So first I wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the support this story received! I actually wasn't expecting this much, so I was really surprised to see so much interest! So thank you so much to those reading the story and to those who took the time to leave such lovely comments. Second, I know I said I was going to post this chapter Friday, but well, I made some plans with a friend for this Friday. I figured I'd post it sooner rather than later since Friday was out.
Originally chapter 2 of the manga and episode 3 of the anime.
Disclaimer: I do not own BNHA, just Ryuki Tatsuko.
The next morning, Izuku opened the door of his locker and reached in to grab the books that he needed to put in his bag. His focus was hardly on what he was doing or on school. How could it be when he was given the chance to have a Quirk of his own? He still hadn't fully wrapped his head around the concept of receiving a Quirk, but he knew for a fact All Might was genuine in his offer. If he were honest, he just wanted his training to begin already.
As he closed his locker door, he jumped slightly to see Bakugo standing there beside him, waiting with a glare. "Ah, Kacchan!" he squeaked, voice a little high from surprise.
"You weren't takin' me seriously yesterday, Deku," he started, pushing forward to corner him against the lockers. "So I'll tell you again. You didn't do anything for me yesterday. I'd never ask a Quirkless loser like you for help!" To emphasize his point, he held up a sparking hand and grabbed the green-haired boy's collar.
Midoriya eyed it fearfully. True, he wasn't allowed to use his Quirk, but that didn't stop Kacchan. Though, thankfully he only ever seemed to use it for intimidation except for a few occasions… like yesterday. "You aren't supposed to be using your Quirk," a familiar voice called out, gaining their attention. Looking past Bakugo, Izuku could see the girl from yesterday, now in a female gakuran uniform with the sleeves rolled up past her elbows, showing that she had black scales on her elbows up, and blue sneakers instead of the school-issued shoes.
"It's you!" Izuku gasped, blinking a little in shock.
"Can't believe you've got such a good Quirk, but such a shitty attitude," she remarked, ignoring Izuku for the moment.
Her comment seemed to spur Katsuki's temper, as he scowled at her and dropped Izuku in favor of his new target. "What d'you say to me, lizard!?" he yelled, holding his hand up again and making it spark.
She didn't seem fazed by his obvious, unspoken threat. Instead, she held up her own hand, activating her Quirk so that it became covered over in black scales, grew impressive claws, and became larger in size, stretching the sleeve of her uniform a bit. Midoriya eyed it in awe, making a mental note to ask her about it when he got the chance. "If you wanna fight with Quirks, that's fine by me. We'll both get in trouble for fighting and illegal Quirk usage."
"Tch," he turned his head to the side, the sparks fizzling out as his hand went back to his side. He could get away with a lot at Aldera, but even he wouldn't get off scot-free for using his Quirk to harm another person. "I'm not risking my chance of getting into U.A. just to fight some lizard." He turned and stalked off down the hall, presumably to his class.
Ryuki offered the boy a hand while her other arm returned to normal. "Thanks," he said, taking her hand and letting her help him up. "Were you really going to fight Kacchan?"
She shook her head. "Not with my Quirk. If I did, I'd be blacklisted from all the top hero courses. But guys like him are a lot of bark and no bite. If you don't bend to their threats, they usually don't do much, especially if they want to get into U.A."
Something dawned on him: he never asked for her name or even introduced himself to her the other day. "I'm sorry, but… I never got your name yesterday," he smiled sheepishly.
"Ryuki Tatsuko," she answered. "Feel free to call me by my first name, though. You?"
"Izuku Midoriya," he introduced a tad awkwardly with pink cheeks. He was still somewhat flustered about talking to a girl, especially being on a first-name basis with her. "A-And, in that case, you can call me Izuku." He reached into his backpack for his fresh, new notebook. The other one wasn't ruined, but it was in no shape to be written in anymore. "Do you mind me asking about your Quirk?" he asked a bit timidly.
She blinked at him, a little surprised, but gave in with a shrug. "Sure."
His face lit up and he flipped to the very first page, ready to take notes. "What's it called? And what kind of stuff can you do with it? Does it have anything to do with your scales and tail?"
Ryuki eyed him, taken aback by his sudden vigor before she smiled proudly. "It's called Dragon Limbs. I can make my limbs like a dragon's or grow the ones I don't have. I've got fire, too, but it's kinda useless," she added a bit sheepishly.
"Whoa, that sounds amazing!" he gasped, scribbling the information down like his life depended on it. He'd get to a sketch of her later, probably during class. "It sounds like a great Quirk. You mentioned hero courses earlier. I'm guessing that's where you want to go?"
"Yep," she nodded her head, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm aiming for the best: U.A. High School!"
"Me too!" he smiled. "It's got the best course in Japan, and plenty of the top pros went there. I can't think of a better place to train."
The dragon girl quirked a brow at him. "Sorry if this is a touchy subject, but didn't that jerk call you Quirkless?" She was aware that they were allowing Quirkless people to take the exam, but the exam wasn't going to be easy even for people with Quirks.
The boy went visibly stiff and the happy expression he had was replaced with one of worry. "Uh… yeah, he did," he admitted quietly, looking to the floor. He had been afraid something like this would happen. He was bound to have someone ask about it, but he hadn't expected it so soon. At least he had already worked out a story to tell people. "But Kacchan doesn't know that I have a Quirk. Mine developed late, and it's really dangerous for me to use, so I've just let everyone think I'm Quirkless since I can't really give a demonstration."
The school bell chimed throughout the hall, breaking their attention away from their conversation and preventing her from asking any further questions. "Oh, crap! Class!" the boy exclaimed, realizing that he was now late. "I've gotta go! It was nice talking to you!" he said as he took off down the hall in a mad dash to get to his classroom.
The dragon girl cruised on her skateboard down the sidewalk, swerving smoothly to avoid various pedestrians in her way. She had just finished unpacking the rest of her things when she got a text from Midnight that read, "Come to the agency. I have a surprise for you~"
Of course, she was wondering what Midnight had for her, but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. Midoriya's excuse for his Quirk made sense, but she couldn't help but be suspicious of it. It wasn't impossible. Her own father had had a dangerous Quirk that he didn't use out of fear of harming others. But it was obvious the boy was bullied a lot by the blond porcupine, especially for being Quirkless, so it wasn't impossible that he was lying about his Quirk out of fear that she'd bully him for it too. She really didn't know enough to say which it was for sure, though.
Ryuki spotted the agency up ahead and began to drag her foot on the ground to slow her momentum until she could stop. Grabbing her board, she walked into the agency and was surprised to find Midnight in the reception area. More often than not, she was out dealing with a villain or at U.A. Really, her agency wasn't as active as it used to be, so the only ones still around were her mother and the pro herself. "What d'you want to show me?" the dragon asked.
"Well, you're planning to try for U.A. right?" she asked, turning to walk down one of the hallways just past the reception desk.
"Yeah," she replied, starting after the woman.
"You've got to train somehow and push-ups and crunches can only do so much," she paused at a sliding door, reaching to open it. "I figure you need some real equipment to get you ready for U.A." She slid it open dramatically, letting Ryuki see the expansive gym inside.
She gapped at the large display of gym equipment that she could now use. "I didn't even know you had a gym!"
Kayama chuckled, "I do. The Midnight Boys used it when they worked here."
"I can really use all this stuff?" she asked, tail wagging slightly from excitement.
"Yep. Just be careful not to hurt yourself or overdo it," she advised, still smiling. "And no training in the building alone. If you do get hurt, you'll need someone around to help."
"Yeah, I know," the dragon said dismissively as she entered the room, already throwing her hoodie off and planning to get to work. The next hour or so of her time was spent testing the limit of weight she could lift then finally getting actual reps in until her mother came in to take her home.
It became a regular occurrence for Midnight to see her in the gym after school, working herself to the bone. She had ten months until the entrance exam and she needed to make the most of that time. During the time, she lifted weights until she had to stop due to the burning in her arms, performed squats with the barbell on her shoulders, and even worked her tail with the kettlebell. Sometimes, she'd push it so hard she was forced to use her Quirk to lift the barbell off herself. Of course, she also participated in the next mock exam that was offered, and much to Bakugo's anger, her scores showed just as much promise for UA's hero course as his. Apparently, he wanted to be the only one from Aldera to enter UA's esteemed hero course, but she wasn't about to give up everything just because some blond brat wanted to be special.
During the months, she also kept up with Izuku, though the boy seemed just as busy preparing for the exam as she was. It hadn't been all that long since she'd begun her own training. She was sitting in class and noticed that the boy looked entirely wiped out. She had turned her attention back to the board until she heard a faint mumbling that she soon realized was coming from him. He looked so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't appear to have even noticed he was speaking out loud about what sounded like his training regime. Ryuki couldn't help but smile. It sounded like he was thinking far too hard about it, trying to maximize efficiency and determine the number of days of actual training he would get. Though, something that did catch her attention was that he planned to cut rest out of the equation despite that being pivotal to any results. It eventually got to the point where even the teacher paused in his lecture to stare at Midoriya. When the boy didn't stop, he stretched out his hand to smack the boy over the head then proceeded to practically bully him while the rest of the class snickered.
Besides that incident, Tatsuko also noticed he came into class regularly looking drained. Every time she asked if he was okay, he always told her he was fine. It was just that he was working hard to get into UA. She knew that was true, but she still told him to get some rest since that was important too. There was also a point where she had seen him using a hand exerciser in the middle of class while he was taking notes with the other. He was determined, that much was crystal clear, and she had to admire it, even if he was being a total idiot with the way he was going about it.
Several months later on a railed path through the forest, Ryuki panted, forcing her legs to continue moving her along the forested walk despite the burning pain in them and her lungs. Three months. That was how long she had left until the exam. Just thinking about it made her blood pump with excitement and anticipation. However, that also meant it was freezing outside since it was well into winter. Regardless, she still only wore her workout tank top, leggings, and sneakers, knowing full well that once a run was started, a hoodie would make it absolute misery. The start was rough, but after a minute or so, the cold was hardly felt.
On the plus side, the railed path through the forest was pretty empty so far, and it was quiet, especially compared to the city. With not much else to occupy her mind, she found herself thinking about the boy's Quirk again. It came to her mind every now and then, usually when she saw a reminder of just how hard he was working towards his goal. Even after all those months, she still wasn't sure if she believed he had a Quirk. Part of her thought he was being honest. No Quirkless person would genuinely believe they'd make it into UA, not when they had to compete with superpowered people. Those with Quirks can have all the tenacity and skills of a Quirkless person, but a Quirkless person will never have a Quirk. But there was another part of her that thought he was lying out of fear of her picking on him like everyone else, and she couldn't ignore that possibility when she saw how the rest treated him and thought of him.
Ryuki was brought out of her thoughts when she saw two other people up ahead on the path. One of them was lying on the ground while the other was riding a segway, not even moving to help the other up. As she neared, she noticed that the one on the ground was actually Izuku. There was also a small personal safe on the ground next to him, which she guessed he had been carrying. Ryuki slowed to a stop, taking a breath or two before she kneeled beside the boy, who was sucking in air as fast as he could. "I thought I told you to make time for rest," she said, sounding upset with him for not taking her advice.
He couldn't even answer her. He shook some as he tried to move, clenching his fist as he found he couldn't get up. "He's overworked," the man on the segway said, sounding like he just realized this. "The 'Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan' was created with your body in mind. It was fine-tuned to ensure your progress was swift but manageable," the man scolded. "Which means… You haven't been sticking to it. You're overdoing things; that's gonna have the opposite effect of what we want!"
The dragon girl wasn't entirely sure of who this man was, but given that he'd mentioned a workout plan and was with the boy on a run, she guessed he was a personal trainer or something like that. "I have to work harder," Midoriya croaked, still heaving in an attempt to catch his breath. "Or I won't stand a chance against the other applicants. I don't just want into UA, I want to excel." He was struggling to push himself up by now, prompting the girl next to him to help him up, allowing both her and the man to see his sweat-and-tear-stained face as more tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "I want… to be like All Might. I want… to be the greatest hero in the world! So I'll keep on trying! Until I've got what it takes to do that."
Ryuki sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That doesn't mean you cut rest out of the equation. He's right when he said that'll have the opposite effect. You're not doing yourself any favors making yourself collapse like this," she scolded with a frown, making the boy turn his tired gaze on her. Almost immediately, his face turned pink from her being so close and from seeing her in something as revealing as a workout tank top. "But I like the spirit, so don't lose that," she smiled, making the boy turn a darker shade of red from the compliment.
He tried to reply, but he could only get out a squeak in his mortified state. For one, she had seen him collapsed on the ground, covered in sweat with tears pricking at his eyes. That alone was bad enough when you didn't want the one girl that talked to you to think you were a dork or a loser. But then her attire had also caught him completely off guard. He felt like he was invading her privacy just by seeing it in his peripheral vision. But the lack of cover allowed him to see her sturdy-looking arms. Ryuki smiled again, standing and helping him stand with her. As she lifted him up, the muscles in her biceps bulged with the effort, showing that there was more there than what would be expected. "I guess I can leave him to you now?" she turned her attention back to the man, who had actually stepped off the segway.
"Yes, of course," he nodded. "I'll make sure he doesn't overdo it again."
"Alright," the dragon looked back to the boy beside her. He was still recovering from his embarrassment, but his face was mostly back to its normal color by now. "I wanted to talk to you real quick, though."
"About what?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"I just wanna know if you were being honest with me when you said you had a Quirk," she admitted, meeting his eyes to search for any hints of a lie when he answered.
Izuku blinked, a little caught off guard by her question. "Of course. Why would I lie to you about that?" he replied genuinely, despite it actually being a lie. He was a lot more used to the idea of saying he had a Quirk than he was when he first told her. Plus, he knew he would have it soon enough, so it wasn't like it would never be true.
A small smile spread across Tatsuko's face, happy to find no evidence of dishonesty in his voice or eyes, and she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. There was no doubt left in her mind, not after seeing how determined he was. "Alright, if that's what you say, then I'll trust you."
She let her hand fall back to her side before resuming her jog down the path. She paused again soon after, though, and turned to look at the boy over her shoulder. "Oh, by the way, if I catch you overworking yourself again, I'll have Midnight use her Quirk on you," she threatened playfully with a smile that matched her tone.
Midoriya stiffened at the idea, knowing she could actually do it if she really wanted to. Even though he wanted to meet the hero, having the R-rate pro hero come to his home specifically to put him to sleep would be even more mortifying than Ryuki seeing him like he was just moments before.
Ryuki stared up at the massive building just beyond the grand gates, a grin placed firmly on her face. Today was the day. The entrance exam was finally here, and she was more than ready to show her stuff. Rushing through the gate, she heard a familiar, high-pitched laugh and she knew who it belonged to. Up ahead was Midoriya, laughing out of what sounded like pure elation.
The dragon girl slowed as she neared, still grinning ear-to-ear as she came up beside him. "Guess I'm not the only one who's excited," she said, startling him as she passed by and stopped just a little ahead of him.
He slapped both hands over his mouth, completely embarrassed once he realized he had been laughing out loud like a crazy person after talking to that brunette girl. He hadn't forgotten about Ryuki, but she was the only girl he could even speak to, so it was surprising when he was able to talk to another girl. "Uh-" he started, removing his hands from the lower part of his face. "Well, I'm pretty nervous."
"Don't be! You're gonna do great," she reassured with a smile. "I meant what I said after that sludge villain attack. You've got exactly the right stuff, so don't sweat it." Izuku's expression brightened some at her encouraging words. "Now, c'mon! Let's get inside so we don't miss anything!" Ryuki urged, already starting towards the doors.
Once inside the auditorium, they both found some empty seats and took them, not noticing that Bakugo was seated directly beside the empty ones. It wasn't long after they sat down that a growl from the seat beside Izuku caught their attention. "Probably a thousand places to sit and you two had to pick the ones right next to me," he grumbled, side-eying the two and intimidating the green-haired boy.
"Oh, deal with it," Ryuki scoffed, crossing her arms.
Soon enough, the lights dimmed and the pale stage lights came on, spotlighting Present Mic. "What's up, UA candidates? Thanks for tunin' in to me, your school DJ," he said, posing with his back to the students. "C'mon. And let me hear ya!" he turned, his motion just as energetic as his voice, and held his hand up to his ear to help him hear.
Unfortunately, the entire room was dead silent. It seemed everyone was too tired from their training or too anxious about the exam to care about playing along. That or they just thought it was dumb to begin with. "Keepin' it mellow, huh?" the hero shrugged in an attempt to play it off but the shaking of his arms gave him away. "That's fine. I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about this practica exam is gonna go down, okay?" The man suddenly struck another pose, this time that of a typical DJ, and bellowed, "Are you ready? Yeah!" Once again, the entire room was quiet, leaving Mic as the only enthusiastic person in the room.
"Oh my goodness! It's the Voice hero, Present Mic. So cool!" Ryuki could hear Midoriya beginning to mutter in awe from her seat just beside him. She couldn't help but chuckle a little at his excitement. All it took to change his attitude was seeing a pro in person. "I listen to his radio show every day of the week. It's so crazy nuts all the UA teachers are pro heroes."
"Will you shut up?" Bakugo sighed exasperatedly.
"Like your application said," Mic started, throwing one arm up, "you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super-hip urban settings." By now, his other arm had come up and he had spread his fingers, once again looking like a stereotypical DJ. "Gird your loins, my friends," he went on as colored squares with letters appeared on the screen to represent the battle areas, all of which were connected to a rectangle in the center that represented the main school building. "After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, sound good?"
Like everyone else in the room, Ryuki looked at her examinee ticket they had given her before entering the auditorium, checking to see which battle center she was placed in. After a quick glance, she found she was in center C. Really, she didn't care where she was placed as long as it wasn't the same area as the grouchy blond. The chances of her "accidentally" punching him in the face during the exam were way too high.
Said grouchy blond took a look at his ticket before glancing over at Midoriya's. "I see," Bakugo growled, making the other boy flinch. "They're splitting us up so we can't work with any of our friends."
"Yeah, you're right," Izuku agreed after taking a look at both Bakugo's and Ryuki's. "All of our examinee numbers are right after the other, but we're assigned to different battle centers."
"Get your eyes off my card," the blond snapped in a gravelly voice once he saw the boy was still reading his card, making him look away abruptly with a squeak. "Damn," he cursed, gritting his teeth a little. "I was really looking forward to crushing you."
"Now you'll have to find some other way to show them how much of an ass you are," the dragon girl smirked when her jab succeeded in getting the blond to glare at her out of the side of his eye.
"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets," Present Mic's voice came over the speakers again, directing their attention back to the front, where silhouettes of robots with a designated point value were appearing on the large screen. "There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely."
"Don't have to choose at all if you're fast enough to smash them all," Tatsuko thought with a grin, already preparing to destroy any and all robots she came across. They all gave points that contributed to a total, so why not take a few seconds to bust up some easy ones for just a couple more?
"Your goal in this trial is to use your Quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it!" Present Mic swung one arm out, fingers pointing towards the students. "Make sure you're keep'n things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?" he waggled his finger at the crowd.
Suddenly, one of the people a couple rows down stood, raising their hand as they stood. "Excuse me, sir, but I have a question." It was a boy, sporting a professional-looking jacket and tie. Clearly, he was from one of the more prestigious private schools in the area.
"Hit me!" the pro replied enthusiastically, pointing towards him.
A light above the boy came on, spotlighting him for the entire auditorium to see. He brought up a piece of paper before pointing at the bottom of it where illustrations of the robots were. On it, there were clearly four, not three. "On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three," his tone was stern and serious, like the simple act of an error was a crime. "With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful."
"That stick must be really far up his ass," the dragon thought with a deadpanned expression.
He let the hand holding the paper go back to his side, placing his other hand over his chest in reference to himself. "We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do." The boy suddenly turned around, aiming his finger directly at Midoriya. "Additionally, you with the unkempt hair."
"Huh?" was all Midoriya could manage while pointing at himself.
"You've been muttering this entire time," he continued tightly, fixing the other boy with a sharp gaze. "Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave." He leaned his head forward just slightly so that the light caught his glasses and reflected off of them. "You're distracting the rest of us."
"Sorry," Izuku apologized in a low, muffled voice after covering his mouth with both hands as a few other students began to laugh quietly. Ryuki frowned, biting her tongue to keep from snapping at the boy for his harsh treatment of her friend.
"All right, all right," the voice hero spoke up, motioning with his hands for the students to calm down. "Examinee number seven-one-one-one." The hero gave a thumbs up, placing his other hand on his hip. "Thanks for calling in with your request." Another silhouette appeared on the screen, this one bulkier than the others. "The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's… kinda no point." The man struck another pose, this time gesturing out to the examinees. "I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the ones toppin' the charts."
The very serious boy bowed. "Thank you very much. Please, continue." With that, he sat back down in his seat and the light above him shut off.
Well, that didn't change her plan much. Avoid one robot in the whole battle center and wreck any others she came across. Pretty simple. In fact, the obstacle robot didn't seem like much of one based on its silhouette. It seemed clunky, which meant it was also slow, so the thing probably wouldn't be an issue to get away from.
"That's all I got for you today," Mic spread his arms out, pulling yet another pose. "I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down. 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Mm-hm. Now that's a tasty soundbite. You ready to go beyond?" he asked, winking. "Let's hear a Plus Ultra!" the hero unfurled his arms as the two words appeared on screen, making the dragon girl grin with excitement. She planned to hear that motto for the next three years. "Good luck! Hope you practiced hitting more than just books."
After a change of clothes and a short bus ride to their designated area, she, along with a large group of other examinees, was standing outside the enormous gates of battle center C. "Alright," she muttered to herself, a confident expression on her face. "Let's see what UA's got."
And finally done! I had a lot of fun with this chapter! But I'm really excited for the next one. I initially planned for Ryuki to be in the same space as Izuku, but then I ran across the little issue of them being separated due to them both coming from Aldera. After that, I had to rethink what I was doing for the entrance exam, and I like what I came up with way more than the first idea. So next chapter is probably gonna have very little of the actual anime in it!