku looked up from his notebook, a sad but proud smile on his face. He froze as he took in the Dean's expression. Like a dear before headlights, he froze in place.
Nezu, cackled like a mad man.
Across campus, a man's eyes snapped open.
Something in his bones told him that the balance in the universe had shifted.
That some eldritch creature had awoken from its slumber.
…That the no-doubt apocalyptic results of awakening such a being would be dropped entirely on his shoulders.
He groaned and rolled over, trying to fall back asleep… Only to be awoken again by a bombastic boombox bursting into the room he rested in.
"I swear I will make life a living hell for whoever did this."
Izuku was startled from his gushing over a hero when the man laughed.
He started sweating nervously, worried he had said something wrong.
The dean continued to laugh for about five minutes before abruptly stopping, taking a sip from his tea.
The change in demeanor was so fast it startled the two Midoriyas.
Nezu swallowed his drink and let out a delighted sigh. He spoke as he set his tea cup down.
"My, my… he wasn't wrong about your intellect. I daresay he might have been underselling it."
Izuku blinked owlishly, 'He, sir?'
"Why All Might, of course! He has explained your situation to me, in great detail."
The last three words were spoken with a knowing look in Izuku's direction. The young man froze, his gaze shifting to his mother, hoping the secret hadn't just been outed by the small man.
'H-he has, sir?'
"Why yes! In fact, once he got going he practically couldn't stop gushing about his new 'trainee'!" He capped it off with another, shorter laugh.
The mammal shook his head.
"I'm sorry, gossiping over the Number One Hero's student is not why we have gathered, is it." A serious look took over his features. "We are here to discuss the incident that occurred during what should have been a reasonably safe exam."
"S-safe?!" Inko interrupted. "He had to fight robots, almost getting crushed by one of those really big ones!"
"I understand where you are coming from, Ms. Midoriya, but I assure you we have safety measures tied into the robot's code and their very infrastructure that prevents them from causing any injuries beyond some scrapes and bruises."
Nezu sighed again.
"This, unfortunately, was the exception to that rule."
Inko watched the Dean as he stood up from his chair and walked across his desk until he was directly before them.
"We found evidence of outside tampering within the coding of the Zero Pointer. Tampering that we couldn't detect until after its rampage had begun. By that point we were unable to stop its attacking of the exam site."
Inko and Izuku gasped. Nezu bowed to them, his head hanging low.
"For this I, on behalf of UA, and as a pro hero, apologize for putting the life of your son so at risk. We had dispatched a hero to rescue him and his fellow examinee, but even then, had it not been for Mr. Midoriya's action, we may have been too late to save them."
Inko's eyes watered. The idea that she had almost lost her son to that robot. That the pro heroes may not have been able to save him. That she could have lost him…
She was taken out of her thoughts when Nezu stood straight.
"And for that, I will apologize again. He never should have been put in that position. As the fault of this incident lies directly on us, UAU is prepared to provide any restitution you feel necessary for risking your son's life."
Inko was about to speak when Nezu met her eyes. He put on a reassuring smile.
"Please understand that we do not do this to bribe you, or to prevent you from bringing us to court. We are willing to offer restitution because we feel you deserve something to make up for this awful failure on our part. We are even willing to bypass the review period and admit your son into our hero course if you so wish."
Inko was stunned at the offer. To let her son into the course, no questions asked, no review of his scores.
…It was a tempting offer, but then she considered the dangers. If her son faced something like this, almost getting killed, what would his later years look like? Would he be pitted against real villains before he was ready? What if-
"No."
Inko's head snapped to the side. Her son was staring at the dean, with what she swore wasn't a glare. Her son didn't glare.
His voice sounded like someone ran an electric sander down his esophagus, then covered it in gravel.
"I-Izuku…? You shouldn't be speaking, your throat!"
He glanced to her, before he looked down. He wrote his next words on his whiteboard.
'No. I will not accept bypassing the examination. It was my decision to attack the Zero pointer, and I will not let someone else take responsibility for that choice. If I didn't get in on my own merit, my own effort, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I want to earn that spot in the class.'
Nezu met the young man's stare. He felt a tingle run up his spine, long buried instincts fighting to surface. He fought to keep his hackles down. He also fought to keep the feral grin from spreading on his face.
"This feeling… His intelligence mixed with this hidden ferocity." He mused in thought. "What kind of monster could you become with training? Oh, Aizawa is going to submit more resignation forms. Too bad I will have to refuse every single one of them."
Inko balled her fists in frustration.
"Izuku, you- you almost…" She stopped when his gaze turned towards her.
She could see it then. Nothing she said would stop him from joining the course. Nothing would stop him from trying to keep on this path…
She gulped, fighting a fresh wave of tears. "A-are you sure, Izuku? That this is what you want? You got really hurt, you almost… Y-yo-you a-almost…"
Izuku's expression softened when he saw the tears start to fall on his mom's face. He saw the anguish, the fear. He raised an arm, resting a hand against his mother's cheek, wiping away her tears. He felt tears of his own appear in his eyes. He smiled to her.
'I'm sure, mom. I want this. I want to be a hero." He used his free hand to grab one of her trembling hands. "I promise, that no matter what, I will always come home. I may get hurt, I can't promise that I won't, but I will come home. I refuse to leave you alone, mom.'
Inko lunged towards her son, her tears now flowing freely, her body shaking. She wrapped him up in a hug so tight that Izuku felt several pops in his spine. He wrapped his arms around her, tears flowing from his eyes as well.
Nezu watched on as the mother and child had their moment. Even he could tell that they needed to have this moment with no interruptions.
Eventually, they separated, wiping the last of their tears away. Inko matched the Dean's stare with a determined glare.
"Do you promise to keep my son safe, if he makes it into the Hero Course?"
Nezu met her gaze. "I cannot promise that he will be kept safe. He is looking to become a hero, after all. What I will promise, is that I, and the rest of my staff, will do everything in our power to make sure that he is protected until he is ready to step out into the world as a pro hero, should he make it in. This UAU promises for all of our hero hopefuls."
Inko watch the mammal, looking for a hint of any falsehoods. Ultimately, she nodded her head. A worried smile replacing her stare. She met Izuku's gaze.
"Ok, I won't stop you." Her eyes began to water again. "But please, please be safe."
Izuku's smile was practically from ear to ear as he met her gaze. 'I promise, mom.'
Nezu clapped his small hands, getting their attention.
"Wonderful, I am glad we could come to an agreement. This has been a rather pleasant meeting, and I am happy to have met the both of you, but it is getting a bit late, and it has been a long day for all involved. Perhaps now would be a good time to call an end to this. Go home, relax, sleep off the day. I know Ms. Asui and Ms. Himiko are still waiting for you two outside. Please, keep an eye out for letters from us regarding your admission status. Have a wonderful day!"
Himiko and Tsuyu turned their heads as the door opened.
Tsuyu had just gotten off the phone with her parents, giving them a rundown of how her exam had gone while Himiko nibbled on her free arm.
"How did it go, ribbit?"
Inko sighed. "Izuku isn't being punished for breaking the robot. No charges are being placed for Izuku's injuries, at his request."
Himiko pulled away from Tsuyu's arm, a shocked look on her face. "What, why not?! It's their fault that giant robot almost crushed him!"
A tapping noise drew their attention to boy being worried over. 'It was my choice to fight it, and I would do it again. I couldn't have gotten the rubble off her legs in time, so I just did what I felt I had to do to save her.'
Himiko promptly grabbed him in a hug, tucking her face into his neck. "You got hurt, and I wasn't there to help- I mean drink all that tasty blood!"
Izuku looked down to the blonde, a bemused look on his face. "I feel like you corrected yourself in the wrong direction…"
Izuku felt a hand land on his shoulder. He turned, seeing his other best friend next to him with a relieved look on her face.
"At least you're ok, ribbit. We should probably get going before Himiko ties you down someplace."
Himiko turned her head from Izuku's neck just enough to glare at her friend.
"I know better than to tie him down here!" Izuku sighed in exasperation, before a blush crept up his face at her next words. "His bed is a much more comfortable place to stay tied up until he gets better."
Inko giggled as she watched the three, a knowing look twinkling in her eyes.
"Alright you three, Tsuyu is right."
"I keep telling you to call me Tsu, Ms. Midoriya. Ribbit."
"And I keep telling you to call me Inko, dear. Let's get going, I'll make Katsudon once we get home."
Izuku's eyes widened in excitement. He pulled the whiteboard in front of him, his arm holding the marker still wrapped around Himiko. He turned it around to show the three of them.
On it was a well detailed drawing of a bull of Katsudon, a smaller Izuku drawn next to it holding chopsticks and a large spoon.
He started toward the entrance, Himiko still holding onto him. Partway out of the building she changed her position, so she was clinging to his back, arms and legs wrapped around him.
A week later, the trio of Izuku, Tsuyu, and Himiko were wandering around town. The time since the exam and the anticipation of their results coming in the mail had their nerves drawn taught, so they had decided to do a small shopping trip.
They had already stopped at a few places. Izuku got some more notebooks, Tsuyu had gotten a cute winter cap designed to look like a frog, and they stopped in front of the store Himiko wanted to visit. Izuku looked up to the sign hanging above the door.
"A clothing store?" His voice was still raspy from his injury a week prior, but he was given permission by Recovery Girl to use his voice as long as he didn't strain it.
Himiko spun to face him, hands on hips and a mischievous smile on her face.
"Of course, a clothing store. If we're going to be starting University, I want to start it in style! Besides, after training for the last two years, some of my clothes don't really fit the same anymore…"
"She's not wrong, ribbit. Even I'm having issues fitting into my clothes recently." Tsuyu spoke through a heavy scarf. While it was the tail end of winter, it was still fairly cold outside.
Izuku tried not to look down at the tights stretched across the froggy girl's muscular thighs and failed. They had gotten rather… well-defined after their training with All Might.
His eyes snapped up to the store as he tugged at his jacket. "Now that you mention it, it has been pretty tough getting shirts on lately. Not sure why though."
Himiko stared at him like he was an idiot. "Izuku. Have you seen your torso recently? I'm surprised your shoulders haven't already ripped your shirts to shreds."
Izuku gave her a startled look. "W-what? I haven't gotten that big have I? I mean, I know my growth spurt has done wonders for my height, but I've never really been big…"
A cough brought his attention to Tsuyu, who held her phone in front of him.
"Compare these two photos please, ribbit." She was flipping between two photos, one showing him when they started clearing Dagobah beach, and one from the day they had finished clearing it. Himiko had sent her a copy of the latter.
The first photo showed what one might consider a "wiry" build. He was still rather skinny, but had visible muscle, if it didn't bulge very much.
The second picture was very different. While he still wasn't massive, his muscles were far more obvious. His arms bulged with firm muscles gained from lifting heavy appliances every day. His core looked as solid as a boulder from pulling cars and larger objects behind him. His shoulders had widened out to the point where Himiko's words about his shirt's survival resurfaced.
He reached one hand up to rub a shoulder through his jacket.
"Wow… Is that really me?"
Himiko walked up to him and rubbed her face against one of his arms as she tangled hers in it. "I know, you look so scrumptious now. Makes me want to throw you down and just bite you all over~"
"H-Himiko!" A blush rapidly swept over his face.
"She's not wrong, ribbit." Tsuyu had grabbed his free hand in both of hers. She ran her fingers through his. "You are much warmer like this."
"I-what-I-uh-"
Himiko giggled from his side. "Hehe, I think we broke him. Come on, let's go inside! I'm excited for the show~"
"W-what show?!" Izuku managed to splutter out.
Himiko just grinned her fang toothed grin. "You'll see. Or maybe we'll see~"
Izuku continued to sputter as he was dragged inside by his two friends.
Inside the store was an array of clothes for men, women, and children. On a far end he could see some fitting rooms. As Himiko dragged him towards them, he noticed Tsuyu break off, grabbing several outfits from the men's section.
Before he could register what clothes were being grabbed, he was pushed into a fitting room by Himiko.
"Wait here, we'll grab some stuff for you to try on."
"H-Himiko, what-" He was abruptly cut off by the blonde.
"Hush now. Less speaky, more changing. Tsuyu is bringing the first batch." Himiko whispered the next part. "Can't wait for the show~"
Izuku tried on the first outfit he was provided. A black collared T-shirt and a pair of slim jeans. While the shirt was still a bit snug, it was far more comfortable than what he usually wore.
"Maybe they were right, I guess I did outgrow my old clothes."
The pants however…
"Are you sure this is the right size? They're very tight."
Himiko called out to him. "Of course it's the right size. Come on out, let see those gams!"
"Gams…?"
Izuku stepped out of the fitting room to whistling from Himiko and clapping from Tsuyu.
"Ooh, Himi like~"
"It does look very good on you Zuku, ribbit."
Izuku looked down at his outfit. He wasn't what one would call an aficionado on fashion, so he didn't have much of an opinion on it.
"If you say so. Not sure I'm sold on the pants, though." He did a few squats, bending at the knees to test the flexibility of the fabric. "They're a little too hard to move in. I think I still prefer them looser."
Himiko pouted at him, cheeks blown up. "Muu~ Come on, they look so nice. Wraps your legs so nice and tight! Like a nice sausage wrapper."
Izuku raised an eyebrow at her phrasing. "All the same, please stick to looser pants from now on."
Himiko released her puffed up cheeks in a resigned sigh. "Fiiine."
As she started to dig through a bunch of clothes piled nearby, he felt a pinch on his thigh. He looked down to see a red-faced Tsuyu staring at his leg, one hand raised to poke at it.
"Tsu, what are you doing?"
"Ribbit!" Tsuyu startled back, her eyes raising to meet his. Her blush turned even more red as their gazes met. "I-I was testing the fit, ribbit. Y-You said they were tight, so I was checking how tight they were."
Izuku tilted his head in confusion. "Ok…"
Before he could speak further, clothes were shoved into his arms by Himiko.
"Come on, Izu-kins! You have more outfits to try, and we don't have all day!"
"Me? I thought you were getting clothes too?" Izuku said, right before the fitting room door was slammed in his face.
He tried on a few more outfits, much to the girls' delight, before settling on a few collared shirts, some simple non-collared shirts, and a couple of outfits he could wear while working out. He insisted on getting a few shirts with words written on the front in Kanji.
Himiko had just slipped into a fitting room to try her clothes on.
Izuku turned to Tsuyu.
"Are you excited to get your results? They should be coming in today, right?"
"Yes, ribbit. Though I am nervous. I know you helped me study, but I can't help but worry that I didn't make the cut…"
"Don't worry Tsu, I just know you made it! Besides, it's not like I helped you much. You were already so smart before our training."
Tsuyu blushed at his words, letting out a happy "Ribbit."
Izuku's expression took on a perplexed look. "Aren't your results supposed to show up at your house? Will you be getting your results over the phone with your parents?"
Tsuyu's blush settled at the change of subject. "They should be showing up there, but I wanted to be with you two while we waited."
Izuku lips quirked up in a smile. He liked having Tsuyu over. She wasn't able to be with them often, but whenever he was with Tsuyu and Himiko, things just felt right.
He was about to speak when the door to the fitting room swung open.
"Ah, Himiko! How does it fi-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-" His word droned on, brain freezing at the sight before him.
"Himiko! That is not an appropriate outfit, ribbit!" Tsuyu's words slid over and past Izuku's mind as he stared at Himiko, his face burning red.
While Himiko wore what could be defined as an "outfit", it certainly wasn't one someone wears in public.
She wore a red babydoll that was open at the front, showing off an equally red pair of lacy panties. On her legs she wore a pair of red stockings held up by a garter belt. She had posed herself against the doorframe in a way that accentuated her curves. One arm raised up against the door frame as she leaned against it with a cocked hip. Her other hand was raised up, a finger between her teeth.
"How do I look Izu baby~?"
Izuku fell back from the force of the nosebleed rocketing from his nose. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Himiko refused to apologize as the trio were heading back to the Midoriya home, all three holding bags from their trip. Izuku held a tissue up to his nose to stem the persistent nosebleed.
Tsuyu glared at the too-smug Himiko. She held her head high, nose raised towards the heavens like a cat that had gotten the canary.
…Or more like a woman proud of knocking her crush unconscious with her good looks.
"That was not ok, ribbit."
"Don't care! Izu-kins liked it."
"You knocked him out with a nosebleed."
"Yep!"
"…we made a promise, ribbit."
That drew Himiko up short. A look of realization dawning on her face, before it changed to one of guilt.
"I-I'm sorry, Tsu. I just got excited and wanted to help Izuku relax… He's been so tense all day, waiting for the letters to arrive." Himiko's gaze dropped to the ground, her shoulders slumping.
Tsuyu's expression softened, and she wrapped one of her hands around one of Himiko's.
"It's ok, Himi. Just don't rush things…"
Both girls looked towards their green haired friend. He seemingly hadn't heard them speaking.
Meanwhile, Izuku was lost in his own mind, thoughts racing.
"What was that about? Why was Himiko wearing that? D-Did she call me Izu-b-"
Izuku smacked himself before he finished that thought.
"Was she messing with me? You're only supposed to wear something like that for someone you care about. She must have been messing with me… but what if…?
He shook his head.
"I can't think like that, there's no way she likes me like that."
He glanced back at the two girls. They were leaning towards each other, lost in a quiet conversation.
"There's no way either of them likes me like that…"
He stifled a growl as a part of him railed against his thoughts.
The part of him that he used in the entrance exam, when he dove deep into his animalistic instincts to fight the robots. It refused to accept that they wouldn't want to be with him.
He buried the instincts deep, where he usually blocked them out when they flared up.
He glanced at the two girls again. It seemed like they hadn't noticed his reaction to his own thoughts. He turned back and continued to his home.
Hopefully the letter would be there by now.
"IT'S HERE!"
Izuku had just closed the door to the Midoriya home when Inko barreled around a corner, racing toward the three 18 year olds. In her hand she clutched a single unopened letter tightly, as if she was afraid to lose it.
"It's here?! When did it get here? What does it say?!" Izuku the letter from his mother, his hands shaking, and he held it. "Where is Himiko's?"
Then he noticed who it was addressed to. It was addressed to not only himself, but also Himiko and, surprisingly, Tsuyu.
"I don't know, I didn't want to open it without you, sweetie." Inko started wringing her hands nervously. "Come, let's get settled in the living room so we can all see it!"
All four of them settled into the living room surrounding the small table in its center.
Opening the letter, a small disk fell out, landing on the table with a small thud. It was non-descript, with a small button on its side with a "Press Me" engraved next to it.
Izuku pressed the button, and everyone in the room startled slightly when a light erupted from its top, revealing a glowing-
"ALL MIGHT?!" Izuku was surprised to see his mentor in the projection. He was wearing a yellow striped suit while in his buff form.
"AHAHAHAHA. I AM HERE, ON SCREEN!" No one made a noise, too shocked by what they were seeing to say anything. "I'm sure you are surprised to see me here… WELL THAT'S THE FIRST BIT OF NEWS!"
The screen the Number One Hero was projected on zoomed out, showing him standing before some sort of stage.
"I WILL BE TEACHING AT UAU AS ITS NEW TEACHER ON FOUNDATIONAL HERO STUDIES! THIS IS WHY WE HAVEN'T SPOKEN MUCH SINCE THE ENTRANCE EXAM! Man, filling out all that paperwork sure was killer!"
All Might seemingly had meant to mutter that last line, but the bombastic hero was just a little too loud for it to not be picked up.
"Hmm, what's that? I'm getting off topic? I supposed you're right! I'm sure you are wondering why this letter was addressed to all three of you, instead of getting three letters, yes?"
The three potential heroes nodded their heads unconsciously, still in a daze over seeing the hero on screen.
"Well, that's simple!" All Might raised a hand, finger pointing directly at the camera. "And boring if I dive right into it, but you will understand in time!"
"Oh, come on!" Himiko threw here hands into the air dramatically. "Don't tease us!"
"You three did quite well during the written exam, Young Midoriya himself ranking amongst some of the highest in the exam!"
Himiko and Tsuyu looked at Izuku with pride. He himself had an embarrassed blush glowing on his cheeks.
"Young Himiko and Asui did quite well themselves! All three of you scored quite high on the written exam, but I am sure you are more excited to see how you did during the practical!"
Everyone leaned forward, anticipation clear on their faces.
The projection changed, showing a different angle where a TV screen could be seen to All Might's side. It showed a montage of the trio running from robot to robot, destroying everything in their way.
"Dang, Izu-kins… Way to let loose~" Himiko had a wide grin on her face, a heated blush clear on her cheeks.
"Wow, eibbit. You really went wild there, Zuku."
The wolf man scratch the back of his head, eyes cast to the side.
"W-well, I haven't really been able to cut loose like that before, so I just ran with the hunting high…"
Currently, the screen showed Izuku shoving a furry arm through and out the back of a three-pointers head, a feral grin on his face.
Himiko started squirming in her seat at the sight.
"Oh, it's so beautiful…" She had her hands held against the sides of her face, unable to hide her blush. "The only way it could be better is if you had some blood on you."
Before any further embarrassment could be dropped on Izuku, All Might continued the presentation.
"In the practical exam, all three of you managed to score a respectable amount of villain points! Himiko, using your ingenuity to work around your quirk's limitations, you earned 35 villain points!"
Himiko had a smug look on her face.
"Asui, with impressive use of the physique provided by your quirk, you scored 46 villain points!"
Tsuyu just let out a happy "Ribbit."
"And Young Midoriya, by leaning into your latent instincts, you gave a showing most impressive! You showed an incredible amount of control while on your rampage, earning you 63 villain points!"
Izuku had a proud smile on his face. He hadn't kept count, so he was surprised to see that he had scored so high.
The screen near All Might changed, showing a scoreboard with various names and their earned points. At the top showed Izuku in second place with his 63 points, right below Bakugou in first place with 77 villain points.
His two women had made it fairly high in the scoreboard, but were focused on their green haired friend's score instead.
Himiko growled at seeing the bomber in first place. Tsuyu's fists clenched in frustration.
The screen changed again, focused back on All Might.
"You three did quite well indeed. HOWEVER!"
Izuku flinched, certain his actions with the Zero Pointer were about to make his scoring irrelevant.
"We weren't scoring for just the destruction of villains! After all, what kind of hero school would we be if we didn't acknowledge the acts of heroism throughout the exam!"
The screen changed again, showing scenes of the trio helping out their fellow examinees. From Himiko breaking a robot that was about to hit another examinee, to Tsuyu pulling someone out of the way of a rocket, to Izuku carrying someone on his back while dodging multiple attacks from the robots.
It all culminated with the video showing Izuku's defeat of the Zero Pointer. Everyone's jaws were slack as they watch the giant robot fall apart. It cut away to All Might before they could see his collapse.
"From saving those around you, to distracting the villains so your fellow hero hopefuls could escape, and especially your final act Young Midoriya. You have all earned what we call 'Rescue Points!"
The leaderboard changed, showing a new column labeled "Rescue Points".
Next to Izuku's name showed a glowing number that had his eyes widening.
"You, Young Midoriya, for your heroic actions today. You have earned an impressive 60 rescue points, skyrocketing your score to a total of 123 points, beating out my old record!"
Tears started glistening in Izuku's eyes, seeing his name at the first place spot on the board. Bakugou had earned zero rescue points, barely keeping his place in second.
"All three of you have passed! I look forward to seeing you in school. Welcome! To your Hero Academia!"
The two Midoriya's eyes burst into twin waterfalls of tears, as all four of them embraced each other.
They had made it. They were going to become heroes.