DISCLAIMER: BNHA does not belong to me. This is merely a fanfiction, made for only enjoyment by others.
i.
"IZUMI-CHAN?"
"HITOSHI-KUN?!"
(—two children, with strangely alike circumstances, meet at a martial arts dojo many years ago, and immediately make a connection with each another due to their shared experiences of Quirk discrimination and bullying by fellow peers for reasons they have no control over. It is on the night they are separated, the boy moving away to a foster home in another city, that the two make a promise to each other, to prove to the world that a Quirk does not make you a hero, it is your actions that do—)
The messy indigo-haired boy stared, half-lidded amethyst eyes slightly wide and lips curved into a surprised but pleased smile. As he was about to open his mouth to say something, he was interrupted by a cheery accented voice.
"Tarantino-kun!"
Both Izumi and Hitoshi turned to face the grinning face of a bronze-skinned boy with unruly dark curls and almond-shaped sea green eyes. His eyes widened when he received twin deadpanned stares in response.
"Sorry," the boy apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and cheeks flushing in embarrassment, "Didn't mean to startle you."
The two Japanese teenagers nodded in unison, waving their hands to tell the Spanish teen that it was alright. Izumi sat down in the seat between both boys and turned to face the dark-haired boy.
"I am assuming that you must be Tarantino then?" Izumi asked, tilting her head adorably, and the boy nodded in confirmation, eyes widening as he observed the cute motion.
When he looked at the other boy in the room to silently ask if this was normal, the other boy could only nod solemnly as he covered the yawn coming out of his mouth.
"But you can call me Dante-kun if you would like!" Dante added with a bright pearly-white smile.
"Alright then, Dante-kun, I'm Midoriya Izumi and this is my childhood friend, Shinso Hitoshi." She motioned towards the yawning boy who smiled friendly and waved.
"Now that it seems that we have all introduced ourselves," an amused voice interrupted, causing the teens to cease the silent staring contest they were having with each other, "Now, let's begin class."
In front of the class stood a smiling Cerebral without the usual gloves on his hands that Izumi had grown accustomed to seeing the two days she had been here at the island.
"Izumi, you are the only one still unaware of my Quirk."
Hitoshi had only been at the Institution for a week before Izumi had arrived and had first hand knowledge of just how Cerebral's Quirk worked and out of the corner of her eyes, Izumi saw her friend shudder physically at the reminder. Noticing the exhausted and traumatized looks on both Hitoshi's and Dante's faces, Izumi gulped nervously and nodded.
Cerebral smirked, noticing the look on his pupils' faces, and continued. "My Quirk is called knowledge manipulation. With just one touch, I can transfer any knowledge you have to myself or information I have back to you."
An admiring expression overtook Izumi's face. "That's awesome! That Quirk would work amazing in interrogations, silent communication or emergency situations! You could get information to another person or acquire knowledge without the villain or others noticing. That would be an amazing advantage in espionage missions! If you have that Quirk, the possibilities will be endless—"
Izumi's eyes widened once she noticed she had gone off of track again and she immediately threw her hands on her mouth, freckled cheeks flushing brightly. "I'm sorry! I have a habit of rambling!"
The man merely looked impressed at her analysis and smiled thoughtfully. "That's right, Midoriya-chan."
"For the next three months, our focus will be languages," he continued, placing a finger on the middle of his glasses to push them up and smiled wickedly, icy blue eyes sparkling with mischief, "My aim is for all three of you to know how to write, read and speak in twelve different languages at the end of the three months."
Izumi sputtered, staring at her teacher in disbelief who chuckled upon hearing her reaction. "And before you ask how, I will be sharing with you my knowledge of a language per week and you will have until the end of the week to make the language yours. Every assignment we do in this class will be answered in the specific language for the week. First, we will begin with English."
Before the teenagers could protest, Cerebral had already touched their foreheads with his pointer finger. It went unnoticed to the Japanese teenagers that Dante had been left untouched.
For the next three months, Hitoshi and Izumi slept, ate and breathed languages and suffered at the hands of the evil mastermind known as Cerebral. The tor-lessons with Cerebral were not the only ones they had.
Relic was a slave driver, never impressed with their best and always making them go beyond their limits. He would have them begin with two miles around the training course, a hundred pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups, squats, and burpees. And that was only the warmup to their daily training.
His lessons usually ended in exhausted students who could barely move off the ground and most days, Dante would have to physically drag both Hitoshi and Izumi back to the mansion that housed them.
In just three months, Izumi could already see more muscle on her body than she ever thought possible and Hitoshi had begun to resemble a tall, toned and muscular zombie.
It was in the second month that Relic had even began to use his Quirk, stone manipulation, and with combined help from Black Mamba—their instructor for martial arts training—both Japanese teenagers began sparring, fighting against towering stone gargoyle-like sculptures that never seemed to go down no matter what they used to hit them.
Izumi already knew that by the end of their training, both Japanese middle-schoolers would have a wide gap between them and the rest of the students applying to U.A. Academy in terms of their combat experience and physical fitness.
If Relic was a slave-driver, Black Mamba was a monster with superhuman capabilities who could react and retaliate back by hearing the sound of your feet and breathing alone. Dante had told them the ebony-haired woman had gained her codename from an old Institution Knight who related her lightning fast strikes to that of a black mamba and none of them could disagree with the name.
It had taken both Hitoshi and Izumi three weeks before they realized that the Spanish woman was blind and yet could fight better than any martial arts master they had ever heard about or seen before. (Izumi could now confidently say that she had never met such a terrifying and resilient woman in her entire lifespan—including her previous one.)
The Spanish woman's Quirk was peak hearing: the ability to hear everything around her and use the sounds to paint a mental picture of her surroundings which she could then use to fight. Even the smallest sound could be heard by her and Hitoshi had learned that the hard way. Izumi had been the one to carry him back to the mansion that time.
Two months into their training, a man burst into her room while she was sleeping and began attacking her with knives. Izumi had screamed and Cerebral came running in his pajamas and gun in hand.
When the man got a good look at the intruder, he sighed in exasperation and smacked his forehead. Cerebral then informed Izumi the intruder was another one of her trainers, Mimic, who had recently gotten back from their year-long mission and wanted to see what kind of students they were working with.
Their brilliant plan had been to break into the only female trainee's room in the middle of night and attack her. In the future, Izumi would find herself the target of many of their brilliant plans.
Out of all of their trainers, Mimic had the most unpredictable Quirk: shapeshifting. They could change into anyone—boy, girl, transformation Quirk—and no one would notice the difference. They also loved to attack at the most random times of day (during class with Cerebral, after exhausting training with Relic or Black Mamba that drained them of all of their energy, or even when using the restroom).
No where was safe and both the Japanese teens became paranoid, tensing at the slightest noise and always ready to fight no matter their physical state.
Training with Phantom was the most relaxing. The Scandinavian woman was always a gentle and calming presence in their hectic lives. With her, both teens learned how to build a mental-scape to retreat into when meditating and how to deal with their negative memories and emotions.
The fiery-haired woman was also the first to learn of Izumi's past life. Her Quirk, mind-walking, allowed her to enter people's minds and help them deal with mental trauma and she was known as the Institution's finest therapist. It was inevitable, especially since a mixed clone with features of both Ushiwaka Itomi and Midoriya Izumi was the first to greet her when she entered Izumi's mind.
Phantom took the truth exceptionally well, having seen even stranger during her time at the Institution, and helped Izumi organize her memories from her past life into her mental-scape for viewing if she ever wanted to.
The golden-eyed woman taught both the Japanese middle-schoolers how to retreat to their mental-scape in impossible situations like being captured by the enemy and tortured for information.
Hitoshi and Izumi always attended a weekly session with her at separate times and found themselves much happier and accepting of their past trauma and bullying. Phantom had become a confidant, a person they always knew had their doors open for them at any time they needed to talk.
They were both surprised to learn that she was also Cerebral's wife and wondered how such different personalities were attracted to each other as Phantom was so calm compared to the chaotic energy Cerebral displayed.
In her third month, her fifth and sixth mentors were introduced to her, specifically chosen to help Izumi with One For All and Hitoshi usually attended physical training with Mimic or Quirk training with Phantom during those times.
Her fifth mentor was Totem, a Native American woman, who would help her understand her inheritance of One For All and possible powers she may receive in the transferral. Her Quirk, totem inheritance, allowed her to acquire the abilities of the totem she was wearing.
The olive-skinned woman taught Izumi how to access different parts of her power and mentally strengthen her mind to be able to withhold such power in her body. Their training would usually consist of meditation and yoga which was meant to help her ready her body spiritually for the power she was supposed to receive.
Totem also helped her train, sparring with her using multiple totems at a time, and Izumi was able to acquire tips from the woman that would help with her own training once she received One For All from All Might.
Her sixth mentor, Turbulence, was the one in charge of teaching the legacy of One For All and how certain predecessors—that they knew about—had used the power. The Thai man's Quirk, energy manipulation, would be very useful in channeling the energy of One For All and learning how to control it.
In her time with the navy blue-haired man, Izumi learned about the selective beholders of One For All. (Once she learned what exactly the Institution had on the previous holders, Izumi realized that her and her mother had most likely been too ambitious with their goals of mastering One For All by the end of a single year.)
Knowledge concerning One For All users was severely lacking. Shigaraki Ko had been a very secretive man who preferred to withhold the majority of the information concerning One For All. Turbulence had revealed that their founder did not want to leave a paper trail for All For One to follow and most of the knowledge concerning One For All was passed from person to person.
Turbulence also revealed that one of the Knights at Shigaraki Ko's side before the Institution was founded had been a traitor and spy for All For One. The traitor had told the older brother of the younger's plans and once Ko learned of his Knight's betrayal, it had resulted in the founder becoming even more paranoid and unforthcoming regarding any secret of One For All.
Despite the high security regarding the power, one fact that managed to slip through the cracks was the cause of all the deaths of Izumi's deceased predecessors—All For One—and resulted in even more security around the secrets in One For All.
Knowledge that Turbulence had access to in regard to One For All users had mostly been about the first, seventh and eighth users of the power.
The First, Shigaraki Ko, used his power in explosive moves that would hinder his opponent's moves and welded the power like a shield. His weakness, however, had been time. Not having enough time to cultivate enough power to defeat his older brother, the man had lost against his brother.
The Seventh—based on speculation—was most likely Nana Shimura, a Japanese hero with a Quirk known as Float. She used her power to save others and was able to take down formidable opponents with not much force needed. She was presumed to be the seventh user because of her mentorship with Yagi Toshinori and the reason behind her death, All For One.
The Eighth, Yagi Toshinori, and current user used One For All to physically overpower his opponents and the power was the strongest in his hands compared to previous users. This supported the theory that the power only grew in strength when it was passed from an earlier generation to the next and meant it would be even stronger in Izumi's hands.
Her Quirkless body needed to be ready to handle the overload of power from One For All. Cerebral also believed that Izumi could possibly unlock the previous users' Quirks if the power had grown strong enough.
This is where both Turbulence and Totem came into play. They wanted to make sure Izumi was ready for any possible circumstances. The Institution's goal was to have Izumi gain at least 10% control of the power before UA High School began.
In month four, the two Japanese teens were introduced to their eighth mentor who was known as Mastermind. The Korean woman had an adoptive muscle memory Quirk which allowed her to mimic a move perfectly after only seeing it once. Her Quirk also meant she was the best Knight in the Institution for handling weapons and with her, the middle-schoolers learned that anything and everything around you could be used as a weapon.
Hitoshi's preferred weapon was a tessen, an indestructible metal Japanese war fan made specially by the Institution to fend off bullets, knives and darts, and a pair of throwing knives. Mastermind had engraved how to use those weapons flawlessly into Hitoshi's mind and also provided him a pair of tonfas to fight with when focusing on immobilizing rather than injuring.
Izumi's favorite weapons were ninja stars—ones Mastermind had taught her to discreetly hide in her clothes and hair so her opponent would never know she had them on her—and a pair of brass knuckles. The Samoan woman provided Izumi with a metal baton that lengthened into a long bo staff that would be used when she was unable to get close to her opponent due to their Quirk or higher strength. Mastermind taught her how to wield it like a part of her body.
With Mastermind, both Hitoshi's and Izumi's flexibility strengthened and they could use it formidably when fighting. The dark-haired woman believed that better flexibility would better fit both of the Japanese teens since Izumi was naturally small in height and Hitoshi was on the more leaner side that could not put muscle on like Relic could.
Instead, Hitoshi's muscles were smaller and more defined but he could pack a punch like nobody else could (except Izumi who had an even meaner right hook).
In month four, they met Dabi, an unusually familiar Japanese man, who was the Institution's best infiltrator and their mentor in espionage missions where they would have to blend in with the others in the future.
With his Cremation Quirk and unusual looks, he could play a villain unlike any other Knights and taught the Japanese teens how to put themselves in the mindset of the villains and be able to predict their next moves. His blue fire was difficult to fight against and many times, Hitoshi and Izumi struggled in their spars against him.
Izumi became very close with the Japanese Knight and began to view him as an older brother figure. It also did not take her long figure out that Dabi was related to Japanese hero, Endeavor, but it was always a fact that went unsaid for both (Izumi was not a fool to see the purple burn marks on Dabi's body—a literal handprint on his lower back that size of a grown man's—and not connect it to the aggressive hero with the small fuse).
The reincarnated girl also remembered a faint memory of a Todoroki Touya and a strong connection to Dabi in her past memories and that only furthered her theory of Dabi being Endeavor's eldest son (and the one that was said to be dead).
Phantom was also overbearingly protective over the Japanese man and mothered him whenever he returned back from his missions. Despite Dabi's protests, Izumi knew he appreciated the concern shown by the Scandinavian woman who Dabi had revealed reminded him of his biological mother.
On month five, Hitoshi and Izumi were introduced to The Mountain, the tallest one on the island, and told to climb it free-handed by the end of the month by Relic. The next couple weeks were spent with bruises all over their bodies, muscles hurting in places they thought could never be sore, and a Dante that taunted them from the top of the mountain.
They also learned that Dante was already a Knight and meant to heighten their abilities by participating with him—literally. His Quirk, Power Augmentation, amplified the abilities of everyone around him, including those with Quirks. The Italian teenager was the reason why both Japanese teens were improving so much both mentally and physically in such a small time frame.
By the end of the month five, both Hitoshi and Izumi were successful at reaching the top of The Mountain and even stronger than before. This led them into month six, the month where the transferral of One For All would occur in the last week of said month.
In this month, the Japanese duo were also training more with Mimic in the area of seduction and infiltration with surprise appearances from Dabi as he returned from his missions.
Hitoshi and Izumi had never been more embarrassed in their lives as they were in this training with Mimic. Izumi learned that she was a walking pansexual disaster, attracted to basically everyone, while Hitoshi was strictly into boys and had a specific type—loud, bright and cheerful—that Izumi teased him ruthlessly about.
Mimic taught them about the various ways to attract the attention of both men and women alike with the slightest move of their bodies and how to notice when seduction was being aimed at them.
Izumi learned that she had a natural charm that she was unaware about and was apparently a natural at seduction whereas Hitoshi had more to work on. However, by the end of month six, after mindless and grueling lessons by Mimic, both teens were confident in their seduction skills.
Towards the end of month six, All Might returned and transferred his power onto the Quirkless girl. When he held out a strand of blond hair towards the dark green haired girl and told her that she had to swallow it, all she could was blink in surprise, but All Might assured her this was how the transfer of One For All worked.
Thus began Izumi's rigorous training with Relic, Totem and Turbulence to make sure her body was able to handle One For All's power.
When she had used the power for the first time, it resulted in the shattering of her entire arm and a trip to infirmary where a doctor with a healing Quirk fixed her arm with touch of his fingertip.
Once the mishap with One For All occurred, her three trainers taught her how to treat the power as if it was just another part of her body.
At first, it was very difficult and majority of month seven included a lot of meditation and having the power travel her entire body at five percent to have her body get used to its power.
In month seven and eight, Izumi began to get the hang of using the power in her entire body at 5 percent and was able to increase it to eight percent with the daily help of Dante.
Meanwhile, Hitoshi honed on skills that would allow him to be the perfect underground hero like his idol, Eraserhead, with Black Mamba, Mastermind and Cerebral. The three mentors helped him master his fighting form, better the use of his Quirk and become an expert at using his three weapons.
In month nine, both Japanese reunited in their training sessions and began to spar with one another using their Quirks. Sometimes, they fought as a team against their mentors and were able to disarm or immobilize them with their teamwork. Other times, it resulted in a smack down for them where both of their mentors wiped the floor with them.
In month ten, the Japanese duo were allowed to assist Mimic, Black Mamba, Turbulence and Relic with missions the Institution sent them on and learned the advantages and benefits of working as a team.
They were also witness to how the Institution's one man team, Turbulence, was able to bulldoze through his opponents and strived to, one day, become just as powerful as the Thai man was.
Black Mamba was silent but deadly and the duo usually assisted taking down opponents next to her. Relic was more of the hand-to-hand type and Izumi mastered the use of her brass-knuckles in combination with the One For All with him. Hitoshi bettered his ability with his throwing knives and tonfas fighting alongside Relic with a fast precision and aim.
With Mimic, the duo were able to expertly use their seduction skills to get information from their targets and utilize their flexibility to fight alongside each other like a well-oiled machine.
They had improved so much alongside each other that they were sent on a mission by themselves to bring down a child-trafficking ring and returned sweaty, slightly injured but successful.
It was in month eleven both Japanese teenagers began their preparations for UA High School. Relic tested their abilities against his stone gargoyle-like sculptures and congratulated them on how much progress they had made once he saw his students take down their opponents in mere seconds.
With Black Mamba and Mastermind, they complete the last finishing touches on their fighting styles that both mentors helped them create. With Cerebral, they are tested on the knowledge they have learned in their year at the Institution from criminal and hero laws around the world to their public speaking and crowd handling abilities. The Russian man asked them various questions about how to act in different crisis situations, situational awareness, rescue and hostage situations, and had them answer each question in a different language.
With Turbulence, Izumi and Hitoshi learned finishing moves when dealing with situations where they had depleted their strength and power. With Totem, both Japanese teens were tested against her and her many abilities in one-on-one fights so they could get experience with a person with multiple Quirks (it is then they are told about the rumors spreading around in the underworld that All For One is going attack All Might soon and warned to always be on their guard at U.A. since it is the place where he will be located for the unforeseen future).
With Dabi, they honed their villain-mindset skills and how to fight against powerful Quirks like Cremation. With Mimic, they are tested on their fighting skills in impossible situations such fighting when extremely tired, pushing past their physical and mental limits and how to always be on guard.
With Dante, they go on even harder missions where they have to fight against harder opponents but always manage to come back successful as a three-person team.
Izumi learned about the advantages of her increased speed of One For All compared to her male counterpart's and how her training at the Institution made her lightning-fast in reflexes and speed.
Hitoshi learned how to use his Quirk like a pro, how to press the right buttons to get an opponent to fall into his trap, and how to differentiate between his Quirk voice and regular voice.
By month twelve, they are ready for the UA exam and thank the Institution for all of their help and support. Midoriya Inko also revealed that she adopted Shinso Hitoshi. Izumi, who already sees the boy as her brother, accepted him with open arms and both are excited to prove all of those who looked down at them wrong.
New and improved Midoriya Izumi and Shinso Hitoshi entered UA High School for entrance exams.
"DO YOU HAVE EVERYTHING WITH YOU, DARLINGS?"
Hitoshi smiled, bright and secretive, and Izumi nodded with a wicked smirk on her lips, fiddling with her hand-made ninja stars—courtesy of a short metal melding lesson with Relic once he learned UA was strict about weapons and preferred them to be hand-made.
Before them was UA High School, their school for the next three years, and the high-schoolers could not hide their excitement.
The curly-haired girl wrapped her arm around her adopted brother's shoulders and smiled up at her mother who was attracting attention due to her new looks. Izumi and Hitoshi were not the only ones who had changed in the past year.
Midoriya Inko had also changed. In the past year, she trained her body back to what it was when she first went on missions for the Institution and went on constant missions for the Institution. Inko appeared young enough to be their older sister with her sharp younger features and slim body. She still had her job with the Institution and was currently working in the Japan branch.
"Yes, mom, we have everything. Trust me, Relic helped us prepare our bags just for this special occasion and even Mastermind lent a hand."
"Okay, that's great! I'll be going then, but you will have to catch the train back to the condo because I'm going to be working late today."
Another upside to working with the Institution was the giant and spacious condo they had been gifted by the Institution that was located in the inner city of Musutafu, Japan.
Izumi hugged her mom, dragging a reluctant Hitoshi into the hug. Inko pulled back, but not before placing motherly forehead kisses onto both of their foreheads. "Got it, mom! See you in the afternoon."
Inko walked away and Izumi giggled upon seeing her adopted brother's rosy cheeks. Pulling her brother with her, she walked inside the best heroics high school in Japan. "Come on, Toshi, we don't want to be late!"
At the entrance, they were given paper slips that stated which room their written exams would take place and visitor cards with their picture and information as proof they were at the high school to take the entrance exam with permission from the school. Both siblings got the same designated exam rooms, the UA High School cafeteria, and headed there.
Their written exam instructor was the pro hero, Power Loader, and Hitoshi had to physically restrain his sister from bombarding the hero with numerous questions like she wanted to. A pouty Izumi took one seat away from an exasperated Hitoshi and once all of the students had arrived, the written practical began.
The exam went surprisingly well for both Institution-trained teenagers. Having a rabid Cerebral jamming a year's worth of information into their heads in just a month had to mean something. They were also the firsts to finish their exam and waited patiently for the others to finish.
Power Loader shot them strange looks upon seeing they had finished an hour early and Izumi assumed it had to be unusual to see students to finish such hard material in a short amount of time. However, Power Loader was unaware of how dangerous a highly caffeinated Cerebral could be when teaching them advanced material he knew would be on the written exam for UA High School.
Glancing at her brother out the corner of her head, she only shook her head fondly upon seeing him passed out on top of his finished exam. Izumi decided to make a better use of her free time and sank into a meditative state where she focused on spreading the power of One For All throughout her body, imagining it to be another part of her body. Phantom and Totem had recommended the technique to her as a way of helping her body get used to the power and it proved to be true since Izumi knew was becoming faster and better at utilizing her power to the fullest that her body could handle.
Izumi only snapped out of her meditation when Power Loader informed the rest of the room that time was up for the written portion of the exam. An exuberant Izumi shook a sleepy Hitoshi awake and they were directed to stay for lunch.
Being the first ones there, Izumi told her brother she would be back in a second when she caught sight of the pro hero, Lunch Rush, and also served as the UA's chef. Hitoshi watched in bemusement as the dark-green haired girl charmed the pro hero into answering her rapid-fire questions and scribbled down answers onto her fourteenth version of Hero Analysis for the Future.
Once Cerebral had heard about her hobby, he immediately scheduled private lessons with her that were supposed to further her analysis skills. Hitoshi still remembered hearing the maddened laughs from Cerebral's private office and shuddered at the thought of the chaos both of them made together.
A beaming Izumi walked back with two trays of lunch and placed the other tray in front of her brother. Catching the excited glances the girl kept sending their exam instructor while they ate, Hitoshi nodded solemnly and the girl was already across the room asking the pro hero questions with her notebook and hand quickly jotting down notes.
Hitoshi only shook his head and ate his food calmly. Hearing a laugh near him, the purple-haired looked up from his food tray and his eyes widened when he met the bright pearly-white smile of a boy with spiky blonde hair with a streak of black that resembled lightning and the wide grin of a spiky red-haired body.
Following their line of sight, he saw they were laughing at smiling Izumi who was madly moving her hands around and looking to be deep in conversation with the pro hero, Hound Dog. The piercing red gaze glaring in her direction went unnoticed by the bubbly girl and her adopted brother.
"That girl is something special, isn't she? To be talking so freely with heroes like it's nothing," the blonde-haired boy with a bright smile commented and Hitoshi smiled happily as he noticed the shocked but pleased smile on Hound Dog's face as Izumi continued to pester him with questions.
"Yeah, my sister has always been like that. Once you've gotten her near heroes, there is no one that can stop her."
"Oh, that's your sister? She's so manly!" The carmine red-haired boy praised and Hitoshi nodded.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Shinso—"
"Hitoshi! Guess what?! Did you know that Hound Dog—"
The curly-haired girl stopped when she realized there were two other boys at their table and smiled prettily, sparkles appearing around her causing both unfamiliar boys to blink in surprise.
"Sorry! I get really excited whenever I'm around heroes. I'm Midoriya Izumi, his sister," Izumi introduced, holding her hand for both boys to shake and smiling sunnily.
"I'm Kaminari Denki." The blonde-haired boy bowed and pointed towards his carmine red-haired friend, "and this is Kirishima Eijiro."
"Nice to meet you both! Say, if you don't mind me asking, Kaminari-kun, do you have a Quirk related to electricity?" Izumi asked with a curious tilt of her head and Kaminari stared back, wide-eyed and startled.
"Baka Zumi!" Hitoshi smacked his sister on the back of her head, "You can't just go around asking people about their Quirks! Sorry about her, Kaminari-kun, she's not house-trained yet."
Hitoshi shot his own version of a winning smile and when Izumi caught the slightly dazed look in Kaminari's eyes, she couldn't help but smile and quickly hid into her hand. However, after the words Hitoshi said registered in her head, Izumi sputtered and punched him in the arm. Hitoshi hissed, holding onto his arm, and was about to say something, but Power Loader interrupted them, telling it was time for the rest of their exam, and went to the auditorium.
"Well, that sounds like the next part of the exam is going to start! It was nice to meet you both! Hopefully, we'll see you on the first day of UA High School!"
Bowing at the pair of stunned boys, Izumi pulled the purple-haired boy into the direction of the large crowd of students heading into the auditorium.
Once they entered the auditorium, Izumi quickly signed in JSL, asking if he would like to sit in the back of the room. Hitoshi nodded and both quickly got seats in the back before everyone took them.
Having studied at the Institution for a year, the pair of siblings were a paranoid duo and it didn't hurt that their backs were covered from any possible attacks. Izumi could not help but remember Mimic's quick attacks and shook her head furiously to remove the traumatizing memories from her head. They only waited a couple more minutes until a sandy blond-haired man walked onto the stage before them. The lights dimmed and focused on the familiar hero.
"Present Mic!" Izumi whispered excitedly, tugging on Hitoshi's sleeve and the tired boy smiled in acknowledgement.
"Welcome to today's live performance!" The blond-haired man exclaimed with a wide grin. "Everybody say 'hey'!"
Placing her hands around their mouths, Izumi and Hitoshi were the only ones to reply to the hero's request.
(Although Hitoshi was too embarrassed to admit it, both Japanese teens loved to listen to the man's personal radio on school nights at the Institution, always finding it reassuring to listen to, and it never failed to make them feel at home when they felt nostalgic about Japan.)
When most of the students turned to look back at them, Izumi only shot them her winning smile that resulted in the majority of the students blushing and turning away from them.
In past couple months, Mimic had brightened the natural charisma that Izumi exuded and the curly-haired girl unconsciously used most of the tips they had taught her, not realizing that she was using them most of the time, usually leaving a despairing Hitoshi to deal with the aftermath.
Hitoshi cursed under his breath and placed a hand on his forehead to shield himself from the students' gazes. The hero sent a beaming smile in their direction upon hearing their response and continued.
"I'm here to present you with the guidelines of the physical portion of your entrance exam. Are you ready?!"
When both siblings responded a second time, no one looked back (most likely not wanting to suffer the brightness of a full-on winning smile from Izumi).
"Thank you for your response! Anyways, as it says on the UA application, you listeners will be participating in a ten-minute mock battle for the physical portion of your exam. You can bring anything with you that will help you with the exam. On your desks, you have your assigned testing locations!"
Looking down at the white piece of paper on their desk, the Japanese teens were sad to notice that they would be taking their physical exams in separate locations. The sandy blonde-haired Pro Hero continued to explain and while listening, an eager Izumi began to tap into the Institution designed Morse code to Hitoshi, reassuring him and reminding him of plans of action he could use in possible situations he may face in the physical exam. Hitoshi only smiled and indulged his worrywart of a sister.
" . . . There will be three different types of faux villains you will face in this portion of the exam. You can earn points depending on the villain you defeat as they differ in levels of difficulty. Using your Quirks, dear listeners, you will be able to defeat all kinds of villains and gain points. This also means that you cannot harm other examinees or perform any unheroic actions!"
A dark-haired boy in the front raised his hand and the Present Mic looked surprised at the fact that someone was actually asking a question.
"May I ask a question, sir?"
"Yes, go ahead." Present Mic motioned with his hand to go on.
The light was then focused on the dark-haired boy who was also wearing a pair of glasses and looked slightly familiar to Izumi.
"On the printout, it said there were a total of four villains." The glasses boy raised the sheet of paper that was distributed to every examinee upon entering. "If this was printed incorrectly, then the highly prestigious UA High School has made a dire mistake." Placing the paper down on the table, he continued. "Everyone is here to prove they have what it takes to become model heroes."
Surprisingly, the boy turned to face Izumi's direction and dramatically pointed his finger at her. "In addition, you with the curly hair, you've been tapping impatiently for the past couple of minutes! It is very distracting. If you are here for a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately."
Izumi startled in surprise and then Hitoshi watched as her whole body language changed. Sighing, he placed his forehead into his hands, knowing her next move.
Smiling sunshine-bright, the dark green curly-haired girl put her charm to the max, causing her to glow brightly and sparkle, and she bowed deeply, causing her dark green curls to frame the sides of her freckled face. "I apologize if I was being a distraction. I'll make sure I don't repeat my mistake again."
Izumi finished by peering up from underneath her lashes with wide and shining emerald green eyes. The dark-haired boy with the glasses blushed heavily and waved her off. Izumi sat down with a happy smile.
When Hitoshi looked up, he saw the slightly awed smile on Present Mic's face and hid his grin in his hand. (That was his sister, all right.)
"Nice analysis skills, listener." Present Mic turned towards the screen that was displaying a different picture. "To answer your question, the fourth type of villain will be worth zero points. It serves as an obstacle which you will see in every battle center. It will be difficult to defeat, but there is no reason for any of you to defeat since it won't give you any further points. I would recommend avoiding it."
The glasses boy bowed even deeper than Izumi had. "Thank you for answering my question. Excuse my interruption please!"
"Well, that is everything!" Present Mic concluded. "But before I leave, I'll give you some old fashion UA inspiration—our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Go beyond!" Raising his fist in the air, he yelled. "Plus Ultra!"
"Good luck, listeners!" With that, the Pro Hero left the stage and the examinees were directed to the changing rooms for exercise appropriate clothes.
Izumi and Hitoshi both changed into their incognito outfit sans their usual mask, the ones they had worn to carry out missions with the Institution.
Izumi's suit was a dark green, long-sleeved, and in fire-resistant leather, accentuating the muscles she had gained in the previous year. Wearing her pair of long black boots specialized for using her legs with One For All, she had a utility belt wrapped around her waist, holding her ninja stars, spare brass knuckles, first aid supplies, expandable bo staff, and other equipment Relic had forced the girl to carry. Her knuckles were wrapped in her silver brass-knuckles.
Hitoshi's suit was the exact same but in dark purple. In his long black boots, he hid spare metal tonfas but the rest of his equipment was in his utility belt including his tessen, another spare one, throwing knives, first-aid supplies and also equipment Relic forced him to bring. The siblings wished each other good luck and then were directed to different buses that would take them to their destinations.
Getting off the bus, Izumi immediately began to stretch in preparation and double-checked she knew where all of her weapons were. She tightened the black hair-tie holding her long dark green curls from her face and pinned her bangs away from her face, allowing her to see everything. She didn't even notice the stares she was getting from the others.
Izumi's emerald green eyes narrowed and hardened when she noticed the gates to the arena were opening and did not notice the unapproachable aura she was releasing.
"Okay, ladies and gents, time to begin!" Present Mic's voice directed.
Izumi was already through the gate, running at full speed into the city, and all of the examinees quickly followed.
The next couple minutes consisted of her throwing her ninja stars, punching using her brass knuckles, and using her feet to kick at numerous one-point, two-point and three-point robots. Keeping a mental record of her points, she continued throughout the city only to pause when she saw idiot examinees destroying robots without considering the well-being of other examinees.
She shook her head and quickly grabbed a blonde-haired boy before a robot could crush him using speed from One For All.
All Aoyama Yuga saw in the moment was a green flash, being lifted by strong arms, and staring into a pair of disgruntled emerald green eyes.
"Stupid idiots don't even see the other examinees around them." The familiar girl—a girl who could lift him like nothing!—muttered.
"Merci!" Aoyama thanked, smiling up at the girl who smiled back and he bit back his surprise at see the full brightness of the smile at such a close distance.
"You're welcome! Be careful of these halfwits. They're too focused on points to realize that they are injuring others."
The girl was off, a green flash dashing away, and it took a second for Aoyama to notice that the girl had been speaking in French.
He sputtered in surprise but shook his head, making sure to focus on the exam and his savior later.
Meanwhile, Izumi was speeding through the course, saving other examinees from being crushed under robots falling on them and bulldozing her way through robots. She had already saved a boy with multiple arms from being smashed from the fallout of another examinee's success, a girl with green hair that resembled vines from the robot about to slam its fist into her direction, and a pink-haired girl with horns from another idiot's foolish mistake.
By the end of eight minutes, she was panting slightly but still getting through the robots. The ground shook, causing her to jump on the side of the building for grip, and her eyes widened once she saw the fourth villain Present Mic had mentioned.
The robot was the biggest of them all, almost half of The Mountain, and Izumi saw the numerous examinees running away from it. The robot rose its fist into the air, right on top of where some examinees are running, and Izumi's eyes widened in realization. She was off, quickly speeding through the area with eight percent of One For All and moving the examinees out of the way before the hand slams down.
As she turned to run away, her feet halted in place once she heard a cry coming from the direction where the robot had slammed his fist. When the fist lifted, Izumi noticed that she missed one of the examinees, a brunette with naturally rosy cheeks, who was also clearly injured.
Izumi saw that no one went to go help the girl and shook her head (and they wanted to be heroes).
(—Izumi sees another dark-haired boy in the girl's place and feels the urge of protectsavehelp course through her veins—)
Seeing the robot raise its fist again and the giant size of the robot, her resolve firmed, knowing she had to go beyond her limits in order for the robot to be destroyed, and she went up to fifty percent, a lot of more power than she knew her body could handle. Izumi bent down, using a little more power in her legs, and propelled herself into the air.
Her right fist went back before snapping forward quickly, lightning-fast and the dark green-haired girl's specialty, and the robot got a fistful of her infamous right hook.
The robot fell backwards and Izumi hoped no one was behind it as she fell downwards. Noticing a building not too far from her falling point, she pushed her body in its direction and used her hands to grip onto the ledge, catching herself mid-fall. Using her strength, she propelled herself forward with her uninjured hand, and landed on the top of the building, panting and wincing once she saw the familiar purple bruising that meant she went over her limit, again.
Izumi did not see the perplexed dark-haired boy with glasses staring at her as she jumped from the top of the building to the floor, landing before the brunette.
"Hey, are you okay?" Izumi asked, lips curling into a soft and kind smile, and the brunette girl nodded, wide-eyed and rosy cheeks darker.
"Nice work examinees! All those injured should report to me!" Recovery Girl called from a distance and Izumi saw as the pro hero began handing out gummies to other examinees.
"Come on, you need some help." Izumi lifted the brunette up with her good arm and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. She walked towards the grandmotherly hero who was preoccupied with handing out gummies and using her Quirk for the worse cases.
The old Pro Hero's eyes widened in surprise when she noticed the pair of girls walking to her and saw the girl that was in the worst condition (her arm was purple and definitely broken) was actually helping the other to her. A pleased gleam shined in her eyes since she had not seen such hero-like behavior from an examinee in such a long time and was reminded of the purple-haired boy she had helped only a couple minutes ago at the other examination site.
"Oh poor dears, come here!" The hero mothered, placing a kiss onto the dark green-haired girl's forehead and the brunette she was helping as well. Izumi's broken arm glowed, dark purple bruising fading away and bones going back to their original form.
The girl bit back the questions that were already popping in her head since there was a large difference between how the Institution's doctor used his healing Quirk and how Recovery Girl used hers.
"Thank you, ma'am!" Izumi smiled her sunshine bright smile that caused the brunette to look away from its brightness and Recovery Girl's smile to widen.
"You're welcome!"
SHINSO HITOSHI HAD NEVER SEEN A bigger idiot than the spiky-haired blonde blowing up robots without any disregard for any other examinee's well-being.
In fact, Hitoshi had spent the past couple minutes saving examinees from the idiot rather than blowing up robots.
Of course, the purple-haired boy recognized who the boy was. He could never forget the numerous burn marks that Izumi had first arrived with at the dojo years ago and the "friend" she had with a Quirk dealing with explosions.
It would only take an idiot to not connect the boy's Quirk to the burn marks on the girl's skin, her sad eyes and smiles at the mention of his name, and her sudden need to protect herself.
However, Hitoshi had promised that he would not get retribution for his sister, no matter how much he and Dante had wanted to get it for her. Having decided enough was enough, the Italian boy had questioned the girl why she was so closed-off with others and a teary-eyed Izumi explained her relationship with her childhood "friend" (as if the baka blowing up robots could be considered a friend).
It took five months for the girl to open up to Dante and a full year before she was her current bubbly, self-confident self. Phantom had made sure of it and pulled Hitoshi aside to tell him to make sure he would contact her immediately once Izumi began to show signs that she was regressing back to her closed-off self at UA.
When the zero-pointer had appeared, the idiot had taken it as a challenge and taken it down without seeing that it would injure examinees around him and Hitoshi had also been the one to save the others from the fallout of his Quirk.
When the ten minutes were up, a mentally and physically exhausted Hitoshi walked out of the examination site holding up an injured blonde with bangs covering his right eye on his right and a passed out ginger-haired girl on his left. Many of the examinees came up to thank him and he waved them off, telling them that it was what a hero would do.
When he caught sight of pro hero Recovery Girl, he immediately made his way over to her and watched as she placed a kiss onto both of the injured girl's and boy's foreheads. Once awake, the ginger girl had blushed and thanked him with a bow. The blonde with periwinkle eyes, on the other hand, turned red all over and thanked him quickly before running away.
Recovery Girl smiled thankfully at him with an unreadable look in her eyes, ruffling his purple locks. Hitoshi blushed and bowed before walking to the bus.
Taking a seat in the bus, he closed his eyes for a quick nap, but was interrupted by someone sitting next to him and glaring into his very soul. He opened his tired amethyst eyes to see Bakugo Katsuki staring at him angrily.
Sighing, he rubbed his forehead. "What do you want, Angry Pomeranian?"
The boy's glare sharpened and his hands began sparking as if getting ready to release the beginning of an explosion.
"Izumi's going to be mad if I come with burn marks on my wrists," Hitoshi nonchalantly mentioned, amethyst eyes gleaming maliciously, and the corner of his lips lifted up when he saw the boy flinch.
After a long and uncomfortable silence, Bakugo asked with a furious tone in his voice. "How do you know Deku?"
"Izumi's my best friend, Kacchan." Hitoshi smirked wickedly as the boy seemed to get even angrier in response.
"Don't call me that!"
The rest of the bus ride went in silence and Hitoshi closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, and curious to what the boy next to him would do.
The boy only clenched his fists and teeth angrily and sent a couple of murderous glares in Hitoshi's direction. Hitoshi pretended to awaken when the bus driver announced they were at UA and quickly got off the bus, wanting to be as far away from the nuisance as possible.
"Hitoshi!" The boy heard his sister's voice and turned to see a tired but beaming Izumi running towards him. She threw her arms around him and began talking excitedly about her practical. Hitoshi hummed and listened but felt someone staring at him.
When Hitoshi caught the glaring fiery red gaze, he smirked victoriously at him causing the boy to turn away with a deep frown.
As long as Hitoshi was around, he would always make sure his sister would not come in harm in the hands of a poor excuse of a childhood friend.