BLANK STARE ━ m.izuku

ACCEPTANCE

She can't help but admire her quirk and her control of it as she stares at the paper. She can definitely go to UA with this quirk.

An image of Bakugou smiling maliciously comes up in her head and her concentration wavers, causing the paper to fall back into place. That scared me, she thinks as she remembers the event after her career guidance session. He wanted to be the only one from this school who ends up in UA. She takes a deep breath. It's okay, he's not going to know.

He's not going to know, she repeats in her head as she erases his face from her head. All I have to do is not run into him.

As she thinks about all the training she is going to have to do in a span of ten months in order to prepare for the exam, she looks at her computer screen again. At the bottom of the website is a formal online letter by the principal, thanking her for taking the time to look through the website. Underneath the signature is a circular gold seal that has the UA symbol inside of it.

—

The same seal is stamped on the envelope from UA. (Y/N) runs her finger over it, relishing the feeling of authenticity before tearing it open. A round disc pops out.

"That's strange," her mother remarks, peering over her shoulder. "I had expected a letter."

Before (Y/N) even has a chance to nod, a ray of light emerges from the disc and out comes All Might. His hologram, at least.

"I am here as a projection!" He says, tweaking his famous catchphrase as (Y/N) and her parents watch in awe. "You passed the written exam and you earned 27 villain points as well as 29 rescue points. Congratulations on getting accepted into UA, young (L/N)."

A few seconds pass as she gives herself time to digest the good news. Congratulations on getting accepted into UA.

"M-mom, can you please rewind that?" She asks shakily, wanting to confirm whether or not she heard correctly.

"What? I'm sure I heard him say that you were accep—" her father says, and her mother lightly smacks him into silence before pressing the button again.

All Might's hologram repeats the exact same things he said the first time, and this time, (Y/N) hears her acceptance clearly. Now that the fear of rejection has passed, it's all she can focus on.

"Woah," her mother says after a bit of silence. "I can't believe you actually did it."

"Me neither."

(Y/N) takes the round disc into her hands, gently caressing it, treasuring the tangible proof of her success. The proof of her hardships in the past ten months culminating into one small circle that rests in the palm of her hands.

"Can I display this on that shelf over there?" her father asks, gesturing to the built-in shelf with a glass door in the living room.

There? (Y/N) thinks, surprised. That decorative shelf was reserved for the things that her parents deemed very important, like the numerous trophies her mother had earned during her sports championships and the awards her father had won from prestigious international art competitions.

"There, really?" She asks, not being able to believe that this acceptance was so important that it would sit on the same shelf with the rest of their accomplishments.

"I don't see why not," her mother answers, smothering (Y/N) with a big hug. "When you have your first hero costume, I'm going to build a whole new shelf to display it right there."

"You're so embarrassing," her father says, shaking his head but he too is smiling.

It's a happy moment, but her heart pangs in her chest. They're smiling proudly because they approve of her choices, of the path she's set for herself. But they don't know that she was just faking it, coming up with it on the spot to hide the fact that she just wanted to feel important.