To Izuku's relief, Shinsou and Hatsume were excused from class to watch the exam match.
"Not that you'll have any shortage of cheering fans!" Present Mic said as he stood over their congregation at lunch, holding out two hall passes and beaming broadly. "You've made quite an impression on class 1A, but I figure it'd be nice to have someone from your own class in the crowd!"
As Shinsou and Hatsume took the hall passes, Izuku looked up at Mic with watery eyes. He had managed not to cry at class 1C's vote of confidence, but he was almost sure that wouldn't last the day. No matter the outcome of the match he was bound to shed a few tears.
"Thank you," Izuku said, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. "I thought . . . I mean, I didn't . . . thank you."
Mic gave the most exaggerated wink he'd ever seen. "No problem, 'lil listener!"
"Thanks," Shinsou concurred, examining his hall pass interestedly. Then he sucked in a breath.
"You're using the stadium? Like, the one used for the sports festival?"
"Of course!" Mic insisted loudly. "This is an official exam match, which mean we're using an
official exam facility and official exam rules! Not to mention an official exam announcer!"
He gestured at himself demonstratively, and Izuku's eyes widened. "You're going to be announcing the match? Like, giving commentary?"
"Just a heads up," Mic said, leaning and and shielding his mouth from the side with one hand. "I'll have to be impartial, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't seem like I want you to win."
"I understand," Izuku nodded seriously. "Thank you for coming to give us the passes." Mic struck a pose and gave them double finger guns, then went on his way.
"He seems really cool," Hatsume said as she chewed a bite of rice. "A little goofy, but mostly a nice guy."
"He really seems to have a lot of faith in you Mido," Shinsou said, with a raised eyebrow. "It'd be nice to have a teacher that wanted me in the hero course so bad."
"When the sports festival comes, you'll have the hero course teachers falling all over themselves to mentor you," Izuku promised, and was pleased when Shinsou blushed but didn't look away.
"Eat up, green bean!" Hatsume said, poking Izuku with a finger. "You're running out of time!"
"Right!" said Izuku and refocused on his lunch. He couldn't let anything distract him today. *
The stadium was big.
Izuku had watched the UA sports festivals alongside the rest of the world since he was a child, so he'd thought he'd had a pretty good idea of the size of the facility they were held in. He was so far off the mark he might as well have been picturing a scale model rather than the actual place. As he stood beneath the archway looking out over the field, at the ring drawn on the ground where the fight would take place, he felt smaller than he could ever remember feeling. He himself was hidden in shadows, but as he peered out he could see the members of class 1A seated in the front rows of the stands. Way up above was the announcer box where Present Mic would be giving his commentary. It was all sickeningly real, and terrifyingly huge.
"From class 1A, the explosive powerhouse that dominated the entrance exam, it's Katsuki Bakugou!" shouted Mic, his voice echoing throughout the stadium. Izuku doubted he even needed a microphone.
Kacchan walked out of an archway on the other side of the field, in gym clothes like Izuku and wearing an impatient scowl. There was a smattering of polite applause from the gathered class 1A, most loudly from Iida and Kirishima.
"And from class 1C," Mic went on, sounding just as excited about one combatant as another to a degree Izuku found almost frighteningly precise, "the clever analyst who just keeps exceeding our expectations, Izuku Midoriya!"
Izuku walked out of the archway. The sunlight was dazzling in his eyes as it fell suddenly across his face, but its light was warming after the chill of the shadows. Class 1A was cheering wildly now, some of them standing up in their seats, whistles and chanting of his name reaching his ears as he walked. He blinked rapidly to let his eyes adjust, and stopped when he reached the edge of the circle, just as Kacchan had.
"The rules are real simple folks!" Mic called down the audience. "It's a one on one, no support items, quirks only hand to hand fight! Anything goes, just stay in the circle, and the first person to cross the line loses! Now, combatants enter the circle!"
Kacchan stepped confidently forward, and Izuku mirrored him. They both walked until about half the length of the circle was between them, then stopped. Kacchan's stance was relaxed, but Izuku knew how fast that could change, so he planted his feet.
"On the count of three!" Mic shouted. "Three, two, one, FIGHT!"
Kacchan didn't waste time. He darted forward, eyes blazing maniacally and a grin splitting his face wide. He was clearly looking forward to beating the hell out of Izuku, to showing the others how useless he was, just like he had nearly every day in middle school.
Today was not every day in middle school.
As a big right hook swung toward him Izuku shifted slightly, catching the arm mid swing and using it to flip Kacchan over and throw him to the ground on his back. Kacchan gave loud grunt on impact, eyes closed against the hit. All too soon they popped open however, and as Izuku backed up toward the center of the ring Kacchan quickly rolled into a crouch. He was glaring at Izuku, teeth bared.
"A bold opening from Bakugou, but it's no match for the skill on display by Midoriya!" came Mic's voice booming over the pitch, summoning a round of cheers from the crowd.
"What the hell you damn nerd!" Kacchan growled, scrambling to get to his feet once more.
"You always open with a big right hook Kacchan," Izuku said, putting up his hands in front of himself, balled into fists and prepared to strike. "It's the same every time. I studied all those heroes for so long, and that included you. I know how you fight."
He darted forward, drawing his fist back as he went. "And I know how to beat you!"
Kacchan growled again, lips pulled back in a snarl, and this time he didn't waste time with a punch or a block. He put out a hand in front of himself and release an explosion, right into Izuku's face. Or rather, where Izuku's face would have been, if he hadn't dropped to the ground just in time, using his forward momentum to swing his leg around and catch Kacchan in the ankles.
"Another clever piece of misdirection by Midoriya!" Mic called as Kacchan went down, an aborted swear on his lips that was completely inaudible to anyone but Izuku. "It's clear to see who's fighting smart in this match!"
Kacchan hit the ground hard, once again on his back. He tried to right himself, but Izuku was already down on his level, so he seized one of Kacchan's legs and threw it up and over the rest of his body. Kacchan went into an inelegant roll, and as Izuku sprang back to his feet he was left in a jumbled heap, significantly closer to the edge of the ring than he had been before.
"Kick his ass!" Shinsou called from the stands, and Hatsume gave a wordless cheer in agreement.
Izuku advanced again, intent on using a kick next, but before he could reach his opponent suddenly Kacchan managed to get his hands pointed at the ground. He let off a blast from each palm, propelling himself up and towards Izuku, resulting in an artless but efficient tackle that hit Izuku square in the stomach.
"Direct hit by Bakugou!" Mic cried boisterously. "That explosion quirk is just so versatile!"
They went down together, scrabbling in the dirt, the sounds of Mic's commentary and class 1A screaming in alarm a backdrop to their scuffle. Kacchan was, at the end of the day, physically bigger and stronger, and after a moment of this he managed to pin Izuku beneath him by both wrists.
"Learned a few new tricks since I last put you in your place," Kacchan hissed, grinning savagely down at Izuku.
Kacchan's palms grew hot, his lighting mechanism smoking as it seared Izuku's skin, and he knew he'd have to break the hold fast. With all the leverage he had he kneed Kacchan in the stomach, making him cough and disrupting his balance somewhat. Izuku used this to roll them over, until he was the one crouching over Kacchan with his knee still in the other boy's stomach. In his surprise Kacchan loosened his grip, and Izuku was able to jerk his wrists free.
"Me too, Kacchan," Izuku replied.
"You might pin him for a minute, but Midoriya's not giving up!" Mic called as Izuku caught his breath.
Kacchan gave a wordless noise of frustration and put a hand directly against Izuku's chest. With a
split second to react Izuku threw himself back, but he wasn't fast enough to completely avoid the blast. He landed on his back, breath punched out of him, chest and wrists smarting from the burns, but before Kacchan could advance he forced himself into a roll and popped back to his feet. Kacchan was still between him and the nearest line.
"Watch out for those close range explosions!" Mic said theatrically as Kacchan leaped up directly off his back, thrusting out with his feet undulating his body through the air so that he landed upright. "Bakugou might just be too hot to handle!"
"You honestly think you can beat me?!" Kacchan shouted, loud enough for the spectators to hear. "I've got the best quirk there is for hero work! You're just a quirkless loser who will never amount to anything!"
He ran forward, throwing a blast at Izuku, but again Izuku dodged and aimed a kick at Kacchan's stomach. For a moment Kacchan seemed to take it hard, curling in on himself around the hit, but then he grabbed Izuku's leg and used it to wrench him off balance. Izuku went down, hard on his back, and quickly had to roll out of the way as Kacchan brought down an exploding hit right where his head had been a moment before.
"Looks like Bakugou's learned the art of misdirection!" Mic speculated as Izuku came to rest on his back again. "That was a move straight out of Midoriya's playbook!"
"You think the fact that you managed to trick these extras into supporting you means anything?" Kacchan went on, kicking at Izuku's legs as he tried to get back to his feet, stopping him from getting up and forcing him to scuffle back, closer to the line.
With one last desperate kick Izuku managed to catch Kacchan in the knee, causing him to stumble slightly and giving Izuku time to right himself. He got back to his feet, and quickly scrambled to put distance between himself and Kacchan, backing up toward the center.
"Midoriya's still not giving up though, he's not done yet folks!" Mic shouted, and Izuku nearly thought he heard a note of encouragement in it. That was how he chose to take it, anyway.
"You're just a worthless, pathetic Deku!" shouted Kacchan, and ran at Izuku with hand outstretched.
Izuku made to grab Kacchan again, but at the last second Kacchan shifted, pulling his punch in a way Izuku had never seen him do. Before Izuku could decipher it suddenly Kacchan was leaping at him, using explosions to propel himself up and over the place where Izuku was standing. Izuku didn't have time to react, and the explosion that fired directly against his back send him lurching forward, crying out in pain. Forcing his eyes open before he'd righted himself, he realized how close to the line he was. If he kept stepping forward enough to regain his footing, he would be out of bounds. Planting his feet to stop Izuku fell forward, bracing himself with his hands so he didn't break his face. He was barely inside the line.
"What an incredible move!" Mic screamed as Izuku flipped onto his back, the dirt and grit of the pitch digging painfully into the fresh burns. "The power! The control! The showmanship!"
"And now I'm going to show them how weak you really are!" Kacchan concluded, diving forward to bring an explosion directly down on Izuku.
There was a moment, then, of crystal clarity. For a split second the pitch faded, and in Izuku's mind's eye a whole scene played out in less time than it would take to blink. He was lying on the training mat in the gym, with Shinsou standing over him. Everyone else had gone, and it was just
the two of them.
He's not going to content himself with beating you, Shinsou said, in his memory. He's going to want to hurt you, as badly as he can with all the opportunity he has. Even if you're down, he's going to attack. And that's how you're going to get him.
As Kacchan committed to his attack, angling his body into the dive and pressing off the ground with one last powerful leap, Izuku brought his legs up against his chest. He bent his knees, pointing the soles of his feet out and upward, vaguely in the direction Kacchan was coming from. He didn't kick out right away though. He waited until Kacchan was above him, until the explosions were already fiery blossoms emanating from his palms. Then he kicked out with both feet, propelling Kacchan not back, but up and over him, extending his arc so he didn't come down on Izuku but instead went past him and continued on. The explosions rang out, the force of them causing Kacchan to travel even farther, until he had sailed well over Izuku and nearly clear of the cloud of resultant smoke.
Izuku rolled, painfully, into a crouch, and waited for the smoke to clear.
It took a few seconds, and in that time there was utter silence from the crowd. One heartbeat, then two, then three, and then the remnants of the explosion faded and Izuku could see Kacchan again. He too had righted himself, and was looking back at Izuku with face pale, but set and angry, and he was plainly ready to attack immediately. Then something caught his attention.
The line of paint on the ground.
It was between them.
"IZUKU MIDORIYA WINS!" shrieked Mic, loud enough that it seemed to shake the stadium. "WHAT?!" screamed Kacchan, staring at the line in disbelief.
"In an incredible final move, Midoriya used his opponent's own quirk against him to propel him out of the ring!" Mic called, even though the uproar of cheering from the stands was already giving him a run for his money in enthusiasm if not volume. "What a show! What a battle! What an incredible display of strength and skill!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kacchan shouted, his face turned to the announcer box as Izuku got shakily to his feet. "He's just a pathetic little bug! There's no way he beat me!"
"And yet here you are outside the ring," said Eraserhead's calm, even voice, and Izuku looked over to see him out on the pitch, walking towards them with leisurely, unhurried strides. "You lost, Bakugou. You'll be transferred to class 1C, while Midoriya takes your spot in the hero course."
"I'm not going to the damn Gen Ed course!" Kacchan screamed, rounding on Eraser when the announcer box wouldn't respond to his ire. "Deku can't be a hero, he doesn't have a quirk! I'm the ideal hero!"
"Not from my perspective," Eraser said seriously. "From where I'm standing you're a bully who only cares about himself, more likely to make a jackboot thug than a hero."
Kacchan let out a wordless roar of rage, but he seemed to know he'd get nowhere by attacking Eraser. Instead he rounded on Izuku, palms popping with explosions and eyes full of burning rage.
"You're dead Deku!" he shouted. "You're gonna wish you'd jumped off the roof when I told you
to!"
Izuku dropped into a fighting stance, ready to defend against Kacchan's next attack, but before either of them could move suddenly Kacchan's explosions were fizzling out. A split second later, before he'd even had time to be confused, Eraserhead's capture weapon was wrapping around him, pinning his hands to his sides and dragging him across the pitch and up against the teacher's chest.
"So it's true," Eraser growled, glaring down at Kacchan with eyes blazing red. "You did tell him to kill himself in middle school."
"So what?" Kacchan grumbled, straining against the capture weapon. "No one cared, the little punk deserved-"
"No one deserves suicide baiting," Eraser cut him off sharply. "Your middle school might not have taken it seriously but at UA we consider it a very serious matter. You are going to explain yourself to Principal Nezu, and when that meeting is over you will count yourself lucky if you end up in Gen Ed."
Eraser's hair fell in his face and his capture weapon unraveled from around Kacchan. Before Kacchan could move though Eraser was taking him by the arm and dragging him toward the archway that led off the pitch and out of the arena.
Izuku made to go after them, hand outstretched, but before he could do or say anything suddenly arms were wrapping around his torso and lifting him off his feet.
"Congratulations Midoriya!" came Iida's voice, both above him and rumbling through the chest pressed to his side. Izuku winced as the bone-crushing hug put pressure on the places where he was burned, but he managed not to make a noise of distress.
"Iida?" Izuku asked instead, and was immediately set back his feet. He turned, to see Iida giving a formal bow.
"I apologize for hugging you!" he said, then straightened and began chopping his hand down through the air for emphasis. "I was merely overwhelmed by the moment! Your victory was very impressive, and extremely satisfying to watch!"
"Way to go Midoriya!" came Uraraka's voice from behind Iida, and Izuku peered around the taller boy to see that the stands were empty and all the spectators were streaming out onto the field.
"Thanks," Izuku said numbly. He was surprised to realize he was shaking. Why was he shaking? "I couldn't have done it without all of you."
"You're too kind!" Iida insisted, and Uraraka giggled.
From there Izuku was swamped by the other students. Kirishima had to ruffle his hair. Hagakure had to give him a big hug. Yaoyorozu shook his hand, and made a whispered apology that she hadn't been there to train with him. Izuku shook his head to indicate that he didn't blame her at all, and she gave him a radiant smile.
Hatsume, like Iida, lifted him off his feet with her hug. She was surprisingly strong, but then again Izuku figured she spent all day lugging around heavy machinery, so it wasn't all that surprising. Shinsou was curiously at the back of the group, but Izuku saw him coming from the direction in which Eraser and Kacchan had disappeared, so most likely Shinsou had merely gone to check on them. He gave Izuku a big hug too, tucking Izuku's head beneath his chin and folding him into his embrace.
"You did it Mido," Shinsou said into Izuku's hair.
"I did," Izuku said, and just like that, for the first time, it was true. He'd done it.
He'd beaten Kacchan.
He was in the hero course.
He was going to be a hero.
Izuku did, in the end, cry.
He got through being congratulated by all his friends and then by most of the teachers. Eraserhead was absent from the celebrations, but Midnight assured him that his new homeroom teacher was glad he'd won. She made a slightly off color joke, and then another when Izuku jolted in surprise, but then she gave him her sincere congratulations. Eventually he was whisked up to Recovery Girl's office, and she congratulated him too before kissing his cheek and healing the burns on his chest and back.
"I know this was an important fight for you," she said as she bandaged up what remained of the burns, mostly healed but still a little tender, "so I won't scold you this time, but this is a dangerous line of work you're getting into so try and be a little more careful in future."
"Yes ma'am," Izuku promised, nodding vigorously. "I will."
"Good," she said, tying off the last bandage. "Give those the weekend to heal before you return to training, but you should be good to go by Monday."
"Thank you," Izuku said, accepting a candy from her Kamui Woods dispenser.
As Izuku popped the candy into his mouth and crunched it, a slight knock came from the direction of the door. Izuku and Recovery Girl both looked over to see Present Mic standing in the doorway.
"Hey there listeners!" he said boisterously, forgoing a pose this time to lean casually against the doorframe. "Don't mean to interrupt, but if I could have a minute with Midoriya that'd be rockin'!"
"Of course dear," said Recovery Girl, hopping down off her stool and ambling over to the door. "Just be careful of those bandages now."
Mic stepped into the infirmary, smiling his trademark smile at Recovery Girl as her cane tapped across the floor. He watched her go out in the hall, then shut the door with a sharp snap behind herself. Izuku turned to Mic once the door was closed, expecting dramatic congratulations, but as soon as they were alone Mic rounded on Izuku with a wholly different smile than his usual one. Rather than practiced and perfect, it was wobbly and unsure, his lips trembling as the corners of his eyes crinkled behind his shades.
"Sensei?" Izuku asked, a little worried at this unusual look. Then Mic sniffed, and Izuku realized he was holding back tears.
"You did so good!" Mic said, and his voice was soft but shaking with emotion. "'Lil listener you did so, so good, and-"
Mic cut himself off with a choked sound, launching himself across the room to take Izuku's head in his hands and press it to his chest. With Mic's fingers in his hair Izuku grasped the front of his teacher's shirt, face buried in the fabric. He could feel Mic curling around him, as though trying to envelope him in warmth.
"Thank you," Izuku said quietly. He knew Mic had stopped talking and come to hug him because he was finally, finally crying.
"You were amazing," Mic whispered. "You were a star out there. You were everything I knew you could be."
"I couldn't let everyone down," Izuku shook his head, rubbing his eyes against Mic's chest. "I couldn't let you down. Everyone's worked so hard to help me and I was just so grateful that I just had to win. I had to."
"You won for all of us," Mic agreed. "You won for you, but it means so much to so many people. You have no idea, 'lil listener. You're going to be great."
Izuku nodded, but couldn't say any more. His throat felt tight and raw, like he'd been crying for hours. Mic's fingers continued to comb through his hair, and gentle shushing noises were coming from above him, but other than that Mic was quiet. He stood there, letting Izuku cry, for as long as he needed.
After a few minutes of this Izuku sniffled purposefully and unwound his fingers from the front of Mic's shirt. Mic disentangled his hands from Izuku's hair, and when he stepped back Izuku caught him wiping at one eye with his finger before letting his shades fall back into place. He smiled down at Izuku, a genuine, artless smile that made Izuku feel warm inside.
"Welcome to the hero course 'lil listener," Mic said happily. "You got a lot to learn, but I know you'll do great."
"I'll do my best," Izuku promised, nodding seriously. "I couldn't ask for better teachers."
Mic opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything suddenly there came a loud knock at the door. Both of them jolted and looked around. That did not sound like a knock that had come from the tiny Recovery Girl.
"Yes?" Mic called curiously.
The door slid open, and Izuku's heart clenched to see All Might standing on the other side.
"Yamada!" he boomed, the light glinting off his perfect teeth as he smiled. "I heard I might find you here! Would it be alright if I had a moment with young Midoriya?"
Mic glanced at Izuku, as though asking for permission. Izuku didn't know what expression he was wearing, but it made Mic frown in concern. Very deliberately Izuku hitched a smile in place. He had known, of course, that All Might was the heroics teacher for the first years. He knew this conversation was coming.
"It's alright," he said, nodding slightly. "I know what this is about."
Mic glanced at All Might distrustfully for a second, then fixed his own Present Mic smile back in place and gave a casual finger gun.
"No probs!" he said, and walked over to the door. All Might stepped inside to give him room to
step out, and Mic threw one last glance at Izuku once he was out in the hall. Izuku gave him a reassuring smile, and he shut the door.
Now it was All Might's turn to strike a pose. "Young man!" he said loudly. "I'm sure you're wondering why I needed to talk to you!"
"You're going to tell me I can't be a hero without a quirk," Izuku said dully.
In response to this All Might gave a loud, hacking cough, blood spraying from his mouth as his body seemed to deflate until he was standing before Izuku as a tall, skinny skeleton of a man. He coughed a few more times, softer and shorter, then wiped at his mouth with his hand.
"No," he said at last, his voice lower and rougher as though from disuse, like this form and his other one were two different people. "Actually, I came to tell you quite the opposite."
Izuku stared at him, nonplussed. "What?"
All Might cleared his throat, then stood a little straighter and stared at Izuku with his dark, sunken eyes.
"Young man," he began purposefully. "You've seen me in this form, and you know my secret. Or rather, you know part of my secret. On the day we met you caught me at a bad time. I was out of energy to maintain my All Might form, and . . . I was experiencing a moment of weakness."
"A moment of weakness?" Izuku repeated. He couldn't fathom where All Might was going with this.
All Might hung his head. "I was losing faith in myself," he said, "and with it I was losing faith in the future. I'd forgotten the things that made me want to be a hero, and the things that made it possible for me to achieve that dream. I spoke harshly to you, because I was too busy being a grouchy old man to be a hero. You didn't deserve that."
"It's alright," Izuku said automatically. "You don't need to apologize to me. If you're not going to tell me to reject the transfer to the hero course, I-"
"I would never tell you a thing like that!" All Might insisted, putting up both hands as though to ward off the very idea. "The courage you displayed on that day, when you dove into the incident on the street, inspired me to act as well! If you hadn't acted -- a timid, quirkless boy like you -- I wouldn't have been able to help. You reminded me of why I became a hero, and more than that, you restored my faith in heroes."
Izuku stared at him, but didn't say anything. He couldn't think of a single thing to say. How could he have done all that? He'd only acted without thinking, diving headlong into a dangerous situation with no plan. How could he have restored All Might's faith in heroes?
All Might took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, the point I am meanderingly trying to make is that I was wrong. Young man, you can be a hero, and I want to help you. I want to give you my quirk."
Izuku blinked at him. "Uh, I think I misheard you," he said, after a moment of silence. "It sounded like you said-"
"My quirk," All Might cut him off, "is very special. It is the only quirk in the world, to my knowledge, that can be passed from person to person. Since the dawn of quirks it has passed from one wielder to another, one hero to another, picking up power as it goes. The physical abilities of
all the previous wielders combine into the strength, speed and power that I used to become a hero. This is the power known as One for All."
"One for All," Izuku echoed in a daze. Everything seemed very far away right now.
"On the day we met I wasn't sure," All Might said. "I had a plan to find a successor, someone to pass One for All on to now that my body is almost ready to give out. I was going to use my teaching position to find a hero student who was worthy. Well, I have. I've made my choice, and the hero student I've selected is you."
"Me!?" Izuku sputtered, eyes wide.
"Yes, you," All Might confirmed. Then he held out a hand. "Will you accept my decision, and allow me to pass on the power of One for All to you?"
Izuku looked at All Might's hand. His mind was reeling to fit everything he'd just learned into his previous view of the world. His imagination whirred to fit having a quirk into his vision of the future. Somehow, none of it seemed to work. He wrestled with it, trying to make the pieces click into place, but somehow he just couldn't make it come together. Something he couldn't identify kept the conclusions tantalizingly out of reach.
A hero needs to remember that they have influence over others with what they say, and how they act, Mic had said. They look up to me because I'm a hero, so I've gotta set a good example for them!
I heard you don't have a quirk, Fujioka had told him. Well, neither does my little sister. I just thought, if you win . . . well, it'd really be something to tell her, you know?
I'm sorry Izuku, his mother had sobbed. I wish things were different! "No," he said.
For a moment there was silence. All Might stared at him, mouth open, blinking in confusion. Then suddenly another hacking cough wracked his body, and he withdrew his hand and held it over his mouth to avoid spitting blood all over Izuku.
"No?" All Might repeated, once he had regained control of himself.
"No," Izuku said again, stronger this time, louder and more sure. "Thank you for the kind offer, I appreciate your faith in me very much, but I can't accept you quirk."
"Why not?!" All Might demanded. "I promise this isn't a joke, I'm dead serious about-"
"I believe you," Izuku assured him hurriedly, "really I do, but I need to become a hero without a quirk!"
All Might paused a moment as though to digest this piece of information. "You're serious," he realized. "You're really going to say no to the chance of a lifetime."
"I'm sorry," Izuku said sheepishly, "but if today proved anything, it's that I can be a hero without a quirk. And if I can do that, if that's at all possible, I think it's something I need to do. There are plenty of worthy candidates to be your successor, and I'm sure the one you choose will be amazing. But, there's only one quirkless kid who's made it into the hero course as he is."
"It'll be hard," All Might warned. "Being a hero even with a quirk is no joke. Without one, you'll
have to work twice as hard as everyone else."
"Ten times as hard," Izuku agreed. "But, someday soon, some little kid is going to be diagnosed quirkless. He's going to come home from the worst doctor visit of his life, the one that crushes his dreams and forever singles him out as weak and worthless, and he's going to go to the computer and search for information on famous quirkless people. If that search can pull up a hero, even just one, do you know what it will mean to him? What it would have meant to me?"
All Might looked at him a few moments longer. Izuku wondered if he could understand, having been so powerful for so long. Before he had gotten One for All, what had his life been like? Did he remember was it was like to be helpless?
Eventually, All Might nodded. "I do," he said.
Izuku gave him a grateful smile, and All Might slapped a hand over his face. "Oh man," he said exasperatedly, "I really thought I'd finished my search! Now I have to start all over again!"
"Maybe Nezu has a recommendation?" Izuku consoled, trying not to feel guilty.
"His recommendation was you!" All Might laughed. "Everyone I know recommended you! You were perfect!"
"Not that perfect," Izuku smiled shyly.
All Might gave him a wide grin, and though it seemed to strain his skeletal face, it lit up his hooded eyes and made them sparkle.
"Perfect just as you are," he said, and winked.
"Are you really going to just let him stay?" Shouta asked Nezu, once the office door had closed behind Bakugou.
Nezu motioned for Shouta to sit down. "It would defeat the purpose of today if I didn't," he said as Shouta came around the desk and collapsed into the chair opposite him. "And today did go so very well, it would be a shame to waste all that effort."
"We didn't have any proof that Bakugou had suicide baited Midoriya before now," Shouta pointed out, "but the cameras at the stadium recorded him admitting it. Even if you were willing to let him stay in the hero course if he won before-"
"Don't be silly," Nezu said with an easy smile, "I was always going to expel Bakugou if he won." Shouta blinked at him. "What?"
The kettle whistled, and Nezu paused their conversation in order to slowly prepare himself a cup of tea. This took a few minutes, during which total silence reigned. Shouta waited patiently as he settled himself in his chair and took a sip, then gave an audible sigh. There was no point rushing Nezu with a cup of tea.
Finally Nezu turned his smile back on Shouta. "I had every intention of expelling Bakugou at his next infraction," Nezu repeated. "All the evidence we have suggests that my early impressions of him were correct: his personality and temperament simply aren't suited to being a hero. I couldn't put the weight of UA's reputation behind a candidate so volatile. It wouldn't be right, and it
wouldn't be smart."
"And Midoriya?" Shouta prompted. "Would you have left him in Gen Ed?"
"Of course not!" Nezu's voice was nearly a laugh. "I would have waited until the sports festival, and depending on his performance there I would have transferred him to either the support course or the hero course as befitted the circumstances. It wouldn't do to simply waste a mind like his."
"Then why bother with the match at all?" Shouta wondered. "Why make such a big deal out of making them fight, if the outcome was going to be the same either way?"
Nezu took a long sip of his tea. "My instincts regarding Midoriya were that his main issue was confidence. Tell me, how do you think his confidence is doing after today?"
"Much better," Shouta admitted. "That I understand, but what about Bakugou? You still intend to honor the deal and transfer him to Gen Ed."
"A very merciful solution, wouldn't you agree?" Nezu said pointedly. "By expelling him for behavioral misconduct, rather than inability to meet course expectations, we would be demonstrating that our admittance parameters are flawed enough to allow such an . . . unruly student to enter school in the first place."
Nezu wrinkled his nose a little bit, and Shouta could appreciate what it cost him to admit that, even if he was only talking about the school's reputation rather than the reality.
"As such, expelling him would merely be damage control," Nezu went on, "a way to avoid the situation getting any worse. Transferring him to the General Education Course, by contrast, looks significantly less judgemental. It seems less like protecting the school, and more like protecting him."
"An elegant solution," Shouta agreed, "even if it doesn't seem quite fair."
"Consider also what might happen to Bakugou after his expulsion," Nezu countered. "A boy with such a strong quirk and so many emotional problems, denied the one thing he wants above all else? How easy do you think it would be for him to fall in with a bad crowd?"
"So putting him in Gen Ed gives the illusion of mercy, while also keeping him on a short leash," Shouta concluded. "You do have a way of tying things up neatly."
"I like to think so," Nezu sighed into his tea.
"There's just one more thing I'd like to know though," Shouta said, earning himself a raised eyebrow as Nezu took another sip. "Why are you telling me this, as opposed to Hizashi?"
Nezu smiled over the rim of his cup. "For the same reason I'm telling you now as opposed to a week and a half ago," he said pleasantly. "I had hoped that the preparations for Midoriya's match might sponsor a sense of . . . community. In particular I thought Yamada might become a little more attached to Midoriya, having seen him work so hard, and I thought that would be good for both of them."
Shouta nodded. He knew perfectly well what Nezu meant. He had thought the placing Midoriya in a perilous situation would spark Hizashi's heroic instincts, make him more protective of the boy. Shouta had to admit, it had worked. And not only on Hizashi.
"I'm in awe of your wisdom," he said, only partially sarcastically.
"Are you dissatisfied?" Nezu asked, with an air of someone who already knew the answer to their question.
Shouta shook his head. "No, I'm not."