BEEP BOOP IT'S UPDATE TIME. A little late I know but I'm an adult and I can do what I want. YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD.

Anyway this chapter covers quite a bit of time so prepare. ENJOY EVERYONE!


It had been a difficult week for Izuku. Coming home and explaining to his mother that he had burnt his dreams to a crisp because he had thrown himself at a giant robot to save a girl had been hard, far harder than he'd imagined it'd be.

It had been especially tough to hear his mother curse U.A.'s name for 'just wanting violent thugs and not heroes'. She had assured him, over and over, that his actions would count for something, they had to, they had been heroic after all. At one point Izuku had literally been forced to place himself between her and her phone to make sure she didn't call them and scream them out on his behalf.

Izuku knew that results were results. Zero points were zero points no matter how one looked at it.

It didn't help that as the week went on he had to suffer through Katsuki's constant bragging. Somehow word had gotten out about his zero points and the ridicule had reached epic proportions. More than once Izuku had been forced to stop the rage of the thing from melting the skin from Katsuki's grinning, mocking face. Those times, of course, meant that his scars had erupted with fire-burning pain, causing even more mockery.

Yeah, it'd been a week to say the least.

"We can kill him." The thing tempted, snake-like along his skull for the hundredth time that week, "Our blood is-"

"We can shut up." Izuku grumbled as he approached the steps to his home. He was getting increasingly sick of the thing's attitude lately. It was concerning him that it seemed to no longer just be content with a handful of words, it was forming full sentences now. He knew it was a consequence of his training and couldn't be helped, but it did make ignoring it a hell of a lot harder.

He opened his front door with a sigh, wondering just how he would tell his mother that he needed to up his medication again. However, he didn't even get the chance to mention it, the second the door was open Inko was upon him.

"IZUKUUU!" The teenager jumped in shock as his mother shoved something at his chest, her eyes filled with anxious tears. "IT'S HERE!"

"Destiny calls us."

The boy hid a wince as the hiss within his skull instead focusing his eyes down to the object his mother had practically assaulted him with. It was a letter, with the seal of U.A. stamped to the back. He took it from her with a shaking hand, his eyes growing wide.

"Open it!" Inko quickly insisted. "Come on, I want to see your face when you get accepted!"

"I-I-" Izuku stammered for a moment before gripping the letter tightly. "I'm going to my room."

Inko's face fell. "But-"

"Please, mom. Just, let me just do this alone, okay?" And without looking at her he pushed past his mother, storming towards his room before his heart could be caught in his throat.

He didn't want her to see him cry when his dreams finally fell apart.

The murky darkness of his room was welcoming. Odd how he always felt better in dark places. The voices came in clearer and louder in dark, and the thing was always more willing to make itself known at night, but Izuku couldn't help but feel like the shadow offered some kind of comfort to him. It was harder to see how damaged he was when he could barely see his own hands. Besides, lights didn't seem to like him anyway, any strong emotion caused them to flicker and fail.

Making his way to his computer desk he sat down and laid the envelope flat out before him. For a long moment he wondered if he should even bother opening it, he knew he had failed, he should just throw it in the trash now, right?

Katsuki's laughing, mocking face drifted into his thoughts and he found himself scowling. His self-loathing suddenly turned to irritation, and then quickly to anger. His scars flared and as if snapping into action he reached forward and tore the letter open with a grunt of deep-seated frustration.

Out popped an odd silver ash-tray like disk that clattered onto his desktop and then a second later lit up with activation.

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!"

The sudden bright light and loud shouting almost blinded the boy and he scrambled backward, nearly falling out of his desk chair.

The huge face of All Might grinned down at him from the projection and suddenly pulled back. The scene was a colorful one, all flashing stripes, bright gold and red drapes framing the huge form of the man who seemed to be dressed in what Izuku first thought was a banana suit but quickly realized it was his vintage interview suit from countless T.V. appearances.

Almost instantly there was a growling, blood and bone soaked whisper that scraped through his brain. "The Fading King."

Izuku, however, ignored it, the very shock of seeing his hero pushing all other thoughts aside.

"You're probably wondering why I am presenting this video! Well, let me announce to you that I, ALL MIGHT, will be teaching at U.A. this year as part of the hero course!" Izuku winced as just how loud he announced his own name, yet even so he couldn't hide how incredibly giddy it was making him to have All Might talk right to him. He wasn't technically talking to him of course, but it still pretty cool. It was also interesting to learn that he would be teaching, how lucky for the students who would get onto the course.

Not that he would ever be there to see him person.

"Now, let me see here." He held up a piece of paper and Izuku could almost see the cogs in his mind working. "You are… Izuku Midoriya." Izuku's heart lit up as his hero spoke his name, and even more so when the giant of a man clearly seemed to recognize him. "Wait, that rings a bell, didn't I- What?" He looked to one side. "What do you mean wrap it up? I- right but- alright fine." He sighed loudly. "Anyway, congratulations on passing the written exam, good on you! However, in the practical you scored zero points. Sorry about that."

Izuku felt like gravity was gripping him tighter than it ever had done. He could almost feel his body sink down into his chair and begin the process of collapsing onto the floor. His heart tore as he heard the words spoken by his hero. Zero points. There it was, in banana yellow, clear as day.

"That is, of course, a fail… if that's all we were counting on!" Gravity stopped working. Izuku shot up in his chair and his hands gripped his pants tightly. "Ha!" All Might put his giant fists onto his hips. "Bet that woke you up! Now, check out this video! TA-DAAA!" From within his suit he whipped out a remote and the camera panned to one side, showing a giant T.V. screen.

With a click it came to life and there she was. The girl with the brown bob hair, the girl he had saved from the zero-pointer, dressed in her school uniform approaching Present Mic, unmistakable in his black leather and pointing hair. "Hey, erm, Mr. Present Mic? Sir? Erm, do you remember a boy? He had curly green hair and, erm, scars," And she made a cross across her face with a finger, causing Izuku to wince and feel suddenly very self-conscious. "Well, in the exam, he- I heard him say he didn't have any points but- but he saved me from that big zero pointer!"

Izuku felt something inside him. Something he wasn't sure if he'd ever felt before. Something warm and… good. Something that made him straighten up just a little more and raise his chin just slightly. Something that sent a tingle of heat along his scars that didn't seem to hurt.

Pride. He felt pride.

"Well, I- I think he should have some of my points! If he didn't stop to save me he could have- I mean- It's unfair that he should do that and still get nothing, you know?" She bowed suddenly to the DJ and, in a shaking voice, loudly asked, "Please, let me give him some of my points, please!"

Present Mic chuckled and patted the girl on the head. "I'm sorry, female caller, but you can't pass your points to anyone else. Don't worry about that kid though, we saw it all and trust me, he's fine."

Izuku's jaw hung open. No one other than his mother had ever been that kind to him. No one had ever stuck their neck out like that, no one had ever shown him such sympathy. He was shaking and tears were forming at his eyes as he watched the camera pan back to refocus on All Might, who had apparently been standing and watching the entire time.

"The other teachers told me that it's been a long time since anyone has done that after an entrance exam. It's a sign that you not only used your quirk in sacrifice of yourself, but you spurred another to do something kind in return." All Might turned back to the camera, his ever present grin no longer humorous and friendly, but something different, something determined and strong and powerful. "And believe me, they took notice. You see it's not simply raw, destructive power that gains you points in the exam. Being a hero isn't all about beating up bad guys, you know. It's about saving lives while risking your own, doing whatever it takes to make sure others are safe. That's why we have," And he paused for dramatic effect, "RESCUE POINTS!"

He thrust a finger into the air where the camera panned up to reveal a giant scoreboard. Right there in neon green read his name and then villain points, zero, rescue points… sixty.

Tears felt from Izuku's eyes, though this time they were no longer of fear, terror and self-hatred. They were hot and heavy and joyful. His body was almost bursting from the emotions he felt now like a typhoon inside his heart. Unfamiliar burning pride, alien joy and the brightest, hottest and most pleasantly-painful of all, hope. His fingers gripped the desk so tightly they went white and his scars tingled sharply with the heat of roiling power.

But Izuku didn't care. All he could think about was the screen before him and the iron grin of imposing purpose on All Might's face as he reached out towards the camera. "Izuku Midoriya. You passed the exam."

Izuku was on his feet though he couldn't remember when it'd happened. The emotion in his chest was almost overwhelming, every color around him seemed sharper, every noise seemed louder but he didn't care. He didn't care because it didn't matter, all that mattered was this moment, right here, right now.

All that mattered was that his dream wasn't dead.

"So I welcome you, young Midoriya. From this moment forward, you are officially a student at U.A. High."

His scream was so loud that Inko burst into the room from her pacing outside, expecting the worst but pausing when she saw her son. In the dim light it was clear, his scars glowing softly with that terrible inner furnace he was cursed with and yet when he turned to her she felt no horror, despite his clenched fists and bared teeth.

Because she had never seen him stand so tall and on his face was a smile she thought he'd forgotten he had.

"I did it, Mom, I got in."

Within a second she was embracing him, arms wrapping around his warm body as his arms wrapped around her. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it." Tears fell from both their eyes as they sobbed from their shared joy. "This is proof. You're destined for great things, Izuku."


"YOU BASTARD!" The explosion went off right by Izuku's ear, causing a sharp pain to rip through his head and a ringing sound to knock him dizzy. "HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET IN? YOU FUCKING CHEATING FUCK!"

It was just the two of them. Called in especially to be thanked by their old homeroom teacher for making the class proud, though he seemed prouder of Katsuki than Izuku. It didn't matter. Izuku had his own pride now. Dusty and rusting, sure, but it was his and no one could take it from him. Not anymore.

Though Katsuki was doing a damn good job of trying. "K-K-Kaachan, p-p-please I-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP." There was a sudden hand on his shirt, throwing him against the old brick wall of the school and Izuku's senses felt overwhelmed by the smell of burning smoke and nitroglycerin.

"This was my destiny! My future! And now you're trying to get your stupid shitty hands on it! I was supposed to be the only one to get into U.A. from this bullshit school!" His grip tightened and Izuku almost choked as the air was cut from his throat. "YOU RUINED IT FOR ME!"

For a moment Izuku almost apologized, anything to stop Katsuki from beating him for daring to step forwards out of the misery of his own life.

But then the voice of his personalized hell hissed into his mind with the fury of a thousand swinging swords, "We are shadow and fire! We are not weak! Fight back! COWARD, FIGHT BACK!"

Heat exploded across Izuku's scars swift and angry. A week ago he may have cried and panicked and attempted to do all he could to stop the thing from seizing control, resulting no doubt in his scars lighting on fire and bringing him to his knees screaming in pain.

But that was a week ago. Things had changed.

"Kaachan." His voice went low as inside he grabbed tight onto the pride he had rediscovered. The pride that he was on his own path, that he could be a hero, he had proven it to himself. He could do it. Suddenly his fingers were curling around Katsuki's wrist. "G-Get your fucking hand o-off me."

Katsuki's heart skipped a beat. The air was raising around them, his mouth suddenly felt dry and his fury was marred by something he was unfamiliar with. Something that stabbed hard into his gut and twisted like barbed wire.

Izuku looked up and their eyes met. Katsuki could swear that something was wrong with Izuku's gaze, it seemed darker somehow, as if all the light had been snuffed out of him. All except for his striking green irises which he swore were glowing with something that made his soul shudder.

Izuku's mouth curled from a fearful apprehension to a wolf's growl and a quick thought shot through Katsuki's confused, spinning mind. Since when did Deku have fangs?

"I got in on my own merits, no cheating, no scheming. I got in on my own blood and sweat and tears." He shoved Katsuki back suddenly and, to his silent surprise, the taller boy let go, stumbling backward. Izuku's guts were twisting in fear, panic was pulping his heart and his head was dizzy with the dread that any second Katsuki would swing that terrible right hook at his face.

But Izuku could feel the pride of his spirit and the pulsing of vicious, infectious power from the thing. He let it carry him.

Izuku whirled on Katsuki, his hand curling into a fist as he stood before him, his hair moving just slightly in the rising heat. "I'm going to U.A. and nothing you do can stop me!"


"Do the doors really need to be this big?" Izuku asked himself as he stood outside his new classroom. Everything in U.A. was vast and imposing. At first, he thought it was an accessibility thing, but now he was starting to wonder if it was just for show. Having a few statues of famous heroes around was one thing but this was getting a little silly.

Still, he was here. He was wearing the uniform he had kept pressed and clean for a full two weeks before he even set off for U.A. His backpack rested on his shoulders, filled with school equipment that he had checked and rechecked a hundred times, and his mother had checked at least a thousand.

"This is a temple to vainglory." The thing hissed from within his brain, its voice a thousand burning fires, a thousand drowning screams, "We belong in shadow."

"We belong here." Izuku found himself mumbling, his hands gripping tighter onto his shoulder straps. "We- I earned this."

The thing didn't reply, yet somehow, he could almost feel its smirk from within his heart.

He really needed to talk to his mother about upping his medication. It was irritating how easy he was becoming with answering it back and it troubled him that more than once he had been caught into its little game of answering with we and not I.

It was also irritating how he was getting used to seeing monsters, no longer just small shadows or scuttling imps but actual, people-sized monsters. He had even spotted something flying through the sky the size of a car late one night.

His episodes were becoming more oppressive, more sinister. Fear and gut aching anxiety gripped him every time he spotted something that he knew wasn't real, even if he was sadly getting used to the feeling of horror every time he turned his head to see something with far too many eyes and legs and arms creeping towards him.

And yet they would never touch him, never grab him or hurt him. They simply vanished once they got too close, being things invented in his own mind they weren't actually real. It didn't make it any less terrifying of course but it was the one small comfort he could take.

Medication would solve it all though. To drown his head in fog until he couldn't focus anymore. He could go back to being a walking zombie, free of terror but free of pretty much any other emotion too.

And yet he knew to be a hero he had to use the thing. Even if he upped the medication there was a decent chance within a year he'd be back to this point again. Not to mention it would certainly effect his class performance.

He sighed, now wasn't the time to think about this. He could push it off until he couldn't push it off any longer, which was clearly a great plan with no downside.

Besides, this was his first day in class. This was his golden opportunity to reinvent himself. Not as the ash-brained, creepy and useless Izuku Midoriya of Orudera Middle, but as the friendly and confident and absolutely not creepy Izuku Midoriya of U.A. High. As his shaky confidence gathered in his chest he stepped forward and opened the door.

And immediately his heart sank into the floor.

"Get your feet off the desk!" The tall, teacher-like teenager that Izuku had been so helpfully glared at in the exam stood, arms in an almost perfect ninety-degree angle as he shouted at… Katsuki Bakugo.

'God hates me.'

"That is probably true."

Katsuki smirked at the taller boy. "Huh? Shut the hell up four-eyes."

"That is incredibly disrespectful!" The taller teenager almost reeled in shock. "How can you be so rude to your fellow classmates on your first day?"

"Because you're a fucking side-character." Katsuki smirked as he folded his other foot over the desk. "So get lost."

"I-Agh, look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot." The taller teenager put a hand to his chest. "My name is Tenya Iida and I-"

"I'm already bored of you, Jesus fucking Christ I hope the whole fucking class isn't like-" Amber-red eyes landed on Izuku and the boy froze in place. Izuku expected the blonde to rise from his seat, march over and immediately begin pummeling him for the rebellion he had shown him weeks before.

But there was nothing. Just a look that caused Izuku's stomach to twist and a snarl as Katsuki turned his head away.

Well that was… different. Izuku almost shuffled into the room, deciding to take full advantage of Katsuki's apparent kindness and-

"You! Stop!" Tenya's voice called out to him and suddenly every eye in the class was on him. Izuku felt a rush of warmth across his scars as he froze utterly in place, his heart hammering in his chest as anxiety kicked him in the lungs.

"I-I-"

Before he could even reply the teenager was marching over to him like some kind of uniformed robot. "I am Tenya Iida from Somei Private Academy and-"

"The Mechinason takes such pride in his pathetic lineage. It's almost embarrassing."

"H-Hi!" Izuku's voice squeaked out, desperate to drown out the voice of his curse. "I heard! My name is Izuku Midoriya, i-it's a pleasure to m-meet you."

"Midoriya. I must apologize." Now that threw Izuku off and for a second he simply stared blankly at his new classmate. "You figured out there was something more to the exam. I underestimated you based on your appearance," He looked to one side as if in deep shame, "Clearly you are better than me."

"Yes, we are."

"No! No I'm not! I really had no idea, I just did what I-"

"Oh! It's curly hair!" The familiar voice caused him to turn suddenly and there she was, like an actual beam of sunshine, the girl from the exam.

"The useless bitch is here too? This is a waste of our time."

Izuku almost growled at that, instead, however, he forced a smile to his face as he announced. "Oh! Yeah, it's me. H-Hi there."

A sudden thought hit him. She had been close when he had used the thing, close enough to see him if she had opened her eyes. A horror crept into his heart as he realized that there was a good chance that she knew what the thing looked like.

"Oh man, you know I never thanked you for saving my butt in the exam, ha!" She reached forward suddenly and lightly punched him on the arm. "You were amazing though!"

The creeping horror stopped. "… amazing?"

"Amazing?"

"Yeah! Like, BAM," She swung her fist down suddenly, "And it was all, like, one paaaaanch and everything! I don't know how you did it but damn it was cool!" She laughed suddenly and smiled at Izuku. "My name is Uraraka Ochaco, nice to meet you, again!"

Izuku, at some point, had gone a bright beet red. Never in his life had anyone used the words 'cool' and 'amazing' when referring to him and, quite honestly, he had no idea how to deal with it. Did people just… accept compliments like that? Should he say something back? Was there some social ritual to being called cool? Would he be un-cool if he even acknowledged he was called cool?

This was somehow just as terrifying as the thought of Uraraka possibly knowing what the thing looked like.

"W-well I didn't r-really-"

"Finally, you're all here." The new voice was not one of a student, that was immediately apparent. Izuku looked over Uraraka's shoulder only to see what looked like a giant yellow caterpillar. One with a human face.

Fear crept up his spine and he gritted his teeth. Now was not the time to be having an episode! He almost turned away and marched to his seat from sheer desperation when Uraraka turned too and it hit him like a bucket of ice cold water to the face. This wasn't an episode, that thing was real.

The caterpillar stood up and looked out over the classroom from its position in the doorway. His voice was low, almost droning, yet laced with a subtle authority that demanded attention. "It took you all eight seconds to shut up. This won't do. You kids aren't logical enough." He sighed heavily and the caterpillar began unzipping itself, revealing its skin to be nothing more than a sleeping bag.

Out stepped what Izuku first thought was some kind of hobo and he wondered if he should call campus security. However, there was something in the way the man held himself, the way his exhausted, bloodshot eyes scanned the classroom that told him he was judging the book by its cover.

"A Son of David?"

Izuku caught himself before he could react to the comment. What the hell was it talking about now? It didn't matter, half of what it said was just nonsense to upset him anyway.

"This is the hero course, I expect you all to be better than this." He stepped forwards and again scanned the class with tired eyes, causing, as Izuku noticed, more than a few of his classmates to shrink from his gaze. "I am your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa."

A collective gasp rose from the classroom as Izuku stared at the strange man. His gaze grew even wider as the disheveled teacher reached into his sleeping back and drew out a blue, red and white looking outfit. "These are your gym clothes. Put them on and meet me on field A in ten minutes. No slacking."

"But- but, we're supposed to be attending our opening ceremony!" Uraraka's whining voice rang out suddenly and it was joined by a few murmuring agreements.

Shota frowned. "It's a waste of time. All you need to know is that you're on the hero course and that we only expect the best. That's why you're going out into the field, I need to test you all on your physical and quirk-related abilities. Now you have nine minutes, I suggest you get moving."


Yeah! Did y'all enjoy? I hope so!

Btw remember last week when I talked about removing things to keep within word limits? That whole beginning bit that was covered in a paragraph, Inko complaining about U.A., that was an ENTIRE SCENE that was written out in full before I decided to remove it. I really hated doing so because I love it when people write Inko as a woman with strength rather than some bystander. Inko would move mountains for her son, the manga/show shows us this in spades, so why do people insist on making her some wilting flower?

Still, we're FINALLY in the classes which means FINALLY I can start really going places with the AU aspect of the fic. Oh yes, from this point forward expect some decent sized swerves.

Hope you all enjoyed reading, till next time my dear peeps!

P.S. Who can guess what 'Son of David' means? There's an imaginary cookie in it for you if you do!