Chapter Three
When I came to, I was sitting in a chair in UA high's lobby. My clothing was torn, and a little bloody, but, checking myself, I was perfectly fine. There was also a note taped to my chest.
"The test is over. Please leave, and, if you are accepted, you will receive notification in the mail next week," I read, looking up and around the empty room. "Um, okay! Thanks!" I called, but no one answered.
Feeling more than a little silly, I got up and walked out, folding up the paper and putting it away, only to find a torn up strip of paper already in my pocket. Taking it out I found a phone number written on it, with the words 'call me' and a smiley face with two small horns. Did I. . . did I just score Mina's number?
Taking out my phone, I made sure to put it in before something happened to it, and slowly made my way back home. I got a few odd looks, with my soiled clothing, but while Denki would've been embarrassed, I was American, and gave zero fucks. What, the old lady across from me tut-tutted disapprovingly? I took down a fuckin' mecha, what'd you do today?
It took a bit, but I found my way to the address I pulled from memory, in Shibuya. It was a nice house, with nothing close to the yard I was used to, but, again, American. Letting myself in, I announced, "Hey Mom, I'm back!" as I headed for the fridge, very hungry.
I heard the sound of pounding feet, only for what appeared to be a very realistic sex doll to launch herself at me, hugging tightly as she babbled, "You're back! Did you do well? Did you think you got in? Oh my little man's growing up!"
Freezing, my new memories (or were they my old memories?), Denki's memories told me that this was his, or rather my, mother, Hideko Kaminari. Her quirk, Plasticity, gave her limited shapeshifting ability, but also gave her. . . unique appearance. Growing up, having a mom that looked like that was just normal, and I leaned on that experience hard as I tried not to think of the feeling of her. . . assets pressing into me.
"Geez Mom, I'm fine. And I think I did well. It was a competition, so they didn't exactly give me a number I had to hit," I semi-whined, removing myself from her clutches, her arms having extended to wrap around me.
Body Talent would make me 6'2", at least, but that was when I finished growing. Right now I was about 5'10", maybe 5'11", taller than Kaminari's original 5'6", and bigger than my Mother's 5'3". While my build was more lithe than a brick-wall like All-Might, I wasn't exactly a stick either. That said, it was still difficult to extract myself from my mother's grip.
"Oh, I'm sure you did great! What did they have you do? Sparring? An obstacle course?" she asked, turning away and pushing past me to the refrigerator. "Either way, I'll make your favorite! Your father will be home soon, and you can tell us both about it."
"Oh, I was fighting giant robots," I shrugged. "Thankfully, Recovery Girl was there." I didn't remember her healing me, but my hands were okay, so that had to have happened at some point. "But I wasn't that bad," I reassured her, compared to Midoriya.
She froze, her head slowly twisted around to look at me even as her body faced the counter, like something out of a horror movie. She looked at me, taking in my torn, dirty, and bloody clothing, a look of distress on her face. Her head turned back, and she nodded, jerkily. "Well, if you're okay. I suppose the waiver we had to sign makes more sense now," she commented, obviously distraught, turning on the sink. "Go wash up, please."
Feeling a little guilty, I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her in a hug, my chin resting on top of her head. "I'm fine, Mom, and I did really well. I saved the other students who got in over their heads, and the robots weren't trying to hurt us that badly, definitely not anything they couldn't fix up." I opened my hands, which still had a little dried blood on them, and pushed one in the water, easily cleaning it off, revealing unblemished skin. "See?"
She sighed, leaning back against me. "All right. But I worry."
I laughed, pulling back. "You wouldn't be my Mom if you didn't," I told her, heading upstairs to do just that.
Denki's favorite food? Hamburgers. American hamburgers. At least the guy had good taste. Denki's father, Suguru Kaminari, was a blond man with a similar odd black streak in his hair. Gifted with an electrical Quirk, he could turn himself into electricity, and used it in his job working to maintain Tokyo's power infrastructure, able to find problems with wiring and other parts of the grid with ease.
Denki, original Denki, looked a bit like him. I suppose I did too, just airbrushed and given a shot of super-soldier-serum. "So, this 'zero-pointer'," he asked carefully. "How big was it?"
"You know the apartment that Aunt Hikari lives in?" I asked in turn, getting a nod. "Two of those. Buildings. Maybe three. No more than four, I promise."
". . . How?" the man inquired. Describing what I'd done, minus the 'battle cry' which had seemed cool at the time, he slowly nodded, with a small smile on his face. Denki's memories of the man had always been as someone who was distant, almost unfeeling, but, with another life's worth of perspective, he just seemed reserved. Given that the man sparked when he got emotional, that made sense in a way that Denki hadn't noticed. That made a lot of things make sense actually.
If high amounts of emotion made him spark, that put an entire different spin on the fact that his wife was literally made of an insulating material, her body having a rubber-like consistency. It also put Denki's childhood memories in a different light, not wanting to hurt his son, and even when Denki's quirk had shown that not to be an issue, the habit had been hard to break.
"So you overloaded its internals. Smart," he observed. Denki would take that as a veiled insult about his intelligence, but, as far as I could tell, the man didn't mean it that way.
"Yeah," I laughed, "My original plan was to just run in and let loose, but, looking around at everyone else I was going to be up against, I realized that wouldn't work. I mean, I might've been able to make it, but if I'm going to be a Hero, then 'good enough' isn't what I need to shoot for."
My statement was met with silence. "That's. . ." my father started to say, stunned. "That's a good attitude to have."
"Oh, our little boy's growing up!" My mother cheered, and I felt a bit embarrassed, grimacing in second-hand embarrassment about what she was saying about Denki. Or first-hand about me, I guessed.
"Your mother's not wrong," he added, before I could dismiss the statement.
I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll know if I get in next week, but I'm pretty sure I did. Dad, can I ask a favor?" He nodded, not saying anything. "Can you help me with my Quirk? I know, I know, I was training on my own, but, well that was 'good enough'. You use electricity too, so, maybe I could learn a few tricks."
"Honey, that's not how Quirks work," my mom warned, but I shook my head.
"Quirks are hereditary, at least a little. I don't think I could do everything Dad could, but if I could pick up an extra trick or two, I think it'd be worth a few evenings of work, at the very least," I argued.
My parents shared a look, and I had a moment of panic. I was not sounding like Denki right now. I mean 'your son's mind has been merged with someone else by an evil multidimensional human trafficking corporation' was likely not the first thing they were going to think, but, caught up in the second-hald and novel feelings of parents that obviously cared, I'd forgotten what I was doing, and who I should be acting like.
"You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" my-, Denki's father asked gently.
I hung my head, "Yeah. More like worried." Or at least Denki had, too concerned with standing out to ask for help. "It. . . didn't feel real until today."
"Well, I'm sure I can make some time. Just don't feel bad if you can't measure up to your own man yet. It took time to get this awesome," the man sitting across from me noted blandly. Letting Denki's memories guide me, I looked up in disbelief at his father, who almost never cracked jokes.
"Sugu," Denki's mother smiled, shaking her head. "Don't mind him," she reassured me, "he's just proud of you."
Not really having anything to say to that, I just nodded, and turned back to my burger. Denki had wanted his father to be proud of him for years, even if he never admitted it. He wasn't obsessed with it, like some would, it was just something he'd wanted, to be seen by his dad as something more than just a kid.
Then I came along, and fulfilled his wish, but at this point, was it really Denki his dad was proud of, or my taking over of his son? I'd known why I'd selected Denki, why I'd had to, but Denki hadn't really felt real, not like Deku did, but he was, and now he wasn't. Or was he? People could change, though there was always a cause. . . was I me with Denki's memories, or was I Denki, but with my memories?
There was nothing to do about it. I'd made my choice, and I'd have to keep going, hopefully helping Denki achieve the rest of what he wanted, or achieving it for him. Putting the thought out of my mind I took another bite. It was a really good burger.
It was a week later when the letter from UA arrived. Whether from a nervous though to push off opening it and finding out I'd messed up, or because I wanted to share the experience of finding out with the parents I was still getting used to having, I left the letter on the table, waiting for dinner, when I could open it with my family. And they were my family, even if I remembered another life.
It was the least I could do, and continue to do my best to help others like he'd wanted to, foregoing my natural tendency to slide to the background and lead from the front. Denki had wanted to do that, hell, everything he owned screamed 'look at me!', but he always got cold feet before he could. He played it off like he didn't care, like he was happy to just relax and let life take him where it would, but one did not try to get into UA, the best hero training school in the country, and maybe the world, if one wanted to be nothing more than a background character.
"You can read it first, you don't need to wait," Mom told me, her own nerves showing a little, but I'd just shook my head, standing by my decision. "Oh, you're just like your father," she informed me, though I wasn't really sure if that was a compliment or a chastisement, from the way she said it.
Surprisingly, he got home early, his first words, "So, what was the reason I needed to come back right away?"
Shooting my mother an exasperated look, she just put her hands on her hips. "You might be fine, but the stress is killing me. Look! You're giving me wrinkles!" she announced, pointing at a completely wrinkle-less face.
"So your acceptance letter came?" my father guessed, eyeing the envelope with a fancy red-wax seal.
"Maybe over dinner?" I suggested, only for my mother to toss an apple at me.
Smiling, I sat down at the dinner table and opened the letter, worried despite myself. Sure enough, there was the silver disk which, as I placed down, started to glow.
"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" the booming voice of All-Might shouted, a holographic window opening up in the air before me. He was wearing a gold suit, and standing in front of a similarly gaudy archway, with a large screen beside him, game-show style.
"I apologize for the delay, but we needed to review each student's performance to judge it fairly! Each and Every One! Every! One!" he insisted, still smiling broadly, if it got a touch fixed. "You didn't do the best on the written test, young man, but there is more to being a hero than just memorization! Trust me, I know! However, when it came to the practical you more than made up for it, showing an astonishing, if slightly worrying, level of combat skill!"
He waved to the screen beside him, with the golden UA logo on a blue background, and pressed on a white remote. A highlight reel of my performance played and it made for interesting watching. Early on, I looked absolutely scared. Which, to be honest, I had been, but I'd thought I'd buried it under a shell of manly purpose.
I hadn't.
However as the clips continued, I got faster, more precise, and by the end I was tearing through the robots with, if not ease, then a good deal of speed, a series of flashes as each one dropped, my expression actually what I wanted: cool, calm, and collected.
"However UA is not a combat school, but a school for HEROES!" All-Might announced. "And thus it is not only your actions against your foes upon which you were judged, but your actions involving your fellow prospective students as well!"
Another button press showed a different series of clips, of me charging in to save the chain girl, of the missiles that I'd thrown to take the heat off of others and leaving the damaged bots to be finished off by the other students, of the tag-team strike with Mina, and of, surprisingly, a clip from the bus, of Mineta's statement, my agreement, of the girl calling me a pervert, the hurt look that'd flashed across my face, and then the clip of me running to save her.
"We were being tested even then?" I muttered, surprised, as the remote was clicked once again, showing me vainly trying to climb the treads of the zero-pointer, then, when it started to move, beginning my ascent.
"It is not many that would take on such a foe, knowing they had nothing to gain, especially one much more powerful than themselves," All-Might observed, quiet, at least for him. "That you were one of only two who did so, to save others instead of trying to secure a few last points for yourself, speaks well of your character, Young Kaminari."
Another shot, this one from on high, showed me on the robots back. The shot framed my tiny size compared to what I was standing on, but also framed the students who had fallen, those who were desperately trying to get away as the enormous machine reared back for another punch. I hadn't been able to see them, just hear the screams, and it made me look a lot more heroic than I'd actually been.
Thankfully it was just video, so I didn't have to try to explain my yell, as I lunged forward and started to light up, brimming with energy. Then I forced the gathered power into the robot, the entire thing glowing so brightly it blotted out the video.
"You fought that?" my mother gasped, standing behind me along with my father, moving forward to hold me tightly.
They video kept going, showing me being thrown off, my father's hand on my shoulder tight with tension as he saw me fall, sparking slightly. Both of them were relieved when Mineta, who was being carried by Mina and frantically pulling balls off of his bleeding head, caught me by dumping out the sticky spheres where I was going to hit, softening my impact, the camera shot holding long enough to show my goofy smile and ragged, torn, and bloody hands.
"You saved others, despite the risk to yourself, despite the injuries you received, and that is what being a hero is," All-Might stated with calm approval. I hadn't really, I hadn't thought about saving others, I'd just gone for it, but he continued, "And that is what my alma-mater is all about. Training those who would risk their lives for the good of others. Because of that, we have Rescue Points!"
The screen shifted, showing a hand lifting paddle with a number 10 on it, and All-Might fell into what was obviously a rehearsed explanation, one he likely did for every student, but was still somehow impactful all the same: "A panel of judges watches, and they award points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains!"
"Denki Kaminari, Forty Five Rescue points!" All Might boomed, showing my ranking at number one, with fifty one Villain Points, for a total score of ninety-six. "You've passed the exam!" All Might announced, extending a hand, "Welcome to UA. You are now part of the Hero Academia."
Even kind of expecting it, I felt stupidly happy at that. I should've felt like a fraud, but I'd already started moving forward, past where Denki had originally stood. Nothing quite said 'look at me', like placing first, after all.
"Oh my little boy! I'm so happy!" My mom cried, and I patted her comfortingly. "Also you are so grounded!"
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"Hideko," My father tried to intercede.
"Did you see what he did? What he fought!?" she demanded.
He nodded, "I did. Which is why I'm going to see if I can get some time off of work. We've been training a little, but if our boy is going to be going somewhere where he fights things like that, then I think I'm going to help him prepare as much as possible."
" Oh Sugu!" my mother cried, reaching over and kissing him passionately.
"Uh, mom, can you let go of me if you do that?" I requested, blushing, as she still had an arm wrapped around me, winding around me like a snake. " Mom?"
She let go, started to say something, but then glanced over. "Oh, the chicken!" she cried, running away.
My father looked to me, and smiled, the small gesture speaking volumes. "If you're up for it, I think we can double down on your training." He glanced towards the kitchen, the smile changing in nature, "Not tonight though, son. I have a feeling I'll be. . . busy."