Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 20 - A New Start

Burying himself in a new passion seemed to be exactly what Izuku needed. He was learning new things, discovering something new for the first time in what felt like forever- and it felt like a fresh breath of air. Being stuck in the same loop over and over again had dulled his senses, his passion, his love for anything hero related. He'd always held the highest respect for the people who made and designed his costume and support gear and now he'd be able to stand by their side! How cool was that?!

The best thing? He stayed friends with Kacchan! The ash blonde was still grumpy and angry and arrogant and, sure, he teased him about his lack of a quirk every now and then, but that was just Kacchan! He stuck around, gave Izuku a chance even if everyone around them wrote him off as a useless quirkless child. He knew Izuku's worth, always had, in a way. Izuku knew he only bullied him because he couldn't understand him, because he thought Izuku was better than him yet incompetent at the same time. But now? Now Izuku was smart and competent and his dreams actually lined up with a realistic goal that wouldn't send him into an early grave! And Kacchan never had the inner conflict that drove them apart.

"You better get in, you hear me? I'll fucking kill you if you fail," Katsuki told him, even if he was a nervous mess himself.

"Right back at you," Izuku grinned, desperately trying to keep himself from jumping up and down. They'd take the UA entrance exam today. Each their own different versions, true, but since they had them on the same day, they could still travel together. "You're going to nail this, though. Those robots don't stand a chance against you."

"Still don't know why you're so fucking convinced it's gonna be robots, but you can bet I'll beat their ass no matter what!" Katsuki grinned. "What about you? You ready for this shit?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Izuku smiled, wondering what the questions would be. For the first time in an eternity, he would actually have a test he didn't know the questions of ahead of time. He was kinda nervous, now that he stopped to think about it. Izuku had studied, had done research, knew what were the latest developments, understood the technicalities of most things- But that's just because support items had always held a special place in his old hero analytics, so it wasn't all new to him. "I really wanna pass this exam, Kacchan."

"You will."

There was no room for questions or doubts, it was a statement. Izuku will pass, and Kacchan could probably make that a threat, too.

"Of course," Izuku said, taking a shaky breath. This was all or nothing. But, just as all the times before, it turned out Izuku had nothing to worry about. His anxious ass over-prepared for this test- shocking, I know- and aced it without too much trouble. If he wasn't making it into the support course after writing entire essays like that on the exam, he was going to have words with Nezu. That was a promise.

Katsuki was all pumped up after his exam, too. Adrenaline still coursing through his veins as he animated a retelling with a wicked grin on his face on their way home. Izuku could tell he strained his arms, that the aftermath hurt even if he refused to show it. So Izuku didn't mention it, either. Instead he told Kacchan all about his own exam, about the sort of questions and technicalities- Not that Katsuki understood everything he was talking about, but with his parents working in the business, he'd gotten passive exposure to most of the terms Izuku was using.

A few weeks later, they each got their acceptance letters. A few days after that, Katsuki submitted Izuku's design for his hero costume. And months after that, they were standing side by side in front of UA High once more, each in their own uniform, each with their own schedule. Their old middle school had congratulated them on getting in, although somewhat reluctantly in Izuku's case because he wasn't accepted into a hero course program. Still, he was happy he'd been able to rub it in since they were the same people who always pushed him down for being quirkless and unable to achieve anything.