Chapter Text
“Are you ready?”
“Yep.”
“You’ve got your change of clothes?”
Yoru slaps the bag hanging over her right shoulder. “Yep.”
“Water?”
“Yep.”
“The letter with your examinee number on it?”
“Yep.”
“Your bostaff?”
“Yep.”
“Too bad, you can’t bring it.”
What?
“WHAT?!”
“Unless you submitted a request form for a support item?” Her Dad raises one of his eyebrows.
“Uhm, no? Should I have done that? The letter didn’t say that support items weren’t allowed! Does that even count as a support item?”
“The letter didn’t say anything because U.A. expects its prospective students to have common sense and inform themselves on matters like that. The point of the practical skill exam is to show your quirk, fighting and tactical abilities without any help.”
“But why is there a form for support items in the first place, then? A secret form, I might add?”
“Yoru, it can be downloaded from the U.A. website, there’s nothing secret about it. Some people need support items because their quirks would harm them otherwise. And since your quirk doesn’t, and a bostaff is considered a weapon, rather than a support item, you’re not allowed to bring it.”
Well, f*ck her, she guesses.
“So, no grappling hooks, either?”
He stares at her as if she’d just asked whether the earth was actually revolving around the sun, and not the other way around.
“Fine.” She sighs. “Fine. It’s okay. Right? Right. But why didn’t you say anything before?”
Her Dad shrugs. “Any other parent wouldn’t know either. Come on, grab your helmet. If you want to drive with me, we need to leave now. I need to be at U.A. an hour earlier than the examinees.”
As promised, he parks the motorcycle a little more than an hour early.
“Dad?” Yoru jumps off and puts her helmet in the storage compartment in the back.
“Yes?” Taking off his own helmet, her Dad shakes his hair free from any knots and kicks out the stands of the bike, before getting off of it.
“If you knew that I wasn’t allowed the bostaff and grappling hooks, why did I have to train it in the first place?”
“Because I expect you to pass, and the training was a good preparation for your future.”
Yoru feels the weight of his confidence in her just as comforting as it is pressuring.
“Oh. Okay.”
“And you never know when your skills will be useful.”
“Yeah.”
They stare at each other for a moment, before Yoru looks up at the imposing U.A. building. Has it always been this big?
“Yoru. Just do your best and more. Be smart about your choices during the practical exam.”
“It’s the ‘and more’ part I’m worried about.”
“Good. It means, there’s motivation.”
“Yeah.”
“You will be fine. I believe in you. Nezu is keeping an eye on Kayama, Yamada, and me. Not that he’d need to, but he wants to make sure our relationships with you won’t cloud our judgement of your performance whatsoever. And, I’m sure, he will keep himself in check as well.”
“Why should he? I never even met the guy.”
“That may be so, but after all, he was one of the two people who wrote a personal recommendation and reference letter in my regard when I adopted you. Nezu is more than aware of you and even asks about you often. He’s one of the reasons why I was approved.”
Yoru blinks. “What? Seriously? I never knew.”
“Now you know. He has an excellent reputation, his words hold a lot of weight.”
“You said one of two people?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the other person?”
“A junior detective. He’s a senior detective now.”
“Damn. You got yourselves some good references, then.”
“Obviously. Now, we need to get going. I take it Shinso isn’t here, yet?”
Yoru glances at her phone. No new messages.
“Nope. I guess he’ll get here in half an hour or so.”
Her Dad nods, scanning their surroundings for a moment before pulling her in for a hug. “You can do it, Sweetheart. I believe in you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Don’t do anything stupid. Good luck, I love you.”
“Yeah. Thanks, love you, too.”
With a last glance at her, he turns around and swiftly heads towards the main gate. After a moment of trying to collect herself, Yoru adjusts the strap of the bag on her shoulder and follows her Dad’s footsteps.
Hopefully, not just literally.
Twenty minutes later, Toshi arrives. Good, Yoru has been sitting alone on the stairs to the main entry like a loser. There were plenty of other early risers who arrived way before 9:00 AM, probably worried about the letter’s warning of immediate disqualification for any late-comers.
Finding their seats easily (luckily, next to each other), they watch the auditorium slowly filling with hundreds of examinees.
sh*t, most of them look really strong. And their quirks? Holy sh*t.
There’s a boy with fins (?) on the back of his neck and webbing between his fingers, a girl sporting what seems to be detachable spikes instead of hair, and one really tall, masked guy with multiple arms. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Most people look more or less ordinary, but that definitely doesn’t mean that their quirks are.
Alright, breathe. Everything will be fine. It will all be-
“WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THIS U.A. LIVE SHOW! EVERYBODY SAY ‘HEEEEEEEEY!’ COME ON, LET ME HEAR YA!”
Yoru swears you could hear a hairpin drop at the complete and utter silence in the enormous auditorium. Maybe not only a hairpin, perhaps crickets, too? Will there be a tumbleweed rolling across the stage in a second? Who knows, completely possible.
For a moment, she cowers down in her seat.
sh*t, this is so embarrassing.
Wait.
Nobody except Toshi knows that she knows Zashi Present Mic! It’s only second-hand embarrassment, then. Still not ideal, but she takes what she can get.
Holy f*ck. How will he ever recover from-
“YEAH! I’VE GOT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE TOO, LISTENERS!”
Ah, like that.
“ALRIGHT, EXAMINEES! I’M GONNA GIVE YOU THE LOW-DOWN ON HOW THIS’LL GO DOWN. ARE YOU READY?!! YEAHHH!”
Silence.
Oh my god. If Zashi is energetic, then Present Mic is a whole ass duracell bunny. Only even louder. And with a lot more gel in his hair.
“Like the notes on your tables say, you ROCKIN’ boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock-battles in super-uburban settings against three types of scaaaary mock-villains! Everybody gather at the designated meeting area after the presentation, YA DIG?!”
Yoru glances at Toshi’s paper in front of him, while he stares at hers. She’s in setting E, while he’s in A.
Throwing each other looks that basically convey ‘sh*t’, Zashi starts explaining the point system of taking down targets (robots, apparently, which definitely means Toshi might have a hard time).
“Excuse me, sir! May I ask a question?” Everybody’s eyes fall on a, for the lack of a better word, accountant looking dude with black hair and spectacles, raising his hand straight in the air and standing up.
“Hit me!”
“On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed here. Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a top-tier national academy of U.A.’s caliber! The reason we are seated here today is because we seek guidance on the path to becoming model heroes!” He turns around, pointing at someone a couple of rows in the back. “Moreover, what’s with you? Yes, you, curly-haired kid with the unkempt appearance!”
Oh boy.
The curly-haired kid in question seems to shrink down in his seat, threatening to disappear under the little table in front of him completely.
“Dude.” Toshi whispers and bumps Yoru with his elbow. “Isn’t that the boy who ran right into that Sludge villain mess? You know, the one with the green hair? And that blonde guy next to him, with that spiky-ass hair, isn’t that the victim?”
“What? No way.” Yoru does a double take, looking at the two examinees again. “f*ck, I think you’re right.”
The black-haired-spectacle-wearing complaining kid, continues to point an accusatory finger at the broccoli looking boy (now resembling more a tomato, poor dude is all flushed). “Can’t you sit still for a second? You are distracting! You’ve been muttering this entire time. Stop that! If you think U.A. is some pleasure jaunt, then leave this place at once!”
Silent snickering erupts from everywhere around, while the green-haired kid slaps both hands over his mouth, apologizing profusely.
“OKAY, OOOOKAY! THANKS FOR THE SEGUE, MUCH APPRECIATED, EXAMINE 7111!” Zashi quickly uses his newfound ability to silence hundreds of teenagers to his advantage. “The fourth type of villain you’ll encounter is worth zero points! Let’s call them ‘Arena Traps’. That guy’s just an obstacle we’ll be throwing in your way. There’s one at every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you’ll try to avoid. It’s not that it can’t be beaten, but there’s… kinda no point! I recommend my listeners to try to ignore it and focus on the one’s up on the charts!”
Spectacle boy bows deeply. “Thank you very much. I apologize for being rude! Please, continue.” He sits down, back straight as a ruler. But still, probably not as straight as the one up his ass.
Whatever.
With the excitement of young kids on Christmas day, Zashi explains what types of robots give you how many points once you beat or disable them. True to his word, there is literally no point in beating the biggest one, the so-called ‘Arena Trap’. Worth 0P. Depending on the size, other robots are worth either 1P, 2P, or 3P.
“THAT’S ALL I GOT FOR YOU TODAY! I’LL SIGN YA OFF WITH A LITTLE PRESENT. A presentation on the ‘school precepts’ of mine! As a certain ‘hero’ by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte once said: ‘A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life’! NOW, LET’S MOVE ON TO THE MAIN EVENT! PLUS ULTRA!” Zashi raises his fist in the air. “GOOD LUCK! Hope you practiced hitting more than just books!”
Everybody begins to scatter to get changed. As they walk down the corridor, Yoru notices the gloomy expression on Toshi’s face.
“Hey, it will be alright.”
“What, you know something I don’t? My quirk suddenly works on robots now?”
“Well- I mean, you could-”
“Save it, Kitten.” He sighs out with a half-smile. “I know what you want to say. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ll be in the Hero Course together.”
“Toshi-.”
“Don’t worry. Obviously, I’ll still try my best. Just trying not to get my hopes up. Or yours. See you later, good luck.” Without looking back at her, he turns the corner towards one of the men’s changing rooms.
With a nagging feeling in her chest, Yoru readies herself as well.
In the observation room, the U.A. teachers (sans Hizashi) and Nezu are gathered in front of multiple monitors, tracking the various fake-cities and the hundreds of examinees trying their hardest. Or what Shota assumes/hopes/fears is their hardest.
He frowns as Nezu delivers his discourse on the different strategies employed by the youngsters, evidently proud of his almost-useless testing methods.
“I’m still not convinced that robots are the best way to measure the potential of prospective students. Nezu, have you received my proposal on going back to the old practical exam methods?”
“That I have, Eraserhead.”
‘But I didn’t give a sh*t’, is left unsaid.
Shota sighs.
As the other teachers continue to give their first verbal assessments about some applicants, he keeps his thoughts to himself.
The explosion boy, who he clearly recognizes as the victim of that Sludge villain incident almost a year ago: strong, tactical, rash. He targets the 1Ps and 2Ps villain-bots, approaching them slowly and continuously intercepts them to lure them into a flashy explosion blast once they’d gotten weaker during the second half of the exam. A lot of potential. But plenty of potential for headaches, too.
Ingenium’s little brother: calculated thinking, no extravaganza, gets the job done quickly.
A spiky haired red-head: uses his hardening quirk with extreme strength but precision, takes out a lot of 3Ps quickly. He also blocks numerous robot attacks on other examinees with his quirk.
A person with an invisibility quirk: they sneak up on multiple 1Ps and 2Ps and disable them somewhat smoothly.
A black-haired boy who can shoot tape out of his elbows: swings through the mock-city and takes out 3Ps from long distance. Plays by his strengths, smart.
A girl with orange hair: clearly incredibly adept in hand-to-hand combat, especially useful for her quirk (can enlarge her hands). Saves multiple other examinees by grabbing them before they can get hurt and simply punches the robots. Effective and aware of her surroundings.
A blonde boy, who Shota realizes, must have some form of copy quirks. Incredibly versatile, uses it to his advantage.
And numerous other examinees, who, he has to admit, show a lot of potential. At least at the first glance.
And then there’s the kid. The kid who ran straight towards the Sludge villain, trying to save the blonde boy. He is utterly useless for the first two thirds of the test until he suddenly decides to punch the 0P in the mainframe of his head (how that boy jumps so high, needs to be determined). Thereafter, he becomes even more useless. Breaks both his legs and his right arm and would have perhaps fallen to his death if not for the girl who slaps his cheek and makes him float.
Shota has two thoughts on the matter. The first one solidifies what he said to the principal earlier: the robots are completely unsuited for the practical exams. The girl almost got crushed by the 0P and the boy, since he straight up punched the 0P to complete annihilation, almost fell to his death, as a result. Secondly, that boy has evidently managed to gain exactly zero brain cells since his encounter with the Sludge villain. He ran straight into the fight without considering the aftermath.
However, Shota has to admit, there is bittersweet value in putting your life and health in danger to save someone else.
That being said, he won’t support the notion of accepting a child with a passive death wish to join the hero course. The only thing more impressive than his quirk is its impracticality.
And then there is Shinso. As soon as Nezu announced that the robots, again, would be the villains of his choice to measure the potential of the examinees, Shota had to realistically admit that the boy would have little chance of passing.
And by the looks of it, he won’t. He manages to take out three 1Ps, with some moves that Shota definitely recognizes. Moves, that he taught Yoru.
Yoru, who does well in certain aspects, but is utterly stupid in others. She’s creative. After taking down a couple of 3Ps with her quirk, she cuts off one of their hydraulic presses with her quirk and uses it as a thick, makeshift bostaff. Pierces through the robots’ ‘heads’, damaging their mainframes in the process. At one point, a girl with pink skin and horns shoots acid at a 3P coming straight at her. It’s strong, the acid. Very potent. However, the robot’s metal armor is thick. The acid girl would have undoubtedly managed to melt through the robot, but not before it’d gotten to her. Yoru must have seen what’s going on because it vertically gets cut in half by a shadow portal about a meter before reaching the pink-skinned girl, who had started crying at this point.
She then latches onto Yoru in her relief. And they complete the rest of the test side by side, watching each other’s backs.
There is value in teamwork, Shota agrees. But, there is absolutely no value in holding back and underselling yourself.
Yoru could have ended all the robots in the blink of an eye. If she only had accessed the shadow world. It would have been child’s play to walk through a slow-motioned world and simply shut the robots off or even smash them with her makeshift bostaff.
But she doesn’t do that. And quite frankly, it’s pissing him off.
While he thinks he can understand her reluctance to use the shadow world, he suspects her past is not the only reason why she doesn’t use it.
Really, there were multiple reasons Shota thinks why she didn’t do it. First, because she would rather not take off so many robots off the field without giving other’s a chance, to disable them. Which, frankly, is somewhat arrogant, but more importantly, stupid. She is concerned about fairness in all things. And in real life? Battles are rarely fought fair, but rather dirty.
Second of all, even though she looks very focused, she’s clearly enjoying herself. Especially after she starts working with the pink girl. She wants to fight alongside her and therefore holds back on using the shadow world.
Third, and if that is true, she’d be in for a stern talking to, he suspects that her motivation to pass dwindled the moment that Hizashi had announced they’d be fighting against robots. Not because she couldn’t fight them. But because she knew that Shinso couldn’t.
She worried. And got distracted.
And distraction can mean death on the field.
So, yes. To say that Shota is displeased, would be putting it lightly.
And now the test is finished and whatever has happened, cannot be changed anymore.
From here on out, it will be three days of nonstop teacher meetings after school to evaluate this year’s examinees.
But not today. Today, all the teachers will be sent the footage to prepare at home for the oncoming discussions.
“Eraserhead?”
“Yes?”
All Might’s skinny form towers over him. Shota has to admit, the fact that the number one hero could look like this, managed to catch him off guard when Nezu had introduced Yagi as a new member of the faculty. The blonde wears a tired, but friendly smile.
“I hear you’ll be taking one of the Hero Courses again.”
“Of course.”
“Oh. Yes, so what do you think?”
I think that you have no business being a teacher. Why Nezu employs a person without a teacher's license, is beyond me.
“It’s not completely hopeless. There are some kids with potential, but more lacking it.”
“You think so?”
“No, I’m obviously joking.” He deadpans.
“Mhm.” All Might stares at him for a moment as if trying to decipher Shota, before speaking up again. “I heard that you frequently expel students.”
“Only the ones who don’t take hero work seriously or are a threat to themselves or others. And they get re-enrolled. Most of them, at least.”
“A threat to themselves?”
“I assume you saw the boy who broke most of his limbs and almost pummeled to death? Absolutely no control over his quirk, even at his age. You might remember him, he’s the one who tried to ‘help’ with the Sludge villain.”
“Oh? Right, now that you mention it.”
Shota is over this nonsense conversation already. Does the man have anything of value to say or not?
“I should go. Going over the footage will take a lot of time, and the prospective students need to be informed as soon as possible. I can’t wait to film those damn acceptance holograms at the end of the week. See you tomorrow.”
Yoru wonders if she did something wrong. Yes, her Dad is often quiet, but rarely around her. And not like… that. It’s a weird kind of quiet.
Yes, he hugged her when she found him waiting at the motorcycle, but he said they’d talk once they’re home.
And now they’re home, and they have yet to talk. Yoru feels sh*tty.
sh*tty, because Toshi texted her how his exam went but hasn’t replied to her since. And sh*tty because she feels like she did something wrong but can’t figure out what.
By her calculations, she managed to take down eight 3Ps (she focused on them deliberately), three 2Ps and 1Ps each. So 33 points in total.
Was that not enough?
sh*t, apparently not.
He told her that he expected her to pass.
“Dad, I’m sorry.”
He emerges from the bathroom, having washed his hands after coming home. “You’re sorry?”
“I didn’t get enough points.”
Her Dad pours the both of them some water and holds a glass out towards her. “We shouldn’t talk about it. Not before you’ve got your results.”
“Why not?”
“Because it might influence my assessment of your performance, and I can promise you, neither you nor I want that.”
Hold on.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that if it were up to me alone, I’m not sure whether I’d let you pass.”
Holy f*ck. She messed up.
Really messed up.
“Why?”
“I told you, we’re not talking about this. Not now, at least. I’m not your Dad in this, I’m a teacher at the school you have applied to.”
“Okay, damn.”
“We talked about this. When you told me you wanted to go to U.A. last year in August. I can’t share things like this with you anymore. Not like we used to do.”
“I mean yeah, obviously I’m not expecting to be treated any different, but is that how you actually treat your students?”
“Like what?”
“Like this.” She gestures between the two of them. “So harsh.”
“I told you U.A. and I have high expectations. And I am not being harsh, I’m realistic. I’m separating you, my daughter, from the girl I saw this morning who took her practical exam. Be glad I am.”
“So you are angry!” She accuses.
“No.”
“Disappointed?”
“Yoru, how often do I need to tell you to drop it?” He sighs.
Silence.
“Fine. Fine, I’m sorry. You told me, and I’m still bugging you.”
“I’m sorry, too.” He nods. “Look, the teachers are not the only ones deciding on an applicant’s admission. The HPSC sends assigned judges for entrance exams to hero courses across the country.”
Meaning, there is still hope. That’s what he is saying.
Yoru takes a couple of sips before joining the cats on the couch. After a moment, her Dad plops down next to her, holding open one of his arms. An invitation.
Years of learned comfort-reflexes land her in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder.
“We’re still okay?”
“Yeah, Dad. We’re okay.”
“I need to start reviewing the footage soon. I’ll go to my room.”
“Nah, don’t worry. Your working space is here.” She nods towards his desk in the corner. “I’ll go take a shower and head to my room after. Maybe go out, if Toshi wants to talk or chill. We’re excused from school for the whole day, you know. Better make the most of it.”
“How is he?”
“I didn’t see him after the exam ended. He was in a different mock city. I think he bounced off already. He hasn’t texted me back after my last message.”
“Mhm.”
“Oh, hey. Did you notice?”
“What?”
“The two guys from the Sludge incident were there.”
“I noticed.”
A shower and (finally) some texts from Toshi later, and Yoru holds a hand in front of her eyes, walking into the open living room space. “Attention, Eraserhead! Examinee number 45687 entering your proximity. Please protect any classified information from her prying eyes, immediately.”
“You can be a little idiot, do you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.”
“It’s fine. I closed the video, take your hand off of your face.”
She does and grins at his fake-annoyed face. “Hey, is it okay if I go to Toshi’s for a bit?”
“Sure. But it’s a school night. So be back by eight. Need me to take you?”
“Nope, I’ll take the subway, thanks. It’s just three stops anyway.”
He nods. “Text me when you get there and when you leave his place. Will you have dinner there?”
“Don’t know yet. I’ll message you if I do.”
The two best friends spend the day playing video games on Toshi’s old console (he still has his eye on the one that belongs to Yoru’s Dad) and talking about the entrance exam. Apparently, broccoli boy was in Toshi’s mock city and somehow managed to break just about all of his bones, almost died but took out the 0P in the process.
Yoru doesn’t know if she should be impressed or mortified.
They talk about everything that happened, and Toshi admits that he feels pretty bad about how it went down. He’s very frustrated. With himself. With the unfairness of the test. And she agrees. At least with the second part. The test is sh*tty and completely unsuitable to measure what people would be like as heroes in the real world. How often do heroes actually have to fight against machines rather than human villains?
It’s bullsh*t.
It will take him a while to get over that, Yoru thinks. If he ever can.
God knows, she would be pissed as well.
That week, both of them get pestered by their classmates in school.
“Did you guys really take the practical exam?”
“Did you see any of the hero teachers?”
“Was Midnight there? f*ck, what I’d do to see her in real life, god!”
“Wow, Mindfreak, you really think you can get into U.A.? What, you’re planning to brainwash the teachers to accept you?”
Yes, the last one came from the boy with the curly brown hair that Yoru thought she might have a crush on when they started middle school. It goes without saying, that once he opened his mouth for the first time, Yoru was incredibly close to slapping it.
That dick should be happy that Toshi is a better person than Yoru is. He had to physically hold her back.
Yoru was used to the remarks about Muri, though. Doesn’t make them any less weird.
On Saturday, Yoru’s phone rings in the middle of the night (7:57 AM).
“What the f*ck?”
“You know, Kitten, most people say ‘good morning’ first.”
“Good morning. What the f*ck?”
“Did you check your mailbox yet?”
“My mailbox?”
“Like, the physical mailbox. Not the one on your phone. I got my letter from U.A.”
Yoru’s shoots up instantly, earning her a hiss from Cloud, who was apparently still sleeping on her tummy. Not anymore, though. The cat quickly hurries out of her ajar door, chirping in what Yoru would classify as an offended manner.
“WHAT?!”
“YES!”
“What does it say?!” Yoru quickly puts on her slippers and throws on the cardigan she discarded last night on the ottoman at the foot of her bed.
“A hologram comes with the letter!”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Cementoss was in it. He said that while they couldn’t offer me a spot in the Hero Course, he’d be happy to have me in his General Studies class since I put it down as my second choice.”
Pause. Yoru physically pauses in front of the apartment door, hand already on the handle.
“And we’re…”
“And we’re happy about it! Well, sort of. I mean, Cementoss mentioned that it might be possible to switch to the Hero Course if a spot opens up there. You know, for the people who actually wanted to get in there in the first place as well. It’s just the first step!”
“Holy sh*t, that’s amazing! I didn’t even know that was an option!” She silently shuts the door behind her, and practically flies down the multiple flights of stairs in the former open-office building, now turned loft-apartments (with sh*tty plumbing). “And- and my Dad expels students so often, there’s a pret- ty high f*ck- f*cking chance you can actually switch cl- classes.”
“Yeah! That’s what I thought! And- what are you even doing?”
“Running down the stairs to the mailbox.”
“Of course you are.”
“Toshi! I’m so happy. Now I only have to pass as well! We might not be in the same- same class, but we’ll still see each other every day and chances are high that we’ll end up together again anyway!”
“I know! That would be so cool.”
“What did Samu say?”
“Ah, he’s still asleep. Pulled a double shift at work yesterday. Don’t even know when he came back.”
“Pff. Typical.”
“Yeah. Anyway, are you finally at that damn mailbox yet?”
“Yep.”
“Then what the hell are you waiting for?”
“I forgot the key.”
Toshi honest to god groans on the other end of the line. “Idiot! And I really mean it this time.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Hold on a moment, I’ve got an idea.”
“Lord, save us.”
“Shut up. The mailbox is see-through. It’s made of glass. I can see the wax seal from U.A., the letter’s in there.”
“What, and you wanna break the glass?”
“No! Of course not. Means that I can open a portal inside it because I can see through it. A small one, though. And I have to hold it very still, otherwise the whole damn mailbox might vanish.”
“Can I just say that that’s still pretty f*cking weird?”
“Whatever. Shut up for a moment, will ya? I need to focus. I’ll put the phone on the floor, I’ll need both hands.”
Without waiting for his reply, Yoru places the phone down on the floor.
She practiced keeping the portals open for longer. Practiced making them slightly bigger. Steadier. She never practiced making them small. Idiot!
Concentrating, Yoru manages to open a handprint-sized portal on her right. Outside the box.
Okay, her plan is idiotic. Yoru can admit that much. She knows that inanimate objects can safely pass from portal to portal, but she has never tried sticking her hand in one and reaching through portal one to portal two.
No time like the present, she assumes.
And to be honest, she will probably be fine. Probably? Right. No, definitely. No, she won’t lose her hand. If she’s fine in the shadow world, she will be fine doing this. Her body can do this.
She just needs to be careful not to close one (or both) of the portals too soon.
Yeah, if she did that, then it wouldn’t matter what the letter said. She’d never become a hero.
Or she could get one of those cool robotic hands, that would be an option, too.
Okay, concentrate. This is a test. And it will be useful to know for the future, right? So, honestly, it’s just like training. Normal training.
She absolutely inherited some of her Dad’s ability to rationalize the stupidest sh*t. However she could have even inherited it, doesn’t matter, she definitely did.
Yoru takes a deep breath and focuses on the spot where she wants to open the second portal inside the mailbox. Trying not to think of her possible hook-hand-future (hey, maybe her childhood dream of becoming a pirate could still come true then!), she reaches inside.
Her eyes bug out when she sees her hand emerge from the shadow portal inside the mailbox.
“Holy f*ck.” She whispers to absolutely no one in particular
It’s weird. So damn weird seeing one of your body parts from such an angle, but still feeling everything. Like an outer body experience. Sort of. It’s even weirder when she realizes that it’s basically like a mirror.
Because, the idiot that she is, she didn’t open the portal parallel to her body, but rather on the opposite. She could wave at herself right now.
Kinda dope, to be honest.
Anyway, back to the task at hand (pun intended). Left is right and right is left. Grab the letter, pull it out, retreat her hand and close the portals.
In exactly that order.
Otherwise, she’s sure to be grounded for the rest of her life. Doomed to rot in the loft with a hook for a hand.
Yoru carefully gets a hold of the envelope and retreats her hand. Once she holds the letter in both hands, she shuts the portals.
Holy f*cking sh*t.
That was awesome.
Scary, but awesome.
What a discovery, damn!
Remembering her phone, she picks it up. “Toshi! Are you still there?!”
“OF COURSE I AM! WHAT THE f*ck HAPPENED? You were gone for ages!”
“Toshi, I’m Robin!”
Pause. “What?”
“I’m Nico Robin!”
“Are you high?”
“What? No! Do you remember One Piece? We watched it when we were younger.”
“Tsk. Of course. We watched all 2000+ episodes. Honestly, I’m still shocked that the One Piece was actually-”
“And do you remember Nico Robin?”
“The girl who could make her body parts appear pretty much anywhere? The archeologist?”
“Yes, her! Guess what I just did?”
“Found the One Piece.”
“Tsk. Toshi, don’t- no! I pulled a Robin!” She heads up the stairs, planning to open the letter in the safety of the apartment.
“You can also reproduce your body parts on any surface at will- hold on.” A sigh. “Kitten, you’re not serious.”
“You bet I am.”
“Don’t tell me you stuck your hand in one of your portals and fished out the letter.”
“I stuck my hand in one of my portals and fished out the letter.”
“And you still have your hand.”
“Yep.”
“Good, because you’re certainly down a few brain cells.”
“What?”
“Why didn’t you just open one portal on the bottom of the mailbox’s inside and one outside and have the letter fall through?”
Pause. Again, she physically pauses at the door to the apartment, this time on the other side.
“Shut up.”
Toshi downright laughs at that. “You know, for someone who can literally do the worst f*cking math equations in her head, you’re pretty dense sometimes.”
“Thanks, love you, too.”
“So, have you opened it yet?”
“Nope. Wanna do it in the apartment.”
“Then, what’s stopping you?”
“The lack of keys to said apartment. Told you, I forgot them.”
“Okay, so you’re telling me you survived sticking your hand in a weird ass shadow portal, but now you’ll kick the bucket because you have to wake up your Dad.”
“Yep.”
“On a Saturday. At- hold on… 8:12 AM. His first day off after having to deal with this whole practical exam evaluation stuff.”
“Apparently so. It was nice knowing you.”
“Same. See you on the other side. If you can get to it.”
Very funny.
“Okay, I gotta call him and wake him up so he can open the door. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“You do that. Seriously, good luck.”
“Thanks.”
With a sigh, she dials her Dad. Not even two rings later, he picks up.
“Yoru?! What’s wrong? Are you okay? Why on earth are you calling me? Can’t you move?”
“What?”
There are hurried footsteps inside the apartment.
“Are you in your bed, and you can’t- you’re not in your bed.”
She knocks on the door, which is opened by a perplexed and sleepy looking Shota Aizawa. “Why are you outside? Where were you? Dressed like that?”
“I was just at the mailbox downstairs. But the stairway is still freezing, can I come in?”
“Can you come- obviously.” He moves out of the way and shuts the door behind her. “Now, why did you-” Her Dad cuts himself off when he notices the letter in her hand. “I’m too tired for this. Alright. Let’s sit down.”
‘Let’s sit down'? What does that mean? Why is he saying it like that? Don’t people usually say, ‘I’m sorry, but I think you should down for this.' if they give people bad news? So I really didn’t pass?
“Oh, okay.”
He’s already on the couch, saying good morning to the cats, who, unsurprisingly, immediately beg for breakfast.
“Toshi already opened his. He’s been accepted to Cementoss’ General Studies class.”
When she’s met with silence, Yoru carefully starts to open the letter. And as soon as the forecasted hologram device slips out, a massive video of Muri pops up.
“WHOA!” Yoru almost flinches back.
“Yoru Ai- Awazia! At the end of last month, you participated in the practical part of the entrance exam to the hero course at U.A. High, after having passed the written part with more than satisfactory results. Together with hundreds of other energetic, motivated applicants, you fought hard and smart against the bad, bad robots. Are you interested in your results? I’m sure a young girl like you is bursting with excitement!”
Hologram-Muri-Midnight winks at her, while Yoru can practically feel her Dad rolling his eyes.
“So, without further ado, let me present you with your results.” The screen next to the somnambulist lights up and Yoru gasps.
“As you can see, you have scored 33 Villain Points for disabling or destroying the robots. Good girl! Furthermore, you secured 36 Rescue Points by protecting not only one, but multiple fellow applicants. This brings you to a total of 69 points! And that’s a good position to be in because it means you have scored in fourth place of all examinees. Congratulations!”
“OH MY-”
But Muri, not even in her hologram form, doesn’t let her finish. “Yoru Aiz- AWAZIA! Yoru Awazia, starting from April, you will be attending U.A. High School in class 1-A. You will find further information in the attached letter. Congratulations on passing. We expect great things from you!”
Then, the video stops.
Sue her, but Yoru is still a fifteen-year-old girl. That means, she’s allowed to bounce up and down on the couch, squeaking uncontrollably. She grabs her Dad by his shoulders, slightly shaking him. “I DID IT! DAD, I DID IT!”
“You did.” He smiles at her, still being forced to slightly bounce up and down against his will. “Congratulations, Sweetheart.”
Yoru stops. “Wait. You knew, right?!”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t say anything?!”
“Obviously not.”
“And Muri knew, and she didn’t say anything.”
“Obviously not.”
“I bet Zashi, too, huh.”
“What do you think.”
“Right. Whatever, oh my god! I can’t believe it.” She tries to calm herself, again looking up at Muri’s smiling face that’s still floating around in their living room. “Okay. Okay. Let’s all calm down.”
“You’re not going to ask?”
She turns towards him, putting her hair up in a ponytail with one of the headbands from the cats’ not-so-secret stash under the coffee table. “Not going to ask what?”
He raises an eyebrow and huffs out. “Why do you think Kayama called you Awazia?”
“Uhm.” She pauses. “I don’t know, maybe she was just excited for me and messed up the name?”
“Right, that’s why she had to correct herself multiple times. No, Yoru. I’ll be class 1-A’s homeroom teacher.”
Oh.
He continues. “Nezu talked to me after your admission was decided. I think he lives off of causing possible drama, but he put you in my class. Apparently, there is a boy in 1-B with a shadow quirk, and he thinks it makes sense to have you separated for the most part. To see how your quirks work with your respective classmates. Honestly, I think that’s how he puts classes together in the first place. The point is, your acceptance to the hero course, and it would make no difference if you were in Vlad’s class either, is bound by certain conditions.”
“Okay?”
“Foremost, neither the other teachers, besides the ones who are already aware, are allowed to know that you’re my daughter, and that I’m your Dad. I agree with him there. For a multitude of reasons. The main one being that you shouldn’t worry about other people thinking you’re granted any kind of special leniency or preferential treatment. Which, I can promise you, won’t be an issue. Yamada and Kayama have been talked to as well. Second, we can make sure that way that none of the other students have to worry about it as well and feel like unjust grading or leniency towards you might happen.”
“Alright. Yeah, makes sense, I guess. I mean, it’s gonna be weird, but I don’t want other people thinking that. So, okay. I agree.”
“Your agreement was never up for debate. Either you agree, or you may not attend U.A. Shiketsu would have been another option for you, should you pass their entrance exam next year.”
“Wow, okay. Tell me how you really feel.”
“The second condition involves work on both our ends. We are to not bring home school related issues. Of course, normal father-daughter talk about school is fine, but nothing more than that. The reverse applies as well. No home stuff at school that a normal homeroom teacher wouldn’t care about anyway. We are teacher and student at U.A. and father and daughter at home. We will not be mixing the two.”
“You think we can do that?”
“We will both have to.”
“Okay.” Yoru nods. “I think we can do that. But I gotta be honest, it was pretty weird seeing Zashi on stage during the introduction at the practical. Like, he was Present Mic. It will be even weirder with you.”
“Speaking of names. You noticed Kayama calling you Awazia?”
“Well, yeah. I thought she misspoke, but I’m guessing she didn’t, huh.”
“No, she did not. All the paperwork in school marks you down as Yoru Awazia. That way, neither the other teachers nor the students will make any connections between us.”
“Seriously? I thought U.A. had high expectations of their students. That stops at critical thinking? Awazia is just Aizawa spelled backwards.”
“It was Nezu’s idea. He’s intelligent, but he also thinks he is funny. And that makes him a smart fool, every so often. That being said, I thoroughly agree with us keeping school topics and home stuff separated. I think it will be best for our relationship.”
Yoru nods. “Yeah. I think so, too. It’s gonna be hard, though. I can’t complain about my teachers and homework and my classmates to you anymore.”
“Yes, you can. I will listen as your Dad and try not to listen as your teacher. I don’t want to lose that. Believe me, I’m sure you and your class will give me enough fodder to complain to you about.”
“Rude.”
“No, Yoru, listen. I know it’s a weird situation. For both of us. But think of it as two different personalities. There’s Awazia and there’s Yoru. And there’s Mister Aizawa and Dad.”
“Yeah, I get it. I get it. But, oh god. I mean, having to call you Mister Aizawa will be so damn weird.”
“At least that’s my name. I will have to call you by a made up name from a mammal.”
“Touché.”
“So, we’re good? Whatever happens, if either one of us is bothered by anything or we realize that it’s not working, we need to talk to each other about it. Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay. But you have to talk to me, too. Promise?” She holds up her pinky towards her Dad.
He smiles down at it and then back up at her, after locking their fingers together. “Promise.”
Yoru exhales and lets herself fall back into the couch. “What now?”
“Now, I’m looking forward to the breakfast you’re about to make. As an apology for waking me so damn early. That’s another thing, I sometimes sleep during class.”
“You what?”
“Sleep during class.”
“No, I mean I heard you, but you really sleep during class?”
“Only if the class has to work on stuff they don’t need me for, and I was on patrol the night prior.”
“Well, is your class allowed to sleep during class?”
“Try it and see what happens.”
Oh, damn.
“Right. Breakfast coming right up. For the cats as well. Fair warning, I’ll be on the phone with Toshi while I’ll prepare the food.”
“Because, of course, you are.”
Halfway to the kitchen, Yoru stops in her tracks and turns around. “Oh, hey! I almost forgot to show you something!”
She opens two portals. One in front of her and one directly in front of her Dad’s face. Yoru pushes her arm through and pokes his cheek with a finger.
“WHAT THE f*ck?!”
