"More! More!"
"You've got it cutie!"
*BOOM*
Another wave of rockets were launched and exploded into the night sky, like a rain of flowers made of light and sound.
Every summer, UA held a small summer festival on campus for the students who couldn't make it back to their hometowns during the holiday. Izuku simply took it as a chance to bring Eri out to have some much needed summer fun, they had food stalls by the business course, game stalls by GenEd and of course…
"Oooh those ones were the prettiest Mei-Mei! Like Kanamin-san's Tsuki-Tsuki Flash!"
"I have no idea what that means!" Hatsume replied as she hit another switch.
*BOOM*
Izuku sweat dropped, at least now he knew why Eri loved being around Hatsume so much. The fireworks were going off one after the other, mindlessly entertaining the fun-starved college students as well as the locals. Well, as long as Eri was entertained he didn't mind-
"Izuku! Izuku! Can we bring some fireworks back to play?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" With his luck and Hatsume's track record the entire campus would be engulfed in flames.
"But Mei-Mei says it's ok!" Eri argued.
"It's ok!"
"That doesn't make it ok!" Not from the girl who caused the second most explosions in UA.
"Let's just keep the fireworks to tonight ok? We're never going to get a chance once the new semester starts anyway."
"Mou… ok…" Eri adorably pouted.
"Kero, I knew I'd find you around here Midoriya-chan."
Izuku turned around to see… three familiar faces?
It was Tsuyu Asui with two similarly frog faced kids.
"Ah, Asui-san!"
"Kero?" / "Kero?" / "Kero?" All three froglike siblings responded.
"This is why I keep telling you to call me Tsuyu-chan."
"Ehe…" Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Not everyday you bring your siblings to school, Tsuyu-san."
"That's not the point, Kero. And you forgot the -chan."
"Nee-chan, nee-chan! You didn't tell me you were friends with him!" The froglike boy enthusiastically yelled at his sister.
"Kero, don't be rude Samidare-chan."
"B-but did you see the way he beat the Endeavour kid!? It was like-POW- and BAM, with his bare hands! UA's strongest delinquent is awesome!"
Strongest delinquent? That almost made Izuku want to cry, was this going to be his legacy? What was he going to put on his resume when he graduates? Got over a hundred counts of detention and beat the number one hero's kid once? Such Misfortune!
"Sami-chan! Midoriya-chan doesn't like hearing about that! Unlike you he's trying to become a productive member of society."
The tears were starting to well up in Izuku's eyes. Finally! Someone with an actual positive opinion on him!
"Besides, Kero. He beat Bakugou-san into a bloody pulp too."
"Hrk!" Never mind!
"Ah, don't worry Midoriya-chan. Ochako-chan explained the whole situation to me, that was very… sweet of you."
"Ah, I see…" Izuku replied with a shaky smile. "So what brings your family along Tsuyu-san?"
"Kero. I wanted to spend some time with Samidare and Satsuki here, this just so happens to be the best place to do it, with all the time our internships are taking and everything. Kero. Besides, this may be the last summer festival I get to spend with them until I graduate with the provisional licence exam coming up and all."
Right, Ochako mentioned something like that. Start of next semester they would all be second years. The hero students would have to start intensive training in order to get their provisional licences for their work studies. Soon Ochako, Shinsou, Kacchan and the others would be one step closer to being full fledged heroes. And Izuku… was just barely scarping by.
After everything he'd been through it almost felt like Izuku was regressing while everyone was pushing forward. Sometimes Izuku even felt like life was less complicated before he recalled all the memories he did, like the previous Midoriya Izuku had even less of an idea of who Midoriya Izuku was than he did.
"Hey, Midori-Onii-san!" A voice broke Izuku out of his stupor.
"Hmm?"
"Why aren't you in the hero course with my Nee-san? You were totally badass in the sports festival!"
"Asui Samidare! I told you that's enough!"
"But Nee-chan!"
"If Mdoriya-chan doesn't want to be a hero, then that's his choice. Just because something seems right on the surface for you doesn't mean he's obliged to follow through with it!"
Izuku kneeled down next to the froggy boy. "You want to be a hero don't you?"
"Eh?"
Izuku chuckled. "Just like your big sister, you want to be a hero that beats up villains for the sake of justice don't you?"
Samidare blushed. "I mean… if I got the chance and I manage to pass the exam then maybe…"
"Samidare, you want to be a hero?"
"No, I-I can't…"
Izuku looked thoughtfully. "Why not?"
"B-Because… I'm too weak."
"Weak? Your sister has the same quirk as you, and she's a terrific hero."
"Yeah, but she's Nee-san. She's always been amazing like that, she's been taking care of me and Satsu-chan since-like… Forever! And she still made valedictorian in high school and passed the UA hero exam! But I'm… I'm me…"
"And what's wrong with that?"
"EVERYTHING! I can't do half the things with 'Frog' that she can! My grades are barely hanging on, and I can't even compare with any of the top tier quirks in my middle school!"
"Kero. Samidare…" His sister put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to go down the exact same path as me, being a hero is not about being the best in your grade."
"But it is about being the best in the country isn't that right?"
The froggy family turned to look at Izuku.
"I'm not going to sugar coat things and say that you can do it if you try your best, I've had more than enough of that and I still failed the hero exam. That's why I want to tell you right now that you can't become a hero just by goodwill alone."
"Midoriya-chan…"
"So if you really want to be a hero like your sis, if you want to pass that exam you're going to have to start training. Not anything to difficult right now, but that push, that drive to start improving yourself is so much more important. Best of all you have the perfect mentor right by your side."
Samidare took a look at his big sister.
"Take it from someone who was in denial until it was too late, do everything to the best of your ability while you still have the time for it, and that includes your studies too. No one's gonna want a dimwit for a hero got it?"
"R-Right! Thank you Midoriya-senpai!"
"Senpai?" It felt weird being called senpai as a first year.
"Izuku! Izuku! Come take a look at this one! It's huge!"
"Ah! Eri-chan! Hatsume! Let me take a look before you set that one off!"
The froggy siblings stared on as Izuku ran off.
"You were right Nee-chan. Midoriya-senpai wasn't what I expected at all."
"Kero, told you."
"But compared to the one I was imagining… I think I like the real version much better."
"Of course you do. Kero." Tsuyu ruffled her brothers hair.
*BOOM*
A large plume of fire was set off, as they saw Izuku trip over something in the distance.
"After all it's the version of him I fell in love with…"
