AN: Seriously FFN, could you not please
Five days. Less than one whole week of waiting until the next great chapter began. Izuku knew he was already a wreck of nervous energy, but he couldn't really help it. His dream was becoming a reality! He was going to Yuei and he was going to be a hero. He slowly peered around the room he had grown up in and took in all the memories that he had in this room. Stories and research, training and dedication so many things had started here when he decided he would be a hero. Before he had even left Yuei he had been informed he had been accepted, they all had actually. However, the tall muscle-bound boy with the wind control quirk had elected to not confirm his attendance instead deciding to go to a competing school. The announcement had been met with widened eyes and quiet acceptance; This was what it meant to be a hero. Vying for the top, to be the best and he clearly thought that he would get it somewhere else.
Not even twelve hours later came a letter addressed from Yuei. When Izuku ripped it open with his mother in the main room of their house they were shocked by its contents! It was informing them that Yuei would be introducing dorms that would be compulsory living for anyone attending in the future. His mother had been inconsolable after hearing the news.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~Midoriya Residence Two Days Prior~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
"Young Midoriya! I Am Here, as a projection!" The small glowing form of All Might proclaimed as it floated above the strange disk they had received. "As you already know, you were accepted into Yuei after careful evaluation of your exam results, however that is not why I Am Here! Instead it is to inform you to pack your bags, as Yuei is announcing for the first time that it is transforming itself into a boarding school! There is a long list of reasons this is happening, but at the top of that list is the safety of our students. In these dangerous times we worry that villains may target young impressionable children and eventually attack them or possible even abduct them. This is of course something we wish not to happen! As such dorms have been built on campus, and all students are expected to appear one week from the time of this letter appearing for placement into their dorms. Official classes will start after the weekend." The All Might projection then slowly put his hand out in front of him, almost in a way Izuku felt he should grab hold of it. "This, is Your Hero Academia, grasp it firmly and never let go Young Midoriya." (1)
Izuku shook with the raw emotion that ran through him, and at the words All Might had used. This was his opportunity! This was his future to grab ahold of and take for himself. In his awed silence he almost missed the way his mothers' eyes had teared up, and the way she was sucking in breath through her teeth. Before he even got a chance to say anything, his mother tackled him into a tearful hug
"Oh, my baby is going to a boarding school and won't be home anymore. What am I going to do without you here Izuku?" She exclaimed tearfully. All Izuku could really do was hold unto her as she cried into his shirt.
"It won't be that bad mom, I'll come home to visit! And I'm sure you will be able to come onto campus to see me if you called ahead." He said trying to console her.
"Oh Izuku, I know you will, but I can't stop you from chasing after this. All you've ever wanted in life is to help people and now you can. What kind of mother would I be if I slowed you down?" She said as she leaned back off of Izuku and wiped at her eyes, her voice wobbly with the strain from crying. Izuku thought about that his mom was right, even when he was young all he had wanted to do was help. If he had had a quirk earlier in life, he may have been a perfect student. He already helped people wherever he could, but few accepted the help of quirkless little Deku. This caused him to frown thinking back to who had given him that nickname. Kac-chan had seemed so confused in that hospital bed when he had visited. Izuku was no fool though, he had felt the growing hostility in the room as time had passed. That was what had made the decision to duck out so easy, after all how Kac-chan felt about him shouldn't affect his relationships with anyone else.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Midoriya Household Currently~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
Izuku sat on the edge of his bed and began the painstaking task of figuring out what he would take with him to Yuei. His clothes and necessities weren't a problem, he already knew everything he would need on that front, no he was talking about all of his merchandise. What would be acceptable? What wouldn't be? He was definitely bringing his All Might alarm clock, and probably a few of the pro hero posters he had. His mountain of notebooks had to come, he needed to continue his work on them after all. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the single solitary knock on his door or it opening and closing afterwards. What he did notice however was Kac-chan walking into his room and sitting at the desk chair across from him.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Cool Collected Katsuki POV~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
Five days. That was all that was standing between him and his destiny as the number one hero. Five days and three years of training to be the best. He had been walking for a while now, the route to Izuku's house was a well-known one, he passed it every day on his run after all. He had finally calmed down enough to think after the exams and the short hospital stay, he had endured. Calmed down enough to wonder about what had happened, of how Deku had changed. He needed to talk to him, understand what it was that happened. Deku was strong now, Deku had been referred to Yuei by somebody. He was still a nerd, but now he was a nerd that had a quirk that put him on level with Katsuki himself. The thought really made him mad, out of nowhere shitty Deku shows up with some crazy quirk and suddenly he is able to just slide right into step beside him. No way, something was fishy and Katsuki intended to get to the bottom of it. Aunty Inko let him in easily, especially when he said he wanted to talk to Izuku about going to Yuei together. Not exactly a lie, but not the whole truth either. Winding his way through the hallway he made it to Izuku's door and knocked once and then pushed the door open and closed it behind him with a small click. The room was orderly, and he immediately noticed a desk with a chair sat at it and he made his way over and sat down, spinning the seat toward Deku.
He could feel himself starting to heat up just looking at him, but he stamped it down. It wasn't the time to be angry "Its exhausting isn't it?" Katsuki surprised himself with his own words. "Having a quirk that everyone considers powerful." His mouth was moving on its own, he swore it was, there was no way that he would say this stuff out loud, let alone to Deku. "I struggled for a long time coming to terms with what people expected of me. Katsuki the greatest, Katsuki the strong, Katsuki who is going to be a great hero, but you know what it never really came naturally to me. Fighting villains is going to be so easy for me, but dealing with people… It still doesn't come easy to me now, look at how I treated you after all. You really deserve it, ya know? This chance that showed up for you. You're a natural hero, all you want to do is help. Maybe that's why I always feel like you're looking down on me, because even without a quirk you were a better hero than me." Katsuki sat back in the chair and closed his eyes. He didn't know where that all had come from, he didn't even know if that was how he really felt. He was shocked at what he had just said.
"I'm no natural…" Izuku's voice floated softly in the air. "I'm not even sure how it happened, on the last day of school after you threw my notebook in the trashcan and left all silent and angry like you always do, I felt lost. (2) I worked so hard to prove that I could get into Yuei without a quirk and then it all happened at once I feel like. Suddenly I was in the hospital with electrical burns and no energy to keep my eyes open. The doctors say that it is rare, but sometimes a quirk needs something before it can fully emerge. Normally, your body naturally does whatever is needed, but in rare cases you can go through life quirkless until you meet whatever requirement it is and suddenly your entire world is upside down. For me, it was having enough excess energy in my body for my quirk to not kill me the first time I used it."
"So, where do we stand?" Katsuki said without opening his eyes "I was pretty shitty to you, bullied you, treated you like garbage. I was acting just like a villain would, and I don't want to be like that anymore. I took a long hard look at myself after I got out of the hospital, and what I found wasn't who I wanted to be."
"I… I don't know. It's a difficult question Kac-chan. I'll always admire you on some sort of level, but what you did hurt Kac-chan." Izuku said as he kicked his feet listlessly remembering all the things that had gone down between the two of them.
"That's," here Katsuki took a deep breath. "That's fair." He felt his hands shaking but didn't open his eyes. "So probably not friends then, how about partners?"
"Partners?" Izuku asked in surprise.
"Let's not kid each other, your quirk, its strong. It feels almost like its three quirks rolled into one. Electricity control, strength enhancement, and energy transfer. There aren't many people who can keep up with me, but I feel like you could do it. We could both push each other far, really far Izuku. Maybe even all the way to the top." Katsuki's voice had slowly grown more excited as he spoke until he had a determined edge and a look that promised he would make it.
"I'll think about it." Izuku said haltingly, not quite sure how to react to this Kac-chan, who was so different from the one he was used to dealing with.
"I know there's a lot of baggage and it's my fault it exists, so really that's all I can ask for. Thanks for listening." Katsuki said as he stood and made his way near the door, before stopping a foot from it and turning reaching out his closed fist to Izuku, who seemed startled, but quickly realized what he had wanted. Izuku tapped his knuckles against his own, and with that Katsuki walked out the door. He stopped and talked to Aunty Inko for a few minutes, before leaving, promising he would tell his mom she wanted them to get together. As Katsuki walked home he was feeling good, not angry, not discontent, just good with the sun shining on his face. He knew it would be a long road, but it was a long road he would be walking with someone worthwhile.
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It was a long shot; He knew that when he had thought of the idea and ran it by Fuyumi. She agreed it was a long shot, but she also agreed that there was no harm in asking. And so here he was at the gates of Yuei being escorted by Eraserhead to speak to the mysterious principal. It was a short walk through the grounds, now empty of all the student hopefuls who had been here before. He was just starting to wonder about if he was being led in circles when they stopped in front of a door that swiftly slid open to reveal an comfortable office.
"Ahh young Shoto Todoroki, I thought you may come for a visit sit, please. Would you like tea?" Nezu asked cheerfully from where he sat in his overly large chair.
Shoto glanced around the room, filled with doctorates and rewards, before finally taking a seat across from the Man-bear-rat-dog. Eraserhead sat next to him in another chair and reached for the tea offering a cup to Shoto. "You should try it, Nezu makes some of the best tea I've ever tasted." The man's voice came out exceptionally slow, but that wasn't really surprising considering that he worked a night shift out on patrols, and then came into the school. Shoto accepted a cup and sipped it, before clearing his throat.
"I've come to make a request." He announced finally. "It may be presumptuous of me, but I would like to move into the dorms early if that is allowable." Shoto looked back down at the teacup in his hands. If he could get out of there even a few days early then it would be such a relief, and then Fuyumi could move out as well. They would all be free of Endeavor.
"Of course, I already have a room prepared for you in the Rising Heights Dorm. Eraserhead will show you there directly after this if you want to see it." This was met with silence and the sound of china breaking as it shattered on the floor.
"How could you know?" Shoto muttered just loud enough for Nezu's sensitive ears to pick up
"I am perhaps the smartest known creature on this side of the globe Shoto. I know more of your history than most. There is not much I can do overtly to assist you, but I can offer you this small boon." Nezu said as he pushed a stack of papers toward him. "You will notice that all of the appropriate checks for your parent slash guardian have already been filled in. All you need to do is sign that and go get your bags, you can be moved in before the end of the night if you so choose." Shoto stared at the piece of paper in front of him.
"Thank you sir, this means…more than you could ever know." Shoto replied before bowing his head at the principal.
"Nonsense, what kind of principal would I be if I couldn't help out one of my students in a time of need. I think you will grow into a fine hero one day; I'm just hoping to nurture that and help it grow." Nezu said as he began looking at other paperwork on his desk, clearly a dismissal to Shoto's eyes. He stood once again and looked at Eraserhead who stood a moment later and began leading him down the hallways.
"While you are here you can call me Aizawa-sensei during school hours." Eraserhead announced into the silence of the hallway they were walking down. Shoto nodded his head, before pulling out his phone and shooting Fuyumi a quick text. "Start packing, get out of there." And then slid his phone back in his pocket. After a few minutes of walking, they walked through an adjoining skyway (3) to a new building.
"Only students who actually live in the building or a teacher can open the doors. You'll get your own entry card before the end of the day. A few ground rules. I live on the top floor, if you ever need anything you can come to me. Rooms are yours for the next three years, decorate them how you please. Don't trash the common areas or you will fix them as punishment. There will be rotating duties everyone will participate in. Cooking, cleaning, etc. Curfew off the grounds is Nine P.M., curfew on the grounds is midnight. No inside curfew as long as it stays at a reasonable noise level. You are heroes in training, we won't treat you like children as long as you don't act like them." Shoto took all this in as he was led through the common area and kitchen, which made up most of the bottom floor, the next floors up were rooms already marked with names and student numbers. Halfway through his explorations of the building he was joined by pro heroine Midnight in full costume.
"Shoto Todoroki?" She asked him with a big smile. He nodded at her "You probably already know but I'm Midnight, I will be the female head of the building, while on campus you can call me Kayama-Sensei. I just wanted to pass off your ID to you, with it you have full access to the grounds and buildings of Yuei. I can't wait to see you in class!" Shoto nodded and took his ID from her, before she turned around and walked away back down the hallway she had come from.
(11) This scene always gives me goosebumps, like even in fan-fic it is perfect honestly.
(22) In this story Bakugo did not tell Izuku to kill himself, even if Bakugo is a massive jerk, It does not fit his character at all to do this, so I'm changing it.
3(3) A skyway, is a walkway above ground level generally they run over roads to connect large buildings like hospitals/Convention centers. This one connects Yuei to the Dorm