"Midoriya, wait!"
Izuku stopped, turning to find a friendly face pursuing him. "Oh, Ojiro! I forgot to ask you how the entrance exam went!"
The quiet blond moved in next to Izuku with a smile. "It went better than I expected. Now I just have to wait for my results."
"I'm sure you got in, you're amazing!" Izuku exclaimed.
"I don't know, there were some amazing quirks. I thought I was doing okay, but there was this kid with an explosion quirk that took out so many robots that the rest of us almost couldn't find any to fight." Ojiro smiled a little sadly. "I knew I wasn't going to be the best, I just hope I did well enough to get in."
"What's done is done, young Ojiro. I'm sure you conducted yourself with honor," Valiant said, appearing in the doorway of the dojo. "You as well, young Midoriya. Both of you go home, rest. You've earned it."
As the two boys walked home, a few blocks away one Detective Tsukauchi sat in his office, rubbing his eyes from the mound of paperwork that sat in front of him. With a sigh, he set down the paperwork and started clicking through the news, looking for the latest events All Might had been involved in. The announcement that the Number One Hero was going to be a teacher at U.A. had overshadowed all other news, including the recent kidnapping and recovery of Tanaka Kimiko.
Toshinori's face filled the screen again and again, similar stories of the blond's bravery and heroism filtering through. It was paranoia that led Naomasa to periodically check the news to see that his good friend's secret was secure. He wanted to protect Toshinori, yes, but it was also a matter of national security.
He didn't know what made him do it, but something possessed Naomasa to click on a video from months ago. It was a video of Toshinori saving a boy from a sludge villain. Tsukauchi had been particularly busy with a case at that time, so he hadn't watched the video very closely.
The video opened with the image of a blond kid struggling in the grasp of the sludge villain while a number of pro heroes hung back, looking helpless. Somewhere behind the camera there was a scuffle and then a flash of green darted towards the villain, a scrawny boy flinging an oversized backpack directly into the villain's face.
Naomasa paused the video with shaking hands, staring at the screen. Slowly standing, he slipped out of his office. "Saito, Nakamura, I need an opinion on something."
"Whatcha got, boss?" Saito asked, immediately snapping to attention.
"Just come watch this."
The two officers shuffled in, crowding around the computer where the detective had started the video over.
"I remember this," Nakamura said. "All Might saves the kid, but wasn't there another…"
"No. You're kidding," Saito whispered. "It can't be."
"Thank goodness, I'm not crazy. You see Midoriya too?" Tsukauchi asked.
"We need to train that kid and give him a badge," Nakamura said. "He's going to be amazing."
"Why don't we?" Saito said playfully. "They let baby heroes have provisional licenses, why not us too?"
She had asked the question in jest, but Tsukauchi froze in place, his mind racing. "A provisional officer… I have some paperwork to do," he said, shooing the other to away. Picking up the phone, once the other person answered, he said, "It's Detective Tsukauchi. Who would I have to talk to about potentially begin a new program?"
Days later found the Midoriya family in Izuku's room at an hour yet untouched by the son. However, both Midoriyas were wide awake, and Inko stared intently at the screen of her son's laptop. "And you swear you didn't pull any all-nighters?"
"Just the one," Izuku swore, his smile blinding.
"And you haven't missed your Martial Arts of your EMT classes?"
"Not a single one!" he chirped. "Oh, by the way, tomorrow Gunhead is teaching the class, and Valiant told me that he wanted me to have a session with just Gunhead and Ojiro, so I'll probably be home late."
His mother's green eyes were still fixed on the computer screen where two emails were displayed side-by-side. One was a notification of Izuku's completion of his first year in highschool, barely a week into what would have been his first semester. The second was an acceptance letter to Japan's most prestigious college- as well as a full scholarship. They had been particularly impressed by Izuku's quirk analysis, and when they had learned his age, the head of the Quirk Studies department had demanded that the school accept Izuku and made sure he attended, whatever the cost.
They would let Izuku have as many majors as he wanted, provided that one of them was Quirk Studies. He could complete almost all of his work online, he just had to visit the actual campus every few weeks - the university would even pay for his commute to Hosu.
With this, another piece fell into Izuku's plan. He was finished with EMT training, today was just a ceremony of sorts to celebrate their completion. He had to admit he was a little sad it would be over. He had started off on the wrong foot with his instructor for some reason, but after enough time the two came to a mutual respect. However, the worst part of his class being over was that he no longer had a reason to stop by the Police Station.
Maybe he could bring taiyaki for the entire station as a thank you for so man things. He could then casually bring up the idea of observing the job of a police officer. (After all, he couldn't make a habit of showing up at crime scenes like he had with villain fights. At this point all of the police officers knew him, and they would reprimand him for not taking his safety into account.)
For the first time in years, Izuku was genuinely excited about his future. "So can I do it, Mom? Can I start going to college?"
Finally pulling her eyes away from the emails, she smiled. "It would be a waste to refuse. Just don't push yourself too hard. Send me that professor's email, I'll set up a meeting with him so we can get paperwork done and talk over all the details."
Izuku beamed, thrilled beyond words.
"Today is your EMT training certification, isn't it? My little boy, a certified EMT at fifteen years old. Izuku, I'm so proud," Inko said, tears filling her eyes. "I wish I could make it to the ceremony. I could take off work if you wanted…"
"No, it's fine. I have people to support me now, and I already know that you support me. Today is a really important day at work for you, so good luck! It's my turn to support you," Izuku said, hugging his mother tightly. "Have a good day at work!"
Kissing his forehead, Inko left, letting his door quietly close behind her. He waited a few moments before Izuku closed both emails, opening a folder on his laptop, a nagging feeling plaguing him. It was early, really early - he had already been on a run, and the sun had yet to rise.
Dialing a number that was becoming more and more familiar, anxiety fluttered in his stomach. The police officers had been nothing but kind to him, but he didn't know if he could handle having his new dream crushed just like his old one.
"Musutafu Police station, Officer Sasaki speaking. What can I do for you today?"
Swallowing thickly, Izuku stammered, "H-Hi, this is Midoriya Izuku."
"Little Midoriya! How are you?"
"Fine, I just… I was looking at some old news articles and I noticed a pattern. There are three villains that have escaped being caught until now, and based on their old patterns, I think they're going to strike today." That said, Izuku held his breath, terrified of how Saito was going to react.
He held a deep respect for the officer, and he knew he couldn't take it if she laughed him off.
"Explain further, little Midoriya. Wait, let me get the Detective on the line…" Fainter, as if Sasaki was holding the phone away from her mouth, he heard, "Naomasa! Your son is on the line with important information."
"What are you talking about, I don't have-"
"Midoriya is waiting!"
Almost immediately the other line picked up. "Detective Tsukauchi speaking."
And so Izuku blurted out all of his suspicions and evidence, including who the villains were, where they were most likely to be, and the best way to detain them.
"Which heroes would you recommend us calling in?" the detective asked.
Izuku thought for a moment. "Kamui Woods for the first, then Mount Lady for the second, and for the last… Midnight. They're villains that work together, so even though their attacks would be separate, they would be coordinated with one another. It's best to have heroes that can capture them quickly."
"Thanks for calling in, Midoriya. You've been a huge help," the detective said, before hanging up.
While Izuku buried himself in schoolwork, Detective Tsukauchi had been busy single-handedly setting up a course and test for provisional police badges. Hearing the boy's deductions validated Tsukauchi's efforts.
Looking at the evidence Midoriya had laid out, Tsukauchi could kick himself for how obvious it all was. Except it wasn't. Even with years of experience and a degree in criminology, Tsukauchi didn't think he could have put all of this together.
"Contact the heroes he mentioned, Sasaki," Tsukauchi ordered. "I'll contact the police stations in charge of those areas. When you're done, call in Kondo and set up a surveillance of the third area Midoriya suggested."
"You're really trusting of the imaginings of a fourteen-year-old boy?" Officer Mori asked with a sneer. Mori had slowly been alienating himself from the rest of the police station with his open dislike of Midoriya.
"He's fifteen," Sasaki hissed, jabbing his ribs with an elbow. "Besides, you have to see this kid. He's different than anything you've ever seen."
"You've always been a bleeding heart, Sasaki," he said, slightly glaring at the petite woman.
"No, she's right. Whatever he ends up doing, Midoriya is going to change the world to change the world, and I want to watch it happen," Tsukauchi said, an unusual gleam in his eye. "Now go, our time is limited."
The two officers saluted before leaving, and as Tsukauchi made the phone calls he needed to, he couldn't help but smile to himself.
No one would realize the full ramifications of that day. Detective Tsukauchi had no way of knowing that with those three villains in police custody, his good friend Yagi Toshinori would not expend all of his energy before arriving to the school. In fact, he had enough time to teach Class 1-A, and still time to spare.
There was no way to know of the untold fear and injuries that Class 1-A was spared from, all because the Number One Hero was at the USJ from the very beginning. The main villains escaped, yes, but the whole incident was miniscule compared to what it could have been. Although slightly shaken, the class walked away almost virtually unscathed, and Izuku's new dream seemed that much closer.
Despite everything that could not be known, there were two irrefutable things. The first was that on that day, Midoriya Izuku began to truly accept himself for who and what he was. The second was that this day was the first time Midoriya Izuku met Uraraka Ochako.
A/N: Midterms are almost over, the end is in sight! I'm blown away by the response this story has gotten so far, thank you all so much for reading! As always, I write fanfiction as a way to get feedback so I can improve my writing, so let me know what I'm doing right, what I could improve on, you know the drill. I know you're all anxious to see what happens after Chapter 1 (i.e. if Izuku lives, how Inko reacts, etc.), but I've got a few more chapters to really set up the story. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Izuku's journey to becoming a detective!