Flare Signal
chapter twelve
Uraraka 6:20 AM
See you at school today! We can get lost together :D
Izuku chuckled as he read the text, getting ready and pulling on his new school uniform. It fit quite well and was surprisingly comfortable. Izuku admired the blazer and tugged at the stiff material of his pants. He hadn't dressed in a school uniform in a long time—it was unfamiliar, new.
Izuku had rejected Hisashi's offer to take him school again though Hisashi had insisted. Hisashi watched Izuku as he put on his shoes, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Bye, I guess," Izuku said.
"I'll see you later," Hisashi responded, cut off when Izuku shut the door behind him. He took a deep breath, enjoying the morning air.
"It's going to be a good day," Izuku told himself, marching to the elevator that would take him down to ground floor. "Nothing bad will happen today. Not at all. Good times only."
He texted Uraraka back. They agreed they'd meet in the same spot they had after the exams, and then they would navigate the school halls together.
Well, Izuku figured. He already knew where Class 1-A was, so there was no need to get lost. The only perks to spying, he supposed.
He arrived at school on time, slinking through the gate. Uraraka arrived a few minutes later, bouncing with excitement. Izuku smiled.
"Hey!"
"Hey, Uraraka," Izuku greeted.
"Nice day, isn't it," Uraraka said breathlessly. Izuku had to agree. He liked the springtime; it wasn't too warm or too cold, a nice breeze drifting through. The sakura had already bloomed, framing streets in beautiful pink clouds and falling petals that Izuku had enjoyed on his way to school.
"You don't think we're late, right?"
"Nah," Uraraka said, "and besides, it's only the first day. So there's no way our teacher could be mad at us if we get lost."
"We're not going to get lost," Izuku promised. "I know the way?"
"You do?"
He nodded. "Come on."
The two friends talked excitedly about the upcoming school year, from the teachers ("Pro hero Eraserhead for homeroom," Izuku said) to the classes ("A lot of practical training, probably") to their new classmates ("If Bakugou Katsuki isn't there, I'm going to be very surprised").
"How do you know all this stuff?"
They stopped outside of the classroom labelled 1-A.
"I just do," Izuku said lightly, and pushed open the door.
He was met with a wall of sound. Izuku looked around, confused, trying to get his bearings. Uraraka winced.
"Yo," one of the students said, perched calmly in one of the front seats.
"Please get your feet off the table!"
"Don't tell me what to do, loser! I'll put my feet on the table if I fucking want to!"
"It's such a nice way to start the day, don't you think?"
Izuku stared at the scene unfolding around him. "Uh, uh, wha?"
"And this is the famed hero school…" Uraraka said beside him, sounding just as lost.
"Happy first day," Izuku said, voice flat. He holds a hand out woodenly for a high-five. Uraraka slapped their palms together, careful not to make him float.
"Happy first day," she agreed.
"Ah, it's you! From the exam!"
Oh. Izuku remembered the boy standing in front of him. He was the one to interrupt Present Mic and who'd stopped Izuku at the beginning of the practical exam.
The boy bowed. "I have to apologize for my words."
"What," Izuku said.
"And I want to commend you for your actions in the exam! You figured out what I did not—defeating the zero-pointer and getting those rescue points."
"You, uh… I had no idea?"
"Even more commendable."
"Thanks...?" The word came out weakly. Izuku was already beginning to feel overwhelmed. He'd forgotten what a bunch of teens stuck in a room together was like, and he didn't like remembering.
"Iida Tenya, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Uh, same?" Izuku cast a panicked look at Uraraka, like, please help me, I don't know how to talk to people. "I'm Akatani Mikumi."
"I'm Uraraka Ochako," Uraraka said, bouncing in and smiling.
"Oy, Akatani, come over here so I can—"
"Shut up," a voice snapped from behind them. The class quieted somewhat. Uraraka turned around and shrieked in surprise and fear.
Izuku turned, looking down expectantly. A yellow caterpillar—sleeping bag, he reminded himself—was inching along the ground, stopping in front of the door. Izuku stepped politely out of the way.
The sleeping bag opened, revealing a tired-looking face and a juice pouch. Then it fell away as their homeroom teacher stood.
Izuku smiled cheerily. "Good morning, Era—Aizawa-sensei."
"Hm," was the only response Izuku got. It made him grin wider.
"Get in a seat. This is no time for fooling around. I'm your homeroom teacher—you'll refer to me as Aizawa-sensei and Aizawa-sensei only." He eyed Izuku. "Eraserhead, if you have to. Why is nobody moving?"
The students scrambled to find their seats. Izuku was put near Kacchan, which made him uneasy, partially because Kacchan immediately turned to glare at him and partially because Kacchan was right there. Where he could potentially discover everything Izuku had and was working for.
Fine.
Totally, totally fine.
"Uh, sir, are we, uh, going to the assembly?"
Izuku knew the answer.
"Absolutely not," Eraserhead said. "We don't have time for an assembly. It's useless, anyway. Your time here is fleeting, and I have a lot to teach you before you get set loose in the world. Everyone get dressed and meet me outside in five minutes."
"Holy..." another student said, the moment Eraserhead disappeared out the door. He was probably headed towards the training grounds.
To Izuku's left, panels opened up to reveal sets of gym uniforms. He pulled his out. It was nothing more than a simple blue, white, and red suit, made of a lightweight material.
The students headed to the locker rooms to change, talking to each other but keeping their teacher in mind.
"He's kind of scary..."
"He's not that scary," Izuku said. "Like. Just saying."
"He's totally scary. Look at that face, right?"
"Hey, do you think the girls will look hot in their gym uniforms?"
"They're gym uniforms, Mineta. Gym uniforms. Also, shut up."
The talk continued well into the locker rooms.
Izuku didn't bother joining in on very many of the conversations. He got dressed quickly, hiding in a corner in the hopes that no one would catch his scars, and then was out of the locker rooms in record time.
He was the first to show up. Eraserhead was waiting, glancing at a stopwatch impatiently.
"The others?"
"Changing," Izuku responded. "If they're not on time, will you kick them out?"
"I'll consider it," Eraserhead said. Izuku glanced at his feet, glad he was there early.
"Got any, uh, logical ruses planned for today?"
Eraserhead raised a brow. "Where'd you hear that from."
"Oh," Izuku said, shrugging. He waved a hand. "Around."
"Say anything and I'll actually kick you out, Akatani."
Izuku saluted, grinning. "Yes, sensei."
The other students began to trickle in, gathering in a small crowd. Uraraka made her way to stand next to Izuku.
"Any idea what we're out here for?"
This Izuku didn't actually know. He shrugged.
"Listen up," Eraserhead called. "Before we begin any actual training, I'm going to run a Quirk Apprehension test. In middle school, there were restrictions and limitations placed on your Quirks… here, there are none except your own. Bakugou Katsuki."
Kacchan stepped forwards.
"How far could you pitch a ball without your Quirk?"
Kacchan thought over it for a minute. "Sixty-four meters."
Eraserhead procured a softball and handed it over. "Try now, with your Quirk."
Kacchan grinned. He tossed the ball in the air, testing its weight, and then cranked his arm back. When he released it, there was a loud boom as his Quirk propelled the ball forwards.
The flaming ball streaked through the air, almost out of sight. Izuku watched wordlessly as Eraserhead's counter ticked up.
"Over seven-hundred meters with the Quirk."
Kacchan looked more than pleased with himself. He cracked his knuckles and returned to the crowd, though he wasn't smiling.
"This test will show your limits with your Quirk…" Eraserhead began. His eyes crinkled. "...and whoever places last in the end will be expelled."
"Woah, woah, hold up, what?"
"I didn't sit through three hours of exams for this!"
"We just got here!"
"That's not fair," Uraraka cried.
Eraserhead crossed his arms, waiting for the protests to die down. "My class, my rules. If you're hopeless, you don't deserve to be here… and I'll ask you to leave."
Izuku almost snorted, but it turned into a coughing fit when Eraserhead's gaze landed on him. Dramatic. Izuku was about eighty-percent sure Eraserhead wouldn't actually expel anyone (twenty-percent unsure about Mineta, who seemed smart but maybe not the best guy). As long as every one of them had at least a little potential, they'd be fine.
Probably.
Izuku would do his best, anyway. He had to.
"So don't be last, then," Eraserhead said.
The test began.
Izuku did do his best, though it was hard. He still didn't have control over One for All (that was fun), so he couldn't use it the way the others used their Quirks. With One for All, it was either the full 100% or none at all, so Izuku had to choose between destroying his body or doing without it. Toshinori had told him with time and practice, he'd be able to scale back to different percentages.
Still, Izuku did well by his standards. He was fit, thanks to Toshinori and Chimera. He was fast, used to running for his life.
By the time they reached the third trial of Eraserhead's test, though, Izuku was dead last. Kacchan was first.
"Come on, Akatani," Eraserhead said, after everyone else had gone. He held the ball out to Izuku like it was an offering. His eyes searched Izuku's, a promise and a challenge. If Izuku didn't know any better, he thought Eraserhead was smiling.
Izuku took the ball.
"Show me what you're made of."
This, Izuku could do. One for All hummed in his fingertips.
"Go beyond," Izuku murmured to himself, preparing to pitch the ball. When he let go, One for All raced along the pads of his fingers and poured outwards. "Plus ultra."
The ball seemed to disappear into the sky; the numbers on the counter climbed higher and higher until they surpassed even Kacchan's. Izuku allowed himself a private smile, but he knew he'd have to work harder to use One for All to his own full potential.
"Satisfactory," Eraserhead said. Izuku rejoined the rest of his classmates, who were murmuring appreciatively.
"That was so manly, dude!"
"Er, thanks," Izuku said.
"So powerful…"
"Broke a finger… what kind of Quirk…?"
"No way Aizawa-sensei can kick you out with a Quirk like that…"
Kacchan stormed towards him. He looked mad, though Izuku didn't know why.
"You," he seethed, stalking forwards. His hands sparked. Izuku took a step back but held his ground. It was just Kacchan. He knew how Kacchan worked; he could deal with him.
Izuku didn't have to, though. Eraserhead's capture weapon wrapped around Kacchan, holding him in place. Eraserhead didn't look sorry in the slightest.
"Don't make me use my Quirk," Eraserhead said. His hair floated around him, eyes gleaming red. He let go after a moment, and used one hand to shove his hair back. "It gives me dry eye, so I'd like to not use it where I can. I didn't think I'd have to today."
It took a moment, but eventually Kacchan calmed, sensing he'd lost the fight. He sulked at the edge of the group, other students skirting away from him.
Izuku had placed dead last, but…
"The expulsion was a logical ruse," Eraserhead droned. He didn't look in Izuku's direction. "I wanted to see you push yourselves to the limit, and there's no better way than to dangle a light threat over your heads."
"A light threat?"
"Man!"
"Dismissed," Eraserhead said curtly, and the students began to swarm back towards the locker rooms, eager to change. Izuku lingered behind.
"So I'm not expelled, huh?"
Eraserhead snorted. "Don't make me regret it, problem child."
All Might appeared suddenly in front of them. "I am here!"
"We noticed," Eraserhead said, "How nice of you to grace us with your presence."
"You're welcome!"
"We'll have to work on your Quirk," Eraserhead continued, nodding at Izuku. He turned to All Might. "If you're mentoring him or whatever it is, you're going to have to figure this out."
All Might nodded seriously.
"You don't have zero potential," Eraserhead told Izuku. "If you did, you really would've been expelled."
"I heard you expelled an entire class," All Might said.
Izuku sucked in a breath. "An entire class?"
Eraserhead didn't respond to that.
"Go to Recovery Girl for your finger," he said instead. He nodded at All Might. "Let's talk."
Izuku waved as he left.
"See you later?" All Might asked, catching Izuku before he went. Izuku nodded. They'd met a few times prior to the school year, but not often. It'd be nice to see Toshinori on a daily basis.
"How many times can you break your bones, boy?" Recovery Girl asked. She hadn't even looked up from her work.
"You knew it was me?"
Recovery Girl pointed at a bed. "Only you would show up here on the first day of school."
Izuku considered that a fair point and decided not to argue.
In a moment his finger was all better.
"Is it true," Izuku said before he left, "that if you keep breaking your bones, they get stronger?"
Recovery Girl sent him a flat look. "I'm not telling you the answer to that, and you'd better not test it."
"I won't, I promise."
Uraraka was waiting for him as the school day ended. She was standing next to Iida, who waved.
"Oh," Izuku said, surprised, "hey, guys."
"Hey, Aka—"
"—tani!"
"Is that Bakugou?"
"Uh-oh."
"You'd better run."
Kacchan appeared, jabbing a finger in Izuku's face.
"Look," he snapped, "I don't care if you want to be a hero, okay? Whatever. But don't try to pretend you're better than me, stop acting like I'm someone you're looking down on."
"Okay," Izuku said, letting him continue. He didn't even bat an eye as Kacchan stepped even closer.
"Hey, woah," Uraraka said, trying to get between them.
"We are fellow classmates!" Iida chopped his arm in a downwards motion. "We should not treat each other like—"
Kacchan whirled on them. "Shut up," he growled.
"It's okay," Izuku said.
"You think you can beat me," Kacchan said lowly. "You think I need your pity, or your help. I don't."
He shoved Izuku once.
"Eat my dust," Kacchan growled in Izuku's ear and then stalked off.
"Huh," Izuku wondered, watching his back. "It's like he's a whole other person…"
Kacchan was competitive and driven, Izuku knew that. He'd always admired that quality about his childhood friend. That was what made Izuku chase after him.
It was strange, the way Kacchan had threatened him. Like he thought Izuku pitied him, or he thought that Izuku thought he himself was the better one of the two.
That wasn't true. Kacchan was always the better of them, but that didn't mean that Izuku didn't want to be the best.
"You act like you know him," Uraraka noticed, "were you two friends?"
"Friends? That was not friendly behavior."
"Ah, uh, no," Izuku said, "we, um, we've just… run into each other a few times."
"He really hates your guts…"
Izuku shrugged. "Yeah, he can join the club."
The others stared at him for a moment. Izuku winced.
"Uh," he said, trying to think of a new topic. "What do you guys think of E—uh, Aizawa-sensei?"
"That trick he played on us was cruel," Uraraka said as they left the school.
"Well, it worked, didn't it?"
"Still," Uraraka said, "when I was imagining what our homeroom teacher was like, I wasn't imagining him. The way he showed up at the beginning of class today?"
Izuku winced sympathetically.
"Yeah," he said, snickering when he remembered the look on everyone's faces. "Eraserhead's something, isn't he?"
"Eraserhead?"
"I meant Aizawa-sensei," Izuku said, blushing. He'd have to get used to it eventually.
"You seem to know everyone," Iida noticed. Izuku shook his head.
"Not… really," he protested. "I didn't know you, right?"
Iida gestured with an arm. "I saw you stay behind to talk with Aizawa-sensei, and when I checked again, I saw All Might there as well. If you know them, why didn't you get into U.A. on recommendation? Why go to the exam?"
Izuku squinted at Iida. "You think Eraserhead would recommend anyone?"
"I guess not," Uraraka chipped in, looking thoughtful. "He doesn't seem like the type."
"And besides," Izuku said, half to himself, "I just don't think it would've been fair. If To— if All- All Might recommended me, the expectations would've been too high, and the media would go crazy. I don't think being recommended is a bad thing, but scoring well on the entrance exam was a chance to prove to myself and everyone else I could do it, right?"
Iida thought about it. "I suppose," he conceded.
"Ooh, do you think All Might will teach us tomorrow?" Uraraka paused as a thought struck her. She stopped and pointed at Izuku. "Wait, do you know All Might?"
Izuku squeaked. "No?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "That didn't sound very convincing."
"Uh…" Izuku chuckled nervously. "Would you look at the time, right? Haha, I should probably get going…"
"How do you know All Might?"
"We met under a bridge sort of?"
Iida stared, puzzled. "You met All Might.. under a bridge?"
Izuku crossed his arms defensively. "Yeah. You can ask him tomorrow if you want."
"Wait, but…"
Izuku sighed. He held up a hand. "You know how I break my fingers when I use my Quirk?"
Uraraka and Iida nodded.
"So All Might's Quirk is really similar to mine. I, um, asked him to help train me a little bit, but we're not close or anything," Izuku explained, thinking on the spot. "So I don't know know him, but I know him, I guess?"
"That's so cool!"
"I guess…"
They moved on to different topics, which Izuku appreciated. It kept the heat off his back.
His thoughts drifted away from the friendly conversation partway through. Izuku thought instead about the mistake he'd made the week before.
It wasn't— well, it wasn't a mistake. Izuku would've saved the girl in the fire again. Every time. Saving her life wasn't a mistake.
But Izuku had slipped up. He'd carried her out to safety, and the little girl had clung to him. Hands fisted in his shirt. Large brown eyes blinking trustingly up at him.
He'd told her to go find the police—and she had, but not before coming back to give Izuku a hug.
"You're my hero," she'd told him, staring up seriously.
Then she'd asked for his name so she could remember who'd saved her, something Izuku hadn't expected. Panicking and not sure of what to say, Izuku had told her his name was Deku.
He hadn't been called Deku in years. Izuku missed it.
"Hey, Akatani."
Izuku didn't register the name as his at first. Then Uraraka waved a hand in front of his face.
"Akatani!"
"Oh," Izuku said, "s-sorry. I got a little lost in thought."
"You almost tripped over the sidewalk."
Izuku looked down at his own feet. He hadn't realized. "I did?"
"Yeah. Anyway, I was asking if the two of you wanted to hang out, like we did after the exams! Iida already said it was okay."
"Oh," Izuku said again.
He checked his phone, but there weren't any new messages. From Hisashi or Toshinori.
"Sure," Izuku agreed. "Where are we going?"
"I know just the place," Uraraka promised.
Izuku had already known Uraraka from the exam and their texts, but he got to know Iida, too, as they chatted in a cafe. It was nice to sit and relax with friends, to have an afternoon where Izuku's only obligation was to enjoy himself.
Afterwards, Izuku headed back in the direction of the apartment. Then, halfway there, he veered in a different direction, letting his feet lead him.
Izuku walked, humming quietly to himself. A minute later he was at his destination: home.
Not "home," not the address listed in his records, that big empty apartment that smelled faintly of smoke. But home, the home Izuku had grown up in. The one where he always forgot about the chip in the floorboards and tripped, the one with the dent in the wall where Izuku had run into as a kid, the one where he and Mom used to dance to the radio, waltzing around the living room as they laughed and stepped on each others' toes. That home, that was cozy and warm, that had a little hole where water dripped in on really rainy days.
It didn't matter how old the place was or how tight it got sometimes. It'd just been Izuku and Mom.
He stared up at the familiar apartment building, heart aching. Izuku felt like he'd just walked back into a different life, a dream he'd once had. He could go up there, he thought. Izuku would use the spare key and open the door. Step in, take off his shoes, take in everything to see if it was all just like he remembered.
"I'll come home one day, Mom," Izuku promised, thinking of the lone All Might figurine and wondering if she still had it. "I swear."
Just… not today.
