Hey guys, I found a beta :D
Their called Gutherson962 and have been amazing to work with so far so I hope these ten chapters have a better quality.
On a different note, there are some things in the recent comments I wanted to address so and will do so at the bottom of the chapter since it will be longer than what I usually put in an author's note.
Tamaki was deeply embarrassed he had passed out from quirk exhaustion after the test concluded, thankfully Mirio had stuck around for the two hours it took him to come around, which he was grateful for otherwise he likely would have fainted again from facing Recovery Girl's unexpected wrath on his own.
Though he was not sure it was much better since Mirio had heard some of what happened during the exam and just as Tamaki feared, Mirio started to make jokes about him "riding" someone, Kami Tamaki could have passed out from how red his face became before they left U.A. grounds.
As horrible as Mirio's new inside joke was, Mirio at least had the decency not to make any comments like that near his family or at school, Mirio also praised him for being able to use his quirk to protect someone during the exam, which as much as it flustered him Tamaki did appreciate Mirio's words.
But that was a week ago and he has been stewing in his self-pity ever since, Tamaki had done marginally better than he would have expected during the physical portion of the exam thanks to his reptilian partner, but he seriously doubted that they did well enough that it would make up for his abysmal written score.
Tamaki didn't have the confidence to try out for any other hero schools after his blunders during U.A.'s exam, and instead he put together an application for the Shinto sect his maternal family had been studying from for generations, there was hardly any doubt he would be accepted into their ranks if he asked to study there given his mama was still on such good terms with the head priest.
He hadn't had the heart to tell Mirio about it mainly because he was sure Mirio would've dragged him to more hero school exams, Mirio would always be Tamaki's best friend and closest confidant... But he could be overwhelming in his enthusiastic support of his dream of being a hero, though maybe Mirio's support was normal and he just wasn't used to it because he had not gotten it before from anyone except for his mama.
Mama, while distant because of her work, had always been loving and supportive of his choices and Tamaki liked to think that if he ever got the chance to meet his papa that he would have also supported him in his dreams, unfortunately, the closest he's ever gotten to meeting the man was when he visited his papa's urn in the family's private wing of the shrine.
He also had his mama's sisters, but they weren't exactly "friendly" with him, as far as Tamaki knew, the reason they were so cold to him was because no one in his mama's family approved of his parents' relationship, much less their marriage, but hadn't openly spoke of it and his cousins were young so they followed their moms' lead as most children do when they don't know any better.
His diet was another major thing those women held against him.
Everyone in his mama's family had quirks related to eating, his mama in particular had a quirk that allowed her to change the color of her skin to whatever she had recently eaten, and that had combined with his papa's touch-based shape-shifting quirk to result in his own quirk, Manifest, and with said quirk came specific dietary needs that couldn't be fulfilled by a Vegetarian diet.
He didn't know if vegetarianism was a big thing in most sects of Shintoism but it was a very important part of it to his maternal family, his mother thankfully never had a problem with it and made sure he had the meat he would need but it definitely made both of his aunts turn their noses up at him and he never missed the glares sent his way when his cousins asked them why they couldn't have meat.
His relationships outside of his immediate family were scarce because he was homeschooled until he was eight and he had been mostly raised by his cold aunts, so his social skills were in negative numbers. Honestly, if Mirio hadn't attached himself to Tamaki's side like a barnacle once they first met, he would not have any friends period.
If someone had told Tamaki that Mirio was a descendant of Amaterasu he would absolutely believe it, his friend was always putting out this warm welcoming glow that made him feel like he was basking in the sun.
Another thing Tamaki appreciated about Mirio was his complete acceptance of his belief in Shintoism, most of his peers found his belief odd at best or crazy at worst, quite a few had asked him if he believed all those "stupid" stories or that those absurd spirits existed.
At least Mirio didn't buy into any of the rumors about Tamaki being a creepy religious nut-ball, and has stood by him throughout it all and he strongly encouraged Tamaki to train to become a hero alongside him, as the oldest child of his generation Tamaki was expected to be the next head of the family and to take over the family shrine and duties once he was old enough (much like his mama had) and he had never considered doing anything else before that.
With this sudden conflict between his duty to the family and this newfound desire, he had prayed to his papa and the kami for strength and guidance for a year before he approached his mama about his wish to be a hero, she had given her approval in Tamaki's desire to pursue heroics alongside his friend and she said that one of his cousins could take over instead.
His aunts however used it as an excuse to keep his cousins from going to public schools, as it would put thoughts of "deviating" from the path meant for them to take as he had, as painful as their shunning was it was something Tamaki expected given how "traditionally" minded his aunts were.
His only solace at home during this time was when his mama was home and his aunts would be civil, or when his aunts would leave to help other shrines or perform spiritual work and left him to babysit his cousins, with their moms gone the girls would be so much happier to play with and be nice to him, he especially loved to grow flowers with his quirk for them to practice making flower crowns and wreaths of spiritual healing.
He does cherish these moments and does value his family even if his aunts weren't the kindest to him, he also enjoyed the time he spends with Mirio whether it was at school or at Mirio's house, his friend usually came over to his house when they were training because people were less likely to report them for quirk use out in the countryside.
The shrine's distance from U.A. would have been a challenge but Mirio had already offered to let Tamaki live with him and his dad in their apartment if he got into U.A. and his mama had given her approval.
But given current circumstances Tamaki didn't think any of that would be necessary given his low chance of passing, Mirio had tried to keep him from spiraling too far into his sulking, but his words were simply hollow to Tamaki, and Tamaki had spent the following week just shuffling along and anxiously awaiting the letter from U.A.
And the day had finally come, his mouth had become dry once he opened the P.O. box his family used and found a letter addressed to him "Ooh I knew I had a good feeling about today Sunny!" Mirio cheered right beside him, but Tamaki could not bring himself to have any of Mirio's excitement "I guess I should rush home to read mine, I'll call you to discuss our results after dinner okay Sunny." Mirio told him and gave him what was supposed to be an encouraging pat on the back and ran off before Tamaki could get a word in edgewise.
He wanted to beg Mirio to come back but he knew better considering Mirio was already out of hearing range, gulping Tamaki hesitantly took the letter as if it would burn him once he touched it, given it was just paper it did not burn him, though it was heavier than Tamaki expected it to be.
The walk home passed by in a blur and his guts decided to knot themselves up from his paranoia of just what could make his letter so heavy, Tamaki was in quite a daze when he got home and upon entering the family house he was met with the site of his mama and her sisters having tea in the entrance hall.
His mama took one look at him and seemed to understand just what the letter he was holding was and gave him a kind smile "So your results have finally come in, do you want to open it here with us Tamaki?" Mama asked, Tamaki ducked his head and locked his eyes onto his feet, he did not have to look up to see how upset his aunts were about the mention of Tamaki's attempt to go to a hero school.
And he would not have the courage to look at his results with their judging eyes on him so he shook his head "Would you prefer going to your room then?" Mama guessed, but Tamaki knew that wouldn't work either, he was more than likely to just ignore the letter if he did that "I'm gonna open it with papa." He muttered, easily picturing how his aunts were rolling their eyes at him "Alright dear, go on. Take your time Tamaki, you can tell me later." Mama encouraged and Tamaki did not need to ask twice before he left for the family's private wing.
It didn't take him long to find where his papa's urn rested along with a picture of his papa, Tamaki settled down on his knees in front of papa's urn and lit one of the candles his mama kept there for whenever they would visit him "H-hi papa... I um, g-got the letter t-today. You k-know, the one from U-U.A." he nervously said shakily holding the letter up.
"There i-isn't any more stalling, s-so I w-wanted to thank you for a-all the strength you've g-given me... E-even if I w-won't get in I'm glad I s-still tried." Tamaki commented finding himself surprisingly emotional as things were finally coming to a head, Tamaki took a few deep shuddering breaths before he was calm enough to swallow his nerves so he could open the letter.
Tamaki jumped when something that wasn't paper fell out and hit the brick floor with a clang, he freaked out for a good few seconds before he realized it was just a simple-looking metal disk with a little glass dome in the middle "W-Wha... ?" Tamaki choked out only to again jump back with a shriek when it suddenly turned on and lit up the darkened shrine.
The lights buzzed before clearing up and revealed a stern and strict-looking older woman with long hair and a large X-shaped scar on her face sitting at a desk "Eh?" Tamaki squeaked but before he could process what he was looking at the woman began to speak.
*"Hello Amajiki-San, as you may or may not know I am Bullet Jacker, the head of U.A.'s heroics course, and as such, it is my duty to address all of the applicants hoping to join the hero course."* the woman said introducing herself, then she reached for something off-screen, and her hand came back with a file that had his name on it.
*"Let's not beat around the bush Amajiki-San, your written test was average, and you placed within the top 50% of applicants with a score of 197 out of 300 answers correct."* Bullet Jacker informed Tamaki, surprising him because that was a better score than he expected to get.
*"And as for your score in the physical portion of the exam you only scored a total of 32 villain points, which brings you five points shy of placing 36th,"* Bullet Jacker told him with a scoreboard with names displayed beside her, Tamaki felt his heart drop and let his head hang, disappointed he hadn't even placed but unsurprised he wouldn't make it.
*"Naturally, however, U.A. looks for far more than combat prowess when it comes to our future students."* Bullet Jacker commented making Tamaki's head snap up *"I and the fellow examiners took notice of you and your "partner" during the beginning of the exam, for your teamwork the both of you will gain three rescue points,"* she added showing a few clips of Tamaki and his partner working together.
Tamaki's face turned red when he saw more than one of him riding the other applicant and was suddenly very glad he decided not to open his letter with his mama and her sisters.
*"Then there were times where you took it upon yourself to intervene when another examinee was in danger, which netted you a total of six more rescue points for the first three people you helped."* she told him and Tamaki's eyes widened as his name rose in the rankings to 36th place much to his disbelief, had he really gotten a place in U.A.'s hero course?
*"However, your crowning moment came after the 0-pointer was deployed and you and your partner saved another examinee from what could have been a very dangerous situation, though reckless, this act showed true character and gave both of you a total of 40 additional rescue points."* Bullet Jacker stated, and Tamaki's jaw dropped as his name quickly rose through the rankings and stopped with him being at second place with eighty points to his name.
Tamaki was too busy internally screaming to form any coherent thoughts, much less a verbal reply to this earth-shattering information, how in the world could he have gotten second place in the U.A. heroics entrance exam!?
*"With all this taken into consideration and your actions during the exam, you Amajiki-San have gained more than a passing score. We at U.A. are looking forward to seeing just how far you will go, and we shall be looking forward to seeing you in class 1-A at the start of the semester Amajiki-San."* Bullet Jacker said with a slight nod before the recording ended.
Tamaki stared where the hologram once was, his body paralyzed by the rabid torrent of emotions that suddenly made themselves known; his brain physically incapable of understanding how he could have done so well at a hero exam.
Tamaki was only pulled from his stupor when a pair of arms wrapped around him, he relaxed though when he saw it was just his mama "Oh Ren, our little Kiwi is growing up so fast." She cooed using his childhood nickname flustering him and he quickly looked away, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a paper his mama must have read confirming his place at U.A, and he gulped upon hearing his phone starting to go off with a bunch of texts no doubt from Mirio.
*I don't think I can handle this... * he whined in his head.
First: I'd like to apologize for the lack of UA's involvement given the title of this fic as of this chapter, the original "draft" of Deku-Sensei was much briefer about Izuku's progression with it only being an afterthought.
However, when I started writing this fic up for the site I didn't want to just be like "Izuku went to the South side and was then op" with little to no explanation and with any connections I had planned to be hand-waved away like "oh yeah, Izuku knows so-and-so because reason x."
I also didn't want to constantly switch in and out of flashbacks, so I ended up writing a bunch of completely unplanned chapters, and until we catch up to the canon timeline, I am functionally playing around it the recordless dark ages, but I am trying to keep the story focused on a reasonable progression of events.
And I've probably missed out on writing some things from the pov of the staff of UA, so I do want to apologize for that, but I didn't want to shoehorn any of the staff into the story unless it was a believable prospect, Shouta could see Izuku break up a gang war, but Hizashi wouldn't just randomly turn up in the south side just because I say so as the author.
Second: I wanted to address kamenheroHEISEI's comment since I want to clear things up in case anyone else feels like they do.
As I am not trans, have any friends/family that are (to my knowledge) trans, or have a bad relationship with my parents I am fully aware I am talking out of my ass when I write anything about those things, and I do try to be as respectable as I can when I do touch on those topics as I would with any other serious topic.
That being said this is the internet and I know you can't please everyone, and I can understand from an outside perspective that how I've written Magne could be taken as me mishandling her as a trans stereotype.
When I wrote Magne I took what little I had to work with in canon of the anime and what I could find online to put together a hopefully accurate portrait of her as a person.
The way I envision Magne is that her being trans is just an aspect and not much more to her character than that, I also feel that she wouldn't care about gender norms since clothes and activities ain't things that define gender, a woman is still a woman regardless of if she's wearing a dress or a t-shirt and pants.
I chose to write about Magne being banned from certain chores like washing dishes because doing so was crippling her able to function as an independent adult, something I feel should be more of a sticking point for Magne than what clubs she couldn't join because they were "too girly".
And for how she became a baker with a pastel uniform, the former is because of some later ideas I want do with her character that I don't want to spoil, and the latter is because while Magne is often portrayed as a big sister in fandom writing, I see her more as a sassy wine aunt that would rebel in being a tiny bit petty by choosing pastel colors her parents would hate for her official uniform.
Sorry if this was long-winded, but I felt the need to address both of these things after reading the comments.