Chapter 17: Midoriya Izuku XVI

A/N: And here we go with the start of Izuku's time at Yuuei. (Plus some other important things!) Here you all go!

It's been a few days since his last talk with Sensei. And yet, despite all the time he's had between now and then, he still can't quite believe the events that had led him to his current situation.

His motives may have changed since his more youthful days, and he may not have held the same expectations and beliefs as he had from a few years ago, but him walking through the enormous gates of Yueei had still been as inspiring and rousing as he had dreamed.

He may not want to spend more time than necessary confined within the walls of an institution that upholds the corruptive ways of society, but that doesn't mean that he can't still absorb and imagine everything that could have been had his path in life run differently.

So there he is, sitting in a massive auditorium filled to the brim with aspiring heroes-to-be. And rather than laying stressed with worry that he could be caught, or devoting his energy to memorizing and analyzing the myriad potential future obstacles to his cause, he focuses his attention up to the front of the room. And only one thought fills up his mind.

Present Mic is so cool!

He had held a fascination with the Voice Hero since his childhood, and that captivation had persevered well into the present. Izuku's reaction towards the man would have been different if the man had been one of the perpetuating sources of society's failings. But, much to Izuku's satisfaction, he isn't.

With his radio show doing things like public service announcements on a regular basis, and with the commonality of the man visiting hospitals to cheer up sick kids, Izuku has no doubt that Present Mic means the best for his students and the people of Japan.

The same goes with the majority of the staff working at the prestigious hero school that is Yuuei. Brushing aside their glaring obliviousness towards the upbringing of their students (Endeavor is a Yuuei alumnus, after all), they check off the marks of what it means to be self-sacrificing and selfless heroes.

Izuku finds immense shame that he plans on going against them — and perhaps even going so far as to harm them if the situation demands it — but he lives with the unfortunate possibility. He has to, if he's going to push towards the betterment of Japan. He just needs to be careful not to fall too far down the slippery slope; but that's something to worry about later.

Izuku moves his gaze away from Present Mic, devoting little attention to everything the man says. He knows all the details of the practical portion of the entrance exam like the back of his hand, after all. And if the strenuous effort of fighting training robots turns out to be just as easy as the written exam, then Izuku has nothing to worry about. And so, he lets his hearing wander.

He hasn't seen or heard hide nor hair of Todoroki in the auditorium, which holds a total of seven hundred forty-five people. Izuku finds that revelation to be nothing too surprising, however. It makes sense that Todoroki isn't present, seeing as he was very likely nominated to partake in the recommendation exams via Endeavor's influence.

On the other hand — and much to his immediate dissatisfaction — he hears Bakugou in a seat a few rows behind him. Izuku almost misses him at first, seeing as the boy isn't seething with the animalistic growls Izuku had associated with him long ago. The quiet, almost pensieve boy is something Izuku hasn't seen before, but he's not exactly going to complain about it either.

Nevertheless, Izuku's relieved that he's seated far away from Bakugou. He wouldn't have put it past Sensei to have manipulated things so that he was seated beside Bakugou, if just to annoy him or at the very least test his resilience.

Though that might just be pessimistic thinking on his part. After all, while the possibility that he'll be recognized is unlikely, it's always better to be safe than sorry. And Sensei likely wouldn't risk the operation on something so childish.

Izuku moves on. After he recovers from his locating of Bakugou, however, Izuku nearly freezes. His senses pick up the words of a prayer. There's nothing too outstanding about it — of course, except for the fact that he recognizes the voice attached to it.

He stops himself from turning around in his seat so he can catch even a minute glimpse of her. He can't commit to such a thing — not when doing so would catch undue attention to himself. It would be too suspicious if his focus and eyes were to be pointed at her for no apparent reason. And worse, there lay the chance that she'd confront him later to ask about it.

So Izuku restrains himself, and devotes his mind to other things. There is one other person that is hidden in this crowd that he has reason to pay attention to, after all. So he searches around with his quirk, aiming to hear any distinguishing mutterings. Anything that would hint at—

"PLUS ULTRA!"

Izuku winches a bit, dialing down the sensitivity of his quirk. He finds himself lucky that the crowd hadn't contributed to Present Mic's already loud exclamation. Otherwise, he might have ended up sprawled on the ground and aching in pain — just another reminder that he needs to be more focused on his surroundings, and needs to grow to have less of a penchant for getting lost in his thoughts.

Still, iit looks like he needs to devote his search for later, seeing as everyone else is standing and getting ready to depart for their assigned battle center.

Izuku, after readjusting his trusty sound masking device tucked within his ear, realizes that he had neglected looking at the card placed at his desk. So he picks it up, reading the text printed in it to learn of his destination.

Battle Center D it is.

He stays near the back of the crowd, making sure to make his frame as small and discreet as possible. Sure, most of the group's attention is on the massive stone gates that had been erected by Cementoss that bar them from entering one of the seven battle centers that Yuuei has in its possession.

But that doesn't mean that Izuku has to risk being seen by Ibara. Because of course she's here as well. Just my luck.

He hadn't noticed her until he was walking up the steps of the bus back when everyone was readying for the exam, and by then it was too late to back out. So he did his best to quickly and calmly move his way past her — pointedly ignoring the open seat to her right — and found a spot in the back of the bus where he could stew in his thoughts in private.

He had found it sobering, that he could grow so anxious and nervous so rapidly and easily just by seeing Ibara for the first time in months. There he was, a vigilante responsible for over one hundred thirteen takedowns in his nine month career, and he was breaking down at the sight of his one and only true friend.

He supposed that he always saw it coming. There was a reason that he didn't branch out to other areas and that he limited his patrols to Musutafu. Despite the fact that he shared an innate familiarity with the area and even returned to the bar nearly everyday, he never patrolled within the confines of Yokohama. There was a lesser chance that he'd stumble upon Ibara if he just avoided her home city, after all.

So he made sure he did his best to hide behind the seats. He knew that, if anything, he might just attract more attention to himself. It wasn't as if he looked anything like his old self, after all.

His hair is straightened and dyed black, the few freckles on his face are covered by makeup, he's wearing polarized goggles and a bandana, and even has yellow tinted contacts to boot. The only other identifying feature on him is something Izuku double checks is concealed, him moving his hair around to keep the sound masking device snugged in his ear out of sight.

He wore it all to distance himself from his real identity, or even that of Whisper's. He didn't want anyone connecting the dots after all, much less someone as resourceful as Eraserhead.

That didn't stop him from staring, however. He watched as an orange haired girl took the seat beside Ibara, and watched how the two sparked up a conversation. It wasn't anything too meaningful — just general introductions and words of luck in the upcoming exam. Still, Kendou Itsuka sounded like a nice girl, and Izuku hoped that she could act where he had failed as Ibara's friend.

As it was, Izuku didn't leave his musings until the bus had stopped. He purposely waited until he was one of the last people on the bus before he left, leading to his current situation.

Still blundering in between calm focus and unsettled anxiety, he only barely catches the butt end of Ibara' words that are mumbled under her breath.

–May you aid me in this dire time. And please, wherever he is, ensure Izuku is safe and sound. That is all that I ask–

Izuku finds himself warming at that. So she still thinks of me… That's nice to know. And by the looks of it she's grown a little taller too. She might even be taller than me now. It's… good to know that she's doing well.

Satisfied with his observations, Izuku takes the effort to shuffle his focus around, lest he remain centered on Ibara. However, by doing this, he almost finds himself regretting this choice. He can't stop himself from mentally cursing, for even now, it seems as if he can't catch a break.

He had been so preoccupied with Ibara that he had completely disregarded the presence of a certain other individual. And Izuku has no doubt of who he's looking at. Blond hair with a natural stylized lightning bolt embedded in it, and an overall energetic if goofy personality; Kaminari Denki is as identifiable as he is commendable to sticking out in a crowd.

But if anything, he's only a secondary concern. Izuku has nothing to worry about regarding the boy. Not now, at least. The only thing Izuku needs to focus on now is avoiding making a bad first impression. It'd be counterintuitive to—

Izuku finds himself dragged away from his ruminations once more by the actions of Cementoss. The hero acts, but not with a loud exclamation of the school's motto, but with an expressive shout of 'START!' and the wall he's maintaining in front of the entrance of Battle Center D collapsing into the earth.

Alright.

Izuku begins to run, his quirk already sensing dozens of robots emerging from specialized bunkers beneath the earth.

Let's do this.

"Well?"

Izuku clears his throat.

"All things considered, I think that I did pretty well. At the worst, I scored a ninety on the written portion of the exam. And even then, that's only assuming that I had somehow flubbed some of the more complex and time consuming questions. Or that I had accidentally skipped some during my rush to finish."

Izuku hums. "Though… I suppose that something like that could have maybe, possibly, somehow... occurred."

"Truly?" Sensei asks with amusement. "And why ever was that?"

"I disliked the wording of some of the questions in the test booklet," Izuku explains. "Things like 'Explain why it is frowned upon to use your quirk in self defense' or 'Explain why vigilantism is criminalism.' I mean, really?"

Mostly because questions worded as such work to exacerbate the already twisted views imposed on society, blatant or not. As if self defense is a thing second to waiting for a hero to show up. Honestly. I mean, sure; laws, rules, and regulations are in place for a reason. Without as such, there would just be infinite chaos in a lawless and unforgiving world. But there's a difference between idiocracy and stubbornness versus sensibility and leniency. Not that Sensei needs to hear about that.

Izuku focuses back on the television screen. "But that's besides the point. A few missed questions won't matter in the end. Especially when the practical portion of the exam bears more weight in deciding a student's admission. And speaking of, I made a decent balance between villain and rescue points — twenty one and twenty seven respectively. It helped that I knew what to watch out for, and that I knew rescue points existed in the first place. Thanks for that, by the way."

Not that I would have not rescued anyone in favor of destroying the bots. But it was nice knowing that my time wasn't wasted and that my chances in getting accepted into Yuuei weren't endangered due to my bloated urges to save people. Still, that didn't stop my worries from being a constant presence in the back of my mind throughout the whole thing. As it was, getting rescue points mostly involved staying the hell away from Ibara.

"Not a problem, Izuku," Sensei crows. "But do tell; did anything interesting occur at all? There must have been something, considering the circumstances. Hero schools aren't known for their feebleness and lack of action, after all."

"There was," Izuku responds. "I got the chance to aid Kaminari Denki out of danger after the boy short circuited himself in taking down seven robots at once. Some sort of all-or-nothing type of attack, it seems. Powerful, but hindering considering his resulting state post-attack."

"Kaminari Denki, hmm?" Sensei muses, focusing more on the mention of the name than anything else. "That's wonderful to hear. It's always a good decision to build a good rapport before business. What did the two of you discuss afterwards?"

Izuku let out a nervous chuckle. "Well…"

Sensei huffs knowingly. "No conversational roots were established, were there?"

"No. Not with his brain scrambled and all."

"Hmph. No matter. The first step of the plan has been completed, and that's the lynchpin of this whole operation. Seeing as you've come across no problems, I consider this a success. And besides," Sensei adds, "there's always tomorrow."

Kaminari Denki had arrived nearly ten minutes ago, but Izuku had made the decision to wait before he would introduce himself to the boy.

Forcing the boy to wait would grow his anxieties, making him jumpy at every little thing. Reactions as such are only natural, considering the nature of the things that would be discussed. Stretching the time before their meeting would establish just how committed Kaminari is, and whether he — when the situation demands it — will either turn tail or hold his ground.

After fifteen minutes have passed, Izuku decides to cut Kaminari some slack. The boy had proved commendable fortitude, displaying only a slow nibbling away at his ordered food and his eyes flitting across the room as his only nervous tics.

Satisfied with what he sees Izuku enters the cafe, clothed in nondescript clothing but with his mind at high alert. He had already ensured that a trap hadn't been set up in advance of course, but that doesn't mean that he should go ahead and let his guard down.

Izuku moves without hesitation, heading directly towards the third table to the right of the cafe's entrance. He takes the empty seat across from Kaminari, the boy in question freezing as it occurs.

"Relax," Izuku says. He doesn't use his own voice to say that of course, as doing so would work against his current disguise of Michimoto Jakku. So he adopts something different; a tone that expresses excitement, articulation that gives credence to his fabricated upbringing in Iwate, and an underlying high pitch.

At first glance, he could be mistaken as a rather effeminate boy — a far cry from either Midoriya Izuku or Whisper — and thus exactly what he needs.

"But, I mean, you're—" Kaminari messily stutters, obviously caught off guard.

Izuku stops him with a raised hand. "If you don't mind, I'd like my food before we get started."

"Oh," Kaminari mumbles. "Uh, sure. I mean, what do you wan—"

"And here you go sweetie!" The cafe's waitress seemingly appears from nowhere, depositing a plate of skewered dango before Izuku. Izuku offers a word of thanks, just before taking a bite.

Kaminari looks back and forth between the Izuku and the desserts. "When did you order those?"

Izuku smirks, sending an innocent look over to Kaminari. "What do you mean? You ordered for me when you ordered your own food. And you specifically asked to hold off on delivering my food until I got here; and thus." Izuku gestures to his food. "Don't you recall?"

Kaminari blinks. "No?"

Izuku nods, letting out a mental chuckle at the boy's confusion. "Don't worry, I'll be paying."

Izuku then uses the moment to activate his quirk, forming a sort of bubble around their table. With it up, sound won't leave, and sound won't come in — perfect for private meetings like the one they are about to have.

"Now, where should we start?"

Kaminari opens his mouth to speak, but then promptly closes it. His eyes subsequently narrow, his gaze looking upon Izuku's features. "Haven't I seen you from somewhere or something?"

Izuku takes another bite. "Mhm. I was the one who stopped you from getting squished from those robots after you had your little malfunction, at the exam, remember?"

"Oh!" Kaminari snaps his fingers. "That's right!" He pauses. "Wait a minute. Why do you need me if you're trying to get into Yuuei as a student yourself?"

"I'm only there temporarily, Kaminari. My cover won't hold up to scrutiny. But you? You're an actual aspiring hero. You can stay undercover in the long term without even really trying. You don't need a disguise if you already fit the bill, after all."

Kaminari sighs, no doubt due to the reminder of what he's roped himself into. "Makes sense I guess... So… What are you guys even planning on doing? I mean, if I am getting involved I think that I—"

"Not so fast," Izuku interrupts. "First, we need to make sure that you still make the cut. How many points did you get during the exam?"

"Uh… A decent thirty one points… I think."

Izuku raises an eyebrow. "You think?"

"It was a little hard to tell which robots were which during my last volley, you know. Just saying."

"Hmm. Fair enough I guess. And how about for the written exam?"

Kaminari winces. "Umm…"

Izuku narrows his eyes. "You better have passed, Kaminari. The point of us postponing this meeting until now was to make sure that you could actually make it into Yuuei. If that proves to not be true—"

"I did my best, okay?!" Kaminari neary jumps out from his chair. "I know that I might not be the smartest guy out there, but I wouldn't risk not trying my hardest! Not when Yuuei is on the line! And especially not when my mom's health is on the line! And— I just—" Kaminari takes a breath.

"Don't worry; take a breath," Izuku says, taking on a soothing voice. "I know what you're going through; I myself was in a similar situation to yours once before. I know that creeping feeling of helplessness, which only calms with the resolve of wanting to do whatever it takes to save that one person."

Albeit, with Ibara there was less agency and not as bad a chance of long standing effects, but I won't mention that. I need to push instead, bring the topic back around.

"But understand," Izuku continues after a short lull, "that I need somebody who's dependable and crafty. I can't be relying on somebody who will be second-guessing themselves every step of the way or is too half-witted to get the information I need. This operation is too vital to risk utilizing subpar resources."

"Then I'll be your man!" Kaminari exclaims, bouncing back from his earlier distress. "I can do whatever you need! I can be sneaky if you need me to be! Or backstabbing if it's required! Anything! Just please, I need this!"

Kaminari's pleading strikes something; Izuku feels a little remorseful, manipulating the boy's emotions like this. Even if he isn't planning on going back on his word — there was no need with the Doctor's super science concoctions after all — using the promise of adjourning and even stopping Kaminari's mother's death still seemed scummy.

"Then you're onboard," Izuku caves. Kaminari visibly droops in relief with the words. "And as to answer your earlier question: My associates and I will make a show, attempt to head off our main objective without a hitch, and all while doing our best not to hurt you or your nineteen other classmates all too badly."

A nice sounding offer on the surface, and something to ease Kaminari's initial worries. But from that wording, there's nothing leaving the teachers exempt from being hurt. But he won't catch on to that, I'm sure.

"You're off the hook after phase two. More instructions will be delivered to you later, but the gist of your role is You are to help one of my… underlings in blocking off any signals to and from the USJ. And don't worry about knowing about the USJ; you'll know what it is and why it matters when the time comes."

Izuku pauses, making sure Kaminari's absorbing all the information as so far. "From that point on, you're free to do whatever. Though we expect help in the future if we ask. Got it?"

Kaminari gulps. "That sounds fine and all," — he says that, but he definitely doesn't sound like it. Especially with that hint of a lie in his heart and voice — "but what reassurances do I have that you won't go back on your word?"

Izuku blinks, taking the time to think that through. It's a valid concern, after all. A hero student being caught consorting with villains and contributing to their schemes would be blacklisted across every system across the country.

"I admit," Izuku begins, "not much I suppose. Though…" Let's take a gamble here. "I swear in the name of my ideals and in the honor of my true name; I will not go against the deal made between us on this day." Izuku nods. "It's not much, I know — especially when the words are coming from someone you perceive as a villain. "But still, I hope that that's satisfactory?"

Kaminari takes a breath. "Your real name huh? … And what's that?"

"You're not privy to know as such, Kaminari." Izuku immediately responds. Perhaps later though, if you prove yourself." Izuku takes another bite of his food, finishing it. "And that's all for me. I'm ready to head off… unless you have any questions?"

Kaminari's silent, not seeming to want to speak goes on for nearly a minute. However, just when Izuku's getting up to leave, the boy opens his mouth to speak. "Is that how you got caught up in all this too?"

Izuku takes a pause, turning to look at Kaminari straight in his eyes. "What was that?" The words come out unintentionally harsh.

Kaminari gulps. "I just meant to ask— I mean…" A breath. "You mentioned doing whatever you could for someone you care about, just like what I'm doing for my mom. Is that why…?"

Izuku huffs. "That's a complex subject, and something wholly off topic from the true purpose of this meeting. I mean, I suppose that I could talk about it. But I'd expect an equal amount of information in return, where we'd talk in depth about your mother and her life threatening condition. But you wouldn't want that, would you?"

Kaminari lowers his gaze, shaking his head.

"Didn't think so." Izuku sighs. "Look, just do as you're told, and don't get caught. You're conspiring to commit a crime now, but later your conspiring will evolve into abling and abetting. However, don't fret. If you keep your head down and you just act as normal, you won't regret a thing. And your mother will be completely healthy in no time."

"I… fine," Kaminari sighs. "As long as mom's alright in the end. Your boss will carry through, right?"

"Mhm. As long as you'll stick with us no matter what. You promise to do that?"

"As long as it helps my mother, I won't betray your confidence in me. I wouldn't even think of it."

Truth.

"Nice to know." Izuku brings down the zone of nullified sound, the normal noises of the cafe rushing back in. Kaminari jumps in surprise at the change — he obviously hadn't noticed the oddity that had taken up their table until after the fact.

When all's back to normal, Izuku moves to shake the hand of the boy before him. "I look forward to working with you, Kaminari."

A/N: Yes, I did indeed skip over the actual fighting portion of the entrance exam. Why, may you ask? Well, it's simply because I don't think that it would add anything to the story as a whole. There wouldn't be much that happens that I'm sure a plethora of you haven't already seen with an Izuku who's going around smacking and stabbing robots with handheld weaponry. And that's that; see you all next time!

...

Oh, right. And there's that whole thing about traitor Kaminari, right? Bet you were all wondering about that. Well, I decided to bring that little theory into play because... Why not? It's plays for a fun plot point, I personally believe.