Take Off:

The night after opening the notification letter, Izuku receives a text message from All Might asking him to meet at the beach. It's a bit dark outside, but it's All Might. His mother probably wouldn't like that he'd be out so late, even if she knew who he was going to see, so he opts not to tell her. After all, she should be in bed by now after a long day's work and he'd rather not disturb her. He calls upon his quirk and begins to float ever so slightly across the ground instead of walking, as to not make any extra sounds. Gran had taught him this trick in the midst of the flurry of offense, citing that his old friend was nothing if not stealthy.

After lazily drifting around his home like a ghost and confirming his mother was in bed, he goes back to his room, opens his window and leaps out with no regard and takes off into the night.

"Congrats on passing, kid," Toshinori says while raising his hand, "Just so you know, I didn't tell anyone about our point of contact. You struck me as the type who'd rather not get by on connections, if you can help it."

"Thank you for thinking of me," Izuku says, reaching out to meet the man's high five. "I was so surprised to hear you being a teacher at U.A.! I get it, that's why we need to meet here. But isn't your office located at Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo -"

"Stop right there," Toshinori cuts off; partially due to the kid going off on a tangent, and partially because his "fanboyism" is a bit much at times. "Anyway, I told the academy about my predicament, but haven't breathed a word about it to anyone else. I wanted them to inform me on the chance they found a suitable successor."

All Might isn't looking at him, and instead is gazing out into the open ocean. There's a crescent moon out tonight, and the stars are almost dancing across the night sky. It reminds Izuku of that vision he had. The one who had tried and failed to replicate.

'That's right,' He thinks, 'He said he'd been searching for a successor for a long time…' The thought is humbling in ways that Izuku had never really stopped to think about. All Might was planning to choose from the students. The same students he'd shared an exam area with; all capable people, overflowing with awesome quirks. He looks down at his hands and then feels the quirk inside of him. It's there, lingering just within arms reach. It's like a big hurricane howling through a forest on a moonless night with a starry sky. So wild. Strong. Ancient. "One For All," he starts quietly, "Isn't what I expected it to be."

Toshinori chuckles to himself. "I'd expect not. Now that we have time, do you want to tell me how you have my master's quirk?"

"Your master…?" Izuku asks, tilting his head in confusion. "I had a vision, uh, before the exams. And during it."

"A vision?" Toshinori questions, shifting his attention away from the young man and back towards the sea. He looks thoughtful.

"Yeah, uh, there was a beach. This one, I think. Eight suns and a woman," Izuku lists off, looking equally as thoughtful. "She said her name was Nana and that she was the Seventh. She told me to soar."

Toshinori absorbs the information without interruption. "Is that all you remember?" He asks. The look on his face seems as though he wants to ask more, but he doesn't press the issue.

"Yeah, I think so," Izuku concedes, playing with his hands. "Do you, uh, know what any of this means?"

His master regards him for a moment, once again looking thoughtful. "About the visions? No. My master never mentioned them before," He pauses and looks Izuku in the eye. "But I have had two. The day I got this," he says, patting his side. "And the day I gave you the quirk." The Symbol of Peace sighs and shakes his head. "Such a fickle quirk," he says under his breath. "But we digress. I'd like to speak about this more but not here. Not right now. Thankfully, Gran was able to help you. I can't imagine if you were stuck at all or nothing."

Izuku cringes at the idea. Floating around is really liberating and fun. Flying around at the speed of sound with no protection, as he learned, is much less fun.

"You'll learn more as you go," the man continues. "The more you build up the vessel, the more power you can use!" To emphasize his point, he bulks up into his hero form and flexes his arm. The action was enough to make Izuku's hair blow back, ever so slightly.

"Wait, is that All Might?!" Some passersby yells. "When did he get here?!"

"Uh oh. Run, young Midoriya!"

Going back to Aldera a few days later wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience.

Izuku notices the weird look from his teacher the minute he walks into class, and he has a pretty good idea as to where it comes from. The idea of a quirkless student making it into U.A must've been a shocker, to put it mildly. The idea of a quirkless student getting into the hero course… the sky must've fallen down.

The look on the man's face said it all.

He understands that him getting into U.A. wasn't something foreseen at all, but he did bulk up over the ten months! He wasn't completely helpless like they thought!

Katsuki storms in shortly after he does, and Izuku can immediately tell that he's in a good mood. And not in the same way that he always is. He seems like he's in a good, angry mood. Like he achieved something and wants everyone to know and, again, Izuku can understand why.

Sensei eyes them both and a harsh look appears on his face. To Izuku's surprise, it's not towards him. Katsuki had been moments away from yelling something at him, if his face is any indication, but sensei's disapproving glare is enough for him to swallow his words. Weird.

After that, sensei adjusts some papers on his desk and eyes the class, but his gaze darts back to the clock until the bell rings.

"Congratulations to everyone!" Sensei says with mock happiness and enthusiasm. Interesting, considering the push Katsuki got for U.A. "Now, let's start with..-"

Izuku mostly zones out now, admittedly not caring much about his classmates. He has no plans to keep in contact with any of them besides Katsuki, and even that one isn't by his own choice. He's not mentally here, really, as his teacher goes down the list, and when he blinks, he distinctly sees a flash of eight colored suns. His eyes snap open in a panic.

"Midoriya and Bakugou both made it into U.A.'s hero course."

"WHAT?!"

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?!" Katsuki roars after the class's initial shock dies down. "The quirkless loser got in?!" He turns and prepares to send some explosions in the green-haired teen's direction. Izuku flinches, leaning away from the violent outburst.

"Bakugou Katsuki, sit down right now!" Sensei snaps harshly. Izuku almost audibly gasps. Since when had his sensei directed such heat at Kacchan before? "Yes, Midoriya also got into U.A. Deal with it. Sit down and calm down."

He does, but Izuku suspects - knows - it's more out of shock than anything.

He's silent for the rest of the day, save for Izuku hearing the sounds of his hands popping and his growling whenever someone dared to speak with or congratulate him on his accomplishment. Sensei is still giving them both odd looks, and Izuku tries his best to ignore it. He just wants to be done with all of this.

He attempts to get out of school as quickly as possible at the end of the day without literally flying away. It's unusually tense and awkward, and it's putting him on edge. So on edge, in fact, that it's hard to close his eyes for longer than a few seconds without seeing a glimpse of those suns. Is this what happens when he's stressed? Gods above, help him.

"Deku!"

...damn it all. Just when he thought he was home free. Kacchan didn't sound happy.

Izuku adjusts the grip on his bag and is prepared to take off into the afternoon sky, offhandedly wondering if the ticket he'd get would be worth it. It wouldn't, he realizes, since Kacchan knows where he lives and Izuku assumes he can fly as well.

Thankfully, at the very least, he's alone. None of his friends (?) are with him. Izuku can see out of the corner of his eye that a teacher is looking down at them out of an open window. Maybe one of the lower years, or another class. Regardless, they show no reaction other than a frown.

"Hi, Kacchan..." Izuku says shakily, already feeling his stomach drop as his body gets lighter.

Kacchan says something - probably cursing his name for whatever reason - but Izuku hardly hears it. He's instead trying his hardest to not literally float away. Seeing that he was being ignored must've spurred something on in the blond, since he reaches out and grabs a fistful of Izuku's shirt.

"Don't fuckin' ignore me, you bastard!" Kacchan snaps. "What dirty goddamn trick did you use to pass the exam, shit head?!" Without giving Izuku the chance to respond - not that he expected him to - Kacchan carries on. "I was supposed to be the first to enter U.A. from here! ME! ALONE! You ripped my future glory to pieces and pissed on it! I told you to go somewhere else, you fuck!"

Izuku's head slumps as he's forced to focus on Kacchan before him. He's starting to float away. Then, weirdly, something surges within him. It's a feeling, one of righteous anger, but born of the same ilk of whatever it is that resides in One For All. His hands go up and clamp around Katsuki's arm as tightly as he could. He can't see Kacchan's surprise, nor the way he grit his teeth.

"Someone," Izuku gasps out. One For All is starting to burn inside of him. What the hell is with this quirk? "Someone finally acknowledged me!" He finally manages to say. His voice is pained and louder and gruffer than it's ever been. "They told me I could be a hero! Kacchan!" Izuku stands up straight and positively glowers at the boy.

Kacchan's eyes go wide and then narrow. What the hell got into Deku?! This look on his face was...

"I've won the right!" He suddenly bellows, forcing Katsuki's hand from his person and making him stumble back. "You can't stop me! I'm headed to U.A. whether you like it or not!" The power is still boiling beneath his skin like magma under the earth's crust. It's so hard to contain.

Amidst the shock and confusion, Izuku takes off in a sprint. It's getting too hard to breathe. It's too hard to think straight. He needs to write this down. He needs to talk to All Might.

All Might gave... less than stellar advice. He told him as much as he could without going into detail, and the only thing his mentor told him was to record this event for future reference.

Kacchan didn't bother him after that day. No one in school seemed to bother him, actually. A few people even tried to be his friend, but Izuku politely declined their offer at lunch. After that, he was largely left alone. The teachers did seem to eye him a bit more than usual, but with only a few days left at Aldera, he couldn't give them more than a passing glance.

On the last day, he doesn't wish anyone well. He doesn't speak to anyone, nor does he look them in the eye. It's a chapter of his life he wants to forget, and he doesn't grace Aldera with his attention any longer.

Thankfully, spring rolls around pretty quickly after that. After checking in with his mother to make sure he had everything - and a few more encouraging words that may or may not have ended in tears - Izuku is off to the new chapter of his life.

"1-A... where's 1-A?" he says to no one in particular. "This place is massive."

Thankfully, the map the school provided leads him to his class and in front of a giant door with 1-A worded vertically on the front. He reaches for the handle and pauses. 'I'll be alongside the chosen few who passed the exam. The top of the top,' His mind flashes to two people; Katsuki and that one scary, blue haired boy from the exam. 'If only those two ended up in 1-B. I'll be so grateful.'

Luck is not on his side, however, as both Kacchan and that boy are in this class. He wilts internally, but like All Might always says, tries to put on a smile through it.

They're arguing about something, because of course they are, and Izuku uses this gap to try to slip in undetected. Tragically, it fails since the boy with the glasses can apparently sense his anxiety and has his head snap toward him so quickly that Izuku nearly jumps. He walks toward him and Izuku wishes he wouldn't.

"Hello, I'm Tenya Iida from -"

"Oh yeah, haha," Izuku says nervously. "I overheard. I'm Midoriya, nice to meet you, Iida."

"Midoriya..." Iida says, getting weirdly intense. "I must hand it to you. You divined the actual nature of the test, didn't you? I was... blind to it," he says, somewhat dramatically and with some weird, chopping motions with his hands. "And I completely misread you. I hate to admit it, but you were the better man."

'I didn't realize it either, but thanks for admitting that though.' Izuku doesn't say. He's pointedly ignoring the glare in the side of his head that Kacchan is giving him.

"Ah, it's you! The curly-haired kid!" A sudden, nice sounding voice says behind him. To his credit, he's only marginally startled.

He turns and can feel something odd in the pit of his stomach. It's not One For All odd, or at least, he doesn't think it is. It's more of a lighter odd, like butterflies.

It's her, the nice girl from the exam. She looks amazing in the uniform, and her smile and personality are so bright that Izuku nearly has to turn away, lest he be blinded on the spot.

"You made it, just like Present Mic said!"

God, her enthusiasm was frightening. He can feel heat - a fire almost - pooling in the base of neck and behind his ears.

"Yay, go you!" She says earnestly and happily, "By the way, that dash thing was out of this world! You went like woosh and boom!"

"No, it's not like that," Izuku tries to say, but given how flustered he is, he'd be surprised if he even managed anything coherent. "It was really all thanks to you speaking on my behalf and uh, helping and stuff."

The girl pauses, taken aback by the comments. "...eh? How did you know about that?"

Please. Kacchan, All Might, Sludge Villain. Someone save and/or kill him. Unfortunately for Izuku, sweet relief from the mortal world doesn't come. Kacchan seems content to just glare at him.

Mercifully, she accepts Izuku's frantic ramblings as something akin to an answer and moves on. "I wonder if the ceremony is today," she says, "Or the guidance counselor stuff. Oh, and the teacher. What'll they be like? I'm so anxious. Like, wow."

"If you're gonna be hunting for buddies here, get out." A strange man in a sleeping bag, crawling like a caterpillar says flatly. He's on the floor and his black hair is dragging across the tile. Izuku can see dirt accumulating and is a bit grossed out. He takes out what looks to be a juice box of some kind from the sleeping bag and sucks it down in one gulp. "This is the hero course," he stands up with greater ease than he should've been able to, frankly, and gives everyone a dirty, disinterested stare while discarding the empty box back in the sleeping bag. Izuku cringes at the thought of what else could be in there. "Hmm, took you all 8 seconds to quiet down. Life is short, kids. You're all lacking common sense."

"He must be a pro too," Izuku says softly to himself. 'But I've never - I don't recognize him. He looks washed-up...'

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Pleasure meeting you." He said with the emotional cadence of dried paint and stale rice. He reaches into the sleeping bag - ew - and pulls out a P.E. uniform. "Put these on. Immediately. Then shove off to the P.E grounds. Don't be late."

With that, the man leaves and leaves everyone in a state of confusion. Izuku stares at his back while he walks away.

'What a strange man.'

A/N: Thank you all for reading. For those who care, Super Street Fighting Heroes: Turbo isn't dead. It's been on hiatus because I've been playing the shit out of SF6 lol, sorry about that.