The news of Izuku's plan to start traveling was taken rather... Well, the South Siders didn't make any threats to keep him from leaving but the younger kids did end up crying on him. Of course, there were some complaints about Izuku not being there to teach them six days a week, but those comments dried up pretty quick.
Besides Izuku wasn't going to be leaving until after he had a car and a license so they would all have time to come to terms with Izuku's departure, the kids decided to cling to him or follow him around, so for the last weeks of August no one bat an eye when Izuku had at least two toddlers on each leg like koalas.
Thankfully Izuku had some help to put his plan into action, the Bakugous were surprisingly helpful after Auntie Mitsuchan got over Izuku "leaving the nest" so soon, he had even learned that before his Auntie and Uncle had Kacchan they lived very transient lives doing work all over Japan.
With this experience they were able to give Izuku a ton of advice for how to survive on the road, from shortcuts to save on time and fuel, to things and signs to look out for so he could avoid nasty surprises, Izuku wrote everything they said down in his "travel guide" and tried to memorize as much of it as he could.
As his family covered helping with the actual transition from living with his mom to being nomadic, Izuku turned to the South Siders to help him learn to drive as he trusted he wouldn't be caught learning to drive there, while it would technically be legal for him to learn Izuku didn't feel like risking the cop pulling him over was one of the few who knew quirkless laws.
This is far from the first time the South Siders had taught Izuku something in return instead of monetary payment, much like with Anya-San teaching him some Russian he knew bits and pieces of other languages, like French from students willing to try and teach him.
So, as he wasn't surprised when a week after he told them he wanted to learn to drive that he slipped behind the driver's side of a car with Zachary in the passenger side. Izuku was sitting in a decent, if very old car Zachary was "borrowing" from his brother.
"Alright, punk, let's start with what each of these doohickeys do, all right? You got two petals down there," the bluenette told him pointing down where Izuku's feet were.
"Lefty is your brake, righty over there is the gas, that shit is damn near universal for all cars, a few might have a third brake for some fucking reason." He explained then pointed to the two levers sticking out of the steering wheel.
"Lefty stick is your turn signal; you pull it where you're going to turn. Your right stick over here is for the window wipers," Zachary was very straightforward as he detailed the controls of the car, what was and wasn't common, and "all that shit" as he'd put it.
Then once Izuku felt mentally prepared enough to start Zachary helped him learn to adjust the seat properly so he could reach the pedals, Zachary spent a good minute laughing when Izuku needed to sit on a book to see the road over the dashboard.
Finally ready to drive Zachary gave him the keys and he tried to start the car only for it to stall, Izuku frowned and tried it again only for it to not start, he looked to Zachary feeling lost, and saw the bluenette snickering "You've got to put your foot on the brake punk." He managed to get out and Izuku nodded a tad embarrassed.
Zachary's attitude had done a lot to help ease Izuku's nerves as he drove the heavily cracked up road of the district, he made a few mistakes as expected but Zachary was always playful about it and brushed most of them off, sometimes with a joke. He also gave Izuku some tips and tricks about driving, the one that stood out the most was, and he quote "Any speed higher than thirty-two kilos and you ain't driving anymore, your fucking steering."
It stuck out in Izuku's mind mainly because when he tried to stop the car only for it to... not stop quite as he thought it would, considering he'd probably spend a lot of time on highways it was a good rule of thumb to keep in mind.
By the end of Izuku's first lesson, he didn't think he screwed too much up, but he certainly had to work on his nerves before getting on the open road, and upon getting out saw he needed to work on his parking as well, Izuku had somehow managed to get the car's rear end on the sidewalk and outside the lines of the space.
Zachary let out a low whistle as he propped his arm on Izuku's shoulder "Damn Deku-Sensei... Good thing you're book smart right?" He scoffed giving him a lazy sharp-toothed grin while Izuku was dying inside knowing there was no way the bluenette would let him live it down.
Zachary rolled his eyes "Oi buck up punk," he said lightly whacking the back of his head, more a love-tap than a hit "You didn't hit a goddamn fire hydrant, most of this shit is stuff you just have to get fucking used to." Zachary told him as he pulled out a cigarette, he had been gracious enough to not smoke in the car with him.
"So, redo this clusterfuck after class tomorrow?" He inquired as he lit up.
"Y-yeah, thanks for t-this Zachary-San." Izuku muttered rubbing his arm and Zachary scoffed "This ain't shit kid, just a couple dipshits fucking around." He replied, elbowing Izuku softly with a wink, before Zachary jumped back in the car and left him to his own devices.
Learning to drive with Zachary thankfully mostly went well in the last week of August, he tried not to think about the time he hit a dog since Kiku-Kun and Tanaka-San were taking very good care of the dog, whether or not Zachary had to spend an hour calming Izuku down and reassuring him that he didn't kill it shall remain between the two... And the vet they took the dog to.
Dog incident aside, Izuku felt as ready as he could be for his driver's license exam on the first week of September, he made sure to bring everything he'd possibly need to the exam, his Japanese civilian I.D, birth certificate, his individual number, a printout of the laws allowing him to apply for a license at thirteen, two pieces of proof of him residing in his prefecture, a book, and about ¥23,450 for any expenses.
So, he tried to reassure himself as best he could as he stood in front of a Driver's License Center in his prefecture, the building wasn't the closest to his house, but it was located in a less than "reputable" neighborhood, a part of Izuku knew he shouldn't be comforted by that particular fact, but it did, heavily.
Actually, entering the building was a bit tense as he wasn't sure what to expect from the people there, being with the South Siders for so long had unintentionally taught him to be wary of places like this, mainly from a lot of horror stories of how they had been treated and he had no idea what might happen to him since he was quirkless.
He went over to the front desk to ask an employee for some help "E-excuse me? M-miss?" He softly called to one of the people behind the counter, the woman in question turned to and stared at him with a confused look "Hello young man, are you looking for someone? Or waiting on someone?" She asked her eyes darting around the room looking for something, or someone as the case may be.
Izuku turned a bit red "No, I-I'd like to g-get my driver's l-license... Ichikawa-San." He told her, making out her name tag as his hands went to the strap of his bag, the woman blinked and looked him up and down "Oh, well how old are you? Eighteen is the minimum age to apply." She questioned and Izuku opened his bag.
"N-normally yes. B-but according to t-this law I-I can apply n-now s-s-since I'm quirkless." He timidly explained handing over the printout, Ichikawa took the papers and stared at them blankly, she seemed more confused than anything else "Could you hold on a second? I need to ask my supervisor about this." She politely requested and Izuku nodded, glad she hadn't just turned him away.
The woman walked off to talk to some man before both disappeared from sight, maybe Izuku should have let his mom come with him because standing by himself in a building full of people he didn't know that weren't South Siders was making him suddenly feel paranoid, his eyes darting to any movement in his range of sight.
Izuku was probably about to start picking at his nails when the woman returned "Sorry for the delay, you should be able to apply today if you brought all the necessary documents." Ichikawa said handing back the papers, Izuku was half surprised she wasn't back to tell him to leave "If you'd just follow me, I'll take you to where you can take the written exam." She told him, Izuku nodded and kept pace behind her.
Ichikawa brought him to a room with other people and computers, Izuku was passed off to another staff member and he began the written exam after handing over his identification documents, he could have done the test on a computer, but he felt more comfortable with a paper test he could hold in his hands.
His mom had given him an updated copy of the Japanese traffic laws and he had read it religiously for the past two weeks, the test felt like it was a hundred pages with thousands of questions but glancing at the clock after he finished told him it was only ten minutes since he started.
Izuku handed it in and nervously watched as the officer marked his answers, he tried not to do anything but grip his bag's strap and tried not to fidget too much, he nearly collapsed out of relief when the test came back hundred percent correct.
He was then escorted to where the practicals were held and got assigned a ride-along, getting in the car was a bit nerve-wracking but thankfully he was in a car small enough he didn't need to sit on the book he brought, Izuku was immensely grateful that whatever deity that made its life duty to screw with him took a break and left him alone for his practical test.
Izuku's legs were basically jelly after he finished the test, but he got out of the car and he walked it off, he didn't want to give anyone any reason to believe he shouldn't have a license, he was already at a disadvantage being so young and quirkless.
The ride-along instructor wasn't the most expressive, but he didn't clock any negative reactions, Izuku nervously trailed after his ride-along back into the building and sat where the man told him to, he was tempted to read his book, but he didn't want to miss whenever someone would come to get him.
He tried to not let his hopes get too high as he waited, it would be his just luck to go through the whole thing and only be told after everything that they wouldn't give him a license, his hands returning to the strap of his bag and Izuku should probably look into getting more straps to replace this one given the wear he'd done to it.
Someone cleared their throat making him jump, while he was lost in thought about whether he could buy them or if he'd have to make new ones. Ichikawa was now standing in front of him "Congratulations, sir. You've passed both the written test and the practical, we just need to confirm some details." She informed him, Izuku beamed and nodded happily trailing after her.