Izuku walked around the city completely stunned. He mulled over what he had seen as he tried to find a familiar area so that he could make his way home. He wasn't thinking about how it shouldn't be possible, or about how it would have had to be some sort of illusion. He was thinking about how much sense it made. He had thought hard about it for a moment, and now he couldn't get his mind off the fact that it made perfect sense. He had nearly walked into a lamppost a couple of times. It wasn't such a good idea to think and walk simultaneously.
Eventually, he found his way back to an area he recognized. He knew the directions to his house from this place. He could only hope that Hisashi had left and that he could talk to his mom privately.
As he started walking towards the house, he heard police sirens close behind him. He sighed, knowing that one of his parents had probably reported him missing. This wasn't the first time they'd had an argument, but it was the first time Izuku had left the area after a fight. They - no, his mom - were probably worried. Hisashi couldn't care less whether his son lived or died, Izuku figured. But he also took into account that now, his father found a use for him. What that was, he wasn't sure. Izuku figured that Hisashi had been planning to talk to him about it after taking him back to his house, but the boy never gave his father the chance.
The police car slowed down beside him. "Oi, kid. This you?" the officer asked, holding up a photo. It was indeed a photo of Izuku.
"Why?" Izuku asked softly. He needed to be sure of where he was going before he let anyone take him anywhere.
"Your mother asked me to find you and take you home," she said. "She's quite worried."
Izuku nodded and the officer unlocked the car doors. He climbed into the back seat, buckled his seatbelt, and the officer drove off in the direction of his house.
"Kid, you can't just leave like that," the officer began. "You made your parents worried sick. Your dad threatened to sue us if we didn't look for you right away."
Izuku frowned. "If he's so concerned, then maybe he shouldn't provoke me and try to kidnap me."
The officer looked at him through the rearview mirror with big eyes. "What?"
"It was my mom's day and he tried to take me with him. I ran away because I didn't want to spend any time alone with that bastard."
The officer paused for a moment. "Oh... Don't worry, kid. We won't let him take you. I'll escort him away from the premises so that you don't have to deal with him," she said gently. Among the pro heroes and police, few were truly kind-hearted souls. The heroism of that general group swayed any accusation that they had ever hurt anybody. Hisashi himself had formerly been a police officer. The female officer talking to Izuku knew all of this and was grateful that it was her that was assigned to his case and none of her corrupt co-workers. They wouldn't have believed the kid, let alone done anything about Hisashi. Sure, he was a former colleague, but he was fired for a reason.
Izuku, on the other hand, hardly knew anything about the truth behind the heroism. He knew that pro heroes had such accusations all the time, but he was in the mindset that they couldn't do anything so horrible. He hadn't known Hisashi had been a police officer; it was before he was born. In fact, he had no idea the truth about why he was born. However, only one of his parents intended to keep that a secret forever. Plus, he was a curious kid. He was bound to find out eventually.
The officer pulled up to his house. His mother ran outside, tears welling up in her eyes. Hisashi wasn't far behind her, his hands in the front pockets of his pants. The officer stared at him for a short moment before deciding to speak. "Sir, I'm going to need you to leave."
Hisashi stared at her, annoyance and frustration evident in his eyes. "What? Why?"
The officer sighed. "Your son doesn't want you here, and you don't live here. You have no right to be here if the property owners or residents don't want you to be here.
Hisashi frowned. "Inko owns the property. Izuku has no say-"
"Leave." Inko's voice was firm and harsh in the night. Hisashi's frown deepened for a short moment. The officer moved closer to him, ready to tase him if needed. He turned and left. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, Izuku," Inko began. "I wish I didn't have to let him into our lives like this."
"None of this is your fault, mom," Izuku said softly. "It's the court's ruling."
Inko nodded quickly before pulling Izuku into a hug. Tears ran down her face as she held Izuku close. She had been worried that something horrible would happen to Izuku. "Come on, let's go inside."
After the argument with Hisashi had been resolved, things went rather smoothly for Inko and Izuku. The latter trained nearly every day to build strength and endurance, taking runs at the crack of dawn, then doing his daily workout routine. He intensified it more every day, pushing himself a little harder whenever he felt he could. By the time the last week of summer rolled around, he felt ready for the entrance exam. He had built quite a bit of muscle, although not as much as he would have liked. Still, he felt his quirk was rather useless for the exam. What good could immortality do when nobody was expected to die or get too severely injured? He felt the only thing he truly had going for him was his strength.
Nevertheless, he figured he could come up with something in time for the exam. Whenever the green-haired boy wasn't training, he was thinking of techniques he could use to defeat the robots with the strength he had. He wasn't having much luck, though, and the day before the entrance exam, he gave up. The only thing he could think to do was take out the parts that made it mobile first, but most people would likely have the same idea.
Sighing, he sat down in his chair and opened the computer. He saw that he had gotten a new email and clicked on it. The email read,
Izuku Midoriya,
After careful consideration, we have decided to reject your application to join UA high school due to your mental health issues. The training is rigorous and draining, and we feel that it would make the problems you are experiencing worse. Due to your history of suicide, we don't think it is safe for you to be at UA.
Thanks,
The UA Application Team
