Another shorter chapter than usual, I know, but this actually was supposed to go out yesterday, and I ended up putting off actually finishing it. My bad.
Special thanks to Writermakeshift for beta-reading.
XIV. My Repose
Yagi Toshinori: We need to talk. How soon can we meet at Takoba Beach, all three of you?
"Oh, by the way, Izuku—what was that thing you did in the video?"
"Huh?" Subaru turned around and looked back at his mother, before he remembered what he saw in the video. "Oh, that rope thing? I don't know. That's something I need to talk to Yagi-sensei about. Says he wants to talk to me and the others as soon as possible."
He waved his phone at her, but immediately paused when he felt the phone buzz twice, and looked down to see Katsuki's and Uraraka's replies in their shared group chat. "Actually, I think we're meeting right now."
"Hm. Well, just make sure not to stay out too early," Inko replied, walking back to the kitchen. "Future number one hero or not, don't forget you still have school tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah..."
With a sigh, Subaru stood up and walked over to his dresser and put on a random jacket and a pair of socks, then made his way to the living room and slipped on his shoes. After making sure he had his phone and apartment key on him, he opened the door, and was greeted with a gust of wind that felt refreshing.
"I'll be back soon!" he called out behind him, before closing the door, locking it, and started walking out of the apartment complex.
In all honesty, he wouldn't really have liked it if Inko did end up going with him—yes, he loved his (second) mother and thought the transparency when it came to his One for All training was ultimately a good move (meaning he intellectually shouldn't care too much if she wanted to come along), but just the idea of having to be essentially chaperoned by her was telling his teenage masculine pride otherwise.
Ten minutes of walking later, Subaru finally arrived at Takoba Municipal Beach Park, and shared a silent wave with Katsuki and Uraraka as they arrived, and he turned to see All Might a fair distance away from the stairs, who was currently waving them over. Once they were all standing together, the man clasped his hands together and started speaking.
"First of all, I would just like to say congratulations to the three of you for getting into the hero course."
After a chorus of 'thank yous' from Subaru and the others, he continued.
"Now—obviously, it's only going to get harder from here. You already know U.A. is the top hero school in this part of the world, and you'll end up being pushed to your limits even more than the entrance exams, but you still have quite-a-ways to go before then. Getting in is something to celebrate, of course, but don't forget you still have to finish middle school first."
"...and therefore, we should put off the training until after we graduate," Katsuki commented.
All Might snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Yes, that, thank you, Bakugō-shōnen. I was just about to say that." After that, a silence had started to settle throughout the group for a moment, before he cleared his throat. "But beyond that, there's something else that needs discussing."
"You mean that thing I did during the practical," Subaru said, nodding in understanding.
"Huh? What thing?" Ochako asked. "Wait, are you talking about a One for All thing?"
All Might's gaze turned back to Subaru. "You didn't tell them yet?"
Subaru shrugged. "I figured I'd see what you thought of it first, but you haven't picked up at all this week."
"Ah. Right. My bad on that one," All Might replied, reaching a hand to the back of his neck and rubbing it sheepishly. "The headmaster likes to maintain absolute confidentiality when it comes to grading the exams. Anyway—" He pulled out his phone and motioned for everyone to come closer. "—take a look at what happens with Midoriya-shōnen here."
He tapped on the opaque play button on the screen, and the video started showing a slowed-down recording of Subaru's dismantling the inside of the Zero-Pointer's head (it even looked like the same angle from the one the acceptance hologram showed), even up to the point where Mineta and Īda stepped in to catch him and break his fall.
"Doesn't that make three Quirks now?" Uraraka murmured. "I don't know if I should feel jealous right now..."
Katsuki hummed in agreement, and Subaru couldn't help but awkwardly chuckle.
"Well in my defense," he began. "I didn't think suddenly sprouting an extra Quirk was part of the job offer."
"That's true, it wasn't supposed to be," All Might interjected. "In all the time I've had One for All, I've only ever had access to the power stockpile, so this is completely uncharted territory. Regardless, I feel like that's something you'll have to ask my shishō about, Midoriya-shōnen."
Silence was all Subaru could give in response as he stared at the man incredulously at his words.
"Uh...you have met her, right?"
Subaru clenched his teeth once, and resisted the urge to run his hand down the side of his face in annoyance. "This wasn't how I wanted it to get out, but yeah. We've met."
All Might let out another awkward 'sorry', but Subaru just waved him off. He guessed it was on him for putting off that conversation, and it wasn't like he intended on keeping this a secret when they already knew about One for All in the first place.
"Hold on, what do you mean 'her'?" Katsuki suddenly asked, turning to him. "What's he talking about?"
"Uh..." Subaru started. "So you know how One for All stockpiles energy?"
"Yeah...?"
"Okay, so it turns out that every time it gets passed on from person to person, there's a part of them that gets, kinda, left behind, and when I passed out after getting One for All—" He ignored Uraraka's sudden 'wait what?' comment. "—I woke up in some place—I think she called it my mindscape—and we talked for a bit before I woke up."
All Might nodded. "I distinctly remember meeting En, the sixth user, when I inherited the Quirk, but it didn't happen until after I already fell asleep. " His expression then turned pensive as he put a hand to his chin. "Could it be because of the stockpile, I wonder...?"
Before Subaru or anyone else could respond, however, All Might continued. "In the meantime, I'll do what I can to look into what exactly happened to you there, but for now, just focus on passing your exams. I'll get you three back up to speed before you start U.A., though, don't worry. Wouldn't be much point in becoming a teacher there if I've already neglected the students I have right now, is there?"
"Wait, you're gonna be a teacher at U.A., Yagi-sensei?!" Uraraka exclaimed.
"Yes...I AM!" All Might replied, suddenly striking a pose and pointing downwards. "Now I won't tell you exactly which class I'll be teaching—gotta have some surprises—but I'll still be watching over you three as I start to transition into fully retiring. But anyway, it's getting late now, and you have school tomorrow, no? We should call it a night, then. I'll see you kids again once you're done with your next exams."
I know you never directly said it to my face, but I could tell you and a lot of the others thought of me as some kind of tactical genius.
That couldn't be further from the truth.
From when I first asked you to help with Elsa, and everything that went on at Priestella, everything you saw me do was never something I came up with on the spot, as much as it looked like it. You, Emilia, and the others had the real power to make true change—I was just the guy who had to die over and over again just to learn from my mistakes.
But I have power now. It's almost too good to be true, but I'm no longer so weak I have to rely on everyone around me to do the heavy lifting.
But a lot of times, I have to be constantly aware of just how much I can hurt everyone I care about if I'm not careful. To be honest, I think I finally understand just what you had to go through to restrain yourself, even with all your cheat-level Divine Protections.
You're still one of the greatest friends I've ever had, Reinhard. A lot of times I think about how you'd react to Japan's superhero society, and how things could've changed if I had this power when we first met.
Am I really alone here, or am I just the only one who remembers?
March
Before Subaru knew it, two weeks had already passed since he got accepted into U.A., and true to All Might's words, their daily training sessions had stopped for the moment as he and his friends geared up for middle school final exams. While Subaru's leftover reincarnated knowledge and Katsuki's natural genius meant they'd be fine, Uraraka didn't have any such advantage, so they still ended up helping her study every day after school.
But today wasn't about the intricacies of Japanese literature, complex English words, or seemingly-impossible math equations. No, it was something arguably much worse—today was March 14, or more specifically...
White Day.
The companion holiday to Valentine's Day, where if you were a boy and given chocolate or candy, then you had a social (and probably moral) obligation to return the favor a month later. It was a no-brainer to say that boys his age would jump at the chance of getting chocolates from girls and giving back to them...if it weren't for the fact that Subaru had gotten chocolates on Valentine's Day his entire time in middle school.
Three times he walked into the classroom on February 14, and three times he'd find a relatively-sizable pile of heart-shaped boxes and clear bags of candy or pastries.
He always went up to each girl and thanked them, don't get him wrong—it was extremely rude to just ignore their efforts, and if he was the type of guy to keep to himself, then he wouldn't have been given anything in the first place, so it was the least he could do to at least respond to their feelings, even if it made him feel bad to see disappointed and heartbroken reactions for the third time in a row.
(Like all the other times he'd been confessed to. Man, he couldn't wait to leave this school...)
This year would've, should've been no different, but for the first time, he actually ended up getting chocolates for purely platonic reasons.
"Oh yeah, by the way, I made some cookies for you guys! I wanted to thank you for everything this past year."
Uraraka Ochako reminded him of...of no one, really. Subaru had spent years searching for any signs of any one of the people he knew having been reincarnated alongside him, and with Uraraka, there was just nothing he could find that clearly screamed 'I come from another world!' (if her reactions regarding anything sex-related were anything to go by). Regardless, she was someone he could actually have an enjoyable time with...
...which brought them to today, where he was currently trying to figure out how to properly give her his response gift, in the park near the school.
"Psst, Katsuki," Subaru whispered, sidling over to the other boy. "What'd you get?"
"Eh? A thing of white chocolate. What else was I gonna give her? And what'd you get her?"
"Oh, uh..." Removing his backpack and setting it down on the bench, he opened the zipper and reached into it and pulled out a nondescript magenta-colored box. He then opened the lid and showed what was inside to Katsuki, who ended up giving him a look in response, but whatever that face was supposed to be, he didn't know.
"...what?" Subaru asked, confused.
Katsuki continued staring at him for another few moments, before he ultimately shook his head. "Never mind. Yeah, that's a pretty good one you picked out. How much did you pay for that?"
"Wasn't too much—only, like, three-thousand yen," Subaru replied, closing the lid and placing it on the bench and sitting down next to Katsuki.
For the next several minutes or so, the two of them continued to just sit in relative silence (you know, as guys their age normally do), with Subaru taking a deep breath as he took in the sight of the other people in the park doing their own things.
"Ah, sorry about that!" a feminine voice suddenly called out somewhere to his left, and Subaru turned to see Uraraka jogging up to them. "Helping out Hikiyama-sensei took a bit longer than I thought."
"Not like we had anything else to do," Katsuki replied, before he stood up and handed her a clear plastic bag. "Here. For last month."
"Oh!" Uraraka gingerly took the offered bag and lifted it close to her face. "You really didn't have to, but thank you! Did you make the brownies yourself?"
"Yup."
Another half-second of silence passed before she turned her gaze in Subaru's direction, and he realized it was his cue to give her his own gift.
"I, uh, also wanted to give you something," he began, picking up the box next to him. "But I'm also no good at making desserts, so I got you this." He held out the box to her with both hands.
Uraraka smiled. "Thank you, Midoriya-kun," she replied, accepting the box, and Subaru watched as her eyes widened when she saw what was inside. "Eh?! You got mochi?! And it looks like the expensive kind, too!" She hovered her hand over the box for a few seconds, before she slowly plucked out one of the mochi balls and took a bite.
"Mmm...! Oishī!"
Just her expression alone could have lit up the entire park, with the way her eyes widened and her mouth threatening to break into a grin as she eagerly finished the rice cake and immediately going for another one. Subaru, on his part, also couldn't help but smile at her reaction, and noted with satisfaction how it was money well spent.
(But seriously, though—even with Inko's job and Hisashi's ever-dwindling life insurance payout, spending that much money when he still didn't even have a part-time job yet was not an easy decision to make.)
"Here. You try one." Without so much as a warning, Subaru suddenly found himself deprived of the ability to speak as Uraraka unceremoniously shoved one of the mochi cakes in his mouth.
The hell...?!
He could only blink in reaction as it took him a second hand to process what just happened, before his hand finally moved to his mouth, but instead of actually spitting out the thing and telling her off for doing that like he intended, he suddenly paused.
Hold on.
He bit down on the mochi, and his eyebrows shot up as the flavors of the pastry burst open in his mouth, and he chewed twice, then three times, and then continued to just keep chewing because yes, it really was that good. Finally swallowing it, he let out a bit of a satisfied sigh as he exhaled, before he moved to—
"Never in my life have I third-wheeled as hard as I did just now."
Katsuki's sudden comment caused him to snap his gaze towards the other boy, and was met with the sight of Uraraka slapping his arm, her face now overcome with hues of reddish-pink where her cheeks used to be.
"Don't say things like that!" she hissed, before she turned back to Subaru and bowed slightly to him. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"No, it's fine, really!" Subaru replied, waving his hands in front of himself. "But, um...please don't do that again?"
"I don't know what came over me there...again, I'm sorry..."
Next to her, Katsuki barked out a laugh as he grinned and even winked at Subaru, who decided to respond by slapping him upside the head with Invisible Providence, shaking his head as his mouth cracked a slight smile.
April
"Do you have everything? Can you check one more time, just to make sure?"
Subaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he turned to his mother. "I've already triple checked before I walked out of my room, and I even took the time to put everything together right before I went to bed. I have everything, don't worry." Turning back to face the large mirror in the bathroom, he finished tying the bright red necktie and donned his blazer, before giving his reflection a final once-over.
After a month of relatively-moderate studying, semi-grueling exam-taking, and then continuing Quirk training with All Might, the first day of U.A. High School finally came, and Subaru couldn't help but admire how he looked wearing the school uniform.
But it was also at this moment, that the image of a blue blazer, black hair, and intimidating eyes flashed in his mind's eye, causing him to close his eyes and inhale deeply through his nose.
After so long, he was finally about to start high school again. This time around, he was going to make sure to make the most out of it.
It had been, what, seventeen years since he first stopped going to high school? The difference between Natsuki Subaru's and Midoriya Izuku's lives were obviously huge, but now that he really thought about it, his original motivations for becoming a hikikomori in the first place seemed so far away...and so insignificant compared to everything else he had ended up going through after.
But still, he wouldn't have ever gotten to this point, of truly starting to pick up where he originally left off, if he never felt those overwhelming and discouraging feelings of inadequacy that he did then. So as much of a pain as it was to think about it, he couldn't just forget the root cause of his life—lives—being changed forever.
After another moment or so of reminiscing, Subaru finally opened his eyes and walked out into the living room, and joined his mother at the dining table to eat the breakfast of thick toast topped with an egg and bacon she made for him, and idly chewed on it as he browsed the internet on his phone. Some ten minutes later, he then stood up and placed his empty dishes in the sink.
"I need to get going now," he said, picking up his backpack off the floor and slipping it on. He then made his way over to the front door, and bent down to put his shoes on. But when he stood back up and placed his hand on the doorknob, he was suddenly stopped by a single word.
"Wait."
Subaru immediately moved his hand away at the sudden command, and as he turned around, he was met with the sight of his mother moving closer and wrapping her arms around him.
"Never forget how proud I am to have you as my son," Inko whispered. "I know your father would be, too."
Subaru smiled at her as he returned the hug. "Thanks, mom." He moved to open the door, and as he was about to step out, he turned back around and waved at her. "Ittekimasu!"
"Itterasshai."
With that, Subaru stepped out and closed the door behind him, and as he made his way down the stairs and out of the building, he noticed the figures that were Bakugō Katsuki and Uraraka Ochako, waiting just outside. With a quick exchange of 'good mornings' between the three of them, they all headed out towards U.A., eager to start this next chapter in their lives.
Oishī (美味しい) - (It's/this is/that's) delicious/really tasty.
Ittekimasu (行ってきます) - I'm going (but I'll come back)/see you later.
Itterasshai (行ってらっしゃい) - Take care/see you later (response to above).
I honestly don't remember what the hell I was supposed to be doing with the whole 'Subaru has unfathomable rizz' thing, but I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it anymore. All I remember is it was largely based on the scene where Petra becomes jealous of Emilia.
So how are we feeling about the gratuitous Japanese? I've been using the honorifics from when I started writing MHA fics, but it's actually the first time I've started sprinkling actual JP words throughout the fic. I'll try my best to just stick to words that don't translate well into English, but I just want to see what everyone thinks of my using them first.
White Day is a decently interesting concept to tackle, especially when considering just how indirect Japanese people are with conveying feelings. Even with the regular amount of after-school confessions going on in media and IRL, it's pretty interesting to find out about all the subtletiesof what to give to show reciprocation and rejection.
Ochako's case is a bit of a unique one, when you consider soft candy/sweets = polite rejection, but because there was no romantic intention on her end on Valentine's Day, giving her mochi seemed like the perfect move (since it's canonically one of her favorite foods and all). Either way, it's up to you whether or not to consider this IzuOcha development.
