Happy New Year, everyone.
I'm gonna stop beating around the bush here—I lowkey just want to get to the entrance exams already, so here's another timeskip chapter.
Special thanks to Writermakeshift for beta-reading.
VIII. My Acclimation
November
One for All: Full Cowl—the name that best fit for the method of how Subaru's body would be best able to handle the Quirk that, by all accounts, now belonged to him.
Because each of All Might's activations of One for All post-injury resulted in his body increasing in size back to his physical state before his emaciation all at the same time, Subaru took a page out of that and adapted it to how differently his own body handled the Quirk.
Essentially, he focused on consciously spreading the power One for All provided him throughout his entire body with the idea of evenly dispersing the strain, rather than containing said power and strain into one limb and highly risking an extreme injury to himself at the first use.
Theoretically, this meant that Subaru should be able to move at higher speeds and attack with greater force than All Might ever could because of how the Quirk worked, but practically? He just wasn't there yet. Not when he was almost constantly left with full-body fatigue after just seconds of using Full Cowl, followed by the worst sores that he had ever felt in both of his lives the next day.
He had only been able to attempt to use Full Cowl a grand total of three times, but because he was basically forced to rest the entire following day by both All Might and his mother, almost a week had already gone by with no lessening of how how fast his body wouldn't be able to handle One for All anymore, or how long it took until he could physically try again.
"I think that's largely because you're focusing on starting at the absolute maximum and trying to tone it down, instead of starting with as little as you can and working towards adding more and more," All Might interjected.
His words brought Subaru out of his musings, and when he regained his awareness, he realized that he had been walking around the man while he was murmuring to himself.
Talking to himself had been a habit he first developed when he used to be a hikikomori, which only grew worse during the first few years after being reborn. He started toning it back a bit once he started having to make an effort to socialize with people and the children in his physical age group, but his tendency to talk to himself even when there was no one around was something Inko would constantly be exasperated about.
"Sorry," he sheepishly said, scratching the back of his head. "I tend to do that a lot."
"That's all right," All Might replied, inclining his head. "Now why don't you try using OFA from the ground up this time?"
Subaru nodded. "Right."
Dropping down into a stance, he balled his hands into fists and closed his eyes, and with a deep breath, focused on that well of energy, that heat he now associated with One for All, forcing it to spread throughout himself with just a thought. He tensed up when he felt the heat start to grow larger and larger, but where he expected the temperature to get hotter and hotter, he felt...comfortable.
Oh, this was so much more bearable. Why the hell didn't he think of this sooner?
Where his earlier attempts at Full Cowl basically felt like he was about to get heatstroke, it now basically felt like he was only wearing too many clothes at home. If what he did when he tried to use it before was one hundred percent, then this would be...one, maybe two percent?
He opened his eyes and grinned. "Looks like it worked," he said, looking down at himself to see the familiar green sparks of electricity circling around himself.
"I had a feeling that was the problem," All Might replied, returning Subaru's grin with his own. "So—how do you feel?"
"I feel...I feel great," Subaru answered, repeatedly opening and closing his hands. "It's like...I feel like I can do anything."
The actual words themselves were hard to describe exactly what he was feeling, but the gist of it was that he felt like he was more of himself, if that made sense. Like, not only did he feel like he had so much more stamina, but he also had more awareness of what was going on around him.
The sight of the sun slowly rising in the morning sky, the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore behind him, the feeling of the damp sand he was standing on...
One for All: Full Cowl had seriously heightened his senses, Subaru realized. At face value, it seemed similar to the feeling of being hyperactive after drinking copious amounts of caffeine or even consuming drugs meant for people with ADHD, but what was going on right now felt different from that. Purer, in a way.
(In the back of his mind, for only a moment, he briefly wondered if he used all three at the same time.)
"If you really do feel like you can do anything," All Might began, before buffing up into his 'powered state'. "Why don't we test that?"
December
"Thanks for coming along, Midoriya-kun."
"Well it wasn't like I was gonna bail on you and just play video games all night," Subaru retorted playfully.
Uraraka let out a slight giggle from his words, and Subaru smiled at her reaction. Since All Might was away on some business involving his agency, Might Tower, there was nothing for any of them to do that day, so Uraraka brought up the idea of trying to get some Christmas shopping done downtown.
(When they talked to Katsuki and asked him to come with, the other boy just said he had other things to do, smirking at Subaru like he knew something that he didn't, but he had a feeling he knew what it was, if the slight red tinge on Uraraka's face was anything to go by.)
They continued walking in silence for a few more moments before Uraraka spoke again. "Say, Midoriya-kun."
"Yeah?"
Uraraka bit her lip. "Do you...do you really still think I can do it? Get into the hero course?"
Subaru stopped walking as he turned to her, his eyebrows raised. "You're asking me this now?"
"I know," she began. "But with all the tutoring you've given me, I know I can ace the written test, but I'm still not sure if I can make it with my—"
"Uraraka-san," Subaru interrupted. "Relax. You'll do fine."
Uraraka took a deep breath. "I'm just...I'm just kinda scared, you know? Scared that everything'll be for nothing. Everything you and Bakugō-kun and Yagi-san helped me out with..."
"Well, then if you really think that way," Subaru began, turning to face her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Then believe me when I say you'll do fine. You're overthinking it." If All Might really wasn't pulling his leg on what went on in the practical exam, then she really did have nothing to worry about.
"I..." she started, before she shook her head. "Thanks."
Subaru nodded, and with that, they continued walking through the streets of Musutafu, checking out a few stores here and there for possible gifts, but couldn't exactly buy anything when everything so far had been pricey.
"Midoriya-kun, look—a pet store!" she exclaimed, tugging on the sleeve of his coat. "Let's go in!"
At some point, they had ended up in front of a store labeled Coo Riku, and without further ado, Uraraka walked through the automatic sliding doors.
Subaru couldn't help but smile and shake his head in amusement, he followed her inside. Seeing all the different kinds of animals as he walked throughout the store honestly made him wish he could have a pet, but both Naoko and Inko had shot him down when he brought it up with the usual reasons. But in all honesty? No other animal could ever replace the bond he once had with Patrasche.
Subaru's thoughts turned back towards Uraraka as he continued following her, and he watched as she eventually made her way towards the area where the rabbits were, and then making a beeline for a decently-sized, wooden pen where other people were playing with said rabbits that were bouncing around on what looked to be fake grass. After talking to one of the workers there, she walked through the entrance, and immediately went for one of the white rabbits in the corner.
"Come on!" she said to Subaru, now gently caressing the rabbit's head when it came up to her.
Might as well, he mentally shrugged. They did have plenty of time to kill, after all.
Opening the gate and stepping through after a quick wave to one of the workers keeping watch, he made his way over to Uraraka, making sure to watch his step around the other rabbits that meandered over to him.
When he finally reached her, she stopped petting, and made a 'go on' gesture to him with her hands. "Hey there, little guy," he greeted the creature, smiling and reaching out with his left hand to place it on its—
Snow everywhere. A pink horn. Red eyes.
Subaru's eyes widened at the image that flashed in his mind's eye, and he swallowed, taking a step back. "A-actually, I th-think I'll just wait outside," he stuttered out.
He needed to leave. He needed to get away from here.
"Hm?" Uraraka turned around, her head tilting in confusion from his words. "Something wrong?"
"N-no, but you can take your time here if you want, I'll just—yeah." Without checking to see her response, Subaru bolted out of the pen, walking as fast as he possibly could towards the exit without breaking into a run. As soon as he was met with the chilly winter air coming from outside, he quickly made his way over to the first vacant bench he saw and sat down, gripping his left wrist tightly.
His hand was gone. Why were there so many of them? And then pain and pain and PAIN—
"...normal rabbits. They're just normal rabbits..." he whispered to himself, straining to ball his left hand into a fist amidst its wild shaking. "No horn, no red eyes, they're just rabbits..." Taking as many deep breaths of the cold air as he could did little to calm the pounding of his heartbeat echoing in his ears, and
Why? Why now, of all times? Why on kami-sama's green earth did this have to happen when he was on a night out with Uraraka? Why the hell wasn't he calming down? The Great Rabbit was gone, he knew this. It never existed here. And yet, here he was, having a panic attack from trying to pet a rabbit that only had a passing resemblance to it (them).
The memory and sensation of being eaten alive as countless rabbits tore him apart inch by inch replayed over and over again in Subaru's mind, and his grip on his wrist tightened even further, threatening to cut off circulation to his hand. "...it's still here, my hand's still here, my hand—"
"...Midoriya-kun?"
When the hand touched his shoulder, Subaru jerked away, and his eyes snapped to his side to see Uraraka looking at him with a worried expression.
"Are you...are you okay?"
Subaru kept his gaze locked on her, before he closed his eyes for a moment. "Sorry about that," he murmured, opening his eyes again and finally relaxing his grip on his hand. "I remembered something happening to me."
"...is it okay if you tell me about it?" Uraraka asked, moving to sit next to him.
"I..." Subaru started, before he suddenly stopped himself. The memory of that death was still extremely vivid in his mind, but he could already feel the effect it had on him fading more and more as each moment passed.
Uraraka was concerned about him. She just wanted to help because they were friends and she was a good person like that. But he couldn't, shouldn't tell her the true reason why things happened the way they did. Shimura told him that he needed to open up to All Might about who he really was at some point, but nowhere did that include anyone else.
So what could he tell her?
"...do you remember when Katsuki almost got killed the day before you transfered here?" he asked. He waited for her response, and when she nodded, he continued. "Before that, he almost killed me too," he continued. "I was trying to pet a white cat I saw when it happened."
Subaru watched as Uraraka put a hand to her mouth, with her eyes taking on the unmistakable light of empathy and understanding, and he broke his gaze with her from the feeling of shame building up deep inside himself. He felt pretty shitty, lying to a friend about something like that, but compared to the alternative? He would lie to her and Katsuki again and again if it meant that they would only keep seeing him as just Midoriya Izuku, another normal teenager like them.
January
"You're...just as...relentless as ever...Bakugō-kun."
"You didn't do too bad, yourself," Katsuki replied with a grin, reaching out his hand to her and helping her up.
After just about three months of training under All Might's watch, the two of them had ended up improving their Quirk usage immensely. And sure, while Katsuki didn't get as much improvement, considering how much of a powerhouse he already was, he was still able to at least improve his efficiency with Explosion when it came to how much of his sweat he used.
Uraraka, on the other hand, improved by leaps and bounds in just a short time in regards to her Zero Gravity.
Where she was originally limited to only making anything weighing up to around three tons float after placing five fingers on them, it turned out that she could manipulate the gravity bit even further—she was now able to control smaller objects by keeping them in 'orbit' around her, and even came up with an attack by spinning and using angular momentum to launch them.
Which was why today, All Might decided that they and Subaru have a free-for-all spar between them. Katsuki, with his overpowered Quirk, obviously won, but Subaru and Uraraka quickly ignored the entire free-for-all bit and decided to team up on him, which at least gave them a good chance at least a little while.
Not that it mattered in the end, anyway.
"Oh yeah, by the way—" Katsuki began, turning to Subaru. "—what the hell did you do there?
"Huh?" Subaru asked, tilting his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You know, the..." Katsuki gestured towards himself. "That lightning that came out of you. It was all green and everything."
"Yeah, I was wondering about that, too," Uraraka added.
Eh? Subaru didn't remember anything about using lightning there. The entire fight, he specifically remembered using Invisible Providence to try and restrain Katsuki while also using Cor Leonis: First Shift to lessen the strain of Uraraka's Quirk on herself, and the last time he checked, the lightning only ever happened whenever he—
Oh.
Green lightning. The lightning that was a visual side-effect of using Full Cowl. That lightning. He must have accidentally used One for All at some point during their spar.
Whoops. Guess the cat was out of the bag now.
"Uh..." he started, looking to All Might for help, but he was instantly shot down with a shrug, and an expression that largely said 'it's your problem now' on his face.
For real?
Subaru turned back to Katsuki and Uraraka, who were still waiting for an explanation. "Okay, now before either of you say anything," began. "I just want you guys to know I was planning on telling you soon."
With just a thought, he activated One for All: Full Cowl, watching as his friends' expressions became gobsmacked when he used the speed it gave him to move and stand next to All Might.
"HUH?!" Katsuki exclaimed, pointing back and forth from the spot he was just in to where he was now. "That's not—I don't—since when the fuck could you—"
All Might loudly cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention and causing Katsuki's words to die in his throat. "Okay, I think this is where I'll take it from here," he said to Subaru, before walking up to where his friends were standing and promptly buffing out in front of them. "Hello there, Bakugō-shōnen, Uraraka-shōjo!"
February
BRRIING! BRRIING! BRRIING!
The sound of a classic alarm bell blared from Subaru's phone, forcing him out of whatever dream he was having. Reaching out from under the warmth of his blanket, his arm flailed around and slapped his desk a few times. When his hand finally landed on his phone, he grabbed hold of it, silencing the alarm with a tap on the screen.
"Izuku," Inko called out from outside his room with a few knocks on his door. "Are you up yet?"
"Yeah..." Subaru replied groggily.
"Breakfast is already on the table," Inko continued. "So make sure you leave early today if you don't want to be late for your exams."
"Yeah, okay..." Subaru yawned out, setting his phone down beside him, then contemplated the ceiling above him for several moments.
He got a good amount of sleep. He knew this. He even vaguely recalled drinking a good amount of chamomile so that he wouldn't be tossing and turning until three in the morning, and yet the urge to just close his eyes and relax into the warm comfort of his bed seemed extremely appealing right now. Surely five more minutes wouldn't hurt, right?
Subaru finally gave in to that desire and closed his eyes, trying to convince himself to 'stay awake' as he mentally tried to keep track of the time.
...
...wait, did she say exams?
Subaru's eyes snapped open and he instantly sat up, turning his head to the side to look at the calendar on the wall adjacent to his desk. And true enough, there was a clear, red circle around one such day, with the words ENTRANCE EXAM written right above it.
Subaru swore, flopping back down on his bed with a sigh, before he took a deep breath and hoisted himself out of bed. He picked up his phone, and upon seeing the big white 6:43 on his screen, set his phone down for the second time and squatted down to start his usual calisthenics routine.
After several minutes that consisted of stretching and moving around in the space of his room, he finally raised his arms in the air. "Victory..." he half-heartedly said, wistfully smiling at the faint memory of a smaller hand softly holding his own. When that moment passed, he nodded, satisfied, and walked over to his chair, grabbing the gakuran sitting on top of it and making his way out of his room and towards the bathroom.
Some twenty-odd minutes later, he walked out, now showered and changed into his school uniform, and was about to eat the food his mother made for him, when his attention was forced on the sudden knocking coming from the front door. He moved to stand up and answer it, but was beaten to the punch by Inko, who was closer to the door.
"Oh, good morning, Katsuki-kun."
At her words, Subaru craned his neck from where he was sitting to see Katsuki outside the door, dressed in his own uniform and wearing a scarf.
"Morning, oba-san. Is 'Zuku ready?"
"Yes, but we're just having breakfast, now," Inko replied, opening the door and moving to the side to let him in. "Would you like something to eat?"
"Nah, I'm good, thanks." Katsuki wiped his shoes on the doormat outside, before stepping inside the apartment with a muted ojamashimasu. He looked around for a moment, before he finally noticed Subaru. "Yo."
Subaru nodded upwards. "Hey."
Several more minutes passed as Subaru and Inko finished their food, while Katsuki was idly drinking some coffee next to them while on his phone. Eventually, he stood up, and downed the rest of his coffee, placing it in the kitchen sink afterwards and washing it.
"We need to go," he said, walking back to the living room and picking up his backpack. Subaru opened his phone to check the time, and when he saw that they had a little over forty minutes left, abruptly stood up and placed his own dishes in the sink. Sharing a brief hug with Inko, he double-checked to make sure that he had his tracksuit with him, and started walking to the train station with Katsuki.
"Good luck, you two!" she called out behind them, and they both waved at her in response.
On the way, Subaru and Katsuki spent the next several minutes talking about what they expected to happen during the entrance exams (and then segueing into whether or not All Might was going to show up during the practical), before continuing their walk and most of the entire train ride in companionable silence.
"...huh," Subaru murmured to the other boy, when they were finally in front of U.A. High School's front gate. "It's a lot bigger than the pictures." Craning his neck to take in the sight of the large, blue gate with the golden letters U and A stacked on top of each other alongside the conjoined skyscrapers behind it, he was honestly feeling a little intimidated.
Just how much money did this school even have?
(There were times where he wondered why the logo used the Roman alphabet instead of the perfectly-good characters for Yūei, but according to All Might, it was a joke that the first headmaster came up with that ended up being lost to time, and Subaru didn't care nearly enough to look into it further.)
"Hey! Wait up!"
Subaru turned around to see Uraraka jogging up to them while waving her arm, and after he and Katsuki returned the greeting, the three of them walked through the entrance, about to start the exams to get into the top hero school in all of East Asia.
-shōnen (少年) and -shōjo (少女) respectively translate to boy and girl, but as an honorific, means young man or young woman/lady.
gakuran (学ラン) - the all-black boys' uniform commonly seen in middle and high schools (but way more of the former).
Yūei is just the transliteration of U.A. In Japanese hepburn romanization, it's just wordplay on eiyū (英雄), one of the words for 'hero', which is why a lot of fics tend to use Yūei/Yuuei instead of U.A.
Hikikomori (ひきこもり/引きこもり) - literally 'pulling inward, being confined'. Essentially the Japanese word for social hermits, recluses, or loners who confine themselves within their homes. Can sometimes be used synonymously with NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), but not always, since it doesn't say NEETs aren't able to have social lives, just as hikikomori aren't not able to make a living.
Next up: the entrance exams!
