Notes:
This one's sort of shorter again as it's more of a filler chapter. Sorry about that.
Either way, I hope you enjoy.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Despite the fact that it's only been a week since Izuku has taken the entrance exam at UA, it's felt closer to a month. The annoying sensation of this torturous wait was more distracting than he thought it would be. For the most part, he was patient. However, he could count on every other single examinee from that day was having the exact same problem.
In order to rid of this issue, Izuku has resulted to distracting himself from the distraction. As much sense as it made, it didn't provide the best of solutions. His usual routines were also invaded by the transitioning thoughts of if he passed or failed.
No matter how sure he was that it was the former, the second conclusion still messed with his head.
To be completely honest, he was certain that anyone looking at his position would fine it amusing. He's lost his anxiousness for tests long ago. Yet, this one was able to get him riled up just from a single reminding. Guess that made sense because of the importance that this specific test held; his enrollment into UA.
The written one was easy enough. Nothing that countless hours of studying and note-taking doesn't fix. It was one hell of a mental roller coaster but got him where he needed to be. The practical exam was a different story. He had no reason to think that he did bad. However, there was the idea that maybe others had possibly done better.
Yeah, that sounded stupid considering there were a few occasions he saw other examinees pitifully attacking the robots but not doing any real damage. Even a time or two he had to jump in and save some of them.
If his count was correct, he was either in the late fifties or the early sixties when it came to villain points. It was sort of hard to keep track and his main focus was just to smash the machines. Oh well. It should be plenty compared to what he's heard the other students yell around him.
But then there's the other thing that has him slightly worried. What did they think of his quirk? They were able to see and determine the aspects of his capabilities throughout the entire time, no doubt about it. Izuku's quirk was not flashy in the slightest. Sure, it caught people's eyes, but it always made them want to look away right after. Could that also be a deciding factor in his score? Surely not. It actually pissed Izuku off slightly just from the thought of his being the reason for him not passing.
He wouldn't even be mad at his quirk, just the dumb people who would think that.
Sheesh, he really is getting lost in his thoughts…again. Maybe he-
"Izuku?" His glowing irises refocused on the piece of food on his silverware before looking up to his mother. She looked somewhat concerned and probably for a good reason. "You've been starting at your food for a couple minutes. Are you alright?" Izuku blinked a few times before realizing that he had gotten lost into deep thought while eating his lunch… again.
"Heh. I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind. Don't worry about it." Izuku kindly dismissed the caring mother and reassured that he was indeed alright. Both returned to their meals and collectively finished.
A short amount of time passed before the younger greenette found the clock closing in on his time of departure back to the beach. He changed into his work-out clothes at a comfortable pace and headed towards the front door.
"I'll be back after a while, Mom. I'm heading out." Just as he approached the door, he heard his mother call back.
"Alright. Be safe." Inko's voice rung out from the living room.
"I will." And just like that, he headed out the door and towards Dagobah.
..............................…
He was a little early, but that never hurt anyone. The walk to the beach merged with his steadily raising number of times he's stepped on this once beautiful beach. If this went as planned, then he'll no longer be looking at the same ugly blend of cozy sand and filthy pollution.
He'll be able to see the beach as it once was. The one that the blond man he met nearly 2 weeks ago told him of.
It was natural that Izuku was eager and excited. His energy was put to good use in the form of stretching and light exercises while he waited. The former wasn't exactly necessary due to his versatile body frame, but Izuku liked to think that it helped.
In the midst of the peaceful surroundings, despite the garbage, the teen felt calm. He just so happened to be lounging in an old car that was somehow placed perfectly on top of, you guessed it, more trash. The angle it brought directed the greenette to get a perfect view of the ocean.
"I wonder if people will come back here after all this is gone." Izuku wished for his open thoughts to be true. Even in the trash that masked it, he could see the astonishing charm this place had. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see."
No matter how small it was, there was a smile pulled onto one side of the greenette's face as he heard a quick duo of a horn coming from far behind him. Leaning out the right side of the car, he spotted the blond near on the edge of the street that met the beach.
He was also leaning out of what looked to be-
"Now that's a truck!" Izuku yelled to himself as he laid eyes on the large heavy-duty hauler parked next to the man. The adult was hanging out the driver's side door that was open as he waved over to Izuku for him to come over.
The boy did just that as he dropped out from the car and landed in one smooth motion. A light jog brought him around the smaller piles of junk and up the stairs to meet up with the man.
"Hello, young man. It's nice to see that you came." The man sounded relieved while hopping down from the side-step of the truck.
"Well, of course I was gonna come back. I said I was going to help, didn't I?" Izuku felt it was easy to fall right into conversation. His response got a wider smile from the man… man "Oh, that's right. I left in a huge rush last time. We were never able to share names." The both of them perked up at that realization. "I'm Izuku Midoriya." He told the man as he extended his own hand this time.
"Then I'm Toshinori Yagi. Good to officially meet you." The now named blond took the younger male's hand once more and gave it the same firm handshake. Afterwards, he turned back to large vehicle that he brought along with him. "So, you think that this will do?" Yagi suppressed a chuckle when he turned back to see the boy eyeing the truck with disbelief.
"If I had known you were bringing this gargantuan loader then I would have tried to look for a dozer shovel to attach to the front and help us out." As much as Izuku attempted to keep his voice level, there was no hiding the bewilderment at the beast of a truck before. His answer had caused Yagi to chortle in amusement. Something told Izuku that this wasn't the first time he's gotten reactions like this.
"Hahaha! Oh, that sure would be something, huh?" Mixed in with the blonde's laughter, Izuku was also able to detect a hint of pride. "People don't usually see trucks like these in Japan because it's American made."
"America?" Izuku turned to Yagi with a questioning look.
"Yeah. Brought it back with me after my depart from there not too long ago." The teen could have honestly guessed that. The high HD American flag that was professionally painted on the side of it was a big enough hint.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on. If this truck means so much to you that you're willing to bring it across the seas, then I don't want to accidentally dent or scratch it when I'm putting trash in the back." Izuku couldn't possibly fathom making any sort of mark on this highly expensive machinery. It was great that Yagi was helping him to begin with, but he didn't want to mess it up.
"Haha! Young Midoriya, there is no need to worry in the slightest. I'm much more invested into the restoration of the beach rather than this old thing. It's gotten plenty of bangs in the past and I'm sure it'll get more in the future. Besides, there's bound to be a mechanic around here that can easily buff out anything that you could possibly do." At his last sentence, Yagi slowed his words as his confidence dropped slightly. The blond was reminded of the boy's power as he looked over the younger male's shoulder to spot the destroyed car he had seen the last time he was here.
Not to mention the strength the adult was able to witness himself unknowingly to the teen.
"If you say so, I'll be careful regardless." Izuku's statement was confirmed by a nod from the lanky man that Izuku reciprocated. Turning back to the dozens of trash piles before them, they both prepared for the long day ahead of them. "Well then, let's get to it."
..............................…
*2 Hours Later*
Like I said; a long day ahead of them.
Yagi was currently wrestling with a stubborn metal safe that was beginning to slip from his grasp. It was small for its size but that didn't change the fact that it felt to be nearly 100 pounds. It would have been a nice find if it weren't for the busted door that hung loosely over his straining grip.
Just getting a hold of it was hard enough but the short trip to his truck was proving to be much more difficult than he thought.
"You know, when I said that you didn't need to help me, I meant it." The voice of Izuku came from beside the adult who looked over to see the teen not even looking affected by the whole oven he had on his shoulder; much like the refrigerator he carried when they first met.
"I said that I was wanting to help clean up the beach too, so that's what I'm going to do." Yagi mentally slapped himself for how strained his voice sounded as he attempted to reassure the boy. Izuku merely gave him a look of humor and concern before using his free hand to open the oven he carried. Using the same arm, he effortlessly grabbed the safe from his hands and stuffed it inside the rusted kitchen appliance before closing it back up.
Yagi gave him a look of betrayal which the greenette gave a chuckle to before walking towards the truck. The adult gave a smiling sigh before following behind to watch Izuku place the large box of metal along with the other contents that they were able to pack up in such a short amount of time.
"You sure do work fast." Yagi said over to the boy on the other side of the trunk. He eyed over the varying items that he would never suspect to find some in a dump. But then again, all of which were broken or damaged in some way; no longer usable by their previous owners who took the easy way out by simply throwing it all here.
"Eh. I just wasn't slowing down. It doesn't matter how fast you are in the beginning but rather for how long you can keep it up. Well… for me at least." Izuku shrugged at the last part of his response. It caused Yagi to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Oh? How so?" The man's question brought up a similar reaction back to when Izuku was asked about his quirk by All Might in the tunnel after defeating the sludge villain. An expression of nervousness crossed the boy's features as he didn't quite look sure how to answer. However, to Yagi's surprise, he was actually getting one.
"It has something to do with my quirk." There was hesitation with his statement that further exaggerated his uneasy posture. A hand on the back of his head as he broke eye-contact from the man.
For a moment, Yagi debated his chances of investigating. If he didn't, then they would simply move on. If he did, then he was sure Izuku would just kindly turn down the question as he did last time.
Well, here goes nothing.
"H-how so?" Yagi tried to make himself sound as gentle as possible. He felt bad that it seemed like he was cheating by getting a second chance at asking, but his curiosity was just too much for him to ignore.
"It's… sort of hard to explain." The teen's answer alighted satisfaction within the blond. It wasn't a 'no' per say. He just needed to meet the greenette's conditions.
"Well, if you want, you can do so while we take this haul to the dump. The truck's pretty full and ready for a transfer." Yagi gestured to the compact pile of trash in the trunk of the vehicle that had a noticeable angle from the added weight.
"You want me to go with you?" Izuku asked; confusion written on his features.
"No, no. That's completely up to you. I just figured you didn't want to be here alone waiting on me as the Musutafu dump is a fair way away." Yagi dismissed the boy's confusion by waving his arms in front of him to look like a surrender. He wasn't going to force the teen to do anything. Whether the freckled boy wanted to tell him anything was Izuku's decision.
"Mmm… I suppose." Izuku ended his reply with a relenting smile as he directed himself to the passenger side door of the truck. Yagi gave a silent sigh of relief as he had not done anything to make the boy uncomfortable.
Due to the several amount of times that he's done it before and his height being a helpful factor, it was easy for the blond to pull himself into the driver's seat. When he looked over to passenger side, he couldn't help but stifle a chuckle.
The open door revealed only Izuku's black eyes and green hair peeking over the seat.
"Sheesh. This truck looks like something All Might would drive with how freakishly large it is." After his conclusion on the spacious room the vehicle gave, Izuku careful hopped into the seat with hitting anything; not noticing the bead of sweat coming down Yagi's nervous smile.
Finally placing himself in the overly sized seat that made Izuku feel like a toddler, he closed the door behind, and both strapped on their seatbelts.
The roar of the truck's engine ignited from Yagi starting it up and pulling it out of the beach's deserted parking lot.
For the adult, it fell into a comfortable silence as they drove to their destination; taking turns and stopping at streetlights. The sounds of the busy city passing them by to be met with new scenery and routes.
The same thing couldn't exactly be said for Izuku. It wasn't that he was uneasy being in the truck with this man that he only knew the name of. He knew enough that the blond wasn't a threat, even if Yagi did have ulterior motives which Izuku suspected there weren't any.
No, it was rather trying to come to the decision if he should answer his question about his quirk. Really, he had no reason to do it or not. But for whatever reason, he had this sense of trust with the blond.
From the moment they met on the beach, Izuku felt the calming and kind presence he gave. It was strong and welcoming. But another thing was that is felt strangely familiar; he just couldn't find out why.
"Oh. By the way." Yagi's sudden action of perking up in his seat caused Izuku to feel nervous as he figured the man to have recalled his question. "How did the entrance exam go at UA?"
Oh… Izuku could talk about that.
"Well, the written exam wasn't particularly that bad. The countless hours of studying really paid-off." Izuku begun his experience of what happened within the walls of #1 hero school.
'So, he's also got brains.' Yagi noted to himself.
"The only real difficulty of the overall test was the practical, which makes sense as it's supposed to be. The instructors strictly forbid us from relaying any of the details to any outside sources; something about keeping from future applicants from figuring out how to cheat and such. Anyway, I feel like I have a solid spot. Some of the other examinees called out their scores along the way and comparing mine to there's tells me that I have a good shot." Izuku explained his thoughts about his acceptance to the older male who nodded to the words. The teen looked out the door window as Yagi watched the road ahead with growing interest.
'And you would be right. It was almost impossible not to notice your efforts and skills- '
"But that would be foolish." Yagi was brought out of his own thoughts when Izuku gave his next statement. "That was only comparing myself to one battle center when there were several others. There could have easily been other people who were stronger. I'll just have to expect what is to come." The blond was able to detect the small amount of gloomy nervousness into his voice. He knew full well how that felt.
"I'm sure you got in." In the corner of his vision, Yagi saw the boy turn to him. Although he couldn't turn to meet his gaze, Yagi was sure that Izuku could see his reassuring smile.
Izuku couldn't help but alight a small smile to himself. This man he barely knew was so confident in him and supportive. It was strange… but not unwelcome.
That feeling lasted through the process of the dumping the truckload at the official sight. After getting the approval from one of the employees, they were free to drop off the trash as well as the rest from the beach when they got to it.
And so, that was what they did for the rest of the day. Another 5 hours and 2 more dumps, they had finished the day with hard work and a job well done; even if they weren't completely done cleaning the beach just yet.
Izuku and Yagi were both exhausted from the day's work… well, now it was just Yagi.
"Okay. I know that I saw you panting just a minute ago." The blond called out Izuku who didn't even look remotely worn out compared to just moment ago. However, he could see that his eyes look somewhat drained. "What gives?" Izuku stood next to him as he clapped his hands together to smack off any remaining particles of sand or rust.
He once more took a nervous expression, but this time, it was paired with a friendly smile.
"Uuhheheh. Well… you're not wrong." The smile slowly faded from his face as he looked out to the beach. The low sun had turned the sky from blue to a soft orange. With one arm, Izuku rubbed his other shoulder as a sign of uneasiness. Yagi summed it up to be something to do with the boy's quirk and was nearly about to drop it.
However…
"You asked me about it at the beginning of the day. I never answered you. Sorry about that." The teen gave an apologetic smile to the man.
"There's no need to apologize. That information is personal and yours to keep. If you don't want to tell, then that's fine by me." Yagi was quick to assure Izuku that he was not at fault here. If the greenette truly did not feel okay with sharing, then there was nothing that he could do about it.
Izuku turned back to meet his kind gaze; a thankful smile expressing across his face.
"You really are a nice guy, you know that?" Izuku made it sound more like a fact.
"Haha. You flatter me." Yagi joked before setting his sights on the beach to admonish their work. There was still plenty of trash left, but it was definitely visible that a few of the smaller piles were missing. From the looks it, the beach might be fully cleaned in maybe 2-3 weeks' time.
"An aspect of my quirk allows me so that I am able to rebuild every part of my body." From the peaceful silence, Izuku gave his first description of his power. It was more than enough to cause Yagi to set his full attention on the teen. "At will, I am able to both strip away or replace the contents of my anatomy. So, whenever I get an injury, I can just get rid of the damaged cells and replace them with brand new ones. The same concept applies to sore muscles. That's kind of the reason why I'm so physically fit. Instead of having to wait for my body to heal itself over time, I can simply do it in an instant."
Yagi was flat-out amazed by the small piece of information that he was just given. He was expecting something along the lines of body and bone manipulation, sure. But not to be able to fully reconstruct himself.
With a quirk like that, anyone could be indestructible. However, something didn't quite make sense.
"Hold on now, quirks use their user's stamina in order to function; just like a muscle. If you're running low on energy, how is it that your able to rejuvenate yourself using you exhausted quirk?" Yagi figured it to be a genuine question. The surprised expression on the boy said that he was expecting a completely different reaction.
"O-oh… huh. Actually, my quirk doesn't run off stamina like other's do." Izuku answered after wiping his surprise. He was sure that Yagi would find his power strange rather than seem interested.
'Doesn't run off of stamina?' The man asked to himself. Something like that was almost unheard of. Although, it does indeed happen. Pieces of a puzzle were beginning to come together in the adult's mind. In today's world, there are only 2 types of quirks that give the user a different source of power.
One being quirks with cores…
and the other being quirks that are sentient.
However, every case of quirk cores so far have had at least one thing in common; that being that in some way they are emitters. Their cores are a secondary source of energy that the user is able to call upon and eject from their body. So far, Izuku has shown no signs of emitter type abilities.
Yagi had watched the greenette in the entrance exam. Overall, it looked to be a sort of transformative type quirk. How could that be? To have both those attributes at the same time sounded impossible.
But… was it really?
Sapphire eyes met glowing emerald.
Yagi looked deep into the dark voids that made it questionable whether the boy really had eyes or not. His small radioactive pupils looked like powerful orbs that levitated within his sockets.
It was then that Yagi finally sensed it.
A second presence that hid within the abyss of the boy's eyes. Before, it was so barely noticeable. Now, Yagi couldn't ignore it.
He could feel it watching from the same eyes that looked at the man with confusion.
"Yagi, sir? Are you alright?" The sound of Izuku's voice brought the blond out of his daze. Izuku was concerned when the man seemingly got lost in a trance while looking directly at him. It was slightly unnerving at first as he thought that maybe Yagi was disturbed with Izuku hinting him a part of his quirk.
"Oh!? My apologies, young man. I tend to get lost in thought frequently. Haha, comes with old age I guess." Yagi let out a friendly laughter with one hand on his hip and the other on the back on his neck.
Izuku appeared to be thankful for this and even could be heard giving a hum of amusement to match with his smile. After the brief period of humor died down from the two, Izuku looked ready to wrap things up.
"Well, it's starting to get late. I should head home before my mom thinks that I got crushed under a pile of trash." Ending with a joke of his own, the teen pulled out his phone for any notifications from said mother.
"Yes, or course. Do you want me to give you a ride home?" Yagi asked the boy with the full intent of helping out the greenette.
"No, no. You don't' have to do that. I'm sure you have better things to do." Izuku was quick to kindly decline the offer but would soon discover that it was pointless.
"Nothing comes to mind." Yagi says back.
'Considering that I've already used my 3 hours before coming to the beach, I'm technically not lying.'
"*sigh*… If you say so." Izuku finally relented which brought a victorious chuckle from the adult.
Entering the truck for the last time of that day, they both drove off towards the address that Izuku had given him. This ride truly was peaceful as the world passed them by.
Upon arriving at the base of the apartment complex, Izuku gave his quick thanks before opening the door.
"I really believe that they'll let you into UA." Izuku spun back to face Yagi giving him a confident smile. Not a trace of concern or worry could be seen anywhere.
'His smiles really are infectious.' Izuku thought to himself as he returned the smile that was beginning to feel normal on his face.
"Thanks. I'll be sure to tell you the next time we meet." With that, they gave a final wave to one another as Izuku left the truck as it drove off.
From there, the younger Midoriya was welcomed by his loving mother.
Both ate their dinner as they usually did.
And they eventually retreated back to their rooms where they would slumber until the next rise of the sun.
Meanwhile, Yagi was once more lost in his own mind. In his own home, he sat in a singular large chair that embraced his long train of thought.
He knew that Izuku meant well and was a nice individual. There was almost nothing wrong with him. Maybe a little reclusive, but that always made it more satisfactory to help them break open their shell.
The only problem was Yagi was no longer sure if he wanted to let out what the teen had been holding inside.
Because whatever it was that was looking back at him from the depths of Izuku's eyes…
It looked at him as if he were prey.