Disclaimer: I do not own anything of My Hero Academia (Boku No Hiro Academia), manga or anime, or it's character therein. I do not have any rights to Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine or am I partnered with Kohei Horikoshi so in no way do I make any form of profit of off this. I do this on my own dime and time.
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Author's Note: Got some complaints about how some students that were also taking the entrance exam, about the comments they made after Izuku defeated the 'Gimmick'. Gotta say, didn't think that little reader's trap would work so well. Both in the manga and in the anime, there are students that made those same kinds of comments, basically word for word which means that kind of BS was there before I even had the idea for this story and it isn't the only time that this kind of BS happens in canon. I put that into the story as a trap so that anyone who thinks that Captain America's shield and/or what it can do is BS, well then, those comments have no merit because they are already ignoring what's canon, or rather what's BS canon and as my disclaimer state: I do not own anything of My Hero Academia.
So it made no sense that other students were keeping track of Izuku during the battle simulation? Tenya Iida in the manga literally said when the time limit was up and after Izuku defeated the 'Gimmick': "That's not it! Weren't they even watching?! He jumped in to save the girl! The time remaining...his own safety...what he needed to pass… There was a lot to consider." Can't argue that he only watched that one moment since you can't say that UNLESS the character HAD actually been watching more than just one fight or student because 'what he needed to pass' literally means that Tenya had a general idea already of the score Izuku had and the only ones that had any kind of a scoreboard during that part of the exam that showed all the students' points was in the observation room with the teachers. Can't even use it as an 'after the event' argument because again, you would have to ignore what Tenya said in the manga as well as what the other students said in the anime.
The old saying: the devil is in the details. And this time, a canon detail trapped all the complainers and that devil is smiling with a pitchfork in his hands. And best of all, the original author was the one who put it in the series itself.
I am easily expecting arguments to come my way trying to say I'm wrong regardless. But hey, if I'm not making someone annoyed or mad for a story they chose to read of their own free will, then I am not reaching all the readers. And some of the readers are more than ready to complain about what's canon than what I wrote, hence the reader's trap.
So now, on with the story….
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Chapter 5: Heavy Metal
It had been over a week since the Entrance Exam and Izuku Midoriya was starting to get worried. He had considered giving a call to All Might right after the exam itself was over but kept deciding against it every day since. There was a part of him that felt that he failed All Might because he didn't score any points on the practical part of the exam. He figured that his score on the written part was above passing at least but even he knew that if you fail half of a test than it doesn't matter how well you did on the other half.
But that wasn't the only thing that had been on his mind. It was the fact that Izuku could still remember what happened after he had thrown the shield at that giant robot and how everything that followed filled him with more questions about the shield than ever before.
It was why he was out on Dagoba Municipal Beach Park at this moment. He needed a place to think and he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to tell his own mother what happened at U.A. High. Izuku knew that he would have to tell her everything including the part where he injured himself so severely that if it wasn't for the school nurse and her healing quirk, then there was a good chance his arm would have to be amputated because of the damage he caused to himself. Telling a parent that you got hurt that badly during a simple test to get into a school, there were only three kinds of reaction that happen after said parent heard it.
And the odds were better than good that his mother wouldn't even let him out of the house as some kind of extra parental insurance.
So, there was Izuku Midoriya sitting on the steps that led to the beach looking out at the ocean and lost deep within his own thoughts about the object that was in his hands.
His first thoughts reviewed what he knew about the shield before the battle simulation. That it was capable of absorbing significant impacts and that it was capable of rebounding off of solid objects in ways that didn't seem possible unless some kind of quirk was involved. That thought carried Izuku over the knowledge that was discovered by Valhalla and her quirk. If what she said was true, and at this point there was no longer any doubt about that, that the shield was made of materials that seemed to not exist and yet do at the same time. Even with Mei backing up that claim with her tests on the shield still made that piece of information rather hard to acknowledge wholly.
Before the fight with the giant robot, Izuku's mind made the decision that the shield was what it was, a shield meant to protect the person wielding it and if skilled enough, to be used as a possible offensive weapon as well.
But after the fight, after seeing what the shield did when he threw it.
Well, that pretty much answered a question that Izuku didn't even think about even as a joke.
Izuku knew that if a piece of metal was thrown hard enough and fast enough, it could easily pierce through other metals even if the thrown piece of metal was technically softer than the metal it was thrown against. Tornadoes, typhoons and hurricanes were more than capable of creating wind speeds that could affect an object and have it do something under other conditions would be more or less impossible.
That being the case, then Izuku felt that he should have thrown the shield clear out of the country after the shield flew through the robot.
That it should have not somehow come flying back to him like it did. But it did.
Over and over in his mind Izuku tried to remember clearly if he somehow threw the shield in a way that made it so that the shield would return to him like a boomerang. But for some reason, his mind wasn't showing him a clear mental picture of that moment when he threw the shield. Only a faint impression that the choice he made in throwing the shield was the correct one.
Was the impression coming from the quirk he now possessed? That it came from One For All?
Izuku realized that he might have accepted that concept as the only logical answer or the only path to the correct answer. But with what he knew now about the shield, Izuku knew he had to think of other possibilities with some of them being the kind he never would have considered seriously.
Which led him to that hidden memory that Valhalla showed them that was within the shield.
It was easy enough to look up some historical documents on the internet and track down the time and location that the memory took place. It didn't surprise Izuku at all that he didn't see someone matching the description even remotely during the event of what was called D-Day back in 1944, the landing at Normandy Beach. The teenager might've have considered that what he saw was some kind of mixed up memory, something akin to a dream. But that felt wrong on two counts with one being that Valhalla somehow got the two mixed up, a memory or a dream, and that was what felt wrong.
She said that she hand seen such a thing less than 10 times in her life and Izuku was willing to accept, for now, that a rare event was more accurate and with credibility especially if a Pro-Hero said so.
Back to what he found on that historical event, if someone wore a uniform that was rather bright in terms of color and was running towards a cliff face that had manned gun turrets and mortar cannons constantly firing off rounds then without question that those who were shooting would do so at something that caught their attention the most. The shield being bulletproof was easily a fact without question but if it took explosive hits from mortar fire and never got damaged in the slightest or at all then that opened up more possibilities about the shield's potential.
From what he could learn about in how strong weapons were during World War II, if a mortar shell hit the shield dead on but never broke meant the shield could take several sticks of dynamite. Izuku considered asking Valhalla if he ever met her again to see if the hidden memory contained any instances where the shield was used to block against tank fire. Might have been a ridiculous idea but again Izuku reminded himself that what the shield show that it could do was already ridiculous to the known laws of physics.
On a lighter side of things, imagining a scene where the shield deflected tank fire created a thought in where Bakugou was using his quirk against the shield while Izuku was wielding it and the look of pure frustration appearing on his face that his explosive quirk was render ineffective against the shield did bring a smile to Izuku's face.
But that smile faded when his mind decided to playback the memory of him meeting with Mei Hatsume after the exam to show her what happened to the jacket. Izuku felt bad showing her what happened to her 'precious super cute baby' but remember how worried he got when he watch Mei switch from open depression to indifference and then to energetic imagination exploring faster than the human eye can blink. He never even got the chance to ask her how she did in getting into the Support Course at U.A. High.
The other students that were taking the Hero Course entrance exam showed confidence in their abilities but somehow Mei was either supremely confident in her abilities or already knew she was accepted by U.A. High which meant nothing could ruin her mood that day. Granted Izuku knew very little of what was required to get into the Support Course and how many applicants U.A. High would normally accept but still getting into U.A. High was a mark worth having on any record.
Izuku honestly did hope that Mei got in because her inventive imagination seemed to be something U.A. High would look for in a student. And if not, then the loss on U.A. High would be the kind that someone would shake their head at because of how idiotic such a decision would be.
Realizing how late it was getting and tomorrow was a school day, Izuku decided to hold all his thoughts about the shield and write them all down when he got home. Of course he kept a notebook on hand but it was meant for writing down Pro-Heroes and their quirks or any quirk he saw that was noteworthy. Izuku had ultimately decided to make a separate notebook just for the shield itself. All the thoughts and ideas that he was having about the shield were getting way past the point where he could easily remember it all and he also knew he was running the risk of forgetting a small detail that he might later learn that would prove critical to a lot of questions and answers.
When he got to the apartment complex that was his home, Izuku noticed a car parked in front that he had never seen before. Not many people in this area of the neighborhood were wealthy or had family connections to someone that was so far as he knew so it definitely aroused his curiosity.
But his curiosity didn't prepare him for what he was about to see when he entered into his home.
No sooner did he step inside and took off his shoes did he notice that there was another pair which clearly look like the kind of shoes a woman would wear.
Izuku called out to his mother that he was home and got the reply that Inko was in the kitchen and that she wanted Izuku greet the guest they had who was also waiting in the kitchen.
Curiosity and confusion became shock and confusion when Izuku realized who it was that was also in their apartment: Pro-Hero Valhalla.
"Ah, about time you returned home, Izuku. I was starting to think I might have to look for you." Valhalla said while taking a sip of her tea that Inko had prepared for her.
It took a moment for Izuku's mind to process the fact that a Pro-Hero was in his home and having tea with his mother. Mostly since the woman was wearing what looked like a dark blue formal business wear attire. A kind of outfit that gave off the feel that one wouldn't see in this particular neighborhood unless it was pretty important, almost major business or government important.
"Oh, greetings Valhalla! I didn't know you were here!" Izuku bowed in respect to the woman and to apologize that he apparently kept her waiting for him.
"Izuku, you never told me that you knew an actually Pro-Hero." Inko said, glancing back and forth between her son and the shield that was still in his hands.
"Oh, actually I'm retried from Pro-Hero work and it's only recently that I've become acquainted with young Midoriya here." Valhalla responded before reaching into her purse and pulling out an envelop that had the U.A. High logo on it and was addressed to Izuku. "I'm now a teacher at U.A. High and I felt that it was something of a special occasion that I hand deliver this to you."
When Izuku saw the letter in Valhalla's hand, his brain actually refused to acknowledge reality for a moment. But then it pushed passed that and commanded Izuku to take the letter and return to his room with it. Inko was worried when she saw the letter and became even more worried that Izuku didn't want to open it right there at the table. She looked back at Valhalla and wondered why the woman who claimed to be a teacher at U.A. High just hand-delivered the letter which was no doubt the results to Izuku's entrance exam.
Valeria for her part had already guess the kind of reaction that would happen in hand-delivering the letter to Izuku. There was an actual reason why she was here and not just as a letter carrier. She decided to put the mother at ease since she knew more than she was letting on about Izuku which she was sure that there were some things that even Izuku was keeping from his own mother.
"You don't have to worry about whether he passed or not."
Inko looked like she was about to have a panic attack when Valeria said that to her. "Should have worded that differently. The entrance exam into the Hero Course is more than what it appears on the surface and as one of the teachers that oversaw the exam itself, what your son did on his own was more than enough to pass. In fact, what he did was in keeping with the spirit of becoming a Pro-Hero."
"What happened? What did my son do?"
That caught Valeria by surprise when she heard that. Of course she was assuming that Izuku would have told his own mother what he did. Honestly who wouldn't talk about what happened after taking the entrance exam in order to be accepted into U.A. High. Valeria still remembers when Toshinori got accepted and how he talked about nothing else until he got the letter of acceptance.
Valeria had to remind herself that maybe there were some details that Izuku didn't want to share with his mother and one of them was how bad he got hurt during the exam. That made her think about how Izuku was more like Toshinori or was becoming more like Toshinori with each passing day.
"Every year, the entrance exam into the Hero Course is different but at the same time is always the same. Its done this way so that no student that is accepted or fails can help others essentially cheat the exam itself. Because of this method, the scoring for the practical part of the exam falls into two different categories: Attack and Heroic."
"Why that way? Why not just, um, just score by Heroic?" Inko was confused in many ways. Even though she heard of U.A. High, almost no one in the whole of Japan who hadn't, she didn't know the finer details or why there were as such.
"Because anyone with a flashy quirk like firing laser beams out of your eyes, turning yourself into a bolt of lightning that can attack, or create multiple copies of yourself at once, those kinds of quirks can easily be used in offensive situations. But those without flashy quirks who can use them in a means that save lives are the kind of students that worth teaching to become Pro-Heroes." Valhalla replied while taking a sip from her cup of tea. "Take my quirk for example. It's called Soul Sense and it's the kind of quirk where I can sense the life energies of people. I can't use it in any fashion that might be considered a kind of an attack but I can use it to help people who are lost either in the middle of the ocean, mountains, or even under fallen buildings and whatnot. Sure having a quirk that Pro-Heroes like Endeavor or Hawks have are solid foundations for becoming a Pro-Hero but Pro-Heroes like Best Jeanist prove they can be more than what their quirk allows them to do."
Inko absorbed that bit of information and saw that she never really considered it like that before now.
"So that's why you score in that fashion? By Attack and Heroic points?"
"It's the only way actually or at least, the only way U.A. High is willing to do to ensure it being as fair and impartial as possible with all applying students. We do get students that are sent to the school because of recommendations but we still have to make sure those recommendations aren't just made as a favors, that they are indeed earned."
Inko thought over what she was told and followed the logical sense it made in her mind. Which brought her back to the question that Valhalla had yet to answer.
"If you score by Attack and Heroic, which category did Izuku score the most?"
Valeria thought about it for a moment and figured that it would be alright to tell Inko. She knew that she had no idea what Toshinori was saying to Izuku in the holo-message that was in the envelope but she already knew what the message as a whole would say anyways.
"Your son didn't score a single Attack point but he scored the maximum in Heroic points. From what I understand, he's actually the first to have such a one-sided score in a long time. All because he didn't hesitate to save the life of another applying student." Valeria replied while having a small smile appear on her face.
Inko was looking at the direction of her son's room before hearing that last part which made her whip her head around and stare directly into the white eyes of Valeria.
"What?!"
Seeing that expression Inko gave to Valeria did give a better sense as to why Izuku didn't tell his mother what happened during the entrance exam.
Luckily for Valeria, she didn't have to explain in detail what she meant by 'saving the life of another applying student' because it was a couple of moments later that Izuku came out of his room with a look of bewilderment on his face. Valeria recognized it as the kind someone has because they are having a hard time believing something positive happened to them. Looking back at Inko and seeing her expression was still one of great worry, Valeria asked Izuku to tell his mother what he learned from the message.
"I….I got accepted."
Valeria realized that had she blinked at that moment she wouldn't have seen Inko essentially fly out of her chair and hugged her son at the news. She did smile at how embarrassed Izuku was reacting to Inko saying how her 'baby boy' made it and how he was now on the path to realizing his dream of being a Pro-Hero.
That sight continued on for several minutes before Valeria decided to change the subject from Izuku's acceptance into U.A. High to why she had decided to pay him a visit this day. It was a private conversation of sorts between the two of them so Izuku decided to have it in his room.
A huge mistake since the moment the door closed behind him, Inko could hear the uproarious laughter from Valhalla coming from inside.
Izuku was embarrassed as to how his mother reacted when he gave her the news of him being accepted. He felt like he was one step shy of dying from embarrassment the way Valhalla was laughing at the state of his room.
Or as she put it: the ultimate fanboy shrine to All Might.
"Um, can we, uh, can we get to the reason why you're here?" Izuku tried to hide his embarrassment but he was failing miserably.
It took a couple of minutes for her to get all the laughter out of her and for her to catch enough air back into her lungs so she could speak normally.
"You know, when All Might told me that he met his ultimate fan, I actually thought he was joking. I mean, I know a couple that might be in the running for such a title but seeing this…." Valhalla actually pinched herself to kill the next fit of laughter that was growing inside of her. "I should thank you since now I've got all this teasing material that I can use on both of you."
"You wouldn't….would you?" Hearing that he got accepted into U.A. High was definitely one of the best day he had in life at this point but he was actually hoping that when he went to U.A. High that maybe he wouldn't be teased as much as he was now.
"Well…." Valeria gave Izuku a smirk that said she wasn't making any promises that she would or wouldn't tease him. She at least kept it to herself that she was going to tease Toshinori to no end with what she learned now.
Seeing that she had at least teased Izuku enough, for now, the teacher from U.A. High decided to get into the heart of the matter of her visit.
"I'm sure All Might explained to you that he did nothing, he didn't pull any strings or called in any favors, to get you to be accepted into U.A. High." When Izuku nodded, Valeria continued. "And that is all true. You got accepted by your own merits and I should know since I was one of the teachers watching you take the practical exam. We both judged you as fairly as we judged all of the students applying."
Hearing All Might say that to him was a relief but hearing Valhalla say the same thing somehow made Izuku feel even better about himself. Probably because it was someone other than All Might that knew him, a different kind of Pro-Hero that All Might had told him had both his trust respect.
Walking over to his bed and sitting down, Valhalla decided to drop the bombshell but kept her voice low enough so that the sound of it wouldn't make it out of Izuku's room.
"Before I say anything else, I want you to know that I know the secret about One For All and your connection to it." Valhalla said but quickly made a hand gesture that told Izuku to keep quiet so she could continue. "I also know that All Might told you not to tell anyone else but I had already known about One For All for years so you now know I can keep it a secret as well."
Izuku felt how close he was to having a panic attack when Valhalla said that to him. About her knowing One For All. He was still worried even after she said how long she had known about said quirk and decided to call All Might to get a confirmation if it was the truth or not as soon as possible.
"And there's a reason as to why I have this knowledge." Valeria kept her voice low enough to where she believed the sound of her voice couldn't be heard through the door. "Remember that day when you and All Might came to visit me? To get some answers about that shield of yours?"
Izuku only nodded in response.
"All Might was also there to ask if I would accept a teacher's position at U.A. High and I did." Valeria decided to keep secret the condition that All Might had to accept before Valeria herself accepted the job offer. "We both have been discussing this for some time and decided that it would be best that you have at least two teachers that know of your quirk and that can work with you for the time being. Besides myself, there are very few who also know about One For All and at least two of them are faculty members at U.A. High."
Valhalla held up a hand to stop the obvious question that she knew Izuku would ask the second he heard that there were others who knew about One For All and there were two of them at the school he was going to be attending.
"They won't do anything to interfere with us in teaching you but they also won't do anything that will be considered special treatment until such times warrant it. With any luck, it won't be any time soon or ever."
Valeria knew that the odds of training Izuku as a regular student attending U.A. High was going to be astronomical at best and that was before his display of the shield in action. Not only that, she also knew that to properly train Izuku would take years if they were allowed such time but she knew as well as Toshinori that there was no way to know with any certainty how much time they actually had which was the core reason for this visit.
"But if there's one thing Pro-Heroes never rely on, its luck." Valhalla change the volume of her voice back to normal levels. "Which is why when the new school year starts for you, we are going to schedule some extra training. But in order to make it seem like you are not receiving special treatment, I will handle that aspect of your training for the time being."
Izuku gave Valhalla a confused look before she started to elaborate what her role will be in Izuku's extra training.
"All Might started training you in the physical sense, to get your body as ready as it can be for what your quirk can do. But now there isn't much more he can teach you so we will start the next phrase of your training which will be mental conditioning."
Izuku had a general idea of what kind of mental conditioning that Valhalla was talking about. That idea was quickly reinforced when Valhalla pulled out a similar looking device that Izuku received where All Might informed him that he was accepted into U.A. High. The image that the device showed was the scene where Izuku threw the shield at the 'Gimmick' and the state of his arm after he had made the throw.
"From what I gather, you haven't told your mother how the exam went. Or rather, you haven't told her how badly hurt you got when you saved that girl."
Izuku tried to come up with an excuse that would work with his reasoning in keeping his own mother in the dark about that particular event but he was so badly stumbling over his own words that Valhalla wondered if this was what Toshinori meant by the kid being the only one who could spew out as he put it 'word vomit'
"Stop, please." Valhalla made sure her voice carried a strong sense of authority to get the teenager to stop from going on until the end of times. "What happened has happened and what you've decided in how to handle the aftermath of it is something you'll have to handle alone when the time comes. On to the more pressing topic at hand, seeing you use what could no doubt be 100% of the power within One For All when you haven't even mastered 5% of it shot up warning flags that not only I noticed but some of the other teachers and faculty members did as well." Valhalla held up the image of Izuku in his injured state at that moment so the teenager's entire focus was on that one critical past event in his life.
"The school is aware that from time to time there will be students that have quirks that their body may not handle easily despite being born with that particular quirk so for the time being the general belief will be that in the heat of the moment you did what you had to do to save a life. But that kind of excuse won't last for more than a week once you're in U.A. High. All Might may have started you on training tips on how to handle 5% of your power but that's just what they are, training tips."
Izuku thought back to the words that All Might gave him in regards to handling a small percentage of the power within One For All. About how to picture a glass filled to the top with water and making sure the water doesn't spill out while moving the glass around. In hindsight it did seem like a good place to start since All Might kept emphasizing the kind of power Izuku had within him but where to go from there once that lesson was completed.
The proverbial light bulb clicked on in Izuku's mind when he started making the connections as to why Valhalla was here. He actually wanted to hit himself upside the head since it seemed so obvious to him now but he also reminded himself that before today, only himself and All Might knew the truth of One For All, It wasn't wrong to assume that no one else knew about it or at least no one else that Izuku knew and he was sure All Might went to great lengths to keep One For All a secret.
The fact that the kept the world as a whole unaware of a fight that damaged him so badly that he could only do several hours a day of Pro-Hero work was a testament to that.
"Is this mental condition training going to be anything like the kind of training you did for your quirk?"
That actually impressed Valhalla. When she first saw the room of one Izuku Midoriya, her first impression was that she was going to have more trouble trying to get the teenage to switch from fanboy to become that of a hero-in-training. The fact he had showed signs of deductive reasoning told Valhalla that maybe she wouldn't have to waste too much time in breaking Izuku of any significant fanboy habits.
"For starters, it will be. You haven't come close to mastering how to turn on and off the power of One For All and don't mistake that by thinking just because you're not using it right now is the same as turning the power on and off. The injury you suffered was the result of your instincts overriding you conscious thoughts. I know All Might told you that a key aspect to any true hero is that their body moved into action if a life was in danger. But unless you train your instincts on how quickly ascertain the amount of power you need in any surprise situation, you will always use 100% and get hurt in the same instant and that's actually the best case scenario. The worse case? You end up causing far more harm than good in regards to people and property, even costing someone their life."
Valhalla saw that her words were reaching Izuku but she wanted to make sure that he understood the direction of the point she was making. She could see in the teenager's eyes that he was just now considering things that he didn't before or at least never fully considered them.
"First and foremost, virtually all the students that have and are going to attend U.A. High have had their quirks for virtually all of their lives. Some of them probably had their quirk manifest the minute they were actually born. Because of that, they had years to understand and receive the necessary training and teaching material that would help them understand the nature of their quirk. In your case, we're pretty much trying to get you to go through a decade of such training in as little time as possible without raising too many suspicions and not to give the teachers any reason to think you're failing the Hero Course at any point and expel you immediately."
"Wait. What?!" Izuku started to panic when he heard the words 'expel you'. He was aware that a school had the right to expel a student under certain circumstances but he just realized he never thought that U.A. High would expel a student just for failing a course when it actually seems logical the more he thought about it.
"There are reasons why U.A. High is pretty much THE school for future Pro-Heroes and one of them is that they do not tolerate failure." Valhalla, using her quirk, could sense that Izuku's mother was now closer to the door of his bedroom than she was before so she decided to enlist some parental aid as some side insurance for Izuku. "U.A. High wants to instill the belief that a Pro-Hero never stops proving themselves as being someone that will defend the people either of the city they work in or the country as a whole. Even if some of the Pro-Heroes do things to get more time in the spotlight, at their core they must show that when it matters, they can be counted on without fail. It may be harsh and something you didn't think about or consider ever but this is the life you signed up for. You can still back out…."
"I won't quit!"
Valhalla narrowed her eyes at Izuku. She knew her eyes weren't normal in that they didn't have an irises but she could tell that Izuku got the message that she was challenging his statement.
"You say that but are you willing to follow through with what you said?"
Izuku gave a nod as an initial reply. "You know who I look up to and how much he's counting on me, how much effort alone he put into helping me get this far."
Valhalla felt that what Izuku said in his response could do one of two ways in terms of interpretation. The room she was standing in gave strong evidence as to which interpretation was the most logical as well as the most denied in the mind of teenager before her.
"I am aware that this is his first year at being a teacher at U.A. High. But make no mistake, he's not the only teacher at U.A. High and the others who have been teaching for years will have different standards and practices that you may think is totally unfair but they are justified in using them. If there is one thing you weren't told its that this is the time where you have to start growing up."
Valhalla caught the twitch in Izuku's eyes after he heard that last part. "There's an old saying I once heard a long time ago. 'Life isn't all sunshine, rainbows with puppies and kittens. At times it will take you to harsh and cruel places that will beat you to your knees without mercy or hesitation and no one, absolutely no one is gonna hit you harder than life.'."
Izuku was about ready to tell the woman in front of him the times where he was beaten by his former friend and even told to commit suicide. But something held him from saying the words. In a way, it was good thing he kept quiet because Valhalla wasn't done talking.
"'But its not how hard you hit, its how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.' The teachers will do all they can to break you because if they realize you break so easily in a classroom then they won't permit you to be a Pro-Hero who won't give it their all to protect the people. Many students with overinflated egos as a result of their quirks pass the entrance exam into the Hero Course and eventually they later proved that their reasons for wanting to be a Pro-Hero couldn't take the hits the teachers alone kept dealing them. They couldn't move forward and be better than they were or could become."
Valhalla stood up from the bed and walked over to Izuku and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You've proven to U.A. High that you're someone they would be willing to teach and now, you're going to have to prove to yourself and the school that you have the will to become a Pro-Hero. I have no doubt you will earn the right to be called a Pro-Hero but I have no doubt that the minute you enter U.A. High as one of the school's students, the only day you'll have that you'll call easy is yesterday."
Izuku wanted to question Valhalla in if she was trying to scare him into backing out from attending. She wasn't really beating around the proverbial bush in this conversation. She made enough points in telling Izuku that everything that happened the past ten months wouldn't compare to what he was going to face in high school.
"Now…." Valhalla put away the device she had used moments earlier into her bag and then pulled out what looked to be like a book. Izuku caught sight of the title: Meditation Exercises And Practices. "You'll be given a training regime to follow once you start at U.A. High but for the time being, I want you to read this and follow some of the instructions that I've marked inside. I don't know who the teacher that you will be assigned to in your first year but at least I can give you some tips that will help you survive the culling that happens after the new school year starts."
"Wait. Culling?" Izuku knew what the word meant, it's definition, but how it was applied in the same context of a high school is what confused him the most.
"I made it clear before. Even if you're accepted into being a student at U.A. High, it doesn't mean you won't be constantly considered for expulsion."
Valhalla said it so matter-of-factually to Izuku that he felt his heart sink practically immediately when she finished.
The sudden quiet look of panic on his face, something Valhalla was almost sure Izuku's mother was probably mirroring from outside the bedroom door, was a little comical to her. Valhalla pretty much figured the odds were good that both the mother and the son were screaming in their heads the same question.
"To be clear, yes, the school has the authority to expel a student on the grounds of failing to meet the criteria and the authority to make such a decision is given to the teachers. Though the principal does have the authority to override the decision of a student to be expelled, he has never once done so and no exceptions have ever been made. If you think that's completely unfair in any way, keep in mind that All Might who attended the same high school that you are going to had the same expectations of him and that was before he was even called 'All Might'. The main difference right now, he wasn't warned at all when he started at U.A. High like you are."
There was a part of Valhalla felt that Izuku needed to have that little bit happen to him, to face the situation that he might get expelled on his very first day at U.A. High. She was aware as to why some of the teachers, including Eraserhead and Present Mic, did so as a means of instilling a sense of what happens as a result of failure and how it's so different than any other kind of failure they might have happen to them.
But, fortunately or unfortunately in Izuku's case, Valhalla had a debate with Toshinori about it and ultimately agreed that it would make sense for such a thing to happen if it was literally anybody else. She wasn't sure if Izuku's fanboy status was what made Toshinori argue so strongly in Izuku's favor or not but she did agree that being the chosen successor meant Izuku was going to have more on his proverbial plate than any of the other students including the ones who got in due to recommendations.
Overall she didn't like it since it was borderline on showing favoritism on Toshinori's part. Still, there were many factors that she couldn't ignore and that some of them were going affect Izuku's days in U.A. High when they were least expected to happen. Time wasn't going to be on their side from this point on so every single bit of help that could be given to Izuku was to make up for both loss time and lack of time. And if either Eraserhead or Present Mic did what they usually do with new students on their very first day into class from what she was told, then Valhalla reluctantly agreed that a lot of lost time would happen that both herself and Toshinori knew couldn't be afford to lose.
For her, that was the real reason of this visit. To give Izuku a hint of what's to come and how best to handle it.
But she had a more curiosity reason that she wanted to indulge on which concerned a certain object.
"Now that bit of nonsense is taken care of, time for the other kind of nonsense and you know what I mean." Valhalla said while giving a subtle look over to a metallic object.
The object in question was, of course, the shield that Izuku had placed by the bedroom door right after he returned home. He was already contemplating what it was that might have gotten Valhalla's attention this time but remembered that she watched him as he threw the shield at the giant robot and what the end result of that was.
"Um, it wasn't against the rules in bringing it with me. Even Present Mic said so before we even took the written portion of the entrance exam." Izuku said while handing the shield over to Valhalla.
"No, it wasn't against the rules. Turns out there's a student that passed the exam, same as you, whose quirk allows him great feats of strength as long as he eats something sugary or loaded with sugar which is why there was never a rule restricting what can and cannot be brought into the practical portion of the exam." Valhalla replied while looking over the shield when it was in her hands. "Its been the experience of U.A. High and other high schools with Hero Courses that some quirks may require something extra so the person can use it to it's full potential. You'll learn of past Pro-Heroes that actually had to use a gadget or two in their line of work."
Valhalla gave a rather suspicious look at Izuku when she remembered something else that Toshinori told her. "Maybe you were thinking several steps ahead in starting a friendship with that maniac inventor. Or maybe you're at that age for when boys start thinking about girls….differently."
Seeing the reaction that Izuku had at that last part wasn't what made Valhalla force herself to stop from laughing. It was the sound of a 'thud' that she heard from the bedroom door. Maybe too quiet for Izuku to hear but Valhalla heard it clear enough. She could already imagine Inko giving Izuku 'the talk' real soon after today.
"What? Are you…?! I mean…? What….?"
Now this part was funny to Valhalla since it seemed she caused the young teenage boy to have a mental meltdown of sorts. She let it go one for a less than a minute when she thought she saw what looked like smoke coming out from Izuku's ears.
After Valhalla let out a laugh did Izuku finally realize that she was teasing him. It did annoy him at first but then he realized that maybe Valhalla could give him an answer to a question he had in regards to Mei Hatsume.
"Do you know if Mei Hatsume was also accepted?"
"Hmm….I can see that she's rather cute and you're probably smitten with her looks." Valhalla decided to pour a little more gasoline on the teasing fire. Izuku mixture of annoyance and blushing was a funny sight to her and in a strange way, she could already see the two of them being in a relationship that didn't involve Izuku being a 'human crash test dummy' if what Toshinori had told her was correct. "To answer your question, yes. She passed in a manner that led to some of the teachers rethinking how to administer the entrance exam for those intending to take the Support Course.
Valhalla explained after Izuku asked what she meant by that was because not many people take the Support Course unless it was a backup choice in failing to secure a position in the Hero Course. Mei Hatsume had been one of the rare few that openly wanted to take the Support Course from the very beginning. She said that for those applying to the Support Course had to demonstrate that they had exceptional aptitude towards engineering or were able to quickly adapt to unexpected situations which mean being able to alter a device to do something it normally wouldn't do in order to diffuse a situation.
Valhalla told Izuku that those applying to the Support Course were told they had to defeat either three robots, the ones that were worth only one point, or one robot, the one that was worth three points. They would have to do so either with an invention of their own design or given access to materials and create whatever they feel could do either of the jobs. Valhalla said, and she confirmed it with her own eyes after watching the recorded video several times, that Mei Hatsume had decided to bring in what she called a 'super cute baby' whose name was 'Electromagnetic Bazooka'.
Izuku thought back to the train ride that himself and Mei took to U.A. High and couldn't remember ever seeing something that might look like a bazooka. In fact, he didn't remember her carrying anything after he met up with her and showed her what happened to the jacket she made.
Fortunately Valhalla explained that she watched Mei take off from her arms two silver colored mechanical-looking objects and then connected them together which ultimately turn into a bazooka. That part was impressive enough but what happened next was what made the teachers rethink how the practical test for the Support Course should be handled after this year.
The 'Electromagnetic Bazooka', as Mei explained to all who were listening before using it, was designed to have two kinds of settings. One setting to fire off an electromagnetic pulse that would fry anything with a computer circuit board upon being hit regardless of how strong of shielding the circuits might have against EMP attacks.. The other setting was to create a strong electromagnetic field that would attract all ferrous metals in a limited area for a limited time. Mei was so eager to show it off that she forgot which end of the bazooka she was pointing at the targets.
And that somehow when she fired the weapon, it literally did both instead of doing one or the other.
Izuku pictured in his mind the scene as Valhalla explained what happened when Mei hit the trigger. How that the gadget not only disabled the robots that she was targeting in front of her but she disabled a 'Gimmick' that was on stand-by mode far behind her and created a strong magnetic attracting between the two sets of robots. Even though Valhalla said it should not have been possible that the 'Gimmick' could be yanked like it had been off the ground by unless the magnetic attracting on it was being powered by full-size nuclear power plant.
Izuku kept his mouth close since he didn't really want to remember the time when one of the early variations of the magnetic tech that Mei had created was strong enough to pull him off of the beach and all the way out to a buoy that was at least 100 meters away.
Not even slowing down a bit when he was dragged under and through the water towards the buoy.
"Basically they are thinking that it will no longer be allowed to either bring in or create something that is for all intents and purposes a weapon for those that are applying to the Support Course. Someone made the clear point that if she had pointed it upwards and accidentally fired it, the odds were good that she might have brought down a jetliner that was flying overhead." Valhalla said which finished her recounting of the events. "Hopefully her teachers might be able to reign in her imagination a bit so she doesn't violate any kind of treaty that says no one is suppose have WMDs or Doomsday devices."
"Yeah, that's not going to stop her." Izuku said under his breath. He could already hear in his mind one of the examine judges going up to Mei and asking her if she created something that could actually level a city if used improperly with Mei's response being 'don't worry about it'.
"Huh?" Now it was Valhalla's turn to be puzzled by what she had heard.
"Nevermind." Izuku waved off his last comment. He was glad that Mei was going to U.A. High as well. Now at least he knew he had one possible friend going into the new high school.
Valhalla was a little curious at what Izuku meant but she let it go since she wanted to talk about what was going to happen once Izuku brought the shield with him to U.A. High. "Back to the original matter at hand. There are no rules that are against bringing something like this onto school grounds but you've already got more than a few teachers being more than a little suspicious about this shield."
"Then I shouldn't bring it with me?"
"This is one of those 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' kind of situation." Valhalla agreed with Toshinori that they should keep the shield as secret for the time being but they also agreed that there was no logical way to keep the shield a secret. Basically at this moment in time no kind of answer that they could think of that would satisfy all questions especially after what Izuku did with the shield. "We discussed it and decided that the ultimate decision is still yours in regards to the shield if you want to bring it with you as you study to be a Pro-Hero. Just make no mistake, what you did with it can be bluffed that it was your quirk that allowed the shield to defeat the 'Gimmick' but it will only work once and you better make sure who you will use that bluff against."
"And after I use the bluff?"
"Again, with some luck, it will be after some time and you'll have some answers to give to the ones that will ask about it." Valhalla knew that it would take one hell of a stretch of luck in that regards. She could tell that Izuku had similar thoughts about what he did with the shield but now he was again at least warned ahead of time that someone was going to ask him a question that he had no real answer for except one. Depending on who asked him first would depend how much time they had before the truth was found out.
Which was why Valhalla decided to try and see if there was more in the hidden memory within the shield that could give them clues needed to solve this particular puzzle.
"Well, wanna go for a spin with this again?" Valhalla asked while holding the shield level between her and Izuku.
"Are you gonna use your quirk again to look at the hidden memory?"
"Might as well since the odds were good that even between the three of us, we might've missed something easily."
The only reason Izuku was reluctant to follow Valhalla into the hidden memory with her quirk was the memory of the after effects. Hopefully his stomach toughened up enough to handle this trip into the shield's past.
Izuku took hold of the shield with both hands and nodded that he was ready. Valhalla activated her Soul Sense and felt the familiar sensation of entering in a hidden memory.
Which caught her by complete surprise.
When the memory began to play out, the very first thing that both Valhalla and Izuku noticed was that they weren't on the beach that they saw last time. In fact, they weren't even in the same kind of surroundings at all. Neither were exactly sure where they were but it gave off the feel of it being an underground structure of some kind.
"Um….this isn't the hidden memory we saw last time." Izuku said while looking around at his surroundings frantically.
"No kidding. Where are we?" Valhalla replied while trying to understand what was happening since this was the first time she had ever encountered multiple hidden memories in one object.
"Why ask me? I didn't even know where we were the last time!" Izuku was starting to feel a sense of anxiety creeping up within him.
"Calm down. I was only asking outloud." Valhalla basically commanded Izuku to do so before both of their attention focused on what was explosion of sorts blowing out a stone wall in the corridor that they were currently in.
But they were quickly corrected when it turned out that it wasn't an explosion that blew a hole in the stone wall but someone getting blasted through it. Both of them recognized the person as the same one they saw before. The uniform and the color scheme were the first clear giveaways that was quickly followed up by the shield coming into view through the dust and debris.
"Make no mistake, Captain America, I am superior to you in every way and I represent a kind of conviction you and your nation could never even hope to achieve let alone overcome. We will be the rightful rulers of this world."
Izuku and Valhalla watched as a man stepped through the hole and almost wondered if this person was some kind of parody of All Might. A very muscular looking blonde haired man stood before someone that both assumed was this 'Captain America' with a look in his eye that sent chills down both of their spines.
"Oh, I get it. You think just because you can knock me down that I'll always stay down." Captain America said while getting back onto his feet and stood before his opponent. "Let me return the gesture, Master Man. Make no mistake that a bully, no matter how big or strong they appear to be, can never take what they can dish out."
After that was said, both men threw a punch at each other. Izuku watched as the one called Master Man just missed connecting with his punch while taking a straight shot to his own jaw by Captain America's punch. Seeing the punch collide was one thing because of the 'crack' sound that was clear for everyone to hear but seeing how much force was put into the punch was easily another. If what they were seeing was indeed real than they just witnessed someone being punched through a stone wall while standing several feet away from it. When the one called Captain America rushed after the one called Master Man, both Izuku and Valhalla followed to see what was happening between the two combatants.
What they both saw was a fight between two clearly skilled warriors. It was during the fight that Izuku managed to get a better view as to what kind of emblem that was on the one called Master Man's chest. Because of his recent research of World War II, he recognized immediately.
"Even a fool knows when a battle is lost! I figured you the kind of man that have some sense on your shoulder!" Master Man yelled out while dodging a kick and then deliver a punch that collided with the shield.
"Only a fool would give up fighting for what's right! Until my very last breath, I won't stop fighting!"
Hearing that, the level of conviction that was spoken in those words, it rang loudly for Valhalla. Izuku heard the same words and began imagining All Might saying the same thing.
These two were so close in their mindset they were practically thinking the same exact thought.
However, as much as they wanted to see how the fight would end, the time limit in watching the hidden memory had been reached. Both Valhalla and Izuku returned to their own world in an instant with Valhalla so completely lost in her thoughts as to what she had seen and heard. Even Izuku was just as lost in his own thoughts that he failed to recognize a certain all too familiar sensation until it was too late to do anything about it.
Inko recognize the sound that she heard coming from the other side of the door that she had been listening through. Having raised her son mostly on her own for so long did have her somewhat trained in understanding the distinction between noises and what could be the cause of it. Even though she knew what she expected to find when she opened the door after hearing the noise, Inko failed to realize that her son was proving to her that he was capable of the unexpected as of late.
The sight of her son basically passed out on the floor with the other occupant still standing with a sizable stain of vomit on her and the shield was clearly something Inko was not expecting to see.
Even Valhalla did not expect things to conclude in this manner when she decided to pay Izuku Midoriya a visit. This was something she was definitely going to leave out when she would have a chance to talk to Toshinori about what she had just learned.
Last thing she wanted to give to him was teasing ammo in the caliber of 'word vomit'.
The following school day for Izuku was a welcome distraction after what happened with Valhalla. If word got around that he had thrown up on a teacher from U.A. High, the level of teasing he had endured before would be nothing after that. He even figured he would gladly being called the Quirkless Wonder instead of whatever twisted imagining of words that included the word 'vomit' in it for a new nickname.
Such thoughts almost ruined the good ones that Izuku had about having to report to his principal where he would be going to for high school. He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he would get from the teacher but the fact that he got into U.A. High would be something his teachers and fellow classmates would have to accept.
Izuku even came up with the perfect response to if anyone from his class made the comment that U.A. High lowered their standards if they were accepting him as one of their students. He would tell them he got in by actually trying while the rest did literally nothing which by their own words made him significantly better then the rest.
Oddly enough, none of the other students said anything along those lines when word started to spread that he passed the entrance exam. Even more oddly enough, when Izuku informed the principal of where he would be attending high school, Izuku didn't get one kind of false 'congratulatory' remark from him. He had expected something along the lines of it being a miracle that he got in or they accepted him because some other student dropped out from being accepted and he was next in line.
But none of that was said to him.
However, Izuku was still expecting Katsuki Bakugou to be praised since he got into U.A. High which made all of Bakugou's boasting justified. And like clockwork, it happened when he too informed their principal that he was accepted into the school as well.
The principal said that it was only natural that someone like Bakugou would be accepted into a place with a reputation like U.A. High. When he took a moment to think about it, maybe the school would somehow ride the coattails of Bakugou by saying they had a hand in training the next great Pro-Hero. It was a rather harsh pill to swallow if true that Izuku was already written off as some kind of footnote to be forgotten eventually but he decided not to let it get to him.
No one told him becoming a Pro-Hero was going to be easy and from what Valhalla had told him before, he was going to be challenged every waking minute at U.A. High. That meant he would have to deal with whatever comes his way and do so like his idol would do: with a fearless smile on his face.
But that smile would have to appear in the next instant because the current one had him being pushed hard out of sight while still on school grounds so someone with an angry look on his face could do what he always did to him. Assert whatever authority Bakugou truly believed he had over Izuku.
"What did you do to pass the entrance exam?! You must have cheated somehow, right?!" Bakugou practically demanded from Izuku while having a hand holding onto Izuku's school shirt and the other hand in a fist getting ready to strike. "I'm supposed to be the first AND ONLY STUDENT from this shit dumpster of a school to get into U.A. but you had to go and screw that all up for me!"
Bakugou pulled his fist back before continuing to rant at Izuku. "I warned you not to apply you Quirkless Loser!"
Just before Bakugou was ready to throw his punch into Izuku's face, he stopped when he noticed that Izuku's hand grabbed the wrist of his hand that was holding his school shirt. Grabbed it and increasing it's grip to the point where it was starting to hurt.
"Someone I looked up to told me that I can become a hero." Izuku said in a low voice but Bakugou clearly heard each word. "That's why I applied and that's why I am going."
Izuku shot a look at Bakugou that the explosive-temper teenager had never seen before. A look that actually made him wonder if this was the same person he always looked down upon without hesitation.
"If you can't handle that then why don't you quit right now. But like it or not, and I don't give a damn either way, I'm going to U.A. High and you can't stop me!" Izuku yelled out just before forcing Bakugou to lose his grip on his school shirt and smack his hand away.
Both teenagers started down the other for several minutes before Izuku made the move to leave first. For Izuku, he knew something like this was going to happen the moment Bakugou heard about his acceptance into U.A. High. It also confirmed that despite leaving the Aldera Junior High, some of the things he hated about this school was going to follow him into high school. Izuku knew it was foolish to think that he would get a complete clean start of sorts after leaving junior high but he also hope there was a chance for it happen anyways.
After Bakugou had watched Izuku walk away out of sight, the anger he felt towards him jumped up several levels which made him reflexively clench both of his hands. That was when Bakugou noticed something, or rather felt something completely different from one of his hands. Looking down and pulling back his school shirt sleeve, Bakugou noticed that around his wrist was a freshly forming bruise.
In the shape of a hand print.
It was the same wrist that Izuku had grabbed moments ago and Bakugou realized that he didn't notice it until now. He knew that it was possible for intense emotions to block pain receptors and Bakugou made the connection that Izuku made him so mad that he didn't realize he had been hurt.
However, Bakugou didn't question at what point in time did his wrist become injured as it was. Had he not been so angry he would have noticed that it was Izuku who caused the injury since bruises of this nature appear almost instantly.
His only thoughts at the moment were the kind that made sense to him.
'Damn worthless quirkless nerd! Still hasn't figured out how the world actually works! Got a big head because he thinks he actually helped me when that damn slime villain had me! The only reason he's even alive is because All Might saved his worthless ass and nothing else!'
A sudden thought appeared alongside his line of thinking. The one that reminded him of all the times he told 'Deku' to kill himself in the off chance to be born as a Pro-Hero in his next life. A connection was formed in his head that made total sense to him.
'Dammit! I can't believe I missed it! Deku is so desperate to be a hero that he even wanted to die a hero's death! That waste of space quirkless loser probably believed that to increase his chances of being a Pro-Hero in his next life was to die while trying to be a hero right now! And he was going to use me and the situation to do it! He actually did what he did to spite me! That fucking loser!'
Bakugou felt that his anger towards Izuku was more than justified. He also felt that he had something now that would not only help him focus his anger but even prove himself better than he already had to the judges of the entrance exam. Didn't matter how 'Deku' got into U.A. High or the fact that such a school would allow actually accept a quirkless nobody like him much less allow him to take the entrance exam. He would crush 'Deku' in front of the whole school so no could ever question his worth and what it means to be a Pro-Hero.
Looking at the direction that Izuku walked in and was out of sight, Bakugou felt like 'Deku' was smiling the entire time. The kind of smile that one would have thinking they made a complete fool out of someone else and that person didn't know it at all.
But Bakugou knew without question that he wasn't nobody's fool and he certainly wasn't going to be 'Deku's' fool.
'Enjoy your first day at U.A. High, Deku! After I crush you without even breaking a sweat, your dead body will be the reminder to all students, present and future, what it takes to be a Pro-Hero and that everyone else isn't even second-rate compared to me!'
Those were the thoughts of Katsuki Bakugou in regards to someone whom he considered to be below trash before but not someone who needed to be put down and then scraped off his shoes like the shit stain that he truly was.
But the thoughts of Izuku Midoriya were about as opposite as they could be compared to Bakugou's. His own thoughts were going over what Valhalla said to him on how he would constantly have to prove himself to the school and the teachers that he was a student worth teaching. That kind of pressure was hard enough but now the added pressure of what he believed Bakugou would do took it all to a whole other level.
Thinking back to his first day at Aldera Junior High, Izuku was never openly targeted since all the other students including Bakugou were more or less reserved since no one really knew anyone else. Well, Bakugou was reserved for maybe an hour before making it clear that he was better than all the other students both separate and combined. Had to have been some kind of a record for him to hold back that long since Izuku remembered the moment Bakugou's quirk manifested that all the teachers were instantly giving him praise as to how he would be better or be the best there ever was just because of his quirk alone.
Also thinking back to that moment, Izuku wondered if maybe some humility should have been instilled into Bakugou at that moment in his life. On the one hand such a sense could have made him a better person and their friendship might've lasted longer than it did. But on the other hand, the heavy praise Bakugou received from the adults was more than Izuku had seen with any of the other students. Even if someone tried to instill a sense of humility into him, Izuku could already picture in his mind Bakugou using his explosive quirk on that person while claiming that the quirk he had wasn't meant to be held back even for a moment.
The entire walk home from school, all that time, Izuku's mind was running around things that he knew, things that he could only suspect and things that could come about from either.
In short, Izuku remembered his first day at Aldera Junior High that he felt some apprehension which his mother told him was only natural. Comparing that moment in his past to what he felt now, and it literally wasn't even his first day at U.A. High, Izuku felt that without question that this next part of his life was without any doubt going to be the hardest.
Izuku tried to lighten his mood at the strongly discouraging thoughts by thinking of what All Might did when he attended U.A. High. Pretty much everyone in the entire country knew that's where the Symbol of Peace and Justice began but now that Izuku thought about it, no one really knew what it was like for him while he attended high school.
Was there times when All Might felt like he was in over his head or was he so sure of himself that any challenge that appeared before him wasn't enough to even slow him down?
Izuku looked at his hand and imagined the power of One For All manifested in the palm of it. His thoughts asked three questions over and over when he started to think about the time All Might was in high school.
Did the power of One For All give him an advantage that the other students didn't have?
That question was the most obvious since it stood to reason that if the power could be transferred from one person to another then does that mean something else was transferred as well? All Might did tell him that when the power is passed on, the person who previously had it would somehow improve it before passing it on. And what connected to the first question was how many people have had One For All before All Might received it?
Izuku felt that question would take a long time to fully answer since it felt like the question itself needed multiple answers for it all to make sense.
And that led to the next obvious question.
Did All Might use One For All to it's maximum potential while in U.A. High at different points in his years at the high school if ever?
Because of the fact that the power was improved as it passed on, did that mean it allowed the next possessor to be even stronger than the last possessor? And if so, does that mean it grows in strength by multiple factors or some other form of exponential increase?
Izuku remembered in one of his science lessons about the various kinds of measurements and about the concept of decibels, how they are scaled differently than like distance or time. The measurement of decibels are scaled logarithmically meaning for every ten decibel increase does it mean it increases tenfold and so on since a 20 decibel increase would mean a twenty-fold increase. If that was the case with One For All, and honestly there wasn't anything to suggest that it was or wasn't so this was speculative thinking at best, that concept of measurement meaning it doesn't add to the increase but multiplies the increase instead, all could suggest a strong possibility that All Might held back a lot while he was the possessor of One For All.
The only thing that gave merit to this speculation was the fact that the One For All quirk can be transferred and up until the moment All Might told Izuku that he could transfer his power, Izuku believe what he felt like everyone else in the world believe about the nature of quirks and how none of them can be transferred like One For All.
Which lead to the third question and one that actually frightened Izuku when he gave it an honest thought to it.
How powerful was the one who injured All Might?
Even with the population of the world showing that over eighty percent of the people showing off a quirk, the general consensus was that not even fifty percent of the quirk types were even known. Some had stated that if they were honest, at best maybe that number was at thirty five percent but some stated that was almost too generous. And with the knowledge of an actual quirk that can be transfer, Izuku had to agree with those that claim that the world barely even knew the surface knowledge of quirks
And that alone meant that there was no way for someone with a quirk that could hurt someone like All Might appear out of nowhere since villains armed with what could be viewed as typical quirks appeared virtually every day of the week.
And that's what connected all three questions together. During the time that All Might was attending U.A. High, someone somewhere in the country alone had a quirk that either was powerful from the start or became powerful as All Might when he himself started on the path to becoming the Symbol of Peace and Justice.
Izuku looked up from his hand at the sky and let that thought continue. Especially since it concerned with the research he did about the supposed time in history that the first hidden memory he had seen that was within the shield.
History had stated when the time was that the Nazi party became powerful enough to start attacking and invading all the European countries but Izuku noticed that before that actually happened, the Nazi party had actually invaded Germany first, essentially the country of their origin, and virtually no one either saw it happen or didn't care enough when it happened. No matter the case, the Nazis didn't start getting noticed truly until they made open moves in attacking other countries.
That meant before they declared war and attacked, there were those behind the scenes making moves and plans that went unnoticed by other governments around the world. And just like that moment in time in the past, someone was making moves behind the scenes all those years ago until they either felt they were ready to take on All Might or All Might happened to learn of their plans before they were fully ready. That was probably one of the reasons why All Might said he made sure that the public at large never learned about that fight because he learned something that would probably cause a panic even if he kept it a secret as to how badly injured he was because of that fight.
Izuku honestly wished he didn't have that thought enter into his mind because it started to make a kind of sense why All Might and Valhalla were going to be training in secret at first. On the surface it made sense that they wanted to help him be as best prepared as possible when using One For All since he was just given it so recently and he was so badly hurt using it just one time at full strength.
Even now he still gets a kind of phantom pain in his shoulder because he threw his arm out of socket when he threw the shield.
Basically they made it sound like they wanted to help him learn how to sprint in a leg race when he finally figured out how to walk.
But now, Izuku had to admit that it was possible they both knew something and felt that the time wasn't right for him to know what they were keeping from him. That all focus should be on him and his training and improving himself in all aspect as soon as possible.
'Valhalla was right when she said this is the time where I have to start growing up.' Izuku thought to himself.
There were many other times in his life where Izuku felt that he had the entire weight of the world on him just because he wasn't born without a quirk. Now he realized it was just society itself that was on him all those times. What he figured out, and if it was true to which he was actually hoping it wasn't, then when he accepted the power of One For All from All Might that he also accepted a level of responsibility that would have sent others screaming for cover.
Izuku was in so desperate need of a distraction that he was relieved that this phone was ringing and that he could see it was All Might that was texting him to meet him at Dagoba Municipal Beach Park.
He also found himself glad that Mei Hatsume was waiting there too with him even though that part of the text basically was a warning. A warning that said 'Mei's got that LOOK in her eyes.'
Again, even with that warning, Izuku already pictured Mei saying or doing something and then All Might asking her out of concern to which her reply seemed to eternally be 'Don't worry about it'.
After sending a text to his mother telling her that he'll be late coming home and where he was at, Izuku got to the beach as quickly as he could and saw both Mei and All Might, in his true form, discussing something. Or rather, debating something heavily judging the way the two were talking.
Izuku didn't call out to them but instead walked up to them in order to hear what they were debating without interrupting it.
"...the fact that they have access to such materials doesn't mean that you can get to use them! If anything, you are to come up with ways to COUNTER them, not utilize them!" All Might, in his true form, said to Mei. Or rather, one decibel shy of yelling it.
"Counter radioactive materials? Hasn't that already been invented?! If anything, I could actually use such material that could power a large scale trap against villains that might be too much for the standard containment means. Not using it seems more like a waste of items and opportunities!" Mei practically yelled back and then got into a staring contest with All Might.
All Might let out a growl of frustration before he gave his reply. "You're not listening! Not everyone, not even the support agencies that develop tech and gear for Pro-Heroes, have access to what is without question restrictive materials. The only reason the school has them is so that any kind of test for any tech or gear you develop can be thoroughly tested before being used actively in the field! Especially with students!"
"And that's the problem!" Mei put her hands on her hips and gave a look that Izuku had rarely seen before. Sure he has seen Mei get frustrated at times but this seemed to be a whole other frustration. "You're going to be training students to handle literally all kinds of situations and scenarios that will happen when they graduate and we both know that there are going to be situations that have never happened before out in the world but at least they can be planned for. Those that are in the Support Course have those same kind of factors as those in the Hero Course but saying that you're going to limit the students in the Support Course is basically saying that you'll tell the students in the Hero Course how to do anything with only one arm because the other is tied behind their backs!"
"We actually do train for that because as you just said, we have to get the students ready for anything, imaginable and unimaginable." All Might was starting to think he was yelling at a brick wall at this point. "The Support Course has to learn just like those in the Hero Course to make do with what they have at hand and where they are."
"And if what they need to have at hand to do the work of a Pro-Hero is something that cannot be used because it's labeled 'restricted', do they tell the people that got hurt or the family and loved ones of those they failed to save as to the reason why said Pro-Hero couldn't do their job?"
There was a part of Toshinori that hoped Mei Hastume wasn't going to throw that in his face. That was a lesson that all students training to be Pro-Heroes had to learn, or at least back when he was in high school. That same part of him was hoping that made it was be some time before he would have to impart that lesson onto a student. Enough time to at least understand the kind of students he was going to be teaching and how best to expose them to the lesson.
Toshinori realized that he should have known better at least where Mei was in involved. Seeing the girl's inventive mind in action more than enough times should have told him that the only time she wasn't creating something was when she was probably asleep.
Even that felt like it was a stretch where Mei Hatsume was involved.
Luckily for Toshinori, he didn't have to think of what to say as a response since he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Izuku had been walking up to the both of them.
"Ah, good! I was starting to wonder when you would show up, young Midoriya." Toshinori said before turning back towards Mei. "We'll finish this discussion another time."
Mei only gave a huff for a response before crossing her arms over her chest and turning away with an annoyed look on her face.
Izuku didn't ask what it was that the two of them were arguing about. That part alone was enough to give him an idea of what the nature was for their argument. He did wonder if that was the reason why All Might texted him about Mei having 'that look'.
"So, what did you call me out here to talk about?" Izuku asked but then felt a sudden cold shiver up his spine and looked over to Mei whose expression changed from annoyed and angry to excited and hopeful. "I'm guessing it has something to do with Mei."
The nervousness in Izuku jumped up several levels when Mei shook her head vigorously in the positive response.
"Well, yes and no." All Might replied while rubbing the back of his head before letting out a sigh. "Well it's going to take some time to explain so give bear with me at least on this."
All Might told Izuku that even though he had accepted a teaching position at U.A. High, he was told not to say anything about it until the school could make a formal announcement. He also informed Izuku that he had done nothing for Izuku in getting him to be accepted to the high school.
Being told that he did get in on his own merits was a pleasant feeling for Izuku since it also helped give him more confidence that he was proving his worth as being All Might's successor.
All Might went on to explain that after seeing what happened to Izuku when he took down the zero-pointer in the mock battle simulation, he asked the inventor if there was some kind of training gear that she could make for Izuku that would help him in mastering control over his quirk.
What All Might had in mind was a kind of training weight to be placed on each of Izuku's limbs that would increase in weight or resistance as he learned to increase the level of strength he could call upon without heavily injuring himself.
What Mei created was something that was relatively close to what All Might asked.
The first thing that confused Izuku, aside from the fact that he clearly remembered not seeing a duffle bag anywhere near the feet of Mei, was that she pulled out of said duffle bag something that clearly looked to be the jacket that Izuku had given to her but now it was basically a one-piece jumpsuit.
"Uh….." that was pretty much the only sound and thought that Izuku had in response to see what Mei had in her hands.
"Say 'hello' to the Mark 21 Shield Training Jumpsuit!" Mei said with obvious excitement in her voice.
"Shield….Training….Jumpsuit?" Izuku knew how he sounded when he repeated the words Mei said but his mind was having trouble comprehending what he was seeing.
Izuku remembered what a straight-jacket looked like and for some reason, possibly because of all previous experience with Mei and her earlier variations of the shield jacket, it felt like to him that he was actually looking at Mei's version of a straight-jacket.
"Yeah…." All Might was of the same mind when Mei started explaining what she had created. Seeing it made him wonder of the girl who had incredible inventive skills and imagination might have one or two screw loose in her head at the same time. "Anyways….Mei said that this….jumpsuit….can do both what the jacket could do and what I want it to do."
"Allow me to explain it!" Mei said towards All Might before turning her attention to Izuku and had a look in her eyes that one would expect a predator would have with a prey in sight.
Even with all the power he had within him, Toshinori couldn't really blame Izuku for feeling a little panic and tried to run away with Mei in hot pursuit. Toshinori wondered if somehow Mei had some other kind of quirk that allowed her to move faster than the average eye could see since she easily kept up with Izuku and both of them were running on sand.
Either that or she was used to her test subjects running away from her because Izuku didn't even get a hundred years away before Mei tackled him to the ground. There was just something about this girl that Toshinori felt she should carry a warning sign at all times. A sign that clearly said not to underestimate her or do so at your own risk.
In what had to be some kind of record for time, Mei was standing proud while Izuku had a bewilderment look on his face. Clearly the green haired boy was wondering how the pink haired girl got him into a jumpsuit.
"Now, this jumpsuit has all the same functions as the jacket. The functions where you can call the shield to your arms and even carry it on your back without straps. But when I was asked to create a kind of training outfit for you, I managed to set up the magnetic field to create a kind of resistance in motion that increases by design of the wearer."
Izuku was already having flashbacks to the time the jacket dragged him or heavy items at him during the first variations and testing. He started looking around to see if there was anything that might come flying at him when Mei turned it on or if he might end up flying at something instead. He prayed that no jetliner passed over head at the same time the jumpsuit was turned on.
"In short, you don't have to put on a lot of weights on your limbs and have to lumber around with over-sized weights. The jumpsuit will increase the resistance as per your settings."
Toshinori knew that Valeria had already given the book about meditation techniques to help Izuku learn how to get into a state of mind where he would instantly know how much power from One For All to put into attacks. But they both agreed that combining the both styles of training, the physical and the mental and throwing in all the school work that U.A. High was going to throw at him without mercy, there had to be something that could ease up some of the burden so Izuku wouldn't get overworked.
There as much that Izuku would have to learn eventually and essentially telling half of it to him at would have Izuku running for the hills screaming in terror.
It wasn't much but Toshinori hoped that it would be enough for starters.
Those thoughts were racing through his head while Mei continued on explaining what the jumpsuit could do in helping to train Izuku. She had already given the gist of the information to Toshinori before Izuku showed up so he didn't pay much attention to the technical details.
Izuku for his part listened to everything Mei said to him but not just out of courtesy. It was something out of a habit since he wanted to know exactly how to turn off any and all devices that Mei created in the event that they malfunctioned.
Which by experience had the ratio of being nine out of ten times.
"So…." Mei pulled out a small hand-held device with what looked like a dial in the center with a red arrow on it and presented it to Izuku. "...this is the remote control for the jumpsuit. This dial here helps adjust the level of resistance you want to experience."
Mei turned the dial until a lit-up "1" appeared on the surface of the device that the red arrow was pointing. The moment that happened, Izuku felt his entire body get heavier.
"At this setting, your body weight is essentially doubled." Mei said before turning the dial until a "2" appeared.
This time Izuku was caught by surprise when he felt his entire body come close to crashing onto the ground if he hadn't braced himself. The first time he braced himself, it felt like he was simply making sure his feet were planted flat so he wouldn't fall over. This time he felt like he might have to actually use his arms to keep himself from falling completely to the floor.
"And at this setting, your body weight is doubled again. Each level increases the resistance exponentially."
"Meaning that while setting 1 is on, its as if there's two Izukus and with setting 2 would mean that there's four Izukus?" Toshinori asked.
"Correct!" Mei replied.
Toshinori seemed impressed about what Mei had created. Actually impressed that she hadn't caused an explosion or some other kind of problem that might require a fire extinguisher.
Toshinori looked back at Izuku and could see that he was struggling against the increase weight to his body. He was about ready to yell at the kid to start using his quirk since the other part of this demonstration involved Izuku's participation. Izuku caught on just before Toshinori said anything and started using at least five percent of One For All. He started to feel the weight that was on him ease up when he focused on using his quirk to increase the strength in his legs.
Mei watched as Izuku stood straight up with the jumpsuit on it's level 2 setting and was amazed at what she saw. She had asked what kind of quirk that Izuku had but a lot of the answers she got were vague or meant to deflect the question entirely. She wasn't a fool and she could see something was being withheld but it didn't bother her too much.
She wasn't sure but using her knowledge and her skills in ways that seem to test her felt like she was also improving herself while at the same time helping to improve Izuku. Finding a stable means of using a person's own exertion in exercise to actually recharge the batteries that can absorb said charges via skin contact did require a lot of out-of-the-box thinking but what she came up with helped her understand other possibilities that she could also explore.
For example, creating this kind of a jumpsuit that would increase the wearer's weight in practically an instant would be perfect as a starting point for making capture devices for villains. Especially any villain that had a speed enhancing quirk.
Can't really run away if you're feeling a simulated gravity effect greater to that of being on Jupiter.
Izuku did what he could to adjust to what he was feeling. His legs were solid but he felt his arms were pulling down as if someone was trying to yank them straight down and the rest of his body seemed to be following suit.
Toshinori looked at Izuku and saw the exertion that the boy was undergoing. Sweat was starting to form on his forehead which puzzled him a bit. Izuku's legs were holding their own but Toshinori could see that the rest of Izuku wasn't doing the same.
It took a moment of watching Izuku in this state that Toshinori felt was enough as more evidence that would solidify the theory he had about Izuku.
"As I suspected. You are using the power of your quirk but it is definitely not focused throughout your body." Toshinori said.
When Izuku and Mei looked back at Toshinori, he went on to elaborate what his point was. "You're focusing your power into your legs which is why you're still standing but the rest of your body is under the pressure that the jumpsuit is creating which is why it looks like you about to double over and fall to the ground."
Mei turned to Izuku and quickly realized another clue to Izuku's quirk. One that she didn't have before now because she had long suspected that Izuku's quirk was like something akin to a sudden burst of energy and why he was so pushed in his physical training. In Mei's mind, she compared it to a power source to a machine and the proper wiring throughout. Better wiring means more of the power can be used before burnout.
Toshinori made sure to keep his words along a specific line that wouldn't have Mei suspect about One For All when he continued. "Your quirk allows for great power but from the looks of things, you're only focusing it on key points in your body instead of your entire body. I figured that was the main problem and this jumpsuit will help with that. Now, focus on the amount of power you're currently using to each every point in your body, not just your legs."
"Okay, but how best to do that? I mean, I read the book that Valhalla gave me about spreading out my senses but how does one do that with a quirk?"
Toshinori noticed the confused look on Mei's face when Izuku said that. The adult of the group realized it was a slip of the tongue from the teenager's part since virtually anyone born with a quirk learned to tie their senses to it at an early age to the point where it was beyond second-nature to them. He had to do some quick wording and hope that Mei forgot what Izuku said.
"Have you forgotten that a quirk is part of the body in the same way the heart and the lungs are? You can control your breathing to the point where you can stop air from going into your lungs or steady your heart rate. Its finer muscle control but it still is muscle control and right now, you're only controlling your legs. Time to take control of your entire body."
Izuku was again going to ask All Might for more information but he stopped himself after realizing that Mei was watching him the entire time. He also realized that he was going to say the name of the quirk right in front of her while asking the question. Izuku felt like a complete idiot that he didn't even have that warning thought in his head the entire time and was grateful it appeared at the last moment.
"He's right, Zuzu! Take me for example and my quirk!" Mei said while pointing to her own eyes. "I can see several kilometers into the distance with my quirk. When I first got it, I had a hard time just looking around because my gaze would shift all over the place and there were so many times I thought I was standing somewhere else when I hadn't even moved from one spot."
The first couple of months in learning how to control her quirk was tricky and Mei remembered those days as if they happened yesterday. Even when she was doing something simply like walking a couple of blocks from her house did her quirk make her think she had traveled a significant distance in seconds. That caused her to almost get into an accident more than once because she thought she had crossed a street when in fact she hadn't even reached the street crossing just yet. Not to mention it made it hard to read at first because if she focused too much on the reading material in front of her, Mei would practically zoom in like a microscope. Some of her teachers even thought she was illiterate, even dyslexic until she got the basic quirk training in controlling her quirk.
Izuku felt like a light bulb clicked inside of his head when Mei told him that. He actually didn't even think about what it was like for someone who had a quirk like Mei possessed and how they had to train themselves to maintain such a level of focus.
That also inspired Izuku because if Mei had to train herself in such a precise way since it involved her eyesight, then he could do no less than her.
His respect for Mei did go up several points and a new kind of understanding about the nature of quirks was opened up to him at the same time.
Izuku thought about how best to spread out the power within his body. He thought back to when All Might had him pushing that boulder as an example of where to start. However, he started to realize that during that part of his training that he had put most of the power he could control into his arms alone. Sure he was also using his legs but the power of One For All was in his arms and his arms alone.
Maintaining the level of power he could safely control, Izuku focused his mind and took control of all his senses to help direct the power within him. It was tricky at first like trying to grab onto a particular end of a string that was blowing in the wind.
But once he felt that he had ahold of it, Izuku felt the power of One For All encompass his entire body. Izuku also felt that the pull of his body, the extra weight that he was struggling against, lessen to the point where he could simply stand straight and not worry about falling over so easily.
Both Mei and Toshinori watched as a kind of sparks of electricity started coming off of Izuku. For Toshinori, it was a sign that Izuku had achieved the step of calling upon One For All and having it spread around his entire body. It was a good sign but that didn't mean in Toshinori's view that Izuku still had a long ways to go before he could remotely say he mastered this level of control.
For Mei, seeing the sight that Izuku was in now with the power of his quirk starting to radiate off of him, she was amazed by it and started thinking about how to harness this power more efficiently for any possible future designs or redesigns.
Izuku looked at his hands and how he was standing. The feeling of elation at his accomplishment was more than enough to bring a huge smile to his face.
"Yes! I did it!" Izuku said while looking at the other two in front of him.
"Not bad, kid! That's one big step you took right there!" Toshinori was impressed.
"Amazing Zuzu!" Mei felt like what she was seeing was something of a milestone for Izuku. She felt a genuinely happy for Izuku.
However, she felt too happy and didn't notice that the controller she had in her hands started to spark a bit and the dial somehow turned from level 2 to level 4.
Even though all three of them noticed the device seem to short out, none of them were able to react fast enough in response to it. Especially Izuku.
Had anyone been watching from a distance, they would have thought a kind of explosion happened in front of Mei and Toshinori. The sudden burst of sand from the ground could have been interpreted like that but that's wasn't what exactly happened.
The instant increase in his overall weight caused Izuku to crash full body into the ground. The result looked like Izuku had fallen from a great height and cratered into the ground upon impact.
Mei was quick to fix the device and turn it off and Toshinori quickly pulled Izuku out of the ground. Both were desperately asking Izuku if he was alright. Their response was Izuku essentially spitting out about what looked like several pounds of sand he had swallowed when he crashed into the ground.
Seeing that there was no permanent damage done, Toshinori let out a sigh of relief before asking Mei what happened for the jumpsuit to go from level 2 to 8 and how strong level 4.
"Guess the wiring I used wasn't as good as it looked when I salvaged it. Not to worry since now I know what to use in the next build." Mei gave a kind of sheepish response while Toshinori looked at Mei that told her to answer his other question. "Well, since level 1 is like double the weight of Izuku and level 2 is four times the weight, um….level 4 would be about…..16 times Izuku's weight."
That caused Toshinori to be really worried since if Izuku suddenly weight 16 times heavier than it was possible he might've broken some bones not to mention some significant internal injuries.
"How many levels did you build into the jumpsuit?" Toshinori suspected what the answer was going to be but he wanted to be sure.
"10 levels."
Toshinori's eyes opened up wide when he heard that. If his math was correct going by what Mei had told him then the suit was capable of increasing Izuku's weight to the point where it was 1,024 times his normal weight.
Had the suit malfunctioned and went to the maximum level that it could, Izuku would either be buried several meters under the beach or dead before he even hit the ground because of the sudden intense strain on his entire body.
Looking at Izuku's dazed expression and the bits of sands that he seemed to be spitting out, the sense of worry for his safety skyrocketed within Toshinori.
Mei picked up on this. "Don't worry! I can easily install a fail-safe feature that makes it so that the if the levels jump past a single digit, like if it went from level 1 to level 3, then the jumpsuit will automatically turn off. That way this won't happen again!"
Mei gave a smile towards Toshinori which did nothing to ease even the tiniest of worry within him. In fact, he felt like he actually started to worry more.
"Let me guess….don't worry about it?" Izuku said, a good sign to the the two that he hadn't really suffered a significant head injury. Or he had but he was still able to function to a degree.
"Of course!" Mei was glad that it seemed Izuku still had faith in her abilities.
Alternating his gaze between the two teenagers, Toshinori ultimately shook his head in disbelief. He knew that even if he told Mei not to do anything else and even ordered Izuku not to wear the jumpsuit anymore, either one or the other or even both wouldn't listen to his orders for long. He didn't know why Izuku wouldn't do as he was told especially after what just happened but somehow or other, Izuku would still wear this jumpsuit after Mei made more modifications to it or redesigned it entirely.
It was indeed the kind of friendship he had seen develop between these two and it reminded him again of his former sidekick David Shield. Maybe it was the sense of nostalgia Toshinori felt because of how Mei and Izuku interacted.
Whatever the case may be, Toshinori could only shake his head at this point.
'Valeria said that Izuku would be the most problematic student that U.A. High ever had. Maybe for the Hero Course since now I think Mei Hatsume might actually surpass Izuku in that regards and in no way is that a good thing.'
Toshinori did smile for a brief moment when another thought entered into his head.
'Most students are never fully prepared for when they enter into U.A. High. Kinda wonder if U.A. High is prepared enough when these two start attending.'
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Author's Note: Now that the friendship between Mei and Izuku has been established, and a little more backstory that I felt was needed to explain how Mei got into U.A. High and to help better explain the Support Course, time to add something I've more or less advertised for this story, or rather someone.
Momo Yaoyarozu.
Over the years, the fan base for the series has made major points as to why Izuku Midoriya should be paired with this character or that character. Yeah it's now canon that Ochako Uraraka is Izuku's love interest but I always felt like it was shoehorned in. Like it was the typical trope for the main characters in a series that uses a school setting but hey, not the first series where the pairing for the main character didn't click for a lot of the fans and won't be the last one either. (Looking at you Naruto and Bleach and Akame Ga Kill!)
Now my madness in adding in Momo starts with one of the points made, how both of them are about the same in trying to prove to themselves that they are more than just what they appear to be. I won't go into all of the points since that alone would easily make a chapter in of itself but suffice it to say, if those two actually interacted more than they did in the series, the chances would be good that more than just a friendship would happen between them. Of course the same argument can be said for any of the other girls like Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, and Tooru Hakagure and those are just the girls from Class 1-A. Add in other characters like Melissa Shield and even Nejire Hado and the series pretty much should be renamed from "My Hero Academia" to "Izuku's Harem Academia" after that.
And fair warning, my madness involving Izuku, Mei and Momo will force the rating of this story to go up in time. Or not, haven't really decided completely at this point. Just keeping said option open for future use.
Until next chapter
