Chapter Seven - A Letter and a Spark

After the exam had finished, Izuku, Mei, and a few others were forced to go and see the school nurse, Recovery Girl, just in case, due to them looking more beat up than the others. When they were deemed alright, they were sent on their way, knowing that within a couple of days they would learn of their fates.

While leaving, Shiro happened to be waiting in line to see the nurse, her arm a bit scuffed up with her destroyed Strength Turbine on it. She flashed Izuku a look of happiness, but instantly turned it into one of disdain as she saw Mei with him, not even trying to hide it at all.

"T-That was…"

"She's just jealous of my inventions! I mean, who wouldn't be?" Mei laughed it off as they left the building.

Izuku and Mei went their separate ways, deciding to prepare for the news of their results and rest for a while.

When Izuku arrived home, his worried Mom was there to greet him, running up and hugging him.

"Oh Izuku… How did it go? Are you hurt?"

The boy smiled brightly, much to his Mother's surprise. She had always seen the fire inside of him that drove him to want to be a Hero, but she also sensed the dread inside of him ever since they had discovered his lack of a Quirk.

"It went great, Mom! I—"

He was cut off as his Mother noticed that the track suit he had taken with him had a large cut near his left ankle. She panicked a bit and examined it thoroughly.

"H-Hey! I'm alright, really," Izuku said. His Mother stood, still looking worried. "I think I did well… I might be able to reach my dream after all!"

Izuku's Mom looked at her son's confident expression, seeing the flowing determination that she hadn't seen since he was younger…

And she cried.

"M-Mom!" Izuku was taken off guard at his Mom's crying. She had always been hyper emotional, and it had rubbed off on Izuku over the years as well, but now he felt… Different.

The past year had changed his life. Izuku no longer wanted to cry at the slightest provocation, didn't feel his legs shake when something mildly perturbing came his way. Now, all he wanted was to stand tall and wear his confidence and his beliefs on his shoulder.

"Well, make sure to get plenty of rest for now— And invite that girl over soon," his Mother said with a smile as she finally turned to leave him be.

Izuku gasped, feeling his legs shaking at the sudden realization.

W-What? She knew about Mei this whole time?

He had been trying to keep it a secret, at least the fact that Mei was a girl, but he realized quickly he couldn't hide much from his Mother.

Looking back, she noticed how shaken he was, so she smiled innocently and said, "When you had passed out while studying, I saw it on a notebook— 'Izuku and Mei'! So cute!"

Izuku literally collapsed from the embarrassment.

A week later, Izuku was deep in thought during dinner time. His mother worriedly looked at him as he was staring intensely at the food before him.

"Izuku…?"

He didn't respond, lost in his thoughts.

"Why are you smiling at the fish head?!"

Izuku gasped at his Mother's exclamation, shaking the thoughts from his head and smiling up at her.

"I-It's nothing, I just feel really confident," Izuku stated as he continued eating.

There was a look in his Mother's eyes that he'd seen all too many times over the years. She was much more worried about him failing than he was, and Izuku fully understood. Being quirkless in this world was practically a death sentence to your life being mundane, the exact opposite of what Izuku wanted.

But he had hope. He knew he was able to pass through the exam and impress them, at least in some way.

After dinner, Izuku took to lifting some hand weights, knowing he needed to keep his strength up. The goal is the Hero course, I can't let anything stop me! Even rejection!

Soon, the door flew open and his Mother entered in a frenzy, incredibly nervous. She held up a letter that was a bit crumpled in one hand, and another in her other hand that had the official U.A seal on it.

"T-Two letters came for you! One from U.A and another from A-America!"

Izuku's eyes widened. He took the letters and looked them over. Something thick was inside of the U.A letter, while the other seemed normal enough, but was addressed with an American flag postal stamp, saying it was from the "Folded Note Hero Institution", or FNHI for short.

FNHI! I think they specialize in secret operations… There's even a branch here in Japan! Then this is from…?

Izuku excused himself to his room to open the letters, while his Mother nervously paced back and forth outside of his door.

His heart was beating fast with anticipation, knowing his life was going to change in mere moments. Firstly, he decided to open the letter from the American institution, knowing already who it must he from. He opened it cautiously, but didn't seem to feel that the paper was under control or anything. Izuku began to read it:

Hey, I'm not one to do this, but Power Loader was really frickin' mad about what I'd done so I'll put on a face— You did alright, maybe you're not a hopeless loser after all. But don't stop training kid, or you'll just get yourself killed! It's a cutthroat world out there, so watching your back is all you can do to guarantee success! So… Yeah, that's it. I'm headed back to America so adios forever, hopefully!

From, Paper Mache

PS: I'm too far away to control this paper so don't be too scared of it, ya pansy.

Izuku blinked and re-read it quickly. He set the note down in disbelief.

A-A letter straight from a pro Hero? I'll have to cherish this forever! He thought gleefully inside, but managing to make himself remain calm on the outside. Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all… I hope I can work with him in the future. But that can only happen if…

Izuku took the U.A letter, holding it in both hands. He was shaking a bit with anticipation, and fought to keep his nerves about him.

"I can so this!" As he shouted, he accidentally ripped the letter in half, and a circular metal device fell out, landing on his desk.

The device powered on, and projected a screen up in the air, which surprised Izuku as it lit up the darkness of his room.

On the screen, Power Loader stood. Izuku watched him intensely. The Pro Hero scratched his face as he seemed a bit reluctant to speak.

"Ah, Izuku Midoriya— You know, it's really hard for someone with no quirk to get accepted into U.A," Power Loader began. "It's a hassle, and frankly I wouldn't think anyone could do it."

Izuku gulped at those words, clenching his fists tightly.

"However… You have potential. More than most of the others we studied through the examination," he continued. "In terms of how you scored…"

Power Loader pointed to another screen that popped up beside himself. There were four numbers presented:

Ingenuity: 90%

Inventions: 80%

Damage Taken: 20%

Danger Rating: 50%

"You have high creativity and your creations seem quality, you also managed to have your Hero take very little damage. But you can be pretty reckless it seems, so I expect you to rectify that overtime. Not everything is settled head-on, that's something a hard-headed Hero might do… Like myself, I suppose.."

Izuku stood up as the realization began to dawn on him, taking in Power Loader's every word.

"That is to say, starting this school year, you'll be entering my class of 1-H. So congrats and all of that, but don't expect me to go easy on you because you're quirkless, got it?" Power Loader looked at someone off camera. "Is that it? I'm already tired of making these—"

With that, the transmission cut out, leaving Izuku in a shocked silence.

After a few moments, his Mother opened the door, seeing him standing there frozen. She ran up and shook his shoulder worryingly.

"Izuku! Izuku what's wrong? It'll be okay," she spoke sadly, tears welling up in her eyes—

However, when Izuku turned to her, he was smiling, tears streaming down his face.

"Mom… I made it!"

His Mother broke down and cried, hugging her son in a death grip. "Izuku! I'm so sorry for what I've said before!"

Izuku hugged his Mother, knowing it wasn't her fault for what she had said back then, how she didn't tell him he could be a Hero without any powers. He couldn't blame her for that, especially now.

Izuku was finally on his way to his dream.

The next day, Izuku woke up early to go seek out Mei, wanting desperately to tell her the news. Halfway, he stopped and took out his phone, thinking for a moment.

Do I bother her too much in person? Maybe I should just call—

Suddenly, his phone began to ring, scaring him. He fumbled with it before picking it up and putting it to his ear.

"H-Hello?"

"Midoriya!" Mei's shout through the phone made Izuku jump a bit. "Where are you? You got your results right? I'm already coming to find you!"

"E-Ehh? But I was coming to your—"

"Oh wait, I see you! Heads up!"

Izuku looked around, before spotting the pink-haired girl rapidly approaching him using her propulsion boots. He panicked and braced for impact, but Mei managed to slide to a halt right in front of him, leaning in close.

"Hey! You got accepted too right?!" Mei's shouts drew odd looks from around from early morning joggers and such in the park they were standing in.

"O-Of course!" Izuku smiled to the girl. "I did really well! I'm going to be in Power Loader's class!"

Mei grinned and raised a fist into the air. "Really? Me too! What a coincidence!" She laughed. "I don't know what a '100% Danger Rating' means, but apparently I have really high potential!"

Izuku chuckled, able to imagine just how Power Loader would've talked about Mei "being a reckless endangerment," which was an understatement to say the least.

There was more to Mei though, and Izuku knew that. She was energetic, sure, but that all came from her insanely positive attitude and kindess that only someone who was pursuing their dream could truly have.

"Mei… Thank you," Izuku said, looking away a bit shyly.

"Pfft, for what? It was all you!"

"I-I didn't know what to do before you helped me," Izuku said sheepishly. "I was just a quirkless boy with a dream and n-nothing to back it up…"

Mei shook her head and patted Izuku's head like a child. This made him gasp in surprise and get a bit flustered at the gesture.

"Ya gotta give yourself credit sometimes you know," Mei said. "You've helped inspired lots and lots of babies from me!"

That exclamation left people around them very disturbed as they went out of their way to avoid the two.

"I-I guess so, we make a good team," Izuku said with a nervous chuckle as he saw the weird looks being tossed their way. "I didn't ask but… What did you come up with for the first phase of the exam?"

"Oh, that? That baby was way too advanced! I really outdid myself— They wouldn't even let me use it in the second phase," she answered with a laugh. "You see, it was a—"

There was a cough from behind that interrupted them. They turned and saw that it was a familiar face.

"You're… Yuki?" Izuku looked at the well-built, tall, blonde guy, who was wearing a white track suit with a towel around his neck, obviously in the midst of a morning routine.

Yuki nodded stoically and looked at both of them with judging eyes, making Izuku feel a bit uncomfortable. The boy's pupils looked at though they were divided into two separate ones on each eye, conjoined almost into an infinity symbol, likely a mutation from his Quirk.

"If you really made it in, you're in for disappointment," Yuki spoke plainly.

Izuku blinked at this. "W-what do you mean?"

"The fact that you barely made it through the second phase. There's no way you're ready," he commented, before pointing to Mei. "Her? That girl's scary. She might get your hopes up because she's gifted, but don't let that get to you."

"I am pretty gifted huh," Mei said with a wink to Izuku, before clearing her throat and pointing at Yuki. "Midoriya is wayyy more prepared for this than you are, you have no idea!"

"M-Mei!" Izuku didn't know what to do. He didn't mind her standing up for him, but he was afraid of what embarrassing things she might say.

Yuki scoffed and turned away, wiping some sweat from his brow with the towel. "Maybe you're not as bright as I took you for. He's probably dragging you down."

As the boy began to walk away, Mei clenched her fist and it began to tremble a bit. Izuku looked at her worriedly, seeing she had a big smile as she was glaring at Yuki.

"It's okay Midoriya, don't let people like that get to ya," Mei said through gritted teeth.

A-Are you sure you aren't just saying that for yourself? Izuku thought.

Izuku and Mei celebrated that day, going for shopping trips and hanging out at several places, something Mei usually didn't like to do, except she felt excited and wanted to buy new parts that weren't scrap for once.

"Soon we'll have like, an infinite number of stuff at our disposal!" Mei spread her arms in the air as if to emphasize her point. "It's gonna be so cool!" She took a huge bite of her ice cream, twitching a bit at the cold but still smiling all the same.

The two were sitting on a bench, enjoying the nice weather as the Sun began to set.

"Yeah, I can't wait!" Izuku nodded and closed his eyes, taking in the gentle breeze.

I'm on my way. My story starts soon—

The story of the Quirkless Hero!

To Be Continued

Next Chapter: The First Day