Here's another chapter, it turned out a little longer than expected, enjoy!
I don't own BNHA, just my OCs.
A few weeks had passed since the entrance exam, and Keiko's nervousness was beginning to overwhelm her. Every morning that week, she left the house before the post arrived so she could catch the postman and check for her letter from U.A.. Each time it wasn't there she became more anxious about whether she would get in.
She had already received her letter from her backup school, Shizouka High School, which doubled up as her cover school if she somehow managed to get into U.A.. Keiko had excitedly told her parents that she had been accepted so that they could order her uniform and school supplies. Yumi had also been accepted by Shizouka which was a relief since she was the entire reason Keiko had put it as her second option. Yumi would either be there to keep her sane through the mundane school days or be invaluable for her cover.
On the Saturday, Keiko was nearly crying when she caught the postman. Today was the last day she could receive her acceptance letter, if the letter wasn't here today, she wasn't going to U.A. and she couldn't bear the thought. She smiled intensely at the postman as she met him near the end of her street, he uncomfortably smiled back at her and recoiled slightly after he noticed her dishevelled appearance. Her hair was roughly tied in a bun and she was wearing her "comfy" clothes which were baggy, grey and had been worn religiously for around 4 years. The postman hastily rummaged through his bag and presented her with a letter. She blinked at the envelope for a few seconds, before dragging her limp arm up and taking it from him.
She looked down at the letter and saw "U.A. High School" written on it. She felt her grip tighten against her will and felt a hard object in the letter. Her mind was blank, she had been waiting for so long and now that she had the letter in her hand, she couldn't bring herself to open it. She nodded a thank you to the postman and silently shuffled away.
She walked along in a state of autopilot, clutching the letter tightly and ignoring the details of the world around her. She eventually found herself at Yumi's house and timidly knocked on the door. It swung open after a moment and Keiko was greeted by Nanako, Yumi's mother. She smiled cheerfully at Keiko, "Oh hello Keiko, I wasn't expecting to see you today, this is a nice surprise!". She gave her a small hug.
"Good morning Ms Sasaki, I hope you are well? I'm here to see Yumi if that's alright?" Keiko managed to smile politely and greet Yumi's mother, her hands quivering at her sides as she spoke.
"Yes of course! Come in my dear. Yumi's is just in her room, feel free to go join her"
"Thank you." Keiko said quietly before she sat down. She somehow managed to uncurl her fingers from around the letter and reluctantly put it next to her on the floor momentarily whilst she removed her shoes. She put them neatly by the door and pushed a few flyaway hairs behind her ear before she stood back up and went to Yumi's room with the letter.
Without announcing herself, Keiko creeped into Yumi's room and silently shut the door behind her. As she turned around to face Yumi, she saw that she was engrossed in an article on her Laptop with her legs crossed up on her chair. She was wearing a pair of black leggings and a large burgundy hoodie and absentmindedly twirled a tress of her shoulder-length, forest green hair.
- Yumi POV -
"Hey Yumi.." Yumi spun around, startled by the sudden appearance of her best friend. She had been intently reading about the applications of quirks in the medical industry, hoping to better understand the practicality of her career aspirations. She looked at Keiko's pale and anxious face, and knew the only thing that could get her in this much of a state would be her U.A. acceptance letter. Her eyes dropped down to Keiko's hands; as expected she was clutching a considerably crumpled letter.
"Hey Keiko, you OK? Come sit down." Yumi closed her laptop and walked over to Keiko and gently pulled her onto the bed. Yumi scoured her face, hoping to get an indication of what was going on. Did she not get in? Has she even opened it? It must be good news if she's got a letter, right? Yumi's mind raced as she overthought each little twitch of her best friend's eyebrows or bite of her lip as she stared ceaselessly at the letter. The two sat speechless for a few minutes, both too apprehensive to speak and rip through the tense stillness smothering them.
"So, have you opened it?" Yumi finally found the courage to question Keiko and waited for her reply with bated breath.
"No..." Keiko swallowed hard "...I can't, I'm too afraid..." she struggled to speak and trailed off. Yumi took the letter from her and glanced at it before she looked back up into Keiko's eyes.
"Shall I open it then?" she said surely. Keiko nodded, so Yumi slid her finger beneath the seal and carefully pulled it open. Inside was a folded piece of paper and a small electronic device, she removed the two at once from the letter. She examined the device as she carefully placed it on the bed and started to unfold the letter but was interrupted by a hologram appearing from the device in front of them.
- Yumi POV end -
"THIS IS A PROJECTION!" the startling and familiar yell of the number one hero All Might came from the hologram. The girls completely abandoned their nerves from a moment ago and waited in a state of confusion and anticipation. All Might cleared his throat and bowed slightly before continuing. "It's been a while since the exam, there's been much to deliberate on. Apologies! I'm in town for one reason only. I've come to teach at U.A.!".
"No way!" Keiko blurted out.
"Keiko Hayashi, you did very well in the exam." All Might continued "But as you know there were many impressive students and unfortunately, even though you passed your written exam, your score was low." Keiko was silent as she processed what he said.
"Despite your impressive villain score in the exam, your villain and written score was just below the level required to get onto the hero course." Keiko clenched her jaw and remained silent. She heard Yumi swear under her breath but didn't look over at her, she just continued to stare numbly at the projection.
"However, this exam you see...we weren't just watching for villain-based points! A hero course that rejects those who do the right thing is no hero course at all! You helped young Monoma when he made a dangerous mistake taking your quirk without fully understanding it! You rushed to his aide without a second thought, sacrificing a large chunk of your remaining exam time." The two girls were captivated. Does that mean... "Hero points were also a factor here! Another fundamental way for U.A. to evaluate you! 20 points for Keiko Hayashi!...".
"You're in!" All Might declared. The hologram ended making the two girls scream and hug each other. Keiko held Yumi tightly as her body shook with excitement.
"I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" Keiko winced as Yumi shouted beside her ear. Keiko laughed as they sat back up on the bed, a little more relaxed than they had been earlier.
"C'mon Yumi, it's going to be difficult if you deafen me right before I go to U.A.!" She teased before pausing for a moment "I can't believe it. I'm going to U.A. High School and I'm going to be a hero".
Yumi cheered loudly. "This is going to be so amazing Keiko! It's your dream come true and I just know you're going to do so amazing!" Yumi's pride was shown all over her face and her eyes glistened as they filled with tears. Ahhh, Yumi don't start crying or you'll set me off too... Yumi looked up to the ceiling for a few seconds and batted her eyes until the tears retreated. "So, tell me what your hero name is going to be, do you have one yet?" She asked enthusiastically.
"Hmmm, well I've had one on my mind for a while... You have to be honest if it sucks though, I don't want people laughing at me." Keiko waited expectantly for her friend to agree as she blushed and nervously looked around the room avoiding eye contact.
"Sure thing" Yumi replied, already struggling not to laugh at Keiko's raspberry coloured face.
"Well...I was thinking Keinetic...It's a play on my name and matches my quirk." Her pink cheeks became red and hot as she waited for the inevitable teasing.
"Keinetic...I like it! That sounds like a proper Pro-Hero name" Yumi put Keiko out of her misery and reassured her. "Honestly I love it! It really works, in fact, wait there a minute." Yumi ran over to her desk and pulled open her top drawer. She rummaged around for a few seconds, occasionally pulling out a thick book and chucking it on the side. What on earth is she doing? Keiko grinned as she watched her concentrate. Yumi picked up a small, leather-bound book and stopped scouring the contents of her drawer. She reached over and grabbed a black marker pen from the pen pot on the corner of her desk and bounced back onto the bed.
"Can I have your autograph?" Yumi's eyes shone brightly as she beamed at Keiko. She held the book out, opened at the first free page, about two thirds into the book and thrust the marker into her hand. Keiko giggled as she briefly hid behind her hands.
"Oh my gosh, stop it Yumi!" She glared at her playfully as a smirk forced its way onto her face, "I haven't even thought about that!"
"Think about it now then dummy! Don't disappoint your first fan like this!" Yumi mimicked a grumpy face and huffed impatiently. "Come on, I'm your best friend, I deserve your first autograph!" she continued.
"OK, OK I'll do it!" Keiko conceded defeat and took the book from Yumi's hand. "Just give me a second though..." She stared at the daunting blank page and started by writing a brief message at the top. She stalled and thought more carefully about her signature. She started by writing "Keinetic" in big, bubbly letters. The "K" was large and defined, whereas the rest of the letters were smaller, curly and harder to read. She finished it off by doing a wave of vibration above the "einetic" and put the lid back on the marker. She tentatively passed the book back, happy with her message but a little unsure about her basic autograph.
"To my first fan Yumi, you're a very impatient and grumpy fan but I wouldn't have got this far without you, so I guess I'll forgive you. I'll always be there to keep you safe, so never be afraid! Keinetic." Yumi read happily "Oh Keiko, you're such a big softie, thanks for my autograph!".
"That's OK" she replied solemnly "Seriously though Yumi, I couldn't have done this without you." Keiko felt so much love for Yumi, they had been through everything together and they never stopped looking out for each other all these years. She really is the most amazing friend...
"I was happy to help Keiko, you needed someone to look out for you, so of course I did! Plus, you've always looked out for me too, remember?" She said cheerfully.
"Yeah I guess... I'm still going to need your help though, more than ever before, is that OK?" Keiko enquired.
"Yeah it's no problem! This is your dream so I'll do everything I can to help you achieve it" She said sincerely. "What's my first job then?" she gave Keiko a cheeky grin, knowing there were already at least three jobs lined up for her.
"Well I definitely need to be able to get through a day at school without my collar, I can't have people thinking I can't control my quirk" She said confidently "That's definitely a priority."
"Ahh alright, that's easy then, just don't wear your collar when we're hanging out over the holidays. Practice makes perfect after all!" Yumi declared with an intense determination in her vibrant green eyes.
"Sweet, that sounds good, and then we'll have to work out how I can trick my parents into thinking I'm going to Shizouka instead of U.A." Keiko said as she schemed and she speculated different approaches in her mind.
"Well we'll make sure that we tell our parents we're going to school together in the mornings, you can meet me here and change into your U.A. uniform. Mum will be at work by the time we need to leave so she won't catch us. Then we just do the same after school and even if she comes back early you can just jump up to my window and I'll say you walked straight home. Easy!" Yumi resolved effortlessly. Keiko was always blown away by how quickly Yumi thought through things.
"Yeah that should work. Then I can meet you outside Shizouka every day after school. That way you can tell me all about your "normal" school day so if my parents ask about my day I make up something more believable." She added eagerly.
"Yes! See, this'll be easy, I'm telling you! You've got nothing to worry about!" Yumi cheered.
"Yeah, we've got this!" Keiko agreed earnestly, matching the energetic optimism of her joyful, problem-solving best friend.
After Keiko had gotten ready for bed, she sat at her desk that night and wrote down her plan for U.A.. Right, so I need to get my U.A. uniform, design my hero costume, work on controlling my quirk in daily situations and continue to increase my combat skills and endurance... Oh and I need to make sure my parents really believe I'm going to Shizouka with Yumi. She closed her notebook and shoved it in the bottom drawer of her desk, underneath a bunch of books and loose papers.
She yawned and slumped over into her bed, then reached up to turn off the lights. She flopped back down again and sunk her head into her pillow. It had been a long and emotional day, with a lot more thinking and planning than Keiko could normally manage, but having a plan in place made her feel so at ease. I really can't believe it, I made it into U.A.. I can do so much good now, I can show everyone that having a powerful quirk doesn't mean you automatically need to be feared. I can use it to save people and stop villains. Maybe then, my parents will finally stop trying to suppress my quirk with this horrible collar.
Keiko thought about how lucky she was to have gotten this far. I wouldn't have ever believed in myself if it wasn't for Izuku and Yumi. They both saw me for who I really was, not just my "uncontrollable" quirk. She thought back to the day 5 years ago when she told Izuku about her dream of becoming a hero. She had been so scared of what people would think but he helped her conquer her fear all those years ago:
"Don't listen to the people who are mean to you Keiko, listen to me! I think you're great and you can do anything. You're not dangerous, OK? Just because people don't understand you right now doesn't mean they won't ever understand you. Prove them all wrong and be a hero if that's what you want! I think you'd be amazing! People say that I can't be a hero because I don't have a quirk, but that won't stop me! So don't let what people say to you stop you either!" Tears flooded down his face as he encouraged and motivated Keiko with fierce passion.
"We'll both be heroes one day Izuku!" She replied loudly, tears streaming from her eyes as well.
"If we try our best and never give up we're sure to be heroes!".
AN - In the entrance exam she got 59 points in total so was joint 8th with Tetsutetsu.