Authors Note: And we are back with another tremendously, and regrettably late chapter. Don't worry guys, the next one will be later than this! Wait. *Looks at script* Oh sorry, I meant earlier. Just so you know, Uraraka won't be in love with Midoriya, I don't want her to have that one big moment at the Sports Festival and then be forgotten until she admits her crush. I want to make her more than that, I don't want her to be a keychain to make the main character look more attractive. I will also give Jake a 'tragic backstory' of sorts. Anything that reminds him of Hook, his life before Neverland, or his and his crew's hardships, will make him have some... interesting reactions.
Misplaced
No time skip; No scene change; 3rd POV
The other students were cheering him on, they all were so impressed at the sheer power at the throw. The green-haired teen was nursing his shattered finger when he felt all the hair on his neck stand on end.
"HEY! TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON DEKU, YOU BASTARD!"
Everyone let out sounds of different degrees of surprise.
An angry spiky blonde-haired teen with explosions coming from his hands shouted. He ran at his former friend, but with no finesse, he didn't try to be efficient, he looked like a wild bull charging at full speed.
His fight-flight-freeze-or-fawn response seized control of his body, planting his feet on the ground and his arms at his sides. His body couldn't move, his limbs felt stiff and heavy, his skin felt cold and clammy, and there is an almost overwhelming sense of dread settling in his stomach. "Dammit." His body chose to freeze.
He would never forget how that felt as if the world slowed down to a crawl, he couldn't tell if seconds or hours were passing. Whatever sound he could hear through the haze sounded like it was underwater. Like he was having an out-of-body experience. As if he was trapped in his own body.
The world abruptly went back to its normal speed, and Bakugou suddenly was only 15 feet away. And the sound was suddenly above the air again. He braced for the imminent impact, shutting his eyes, and waiting for the pain that would surely follow. One second passed. He opened his eyes again, confused.
His eyes widened when he heard the sound of a whip crack, and a scarf with a metallic shine wrapped taut around the blonde teen. He also saw that the instant after, a blur of iridescent black and blue pounced onto the unsuspecting teen. The raven-haired teen wrestled the red-eyed assailant to the ground, on his back. With the aggressive straining to get away, nothing else would have worked.
Jake was holding the teen down, forcing his arms away from him so his explosions wouldn't harm either of them, and Bakugou was struggling against his grip and that of the scarf. "Get off me you bitch! I'll kill you!" The boy with the bandana tilted his head in confusion, having never heard the word in his life, but he was sure it was meant to be hurtful in some way.
"I don't know what in Never Nether Land is wrong with you, but you need to stop!" The wolf-eared boy tightened his grip, planted all his weight on his stomach, and forced his wrists to the ground. He didn't notice the head tilts in confusion at his words.
This reminded him of something, where had he seen this before? Suddenly the stench of sweat and smoke made from a recent fire invaded his nostrils. Ah, now he remembered.
Flashback; 10 months ago, full moon; No POV; Scene change, Green Clearing; Time of Day, Night
It was the full moon, barely a cloud in the sky, and Jake and Bakugou were rolling around in the grass, trying to pin the other down, to knock them out, or to get them to submit. Jake left bleeding scratches with his claws. While Bakugou left mild burn marks. Bakugou had challenged Jake, at their best, promising that when they did fight he'd 'kick his ass'. Whatever that meant. Jake agreed, for no reason other than to let him blow off steam.
Of course, when word spread around the school that somebody finally accepted Bakugou's challenge, Izzy and Cubby were understandably worried. "I'll be fine!" Their older brother reassured. "Not you, we're worried about him," Cubby pointed to the explosive teen. It took the wolf-eared boy a second to understand.
They picked a time and place, he suggested midnight when the full moon was at its highest because that was when he was at his best, he knew Bakugou wouldn't accept anything else. He was right.
There was a crowd surrounding them. Close enough to watch, to live stream the fight, but not so much that the devastation to the clearing could affect them.
They had practically decimated the entire park they were in and they were getting tired. Very tired. The ash-blonde may be tired, but he's also stubborn. At that point, Jake was just indulging him. He knows that if he gives up, the explosion user wouldn't accept the victory.
At least, in the beginning. The farther along the fight, the harder it was to keep his intelligent thoughts front and center. He knew it was because of the moon, he knew it was because his lizard brain is screaming that he must survive. But the more he relied on his instincts, the deadlier and dirtier his movements became and he almost always dodged. His hindbrain told him that the only way he could survive is through the death of his assailant.
The wolf-boy was slightly favoring his left side, one without a trained eye couldn't see it. They could see the smoking fabric of his white tunic and under it some burnt flesh on the jut of his hip. The furious blonde had bleeding scratch marks dangerously close to his neck, some finger-shaped bruises on his arms, and a black eye.
He lunged with his hind legs, when did he transform? slashed with his claws, and snapped with his powerful jaws, snarls, growls, and howls ripping from his chest. Light flashed before his eyes, in his human body, he flipped, swerved, and evaded, but even that almost wasn't enough.
The wolf-boy made up for what the explosive teen had in power in versatility and sheer ferocity.
His hindbrain was pounding in his head, 'METAL CLAW METAL CLAW'. He couldn't hold it off for much longer, so he didn't. He reached his hand into the pocket dimension and grasped the hilt of his sword, and with the sound of it slicing through the air, revealed its magnificent form.
He slashed at the air with reckless abandon. Managing to look completely feral while maintaining that deadly grace, swinging the sword so naturally it could almost be confused for an extension of his arm. At seemingly random points in the fight, he held the sword out in front of him, and a surge of glowing green energy shot out from it. At one point, when he shot it at Bakugou, he missed but shot it clean through a tree trunk. The hole was smoldering slightly at the edges.
Bakugou will vehemently deny it for the rest of his life, but he felt a spike of fear at the sheer power the other teen had.
All it took was one distraction, just one misstep, one second to get the wolf-boy just enough time to wack the explosive teen on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, prompting blood to start spilling out. This broke him out of the red haze that clouded his mind.
He was tempted to give up so he could look at the wound out of worry for his… friend? Rival? He didn't know, but he pushed it away, it was not favorable to get the other angry. Calling the fight just to heal him… would be the absolute best way to send him into a murderous rage.
So, seeing how dazed Bakugou got, Jake finally managed to pin the explosion boy down, holding the sharp side of his sword to his throat. It glinted threateningly, reflecting the light of the moon and the image of his pupils big enough to engulf the glowing iris, his sharp canines, dripping with drool and lips curled in a snarl. It was one of the most terrifying things Bakugou had the misfortune to witness, not including the sludge villain incident.
Jake closed his eyes, taking several heavy but steadying breaths and when he opened them, his eyes were back to normal. "Do you yield?" he said as he sat on Bakugou's stomach, restricting his airway, and pinning his wrists to the ground. As the stench of sweat, ash, and blood assaulted his nostrils, and the world started spinning, he decided he hated that smell.
With a sigh, he swayed and fell on the suddenly comfortable ground. 'I need a drink,' the wolf-boy thought, as he felt consciousness slipping away, not realizing that a certain black-covered pro hero entered the scene, until, nothing.
Flashback End
The furious teen writhed even harder at this, obviously aiming to blast the boy on top of him away, but no explosions came. "What the My Quirk! This fucking scarf!"
"That's enough," a strong, no-nonsense voice said, the teen on the floor used whatever he had to glare at the owner of the voice with wrathful eyes. "W-why the hell is your scarf so damn strong?"
At that moment the "former" captain realized something. He slowly loosened his grip on the other's wrists, eventually letting go completely. He got off the other boy's stomach, who eventually stopped struggling after deducing he wasn't going to get out. The teen's chest rose and fell faster, indicating he hadn't given up.
When the sword wielder, Jake, got to his feet, making sure the angry blonde wouldn't move, he felt incredibly awkward. He didn't like that his first instinct was to pounce on him like an animal. "Uhh… Am I sure you handle this right? Mr. Aizawa?" He laughed nervously. He yelped in surprise, dodging when the blonde tried to headbutt him.
"Yes, your contribution was unnecessary, Never. As for the scarf, Bakugou, it's a captured weapon made of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy," his glare hardened. "Stand down," he ordered when he saw the boy was still straining against the scarf.
"You should avoid making me use my quirk so much," the subtle threat made sweat form on their faces. "It gives me serious dry eye," he said with a grin. The unexpected admission surprised them. "Too bad, that power's amazing!" they all mentally exclaimed.
The scarf unwrapped from around the blonde teen as the man blinked. "You're wasting my time now," he walked away, waving his hand carelessly. "Whoever's next can step up."
The boy with the explosion quirk sat there, stewing in rage, gritting his teeth so hard they could break, and his nails digging so hard into his palms they almost drew blood. His inner temperature rose to a boil. The green-haired boy hesitantly walked past him, and once he was sure Bakugou wouldn't try to attack him, he ran back to his place.
He growled when he heard Izuku's voice. "Before the exam, he was nothing. A little bug I could crush if I wanted to," his breath hitched as a memory resurfaced.
Flashback, 10 years ago; POV change, Bakugou's 3rd Pov
Two children strolled along the dirt path leading into the forest, the blonde carried a butterfly net, and the green-haired boy was carrying two little containers over his shoulders. Bakugou forgot why they were there, they could have been searching for butterflies or some shit.
Anyway, useless Deku's annoyingly squeaky voice rang in his head. "Wow, you're so lucky!" He had said. "Your Quirk is amazing, Kacchan. When I get mine I hope it's just as cool!"
I scoffed. "Whatever Deku. No matter what power you end up with, you'll never be able to beat me," with a proud smirk.
Flashback End
You'll never be able to beat me
You'll never be able to beat me
You'll never be able to beat me
You'll never be able to beat me
He keeps repeating the phrase in his head like a mantra, the only way that he could preserve the remains of his ego. "Just a pathetic bug that I can smash into the ground!" He glared at Midoriya.
After he dragged himself out of the circle and walked tensely back to the crowd, it was now Jake's turn. He didn't walk back to the other students because it would have been pointless.
He held the ball in his hand, tossing it up and down to get used to the weight. It was made of rubber, but it was much firmer with less bounce, and most likely to protect it from destructive Quirk use. The perfect baseball.
The teen in the red bandana looked at the seemingly endless field. There was no way he could compete with everyone else's scores just by throwing it. So he thought about the rules Aizawa put in. "Everything goes, just stay in the circle," he had said.
"Well in that case…" the 'former' captain reached to his left hip, and everyone watched in rapt attention, "What'll he do?" They wondered.
His fingers wrapped around the hilt of his intangible sword, "Not so intangible now," he thought. He pulled it out of its pocket dimension, grinning. It seemed to materialize into thin air. He ignored the gasps of surprise and the widened eyes. He understood why, in his hand, he had a wicked curved cutlass with a hilt plated with gold, with blue diamonds embedded into it. The navy and black waves caught the rays of sunlight and seemed to suck them into the metal.
Suddenly he threw the ball high in the air, swinging his sword over his shoulder like a bat. At just the right second, when the ball fell to the earth, he swung the sword with all his might, and an audible crack was heard when the ball collided with the cutlass. It shot forward, going as far as the longest homerun in sports history.
"275 meters!" He grinned, proud of himself. It wasn't as impressive as 700 meters, or anywhere close to it, but it was something, and that's all that mattered.
When he walked back, everyone's eyes landed on him, they were whispering to their friends. Then Momo Yaoyorozu, a tall girl with white skin, black hair, and dark sparkling eyes. About three inches taller than him, she was very beautiful. And she had a question for him. "Hello Never-san," she said in a soft, but firm voice. The voice a mother would have. Jake wouldn't know.
"Ahoy! Also, please call me Jake, it won't be rude if you do." She blinked. "Hm, I'm sorry but I have to ask, where did you get this sword? It looks very beautiful, and top of the line."
"Oh, this ole thing?" He swung the sword in his hand, careful not to hit her. When he stopped swinging, he looked at his reflection in the blade, he ran his finger down the sharp edge, careful not to cut himself. "It was given to me by someone I greatly admire. He was kinda my hero, well, mine and my siblings."
"Oh, who was it? Was it someone we know?" His head snapped up to look at her, "Oh, no you wouldn't, he isn't even from 'round here."
His body flinched as the referees' whistle was called, and his ears immediately whirled to where the grating sound came from. As he controlled his urges to growl threateningly, Mr. Aizawa called for the students to get back inside, he was the third-to-last kid to get called.
As we walked back into the school building, we followed like little ducklings behind our teacher, the occasional murmur of excitement could be heard. He led them into a fairly plain room, with wood floors and wood walls, if it weren't for the mats laid out on the floor, it would have looked like the inside of a box.
"Get with a partner and do as many sit-ups as you can, when you're done your partner will do the same," Aizawa said, looking like he wanted some coffee. The Neverlandian stepped forward and laid down on a mat, unfazed by a certain blue-haired man waving his arm around, scolding him for not waiting to be told when he should. The word "Enough," from his teacher, was more than able to stop him.
Still, no one else moved. The tired homeroom teacher looked behind himself and raised his eyebrow at the other students, gesturing to the other mats. "What are you waiting for? An invitation?" That shocked the others into moving, giving each other knowing looks as they walked to their respective mats.
This gave him time to think about who would be ideal for him to work with, he was hoping it wasn't Bakugou, the Never Skies know he wouldn't cooperate. He also hoped it wouldn't be Iida, the one with the glasses, he's had it out for Midoriya since they first met. He would rather not work with the sparkly blonde with purple eyes, Aoyama, the one who always stares rather intensely at random spots. It's kinda creepy.
He was about to sit up and ask the green-haired teen if he wanted to train with him, but before he could, he was practically dragged to their own mat by the chestnut-haired girl, Urarakka. He was looking around the room when he saw a wild tuft of pink hair. "Mina!" She looked over at him, and her smile got brighter she jogged over to him and plopped herself down in front of him.
"Hey, Never!" that name made him feel weird, he wasn't used to being called that, even after a year. It isn't even his real last name, "Actually, call me Jake, it is my name ya know," he winked.
She smiled even wider. "Okay, I'll go first!" She laid down on the mat and when her feet were secure she did a pretty good job of those reps, her toned muscles flexing and unflexing. However, 40 reps in, liquid started to form on her body and her clothes started to sizzle, "Her quirk was acid right?" He tried to remember.
At 89 reps, she resembled a wet noodle. "Oh… I don't want to get up…" The pink-skinned girl whined and brought up a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. He grinned at her defeated form, "Well if you don't then I won't be able to do my test and I might get expelled, you don't want that do you?" The girl turned her head towards the wolf-boy, glaring at him playfully, with narrowed eyes glittering with mirth.
Mina sighed, "If I have to." She raised her arm above her body, quirking an eyebrow, "Might as well help me up, right?" Jake sighed, "If I have to…" he mocked. He got up and grabbed her hand, hauling it up, it forced her to sit up again, crawling to the end of the mat. Jake took the hint.
He settled supine on the mat and brought his knees up, with his hands behind his head as if he were getting arrested. "Why did I use that comparison of all things?" He thought. When the whistle sounded, his ears automatically twitched toward to source, he began the sit-ups, and Mina held his feet to the ground for leverage. He began the sit-up test along with the others, doing as much as he could, as efficiently as he could, which was a lot. He was running around Neverland practically all his life, what did you expect?
He almost lost focus multiple times because of the gasps and groans of pain coming from Midoriya, he remembered he had broken a finger during the ball throw. "Inhale when you relax, exhale when you sit. In, out, in out," he thought, feeling the beat of his own heart, the pleasant burn of his abdominal muscles.
It was getting to the point where his abs were hurting, and his own body dragged him out of that rhythm of nothingness. As he tried to squeeze some more reps in, he realized everyone was staring at him in astonishment, they probably didn't train as much as him.
As he slowed, he thought it would be as good a time as any to stop. He slowly settled back onto the ground, boneless, drenched in sweat. He barely had the energy to look at the others, but he heard their stage whispers behind their hands. "153 reps? That's amazing," a teen with yellow hair and a black lightning bolt pattern said.
Mr. Aizawa whistled, turned around, pulled out a massive keyring with multiple keys on it, and unlocked a closet. In a bored monotone, he said, "Take the boxes and get into position, and don't lie." We did as told, Jake put both his feet on the underside of the box, and pushed his body forward, both hands straight in front of him.
Forward, forward, forward, until he couldn't bend anymore held for two seconds and Mina recorded the score. "Wow! 13 inches, are you secretly a cat?" She joked.
The next one was the long-distance run, his favorite by far. They all lined up at the starting line. It was familiar to how he, Cubby, and Izzy used to race each other. Sometimes they would choose a tree they would start and end from and would run their fastest, or they would run their longest. Jake won almost every round, but it was always close, and it always ended in sweaty, giggly boys and girls huddled together while staring at the stars.
Jake looked at the sky, he was regretful that it wasn't night, or even sunrise or sunset. But a sunny day is as good as any other. When the whistle sounded, everyone knew it wasn't a sprint, but a marathon, where they would run for as long as they could. What some people don't know is that, while wolves are fast, their true strength lies in their stamina. They could literally run all day at a moderate pace. However we just need to run as long as we can until we reach 3 kilometers, less than one-fifth the circumference of Neverland.
When the whistle sounded, we were off, everyone going at decent paces. He ran 80% my top speed, 34 miles per hour. By pure muscle memory, He put one foot after another, and everything just faded away except him, the track, and the finish line. He felt so light, as if he could run forever.
Slipping into the Zone, where portions of everyone's minds go when they slip into that thoughtless rhythm, virtually unaware of what they're doing. His crew had gone to the Zone, the real Zone, on Neverland, they were able to see the places everyone's minds have gone, it was almost as amazing as the Neverland Sunset. He wondered if Captain Hook had gone looking for treasure there after reading a legend about it. He wouldn't put it past him. That's assuming he found it in the first place and just wasn't relying on them to find the treasure.
With the finish line in sight, he snapped out of his trance and darted off to his top speed. 52 miles per hour. He was running so fast, he left most of the others in the dust.000 Momo was just about to win, she made a long metal pole from her stomach, the moment that pole would cross the line she would win, but she didn't account for him. He managed to pass the end of the pole by feet as he passed the finish line.
The moment he crossed it, he turned to see most of the class several meters behind, over 20 meters, all heaving and sweaty. The rush of running pumped adrenaline through his veins. The slight pool of sweat immediately evaporated from his skin, and he was high up in the clouds. And he laughed, a cheerful laugh, like the sound of bells jingling merrily. He laughed so hard that it bordered on hysterical, and he wiped the tears away from his eyes.
When he finally caught his breath, he sighed, "Oh, It's been so long!" He almost forgot how good it felt to run, what with school work and the curfew that Mr. Aizawa has on him, Izzy, and Cubby, they barely get any free time anymore if you didn't count when they snuck out. But don't tell anyone about this, you can keep a secret, right?
He was barely even phased, with no significant spike in heart rate or breathing pattern. He looked back at the track just in time to see a shock 0f green hair barely stumble over the finish line, one of the last ones to do so. He flopped down onto his back, with enough sweat drenching his clothes to sink the Jolly Roger. Jake's wolf urged him to run over and check on him, so he did.
He jogged over and knelt down beside him. Midoriya was lying boneless on the ground, taking in buckets full of air with every breath. Seeing this, Jake summoned a water bottle and urged him to sit up enough to tilt it back. The water was deliciously cold, making him feel a spark of envy for him getting to enjoy it. The feeling was quickly dashed away when he saw a glimmer of gratitude in his eyes.
He got enough strength to sit up on his own and gave Jake a shaky smile. "Th-thank you." He stuttered. Then Midoriya looked at Mr. Aizawa who was watching impassively, and his entire body went rigid. His breath hitched and his face became one of pure anxiety his eyes closed as tears pooled in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his knees and started shivering as if someone dumped freezing cold water on his head.
Terrified whispers were spilling out from shaky lips, they would have been inaudible to anyone with human ears. "I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail. I'm going to fail him and All Might'll be so disappointed."
"Midoryia!" Jake exclaimed, he placed both hands on his cheeks to ground him. "Look at me," his voice didn't change much, it only gained an undertone of steel, but the green-haired boy felt compelled to comply, his glassy emerald greens locked with his own ocean forest eyes.
"You're going to be okay, and he is not going to throw you out the first day," Midoriya stared wide-eyed at the determined gleam in his friend's. Acquaintance'? He sure hoped it was friend, eyes. "Do you wanna know why?" he didn't wait for an answer, "because you are strong, intelligent, and worthy. If he does, he'd be wasting your talent, and he knows how irrational that is." If Jake had been looking, the look on Aizawa's face would have been enough to know 1he hit the nail right on the head.
He said it with such confidence, just like how All Might would comfort children with his booming voice and giant grin, he knew right then and there, that he would follow this boy everywhere he went. As Jake started pulling from the ground, he blue-screened, he could feel the tears fill his eyes, and his face grew hot at the praise. His face only grew hotter as he tried to stutter out a thank you, but Jake cut him off.
"You don't need to thank me, I know what it's like to fear failure, I couldn't let you go through that alone," that blazing fire dimmed slightly, and Midoriya knew it wasn't something he should pursue.
Jake's head snapped over to the sharp whistle, glaring dangerously at it as he remembered everything he hated about it, though he obediently followed when Aizawa waved them all over. They all gathered in front of their teacher, looking nervously his impassive eyes.
Aizawa spoke in a bored voice, "All right, time to give you your results. I've ranked you al from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list," he said exasperatedly, completely oblivious to Midoriya's inner turmoil, "it's not worth going over each individual score."
Aizawa pressed a button on the remote in his hand, and a transparent holographic leaderboard showed out of it. Some of the students were so nervous they even had their hands over their eyes, and their shoulders shaking. Jake wanted to comfort his new mates, but he didn't think they would listen.
Midoriya slowly peeled his scrunched eyes open, and slowly but surely, his eyes traveled down the hologram. All he wanted was to be anywhere but last place.
1st: Jake Never
"That's not the worst thing in the world, I'm happy for him," he would think later, he knew Jake was powerful, but there was something off about him that left him rambling in his notebook for hours on end. There were some remarks about how he had a weird name.
11th: Ochako Uraraka
2nd: Momo Yaoyorozu 12th: Rikido Sato
3rd: Shoto Todoroki 13th: Tsuyu Asui
4th: Katsuki Bakugou 14th: Yuga Aoyama
5th: Tenya Iida 15th: Hanta Sero
Nothing… He whimpered in fear.
6th: Fumikage Tokoyami 16th: Denki Kaminari
7th: Mezo Shoji 17th: Kyoka Jiro
8th: Mashirao Ojiro 18th: Toru Hagakure
9th: Ejiro Kirishima 19th: Minoru Mineta
10th: Mina Ashido 20th: Izuku Midoriya
His armpits became sweatier than they already were. "I'm in last place," thought disbelievingly, "I failed." He already bowed his head in resignation, hopelessly staring at his clenched fist with the broken finger, it was the major reason why he didn't pass most of the tests. He could already feel more tears coming on.
"And I was lying, no one's going home," it caught everyone completely off guard, everyone's face the definition of shock. The small gleam in his teacher's eyes seemed to say 'I love torturing my students.' "It was just a rational deception to make you give it your all in the tests," the effect was immediate.
"WHAAAAAAAT!?" everyone exclaimed, their eyes bulging out of their heads and mouths like packmen, Midoriya especially. Momo hesitantly spoke up, looking like she was worried for their well-being, "I'm surprised that the rest of you didn't figure that out. I'm sorry. I guess I probably should've said something." Some of the others had their mouths hanging open, one with purple balls for hair, one with earphone jacks in her ears, and one with a black lightning bolt in his yellow hair, "Yeah, you should have."
"That was pretty nerve-racking, wasn't it?" said a teen whose quirk had to do with his weird-looking elbows. "Nah, I'm always down for a challenge," a guy with red spiky hair said confidently.
"That's it. We're done for the day," the Hero casually said, as if he didn't nearly crush his student's spirits. "Pick up the syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning," and he walked away.
His shoulders sagged in relief as if a dense burden has been lifted off his shoulders. As Aizawa walked, he stopped by Midoriya and handed him a slip of paper. "Take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared," the last sentence was meant for everyone.
No time skip; No scene change; Aizawa's 3rd POV
"Aizawa, that was a rotten move," a deep booming voice said, Aizawa didn't jump. He stared at the man about a foot and a few inches taller than him, with golden hair and bulging muscles. His face was the epitome of boredom, but his eyes looked annoyed that he was stopped from lying in his sleeping bag. "All Might," he acknowledged, "So you were watching. No talk shows today?"
"'A rational deception,'" The seven-foot tall man scoffed as if the phrase was preposterous. "That's cute but you're not exactly known for being lighthearted. I read your file," he said matter of factly. "Last year you expelled an entire class of freshmen students. You have no problem kicking students out. Anyone you deem unworthy. You were planning to send the last place home." He pointed at him accusingly, "So that can only mean…" a pause for dramatic effect, "you see the same kind of potential in Young Midoriya than I do."
"What's this about?" A not-so-subtle 'get to the point' is laced in his voice. "It almost sounds like you've been in his corner this whole time," this time it's a smug 'tell me I'm wrong.' The effect was immediate, All Might went rigid and his smile became 10 times more strained, "Uh-" he said intelligently.
"Isn't it a little early for you to play favorites?" A rhetorical question. He walked away, "He doesn't have zero potential, I admit it. If that were the case, I would have sent him home after class without hesitation," his footsteps seemed deafeningly loud. "It's cruel to let a kid keep dreaming about something that will never come true," he said darkly.
All Might gazed at his back as he paced, "In your own strange way, you're a kind man, Aizawa. I know that. But clearly, we are gonna have a problem."
Time skip, end of the school day; Scene change, U.A. entrance; 3rd POV
The two friends, Midoriya and Jake, walked to their classes under the afternoon sun. There was a stark difference in their stances. Jake was walking silently with an aura of power, seeming to always be posed for an attack, commanding attention without even trying. On the other hand, Midoriya was slouching with his feet dragging against the ground with bags under his eyes, as if all you had to do was flick him in the shoulder to topple him over.
It's no wonder why everyone at his old school barely remembered anything about him besides the fact that he's Quirkless.
Seeing him about to collapse, Jake holds his shoulder to get him to stop walking like a zombie, "Here," he says, and offered him some wild blueberries. Midoriya was confused at first but excepted it. He hesitantly dropped it in his mouth and bit into it, the sharp rush of favor was unexpected, and it almost ruined the taste, but he left it in his mouth for a moment more, and found that he loved it. "Wow! Jake this is amazing! I've never had a blueberry before."
Jake giggled at the compliment, "Hey, why don't you have the rest? I saw you looked really tired and thought you could use the energy," as soon as he finished the last sentence he took out a bag and popped one into his mouth, then gave it to him. Midoriya eagerly grabbed it and, at a measured pace, ate them one by one.
"By the way, in the moment, that finger hurt like the Nether, right?" The wording was weird. Jake didn't look at him, but it was obvious what he was referring to. When he mumbled out an affirmative, Jake just hummed. "If you ever fail at something, remember my words. It's not the end of the world, the earth isn't going to go hurtling into the sun just because you broke a finger. Or got a concussion, or got scars that'll never heal no matter how long you live, or betrayed more times than you can count-" he was cut off. "Uh, Jake? What are we talking about?"
The only answer he got was the normally olive-skinned boy turning a rather unhealthy shade of white, the closed-off, uncaring expression on his face was a far cry from the warm smile and blazing fire in his eyes. He didn't pursue the subject. They continued walking, the green-haired teen looking looser the closer they got to the gate.
He nearly choked on blueberry juice when a rough hand landed on his shoulder, much unlike the firm but gentle one that held it only a few minutes earlier. His head jerked to look back, to see a familiar perfectly combed set of blue hair and glasses. "Oh! Hey there Iida," he said nervously. "How's the broken finger doing?" Blunt as always.
"O-Oh. It's doin' fine, thanks to Recovery Girl." When he saw Jake tilt his head in confusion, he clarified. "That old lady that kisses you to help you heal, with the pick visor on her head?" He nodded to show he understood.
They walked. "I was a bit concerned about Mr. Aizawa's approach to class, but I trust his judgment. U.A. is the top program," Iida said with a thoughtful look on his face, though it soon morphed into disappointment when he said, "Even so, lying is downright immoral."
"Hey!" A girl, the same one from their class, came running up to them. "Oh, you're the infinity girl," Iida said, and he's right, this is the girl who scored infinity in the ball throw. "Yeah, I'm Ochaco Uraraka. Let's see, you are Tenya Iida," and to the green-haired teen, "Your name is… Deku, right? Midoriya?" She said innocently. "Deku!?" Her eyes widened, "Uh, yeah, isn't that what Bakugou called you?"
"Uh well, my name's actually Izuku, Deku's what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me," his face flushed in embarrassment. Uraraka rubs the back of her head in shame, "I didn't realize that! I'm sorry. But you know what? I love 'Deku'! It could make a great hero name." With a wide smile she added, "Plus, I think it sounds kinda cute."
While Midoriya was busy trying not to have a nosebleed, she turned to Jake. "And your name is Jake… Never?" She tried to keep the confusion out of her voice as she tried to make sense of his odd last name. She's heard of some Americans having 'Baker', or 'Gardener' as a last name, but never 'Never'. She laughed internally at the unexpected joke. Though she supposes it's better than Denki Kaminari which is just Lightning Thunder.
As if reading her mind, Jake rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Yeah, everyone says I have a weird last name, but I'm proud of it, even if it feels weird to be called by anything but my first name. Even the Americans think so!" This time she laughed externally, it felt good to laugh.
She settled herself between Deku and Jake, then pulled them over so they could be closer to Iida. The thought that went through the boys' heads was, "Wow, she's eccentric." She led them out, oblivious to Deku's obvious red panic. As they walked to the station, she stretched, being 5"3', she was just barely able to loop her arm around their necks and be comfortable. "You know boys? I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship…"
Dear All Might, the letter started.
I survived my first day at U.A. Even if I kinda failed. I blew it on the quirk assessment test that Aizawa gave us, but I got to stay! And you know what All Might? At least I'm making some new friends, Iida, Jake, and Uraraka. That's gotta be a good thing, right?
Midoriya Izuku
Dear Midoriya Izuku,
You don't have time to relax Young Midoriya, as much as it pains me to say it. Not yet, the real test begins tomorrow. Meet me tonight at the beach, we have a lot of work to do.
All Might
