When push comes to shove

A rejection

(Aye I'm back with yet another story! This is an Iida x reader story, unlike my other MHA fan fiction, and I hope you enjoy! Just a warning; this chapter is a prologue. It's main purpose is to interest you so it's probably not gonna make much sense. The next chapter will be the true beginning of the storyline, so please give it a fighting chance!)

All-Might's smile was one I could get used to seeing. It was a wide and bright one; shining through the projector screen and meeting my eyes like a beacon. A beacon of hope? That's what they always called him.

My parents didn't seem to react the same, probably too worried about words than to pay attention to the number one hero on screen. Their hands were gripping onto both of mine too tightly. Surely at least one of my wrists would be bright red when they finally let go. If they ever let go.

"(Y/N) (L/N)! It is with my pleasure that I announce your ranking amongst the participants of the Hero course entrance exams!" A booming voice seemed to shout from the projector. It reverberated around the dark room and seemed to give it life. Even the torn couch - you can thank my newest puppy for that - seemed a little more lively with the tone of the symbol of peace. Hearing my name from his lips made it all the more welcoming. Perhaps the next words wouldn't completely ruin me? "You placed 134th out of 1,283 participants! Even as this does not place you within the existing hero course, never fear! You showed great promise out there and, as a result, the dedicated faculty of this prestigious school had allowed you a place within U.A.'s general studies! I wish you the best of luck, and let me be the first to welcome you to U.A.!"

The projector flipped off with a click, leaving nothing behind but a thin chip and the surrounding envelope my mother had already torn into. Warmth was gone, then; replaced with a cold tension I could feel settle along my skin. Small hairs stuck up in anticipation; a yell? A cry? A slap? Silence? There was no anticipating my parents reaction.

"I told you she wouldn't make it." My father sighs, leaning back in his worn seat. It was one of those ugly green ones you see old farts in movies sit in. I had always hated it, but he sang its praises. "Too weak. Her quirk didn't even set in until her thirteenth birthday. What were we expecting?"

"We were expecting her to step up to the challenge." My mother hisses back. One hand releases my wrist while the other squeezes harder; it wasn't hard to tell which was which. "Well? Y/N? What do you have to say for yourself?"

I could feel my shoulders slump in defeat. The small chip laying on the counter was so dull without the projection; which would never play again. The insides had fried themselves as soon as it was done playing. I could smell the stench of fried data from here. That didn't matter much, however. Months and months of training had been swallowed up with that rejection. Months of pushing myself to the limits lost with one bad day; one bad audition.

"Nancy leave the kid alone. She tried and she failed, there are other ways to accomplish your goals." My father sighs in exhaustion. It was an understandable reaction. I couldn't imagine being married to my mother for thirty years without a single vacation. "I make enough money for the all of us."

"Money is not what this was all about Thomas! What about your enterprise? Everything you've built? She just threw that all away and for what? We both know she did this on purpose."

"Do you hear yourself woman?"

My parents voices fade away as I look over the tabletop. Everything found on it was minimal; there was a laptop, a mousepad, a notebook, and a picture. Everything else was a white and smooth wood of the expensive tabletop I owned.

The picture was what caught my attention. It was simple enough; a snapshot of four children. All of them were familiar. One could pick out pairs of them. Two girls and two boys, all smiling and making stupid looking peace signs at the camera.