Welp I am back! Here we will start getting into the canon of MHA, with Kytheon hopping into the entrance exam and meeting all sorts of wonderful characters! I only have vague ideas about where I want this story to go, so we are just gonna kinda go with the flow on this. In regards to Kytheon's Hieromancy, I'm not going to have him just teaching magic to everyone he meets. He's gonna have to pretend it's his quirk. As well as what it does? Well, that's for y'all to find out as you keep reading. And I suspect some of you are wondering about ships and pairings and all that good fluffy stuff. And to that I say I have no idea! Kytheon having been raised for a while in an ancient greek-styled land, polyamory and homosexuality were certainly prominent in ancient greece and since we don't know enough about Theros in regards to daily life, I choose to accept that's the case in Theros as well. Whether Kytheon will be receptive to that kinda situation or not is another matter entirely, and I will come to those conclusions as I write this story. I kinda just oracle the stories I write. Mmkay? Mmkay.
Now with the pleasantries out of the way, let's get to the real reason you are here. The Story!
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Kytheon looked down at the piece of paper he was given by Nemuri that morning. It contained clear directions to get to UA. She couldn't bring him herself, since she had to be there early as one of the professors there, so he was left to walk there on his own. She had brought him out clothes shopping early on to get him more outfits beyond the tunic he had come in, so currently he was wearing a long coat over fairly standard civilian clothing. He had a knapsack over his one shoulder holding what he needed for the day. He smiled to himself. The past few months had been filled with learning about this strange new world he was in, with its quirks and quirk laws, heroes and villains. It had also been filled with exercises and training, from the hieromancy exercises that Hyxus drilled into him all those many years ago, to the physical ones he learned on Bant. During those months, his form filled into a healthy musculature that was closer to his appearance later in life, while he also managed to get Nemuri to get him a hair straightener so he could get back his flowing majestic locks. Sure he was a fairly militaristic guy, but even he could appreciate good aesthetics. It was hard to get him to leave the Blackblade at home that morning, but only through the safe Nemuri owned along with the promise that next to no one knew it existed, much less knew what it did, was Kytheon finally able to reluctantly part with the sword.
But now here he stood, looking up at the massive steel and glass shaped building he was directed to, idly noting the small sign proving that he was in the right place, his eyes roving across the crowd. Being several inches taller than most of the other students there that had gathered, he was allowed to see over many of the people there.
Even to this day, the sheer breadth of the diversity that could be found in this world was ridiculous. Hair colors of all kinds, and the sheer number of strange physical traits would never cease to amaze him. Even in worlds like Ravnica, where you would run across seventeen different races just crossing the street, there was never such a… unique population. He chuckled and shook his head. No time to dwell on that, he was here with a purpose.
But he couldn't help but notice some whispers being passed around some of the other people nearby.
"Hey, isn't that the guy from the fight with the tentacle dude?"
"Hey, you're right! I mean, he looks bigger and his hair is different, but… yeah I think that's him!"
"Oh he's so handsome!"
"Aw man, with someone like him in the mix there is no way we're getting in…"
Kytheon raised an eyebrow as he heard that last one. He knew it was a competition to get in, but he didn't want to discourage people from trying… Of course, to his view, someone that pessimistic about themselves needed a lot more work before they could become a hero.
Maybe that was something this school needed to teach.
His attention was caught when he felt someone run into his bag face first, and he couldn't help but flinch at the dull metallic Tongg that the person's forehead made against his buckler. He turned around quickly to try and catch the person as they fell, only to see that he was beaten to it by a round faced brown haired girl. He took note of the green haired kid's apparent weightless state before putting two and two together. He rubbed the back of his neck as the green hair had a borderline panic attack, flailing his limbs before Kytheon and the brunette helped him back onto his feet.
"Sorry about using my quirk without asking… are you alright?" She asked the obviously flustered green haired boy. Kytheon's eyebrow climbed higher before he snapped a finger in front of his nose.
"Snap out of it friend. You alright?" He asked, causing the boy to start flailing about and apologizing profusely to the both of them. Kytheon and the brunette shared a glance at each other before she started giggling and Kytheon sighed with a grin.
"Look, look, it's alright. No harm, no foul. I'm not hurt, no one is, so stop acting like it was a crisis. Let's start again on the right foo-"
"Wait, aren't you that teenager who stopped that tentacle guy a few months ago? I saw it online and there was so much speculation as to what your quirk was and" The kid trailed off into intense muttering, earning more giggles from the brunette and another sigh from Kytheon, who turned to the girl.
"Do you know him? Is he always like this?" He stage-whispered to her.
"No idea!" She playfully whispered back. Kytheon sighed and snapped his fingers under the rambler's nose again.
"Yes, that was me. Kytheon Iora, at your service. And what is your name, sir mumbles-a-lot?" Cue another round of high pitched giggles.
The kid looked flustered as he stammered out his answer. "Izuku… Izuku Midoriya…"
"And I'm Uraraka Ochako! Nice to meet you two!"
"The pleasure is all mine." Kytheon said with a smile. "Now I can only assume since you guys are here you want to become heroes as well, huh?"
"Yeah! But I'm super nervous about it… but as long as we do our best, we are sure to go far, right?" Uraraka said with a smile. Kytheon's grin grew wider.
"The best is all we can do. I wish you luck!" He said, waving as she walked away. He glanced down at Izuku staring fish-eyed after her. He nudged him with his elbow. "I'm… assuming that was one of your first interactions with a girl, huh." He teased with a smirk, chuckling as the guy immediately blushed and began stammering again. He shook his head.
"You're a good guy Izuku. Wanting to join the course is evidence enough. Hopefully I'll see you on the other side." He said, waving back over his shoulder as he headed into the building.
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"Battle center B, huh…" Kytheon mumbled to himself as he looked at his paper. The presentation by Present Mic had been… interesting to say the least. The man's enthusiasm seemed limitless even with the harshest of audiences. Not to mention that strange interlude with the guy with the glasses… Kytheon couldn't help but shudder as he remembered Dovin Baan, the vedalken who took over the Azorius senate and his meticulously perfectionistic ways.
"He'd fit right in with the bureaucrats, that much is for certain…"
The revelation about the Zero pointer left him… curious for lack of a better word. There had to be more to it than this, right? To all of it, in fact. It couldn't possibly just be as simple as beat up the most robots. That was the kind of training soldiers needed, not heroes. He gripped his fist tighter. There had to be more to it than just this… it wouldn't make sense otherwise. However, until he figured out what extra was needed, he would follow the rules and try to amass as many points as possible.
He had his buckler with the sural rolled up neatly under it on his one hand, clad once more in his tunic. While he certainly looked out of place amidst the tracksuits and other modern outfits, he would not budge on this point. A tunic was what he learned to fight in first, and he needed to be at his most comfortable for this challenge. However, it felt a bit tighter, more proof towards his gained muscle mass. Of course it earned him various stares, but he could not bring himself to care about them. He was here with a purpose.
Granted, his attention was grabbed pretty quickly when he noticed Izuku out of the corner of his eye, getting cornered by the Dovin-like guy. His eyebrow twitched and he began making his way over there. However, his attention was grabbed when he heard the voice of Present MIc calling out from the rooftops.
"OKAY! START!"
As soon as he heard that, while the others all turned, trying to find the bombastic blonde, Kytheon charged through the opening gates with no hesitation. Heroes needed to respond immediately when needed, that was key! His sudden surge caused a momentary panic among the other students as they all ran to catch up to him. Present Mic quirked an eyebrow.
"He's excited… That Midnight's kid? She picked a good one…"
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Being at the head of the charge meant that Kytheon was at the forefront of the robotic assault. He whipped out his sural, earning some surprised gasps from some of the other students that were still following him as they watched the four bladed weapon. He handled it with expertise, slashing through robots without even breaking a sweat, racking up point after point. Sure they were a little tough, and would certainly pose a threat to average people, but to him, they were laughably easy. They were nothing compared to the Emrakul-twisted creatures on Innistrad, and gods forbid they be as dangerous as the Dreadhorde.
He noticed one student was hunched over, breathing hard. Due to that, they were unaware of the robot coming up behind them. Kytheon dashed forwards as fast as he could. "GET DOWN!" He bellowed.
The kid looked up at him in surprise as he lashed the sural out towards them, but was caught off guard when instead of slicing through them the blades wrapped around them. Kytheon pivoted and pulled. "Brace yourself!" He yelled at them as the weapon yanked them away and threw them to safety. Their eyes widened as he turned back to the robot, who was already throwing a mechanical fist right at his head. With no time to dodge, he simply headbutted the fist, a glowing light surrounding his head. The fist crumpled around his face, and he followed it up with an uppercut that knocked the robotic head clean off. He turned back to the kid he saved. "If you're exhausted, get to higher ground where there are less of these! You're doing great!" He yelled before charging around the next corner, leaving the awestruck kid behind.
Meanwhile, in the staff room, more than a few teachers were watching Kytheon's performance on the screens.
"That kid sure has some talent there Midnight. He's practically a shoe-in for the hero program, where did you find him?"
"Well, you know that incident with that perverted tentacle villain? Kytheon there was the one to take him out. In the aftermath, we found out that he was an orphaned foreigner with no documentation we could find… But I saw the potential in him and decided to take him under my wing!"
"Good thing you did, he is right up there with that Bakugo fellow in terms of points, but he seems to be a much better role model in terms of attitude…"
Back in the city Kytheon stopped in his attacks and defenses, standing in the middle of the wreckage as he felt the ground rumble beneath his feet. His and everyone else's attention was drawn to the enormous robotic figure that towered over the buildings, staring in various degrees of awe.
Ah.
So that was it, huh.
"Gearhulk!" He declared, flashing back to the time on Kaladesh, when robots like these were deployed against the citizenry and the revolutionaries. The only reason he was able to take one down was because he was inside and threw himself between the gears… but it was clear the same strategy would not work twice here. Many of the students looked at him strangely when he declared the title. Immediately his mind was snapped into General Gideon mode. Dealing with the Eldrazi had honed his instincts for situations like this, and he immediately began barking orders, subconsciously glowing and drawing all of the attention to himself.
"ALL OF YOU! RETREAT NOW!" He declared. "Those of you who can move, help those who can't get out of here! Buddy up and don't let them go, evacuate anybody that is injured! Many of you have exhausted yourselves, so just get to safety! I will cover you as long as I can!" He bellowed before charging forwards as many of the other students began to panic and run the other way. However, several people listened to him, looking about and immediately spotting those that needed help.
"You can't take that thing!" a random voice cried out from the crowd.
"No, but I can survive it! I don't think that is a claim many of you can match! Now go!" Kytheon declared as he got close to the base, causing the robot to wind up a punch. It threw it forwards, making a direct impact with the glowing teen. A few people who were looking back screamed at the thunderous blow, but the subsequent dust cloud that raised up hid the results from view.
Meanwhile, not far away, Izuku was in absolute panic mode. Kytheon! Was he alright?! How could he be? That impact was monstrous! He needed to get out of there, but he needed to help his friend! He heard a small cry of pain, and saw the nice girl from before with her leg trapped under some rubble! It seemed that no one was there to help but him and Kytheon, who may even be dead already! Everyone else had already taken Kytheon's orders and fled! And there were only two minutes left! What should he do!? He couldn't let Kytheon's sacrifice go to waste, but he also couldn't let the chance All-Might had given him go to waste either. So before he even knew what his body was doing, he found himself running towards the skyscraper sized robot. He felt something brace against his legs and he JUMPED.
Meanwhile, under the fist, Kytheon was struggling. He was forced to one knee, but his aura held firm against him. He could feel the pressure from above increasing as the robot tried to crush its diminutive opponent, only to succeed in pushing Kytheon deeper and deeper into the pavement below. But then he perked up, hearing a defiant scream from above him. Not one of anguish, but a scream filled with the emotion of the truly desperate. He knew that scream well, he had made it before. Flashbacks of him plummeting from atop the Demon Lord Rakdos with the Blackblade poised high above his head as he plummeted towards the elder dragon…
But judging by the sound of explosions and the weight suddenly lifting from his shoulders, it would seem this effort was significantly more successful than his own.
Sunlight surrounded him once more as he saw the fist rising up and the zero pointer robot falling backwards, explosions emanating from every inch. Seems someone was hiding enough power to blast this thing apart, huh? But who was it? His eyes scanned around, spotting the brown haired girl from before. Uraraka was it? But judging by the way she was looking up in awe, it wasn't her. He looked up as well, narrowing his eyes to try and see what she was looking at, only to see the screaming form of…
"IZUKU! QUICK URARAKA! USE YOUR QUIRK LIKE YOU DID THIS MORNING!" He yelled over to her. She seemed to look ill for a moment before her eyes widened in shock at him standing in front of her. He pointed up at the falling and screaming Izuku, causing her to immediately push down whatever was coming up, be it questions or bile, and hop on a piece of debris, floating it up and slapping Izuku at the last second. Kytheon sighed in relief and let his shoulders sag, starting to stroll towards the two. He looked over himself and was very disappointed to see that while his aura protected his body, the same could not be said for his clothes, his tunic now just a few scraps held up by a belt. At least he remained covered enough to remain somewhat modest in front of everyone. He tiredly began to stroll towards the other two people left in the area, flinching the slightest bit when he saw Uraraka vomit all over the ground. Must be a side effect of her quirk.
"You two… You seem to be the only ones that stayed behind…" He said as he got closer, bringing their attention over to his barely clad form. Uraraka couldn't help but blush at his impressive physique while Izuku stared at his almost markless body. The only blemish across Kytheon's (remarkably sculpted) form was a singular circular scar on his chest, that looked like a serious puncture wound.
""YOU'RE ALIVE!?"" Both of them seemed to realize at the same time, staring with looks of incredulity on their faces. Kytheon couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yes, I am. Like I said, I wouldn't be able to take it on, but I would be one of the only ones who could survive it. But it seems like I was outdone by you, Izuku."
Izuku perked up. "R-really? What do you mean?"
Kytheon smiled. "You were the only one who went… ah, what did Present Mic call it? Plus Ultra? Yeah that's it. You went above and beyond, and despite there being no gain to it, you took out this gearhulk. And you, Uraraka… Don't think I didn't see you struggling to save Izuku… Both of you should be very proud of yourselves today. I don't give this title out freely, but the two of you are real heroes."
Izuku's eyes widened as he remembered the recording he saw of Kytheon's first appearance.
"A single casualty is too much of a weight on the back of a hero, if a hero can't save everyone, they don't deserve the title!"
He began tearing up when he realized he had cleared that statement enough for him to be called a hero! Even if it was in the eyes of one person… he was a hero! "T-thank you… k-kytheon…"
"TIME'S UP!"
The bellow of Present Mic seemed to freeze Izuku to the spot, his face starting to fall. That was up until he face planted into the ground. Kytheon glanced over at Uraraka, who seemed borderline unconscious herself. Sighing, he began looking around before picking up Izuku over one shoulder and Uraraka over the other, beginning to trudge towards the entrance with slow, exhausted steps.
"What a bizarre test…" He mumbled.
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The other students all began gathering around Kytheon as he walked, staring at him. He looked them all over.
"Do any of you have a healing related quirk? Izuku needs medical attention now!"
"I'm here, I'm here…" a high voice came out. Kytheon looked to where the sound was coming from and saw a little old lady approaching. He sighed in relief.
'An elderly healer is a welcome sight, she must know what she's doing…' he thought to himself before setting Izuku on the ground as gently as possible. He also noticed that Uraraka was awake now, and he set her down as well, nodding in acknowledgement to her flustered thank you. He watched as from a single kiss from Recovery Girl as he heard some pompous sounding kid call her mended Izuku's frighteningly mangled limbs. The only reason he was able to handle the sight was because he had seen far far worse. The diminutive lady turned her attention to him.
"...You took that hit and are unscathed? Guess I won't be seeing you in my office then… Have a gummy." She said, handing him a few gummy bears before moving on. While he was never particularly fond of sweets, the sugar provided some very welcome energy to his body.
He decided to ignore the stares and mutterings from the other students and just sat down with a heavy sigh, glancing at the green haired kid lying on the ground.
"If he doesn't make it in… I'll hand myself over to Erebos personally." he mumbled to himself.
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It was one week later after the test. Kytheon had just gotten home from the gym Nemuri had paid for a membership for him to after she had found him trying to use the couch as a weight lift. He stepped out of the bathroom in a comfy robe and moved to the living room when he heard Nemuri return home. He glanced over.
"Hey Nemuri! How was work today?"
"Eh it was fine, captured some villains, cleared up some things for the future classes, and got a very interesting letter for you in the mail~" She teased, waving an envelope in the air. Kytheon blinked. Who could be sending him mail? Who even knew about him? That was when his eyes zeroed in on the red seal on the back of the envelope.
"Ah, the results came out today? Well, let's see what we've got then!" He said, groaning as he pushed his aching body out of the comfort of the couch. Nemuri chuckled.
"Now now, aren't you a little too young to be making those kinds of noises?"
"You're right, they're better suited for a geezer like you.." He shot back with a tired chuckle of his own.
Living with Nemuri was a strange time. Not only was it his first time having any kind of domestic life, she was a very strange person to try and live with. She almost reminded him of Liliana the way she teased and prodded, yet with Nemuri he never felt uneasy around her when she did it. He was always so uncomfortable around Liliana. But the concept of a domestic life was one he struggled with from time to time. Whether it was the various chores he never had the time to worry about before, or the concept of free time, there was always some new struggle around the corner. They both learned to agree that Kytheon should never try cooking unless the goal of the meal was to have unflavored grilled meat.
He took the letter from her and popped the seal, opening the packet and taking out the shiny silver disc. He walked over back to the couch and sat down, setting the disc on the table, where it burst to life.
"I AM HERE! As a projection!"
Kytheon flinched backwards in surprise, earning a hearty laugh from Nemuri as she came over to lean against the back of the couch as the grinning visage of All-might filled the air in front of them.
"Young Kytheon Iora, you passed the written exam by the skin of your teeth, but you put on such an astounding performance in the practical exam! With an incredible score of exactly seventy villain points! But that is not all!"
Kytheon blinked. He amassed that many points by taking out the robots? Come to think of it, he hadn't really been paying attention to the numbers… and it was mostly really large robots that were causing problems for the students he helped… might those have been three pointers? Nemuri smirked, having known all of this information ahead of time.
"How can a hero course reject people who save others and do the right thing? This is a job that requires risking one's life to put lip service into practice! We saw the speech you had made those several months back. You certainly live up to your unshakable moral code. When things seemed impossible, you immediately made the decision to sacrifice yourself to make sure that everyone could get out. Those decisions… I have seen even professional heroes fail to make that call." All-might looked very serious now. "Each student was also graded by rescue points. Given by a panel of judges that watched the performance of every student in the practical exam, it is the other basic quality we look for here at UA!"
Kytheon raised an eyebrow. So that was what the catch was. He knew there had to be something else beyond just taking out the villain robots. He knew that that does not guarantee a good hero. Any of the Eldrazi would have been able to pass the test had it just been the removal of villain bots.
"Kytheon Iora! You received a groundbreaking record of Seventy rescue points! I'll admit, even I was starting to get a bit sweaty under the collar when I thought you might even beat the record that I set… but I guess I lucked out! Ha ha!"
Kytheon fell back against the couch, unaware that he had been leaning forwards in the first place. So many points… He was at the top? No one was even close! He had no idea he had done that well!
"No way… oh hey! Ochako and Izuku made it as well! Nice!"
'Even in victory you still think of others first…' Nemuri mused to herself, looking down at her young charge with amusement. 'You will certainly go far in this world…'
"You passed with flying colors. So come, young Kytheon Iora! And welcome to your hero academia!"
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Well! I must admit that I did not expect to knock this chapter out nearly as fast as I did! Figured that I would cut out here and handle the whole class and testing business and all that mess in the next chapter, and get this wonderful mess out to you guys as soon as possible. Must be pretty bored during this quarantine, because I sure am if I am knocking out so much in such a short time! Granted this chapter is a bit on the short side, but if I tacked on the next part, who knows how long it would get. Anyways! I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Hero! And I'll see you all the next time when my sleep deprived brain decides to go on a rampage!