Izumi sat down with a tired huff as the buzzer sounded, massaging her shoulders as she did.
"Good job," Abe said with a grin and a nod of his head, "you're getting faster."
"Thanks…" she said breathlessly, smiling at her trainer as she began undoing her wraps, "I think I'm ready for the exams."
"You're more than ready," he laughed, "you can punch through heavy bags, send myself and Toshi flying with your kicks, and Recovery Girl hasn't stopped calling me since she found out about your quirk."
Izumi blushed. "And it's all thanks to you, Abe-Sensei," she said as she stood up, "all of this is possible because you took pity on me."
Abe smiled and ruffled her hair, making her groan and wave him off. "I never took pity on you, Little Mouse," he said, "I saw that special spark in you and knew you would be something special no matter what; and besides, who wouldn't help the most kind-hearted girl in the world?"
Izumi felt tears stinging her eyes as she rushed forward and hugged Abe, the old man chuckled and returned the hug. "You make me proud, girl."
"Thank you, Abe-Sensei."
Abe smiled and let her go, "come on, I got somethin' for you."
Izumi quirked her head a little, following him into his office as he pulled something out of the bottom drawer of his desk: a medium-sized box that he placed in her hands. "Open it," he prompted as he sat down.
Slowly, Izumi opened the box, her eyes widening upon seeing the gear inside.
"You're strong enough to punch and kick through steel, but you can still hurt yourself that way," he said, "so I had these commissioned for you."
Izumi slowly sat down, pulling the MMA-style gloves out, her fingers lightly running over the green and black material.
"Made from a special alloy blend, makes them harder to destroy," Abe said, "just like my own gloves back in the day."
"I...thank you Abe-Sensei...but...these must have cost a fortune-" Izumi whispered, looking back into the box at the shin guards.
"Bah!" Abe waved his hand in dismissal, "a fortune. I have a fortune, Little Mouse, and all it does is sit in a bank account collecting dust; save for the money that goes to the charities. I have too much of it! And even if I didn't, I'd still have gotten these for you." He smiled at her. "You're the one who got this old man off his ass and back in the gym."
"B-but you were already here-'
"-I was, looking at old pictures and feeling sorry for myself because my golden years were behind me! That's no life for anyone, and you got me out of that. So consider these a gift."
Izumi sniffled, quickly wiping her tears away as she bowed, "Thank you. I will always use them."
The door behind them opened and Kirishima walked in, dressed for a workout. "Hey, Zumi! Abe Sensei! Did I get here too early?"
"You're right on time, rockhead," Abe laughed, "get warmed up, Izumi's going to be using you as a punching bag for a bit."
"Gotcha!"
Abe looked back at Izumi, ruffling her hair once more, "Get those on and go help the lunk warm up."
"Yes, sir," she said happily, strapping the protective equipment on, "thank you again, sensei!" she bowed to him one last time before heading back into the gym.
Abe watched the two teens work, Izumi pelting Kirishima with powerful kicks and punches as the boy locked down his skin, grunting and groaning with each hit.
Abe had been wary of the boy when Izumi had first introduced him, but the boy didn't have a single mean bone in his body. He actively went out of his way to cheer up Izumi anytime the girl fell into one of her funks.
He didn't think they were romantically involved - not yet, at least; but he saw the way Kirishima would smile at Izumi when she wasn't looking, or how Izumi would look at him when he wasn't looking.
That romantic crap's gonna make me barf, Abe thought to himself with a sigh; he figured sooner or later he'd have to take Kirishima aside and give him a bit of a scare, but he was content to simply watch the two grow.
"What do you think the practical will be like?" Kirishima panted out as they took a water break.
"I don't know, the pamphlet only mentioned a practical and a written exam," Izumi sighed, "and there's no telling what's on the practical."
"Don't sweat it, we'll tear through whatever comes our way, yeah?" he asked, holding a fist out to her.
Izumi smiled, bumping her fist against his, "yeah." she agreed, blushing slightly.
"I AM HERE!" Toshinori boomed out as he burst through the door making both teens jump slightly, "Ready to take you to your community service!"
"Toshi-sensei!" Izumi greeted the man happily as she gave him a respectful bow, Kirishima doing the same.
Toshinori had changed over the last few months, now able to eat and move without throwing blood up the once skeletal man had regained a lot of his weight, as well as put on a healthy bit of muscle from helping Abe train the two teens. "What say we race to Dagobah beach!"
"Toshinori!" Abe boomed, making the younger man flinch, "Light workout means no extra running before their big day," he said sternly, "we don't need them too sore and stiff to be able to fight."
"Hehe, right," the newly healed man chuckled sheepishly, "In that case...race you two to the truck!"
All three were off like rockets out the front door. Abe just shook his head as he sat back down at his desk. "It's like I'm training three teenagers."
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW
"Look at the size of this place!" Kirishima exclaimed as they stood at the UA gates, "this place is bigger than my school!"
"It's bigger than my apartment complex," Izumi sighed, "it really fits the image, doesn't it?"
"Totally-Ow! Watch it, man!" Kirishima snapped in irritation as a familiar ash-blonde pushed past them.
"Whatever," Bakugo scoffed, eyes lingering on Izumi for a few moments as the girl stared back; she was the first to look away, making the corner of Bakugo's lip twitch as he turned back around and kept walking.
"You know him?" Kirishima asked.
"He goes to the same school as me...aaaand might be my ex-boyfriend," she mumbled in embarrassment.
"Is that why he's in a bad mood?" he asked as they started walking.
"He's always in a bad mood," Izumi muttered, "sometimes I think it's part of his quirk but-" she cut herself off with a small squeak of surprise as she tripped on an out of place brick and began falling, then the sensation of falling stopped as she began to float.
"You never told me you could fly!" Kirishima exclaimed excitedly.
"I really can't!" she cried as she began to spin, "help!"
"Sorry!" a new voice said as they walked over, "I saw you were about to fall so I used my quirk to take away your gravity, since falling before a big test is bad luck!"
"Well, thank you," Izumi said with a smile as she continued to spin, "but can you please put me back on the ground?"
"Oh! Right!"
Izumi let out a sigh as she returned back to the ground, turning to the bubbly girl and extending her hand, "I'm Izumi Midoriya, thank you again for your help."
"No problem! And I'm Ochako Uraraka!" the girl said, returning the handshake as Kirishima stepped forward.
"And I'm eijiro Kirishima! I gotta say, your quirk is Super Manly!" Kirishima proclaimed, giving her a big thumbs up.
"Uh...thank you? I think?"
"It's definitely a compliment.' Izumi giggled, 'Kiri here doesn't seem to know how to talk regularly with people." she teased the boy as he gave a proud grin.
"Toshinori-Sensei agrees with me." He bragged.
"And Abe Sensei agrees with me," she retorted, playfully flicking his forehead as Ochako laughed.
"It sounds like you two know each other well!" she giggled.
"He's my best friend." Izumi said softly, making Kirishima blush, nudging her with a grin as they all began to walk into the auditorium. Splitting up as they needed.
Izumi stopped as she reached her assigned seat and found Bakugo beside it. He didn't even flinch as she sat down next to him, eyes staring straight ahead.
"You cut your hair." Bakugo muttered.
"Obviously." she said dryly.
"I liked it better long."
"It's a good thing I didn't do this for you then."
Bakugo scowled, looking away with a huff.
Izumi sighed, leaning back in her chair as she watched the lights turn off.
"ALRIGHT PARTAY PEOPLE! EVERYBODY SAY YEEEAAAH!"
"It's present Mic!" Izumi whispered excitedly.
"Haven't had his signature yet." Bakugo murmured absentmindedly.
"He was never in Mustafu!" she gushed, freezing slightly as she looked at Bakugo in surprise.
Bakugo clenched his jaw, "you would never shut the hell up about it." he grumbled, making her flinch and glare at him before looking back to the stage as a blue haired boy shot to his feet.
"Excuse me! You said there would be three villains, but the pamphlet shows four! If this is a mistake on UA's part it is sloppy! And you!"
He whirled around and pointed at Izumi, making her jump slightly.
"Your muttering is distracting and unprofessional! Stop it!"
Bakugo bristled angrily as he started to stand up, only for Kirishima to beat him to the punch.
"Hey! She isn't bothering anyone dude! Lay off!" Kirishima shouted angrily, "calling people out like that is not manly!"
"Excuse me? Are you insinuating something?"
"Alright everyone! Let's calm it down!" Present Mic called out.
"Who was that?" Bakugo growled, glaring at the now sitting Kirishima.
"My best friend." Izumi mumbled, still blushing from the embarrassing situation.
"Never seen him before." he grumbled, "you lying to me?"
"Does it matter if I am?"
Izumi stood up quickly as soon as Present Mic dismissed them, reaching the bottom of the stairs before Bakugo could even retort.
"You good Zumi?" Kirishima asked her worriedly as he caught up with her at the entrance.
"Yeah, just...unpleasant company…" She mumbled, then smiled, "Thanks for standing up for me...kinda drew a blank when he called me out like that."
"No big Midori-bro!" Kirishima said with a thumbs up and a grin, "you know I got your back!"
"Still a girl." Izumi giggled sheepishly as they walked towards the buses, "which battle center are you in?"
"E, you?"
"G."
Kirishima deflated slightly, then perked up, "bet I'll have the highest score in my battle center."
"Dream on rock boy." Izumi teased, nudging him slightly.
"Funny." he snorted, "I'll see you afterwards."
"See ya!"
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW
Izumi took a deep breath as she stepped out of the locker room, "you can do this, you can do this…" she mumbled to herself as she walked out. Looking over the other candidates, 'oh! It's that nice girl from before!" Izumi said to herself, "maybe I can go talk to her-"
"That girl looks like she's preparing herself for the test ahead." Izumi sighed as she turned around to glare at the boy who was glaring at her behind his glasses, "are you trying to distract her so she does badly?"
"I was going to talk to her because she's a friend." Izumi said, crossing her arms, "what's your deal?"
Before the boy could respond, a loud alarm went off, "GO!" Present Mic shouted, everyone looked around in confusion, "what? You think real life is going to give you a countdown?"
As fast as she could, Izumi took off into the faux city, jumping at a nearby bot and kicking through its neck joint. Making it crumple to the ground, "yes! Three points!"
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW
Toshinori watched as Kirishima tore through bots, the boy grinning as he took down another two battle bots, "It looks like one of your protege's are doing great." Nezu said, likewise watching Kirishima, "he won't have a hard time making top ten."
"He's trained hard for this." Toshinori said, looking at another screen, "and Izumi is making steady progress."
"Hmm yes." Nezu agreed, watching as Izumi punched through a bots arm joint before taking it's head out, then moving to heal a boy who looked unconscious, "you don't see too many healers who can fight like she can."
"That stone fists influence." Toshinori sighed, "and we're still figuring out the limits of her quirk, she was able to heal me completely, but struggles to fix a simple cut."
"Something I'm sure we can help her figure out here." Nezu said jovially, 'Now, lets see how they react to the gimmick."
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW
Izumi steadied herself as the ground rumbled, "that's a big bot…" she whispered as she looked up at the newly emerged Zero-Pointer; all around her, other applicants were taking off, ignoring the remaining few bots in favor of getting out of the way. Izumi turned to follow them, only to stop as a cry for help reached her ears, "That sounded like…" She turned around quickly, eyes zeroing in on the pinned down brunette. "Uraraka!" she shouted, charging towards the zero-pointer as fast as she could.
"Uraraka!" she shouted again as she slid to a stop beside her, "Don't worry! I'll get you out of this!"
"I'm at my limit…" Uraraka gasped out, looking distinctly sick.
"As soon as we get out of here I'll heal you okay?" she said as she shifted more rubble, "lean on me! Come on!"
The two girls hobbled down the street as the robot lumbered behind them, coming to a slow stop as the time ran out, "Okay, lay down here." Izumi instructed, gently setting Uraraka down and gliding her hand over the girl's body, "nausea and a sprained ankle…" She mumbled, concentrating as her hand started to glow.
Uraraka let out a sigh of relief as her nausea disappeared and the pain left her ankle, "oh wow! Thank you!"
"Anytime." Izumi smiled before she collapsed beside the girl.
"Oh no! Izumi! Help!"
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW
three weeks later.
Izumi drove her fists into a heavy bag, panting heavily as she laid into the bag.
"Yo Zumi!" Kirishima shouted, running into Stone Fist's gym, holding up two letters, "guess what came in!"
"Really!?" she asked in surprise, "I didn't think it'd show up so quickly…"
" I know right! By the way, what are you doing here?" he asked in confusion, "I thought you'd be at home but your mom said you had come here."
"I just needed to get my mind of things." She said sheepishly.
Kirishima nodded, "you want to watch mine or yours first?"
"Lets watch yours first."
"Alright!" Kirishima tore the letter open, letting the holographic disk fall onto the tarp of the boxing ring.
"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION."
"It's All-Might!" Kirishima exclaimed in shock as Izumi fangirled.
"I BET YOU'RE WONDERING WHY I'M HERE! WELL IT'S BECAUSE I TOOK A JOB AT UA THIS YEAR! AND WILL BE YOUR TEACHER COME THE FALL!"
"That means-" Izumi started.
"THAT'S RIGHT! KIRISHIMA EIJIRO YOU SCORED SIXTY VILLAIN POINTS AND CAME IN THIRD OVER ALL! CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING AND JOINING YOUR HERO ACADEMIA! WE'LL SEE YOU IN THE FALL!"
"OH EIJI YOU DID IT!" Izumi cheered hugging the boy as he blushed.
"Y-yeah I did!" He stuttered, smiling at her, "now lets see yours!"
Izumi gulped and nodded, opening her own letter and setting the projector down.
"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!"
Izumi giggled, "it's exactly the same as yours."
"MIDORIYA, IZUMI, YOU FINISHED THE PRACTICAL WITH FORTY VILLAIN POINTS! WHICH IS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO PASS!
"Yes!" Kirishima whooped, hugging his friend and twirling her around as she cried happily.
"HOWEVER!"
The two teens stopped and stared at the projection.
"THERE'S ONE HIDDEN ASPECT OF THE TEST THAT WE DIDN'T CLUE YOU IN ON! I WAS A PERFORMER IN A PAST LIFE! BEHOLD! THE SCREEN!"
The screen cut to a montage of Izumi healing several people, ending with her rescue of Uraraka.
"DO YOU THINK THIS SCHOOL ONLY FOCUSES ON COMBAT? IF THAT WERE THE CASE WE'D BE OUT OF THE JOB! HAHAHA! NOT EVERYONE CAN FIGHT THESE BOTS, SO WE INCORPORATED RESCUE POINTS!
IZUMI MIDORIYA! SEVENTY RESCUE POINTS! YOU DIDN'T'T JUST PASS! YOU RANKED FIRST OVER ALL!"
WELCOME YOUNG MIDORIYA, TO YOUR HERO ACADEMIA."
The projection fell silent, leaving the two teens in silence.
"I...I came in first…" she whispered in awe.
"THAT'S SO MANLY!" Kirishima cried, hugging her as he twirled around, "YOU'RE SO MANLY MIDORIYA!"
"Thanks Kiri," Izumi giggled as he set her down, she carefully pulled away from him, "we should head to my house, I bet my moms already called yours-
"I-Izumi! Wait!" Kirishima exclaimed, making her stop as Kirishima stepped forward and took her hand into his.
"I...I promised myself I'd tell you something if I passed." he said, looking unsure of himself, "I...you see...you're..." he took a deep breath and suddenly punched himself, making Izumi cry out in surprise.
"Kiri! Don't hurt yourself like that!" she admonished him, checking over his cheek for any damage.
"Sorry, but I had to." he calmed himself and closed his eyes tightly, talking fast, "I promised myself that if I passed then I would ask you out on a date!"
Izumi stared at him in shock, the black haired boy was still talking.
"You're so cool, and sweet, and cute and I've wanted to ask you out since we met! But...but it never seemed like the right time so…" he stopped as he felt Izumi's hand carefully intertwine with his, he looked up and was surprised to find tears in Izumi's eyes, "I-Izumi?"
"I...Kiri I...don't know what to say…' She said softly, "I...you're my best friend...and I care about you so much….but…"
"But?" He prompted gently.
"But I...Kirishima My last relationship was such a disaster I...I don't know...I don't think…"
Kirishima felt a stab of pain stab through his heart, he quickly clasped her hand in both of his, "y-you don't have to worry Zumi! I-I'll do everything in my power to make you happy! I don't care if you reject me right now, I'll always like you!"
Izumi began to cry as Kirishima hugged her. After a while she pulled away, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
"Kiri...I"d be happy to go on a date with you."
Kirishima smiled, "really? You mean it?"
"Of course!" she laughed, wiping the last of her tears away,
"THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"
WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW
Bakugo slowly walked towards Izumi's house, a small gift in his hand.
He hadn't wanted to go see her, in fact, he had tried to blow his mom off when she had asked him to deliver the present; but she had shoved the present in his hand and sent him off.
"You can't just ignore she exists you know, you two used to be best friends. Don't let that die."
Bakugo sighed and reached the front door, "let's just get this over with." he muttered, going to knock on the door, but stopped as he heard laughing inside; slowly he looked through a nearby window, freezing as he sees Izumi surrounded by what could only be her own friends as they celebrated her acceptance into UA.
A spike of anger shot through him as he saw that same black haired guy from the entrance exam, his arm around her waist, staring at her with a grin as she giggled at something he said.
Bakugo fought his anger down as it began to turn, "you idiot…" he said, seemingly to himself as he set the present on the porch and ringing the doorbell, walking away before anyone could answer the door, "you have no right...you fucking idiot."
Bakugo refused to admit that the tears that fell were due to sadness over losing Izumi, and he refused to talk to his mom when he returned with said tears in his eyes.
He had no right, after all.