"You're such an idiot!"
"I know."
"People are going to figure it out!"
"I know."
"Next thing you know, those heroes you're staying with will be knocking down the warehouse door with handcuffs!"
"I know, Mei!" Izuku had his elbows on the testing table, hands pulling at his hair. He didn't watch as Mei paced the floor. She was holding a pair of scissors and Izuku didn't want to be on the receiving end of them.
Mei had found a video of Kumo a few days after it was posted. It hadn't gone viral, much to their relief. But it was out there. Anyone could view it and know Kumo was Quirkless. It also looked like the guy didn't understand the art of clickbaiting, as the title was just "Kumo sighting".
Ever since Izuku's video, people started uploading their own little clips of Kumo out and about. So far it was just him jumping and running across rooftops, but Izuku wouldn't be surprised if people had videos of him fighting. He just hadn't seen any yet.
Mei was rightfully furious. She claimed that now that people knew about his Quirklessness, that they'd realize the tools he had were illegal support items. Izuku reasoned that there was no way it could be traced back to her. The only way that would be possible was if he got taken in and questioned, and even then he wouldn't mention her at all. Her future career as a support creator was still intact.
That didn't stop her from scolding Izuku for at least thirty minutes after he entered the warehouse, which would have been fine if Izuku hadn't already beaten her to it himself.
Looking back at the event, he remembered the man's phone had been in his hand. If he hadn't been so stupid or distracted, he would have saw how it was pointed up at him.
Mei sighed and let the scissors drop from her hand. It clanged on the stone floor. "Even if one of us knew how to hack," she said, "people have probably already spread it everywhere."
"I really am sorry, Mei," Izuku mumbled.
"I can't even decide if I should keep these new babies from you as punishment."
Izuku's head perked up. He placed his hands in between his legs and leaned forward. "New babies?"
Mei stiffened, realizing her mistake. She turned to face Izuku with wide eyes. "Don't you dare-"
"Let's test them." Izuku grinned when Mei threw her head back and groaned. She had fallen into his trap and not even her own willpower would get her out.
Izuku hopped off the chair and followed the pink-haired girl over to one of the tables. She made sure to hide the babies from Izuku's prying eyes. She swiped them into a bag and slung it over her shoulder.
The two made their way out of the warehouse. Izuku tried to peek into the bag, but Mei just kept moving it out of his sight. She must be really mad if she's willingly withholding an invention from someone.
Eventually, they made it to Dagobah beach. It had been awhile since they've been there to test anything out. Most things could be tested in the warehouse. Izuku's curiosity grew.
His eyes wandered over the trash covered sand. He was surprised to see that nearly half of the garbage was missing. Someone had been cleaning it out.
Mei found a cleared off fridge that had been tipped onto its side and set her bag down. Still not taking the inventions out yet, she spun around and faced the young vigilante. "Okay," she began, "I have four babies with me. Three of which are for you, one is for whatever."
She reached back and pulled one out. She extended her hand. It laid flat in her palm. Izuku gasped when he realized what they were. They were his new gloves.
He snatched them from the girl and examined them. One side of the glove was attached to the web-shooter while the other side wasn't so he could slide them on. He did just that. With both gloves on, he flexed his hands, turning his wrists. The side that wasn't attached was on the inside of the wrist, which gave way for more maneuverability. The band for the shooters was thick. It was like the edge of winter gloves.
"Where's the trigger?" he asked, looking up from his new gear.
Mei stepped forward and grabbed his wrist. "You're always complaining about how you accidentally shoot webs when you don't need to," she explained. "So I did the same thing I did with the mask and made it fingerprint activated. You pull off the top middle and ring finger, then press down where you normally would."
Mei opened a small compartment in the band and poured in a vial of webbing fluid she had somehow pulled out of thin air. She snapped the cap shut once the vial was empty. "And now you don't have to worry about losing any more."
The green-haired boy aimed at the ground and pressed down on the fingerprint sensor. Webbing shot out, although it didn't stick due to the sand's consistency. Izuku couldn't help it; he started to tear up. He sniffed, trying to stop snot from flowing out of his nose. He drew in shaky breaths, and before he knew it the tears broke free.
He grabbed Mei by the straps of her tank top and pulled her close, burying his face into her shoulder. He sobbed freely, now, and tightened his grip when he felt Mei's hand pat his back. She must be surprised. Sure, he cried around her before, he had the Midoriya family tear ducts after all. But he never hugged her. If that could be considered a hug. It felt nice.
How long had it been since he had a hug? That was a depressing thought, and he quickly threw it away. He didn't want to think about it. Because thinking about it meant thinking about the only person he knew who could give the best hugs and she was gone and then he'd start thinking about flames and then about an explosive blond and then–
He sucked in a breath and pushed away. He wiped furiously at his eyes. "Sorry," he said, voice wavering. He struggled to keep his breathing normal. He stared at where he had planted his face. He grimaced at the tear stains he left and how her tank top was now crumpled slightly.
Mei just ruffled his hair. "Don't be sorry," she said, "you've been through a lot."
The young vigilante sniffed. "Thanks, Mei." At her confused stare, he continued. "For doing this. You know the risks and you still chose to help me. I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you."
I probably would have been caught within the first few months .
"You don't have to thank me, Izuku," Mei said. She kicked at the sand before turning back to her bag and fishing through it, pulling out objects that looked suspiciously like smoke bombs. "Anyway, we have more babies to test out."
______________
Izuku stood in front of the U.A. gate. His eyes stared wide at the building. He was amazed at how much bigger it was in person. Teenagers wandered around campus, most going inside the building while others hung around the front doors.
The general education exam and hero exam were on the same day, but the general education one started first in case any hero examinees wanted to try their hand with that course as well. The support and business exams were the next day. Izuku was on his own while Mei was back at the warehouse finalizing some inventions.
After staring at the school for a disturbingly long time, Izuku took his first steps and entered the campus.
As much as he didn't want to be taking the exam, he couldn't help but feel excited. It would probably be his only time inside, aside from getting his leg healed. U.A. wasn't just the top hero school, it only took the best of the best for the other courses too.
Izuku thought his grades were average at best. He had looked at his transcripts from when he used to go to Aldera and only then did he realize how discriminatory the teachers were. They always pretended to be oblivious towards his struggles, going as far as to blame him. But he didn't think they'd alter his grades. On some tests he remembered getting more answers correct than another student but when he confronted the teacher, he just claimed he was cheating and that was that.
But seeing how his grades drastically rose once starting online school, it became clear that his old teachers were obviously in the wrong. It was hard to commit Quirk discrimination on students when you never saw the students in person. He was pretty sure Quirks weren't even on the students' files since it didn't matter.
At first, Izuku thought U.A. would be the same. That they'd reject him without even letting him take the exam. He even voiced those concerns to Aizawa and Yamada, but they said that they got rid of that rule a few years ago. Aizawa grumbled about how they shouldn't have had that rule in the first place.
Izuku had really been counting on that rule to keep him out. But if it meant staying with them, then he had no choice.
He took a deep breath and continued walking towards the building. The general education exam was being held in the second and third year classrooms. Izuku had been assigned 2-F for his exam. He had been sent a confirmation email three days before the exam date.
Someone held one of U.A.'s many doors open for him, and Izuku thanked them, taking the door from her and holding it for the next person.
Teachers and teenagers wandered around the facility. There were a few groups of teenagers hanging by the walls and talking to each other as they waited for the exam. There were also signs that pointed in the directions they had to go.
Izuku couldn't help but stare at the teachers as he walked towards a flight of stairs. He was surrounded by so many heroes. He wasn't sure if he should feel excited or threatened. Logically, he knew that none of them were on his case so he had no actual reason to be wary. Why would the police force waste daylight heroes on a vigilante that only shows up at night?
But deep in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but watch their body language. His body was preparing for the flight or fight response, leaning heavily on flight. He didn't fight heroes and he wasn't hoping to start anytime soon.
The boy walked up the nearest flight of stairs. There were fewer people up there. The classroom by the stairs was 2-A. Izuku began the trek down the hallway. The doors nearly touched the ceiling. He wondered what kind of Quirks they accommodated for.
Each door was open. Some had a lot of kids inside, some had a few. They all had a hero.
Except 2-F. The door was open, yet nobody was inside.
Izuku stood in the doorway, poking his head inside. His eyes swept over the entire room a few times to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He looked over his shoulder and didn't see any teacher coming by.
He took a few steps inside and peeked around the podium. He half expected to see Aizawa in his yellow sleeping bag he liked to carry around given his luck. But there was no sign of the caterpillar.
Whistling startled the boy, and he turned around. Yamada, dressed in his Present Mic outfit, walked into the room. He was carrying a large, black box and clearly couldn't see in front of him.
Izuku scurried out of the way and watched as the man approached the podium. Present Mic set the box on the ground next to it and popped off the top. He took out one of the stacks.
His whistling halted when he caught sight of Izuku standing near a desk. "Hey, Little Listener! Didn't see you there."
"Seems like you couldn't see much of anything," Izuku replied.
The man laughed. "Well since you're here, why not help me set up? Each desk gets one packet for each subject."
Izuku nodded and moved forward. He was handed the stack Present Mic held. He read the top sheet. It was the testing packets. As Izuku walked down the rows, placing one on each desk with Present Mic placing the answer sheets down, Present Mic jokingly told him not to peek at them.
Present Mic told him that when he was done, find the answer sheet with his name on it and have a seat. A few minutes later, more teenagers started to trickle in. Present Mic told them the same thing; find their answer sheet, take a seat.
Izuku fiddled with his pencil as his leg bounced up and down. Some of the people around him were still talking as they waited for the time to approach. He watched Present Mic slide the door shut.
"Alright!" the loud man exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "Welcome to U.A.'s general education entrance exam! How's everyone feeling?"
He was met with silence.
"Yeah, I get it," he continued, moving to stand behind the podium. "Let's get the rules out of the way. You shouldn't have your phones with you, no looking at your neighbors papers. If you're suspected of cheating, your test will be thrown out and you won't get in. When you're done with one subject, put the packet on the floor and move to the next one. When you finish the whole thing, wait patiently until everyone's done. I think that about covers it, so let's get started!"
The moment Present Mic stopped talking, the testers picked up their first packet and opened them. The sound of pencils scribbling and pages turning soon filled the room.
Izuku had picked the English test first, and searched for the corresponding answer sheet. For the next few hours he and the others worked through each packet. Izuku was sure some of them had some kind of intelligence Quirk, because as he glanced at the clock as it neared the three hour mark, he saw that some of them had finished and were either staring at the wall or sleeping.
He was one of the last to finish as the five hour mark passed.
"Alright!" Present Mic called out when he noticed everyone was done. "I bet you're all glad that's over with, huh? Those of you interested in the hero exam, head out now. Everyone else, feel free to go home or stop by the cafeteria and get lunch made by Lunch Rush!"
And with that, the teenagers made their way out of the classroom. Present Mic made his way around the room to pick up the tests. A sudden thought made Izuku stop in the doorway. Dread filled his body.
"Hey, Present Mic?"
"Go on ahead, Midoriya," he said, putting the test packets into the box, "I have to go help with the hero exam."
"If I get in," Izuku continued, "how will I pay for tuition?"
The energetic man paused briefly, as if that question hadn't crossed his mind. "We'll figure it out, Listener. Now go get something to eat. I heard Lunch Rush made katsudon."
Izuku flew out the door as Present Mic laughed.