March 1, 20XX
Sunday

It's been three days since the U.A. Entrance Exam and all of the participants are patiently awaiting their acceptance letter. The higher-ups at U.A. said that the letters should be out in three days, so everyone is anxious. Even I was anxious at the time. I felt so confident about my number of points when the exam ended, so I didn't even worry. But, now I'm second-guessing everything. I was sitting in my room just laying in my bed, waiting. While I was laying down I could hear thuds and other noises outside my room. The noises kept getting closer and closer until my dad swung my door open.

"Hey! Can I get some privacy here?!" I yelled. My dad sat in my doorway, panting. I looked at him with a confused look.

"Akira... It came..." he said while gasping for breath. My eyes widened and I sprung out of bed.

I quickly took the letter from my dad's hand, "I'll be out in a second." I said. My dad nodded and I shut my door. This was it, the key to the future. I ran to my desk and put the letter down. Slowly, I opened the letter and pulled it out. I was hesitant to look inside. What was in this letter could be my future or it could be my failure. After a few seconds of mentally preparing myself, I unfolded it.

Principal Nezu
U.A. Academy
Musutafu, Japan
March 1, 20XX

Akira Kato
Musutafu, Japan

Dear Mr. Kato,

Thank you for participating in the U.A. Entrance Exam! In your efforts, you managed to gain a grand total of 47 points. With this amount of points, we're happy to tell you that you have passed the entrance exam and have been accepted into U.A. Academy! This is great news for us all and I hope that you are pleased with the results. Now, I would like to go over some things relating to the school. The school year starts on April 7, 20XX. Be sure to come to school on the first day for orientation and other fun things! Obviously, you will need the basic school materials and such. Your uniform will be sent to you within the next week, so expect that to show up soon! I believe that is everything that I needed to cover. I can't wait to see you and all of our other new students on April 7th! Plus Ultra!

Sincerely,

Nezu

After I finished reading through the letter, I sat there at my desk in disbelief. Is this a joke? Am I dreaming? Those are just some of the many questions that were going through my head at the time. While I was sitting at my desk a drop of water landed on the surface of the desk.

"...Huh?"I questioned softly. Tears started streaming down my face. I sniffled and wiped my face. My dream, the one thing that I wanted most in life, had finally started to take shape at that moment. Finally, I started to have hope for the future and hope for finding my mother. I had always thought about searching for her, but I never had the motivation to. But, now that I was about to become a hero in training, I could start moving toward that goal. Well, that's what I thought at least, but I soon found out that these next three years would be the hardest years of my life.

A few minutes after I read my acceptance letter I got a text. It was from Goro.

Goro Nakano

Goro: hey Akira! just got my acceptance letter andim so pumped! text me when u get urs! - 12:44 P.M.

I smiled when I read the message and wiped any extra tears off of my face. Learning that Goro got into U.A. was one of the most relieving moments of my life.

Goro Nakano

Goro: hey Akira! just got my acceptance letter and im so pumped! text me when u get urs! - 12:44 P.M.

Akira: i just got mine too. so relieved that u got in. i was worried that one of us would have to go alone - 12:45 P.M.

Goro: awesome we both got in! im so excited to go to ua. how bout u? - 12:45 P.M.

Akira: mostly nervous, but very excited - 12:46 P.M.

Akira: im just glad we made it - 12:46 P.M

Goro: same here! now we just have to get ready for our first day - 12:47 P.M.

Goro: april 7th rite? - 12:47 P.M.

Akira: yep - 12:47 P.M.

Goro: ok cool so we still have about a month - 12:48 P.M.

Goro: oh! i just thought of an idea! - 12:48 P.M.

Akira: ? - 12:49 P.M.

Goro: lets celebrate our acceptance into ua tomorrow! we can hang out and stugg! - 12:49 P.M.

Goro: stuff* - 12:49 P.M.

Akira: that sounds fun. ill have to ask my dad but im sure he'll be fine with it - 12:49 P.M.

Goro: alright sweet! get back to me on that - 12:50 P.M.

I set my phone down on my desk and stood up. When I lifted myself up I wobbled around a bit, struggling to find my balance. Eventually, I balanced myself. I guess I had stood up too fast or something. I walked over to my door and slowly opened it. My dad was waiting outside leaning against the wall, twidling his thumbs. The instant I opened my door, his head shot up so fast. He gave me a look that spoke for itself. The kind of look where they're waiting for an answer. It was pretty obvious that I was crying earlier. You could see the red marks under my eyes from wiping them. My dad noticed and that made him worry more. I simply just gave him a thumbs up and smiled. The look on his face changed to realization and he started crying more than me.

He ran up and hugged me, "I'm so proud of you Akira!" he yelled while sobbing. I just sat there and let it happen. I pat him on the back a few times and eventually, he stopped crying and pulled away. "So, when's your first day?" he asked.

"April 7th," I replied.

"Oh, so you've still got a little bit over a month left," he said.

I nodded, "Goro wants to hang out tomorrow in celebration of being accepted. Oh, yeah, Goro got in too." I said.

"That's great! You can enjoy your time there together then!" he said enthusiastically, "And I don't mind if he comes over, you guys deserve it after all of the work you've done."

"Thanks, I'll tell him," I said. I started to walk back into my room, but my dad stopped me.

"Akira, this is kind of random to bring up now, but... I know I never supported you in your wish to find your mother. I'm so sorry about that." I turned around with a concerned look and he continued, "I've never really apologized for it. Back then I didn't know what I was doing. Grief had taken over my mind and all of the worst case scenarios popped into my brain. So, I never supported you the way a good father should've." Tears started to fall down his face again and the same for me. He sniffled and took a deep breath, "I know that you entered U.A. so you could become a great hero and find your mother, I've known that for a while. I won't stop you. But, from this point forward I will support you in any way I can. I'll support you with anything you need and be a great father like I should've been all those years ago."

Time seemed like it had frozen in that instant. I was standing there with a shocked look on my face and tears flowing down and my dad stared at me with caring eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time. I had no idea how to respond. I was thinking of ways to thank him or tell him not to worry about it or something, but instead of saying something, I gave him a big hug and started sobbing. He returned the hug and we both cried. I remember this moment so vividly like it happened yesterday.

March 2, 20XX
1:23 P.M.
Monday

After my interaction with my dad, I texted Goro saying that my dad was fine with him coming over. So, at around 1 P.M. Goro showed up.

"Hey, Akira! You ready to have some fun!" Goro yelled as he walked in.

"Fun? Did you bring anything?" I asked.

Goro looked at me with a guilty look, "Heh, uh, no. I didn't bring anything." he said.

"But, I thought I told you to bring snacks!" I yelled.

"I was going to! But... uhh... I forgot." he whispered. I sighed.

"Okay, I'll go get us some snacks from the convenience store. It's like 3 blocks down." I said as I reluctantly put my shoes on.

"I can come with," said Goro.

"Nah, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I'll be back in, like, 15 minutes." I said as I walked out the door.

"Okay, come back safe!" Goro shouted as I shut the door.

At the time, I was kind of annoyed at Goro for forgetting the snacks. But, I was in too good of a mood to let it affect me.

After walking three blocks down in some alleyways close to the street, I could see the store at the end of the road. I started running down there just so I could get over there faster. Ahead of me was a four-way intersection of walkways. The one to my left was an entrance to the sidewalks on the street and to my right was a neighborhood. As I was about to run past the intersection, I bumped into a figure while I was running and I got knocked over.

"Ouch..." I said as I was rubbing my back. I looked up at the person I ran into. They were wearing a red hoodie with the hood covering their face and black jeans. They were pretty built and tall.

"Sorry, kid." said the person. When the person had spoken I instantly recognized the voice. I started thinking of who it could be, running through all of the options. As the figure started to walk away I realized who it was.

"Hey, wait a minute," I said as I was lifting myself up. The person stopped in their tracks and slightly turned to listen to what I had to say. "Are you the criminal that broke out of prison back in January?" I asked. The person didn't move from their spot. "Are you Zephyr..?"

The person still sat there, unmoving. Eventually, they spoke.

"You... I remember you..." said the person, "You're the reason All Might beat the shit outta me..." I took a single step back and gulped. "What a coincidence that we would run into each other on a leisurely stroll, huh?" he said in a menacing tone. I took another step back. I didn't know it yet, but later I would regret calling this man out, for multiple reasons. "Good thing you're on my priority list... I won't have to hesitate then," he said. He turned around fully and lifted his hood off of his head. I was right. The man I had just run into turned out to be the worst person I could run into at this time. "I've been waiting to blast you around again for a long time." the person said. It was him. It was Zephyr.