WHAT IF DEKU WAS THE SON OF MIRKO?

Chapter 4

8:40 a.m. - U.A. High

Izuku walked through the massive metal gate that stood connected to a wall that surrounded the entire school, on it was a sign that said (U.A. High School Entrance Exam Location). An almost sky-scraper-like building shaped like an H on all sides loomed over its surroundings. Three concrete arches stood in front of the gate as people walked through the entrance. Bricks lined the walkway to the entrance with grass, bushes, trees along with a few stone statues that surrounded it. There were three large doors to the school with the numbers 1 through 3 painted in a golden color and surrounded in a red frame. In front of the doors were white stairs leading to the entrances along with white carved pillars that supported the front entrance and was currently swarmed with eager junior-high students.

As Izuku was nearing the doors he examined his competition and was observing his surroundings to get an idea of the area around the school, so he could navigate it easier when he actually became a student at U.A., but his observations and thoughts came to a close as a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Move out of the way you dam Bunny Boy!" Bakugo yelled as he walked a straight path towards Izuku.

Izuku wasn't surprised by the approach his one-sided rival gave him. For some reason, Bakugo hasn't tried to fight him for the past 10 months or even tried to speak to him for that matter. He could feel the piercing glare and hear the silent scoffs Bakugo gave every once in a while, though it was even more common after he saved him. Izuku could probably guess why; it was because he had saved him and stole the spotlight from him, which in Bakugo's eyes is looking down on him and humiliating him. Izuku sighed in annoyance, Bakugo was somehow one of the smartest and dumbest people he knew. Izuku decided to turn around to respond since he wasn't just going to step aside for the explosive idiot, even though he knew it would be the most peaceful outcome.

"I said get out of my way dam it!" Bakugo repeated but in an even harsher tone.

"Make me you Explosive Pomeranian." Izuku replied with a cynical smile. If Bakugo was going to give him a new nickname then two could play that game.

"THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME!" Bakugo shouted in anger as a vein popped out of his head and his eyes filled up with rage.

"I said Explosive Pomeranian. Don't tell me you couldn't hear me the first time. Are your explosions slowly making you deaf? You should really go to the hospital and get that checked out, it's not healthy." Izuku snickered at Bakugo's expression of rising anger as his face became an intense red that showed he wanted to murder Izuku where he stood. This time everyone was staring at them in a mix of concern, curiosity, amusement, and fear. Before Bakugo could make a response or probably do something stupid, a girl jumped in front of the two.

"Uuuh, d-don't you think you two should calm down? I-if you fight here... you might not be able to be a-accepted into U.A." a brown-haired girl with equally brown eyes who was only slightly shorter than Izuku said with blushed cheeks as she frantically waved her hands to try and stop the commotion. She was wearing a dark brown buttoned-up jacket with a pink scarf traced with white lines around her neck; she had a dark blue skirt poking out from her jacket and black stockings that went down to her plain brown shoes, she also had a plain black backpack around her shoulders. Izuku also noticed another small detail about her, which were the small pink pads across each of her fingers and pondered what kind of quirk she had until he was snapped out of his thoughts once again.

"Tch! I'll kill you one day Bunny Boy and I'll be number one! Not you! So, get that through your head! You're not better than me!" Bakugo shouted as he stomped off walking around the girl and Izuku mumbling his displeasure under his breath.

The girl stood there a moment frozen in shock by the boy's words but released a sigh when he was far enough away. Everyone who was watching begins to carry on as if nothing had happened.

"Don't worry, he's always that way." Izuku tells the girl. The brunette jumps in shock from the voice that came behind her as if she had completely forgotten he was still standing there behind her. Izuku laughed at her jumpy reaction.

"I don't think he intimidated you that badly, so I'm guessing you must be really nervous." Izuku says in a calm voice as she turns around to face him.

"Uh... Yeah... I'm really nervous.." the brunette says shyly as she rubs the back of her neck sheepishly.

"What's your name?" Izuku asks her.

"Oh! Sorry... my name is Ochaco Uraraka, pleased to meet you!" she says as she extends a hand for Izuku to shake.

"My name is Izuku Usagiyama, but you can call me Usagi." Izuku says as he shakes her hand. He begins to walk forward towards the U.A. doors.

"Well, do your best Uraraka." Izuku says right as he passes by her while walking towards the U.A. building.

"I will!" Uraraka yells back to Izuku as she begins to follow after him towards the doors.

At U.A. High School Hero Course – Exam Orientation

Circular lights all lit up one by one to reveal a stage in front of countless seats, almost like a movie theater or a play. All the seats were filled up by applicants who were applying for the hero course at U.A.

Bakugo was sitting next to Izuku with an irritated look on his face as he tried to ignore Usagi, but he still grinded his teeth every time he glanced at Izuku.

Izuku was sitting down right next to Bakugo looking straight forward ignoring the quick glares Bakugo sent him once in a while. Izuku had his legs crossed and a small smirk remained on his face as he paid attention to the announcement that was about to start.

"What's up U.A. candidates! Thanks for tuning in to me, your school DJ! COME ON AND LET ME HERE YAH!" an announcer yells in an energetic tone. He was a tall, slim man with long blond hair, which he wears spiked upwards in a large tuft behind his head, and a small brown mustache. He wore a hero costume that consisted of a black jacket with a very tall collar, upturned and complete with studs, and matching black pants and knee-high boots. He sports tan shoulder pads and a red belt and elbow pads, all studded, and black fingerless gloves. His neck was obscured by a directional speaker. He also was wearing a pair of headphones with the word (HAGE) written on the headband and a pair of orange-tinted shades.

However, there wasn't a single person that responded and instead, he got complete silence.

"Tough crowd huh?! That's alright! I'll skip straight to the main show! Let's talk about how the practical exam is going to go down. ARE YOU READY!? YAAH!" the loud blonde yelled with just as much enthusiasm, but yet again the room was filled with complete silence.

'So, this is Present Mic huh? He doesn't seem like much but he would be a real pain in the ass if I fought him. His quirk would counter mine pretty well due to my rabbit ears... I should keep that in mind for future reference, after all, compensating for one's weakness is basic strategy.' Izuku talked in his mind as he closely examined the teacher.

"As your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super-hip urban settings! Grind your loins, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, sound good?!" Mic continued to announce.

A picture of color-coded boxes popped up on a huge screen behind Present Mic displaying the letters A through G on each one.

"I see. They're splitting us up so that we can't work together with friends." Bakugo says quietly as he examines the card in his hand that said section A and glanced over towards Usagi's card that said section B.

"Hah. Yeah, too bad. Don't miss me too much while we're apart." Izuku whispered over to Bakugo with a hand cupped over his mouth to cover-up his mischievous smirk as if he were trading a secret.

Bakugo started to grind his teeth even harder than before with a vein popping out of his head again.

"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely." Mic says as the large screen behind him shows a robot worth one point that rides on one wheel and has big arms to balance itself and attack, the two-pointer looked like a scorpion except it had four legs instead and a long neck, then a big bulky robot with what looked like missile launchers on itself that was worth three points.

"Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But, check it! Make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a U.A. no-no, ya dig?" Mic explains more as the screen behind him shows what looks like a video game version of himself eliminating robots and collecting their points like coins depending on each robot's values.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question." A tall boy with blue hair and eyes with rectangular angled eyebrows spoke up. He was wearing a beige school uniform with a white shirt underneath and a blue tie that was striped with a lighter shade of blue, he also had glasses with square lenses.

"Hit me!" Mic yelled as he pointed in the boy's direction while a spotlight shined directly on him.

"On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three. With all due respect, if this is an error on official U.A. materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do." the boy explained as he pointed his right index finger towards a robot that was not shown on the screen on the paper in his left hand that displayed the print out instructions for the practical exam, it listed four robots on it labeled A through D.

"Additionally, you with the spikey blonde hair have been making that annoying noise for a while now, I would like to ask you to stop it! And you! The one with the rabbit ears, how dare you disgrace such a prestigious school by sitting improperly! Also, I have seen you two making a scene near the entrance earlier when you acted ruffians! If you're not going to take this seriously, then leave!" the boy added as he pointed to both boys.

Both boys replied by sending death stares back at the boy which increased the pressure and created a dark aura around them making everyone near them shake in fear and the people who caught a glimpse of it their eyes tremble from the danger, they felt. The boy that it was directed towards started to shake and break out into a cold sweat as if he was in a near-death experience, he opened his mouth to try and say something but nothing would come out so he just turned away to face the screen again and sat down.

"All right, all right!" Mic gestured his hands for everyone to calm down before continuing.

"Examinee number 7-1-1-1. Thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try and avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's... kind of no point to it. I recommend my listeners to try to ignore it and focus on the ones toppin' the charts." Mic finished as the screen showed the pixilated version of Mic run away from the zero-pointer robot.

"I-I understand sir, thank y-y-ou very much! P-please c-continue!" the boy said trying to contain his composure but was still shaking and tried to readjust his glasses that had loosened due to the shaking. The spotlight turned off so that it was no longer shining on anyone.

'No, you idiot. They wouldn't put a giant ass robot in the area just for you to avoid. There's definitely another reason, but I don't think it's possible for that stickler to think outside of the box. I hope everyone else isn't as close-minded.' Izuku spoke in his mind as he started to use his ears to listen in on people's murmurs.

"Oh, I get it, it's like an obstacle in a video game."

"The whole thing is like a video game huh?"

'These idiots are doomed' Izuku deadpanned and his ears drooped for a moment in disappointment.

"That's all I got for you today. I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down. "A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes." Mm‐hm. Now that's a tasty soundbite. You ready to go beyond? Let's hear a Plus Ultra! Good luck! Hope you practiced more than hitting just books!" Mic finishes his presentation.

At U.A. High School – Battle Center B

All the examinees had taken the bus to test site B, Izuku examined his competition while on the way there and frankly wasn't very impressed. There were only two people there he somewhat recognized, Uraraka who had to have some sort of quirk that used physical touch with her fingers and the annoying blue-haired boy who had thrusters sticking out of his legs which made Izuku guess it was some kind of speed quirk.

When they arrived, they were at an enormous fake city filled with buildings and trees, there was a tall concrete wall surrounding the fake city and an enormous brown wooden door that stood towering over all of its onlookers. Everyone was wearing clothes they were comfortable with, which was mostly regular outfits you would see on a daily basis.

Izuku himself had decided to wear his workout clothes for flexibility, he had a black tank-top with matching black basketball shorts that had a white stripe on each side and a regular pair of black tennis shoes with a white stripe that went over the front of both shoes. Izuku wasn't an idiot and he did not want to ruin his favorite shoes a second time.

"This is nuts."

"It's like, a whole city."

"Can you imagine how much it cost to build this?"

The students were all marveling at the fake city while the more serious applicants stretched to prepare for their upcoming battle.

As Izuku stretched he was listening intently to peoples' conversations to try to understand anyone's quirks and for anything that would signal the battle to start. He glanced over at Uraraka to see if he could figure out what her quirk was by examining her hands, but she was currently patting herself for reassurance so he couldn't get a good look at her palms. Suddenly a hand came down towards his shoulder but he caught it without looking with his left hand. The person who had tried to grab him was the blue-haired boy and he was completely shocked that the rabbit boy had somehow sensed him coming and reacted so quickly that it was like he never even saw the hand move from his side, but before the boy got to say anything, Izuku took off at a speed that even surprised the blue-haired boy.

Everyone was shocked and confused on why the rabbit boy had suddenly dashed for the door. Izuku squeezed through the door that had just started to open so that he could get a head start on all the dumb-founded applicants.

"Hey! That guy is cheating!"

"Doesn't that disqualify him?!"

"Wasn't that the guy who almost started a fight the moment he stepped in the U.A. gates?"

"Oh man, what a nutcase."

"What are you doing!? There are no countdowns in a real battle! Follow that rabbit kid!" Mic yelled from on top of a large concrete pillar.

After everyone had regained their composure, they immediately started to run towards the open doors, but only to be shocked again as they realized dozens of robots had already been wiped out and the rabbit boy was nowhere in sight, so he must have moved on already. The group of applicants immediately spit up to go search for robots on their own sections.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the fake city...

Izuku was having the time of his life. He got to use his quirk to its full destructive power and let loose on any tin-can he wanted to take a swing at. He was wearing a smile that didn't seem like it would belong to a hero but yet it was the signature smile of his mother. There were 3 robots in front of him while he was dashing forward on all fours like a wild animal. Two of the robots were three-pointers and one was a two-pointer.

"Target acquired." the robots said in synchronization as they all charged at Izuku.

Izuku leaped off of the ground and slammed straight through the two-pointer making a wide hole straight through the middle of its body making it looked like it was hit with a massive bullet. Izuku's momentum kept carrying him through mid-air as he swiped his leg downwards into the back of one of the three-pointers shattering it to pieces. The third robot sent fake missiles at Izuku, but Izuku ended up kicking them all back in rapid succession which ended up destroying the robot they originated from. After this Izuku immediately began to run on all fours again to search for more targets.

Not far off there was a dark room only lit up by a large screen that showed many different cameras focused on different applicants.

"Clearly, the examinees have no idea how many villains are present or their locations. They have limited time, must cover a vast area, and hunt down every last target." a voice said in the room.

"Some use information-gathering abilities to plan out strategies." a large applicant is shown using multiple limbs to make things like eyes and ears.

"While others rely on speed to pull ahead of their peers." the camera zooms in on the blue-haired kid from earlier skidding to a halt.

"Of course, remaining calm under pressure can be a huge advantage." the camera looks at a blonde with purple eyes posing for the camera as he had just finished destroying a robot with a laser.

"As can pure power and combat ability." the camera zooms in on Bakugo standing on a pile of robots.

"The most successful students use a combination of all these tactics. They're the ones who rack up the highest scores." a camera zooms in on Izuku who was dashing through the streets tracking down the robots with his ears and smashing them the pieces with a smile on his face.

A silhouette of a woman smirked proudly in the background as they watched Izuku.

"Hmm, I'd say this group looks promising." said a random teacher in the room that was inspecting the different students.

"Well, there's still plenty of time before it's over. The real test has yet to come. Let's see how they react." a man says as he opens up a glass case and pushes a red button.

An enormous cloud of dust springs up from the center of the fake city as if a giant explosion just went off. Everyone looks in shock and fear at the enormous robot that plowed through the street and destroying the buildings around it in the process. The entire city rumbled with its weight as it trekked along the cityscape. Everyone ran away once they realized what was happening, everyone except for one.

While everyone ran in the opposite direction of the behemoth, Izuku jumped from building to building going directly towards it. He didn't care if it was worth zero points or not, he was going to destroy this thing for the hell of it. As he approached, he suddenly heard a plea for help below him. Izuku stopped in his tracks on a building near the giant robot, he looked down and spotted Uraraka buried under some ruble desperately trying to use her quirk, but she was too exhausted. Izuku looked at the robot and then back to Uraraka. He knew he didn't have time to take on the robot and save the girl, the robot could cause some debris to land on her or something while he was fighting it, but he had less than two minutes left so if he saved her, he probably wouldn't have enough time to take it down, he knew since this was a test more than likely they would stop the robot before it got too close, but it still bothered him that the so-called "Hero" applicants all ran away only caring for themselves.

Flashback from 8 years ago

Izuku remembered a time when his mother had taken him with her on a hero mission, he was 7 years old and he clung to his mother's back as she jumped from building to building. At first, he was scared but then he started to think it was fun going up so high, it had felt like he was free, almost like a bird.

"Higher! Higher!" Izuku shouted gleefully. His mother smiled at this and jumped even higher.

"Having fun there twerp?" Mirko asked in a teasing tone.

"Yeah! But one day I'll jump even higher!" Izuku told his mom with determination and confidence.

Mirko just laughed at this and little Izuku pouted at her for laughing at him as he puffed up his cheeks to show his disapproval.

"Don't worry Izuku. I'm not laughing at you, I promise, I was just laughing because of how much you're like me it's almost scary and I know that one day you will jump higher than me, but it sure isn't today and your gunna have to work hard to be able to do it!" Mirko reassured him and smiled. The moment was suddenly interrupted with the sound of police sirens coming from a few blocks away. Mirko leaped in the direction of the sound and picked up her pace as she made sure to hold onto her son when she did.

After landing on a roof near her destination she noticed it was a robbery, there were cops all around the bank but no one could do anything because the robbers were holding a woman hostage. She dropped down behind the police car where the cops spotted her and told her in detail about the situation, Mirko nodded and handed them little Izuku.

"Mommy has to work alright? So, stay with the cops, they will protect you while I deal with the bad guys." Mirko told Izuku in a soft but enforcing tone.

"I can defend myself!" Izuku told his mother with confidence.

"Haha, I know you can but you're not a hero yet, so you can't beat up any bad guys." Mirko replies.

"I don't understand mom, why can't you just beat up the bad guys quickly like you always do?" Izuku asked curiously. Mirko smiles and kneels down to his height.

"That's because the mission comes first before anything. Saving a person is more important than beating the bad guys, I had trouble learning this myself when I first started to be a hero but now, I understand. I do love fighting but there's more to it than that to be a hero, you can't kick your way through all of your problems, you have to use your head in tough situations and find out a solution even if it means running away to save someone." Mirko tell Izuku as she pats his head.

"But running is cowardly!" Izuku yells.

"Ya, maybe your right but if I have to give up my pride to save you then I would." Mirko tells Izuku as she rubs her fist in his hair.

"Mirko, they're on the move!" a police officer says to Mirko.

"Whelp, time to get work. Watch carefully now Izuku, but make sure you stay hidden." Mirko smiles and pops her neck before leaping into action.

Back to Present Day

Izuku smiled at his dilemma, he knew what choice he was going to make anyways. He leaped down from the building and softened his impact when he landed next to Uraraka. The girl looked up in surprise like she wasn't expecting anyone to come and save her despite her yells for help. Izuku immediately grabbed the ruble and threw it off of her with a grunt. Izuku grabbed Uraraka and put her over his back.

"Hang on! I'm going to jump!" Izuku shouted while bending in his knees to prepare for a jump.

Uraraka did as he said and held her arms tightly over his shoulders as she closed her eyes tight in fear that one of the pieces of rubble that were falling around them would squash them. Izuku jumped away just in time to be missed by a large piece of rubble that came down at them and smashed into the ground with a loud "Boom!" as it sprang up dust from its impact.

Uraraka opened her eyes to find herself in mid-air and... Falling. Her first reaction was to panic but then she realized she was clinging onto the rabbit boy, so she just braced herself for the impact, however, the impact was rather light and she had barely received a jolt as Izuku landed gracefully.

"TIME'S UP!" Present Mic yelled just as the alarm sounded for the end of the exam.

"You alright?" Izuku asked Uraraka as he glanced towards her on his back.

"Uh..y-yeah! But I think my leg might be injured... and thanks for saving me!" Uraraka said in embarrassment.

"No problem, after all, what kind of hero would I be if I had just left you there?" Izuku said with a smile.

The other applicants were staring at the two because the boy had just saved her life and risked everything. People were whispering to each other about their opinions.

"Why did he save her when he could've just endangered two lives by doing that?"

"Why did he even run towards that thing in the first place?!"

"Maybe he was suicidal? Because there's no way he thought he could've beaten that thing... right?"

'They.. all don't get it.. he had to have known there was more to the test. Maybe they also rewarded points for something that I didn't account for..' the blue-haired boy thought back to when he saw Izuku jumping from building to building towards the robot and managed to save the girl even when he knew that the girl was nowhere to be seen with the other applicants that were running away.

'No... I can't think like that. I would have helped her to if this wasn't a test.' the boy told himself.

"Is anyone injured?" a short, elderly woman with gray hair styled into a netted bun with a large syringe poking diagonally out of it to the left asked as she walked into the city seemingly from nowhere.

She had a notably small nose and eyes which looked as if they were closed, and a long mouth with defined nasolabial folds. She was wearing a doctor's lab coat and a dress with yellow and red vest-like designs on either side, two yellow buttons, and a belt with a pink "R"-shaped buckle. She wore pink boots and had a helmet around the sides of her head, a purple-tinted visor joining it over her eyes. In addition, she walked with a cane designed like a syringe.

"Over here!" Izuku said as he lightly jogged over to the old lady and carefully set Uraraka down in front of her.

"Thank you, young man. She will be perfectly fine; this is a minor injury." the old lady said as she leaned down and smooched Uraraka's forehead to everyone's surprise.

"What is she doing?!" asked a random student who voiced almost everyone's thoughts.

"You're watching a school nurse in action." a boy with a rather feminine face said.

Then he continued "She is the youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl!" the blonde said while introducing her with sparkles in his eyes.

"She is the reason why U.A. can hold these reckless exams. She healed that girl in an instant." the boy finished while striking a pose that seemed to emit sparkles from his body.

After everyone had changed back into their normal clothes Usagi had chatted with the brunette a bit more and got her phone number, it wasn't that he was romantically interested in her but he decided that he was going to give her more confidence since she seemed to be lacking it, despite doing fairly well with her non-combat type quirk. After the chat the brunette had waved him goodbye and left towards her home while Izuku started on a path towards his.

"Izuku!" a voice suddenly shouted from behind him and before he could react something tackled him from behind, he was about to retaliate but then the person who tackled him started to rub their cheeks against his, affectionately? Upon closer inspection, he recognized it was his mother. She was loving on him which was strange since normally she just attacked him ruthlessly out of nowhere, always expecting him to keep up with her, but this was different and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Hey, mom get off of me! You're weird 'in me out!" Izuku said as he struggled to get out of his mother's grip.

"Hahaha! No way! You'll have to pry me off if you want to do that! I watched your battle at the entrance exam, and I can only say that I am proud! You kept up with your training and passed my expectations!" Rumi said with a smile.

"Does this mean you'll be back for a couple of days to train me more?" Izuku asked.

"Hahaha! No, I'll be off for a whole week! Also, instead of training how about, we do some family bonding stuff! What do teenagers like to do at your age? Ah, maybe go to a theme park or somethin?!" Rumi said with an excited and energetic tone that Izuku had never heard before, he was honestly scared and wondered if his mom had knocked a screw loose while fighting a villain, but either way, he was definitely going to have an interesting week.

END OF CHAPTER 4

The Audio Book version for this chapter is available as a URL link on my profile.