The door to the warehouse slammed shut behind Izuku. At first glance, it looked empty. But he knew better than to judge that by appearance.
Master wouldn't have called him to an empty building.
Izuku walked to the center of the large room without hesitation or fear. In the center was a couple of chairs and a desk - with a copy of his exam results on it.
'But… how did Master get those…?'
"You placed in the top ten. Well done."
Izuku startled, but recovered quickly. Master seemed to love appearing from nowhere almost as much as taking up the entire room with his presence.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Have a seat."
They sat down, facing each other, and Master grabbed the papers, seeming to inspect them. His lack of eyes never seemed to influence his vision. Once again, Izuku wondered what the man's quirk was.
"Ninth place, 23 villain points and 30 rescue points… Could've been better, but still an impressive feat with only the staff," he set the papers back down, "I am pleased."
Izuku was practically glowing with pride.
"But that's not all I brought you here to discuss." Master picked up a different paper - an acceptance letter. Izuku couldn't see who's it was. "It seems All Might will be teaching at U.A."
Izuku's expression flattened.
"... Shouldn't you feel excited? The Number One Hero will be teaching you, after all."
"I…" Izuku looked down and fiddled with the edge of his shirt. "I'm not sure how to feel."
He looked back up at Master, "I know he saved me and all. He's saved so many people! All Might… he's amazing! It's just…"
His gaze dropped to the floor again. "After what he said, I… I just don't know…" his hands clenched around the fabric, "-how to feel about him anymore."
"Hm. It's understandable. He did try to crush your dream, after all. Saying you couldn't be a hero without a quirk; as though it's their quirks that make them special, even though only four out of five people have one."
"He meant well, though. He just wanted to keep me safe!"
"And you wanted to help keep others safe."
"..."
"... Well, I'm sure you'll learn a lot from him."
"Yeah…"
"Speaking of which, you have almost an entire month before the start of term, and you can't afford to stop improving. Your training regimen will continue as before."
"Yes, Master!"
SPRING
"Izuku! Have you got your pocket tissues?!" "Yeah." "And your handkerchief?! Have you got that?!"
"Yes! I've got it! No time. Gotta hurry…" Izuku shoved the last of his supplies into his bag.
He was nervous. 'I wish Master would let me sleep with that plant in my room every night…'
He threw his bag over his shoulder, paused to give his mom a kiss on the cheek, then moved toward the door. 'But I guess there must be a good reason for it-'
"Izuku!"
"-Huh?" Izuku paused, his hand on the doorknob.
His mom looked at him, teary eyed. "… You look great."
"...!" He straightened, slightly more confident. And grinned. "Thanks… See you later! Love you!"
.~*~.
'I still can barely believe I made it into U.A.… I wonder who my classmates will be…
'… I hope Kacchan and I are in the same class.'
Kacchan had cornered him after class when he'd found out they'd both made it in. Yelled at him about how he'd "torn his grand plans to shreds" of being the "first and only" of their school's students to make it into U.A..
"Thought I told you to go somewhere else!" He'd said, pinning Izuku to a wall.
Even Izuku couldn't believe what he did next.
… No. What he couldn't believe… was that he'd put up with Kacchan's behavior this long.
Izuku twisted out of Kacchan's grip and pinned him to the wall. Kacchan stayed frozen in shock for a couple seconds, and Izuku let go before he regained his senses. Standing tall, fists clenched, Izuku said, "I earned my place just like you did!"
Kacchan spun around with a growl, his palms smoking. But Izuku had refused to flinch. "Mas-Someone told me… That I could become a hero…! Th-that's why… I'm… I'M GONNA BE HERE NO MATTER WHAT!"
He'd gotten his wish; when he arrived in the classroom he saw Kacchan being confronted by a serious-looking student. He decided to ignore them, but before turning to his desk, he heard a voice call from behind him.
"Ah! That curly hair! The plain-looking boy!"
It was the cute girl!
And without the plants calming effect to help him… 'She's too cute in that uniform!'
Izuku was sweating, trying very hard not to look at the cute girl who was way too close - and talking to him, what was she saying-?!
-And why did he have to be sweating so much!
Thankfully he was saved by an unusual arrival.
"If you're here to socialize, then get out."
They were all caught off-guard by the… sleeping bag the man was wearing.
But they didn't have long to dwell over it.
This man, it turned out, was their homeroom teacher, Mr. Shota Aizawa. And the first thing he did (aside from chide them for taking so long to quiet down) was order them to change into their gym uniforms and head out to the grounds.
So he could test their quirks.
'I hope this batch is better than last year's…' I thought as I watched the students line up.
I started my explanation of the day's activities by listing off the "standard no-quirks-allowed" gym tests. No need to go into detail - the students already knew them.
"This country still insists on prohibiting quirks when calculating the averages of those records," I explained, "It's not rational. The department of education is just procrastinating."
I picked a student suited to the task - "Bakugo" - and ordered him to throw a softball, using his quirk however he liked, as long as he didn't leave the circle I'd placed him in.
And, of course, he was able to throw it MUCH farther using his quirk than when not using it.
"It's important for us to know our limits. That's the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes you'll be."
The other students got excited at the idea of freely using their quirks. 'Typical. Just like last year.'
Annoyed by their exclamations and carefree attitudes, I dropped the bomb:
"Right.
"The one with the lowest score across all eight events will be judged hopeless…
"… and will be expelled."
Uraraka, who was standing right next to that quirkless kid, exclaimed, "The lowest scorer will be expelled…? It's only the first day! I mean, even if it weren't… That's totally unfair!"
The faces of the students behind her mirrored that sentiment.
'Jeez… "Unfair," huh? Time to burst their bubbles.'
"Natural disasters… highway pileups… rampaging villains… Calamity is always right around the corner. I'd say Japan is full of unfair things. Heroes are the ones who correct all that unfairness."
I brushed the hair out of my eyes, sighing. 'I can't believe I have to explain this every year.'
"If you were hoping to spend your evenings hanging out at McDonald's… I'm sorry to tell you that for the next three years - U.A. will run you through the wringer."
'Still… Seeing them overcome these obstacles…
'That feeling of pride is why I'm still a teacher.'
I curled my finger in a "come here" gesture. "That's Plus Ultra. Use your strength to overcome it all. Bring it."
The rest of the students weren't discouraged by my harsh words. Rather, I could feel them growing even more restless and determined. Even the most nervous of the bunch were starting to get fired up…!
'There's hope for these kids yet. Now…'
"The demonstration is over. But before we begin… Izuku Midoriya."
The boy jumped at the realization that I was staring right at him.
"That ridiculous entrance exam… Completely irrational when you consider someone like you got in."
'Still… It's impressive that the kid DID manage to get in without a quirk. But, regardless of how hard he tries, I know what experience has taught me…'
"… With no quirk, you'll only end up inconveniencing those around you when they inevitably have to step in to help. And this is a school, not a playground for you to pretend to be All Might."
Narrowing my eyes, I exclaimed, harsh though it was, "Izuku Midoriya. You cannot become a hero without a quirk."
There was a tense silence.
Then I sighed, "But what the hell. Give it a shot. I'm just telling you now, no one's going to change the rules for you.
"Now, let's get this over with."
.~*~.
Inside, I wondered, 'Will he give it his all and go down swinging…? Or shrink away from the challenge and end up with the lowest score…?'
If he fought for it, maybe…?
'... No. Either way, I doubt he stands a chance. Still, it's impressive he even made it in.'
But… As I watched the students - waited to see how creatively (or not) they decided to use their abilities…
'Huh…
'Midoriya is actually…?'
Izuku was in the warehouse, jumping through portal-after-portal.
Or rather…
"When you panic, you lose. When you get lost in thought, you lose," Kurogiri-sensei said.
Izuku lunged again, but in vain - he went barreling through yet another portal. Instead of the book in Kurogiri-sensei's hand, he was met with the hard, cement floor.
Izuku got up to try again, but Kurogiri-sensei held up his hand. Izuku stopped in his tracks, panting, his hands on his knees.
"The key is finding that balance between driving emotion and cool-headed logic. Use the fear and turn it into energy. Then find the paths to victory that are available to you, and focus on one of them. If that path gets cut off, simply turn to the next.
"But most of all…"
Kurogiri-sensei put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, lifting him from his crouch and meeting his eyes.
"… Just breath."
After a few moments, Izuku's breathing evened out and the boy stood up straight.
"Good. Now…" Kurogiri held the book out once more - and opened a myriad of portals around the warehouse, "Take the book. I won't move."
At first, Izuku had panicked. He had no quirk, so how was he supposed to-?!
-But Kurogiri-sensei's lessons came back to him.
And Izuku took a deep breath.
'Mr. Aizawa said he wouldn't change the rules for me, after all.'
He let the breath out slowly.
He didn't need to win. He just-
'-I just need… to not have the lowest score…!'
…
…
"Moving along. Time for the results. Your total scores simply reflect your performance in each of the events. Explaining the process would be a waste of time, so all you get are the final rankings.
"And I wasn't lying about expelling someone."
Many of the students looked tense, uncertain about their results.
I clicked a button on the remote in my hand, and a hologram appeared displaying the students' scores.
Instant relief.
Midoriya, I noticed, looked ready to collapse at the sight of the number "16" next to his name.
Relief… for all but one.
"Minoru Mineta." There was a shuffling of students, and a short purple boy came to the front. He was crying, but I ignored it.
"Go to the Principals office. They'll know why you're there. The rest of you, we're done here. Your documents about the curriculum and such are back in the classroom. Give them a look."
And without another word, I walked away.
.~*~.
After seeing Midoriya's performance, I was conflicted. Had I made the right decision?
'That kid… He doesn't… have no chance, I suppose. He did perform better than some of the others, and they showed promise. I can't ignore that.
'Still… Should I have just cut him loose anyway?
'After all…
'There's nothing crueler than letting someone chase their half-baked dreams.'
I'M SO EXCITED! The person who's doing the podfic for "Phantasma Magica" has agreed to make an audiobook for my original book "Crossroad of Infinity"!
(They've also given me permission to share their name, now. She's "Em" from ShadowQuillsInk – one of the editors of CofI.)
THANK YOU EM! T^T
Also, if you're a writer or other indie creator, go give my editors a look. They're making this community of indie creators to help each other grow and stuff. They're calling themselves "ShadowQuillsInk," and their website just adds a dotcom to the end. Seriously, check them out!