24/09/2022
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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 10 - First Meetings
"Don't worry, we'll find her," Hitoshi reassured Izuku as they made their way towards the exam.
Izuku looked at his purple haired friend. They were dressed in their uniforms and were surrounded by other Middle School kids. They were all here for the same reason - the entrance exam. They'd gotten up early and caught the train. For Izuku it was a little stupid, as he lived in Yokohama but his friends didn't know that, so he'd met them at the station and ridden the train here. At least the trip from Yokohama to the station had been via Kurogiri so it had been quick.
"I know," Izuku replied. "But I want to make sure you have time to meet Mei, not just say hi!" He explained.
"I'm sure we will be friends," Ochaco said.
"I know you will," Izuku assured her with a smile. He could hear that she was nervous. "And you are going to do great at the exam," he added.
She gave him a smile but still looked like she had used her quirk too much. Izuku grinned at her. "What's one by one?" he asked, in the tone of voice their teacher used.
"One," Ochaco answered.
"The capital of Australia?"
"Canberra," came the next response.
"The Battle of Sekigahara was when?"
"1600!"
Izuku grinned. "Three correct answers! You'll be fine, Ochaco!"
She did actually look a little better after his rapid fire questions. "Thanks, Little Dragon," Ochaco commented. "I'm still worried about the hero test though," she added.
At that, Izuku sighed.
"You'll be great at it," Hitoshi reassured their friend this time.
"But-"
"But nothing," Izuku interrupted before Ochaco could say anything further. They didn't know what the test would be like 'cos it changed every year. Well, that wasn't quite true. They knew some likely details. Even for a school like UA, there were only so many ways of testing students but they tended to mix and match. They knew what some aspects of the test were likely to be and had helped Ochaco practice as much as she could.
One thing that remained the same each year was the fact that the hero test required prospective students to use their quirks. They'd helped her practice and she could now hold an impressive amount of weight.
"I wish I had your confidence."
"It's not confidence if it's true," Izuku countered. "We all passed the practice exams," he reminded them. "And for the hero test, just remember to be a hero," he advised her. "Do your best and help people, and if that doesn't get you a pass, then-" He snorted dismissively. "They don't deserve you and another school will get the legacy of training the first revolutionary hero!"
And that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. They'd discussed that. UA had the reputation (and the statistics) as the best school, but as Hitoshi had determined years ago, most of UA's hero graduates were above ground heroes. They weren't underground heroes. Not that there was any problem with being a rescue hero. Those were the type of above ground heroes Izuku had the least problem with. They were usually really trying to help people in times of need. It was the patrol heroes, or the combat heroes who had the worst stats.
So yeah, if Ochaco could keep her word and become a revolutionary hero, one who showed the world what the lauded heroes of now were really like, and she had been trained by another school, then that would be a good thing.
"Target found!" An electronic voice interrupted anything Ochaco might have said in reply.
They all looked upwards, and Izuku saw the way the other groups of students around them did as well. Hovering in the air was something that looked like a flying camera. It had three little blade turrets for propulsion and that was really all he noticed before it zipped away. He grinned though. He didn't recognise it but he knew what it was, and that was confirmed when his phone beeped.
He pulled it out and looked at the message.
Wait there.
"Mei's found us," Izuku laughed, as he grabbed both of his friend's hands and dragged them to the side of the crowd, out of the movement.
"She found us?" Hitoshi asked.
"That was a finder," Izuku explained, jerking his chin upwards to indicate towards the small drone that was no longer visible.
"What the hell is a finder?" Hitoshi demanded.
Izuku grinned at him. "Something that finds stuff, of course," he gave the answer he knew Mei would be proud of. "It's one of her inventions," he added the explanation. "The very first one I bought."
"First!" The yell caught their attention before Hitoshi could say anything further.
"Mei!" Izuku called, waving in the girl's direction.
"Coming through! Excuse me! Out of the way!" The mutters began immediately and as they watched they saw Mei push her way through the crowd to them.
"First!" She said again when she came up to them.
Izuku smiled at her! "Mei! You haven't changed a bit!" He announced. If he was honest, he was a little worried how today might go. Sure, he spoke to Mei all the time but that was text! They hadn't actually seen each other for years. Photos didn't count. She really hadn't changed that much. She was taller and her hair was maybe a bit wilder, but he could see that there had been an obvious attempt to control it today. She was carrying a bag and her yellow eyes were as intense as always.
"You've gotten taller!" Mei announced.
"I was nine!" Izuku defended, feeling oddly insulted by the statement.
"And…" Mei did something with her eyes as she looked him up and down. It was like she was seeing everything and he felt almost naked beneath her gaze. "Looking good," she almost purred.
"Hey!" Izuku objected but he betrayed himself by blushing slightly.
Mei laughed, turning her attention to Hitoshi and Ochaco. "And this must be Control Freak and Space Girl!" She said, giving them their own looks.
"Space Girl?" Ochaco recovered before Hitoshi. The purple haired boy looked like he'd eaten a lemon, or something.
"Zero gravity quirk," Mei said absently. "What else was it going to be?" she asked, not expecting an answer.
Izuku gave Ochaco a look with a soft smile. It told her without words that he had warned her about Mei. He had, but he knew, from the reactions now, that they hadn't really believed him.
"So you'll be our first customer," Mei added before reaching out and squeezing Ochaco's bicep. "Good," she muttered. "Muscled. I don't really want to work with a hero who doesn't work at it."
"I have to pass first," Ochaco reminded the other teen.
"Pft! If First has faith in you, then it's a done deal," Mei dismissed the objection. "And as for you," she turned her attention to Hitoshi. Her yellow-green eyes speared him with a look and it was kind of funny. The saying that Hitoshi was caught in the cross hairs was actually true when it was Mei looking at him. "When you finally realise that people will be begging for your skills, come and see me," she instructed. "I already cleared it with First."
At that, Izuku could tell Hitoshi wasn't sure what to say. "Cleared what?" he finally settled on.
"Supplying you, of course," Mei told him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Hero's would be stupid not to take you as a specialist negotiator, or an interrogator and you don't need a hero licence for them, just a quirk use licence, which is enough for us to supply you."
Izuku laughed. "Done your homework, huh?" he teased.
"Someone had to," Mei told him, turning her gaze back to him.
Izuku held up his hands in defense. "I'm the silent partner, remember?"
"You don't have to be that silent!" She retorted.
"And I'm quality control and consumer feedback," he reminded her. He did all of that. He offered her suggestions on how to improve things, as if he was a customer, and also reminded her that her babies needed to be of a certain standard before they could go to market.
"Pft! I've told you before, First, failure is the mother of invention. Thomas Edison once said that. Just 'cuz a creation doesn't work as intended doesn't mean the effort is wasted-"
Izuku grinned. It was good to hear her say that for real but he wasn't going to let her get away with it. "And I've told you that paying customers expect a certain level of functionality with their products."
Mei just laughed at that. She didn't have to remind him that the life support helmet she'd created for his dad was functional beyond anything else she'd made. He paid for that functionality after all. "They'll get it," she assured him.
Izuku chuckled before he turned back to Hitoshi and Ochaco. This was going better than he had hoped for but he hadn't done proper introductions. "Ochaco, this is Mei, future Support Specialist extraordinaire," he said, waving vaguely towards the pink haired teen. "Mei, this is Ochaco, one of my oldest friends and future revolutionary hero," he introduced the two.
Mei gave Ochaco a smile. "Nice to meet cha."
Izuku could tell Ochaco still wasn't quite sure what to think of Mei but she nodded and held out her hand. The two of them shook.
"And this is Hitoshi," Izuku added, waving towards his purple haired friend. "Future negotiator for hire, and one of my best friends. And Hitoshi, this is Mei, future President of the most influential support company in the country."
"Nice to meet cha too!" Mei said with a grin as she shook Hitoshi's hand. "Though what First doesn't say is that he's the future highest paid Quirk Analyst and the CEO and Director of the Support Company, Mi Enterprises," she told his friends.
That got a weak laugh from Ochaco and Hitoshi smiled.
Izuku just basked in the knowledge that his friends were likely going to get along with each other. They each had their eccentricities but that wasn't a bad thing.
They would have spoken further but a bell chimed and almost as one they all looked towards their watches. "Gah!" Ochaco exclaimed and he could tell she was nervous again.
"It's just the entrance exam," Izuku said. "Not anything to worry about," he added.
"Just the entrance exam," Hitoshi murmured as they began walking towards the hall where it would be held. The first part of the exam for UA was the same, no matter what Course you were applying for. In the afternoon they held the specialist exams. There was one for the Hero course and one for the Support Course. Izuku and Hitoshi just had to get in on the single entrance exam.
Inasa has already sat his sponsored exam and performed in a quirk demonstration event but he refused to tell Izuku how it had gone. The other teen claimed he didn't want to distract him from his own exam.
"We're gonna be fine," Izuku reassured them. "Or does anyone want Hitoshi to calm them down?" he asked with a grin at his purple haired friend.
It almost looked like Ochaco would take him up on the offer but eventually she shook her head.
"Another day," Mei replied. "I wanna see what it's like," she explained.
Izuku nodded but Hitoshi looked a bit odd. Except for Izuku, no one really volunteered to have him use his quirk on them. "Well then," Izuku said, "let's go pass that exam!" He dragged them into the crowd that was making their way towards the huge hall that had been set up for this.
All they had to do was pass. That was easy, right?
-ted-
"Well, that wasn't too bad," Izuku said as he looked up at the sky. The first exam was in the morning. It was the general entrance exam for UA. The exams for the specialist courses were then held in the afternoon. Both Mei and Ochaco had to go to them.
They were currently in the intermission for lunch. The hall UA had chosen for the exams had a large park around it. It wasn't on UA grounds. Apparently the security was too tight at the school for that, so instead they hired out some sort of exhibition building. The park at least meant there was lots of space for the potential students to spread out for lunch and a few enterprising food vans had parked around the outside, offering different wares from the bentos people had brought with them.
"It was as bad as I thought it would be," Hitoshi countered.
Ochaco looked faintly sick again but she was eating so it couldn't be too bad.
"You ticked the options?" Izuku asked. At the end of the exam paper, there were a couple of boxes. They asked the students to nominate their preferred course. Obviously the Support and Hero course required the extra test but the Management and General Studies Courses took their students from those passing this one test. You could nominate your preferred course. Izuku had nominated Management, then General Studies but he figured Hitoshi had done it the other way around.
Ochaco and Mei would have nominated Heroics and Support first, and then General Studies or Management. He didn't really know which they might have picked as a second option although it was known that if you didn't get into the Heroics or Support Courses, you were automatically offered a place in General Studies - if your scores were high enough. UA did get to pick the best of the best after all so even if you were gifted, you had to have the brain to back it up.
All three of his friends nodded.
Izuku grinned. "Then between us we'll cover all of UA's courses," he said.
"You are pretty sure of that," Ochaco countered.
"Of course I'm sure of it," Izuku replied. "You will do fine," he reassured her.
"I hope so." She didn't sound sure.
"Ochaco," Izuku said seriously and waited for her to look at him. "You will be fine," he repeated. "All you need to do is be you. Do your best to show them how heroic you can be. Help people and that will be enough because I'm serious, if that's not enough then they don't deserve to have you and I won't enroll either."
At that, Ochaco blanched. "Now, you can't! You can't do that."
"Can't I?" Izuku challenged.
"Izuku, that's sweet but if I don't make it, then you shouldn't do that," Ochaco insisted. "Besides, if I don't make it into the Hero course, I'm gonna need your help to win the sport's festival and get in that way."
Izuku laughed.
"I'll help too!" Mei piped up. "By the time I outfit you, there's no way you could lose!"
"But that won't happen," Izuku said. "'Cos you are going to get in."
"Thank you, Little Dragon," Ochaco said softly.
"For what?"
She looked up to the sky before looking back at him with a smile. "I know you don't want me to be a hero, Izuku but you are supporting it anyway. You are a true friend."
He sighed. "I still think you are going to get hurt," he said sincerely. "But it is your choice and… I'll do my best to support you."
She smiled at him. "That's why he's a good friend, isn't it?" Ochaco said to Hitoshi.
He just gave her a flat look but smiled and nodded.
There was silence for a few moments. Even Mei knew it was sort of profound before Ochaco sighed and looked at her watch.
"We have to go soon," she said. "Are you sure you're okay to wait?" She asked, looking at Izuku and Hitoshi.
"We'll be fine. You can tell us all about the test on the train back," Hitoshi told her.
She smiled and pulled out her green charm. Izuku chuckled and pulled out his own as Hitoshi did as well. Mei looked a bit confused but Izuku was ready for that. "This one is for you," he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out the scale he'd made earlier for Mei. He'd already threaded it on to a strap of leather. He always intended to give her one today.
"What is it?" Mei asked, taking it and looking at the small green token.
"It's a friendship memento," Ochaco told her. "Little Dragon has given them to all of his friends."
Izuku nodded.
"Oh!" Mei said, though she looked a bit disappointed.
"No experiments?" Izuku asked, thinking that was probably what she was disappointed about.
The look she gave him told him he'd gotten it right. Izuku laughed and pulled another scale from his pocket and offered it to her. Izuku held onto it when Mei reached out to take it. "I want to see the experiment results," he said. It would be interesting to see her thoughts on the composition of his scales.
"Of course First!" Mei said as she took it and carefully put it into pocket. The other one she looped around her neck.
Ochaco held out her scale again. Hitoshi and Izuku both leaned in to touch theirs to hers and Mei followed suit. They tapped them together. Ochaco smiled and actually seemed to take some strength from the familiar gesture before she rose.
Mei also got up. "Catch you later," Hitoshi said, as he seemed to settle himself more comfortably on the grass.
Ochaco snorted. "Later!" She said, before heading back towards the testing hall. She had no idea how they were going to do this but she knew they had to be on time.
Izuku sighed as they walked off.
"They'll be fine," Hitoshi said, though it really did look like he was preparing to doze the afternoon away.
"I know they will," Izuku told his friend
"Will you be okay?"
"What?"
"Will you be okay when she gets in?" Hitoshi clarified his question.
Izuku thought about it for a few moments before he gave his friend a sad smile. "I will be, but I'm also going to be there to pick up the pieces," he added, reinforcing his belief that the heroes would hurt Ochaco.
"Or help her with the revolution?" Hitoshi gave an alternative.
Izuku gave a brief laugh. It showed his doubt. "Or help her with the revolution," he agreed. "Just the same as I'll help you," he added.
Hitoshi gave him a sharp look. It looked odd coming from the reclining teen. "But who's going to help you?" he asked pointedly.
"You all will," Izuku answered, flopping back onto the grass. "You all will," he repeated because he knew, no matter what choice he made for his future, his friends would be there.
He hoped. No… he knew it. He would stand by them and they would stand by him… it might be painful but… they'd do it.
He had faith.
-ted-
Well, there we are. Izuku's friends have met. Obviously not Himiko, since he hasn't reunited with her but the others have, and where better to meet than the UA entrance Exam? :D Of course Izuku and Hitoshi aren't going to do the Hero exam so this will be the first of the major differences with canon... not withstanding that AFO raised Izuku :D and he made friends with people before canon time. Those are changes but those are butterfly wings... the wind from those wing beats are beginning to spread.
My discord is on this code: ZX2R5h2cEm FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out.
-ted-
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