NSFW Creative Writing[NSFW] My Harem Academia (R34 Economy, MHA Start) Thread starterLeecifer Start dateJun 12, 2020 Tagsfrozen catalog infrequent updatesmy hero academia rule 34 economy self insert slow buildingwaifu catalog inspiredCreated atJun 12, 2020Index progressIncompleteWatchers6,321Recent readers0Threadmarks139Author Note: I've been reading a number of these R34 Economy stories, and the premise seems like...Threadmarks Index Moderation ExtrasStatistics (120 threadmarks, 570k words)ThreadmarksReader mode RSS The Choice is MadeWords 5.8kJun 12, 2020NewAn Electrifying Exam!Words 3.9kJun 16, 2020NewFirst Jump: The Most Basic of BasicsWords 5.9kMay 27, 2024NewFirst Jump: Kyoshi Island pt 1Words 3.9kJun 29, 2024NewFirst Jump: Kyoshi Island Pt 2Words 6.2kJul 22, 20241234 NextJump to newIgnoreWatchThread ToolsThreadmarksIndexModerationExtrasView contentThreadmarks The Choice is Made View contentJun 12, 2020Add bookmark#1Leecifer(Fan)Fiction WriterAuthor Note: I've been reading a number of these R34 Economy stories, and the premise seems like the kind of thing that, while absolutely an opportunity for a sociopathic power wank (sometimes literally), seems to me to make for a much better example of how to take a completely immoral premise and twist it for good.Subvert it for virtuous means? Pervert it for Justice? Either way, I had two ideas of where to go with this, so, rather than stick to one, I'm doing both. The Sister Story, Draconian Remnant can be found HERE. If you've read that one, skip down to the decision point in the first chapter, as they are literally identical up until then. ALSO, The version of the catalog being used has been frozen (because otherwise planning more than a few chapters away is nigh-impossible) from when the MC was 'inserted', and can be found in the first Index'd post
My Harem Academia
In the beginning, there was darkness, and then, light.
Probably because someone flicked the switch.
For me though, there was light, and there was pain. Not some mind rending agony, not a soul deep ache, nothing that over the top, merely a sharp spike that quickly dulled. Blinking, having previously been on my bed, scrolling through CYOA's to pass the time, I found myself in a blank space, holding, of all things, a piece of parchment, my name signed in dull red at the bottom.
Freezing, not as much like a deer in the headlights as much as an animal awakening in a strange place, because I was, I stared at the document in my hands that had replaced my phone. It was certainly full of words, written in a flowing, yet somehow harsh script. It was just too bad I didn't understand a word of it. A bit of wetness, neither cold nor warm, ran down my right hand, which throbbed with a dull pain.
What. The. Hell.
Holding what looked to literally be a satanic contract, which I'd apparently signed with my blood, I looked around, spotting something dark on the horizon. Luckily, it didn't seem to be moving, a squat shape, and was the only thing in sight. The lack of any reference was odd, meaning it could be anything from a box of cigarettes, to an entire warehouse, and I had no idea.
Slowly getting to my feet, the change in elevation let me narrow it down to 'bigger a breadbox, smaller than a truck'. Hoping that my lack of shoes weren't going to be an issue, I slowly made my way towards it. The ground in this not-place was just as indistinct as the rest, neither warm nor cold, hard nor soft, it merely was.
That very lack of any sensation, in some ways, seemed to help settle my mind, which had been stuck in loops of 'What is going on!?!'.
Despite holding something seemingly demonic in my hand, my surroundings seemed more akin to Purgatory than anything else. Furthermore, as I slowly approached the dark shape, it was a simple steel desk, a chair pulled up to it, and, oddly enough, a tablet computer resting innocuously on the top of it, the only thing on top of the desk.
With no small amount of trepidation, I approached it. "Hello?" I called, my voice muted, without any of the reverberations that came from speaking indoors, but no echoes from far away, even when I called again, louder. "Is anyone there?"
Looking around, looking down, looking up, there was nothing but blank whiteness as far as the eye could see. Clenching my hands in worry, my left closed around the cloth-like paper, and my right felt slick. Looking to it, my palm was bloody, though, feeling my fingertip with my thumb, lightly, I'd stopped bleeding.
On a whim I knelt down, wiping my palm against the 'ground', wondering if it would absorb the blood, or just refuse to be stained, or something.
Instead all I accomplished was leaving a bright red streak across the otherwise pristine nothingness.
Standing up, I looked at the mess I'd left, feeling oddly guilty, as if I'd dirtied something pristine.
However, nothing else happened, and I was forced to look back at the desk, the chair, and the tablet.
Approaching it, worried that. . . well, I didn't know what I was worried about, I was just worried, I put the parchment in my pants pocket and carefully touched the chair, which, while hard steel, was the same not-warm, not-cold as everything else. Sliding it back, I took a seat, ignoring the tablet to pull open the drawers, only to find them empty.
Looking at the tablet, it was on, a black background marred only by a single white square that read, in English 'Please Insert Authentication!'.
I tapped it, then pressed my finger down on it, hoping it was some sort of bio-metric lock, only for nothing to happen. On a whim, I wiped a little bit of the blood that was still on my right had, only to dirty the screen.
Wiping it off with my shirt, I pulled out and considered the seemingly infernal contract. Lacking any other options, I touched the tip of the parchment, only for it to catch fire with brilliant emerald flames. Dropping it like it was on fire, because it was, I tried to scoot backwards in the chair, but the legs caught on something, and the chair tipped backwards, sending me sprawling.
Scrambling to my feet, I could see the smoke from the flames rising up, before hitting an invisible ceiling and starting to billow out in every direction. However, before it spread, it started to spin, the last of the paper burning away so cleanly there was not even ash left.
The smoke, a thick, evil looking, dark cloud continued to spin, tightening into a funnel like a miniature tornado that touched down on the tablet, pouring itself into the computer, before, with something akin to a sucking sound, it disappeared, leaving only silence in the void, along with the table, chair, tablet, and out-of-place blood smear.
Carefully approaching, sitting back down in my chair, the tablet screen had changed. Now there was a cartoon happy face, below which read 'Authentication recognized!' with a button that said 'Great!' on it.
Hesitantly, I clicked it, reading the new screen.
'Welcome User: Leecifer! We at The Company are proud to have you as our newest employee! In these trying times, the demand for Waifus and Husbandos has reached an all time high! As such you have been selected to help us search the multiverse for quality stock from which quantum duplicates can be provided to our customer base for a nominal fee!'
. . . what.
There were two buttons. One labelled in green 'I Understand!', and one in red labelled 'I Have Some Questions!'
I clicked the second.
A new box appeared, at the top of which was an unhappy face that was oddly ominous.
'Oh no!' it read. 'Did your recruitment officer not explain in sufficient detail? This has been noted but, as you are already a contractually obligated employee, we can only provide base information. The three most frequently asked questions are answered below!'
Unsure whether or not I'd just made a serious mistake, I scrolled down.
'1: If you can make quantum copies, why do you need new stock? Can't you just keep copying them?
Quantum copies can only be made a limited amount of times, between 8 and 999,999,999,998, before the multiversal limit is reached and a new dimensional analog is required to continue production!
2: I don't remember signing any contract! How can I be held to contract I didn't sign?
Memory of signing the contract, nor one's state of mind, be it intoxicated, controlled, or emotional, has any bearing on the validity of said contract. While regrettable, premature termination of the contract will result in the premature termination of the signee.
3: What!? How is that fair? Isn't that slavery!?
Yes! Yes it is! For all parties! Fairness is a social construct and employee's cultural practices are contractually allowed only in such ways as they do not interfere with the completion of their contract!
Those are the three most common queries. We hope this clears up any remaining uncertainties.
Welcome to The Company! "We Do What We Must Because We Can!"'
And below that was a single green button, labelled 'I Understand!'
Well. . . shit.
Getting up from the desk, wanting nothing to do with what I was pretty sure this was, I squared my shoulders and walked away.
And walked.
And walked.
Until I finally saw a dark shape on the horizon. A squat shape.
It was the desk. With the tablet. Still asking me to accept this.
I didn't, tipping over the chair, picking a different direction, and walked away.
And walked.
And walked.
Until I finally saw two dark shapes on the horizon. A squat shape, and a smaller shape next to it.
It was the desk. With the tablet. The chair turned over exactly where I left it.
Fuck.
The blood on the ground had dried, and I was feeling a little thirsty. Putting the chair back, I picked a different direction.
And walked.
And walked.
Until I saw that stupid fucking desk.
As I approached it, however, there was something else on the desk.
A plastic bottle, which the white label on it declared to be filled with 'WATER'.
"Oh Go Fuck Yourself!" I yelled, useless, at the sky.
There was no response.
Sighing, I sat, grabbing the bottle. Opening it and taking a sip it was, indeed, water. Not cold. Not warm. Not containing any flavor whatsoever. Just. Water.
"Fucking Non-Euclidean Bullshit," I muttered to myself.
Well, I was either already fucked, either having signed, or having been forced to sign, a contract already, or I was just going to stay here, forever. Or maybe until I starved, assuming food didn't show up. Either way, I didn't have a choice.
Clicking the green 'I Accept!' button, a new screen opened itself.
'Welcome to the Waifu Catalog! Please select your starting dimension, and spend your allotment as you see fit! All choices can be reversed until finalized at the end of your initiation!'
Scrolling past that, I started to click through menus, my stomach sinking as I got a better idea of what this was. Of what the limits were. Of what the mechanics were. Of what I was expected of me.
I was a slaver.
Oh, it was dressed up with cutesy language, talking about 'ensuring loyalty' and 'For safety reasons', but it was slavery. The fact that the control methods could not be resisted made that clear, and managed to hit one of my largest triggers.
I hate Mind Control.
A person was their mind. To remove that, to change who they were?
It would be kinder just to kill someone.
And whoever forced me into this?
They knew it.
The option I wanted, the 'No Bindings' choice?
It was greyed out.
The free option, the slave/tramp stamp that slowly made the affected slowly like me more in every way, was already selected, and while I could choose more expensive options, I couldn't un-select the stamp.
"Fuck you," I declared, not knowing if whatever stuck me here could hear me, but needing to state it all the same.
Maybe it was Naïve, but, if, when, I found someone I wanted them to be interested in me, not be forced into it. Any 'waifu' I bought to try to help me, even if they werejust copies or clones, would come pre-stamped, and most importantly, they could not be removed.
Even the more expensive option that could be removed, the choker that reshaped their bodies and enforced complete submission, didn't matter because they all came pre-stamped so I couldn't just free them as soon as they arrived.
Looking over the point costs, the abilities for myself that I could buy, I started to form an idea of what I wanted. Looking over the dimensions, I instantly tried to go to the specialty option, the Tier 11, which I could use to get my own dreadnought starship, something that would ensure that, wherever I went, I could both survive and helpothers.
Doing so opened a window that read 'Your signing bonus does not include Top-Tier options!'
"Of course it doesn't," I grumbled, closing it out.
That sent me back to the drawing board, blinking as I noticed a white bar on the desk, labelled 'Food'.
Shrugging, I opened it, revealing an unappealing grey bar. With an experimental bite, it tasted like. . . nothing. It had texture, the firm sameness of most food bars, but while I could feel it in my mouth, swallowing it and knowing it moved down my throat, it tasted like nothing at all.
Looking up, where the smoke had pooled as if against an invisible ceiling, I grabbed the empty water bottle and threw it upwards. It flew high, a perfect parabolic arc that went right through the space where the smoke had stopped, coming to bounce with a slight crinkling sound a couple dozen feet away.
Sure. Whatever, I thought, not needing, nor having the tools, to figure out what was going on with this place.
Refocusing on the tablet, I narrowed it down to two options: High Power/Danger, and Low Power/Danger. On the low end, I could get some basic skills and enough power to fit into a safer universe without question, able to offer help to others, and to deal with those that would hurt others.
While I hated mind control, I believe it would be more concise to say I hated it when used on good people,which, to be fair, is ninety nine percent of how it's ever uses. If you put, for instance, if you put Bellatrix Lestrange, the mass-murdering psychopath from the Harry Potter series in front of me, I'd have no problem killing her, or putting her under the same mind-control spell she used to torture others. Death was kinder, but there were quite a few people who, with their reckless disregard for innocents, with their enjoyment in the pain of those that had done nothing to them, didn't deserve that kindness.
On the other hand, the defensive suite of perks could be shared with everyone I 'captured', and if, after I laid the cards on the table, they still accepted? That was entirelydifferent. There would still be an aspect of 'do they want me for me or me for what I can give them', but if I only brought that up after we were already friends. In a perfect world they'd choose me for me, but in a perfect world I wasn't a fucking slave forced to be a slaver.
So, yeah.
On the higher end? On the higher end I'd honestly still help people, still make the offer, I'd just be doing so with a great deal more benefits in a lower end death world.
If I allowed myself to get everything I wanted? Everything I felt I'd need to make this work? I'd need a Tier Seven world, at least. That put me in the realm of the New World of Darkness, where ancient vampires danced in their Masquerade, RWBY, where the gods had abandoned the world and creatures of solidified hate hunted those that were left, and Kingdom Hearts, which was so full of absolute fucking bullshit that, even with a freaking Star Dreadnought, I might not even be safe from having some idiot from killing me by 'removing the desires of my heart' or some other tripe.
If I bumped myself up to Tier Eight, while it would nearly double my budget, it would also mean I'd get dropped into comic book worlds, where gods roamed and World Eaters got scared off, Shield Hero, which I knew just enough about to know that I didn't want to go there, and Worm, which was a hard no. You literally couldn't pay me enough to stick my nose in that complete can of worms, pun intended, powered by bullshit squared, where everyone may be dancing to the tune of severaldifferent Pre-cogs, and with monsters that could, in all likelihood, kick Godzilla's ass.
It was either end of the sliding scale without pegging either side, where I could start at the 'bottom', and would need to take down or recruit seven people of note, knowing that their copies would be sold off, just to leave and head to another dimension, and do it all again, but stronger. It would be a situation where I would start weak, but knew that, with time, and if I didn't really mess up, I could get stronger while the threat of death was a distant possibility. Doing so would allow me time to get a good grounding in my capabilities and allow myself to grow, but I'd need close to fifty captures before I could even approach where I'd start if I went the other way.
And if I did go the other way? I'd be dropping myself in the deep end. Not the instant death-fest I could find myself in if I chose something like fucking Worm, but close. I'd read the details given in the system that would determine my path forward, and I could work with it, using a couple of loopholes to get access to lower-tiered areas, if they worked, but it'd be much harder, much more dangerous path, the points I'd get to spend absolutely needed.
So. . . which way should I go?
.
.
.
What was I thinking? One of the cheapest perks gave someone biological immortality. I wouldn't age, so why, the hell, was I trying to rush headfirst into this? This wasn't a game! Even going to Remnant, the nicer of the Tier Seven worlds, would be going to a place where I'd be fighting Grimm, literal incarnations of hate who wanted nothing more than to rip me limb from limb!
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, they were controlled by Salem, who was anywhere from Fate level Servant to literal Goddess in strength; I really didn't know which. I'd only watched the first two volumes before losing interest with how Jaune, the character I identified with, was constantly shit on, just like Xander was on Buffy. No, I wanted nothing to do with that area, especially considering that the way I got stronger had nothing to do with combat!
And the thing was, even with the more limited start, I could still get there. The only things locked into 'character generation' was how I'd start in my first dimension, and the 'no bindings' option, which I wantedbut couldn't get!
The temptation of being a dragon was great, but what was better than being a dragon? Being a dragon in a place where they didn't kill dragons! Yeah, it was technically a wyvern, but there was a Grimm Dragon, and it was killed, or, at least, I'm pretty sure it was. I remember it being mentioned and then not being an issue later on, so I assume it was. Either way, not the place to be, where every Huntsman (some of whom were absolutely evil) was a discount X-Man with a Brute/Mover package. And, even with that, they still died. Not any many of the main cast, but, with the seriousness with which the huntsman academy handled Grimm, I think that was more plot armor than anything else. Something that I would not have.
No. Nope. No way in hell.
However, that meant I needed somewhere with a number of super-powered women that wasn't the deathtraps of Marvel, DC, or Worm, and one stood out beyond the others: My Hero Academia.
A place where most people had powers, but those powers were much more limited than anything in normal superhero settings. A stunning example of how Syndrome was full of shit, it was a place where almost everyone had powers, but that just heightened the difference between them, not negated it. It was a place where I'd have the opportunity to face against super-powered women that were actively evil, and whom I could 'capture' without worrying about inflicting a horrible fate against someone who didn't deserve it.
The next closest setting would likely be Bleach, with the large amount of female Arrancar, Bounts, Quincies, and so on, but, at that point we were back into the problem of fighting literal monsters that wanted to kill and/or eat me. And given the 'Now the Gods Fight' level bullshit there was near the end, I'd, ironically, be safer on Remnant.
No, MHA was the place to go. However, as a Tier Three world, I had a paltry fifty-five points to start with. Still more than enough to fit in, near the upper tier of the fighters that could be found, though by no means the top. It was a far cry from the seven-hundred I'd get if I went to Remnant, and I had a feeling that this infusion of points was definitely a one time thing, not available if I tried to go to a higher tier dimension, but it just wasn't worth it.
So, to start with, I needed to pick who I was going to substitute in for. I'd only watched through season three, but that should be enough, however all of that knowledge was dependent on me being at UA High. I might be able to get in on the strength of my own abilities, if I had time to get ready, as nothing I could afford would give me strength to do so from the get go. The problem was, while I was pretty sure I'd get dropped in near the start, I had no clue if I'd pop in during episode one, with the slime monster, giving me months to get up to snuff, or if I'd show up during the entrance exams where I would have hours, or maybe even minutes to do the same.
And even then, I'd show up as an adult, in a setting where to be a hero one needed to start as a teen, and where a majority of the people I could 'capture', read, convince to go along with it, would all be in a position where that would never happen. No, I needed to swap in for someone, someone with a Quirk strong enough for me to get in instead of some random extra as there were no extras once the school year started, assuming whatever set this entire thing up wasn't being extra unpleasant and starting me after the exam. Which, given that it was making things more difficult for me, was very much a possibility.
My first instinct was to become Izuku, but that was. . . wrong. He was the one I empathized with, but unlikeJaune, he was on his way to actually achieve his potential. I wouldn't be helping him get better, I wouldn't be taking his goal and running it to completion where he couldn't, I wouldn't be helping him by any stretch of the imagination. No, putting a stop to his journey like that felt like I was taking something from him. I needed to become someone else.
Bakugo was right out, as I didn't think I had it in me to be that much of a raging douche-nozzle, and changing my behavior would be instantly noticed by Midoriya, just like Bakugo would likely notice if I took over Izuku. Also was the fact that, beyond being king of the douchebags, the kid was trying to go for a goal, trying to be the best and help people, and he was on track to do so, he was just an angry dick about it.
I wanted to stay completely human, at least for now, which really limited my choices, but that was fine, I knew exactly who I wanted to take over. He was a nice enough guy, but his power could've been so much better used than he had in canon, and, as far as I knew, the guy had no real ambitions.
Surprisingly, he was Tier 3, as literally everyone else in Class 1-A, at least the female contingent, was Tier 4. Then again, I couldn't remember a solo fight he'd been in that he won, and the dude was kind of a moron, so that made sense. So with only five points gone, I had fifty left to go.
Next came the base pair of Body Talent, to get the previously mentioned biological immortality, and Martial Talent, so I could learn how to fight, both the actual fighting and how to command, far faster than I ever would normally. Another ten gone. Forty.
Trying to get Social Talent, the five point perk that taught one the fine art of not putting your foot in your mouth, something I still had trouble with, I found that it, just like the no-bindings option, was locked. Because of course it was. Scrolling through the rest of the options showed that Warranty, the 200 point option that let me bring anyone bound to me back from the dead, their consciousness saved while they were re-sleeved into a new body a week later, cortical stack style, was also gone. Thankfully, the number of instant, 'go die now', no-warning powers in this setting were vanishingly rare, but they weren't nonexistent. That was something to worry about later, I supposed, doubling down on my decision to start small and work my way up.
Instead I picked up Psychic Talent, which helped with any sci-fi related ability, of which Quirks fit right in, increasing my capabilities for learning just like Martial Talent did. However, on top of that, it let me learn other abilities. I had to see the power in action, get a sense of how it worked, before I could, and I was sure that it wouldn't be easy.
While the ability to just See a power and be able to use it would be awesome, and easily kick me to the upper echelons in days, nothing else in this complete goat-fuck seemed built to be helpful, dangling power in front of my face if I'd just jump into shark-infested waters please, and I assumed this wasn't going to be the same. No, it was very clear that I could 'rapidly learn' any psychic abilities I came across, but that meant very little. Able to figure out how to use a quirk that took it's user a decade to get a handle on in only two years? Well, that would definitely be rapid, wouldn't it?
Without seeing the perk in action, I couldn't get a handle on just how fast it would work, but even if it took me a solid month to replicate even the basest use of another Quirk, it'd be worth the fifteen points it cost, and on top of that it would make my own Quirk, and wasn't that a weird thought, much easier to master.
Regardless, I was now down to Twenty five, and that presented me a problem, as, even with a lesser group of things I wanted to grab, it wasn't enough. To put it simply, I had no lures. Nothing particularly great that could help me attract others to me, which I need. . . . ed. . . . . . Fuck.
I was being an idiot.
The entire point of trying to make this work was that I didn't want to attract people using powers, I was either going to convince the people I liked without powers, or I was going to stamp and sell the irredeemable headcases like Toga.
God, the entire structure of this thing, with categories that called to the human desire to fill all the blanks, drifted one towards the intended mindset. No, I knew exactly what I was going to get. The main villain was someone who could literally turn you to dust with a touch?
Body Defense, which made one immune to disease, parasites, toxins, and most of all anything that transformed the body was the answer. Hell, that might even allow someone with a power that changed their body to reset themselves to normal, though that was not something I could test in good conscience.
And I had five left, but what to spend them on? Wild Talent? Not a lot of outdoorsmanship needed in the cities of Japan, but the Wild Defense upgrade that required Wild Talent let me no-sell environmental hazards, and dealing with Mr. 'I'm hot then I'm cold' would be easier with that.
Or I could get Doctor Who style Psychic Paper, but given Japan ran on actual paperwork that'd bite me if I needed to stay in place for a while. And I was. Similarly, I could instantly get great at sex which, while deeply appealing, was something I'd already decided not to do.
But I didn't need either of them, and if I wanted to go for Wild Defense it would need to be once I had a surplus of points, which wasn't the case right not. No, it was best to think of it as a down payment on my one hundred point pocket dimension, and the portal machine that rested inside, which would let me branch out to other dimensions. With that decidion, I reached the end of my available funds.
I was out. Done. The well had metaphorically run dry.
I felt another tinge of loss as I considered the Tier Seven option, of the power I was giving up that was free for the taking, and the number of people that'd either join up with me, or that I'd have to take out, in order to get to that level from here. But that was another trap too, trying to tempt me to go for the golden ring when I already had the bronze at my fingertips. In some ways, it reminded me of what I'd heard about the dungeon in Danmachi.
It was easy to see the numbers on the display and not think how there were things lurking around the higher levels that could do shit like write 'you got stabbed through the heart with this spear' into reality, and then re-write causality to make it happen.
Fucking Cu Chulainn.
No, I was going to go to superhero high school and I was going to like it.
Wait. . . oh god, I was going to need to go back to high school.
Fuck it, if I thought about it any longer I was going to talk myself into getting into even more trouble. I'd made the decision and I needed to stick with it. I hit the finalize button, which asked me if I was sure, and then asked me if I was really sure, and then, as I hit the button a third time, the lights flickered, and I was still seated, only this time in a large lecture hall, where a blonde man, with the most ridiculous hair I've ever seen, stood under a spotlight at the center.
"You with the unkempt hair!" A prissy, or whatever the male version of that was, voice snapped to my side. Reflexively, my hand went up to my own blonde locks. Right, I'm blonde now, not brown-haired. "You've been muttering this entire time," the voice continued, and I blinked at how hypocritical it was to stop an entire presentation just to call out one fellow student for quietly talking to himself when the presenter had been practically yelling. "Stop that!"
Looking over, I saw the dark green hair of Deku, and damn he was smaller than I thought he'd be. As I sat back and Iida, definitely the prick I remembered, 'let' the lecture continue, I could feel a second set of memories slot themselves in place in my mind, very much a feeling of otherness to them, just as described, with no danger of psychological contamination. The memories lacked any emotional pull, like a very detailed movie I recalled seeing instead of something I lived through.
The guy I took over wasn't dead, not really, we'd just. . . merged? Or at least I hoped we had. Either way, I couldn't think of what else had happened, the fleeting understanding of the process that'd flitted across my mind (Something about rewriting quantum uncertainties?) was already out of my head before I could get a handle on it. All that left me now was a second set of memories, and a secondary identity I could pull from, even as the benefits of a perfect physique already made him different then what I vaguely remembered.
The man I now was had no real ambitions, other than to be liked, which he'd had some luck with until he'd pushed away the shallow 'like him 'cause he's hot' people and went all 'like me for me'. I could understand that, hell, it was one of the things that I wanted, more than I liked to admit, but I didn't have this guy's looks, or his support, or his power. This kid coasted on the strength of his Quirk, never developing it in any direction but in brute force applications, and was lacking in social graces as much as I was. That said the bits that he'dfigured out still helped me a little to understand some things, just like, if he was the dominant one, my memories would've helped him be less of a pervert, or at least not as open about it. It was no Social Talent, but every bit helped.
However, while the guy had some tactical know-how, which built upon my own, he was, to put it bluntly, kind of an idiot. Hearing the man I now remembered was Present Mic finish up the briefing I'd already heard once before, I let a few sparks dance between my fingertips, ignoring the grumbling of the kid next to me. While I wished I had more time, I could still work with this, and pass the exam.
And then?
The sky was the limit.Last edited: Jan 20, 2022 Like ReplyReport Reactions:TheSoulReaper1e2, Neo HDX, Its_a_cauldron_plot! and 1,040 othersLeeciferJun 12, 2020Add bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks An Electrifying Exam! New View contentJun 16, 2020Add bookmark#37Leecifer(Fan)Fiction WriterChapter Two
The sky might be the limit, but now, riding on the bus, I was firmly aware of my feet on the metaphorical ground.
Denki, who's body I was inhabiting, and whose mind had merged with my own, in a way I didn't really understand, was originally physically fit in the manner that delinquents often were. No real training, but natural on the thinner side, and with some muscles, though less than I had at this age. Good enough to go jogging, or to run away from the authorities when he was somewhere he shouldn't be, but nowhere near what it'd take to fight a protracted battle.
With the Body Talent, however, he was in peak physical condition for his age, putting him in the same camp as Deku, allowing me to go full bore for the full ten minutes, which was forever in a fight. I'd be tired by the end of it, but I should be able to power through. The fact that, with Denki's original physique and the master plan of 'run in and shock a lot of robots', he'd somehow passed had helped my confidence.
The written exam had already been taken, which I knewI'd bombed, so this was going to be my one chance to shine. That said, I had an advantage, I knew the secret scoring metric. Not only were we being tested on our combat ability, but also on how 'heroic' we are, trying to save our teammates.
I mean, I would've done that anyways, but Denki wouldn't've, not because he wouldn't want to, but because he was worried about hitting innocents, which was commendable in its own way, so he'd stay far away from them. However, with Denki's memories, I was able to fill in the blanks on his power, and work out a better plan.
He could generate electricity, and channel it through his body and outwards. He needed an incredibly high voltage to get it to arc outwards in a circle to hit everyone around him, and he'd also learned to shoot it from his hands, but again it was an area of effect, not a line he could aim to shoot with.
He had trained that ability, going ever higher in voltage before hitting his limit, whereupon a mental fuse would blow, his power would shut off, and he'd be nothing more than a babbling idiot for about an hour. Luckily he was a nice guy, so it was amusing, and not the mix of dangerous and disgusting actual idiots could be if they got angry and decided the target of their ire needed to hurt.
But, despite having electrical powers like his father, Denki had learned very little about the nature of electricity and how it worked. While not an electrician myself by any stretch, my own father had worked as one for a while, and growing up I'd listened when he'd pointed things out.
I didn't have the time for experimentation, but what little I'd played with waiting to get on the bus, paired with what I knew about ionization, told me at least my first idea should work, and that'd be enough.
Despite how it seemed to work out in fiction, the battlefield was not the place to experiment if one could avoid it.
"What's a little kid doing here?" an angry, mocking voice asked.
My first thought was 'Oh god I'm running this test with Bakugo!', but looking over it was someone else, who'd stood despite the bus moving, towering over the minuscule form of Mineta, Class 1-A's resident pervert. "I'm not a kid!" the three and a half foot tall hero-in-training objected.
"Look like one to me," the, what appeared to be a full-grown-man scoffed, dressed in combat fatigues. He leered down at the midget, "Why don't you run home to mommy, before you wet yourself!"
The others on the bus just watched, not saying anything, other than to whisper to each other. Sighing, a mercenary part of me wishing this had happened during the test so I could do this in front of the teachers for bonus points, I called, "Bullying someone smaller in the middle of the hero examination? Yeah, I'm sure you'll do great. Little guy's got a better chance of passing than you do anyways."
"Screw you," the guy growled back, but, at the judging stares of the others as the silent majority considered what I said, he backed off, sitting down.
Mineta scurried over to me, taking the empty seat to my left. "Thanks! You think I'll get in?"
I shrugged, looking around. My eyes passed over the large amount of extras that wouldn't make the cut, seeing a few would-be members of class 1-B, the second stringers, but who were still better than the rank and file, and Mina, the pink-skinned, pink-haired, self described 'Alien Queen' of class 1-A. "More than I think that guy would. With Mutation quirks, ya can't really judge a book by their cover anymore. You might be weak, or you might be able to level a building with a single punch. The fact that you're even here tells me that you're probably not the first."
The little guy sat a bit straighter at that. "Thanks man. I can't really believe I'm here, ya know? And there's so many hot chicks!"
"Agreed," I started to respond to his first question, accidentally answering the second as well.
The girl who was sitting on my other side sniffed in disapproval, pronouncing me "Pervert."
Mineta started to respond but, knowing that whatever he'd say in my defense would just tar my reputation even further, I didn't hesitate to slap a hand over his mouth. "I'm appreciating the effort and skill others have put into their appearance," I commented, sounding mildly confused while the girl looked at me like she'd smelled something sour. "Not you, of course, you don't seem to care, but she looks rather nice," I stated, pointing over towards Mina.
"You're not bad yourself, hot-stuff!" the girl in question replied, and I matched her cheerful smile with one of my own.
"Teach me, oh sensei!" Mineta begged the moment I removed my hand.
Sighing, I dragged my other hand across my face. "Dude, not the time. We're going into a combat scenario, get your head in the game, and worry about the beautiful women, like her, that we'll hopefully be in class with later."
The bus slowed to a stop, doors opening as Mineta nodded rapidly, all of us departing in front of the walled off square of fake city we'd be tested in. Spreading out in a loose group, everyone was psyching themselves up, a few that seemed to know each other pairing up to chat.
I stretched out, finding Mineta copying me. "Don't follow me when we start," I advised. "I don't want to have to compete with you for points, and end up with one of us screwing up the other's chances."
The small teen looked disappointed, until I explained myself, then he nodded, seriously, walking away to the other side of the group. Taking a few breaths to center myself, I held ready, watching the doors, and the wall over them.
Sure enough, after a few minutes an inordinately buff, white haired man, though not on the level of All Might, climbed to the top of the archway. "Listen all!" he announced, the doors below him starting to open. "The test begins now!" I took off running through the doors even as he continued, "You won't have a warning in real life, so you're not getting one here!"
I could hear the others starting to follow me down the main street, so I turned, ducking through an alley, down another street, then down another alley, trying to put as much distance between myself and my fellow examinees as I could.
Exiting the second alley, I stumbled across three villain robots: two of the one point 'weak villain' machines, humanoid shapes balanced on a single large wheel, and one of the two point 'medium villain' bots, a scorpion like machine with two 'stinger' tails.
Denki's first reaction would be to move in the middle of the three and let loose a blast of electricity before moving forward, but he'd only be able to do that about ten times, and I could take these down with a fraction of the power and only another couple of extra seconds.
Or, at least, I hoped I could.
As the robots turned to assess me I charged the first one-pointer. Charging my electrical quirk through my hand, I pressed it against the red optical lens it had just above its wheel at waist height, and used a tiny fraction of my allotment of power to deliver a shock directly to its electronics instead of trying to power through any electrical resistance its armor might have.
It sparked, and twitched, but still moved so I shocked it again, causing the entire thing to smoke and fall over while the other two started to move, finishing their moment of 'oh, I have now seen you' all three robots had had.
Two more steps and I was in front of the scorpion, hand out and pressing on one of the several lenses that were its 'eyes'. Ramping up the power of my electricity to match its larger size, I let the lightning flow, a sudden shock that made me glow just for a moment. Smoke billowed from its joints as it dropped and I could hear the squeal of tires as the last one charged for me.
Clambering over the two pointer's legs, the one pointer had to drive around, its single wheel support making it unable to follow me, which gave me enough time to get ready. Coming around, it shoved a large arm for me, the blow incredibly telegraphed and letting me dodge, stepping aside as it sunk it's metallic hand, really just two hinged plates of metal, into the downed two pointer, getting it stuck.
Darting forward, I once again put my hand on its lower lens, pushing power into it, more than the first shock, but less than I'd done against the scorpion-bot. A quick shock and it slumped, downed, and I kept running, not having the time to appreciate my victory.
Running through another alley I found a girl fighting two scorpions, a glowing chain held in her hands that she spun, deflecting their strikes, as a one pointer lifted its arms towards her, hands folding back to reveal something that looked dangerously close to a mini-gun.
"Get down!" I yelled as they started to spin, and she just turned to look, the one pointer's guns slowly spinning as it fired at her with a slow fwoom-fwoom-fwoom cadence, bean bag rounds slamming into her, throwing off her chain's spin and letting a scorpion's tail clip her, sending her sprawling.
Coming up from behind the one-pointer, it slowly turned to shoot me as well but took to long as I closed, shocked, and kept going for the scorpions as they both raised their tails. They wouldn't kill her, but the staff could fix broken limbs in a second and that'd take her out of the running completely, and she still seemed dazed from the hit.
Charging my right hand with twice times as much as I'd used to take the scorpion down through it's sensor, I yelled "Roll!" right as the robots finished raising their tails. She listened, and twisted to the right, the tails slamming down where she was a moment ago cracking the concrete.
Coming behind one, I grabbed it's armor plating and let loose, causing it to crackle and twitch, but start to turn around, dragging me with it. Shocking it again turned it's spin into a sprawling fall, insides fried, sending me rolling and scrambling to my feet. The other scorpion turned to face me, tails rearing back, only for a glowing chain to wrap around both of them, the metal it touched starting to glow with heat.
"I got this one!" the girl replied, either to tell me not to worry or to claim the kill, I wasn't sure. Either way I nodded and kept moving, checking my phone to see that I had eight minutes left, a fifth of my time gone.
Down another alley, a one-pointer dropped down, half-filling the space. As it slowly raised itself to its full menacing, eight-foot-tall height, I didn't break stride, zapping its sensor and ducking under its arm, leaving it to drop, getting a handle on this, my breath evening out from its hard, panicked bellowing into a steady beat.
Bursting out of the narrow corridor, I found myself in a war zone, wrecked robot parts everywhere and a dozen people fighting three times as many robots. Mina was sliding around a three pointer, which looked like a small walking tank, with a knight-like visor protecting its optics and two pairs of what looked like missile launchers on its back.
It fired, the projectile barely missing her, and slamming into a bit of wreckage, not exploding but denting the metal, a few feet away from me. Darting forward I grabbed the metal projectile and ran a bit of electricity through it, ready to try my idea of throwing a charged projectile but ready to abandon the concept if it didn't work, not having the time to troubleshoot it. Instead, my eyes widened as the end of it started to glow.
Tossing it as hard as I could, between a pair of one-pointers that were hosing down another teen, a guy with an armadillo shell, with bean bag fire, it detonated, blowing them both off their feet and ripping off the closest arm of each bot, disabling them.
Glancing around, I grinned as I saw close to a dozen more un-detonated missiles. Running for them, I cleared half of the bots in seconds, leaving the ones that were already in close combat alone lest I hit one of the students. With three javelin-sized missiles left, I called to Mina, "Need help?"
"Yes please!" she replied, having covered the robot with acid from her quirk, but it was still charging her, even with its launchers melted to uselessness.
"Pull back!" I yelled, charging and hurling a missile, which struck the robot dead-on, blasting it backwards and ripping off its face-plate and wrecking its optic lenses. Even with that damage it still struggled to its feet once more, exposed wiring sparking.
Mina swung around me, skating on acid she excreted from her feet, and threw a fist-sized globe of caustic fluid into the machine's innards, causing it to finally give out, dropping to the ground and smoking. Flashing me a grin and a thumbs-up, I returned the gesture before we both turned away in different directions and ran off, making sure to take my last two missiles with me, the announcement going off that we only had six minutes left.
Reaching an intersection, I saw several robots stuck to the ground by sticky purple balls, Mineta's work, while another group was buried under mushrooms, of all things. Turning, I found a tall guy running towards me, a dozen scorpions giving chase. "Dash!" I called, charging the missile in my right hand and hurling it into the group as he put on just enough extra speed to get out of the way.
"Hey, those were mine!" he called as he ran past me. Ignoring him, I ran forward, shocking the two that were trying to get back up. Turning to tell him too bad, I spotted another three pointer on a rooftop, launchers pointed towards me.
Charging the last missile, I tossed it as the three-pointer fired, my missile hitting one if its and detonating them all in a massive explosion that blew me off my feet. Rolling back up with a jump, the movement coming shockingly easily, the three pointer was nowhere to be seen, neither was the complainer, and I was off once again.
Dodging through groups, shocking where I could, I didn't see any more missiles but was making hopefully good progress, even as my legs started to feel heavy from constantly sprinting, my breathing getting heavier once more. Then, with a ground shaking boom, I stopped as part of the city exploded upwards and an enormous robot, towering over the surrounding buildings stood up.
The zero-pointer, I thought, getting an irrational urge to fight it, just to see if I could, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Shaking my head, I still ran for it, knowing the points to be had weren't from destroying it, but from saving people from it. A few bots got in my way, destroyed with an electric tap, my reserves still good, with over a third of what I could put out still in reserve, being miserly with it paying off in spades.
The giant robot slammed its fist and a strong gust of wind blew out from the impact, similar sounds echoing in the distance to my left and right, each training zone under attack by one of these things.
Following the screams, I turned a corner, only to have to dodge the stampede of fleeing students, Present Mic announcing that there were two minutes left. Scanning the area, breathing hard, I spotted the fallen form of a girl, who looked to be unconscious. Moving over to her, even as the Kaiju-sized robot started to move towards us, I picked her up, starting to carry her as I noticed it was the one who'd called me a pervert.
Shaking my head, I gave her a tiny shock and she twitched, eyes shooting open. She looked at me, scowled and started to say something likely nasty, then looked past me, eyes widening in fear. "Can you run?" I asked, feeling the strain of carrying her, not used to doing so. She nodded, and I twisted around, putting her down and pushing her down an alley. Stumbling, she took off, even as the zero-pointer continued to come closer.
However, as it started to close and I considered following her, it turned, moving straight through several buildings and setting off a new round of screams as those who thought themselves safe now found themselves under attack.
Taking off after it, the zero-pointer slammed the ground again, sending out another shockwave, dust and bits of masonry blasting at me in an enormous cloud. Tripping over a broken piece of robot, a long, thin bar, I grabbed it as I followed in the trail of devastation the giant machine left behind.
A sound like artillery firing went off in the distance, likely Midoriya pulling off his desperate attack, and I focused on the here and now. Coming up behind it, as it stopped, arm cocking back for another attack, I slid the rod into my belt and grabbed onto its treads, trying to climb up them like a giant ladder without much success, the treads just too large.
Using its body as a shield, the shockwave of the next ground-pound passed me by, with another cloud of dust and debris. The treads, however, started to move once again and carried me upwards. Nearing where the metal covered the top of the tread I jumped, barely catching myself on a handhold and pulling myself up the robot's metal base, arms burning with the effort.
Getting up to a spot I could stand on, I looked over, and down, at the top of a five-story building, and gulped, not realizing how high up I was, too focused on my task.
"Less than a minute remains!" shouted Present Mic, and I shook my head, ready to go.
Spotting a panel, I moved to it, pulling out the metal bar and shoving it through the space between it and the larger structure. I grit my teeth and pulled, the panel giving way as the robot pulled back for another blow, the 'ground' shifting under my feet, and I almost lost my balance. Arms windmilling, I threw myself forward with all my weight, burying the rod into the space the panel had covered, and into the exposed circuitry.
Electricity poured through it and into me, enough to seriously injure a normal person, but my Quirk handled it, giving me more and more to work with. Taking that energy into myself feeling my body strain to take it all, I reached deep, and prepared for a move that Denki Kaminari was well-practiced with. Knowing it'd fry my brain, but not really caring, I lit up with a brilliant light, grinning as I poured every last volt I had through my hands and directly into the robot's systems, screaming the only thing that seemed appropriate:
"UNLIMITED POWAAAAAAAH!"
The mecha twisted back and forth as I blew out its internals, both of us lighting up with blindingly bright yellow light. Finally twisting violently, my grip broke, sending me flying through the air. My thoughts started to slow as I realized just how fucking dumb that had been, hoping to god the teachers would step in before something they couldn't heal happened to me.
Watching, I laughed as the enormous robot fell as well, smoking just like the others had when I'd just managed to short out their systems. That'd been fucking close.
Feeling the air whip past my ears, I started to worry, though it was getting harder and harder, hoping I wouldn't hit the ground.
I did.
It was surprisingly soft.
Turning my head, I saw I'd hit some purple balls.
Heh.
Balls.
My arms ached, and my hands were raw and bleeding, palms raw from trying to hold the metal rod as I'd been yanked back and forth. I tried to worry about my injuries,but it didn't feel real.
My soft bed slowly dissolved around me,dropping me onto the asphalt. But it was okay.
Hearing someone run up to me, I turned, to see a pink face looking down at me in concern, as well as a little guy with balls for hair, bleeding slightly from the head.
Heh.
Balls.
"Are you okay?" Pinky asked, concerned, eyes wide in worry.
"Quirk too much. Brain go bye-bye. Good soon," I slurred, my thinkin' slow and plodding, like pudding, gettin' wors. . . worc. . . . gettin' badder. I smiled goofily, laughin'. "Pretty eyes."
I lolled my head over to the ball-guy, neck all loosey-goosey. "Thanks. Total hero. Great balls."
Heh.
Balls.Last edited: Jun 16, 2020 Like ReplyReport Reactions:TheSoulReaper1e2, Neo HDX, Delathen and 1,517 othersLeeciferJun 16, 2020NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks The Results Are In! New View contentJun 18, 2020Add bookmark#114Leecifer(Fan)Fiction WriterChapter Three
When I came to, I was sitting in a chair in UA high's lobby. My clothing was torn, and a little bloody, but, checking myself, I was perfectly fine. There was also a note taped to my chest.
"The test is over. Please leave, and, if you are accepted, you will receive notification in the mail next week," I read, looking up and around the empty room. "Um, okay! Thanks!" I called, but no one answered.
Feeling more than a little silly, I got up and walked out, folding up the paper and putting it away, only to find a torn up strip of paper already in my pocket. Taking it out I found a phone number written on it, with the words 'call me' and a smiley face with two small horns. Did I. . . did I just score Mina's number?
Taking out my phone, I made sure to put it in before something happened to it, and slowly made my way back home. I got a few odd looks, with my soiled clothing, but while Denki would've been embarrassed, I was American, and gave zero fucks. What, the old lady across from me tut-tutted disapprovingly? I took down a fuckin' mecha, what'd you do today?
It took a bit, but I found my way to the address I pulled from memory, in Shibuya. It was a nice house, with nothing close to the yard I was used to, but, again, American. Letting myself in, I announced, "Hey Mom, I'm back!" as I headed for the fridge, very hungry.
I heard the sound of pounding feet, only for what appeared to be a very realistic sex doll to launch herself at me, hugging tightly as she babbled, "You're back! Did you do well? Did you think you got in? Oh my little man's growing up!"
Freezing, my new memories (or were they my old memories?), Denki's memories told me that this was his, or rather my, mother, Hideko Kaminari. Her quirk, Plasticity, gave her limited shapeshifting ability, but also gave her. . . unique appearance. Growing up, having a mom that looked like that was just normal, and I leaned on that experience hard as I tried not to think of the feeling of her. . . assets pressing into me.
"Geez Mom, I'm fine. And I think I did well. It was a competition, so they didn't exactly give me a number I had to hit," I semi-whined, removing myself from her clutches, her arms having extended to wrap around me.
Body Talent would make me 6'2", at least, but that was when I finished growing. Right now I was about 5'10", maybe 5'11", taller than Kaminari's original 5'6", and bigger than my Mother's 5'3". While my build was more lithe than a brick-wall like All-Might, I wasn't exactly a stick either. That said, it was still difficult to extract myself from my mother's grip.
"Oh, I'm sure you did great! What did they have you do? Sparring? An obstacle course?" she asked, turning away and pushing past me to the refrigerator. "Either way, I'll make your favorite! Your father will be home soon, and you can tell us both about it."
"Oh, I was fighting giant robots," I shrugged. "Thankfully, Recovery Girl was there." I didn't remember her healing me, but my hands were okay, so that had to have happened at some point. "But I wasn't that bad," I reassured her, compared to Midoriya.
She froze, her head slowly twisted around to look at me even as her body faced the counter, like something out of a horror movie. She looked at me, taking in my torn, dirty, and bloody clothing, a look of distress on her face. Her head turned back, and she nodded, jerkily. "Well, if you're okay. I suppose the waiver we had to sign makes more sense now," she commented, obviously distraught, turning on the sink. "Go wash up, please."
Feeling a little guilty, I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her in a hug, my chin resting on top of her head. "I'm fine, Mom, and I did really well. I saved the other students who got in over their heads, and the robots weren't trying to hurt us that badly, definitely not anything they couldn't fix up." I opened my hands, which still had a little dried blood on them, and pushed one in the water, easily cleaning it off, revealing unblemished skin. "See?"
She sighed, leaning back against me. "All right. But I worry."
I laughed, pulling back. "You wouldn't be my Mom if you didn't," I told her, heading upstairs to do just that.
Denki's favorite food? Hamburgers. American hamburgers. At least the guy had good taste. Denki's father, Suguru Kaminari, was a blond man with a similar odd black streak in his hair. Gifted with an electrical Quirk, he could turn himself into electricity, and used it in his job working to maintain Tokyo's power infrastructure, able to find problems with wiring and other parts of the grid with ease.
Denki, original Denki, looked a bit like him. I suppose I did too, just airbrushed and given a shot of super-soldier-serum. "So, this 'zero-pointer'," he asked carefully. "How big was it?"
"You know the apartment that Aunt Hikari lives in?" I asked in turn, getting a nod. "Two of those. Buildings. Maybe three. No more than four, I promise."
". . . How?" the man inquired. Describing what I'd done, minus the 'battle cry' which had seemed cool at the time, he slowly nodded, with a small smile on his face. Denki's memories of the man had always been as someone who was distant, almost unfeeling, but, with another life's worth of perspective, he just seemed reserved. Given that the man sparked when he got emotional, that made sense in a way that Denki hadn't noticed. That made a lot of things make sense actually.
If high amounts of emotion made him spark, that put an entire different spin on the fact that his wife was literally made of an insulating material, her body having a rubber-like consistency. It also put Denki's childhood memories in a different light, not wanting to hurt his son, and even when Denki's quirk had shown that not to be an issue, the habit had been hard to break.
"So you overloaded its internals. Smart," he observed. Denki would take that as a veiled insult about his intelligence, but, as far as I could tell, the man didn't mean it that way.
"Yeah," I laughed, "My original plan was to just run in and let loose, but, looking around at everyone else I was going to be up against, I realized that wouldn't work. I mean, I might've been able to make it, but if I'm going to be a Hero, then 'good enough' isn't what I need to shoot for."
My statement was met with silence. "That's. . ." my father started to say, stunned. "That's a good attitude to have."
"Oh, our little boy's growing up!" My mother cheered, and I felt a bit embarrassed, grimacing in second-hand embarrassment about what she was saying about Denki. Or first-hand about me, I guessed.
"Your mother's not wrong," he added, before I could dismiss the statement.
I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll know if I get in next week, but I'm pretty sure I did. Dad, can I ask a favor?" He nodded, not saying anything. "Can you help me with my Quirk? I know, I know, I was training on my own, but, well that was 'good enough'. You use electricity too, so, maybe I could learn a few tricks."
"Honey, that's not how Quirks work," my mom warned, but I shook my head.
"Quirks are hereditary, at least a little. I don't think I could do everything Dad could, but if I could pick up an extra trick or two, I think it'd be worth a few evenings of work, at the very least," I argued.
My parents shared a look, and I had a moment of panic. I was not sounding like Denki right now. I mean 'your son's mind has been merged with someone else by an evil multidimensional human trafficking corporation' was likely not the first thing they were going to think, but, caught up in the second-hald and novel feelings of parents that obviously cared, I'd forgotten what I was doing, and who I should be acting like.
"You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" my-, Denki's father asked gently.
I hung my head, "Yeah. More like worried." Or at least Denki had, too concerned with standing out to ask for help. "It. . . didn't feel real until today."
"Well, I'm sure I can make some time. Just don't feel bad if you can't measure up to your own man yet. It took time to get this awesome," the man sitting across from me noted blandly. Letting Denki's memories guide me, I looked up in disbelief at his father, who almost nevercracked jokes.
"Sugu," Denki's mother smiled, shaking her head. "Don't mind him," she reassured me, "he's just proud of you."
Not really having anything to say to that, I just nodded, and turned back to my burger. Denki had wanted his father to be proud of him for years, even if he never admitted it. He wasn't obsessed with it, like some would, it was just something he'd wanted, to be seen by his dad as something more than just a kid.
Then I came along, and fulfilled his wish, but at this point, was it really Denki his dad was proud of, or my taking over of his son? I'd known why I'd selected Denki, why I'd had to, but Denki hadn't really felt real, not like Deku did, but he was, and now he wasn't. Or was he? People could change, though there was always a cause. . . was I me with Denki's memories, or was I Denki, but with my memories?
There was nothing to do about it. I'd made my choice, and I'd have to keep going, hopefully helping Denki achieve the rest of what he wanted, or achieving it for him. Putting the thought out of my mind I took another bite. It was a really good burger.
It was a week later when the letter from UA arrived. Whether from a nervous though to push off opening it and finding out I'd messed up, or because I wanted to share the experience of finding out with the parents I was still getting used to having, I left the letter on the table, waiting for dinner, when I could open it with my family. And they were my family, even if I remembered another life.
It was the least I could do, and continue to do my best to help others like he'd wanted to, foregoing my natural tendency to slide to the background and lead from the front. Denki had wanted to do that, hell, everything he owned screamed 'look at me!', but he always got cold feet before he could. He played it off like he didn't care, like he was happy to just relax and let life take him where it would, but one did not try to get into UA, the best hero training school in the country, and maybe the world, if one wanted to be nothing more than a background character.
"You can read it first, you don't need to wait," Mom told me, her own nerves showing a little, but I'd just shook my head, standing by my decision. "Oh, you're just like your father," she informed me, though I wasn't really sure if that was a compliment or a chastisement, from the way she said it.
Surprisingly, he got home early, his first words, "So, what was the reason I needed to come back right away?"
Shooting my mother an exasperated look, she just put her hands on her hips. "You might be fine, but the stress is killing me. Look! You're giving me wrinkles!" she announced, pointing at a completely wrinkle-less face.
"So your acceptance letter came?" my father guessed, eyeing the envelope with a fancy red-wax seal.
"Maybe over dinner?" I suggested, only for my mother to toss an apple at me.
Smiling, I sat down at the dinner table and opened the letter, worried despite myself. Sure enough, there was the silver disk which, as I placed down, started to glow.
"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!!!" the booming voice of All-Might shouted, a holographic window opening up in the air before me. He was wearing a gold suit, and standing in front of a similarly gaudy archway, with a large screen beside him, game-show style.
"I apologize for the delay, but we needed to review each student's performance to judge it fairly! Each and Every One! Every! One!" he insisted, still smiling broadly, if it got a touch fixed. "You didn't do the best on the written test, young man, but there is more to being a hero than just memorization! Trust me, I know! However, when it came to the practical you more than made up for it, showing an astonishing, if slightly worrying, level of combat skill!"
He waved to the screen beside him, with the golden UA logo on a blue background, and pressed on a white remote. A highlight reel of my performance played and it made for interesting watching. Early on, I looked absolutely scared. Which, to be honest, I had been, but I'd thought I'd buried it under a shell of manly purpose.
I hadn't.
However as the clips continued, I got faster, more precise, and by the end I was tearing through the robots with, if not ease, then a good deal of speed, a series of flashes as each one dropped, my expression actuallywhat I wanted: cool, calm, and collected.
"However UA is not a combat school, but a school for HEROES!!!" All-Might announced. "And thus it is not only your actions against your foes upon which you were judged, but your actions involving your fellow prospective students as well!"
Another button press showed a different series of clips, of me charging in to save the chain girl, of the missiles that I'd thrown to take the heat off of others and leaving the damaged bots to be finished off by the other students, of the tag-team strike with Mina, and of, surprisingly, a clip from the bus, of Mineta's statement, my agreement, of the girl calling me a pervert, the hurt look that'd flashed across my face, and then the clip of me running to save her.
"We were being tested even then?" I muttered, surprised, as the remote was clicked once again, showing me vainly trying to climb the treads of the zero-pointer, then, when it started to move, beginning my ascent.
"It is not many that would take on such a foe, knowing they had nothing to gain, especially one much more powerful than themselves," All-Might observed, quiet, at least for him. "That you were one of only two who did so, to save others instead of trying to secure a few last points for yourself, speaks well of your character, Young Kaminari."
Another shot, this one from on high, showed me on the robots back. The shot framed my tiny size compared to what I was standing on, but also framed the students who had fallen, those who were desperately trying to get away as the enormous machine reared back for another punch. I hadn't been able to see them, just hear the screams, and it made me look a lot more heroic than I'd actually been.
Thankfully it was just video, so I didn't have to try to explain my yell, as I lunged forward and started to light up, brimming with energy. Then I forced the gathered power into the robot, the entire thing glowing so brightly it blotted out the video.
"You fought that?" my mother gasped, standing behind me along with my father, moving forward to hold me tightly.
They video kept going, showing me being thrown off, my father's hand on my shoulder tight with tension as he saw me fall, sparking slightly. Both of them were relieved when Mineta, who was being carried by Mina and frantically pulling balls off of his bleeding head, caught me by dumping out the sticky spheres where I was going to hit, softening my impact, the camera shot holding long enough to show my goofy smile and ragged, torn, and bloody hands.
"You saved others, despite the risk to yourself, despite the injuries you received, and that is what being a hero is," All-Might stated with calm approval. I hadn't really, I hadn't thought about saving others, I'd just gone for it, but he continued, "And that is what my alma-mater is all about. Training those who would risk their lives for the good of others. Because of that, we have Rescue Points!"
The screen shifted, showing a hand lifting paddle with a number 10 on it, and All-Might fell into what was obviously a rehearsed explanation, one he likely did for every student, but was still somehow impactful all the same: "A panel of judges watches, and they award points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains!"
"Denki Kaminari, Forty Five Rescue points!" All Might boomed, showing my ranking at number one, with fifty one Villain Points, for a total score of ninety-six. "You've passed the exam!" All Might announced, extending a hand, "Welcome to UA. You are now part of the Hero Academia."
Even kind of expecting it, I felt stupidly happy at that. I should've felt like a fraud, but I'd already started moving forward, past where Denki had originally stood. Nothing quite said 'look at me', like placing first, after all.
"Oh my little boy! I'm so happy!" My mom cried, and I patted her comfortingly. "Also you are so grounded!"
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"Hideko," My father tried to intercede.
"Did you see what he did? What he fought!?" she demanded.
He nodded, "I did. Which is why I'm going to see if I can get some time off of work. We've been training a little, but if our boy is going to be going somewhere where he fights things like that, then I think I'm going to help him prepare as much as possible."
"Oh Sugu!" my mother cried, reaching over and kissing him passionately.
"Uh, mom, can you let go of me if you do that?" I requested, blushing, as she still had an arm wrapped around me, winding around me like a snake. "Mom?"
She let go, started to say something, but then glanced over. "Oh, the chicken!" she cried, running away.
My father looked to me, and smiled, the small gesture speaking volumes. "If you're up for it, I think we can double down on your training." He glanced towards the kitchen, the smile changing in nature, "Not tonight though, son. I have a feeling I'll be. . . busy."