Chapter Text
Suddenly, the boys were 18.
They were gathered in the Bakugou household, getting ready to have breakfast on a sunny late February morning. Specifically February 26th, the day of the UA entrance exam.
Izuku, Katsuki and each of their parents were there, enjoying each other's company before the big event. Inko and Masaru were preparing the meal, chatting happily, while Hisashi and Mitsuki were sitting at the table talking about local politics. Izuku and Katsuki were both sitting quietly in the living room, nervous out of their minds.
Izuku showed it outwardly, but Katsuki kept it inside. Everyone in the room knew him well enough to not be fooled, however. The parents gave their children space, supporting them with their presence without drowning them and adding to to their stress.
Eventually, Masaru called the boys to breakfast. They began to de-stress as they ate, delicious food helping to calm their minds, and the steady, upbeat attitudes of their parents bolstering their hearts. They ate their fill, and all too soon, it was time for them to leave.
"I'm so proud of you, Izuku, I know you'll do great." Inko crushed her boy in a hug as she cried proud tears.
His father came up to him and put his arm on the boy's shoulder. "Knock 'em dead, son. Show UA who you are."
"I will. Thanks Mom, Dad." Izuku was starting to get emotional as well.
"I would say 'try your hardest and do your best', but I don't have to worry about that, do I?" Masaru had his left hand on his son's shoulder, and his right extended towards his son.
Katsuki gripped it in a firm handshake. "Damn straight."
Mitsuki ruffled her son's hair. "Kick ass, and take no prisoners."
"I never do." Katsuki smirked. He gave his parents a last goodbye then walked toward the door. "Come on, man, we're gonna miss the train."
"Coming, coming!" Izuku gave his parents one last big hug each and then ran after his friend who was already halfway to the street. "Wait up, Kacchan!"
The train ride was quiet, at least between the two. There were plenty of other commuters conversing to keep the volume up, but not loud enough to disturb them. Izuku was going over his study notes, while Katsuki looked like he was mentally preparing himself.
All too soon, they arrived at the gates of UA. They had seen them before, but never had they actually walked inside of them. The impressive, mostly windowed building towered overhead, and students of all shapes and sizes were walking into the building. The stood outside the gates, ready to take the step forward into the future.
"Well, Kacchan." Izuku took a deep breath, smelling the air. "We're here."
"Finally... Time to show this school what real heroes look like." Smoke popped from his right hand.
"You remember our deal, right?" Izuku flexed his own right hand, sending scales flashing across it.
"Course I do." He grew a sadistic smile. "I'm looking forward to my prize."
They had started walking towards the building entrance. "So confident! I hope you're that confident once I win."
"As if you have a chance!"
Izuku changed subjects. "Who do you think will b-"
Suddenly, Izuku was falling forward, tripping over his own feet.
Katsuki reached out to grab his arm. "Dammit, Deku!"
Deku.
A nickname that Katsuki had given him, based on an 'alternative' reading of his name. He had first called him that years ago, back when they were around four or five, Izuku couldn't remember exactly.
Of course, that wasn't the only nickname he gave to Izuku, but it was the one he used most often. It basically meant 'useless', and Katsuki used it whenever he wanted to scold or antagonize him. Izuku gave his friend guff right back, and the boys never took their insults to each other personally.
"Hurry... up… Deku..." Katsuki puffed, jogging with a rusted car door on his back. They were nearing the end of their day at Dagobah on a warm summer evening. They were both exhausted.
"Come up here… and say that… to my face…" Izuku was hauling a set of tires, lagging a few steps behind him.
"Go… to hell… you're barely... taller..."
He would use it to goad Izuku into running one more lap, pushing a little farther on a set of weights, or sometimes just to elicit a reaction out of him. His parents had been worried when they first heard Katsuki call him that, thinking that he was being cruel, but then they saw the playful smiles on both of the children's faces.
It was all good natured fun, and just like nearly everything else in their relationship, it was there to push them both to be stronger. Izuku had his own ways to antagonize his friend as well.
"Come on, is that all you got, Dandy?"
"Dandy? What the hell are you talking about?" The boys were about ten when this particular nickname came about. Izuku had beaten his friend in a spar, knocking him flat on his back. Katsuki was panting on the ground.
"Well, look at you, Kacchan. Look at that hair and tell me you don't look like a dandelion."
"Dandel- Oh, you're a dead man!" Katsuki roared back to his feet, ready to go.
Izuku smiled and put his fists back up. Hisashi was on the sidelines, trying not to laugh.
Izuku stopped falling.
Katsuki had reached out to grab his arm, but it wasn't him that stopped the fall. Izuku stared at the ground. It wasn't coming closer to him. There was nothing preventing him from falling, but the ground wasn't moving.
"Sorry, I stopped you with my quirk!"
Izuku slowly turned to his left, still keeping an eye on the ground to make sure he didn't suddenly start falling like he should be. He looked up, at a girl standing next to him, hand outstretched to touch his backpack.
"I should have asked first, but I figured you wouldn't mind. Bad luck and all that." She smiled a blindingly cheery smile.
Katsuki pulled his friend back to his feet. The girl placed her fingers together, which glowed pink for a moment, and then with a faint flowing sensation, Izuku felt his weight return to him.
Izuku stood upright, still staring at the ground as if he didn't trust it. He moved his vision up to look at the girl, and then he kept moving his eyes up. He met her eyes above his own. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
Katsuki's and his heights had both stabilized over the last year. They were basically fully physically mature and couldn't expect to grow more. Katsuki stood about 5'10'', same height as his father. Izuku was taller, and stood at six foot even. That put him about four inches shorter than his father, but his mother was a short woman.
This woman standing in front of him, however, was at least an inch or two taller than him. He was about eye-level with her lips, and as he looked up to see the rest of her face, his breath was taken away. Her face was slightly rounded, and big brown eyes looked at him happily. Her hair, the same color as her eyes, was in a bob cut, but seemed to be unnaturally voluminous, as if it were floating. She had two longer bangs hanging down, framing her face, which appeared to have a slight permanent blush.
She was beautiful.
"Anyway, sorry again. Good luck on the exam!" She walked off towards the building, leaving the two boys behind her.
"What the hell was that, Izuku?" Katsuki shoved his friend's shoulder to snap him out of it. "You froze. You never freeze like that when you meet a new person."
Izuku was still staring at the girl, watching her walk away. He noted her athletic build underneath her winter clothes and smiled dumbly. "...She's real pretty, Kacchan."
"...What the hell, man."
Izuku came back to his senses as the girl left his vision. Katsuki rolled his eyes and the two made their way to the testing center. The picked up the exam and made their way to a great hall filled with desks and dividers, at least large enough to fit 500 students. They exchanged a silent fist-bump as they went to sit at their assigned seats.
The test itself wasn't too difficult. It was challenging, sure... and long, but it wasn't anything they weren't prepared for. Looking over it, it seemed like it hadn't changed much since his father took it, at least in structure. Izuku did great on the basic physics, chemistry and math segments, as well as the history, reading comprehension and hero law sections. He took a little longer than he would have liked on the ethics section, but he felt like he did well in the end.
After the grueling 2 hours it took for them to finish the test, he and Katsuki were sitting outside, eating the packed lunches and waiting for the practical to begin. They spent the time comparing answers on questions they struggled with, but overall it seemed like they had both done very well. Izuku hoped he did better; he didn't want to lose their bet.
Near one o'clock, the two made their way to the assembly hall where they would be briefed about the upcoming practical portion of the exam. The UA entrance exam was a grueling marathon, but being a hero wasn't easy. The boys found their spots next to each other and sat down.
The lights dimmed as the big screen behind the stage started displaying the famous, golden logo of UA. Present Mic took the stage and greeted the students with his trademark unflappable enthusiasm.
Izuku perhaps wasn't listening as closely as he should have been. He heard something about robots, points and there was this one deafening silence that he registered. Instead of paying attention, he was too busy gushing under his breath.
"Holy crap its Present Mic I listen to his show every day of the week it's so cool that all of the UA teachers are pro heroes I hope I can get all of their autographs before I graduate surely it can't be that hard I'll be here for four years but I still can't wait I wonder who my homeroom teacher will be oh man I hope its Snipe or maybe Vlad King although I don't even know if-"
"Shut the hell up, Izuku, damn." Katsuki elbowed him in the side. "Your dad is a pro, and you met All Might last year, get a hold of yourself."
Izuku apologized silently and turned to pay attention. It wasn't to be, however. There was just too much excitement going on that day for him to keep focused. The muttering started again, but maybe a little quieter.
He was interrupted again, this time by an examinee asking some unnecessary question of Present Mic. Izuku faintly registered that the examinee was talking but what really got his attention was when he turned and pointed directly at Izuku.
"You, with the me-" The boy stopped, a flash of recognition on his face. "Midoriya. You are distracting the examinees around you. Please, silence yourself."
Midoriya clapped his hands over his mouth, gesturing apologies.
"Warned you," Katsuki whispered smugly.
Midoriya finally started listening to Present Mic as he finished up his explanation. "As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.' So, get out there and don't let nothin' slow you down!"
"Come on, listeners, this is the first day of the rest of your lives! Let me hear you! Go Beyond!"
"PLUS ULTRA!" The students all cheered back as the pro hero's grin shone.
Izuku and Katsuki were split up, of course. While they were disappointed that they wouldn't get to show each other up in person, they still wished each other good luck and exchanged another fist-bump. They loaded onto their different buses and were shipped out to their assigned battle centers.
Izuku stepped out of the bus, leaving his backpack in his seat. He looked over the massive walls and gate and whistled. This 'fake' city was huge! He could see skyscrapers at least twenty stories tall over the walls.
This was going to be fun.
He began to theorize different strategies of attacks and ways to optimize damage while minimizing the strain on his body from using his quirk. He was muttering softly to himself and after a few minutes his eyes wandered over the crowd.
He saw the tall, brown haired girl that caught him outside the entrance. His mind stopped planning. It stopped doing much of anything. His entire mental processing capabilities were devoted to him staring at this woman.
He was snapped out of it by a hand grabbing his shoulder. "Midoriya." He turned to see the boy from earlier staring down at him. Izuku was usually the tallest guy in the room when his father wasn't here, but this guy had at least three inches on him.
"We both know that your father could, and would, get you into UA on recommendation. Why are you here?"
"I wouldn't want that! I want to prove myself, Tenny!" Izuku smiled back at the stern boy.
"Midoriya!" The man recoiled in shock at the name. "It has been over a decade since we have seen each other. We hardly know each other anymore; that old name is hardly appropriate."
"Okay, fine, Tenya Iida." Izuku gave him a big smile as he reached for the bottom of his shirt. "I guess I'll just have to earn your friendship back. Looking forward to seeing you in school!" He lifted his shirt over his head and took it off. He wrapped it up and tucked it into one of his pants pockets.
"That is hardly appropriate." Many of the other examinees had turned to look at the tall, buff man taking his shirt off.
"Come on, Iida. You know my dad."
"Yes, but it's February."
"I'll be fine once we get moving." Izuku focused as two great dappled green wings sprouted from his back, causing many onlookers to gasp slightly. Izuku closed his eyes, flexing and moving his wings. Getting the feel for them in this cold weather. It was like stretching out a limb that had fallen asleep.
"Right, let's start!" Present Mic called out from on top of a tower. "There are no countdowns in real life! You're wasting air time, people!"
Ochako Uraraka was having a hell of a day. She was at UA, after all! This was perhaps the most exciting day of her life. Things started off strangely, though. When she was walking in, this guy tripped and almost fell on his face, but she was there to stop him. It was basically reflex for her, she didn't even register that his friend was reaching out to grab him.
She apologized for using her quirk, but he didn't seem too upset. He did act a little strange, though. He stood up and just sort of stared at her. He was kinda cute, all things considered. His big green eyes were wide, looking at her with fascination, and those cute little horns were sticking out from his messy green hair. His face was attractive and he looked pretty cut under that tight shirt he was wearing.
But he didn't say anything and she was starting to feel awkward, so she just wished them luck and walked off. Maybe he wasn't used to seeing women taller than him. She got that a lot. She blamed her father's genes and her quirk for that one.
She shook her mind of it and went in to take the test. It was here where she felt the drawbacks of her smaller-town education. She studied as hard as she could, and she was no slouch, but she was certainly not one of the first ones to finish. She looked around for the green-haired boy or his blonde friend, but didn't see them.
It wasn't until they packed onto the bus to ship off to Battle Center B that she saw the tripping guy again. His friend wasn't with him, which she guessed was to keep them from working together. He sat on the bus and chatted up the boy who sat next to him, he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, unlike the weird french guy who sat next to her and stared at himself in a mirror the entire time.
She was calming herself down outside of the fake city when she heard a commotion behind her. The green-haired man and the blue-haired one who interrupted Present Mic were talking. They seemed to know each other, but the taller one didn't look like he knew how to relax. What really got her attention was when the boy she had helped started taking his shirt off.
Yeah. He was ripped.
She tried to keep the blush from her face. 'Why is he takin' his shirt off?!' she thought to herself. 'Not that I mind too much… Oh.' Green wings sprouted from his back as he seemed to be focusing, like she should have been doing. That explained it. It wasn't more than a few seconds after that when Present Mic unceremoniously declared that the exam had started.
The winged boy reacted before anyone else. He took a great leap into the air and with a beat from his wings, flew forward over all of their heads and into the city. She pushed the distraction from her mind and focused on the task at hand... She had one chance to make it into UA and she wasn't going to mess it up.
The first several minutes of the exam passed in a blink of an eye. It was rhythmic for her, almost ritualistic. She found a robot, pressed one of her hands against it, felt the weight flow through her, toss it into the sky, then release it and let it crash back down. This same process repeated itself time after time. By the halfway point, she had already accumulated nearly 40 points.
She maybe could have had more, but she kept catching glances of that green-haired boy. 'I should stop callin' him that.' she mused. 'What did his friend call him? Deku? I like the sound of that.' Deku was tearing the robots apart. She saw him throwing them into each other, she saw him tearing them to pieces and once she thought that she saw him spitting some pieces of metal out of his mouth.
'He's one to keep my eye on. If- no, Ochako, when I get in, I'll make sure to ask him about his trainin' regimen. He's really fit.' She watched him tear a robot's head off with his bare hand while she dropped a piece of rubble on top of a pair of two-pointers in front of her. He never seemed to notice her, though.
"62!" she heard him say, a bit ahead of her own score. She would have to catch up. She turned to run towards another group of robots, hoping to take some for herself. She felt bad for some of the others who couldn't keep up, but this was a competition and she couldn't afford that luxury right now. Besides, this was a test to see who has what it takes to be a hero, they only accept the best.
Then, everyone stopped. What felt like an earthquake started shaking the city; people looked around in horror until the source was found. Towering well over the twenty story building next to it was a gigantic robot: the zero-pointer that Present Mic warned them about.
Time seemed to resume as people realized what was going on. The explanation they had received seemed woefully inadequate when compared to the behemoth in front of them. Everyone started running, Ochako included. Present Mic had even recommended as much, that they should avoid it instead of fighting.
The robot brought its mechanical fist down, sending debris and shockwaves through the whole city. The building next to her, already weak from nearby battles, shattered and crumbled. She caught one giant piece of rubble that was falling on her and tossed it to the side with her quirk. However, she wasn't fast enough to catch the second one.
With a sickening crunch, Ochako was slammed into the ground, her foot and ankle pinned underneath a giant slab of concrete. Tears welled in her eyes as she screamed in pain. She recovered her senses after a few seconds and tried to reach down to lift the debris from her legs. Struggle as she might, she couldn't reach her ankle in the position she was trapped in without dislocating or breaking her leg further, and even then she probably couldn't reach.
She felt the rumbling get closer and craned her neck over her shoulder to see the titanic robot rolling nearer and nearer. The monster stopped overhead, before turning its gaze down upon her. She felt her blood run cold as it seemed to stare into her soul with its giant red eyes. The robot reared its arm back... and began driving it down towards her, fist clenched.
She reached her arms up to meet the impending doom. There was almost certainly no way that she was going to be able to stop the fist, but she had worked too hard to go down without a fight. She prepared herself to throw the full weight of her quirk behind the attempt. Nobody would say that Ochako Uraraka died a coward's death...
Death never came.
Instead, a great rush of dust and wind blew her hair around and made her close her eyes. When she was able to force them open, she saw that the fist had stopped moving. The robot had stopped.
No, that wasn't it. Someone had stopped the robot. She blinked the dust out of her eyes and saw a strange, misshapen form in front of her. The zero-pointer's fist was groaning under the pressure being put on it. She saw a green mop of hair and recognized her savior. His wings were gone, but what she saw made her mouth drop open.
His right arm was massive. Nearly the size of the rest of his body combined. It was covered in green scales and had a large black spike sticking out of the elbow. Down from his arm, green scales covered his back along with a green ridge down his spine. His razor-sharp black claws dug into the metal of the robot's fist, but the robot surged forward with renewed effort, causing Deku to be pushed back.
It was then that she noticed his leg. It wasn't massive like his arm was, but it was certainly different. It had burst out of his pants, leaving them tattered halfway up his thigh. The leg was covered in the same scales, green like his hair, but that wasn't what was odd. The entire lower part of his leg was misshapen. His leg was digitigrade, his ankle joint having moved up his leg to form what resembled a second, inverse knee. His shoe was long gone; a giant green claw tipped with the same black claws had blown it to pieces.
His clawed foot dug into the ground, and his arm strained under the giant metal fist. He turned back and looked straight into her eyes. She gasped slightly. His eyes were no longer the cute green orbs, but intense, glowing spheres. She couldn't even see his irises, only the bright green light. His little horns on his head and grown, now hanging over his eyes and sweeping back slightly to form a sort of ridge or crown.
"Can you...move?" Deku grunted as the metal above him craked. "You need to get out… before it... crushes me!"
'Crushes him?! No, there's no way I'm lettin' that happen. I hafta do somethin'!' She looked around for something she could use, and her eyes landed on the first chunk of concrete she had avoided.
Deku roared with effort as the robot attempted to push down again. His arm bulged slightly larger, and the spiked ridge along his spine grew longer. His leg dug deeper into the asphalt road. Despite all of his effort, he was losing the fight.
She reached out and touched the debris, all-in-all it was probably around a cubic yard of concrete and rebar. It would have to do. She felt the weight of the object flow down and out of her, and she picked up the nearly-massless object with ease. She wrenched herself around so she was almost facing the zero-pointer and threw it with all of her might.
Deku was nearly finished. She heard the groaning of his muscles and bones under the pressure of the mechanical monster. The chunk flew closer and closer to the chest of the titan and she could only hope it was fast enough. With a faint crack, she heard something in his back give way. He screamed in agony, but refused to quit.
Thanks to the near-weightlessness of the concrete, she was able to throw it with great speed. Now came the hard part. She took a deep breath and placed her fingers together. She felt the energy rush back through her and out towards the flying debris, but that wouldn't be enough. She needed more. She strained and pushed harder, shoving more into the projectile so it wouldn't lose speed.
The chunk hit the robot square in the chest like a meteor from space. A massive, blinding flash of light flashed across the city, followed by a roaring explosion. The chunk crushed into the zero-pointer and pushed it back. It staggered back from the impact, then began tipping. Explosions chained outward from the impact point, down its spine and up its neck, until it's head exploded in a dazzling display.
The robot smashed into the earth with a force that caused several nearby buildings to collapse. Deku turned back to her, his face filled with awe, relief and maybe a bit of… fear? He smiled at her.
"I guess we make a good team." His smile was wide, earnest and adorable. His giant arm slumped to the ground.
He passed out, his body snapping back to a normal, human form. She wished that she could have kept him from hitting the ground, but she was still trapped under the debris herself. With the danger passed and her adrenaline fading, the effort of using her quirk like that quickly hit her.
The last thing she remembered before passing out herself was the content look on Deku's face.
Notes:
Some things are a little different! Let me know how you feel down below.
See you all next chapter.