The sun was setting and Keiko was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Her first day of UA was tomorrow and she was happy it would be starting soon. Ren was upstairs playing video games. She could hear him yelling at the TV from his room. Her mom was at the hospital like always but at least her father would be home for dinner tonight.
He said he would be bringing a couple friends from work. One was bound to be Naomasa but she wondered who the other would be. And as if summoned by her thoughts the front door opened and she could hear her dad's laugh along with chuckles from two others.
Keiko took off her apron, tossing it on the counter. "Dinner's ready," she called through the house. The men's laughter stopped and there was quick movement to the dining room. She heard her brother rushing down the stairs into the room as well.
She hip bumped the door into the dining room platter of sushi in her arms. She placed the platter in the center of the table before taking in the occupants of the room. At the head of the table was her dad with a simple smile on his face. Next to him was Ren looking like he was vibrating in excitement. On her dad's other side was Naomasa looking beat from the long day. Finally there was someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Uncle Toshi?" Keiko said not believing her eyes. The skeletal man raised his hand in greeting and before he could say anything Keiko tackled him from his chair in a hug. Toshinori Yagi wasn't her uncle biologically but he had been coming around since she could remember. He was the one to tell her that she could be a hero even if everyone hated the friends she made.
Keiko got up and let the man stumble to his feet. "Where have you been? It's been almost a year since you've come by," Keiko questioned, her hands on her hips, staring down the blonde man.
"Uh, work has been really busy. All Might can be a real handful sometimes," Toshinori said with a nervous laugh, sweating bullets. Toshinori Yagi was a liaison between the police and All Might and he would follow the number one hero wherever he went cleaning up any messes the pro hero made.
Keiko glared a final time at the man before relenting. "You should tell him he's working you too hard. Honestly you'd think a pro as high in the rankings as All Might would figure out how to clean up after himself by now," Keiko said and for some reason her Dad and Naomasa broke into muffled laughter.
Toshinori just rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Yes... hehe. Anyway your dad said you made it into UA. Congratulations Keiko," Toshinori said, giving her a thumbs up.
"Yeah your dad has been bragging to anyone who would listen. I heard he was even telling some criminal he had arrested," Naomasa said with a smirk motioning to her dad who looked as proud as she had ever seen him.
Keiko's cheeks warmed and she sat down fixing herself a plate. "My sis is gonna be the best hero ever. Just you wait Uncle Toshi she's gonna knock All Might from his number one spot," Ren said pointing his chopsticks in challenge at Toshinori.
Toshinori laughed at the challenge. "I can't wait to see, Ren. I'm sure she can in time." When he said this he caught Keiko's eyes and gave her a nod of encouragement.
Keiko looked around the table at the laughing men and her little brother waving his chopsticks to and fro. She let out a happy sigh. She loved the little moments like this. When she thought it couldn't get any better her dad took a bite out of one of her rolls and immediately went red in the face with steam coming out of his ears.
"AH HOT!" He yelled, taking the water pitcher from the table and downing it in a series of heavy gulps.
"Sorry Dad, I must have mixed my roll with yours," Keiko said, giving him the most innocent smile she could. He gave her a glare and then everyone around the table broke into fits of laughter. Keiko wiped the tears from her eyes. Yes, moments like this were worth some of the heartache.
Keiko stood in front of the door to her new class. 1A, one of the two hero course classes of UA. She gripped her sketchbook and with a breath entered the room. There wasn't anyone really there except the angry boy she had met before the entrance exam. He was leant back in his chair, his feet up on the desk staring out the window.
Keiko brought out her seating chart and saw that she was supposed to sit in the seat directly in front of him. Great, Keiko thought. She quietly took her seat, laying her sketchbook on the desk.
With the only option being to talk to the angry hedgehog Keiko decided it would be best to keep to herself. That in mind she went into her own little world sketching in her book with nothing particular in mind.
She was brought back to the present by a yell that she remembered all too well. Beside her yelling at the blonde boy was the one who embarrassed her at the entrance exam. Keiko blinked up at him as he chopped his hand telling off the hedgehog for having his feet on the desk.
The blonde had an angry smirk on his face and looked like he was about to yell back. But Keiko sighed and said, "Robot boy, can you quit yelling? You're giving me a headache," Keiko said, rubbing at her temples. The class went silent and Keiko realized the class was now almost full with only a couple students still missing.
The robotic boy seemed to be gearing to yell at her too when someone by the door caught his attention. It was a nervous green haired boy. "Deku," Keiko heard a growl next to her and saw that the hedgehog was gritting his teeth glaring daggers at the boy.
Robot boy and Deku were interrupted by the door flying open again to reveal a round-faced girl with brown hair. Keiko turned back to her notebook to see what she had drawn while her mind wandered. It was the image of what she saw when first entering the classroom. Keiko blushed and quickly closed the book not wanting anyone to see what she drew.
Keiko turned back and saw that the subject of her drawing was still staring at the green haired boy. She heard small pops like firecrackers and saw that in his palms were miniature explosions. She opened her mouth to tell him to stop when she saw something bright yellow at the corner of her vision.
A caterpillar man. Keiko tilted her head to the side and hummed to herself reaching for her sketchbook. She stopped when the man stepped out of what was apparently a sleeping bag. She pouted and released a small sound of disappointment.
"It took you too long to notice me. If you are here to make friends then leave," the tired man once caterpillar said. "I'm Mr. Aizawa, your homeroom teacher." The whole room made noises of surprise and Keiko had to go back to rubbing her temples at the noise.
Mr. Aizawa reached into his sleeping bag and brought out a set of the UA gym uniform, tossing it to the green haired kid. "Get these on and meet me by the track," their teacher said. "Bring your book Omori."
Keiko gathered with the rest of her classmates. On the edge of the crowd she held her book to her chest.
The brown haired girl from before raised her hand and began to speak. "Mr. Aizawa, what are we doing out here? Won't we miss the opening ceremony and the counseling sessions." Some of the students around her voiced their agreement.
"UA is a school that appreciates free-style teaching. The principal lets each teacher run their class how they see fit," Mr. Aizawa said with a smirk coming to his tired face. "You are here to become heroes. I will not be wasting the three short years I have with you on irrational things."
"That in mind we'll be doing a Quirk assessment test," said looking over the students. "You have been doing these for years. Only you have never been allowed to use your Quirk in them before. That stops now."
Mr. Aizawa tossed a ball he was holding to the ash blonde boy. "Bakugo, you placed first in the practical entrance was your highest score on the ball toss in middle school."
"67 meters," Bakugo said.
"Throw that ball with everything you got. You may use your Quirk as well," Mr. Aizawa said as Bakugo approached the circle. "The only rule is not to leave the circle."
Keiko watched as the boy walked up and started stretching. So he was the one who got first place, she thought. Her eyes followed him through his movements as he worked his shoulder. Lets see what you got.
Bakugo brought his arm back, curling his leg for the pitch. With an angry shout of "DIE!" the ball shot from his hand as he brought his arm forward giving the throw extra power with an explosion from his palm.
Die? Keiko thought with a snort. Mr. Aizawa lifted his phone to show a measurement of 705 meters.
"Know your maximum first. That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero," Mr. Aizawa said.
Beside her, Keiko's classmates began to get excited. The pink girl even said this was going to be fun. Keiko shook her head at her classmates. This wasn't going to be fun at all, Keiko thought as she saw the look on the teacher's face.
"Fun, eh? Alright we'll make this fun," Mr. Aizawa said, an evil smile coming to his face. "The person who comes in last after all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and be expelled from UA."
"What? But that's not fair!" The round faced yelled with a chorus of agreement.
Keiko groaned and rubbed at her temples. Why did they have to be so loud? Just don't suck and that's it. Simple.
"Fair? Life isn't fair. Natural disasters, big accidents, selfish villains. Calamities that have no rhyme or reason. Unpredictable. It's heroes who stand against the unfairness of this world and change it for the better. Life at UA will not be easy," Mr. Aizawa crooked a finger in a come-at-me gesture. "Go beyond. Plus ultra. Over it with all you got."
Keiko gripped her sketchbook, her eyes narrowing at the challenge. Alright guys, it's time to put on a show, Keiko thought.
The first test was the fifty meter dash. Keiko didn't pay much attention as she flipped through the pages of her sketchbook. When her name was called she lined up against a blonde boy with a thick tail.
"Prepare yourselves," called and the blonde crouched down.
"C'mon Fen," A shape blurred from the book landing next to Keiko. The shape coalesced into a large white wolf. A few of the students yelled at his appearance and even Mr. Aizawa's eyes widened a bit at the wolf's appearance.
Keiko did have to admit that Fen looked pretty intimidating. It didn't help that around his front paws and his mouth looked dyed red with blood. The wolfy smirk he loved to give new people didn't win him any awards either.
Keiko jumped up on his back and sat comfortably just behind Fen's shoulders. "Ready, Mr. Aizawa," she said. "Go fast Fen." The wolf looked over his shoulder at her and gave a fanged grin.
"Ready! Go!" And the wolf shot forward. It was over quickly, the wolf trotted to a stop a bit away from the track. Keiko stayed on his back until he came back around. She looked at her time two seconds flat.
"Good job Fen," Keiko told the wolf she jumped down and patted his neck. The wolf's tail wagged in appreciation and before she could stop him he gave her face a long lick. "Ugh Fen." As she was reprimanding the silly wolf she heard laughter around her. Some of her classmates were laughing and she felt that part of her hair was sticking up from the wolf slobber. Her face on fire she tried to tame it back down and hid behind her large friend.
Next up was the test for grip strength. One of her other friends might have been better at this but Keiko didn't want to get a headache yet. Keiko placed the device into Fen mouth and when he clamped down his jaw the reading came to be 560kg.
Keiko took it back from him and scratched behind his ear. "Thanks Fen," she said and moved quickly to dodge another tongue swipe.
After the test for grip strength was the long jump. When it was her turn to go, Keiko returned to the same position on Fen's back as before. The whole class was staring at them again so she buried her face into his fur. "Jump," Keiko whispered into the wolf's ear. The large wolf cleared the sandbox with little trouble.
The rest of the tests weren't anything Fen would help with. Keiko patted his neck sadly and received a whimper "I'm sorry Fen. You can come out to play again soon," Keiko said and hugged the big wolf's neck as he melted back into her sketchbook.
"What?" Keiko asked when she saw the rest of her class staring at her. She crossed her arms and tried to concentrate on the next task as a headache started to form behind her eyes.
Keiko fought through the growing headache as she performed her turn at the repeated side steps. None of the students did overly well at this except the weird boy with the balls coming from his head.
Keiko closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples. She didn't notice while she was walking that someone had stopped in front of her. She felt as if she ran into a solid wall and reached forward to try and steady herself.
She opened her eyes and saw that she had again bumped into Bakugou. His back was to her and he looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes narrowed in an angry scowl. "You gonna let go, extra?" he asked. Keiko's eyes darted down and saw that she had grabbed his wrist as she fell. She let go quickly, not meeting his eyes.
She stepped around him and made her way nearer the circle where they would all take turns at the ball toss. She felt the eyes of Bakugou burning a hole in her back as she stood waiting her turn.
To one side of the group of students she saw the green-haired boy shaking with his continued nerve problem. Keiko would be scared if she was in his position too. He hadn't done well on any of the tests so far. She was distracted from her musings when there were gasps of surprise all around her.
Keiko looked to the source and saw it was the brown-haired girl from earlier, Uraraka. Keiko glanced at the phone Mr. Aizawa was holding up and to her surprise saw a bold infinity symbol. Before she could take in the full implications of that, Mr. Aizawa called her forward.
Keiko flipped through the pages of her book as she walked, not bothering to look at the students around her even as their gazes layed heavy on her. Her headache grew as the murmurings of her classmates increased in volume.
She stopped on a particular page when she reached the center of the circle. Mr. Aizawa tossed her the ball when she looked up. "You know the rules, Omori," Mr. Aizawa said.
Yes she did. And she knew exactly who could show that she belonged here. "Sun, come out," Keiko ordered and a small shape flipped out of the book landing at her side. The students behind her yelled in surprise as they didn't expect what had come out. Next to Keiko stood a monkey about three feet in height with dark brown fur and covered in a golden gi. "Hello, Sun."
Sun looked up to her, his golden eyes shining in anticipation. "Could you throw this for me please," Keiko asked and at her words the monkey's excitement visibly left him. With slumped shoulders he took the ball from her hand.
Sun held the ball and looked out across the field. He reared back and casually flicked the ball from his hand. What the students didn't expect from the lazy throw was for the wind to kick blowing dust in all their faces.
The dust settled after a moment and the students could be heard coughing and sputtering. Keiko looked at Mr. Aizawa for her score, curious to see how well Sun did. He held up the phone and was happy with the score. 1900 meters. That was the highest besides Uraraka, she could live with that.
Keiko left the circle, Sun keeping pace with her as he stretched his arms to the sky in a yawn. "Was that the best you could do?" The question stopped her and Sun both. She turned back to who was staring at them both with a frown.
"No," Keiko stated simplay and the teacher's eyes narrowed. "But Sun won't waste his energy on a simple test." This only caused Mr. Aizawa's frown to deepen. Mr. Aizawa burrowed his eyes into both of them before moving on.
The students were staring at her like she had gone crazy, but Keiko didn't care. She had more important things to think about, like the monkey at her side and the headache that was threatening to overwhelm her.
"You can go now," Keiko said to Sun as she bent and kissed the top of his head. With a lazy smile he jumped and slipped back inside Keiko's sketchbook. As the monkey disappeared Keiko felt a wave of dizziness. She took a deep breath to steady herself and watched through slitted eyes as the green-haired boy stepped into the circle looking determined.
"This doesn't look good for Midoriya," Keiko heard Iida say from the front. Next to him Bakugou scoffed.
"Of course it doesn't. He's a Quirkless loser, you know," Bakugou said. Keiko's eyes widened at the proclamation then narrowed at the green haired boy. How could someone Quirkless wind up in UA especially after the showing he's had so far.
"Quirkless," Iida questioned the blonde. "Haven't you heard about what happened in the entrance exam?" Keiko heard the conversation at the edge of her consciousness when Midoriya drew back his arm for his throw. He swung forward, but only was able to throw 46 meters.
Keiko watched as Mr. Aizawa's scarf raised in the air and his black hair floated as if he was submerged in water. "I erased your quirk," he said. "That entrance was not rational enough. Even a kid like you was accepted.
"Erased my Quirk? You're the pro hero EraserHead!" Midoriya said surprise coloring his face. An underground hero, huh? Keiko heard her classmates muttering around her, the pain behind her eyes growing.
"From what I can tell you can't control your Quirk, can you? Do you intend to break yourself again and have someone save you?" Mr. Aizawa said.
"N-no, that's not my intention," Midoriya stuttered. The scarf around Mr. Aizawa grabbed the boy and brought him in close. Keiko eyed the scarf with her head slightly cocked. Interesting.
"Whatever your intention, I'm saying that's what people around you will be forced to do," Mr. Aizawa said. "With your power you can't become a hero."
Keiko inwardly winced at the harsh words, even if they were true. Someone that breaks their body and needs to be saved can't go pro. The scarf detached itself from around Midoriya.
"You have one more chance at the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with," Mr. Aizawa said, turning away with tired steps.
Midoriya stood in the center of the circle not moving for a moment before his shoulders straightened and he raised his arm in preparation for his throw. With a quick movement Midoriya shot forward, throwing the ball and with an explosion of power it flew from his hand in a great arc.
"What the hell?" Bakugou said in surprise. Keiko heard him grit his teeth as his eyes locked onto the back of Midoriya.
Midoriya turned back to their teacher, his fist raised in front of him. "Mr. Aizawa, I can still move," Midoriya said. Keiko smiled a bit at the words, but it dropped from her face when she saw that one of the fingers on his hand was swollen and purple, most likely broken.
Keiko shook her head and rubbed at her eyes to assuage the growing pain. There was an explosion and she looked up to see Bakugou sprinting towards Midoriya, small explosions going off in his hands.
"Tell me what's going on, Deku, you bastard!" Bakugou yelled.
So he really thought the green haired boy was Quirkless. Keiko pondered at the implications as the Bakugou was stopped in his tracks by their teacher's capture scarf.
"Calm down. Stop making me use my Quirk. You're giving me dry eyes," Mr Aizawa said. Keiko had to work to keep herself from laughing as the pain in her head was pounding. "Let's go get the rest of these tests done."
The last of the tests went by quickly with Keiko not benefiting from her Quirk for the rest of the tests. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Bakugou was still glaring at Midoriya. Keiko shrugged internally and focused on Mr. Aizawa who stood in front of class preparing to announce the results and who would be expelled from the course.
"I'm not gonna explain how the results were calculated, but here they are," Mr. Aizawa said and a screen popped into existence out of the robot next to him. She started at the top of the rankings and saw that she sat at a comfortable 4th place making her smile despite the headache that was beginning to overwhelm her.
At the bottom of the list was Midoriya. Keiko turned around and saw him trembling with tears streaming down his face as he fell to his knees. Mr. Aizawa called attention back to himself by clearing his throat.
"No one will be expelled that was just a logical ruse to get you all to perform at your best," Mr. Aizawa said as he lazily stared out across the baffled students who were muttering about the lies of their teacher.
When Keiko turned around she saw Mordiya was now crying tears of joy instead of despair. She shook her head at him and saw out of the corner of her eye that Bakugou was once again glaring at the green haired boy. This is gonna be a thing isn't it.
Keiko followed the rest of the girls to the changing room to prepare to go home and hopefully sleep off her lingering headache.
Heyo I'm not dead. Sorry for the wait. Had a lot of things going on irl and they made me not be able to be in the head space I need to be in to write. So better late than never. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Be sure to follow and review if you wish.
