Chapter 9: Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone
The U.A. entrance exam approached faster than Midoriya expected, but he didn't feel underprepared. He managed to balance training at Dagobah and his education well enough in his opinion. Gami did not agree though. His successor was falling asleep way too many times in class for him to call this a win.
His mother didn't seem to notice his frequent late nights out of the house. There were times where the teen was so afraid she'd catch him sneaking in after a long day of training, but she was often too drunk to notice. Of course, he wasn't lucky all the time, but he was getting fast enough to make it to his room before she did any serious harm.
Unfortunately, the combination of training at Dagobah late into the day, sorting souls into the night, and getting up early to sort as well, it made it difficult to get more than 5 hours of sleep. He didn't want to admit he was having a hard time focusing his thoughts or that he was falling asleep in class. But it was obvious to Gami that the boy was struggling with it all, so the ghost did his best to lift his spirits wherever he could.
Midoriya's birthday had passed during the 10 months before the exam. He really didn't find any joy celebrating his birthday though, since his father was obviously not around and his mother didn't care. So the man had taken it upon himself to make this year's birthday special.
For his successor's previous birthdays, the man had usually gotten him notebooks or pencils. Sometimes when stores got overstocked with products, they would leave the extras outside in their alleyways, either to get rid of it or to try and store it sneakily. He would leave the teen sleeping at night to search the alleyways behind these stores, in hopes that he could find something suitable as a gift. It was pretty much all he could do, since he didn't have any money. It wasn't like he could really hold the cash anyway.
And when the spirit did eventually find something he thought the boy would like, he would have to get him to go to the alleyway himself. He couldn't actually grab whatever he wanted to give. As much as he tried, his hands just passed right through the item. And though Midoriya constantly reminded him that his efforts were greatly appreciated, Gami never felt like he was doing enough. He cared so much for the teen, and it wasn't just because he was his successor. The specter could go on his own rant about how special he thought the boy was, from his endless perseverance, to his selfless personality, to his undeniable skills. Gami would daresay he viewed him as something akin to a son.
So that was why he decided to make sure he did something different for his birthday this year.
Midoriya had woken up the morning of his birthday as he did every other day. It was a Sunday, so the house was empty. He hadn't differed from his normal schedule, and worked until the sun broke dawn. He noticed that his mentor had been strangely quiet, but didn't comment on it. But as he finally left his room and entered the kitchen, the spirit finally spoke up.
"Happy birthday Izu."
"Oh, um thank you Gami," he really wasn't expecting that to be the first word out of the specter's mouth.
"Um, I have something for you," he told the teen, a slight waver in his voice, "It's in the living room…"
"No alleyways this time?" he joked sarcastically.
"Not this time," he snarked back, which Midoriya noted was unlike him.
But he was curious about what the ghost had in store for him, so he left his cereal on the counter and made his way to the couch. As he entered the living room, Gami flew out from behind him and moved to stand behind the coffee table instead. The boy giggled at his unusual antics, but continued into the room.
He couldn't pick out anything out of the ordinary. There wasn't anything like balloons or cake, not that he expected that. But he didn't see any notebooks or pencils like he usually got from the spirit. He looked up in confusion, but the ghost just gestured for him to come inside further.
That didn't help Midoriya's puzzlement, but he just decided to trust the man. He still didn't see anything, but as he finally walked past the couch, something did lay on the coffee table.
"Gami," he started, picking up one of the items, "what is this?"
"Unfold it. You will see."
And so he did. The item felt soft and fabric like in his hands. As he shook it open, he saw the sleeves fall out and realized what it was. A black tracksuit jacket unraveled right in front of him.
"Woah, this is really neat!" he gasped out.
"Well, there is more."
The boy set down the jacket onto the couch and reached for the other folded object on the table. It was also black, but seemed larger than the jacket. He opened it up and the specter saw his eyes light up.
"Are these matching sweatpants?!" he cried in surprise.
"Indeed they are," he said with pride.
He flipped them around to look at the pants from all angles. The set all together was pretty cohesive. The jacket had a white stripe running down each sleeve, which connected to the stripe that ran down each leg of the sweatpants. Everything else was a solid, shiny black that felt smooth in his fingers. As he was laying the pants next to the jacket, he noticed that said jacket had a turtleneck. That made him really happy, as the burn scar from his father stretched up to the base of his neck, and often made him self conscious.
"I noticed that old green tracksuit in your closet. That was what you were planning to wear to the entrance exam, correct?" he didn't wait for a response, "I figured you would rather wear something newer and closer to your current size. I also did not think you would want to wear something so attention grabbing."
Midoriya looked up to flash a wide, bright smile at the man, "You know me so well!"
"Actually, there is one last thing."
"Oh?"
"Check in the right pocket of the jacket."
The boy moved back to the couch to examine the tracksuit top again. He reached into the right pocket hesitantly, unsure of what to expect. Immediately, his hand met something smooth and fabric like. It was similar to the feel of the tracksuit, but he noted that whatever this was, it felt thicker and stiffer. Unable to resist his curiosity any longer, he pulled out the item.
Now, in his hand, were a pair of black, leather gloves. But it wasn't like the polyester ones he usually wore.
These gloves were fingerless.
"I know you have not ever been really comfortable with fingerless gloves, but I believe they would be useful to you for the exam."
"I'm not really sure-"
"You do not have to wear them the entire time. Just when the practical exam will start. It will be easier for you to use DT without having to rip your other gloves."
The teen shuffled the new gloves between his own gloved hand, internally debating Gami's preposition. He didn't see the man also shuffle nervously.
"You do have a point," he slowly took off his signature polyester gloves to slip on his new ones. He was careful not to accidentally disintegrate them as he put them on. He flexed his fingers and turned his hands to inspect them. His silence put the spirit on edge. Maybe the gloves were a bad idea. He really didn't mean to push his successor out of his comfort zone, especially on his birthday of all days.
Then, he realized he was being hugged, which completely destroyed any sense of regret he had. He embraced back tightly, knowing Midoriya didn't give hugs often.
"Thanks Gami," he sniffled, "I really don't deserve this."
"No, do not say that," the man replied softly, "You deserve so much more. I wish I could give you more."
And at that, the boy bursted into tears, loudly sobbing into the spirit's robe. His bare fingers gripped the man's clothing tightly. The ghost panicked, afraid he did something wrong. Even now, after knowing the teen for around 11 years, he still didn't think he was good with kids. Said teen noticed the specter's uncertainty and tried to clear up the mess.
"I'm sorry," he said, but it was pretty muffled by his face in the robe, "I'm just so happy."
He pulled his face out and removed his hands to wipe at his eyes. He glanced up, cheeks red, but smiled the largest smile he could muster. He shook his hands next to his face, showing off his grin and new gloves.
Gami seemed to get the message that Midoriya wasn't upset at him. He smiled, though no one could tell, and ruffled the boy's hair.
"This was really great," he sighed, "Thank you."
"It was the least I could do."
The two of them simply stood there, content with everything in the moment. That was, until the logical side of the teen's brain finally kicked in.
"Wait, how did you even get this here?"
"I brought it here," the man stated nonchalantly.
"Well obviously. But how did you touch it?!" Gami was being uncharacteristically sarcastic today.
"I am not too sure," he shrugged, "but it all worked out, did it not?"
He huffed, "I guess so…"
He walked back over to the couch to grab his tracksuit, when he did a double take.
"Wait where did you even get this?"
"Not in an alleyway, I can assure you."
"You didn't steal this, did you?" he joked.
But when the specter didn't respond, Midoriya grew worried.
"Gami…" he said sternly.
"That is a secret."
"GAMI!" the teen whined loudly, a bit unsure of whether his friend was joking back.
The two then erupted into laughter and sat together on the couch. The boy would later give away his old and battered green tracksuit to a clothing drive in a nearby neighborhood. He would then have to find the space to hang his new one up, as the older one was folded and tucked away in the corner of a shelf. Then he would panic a bit on whether he should wear the set a few times to break it in or leave it pristine for the big day.
But that would all happen later.
Right now, all Midoriya was worried about was enjoying the high of his birthday. Maybe he would indulge himself today. He had the money to order himself some katsudon if he didn't feel like cooking on his special day. Maybe he wouldn't train today, and instead analyze some quirks mentioned on the news. He could just go out and try to catch a fight if he really wanted to see a quirk in action.
It didn't really matter to him what he did today.
Just as long as he did it with Gami.
Finally, the big day came.
Midoriya was up way before the sun had risen. He was trying to get in some last minute training at Dagobah, though it was nothing as strenuous as what he had been doing in the months before.
The beach had been completely engulfed in trash when he and Gami saw it the first day, but now, only a few bits remained hidden in the sand. The spirit was left shocked at the sight of the beach restored to how it looked before. The boy would bet that the ghost was about to cry based off the small wavers in his voice, and that would certainly be an oddity.
Currently, the two were walking the beach, with the teen kicking around the sand in hopes to find any underlying trash. Any he did find, he would decay with his hand. It would be pointless to use his scythe when the pieces were only the size of his foot and smaller.
There actually wasn't much to clean up, so the duo eventually made their way to sitting by the shore, just far enough so that the ocean would only touch their feet. This was the first time Midoriya had gotten the chance to sit by the coastline, but he could tell why the specter liked it so much. He felt calm and serene, and the numerous problems plaguing him each day withered away at the sight of the sparkling sea. If the exam wasn't this day, he wouldn't mind spending his entire day here.
"Ah well," the teen started, standing up from the sand, "We'd better get going."
"Indeed. Are we stopping at the house?"
He looked down at himself. Sure, he did have his backpack with his school uniform and his new tracksuit in case he ended up running late. But he still had three hours, and if he didn't have to, there was no way he was going to slip his uniform over his sweaty and sandy self.
"Yup, I definitely need to shower."
And so the two left the comfort of the beautiful and now clean beach park towards their home. The 20 minute walk didn't take long, and the sidewalks were still fairly empty since it was so early. He ran home the entire way, eager to get that last bit of training in. Skidding to a stop at his door, he fumbled with his keys before entering.
There wasn't anyone inside, but it wasn't like he was expecting anyone. He walked quietly in, completely opposite of how he was moving before. He placed his bag on the couch, careful not to throw it in fear of wrinkling his uniform. Gami didn't fear wrinkles though, and threw himself down onto the sofa.
"Hey, careful with my bag," Midoriya chuckled.
"I will."
He made his way towards the bathroom, eager to wash off all the sand and grime.
"I'll be in the shower. Knock if you need anything," the boy teased.
He turned around and walked into the bathroom, not getting to see the spirit narrow his eyes at him. Not that he would be able to see it, even if he was looking.
Gami listened as the shower turned on. He could hear the water trickling down the tiled wall and then down the drain. It was peaceful to observe, and the ghost didn't mind that his successor forgot to turn on the TV for him. The teen already had so much responsibility, he didn't want to add to that.
Sometimes, the specter wished he could do more. But his transparent form limited him on practically everything. He could only interact with Midoriya himself and the couch, to which the boy reassured him was an impressive feat, but he never felt like it was. He could never help with money, nor could he help in fights. He couldn't even carry his bag for goodness sake. It was demotivating, to watch the teen struggle and not be able to do anything.
But today was one of the most important days of his successor's life. He wasn't going to sit around and brood. The ghost wasn't sure how, but he would do his best to aid him any way he could today. At the very least, he wouldn't let the boy pick up on his sour mood. That would surely spoil his own, and Gami did not want that to happen right before the exam.
Suddenly, a voice called through the bathroom door, startling the spirit out of his thoughts.
"Hey Gami," The voice was pretty muffled, but that was to be expected since it was coming through the door, "Can you touch my bag?"
Said ghost's brows furrowed in confusion, but he swung a free hand at the backpack. Like he expected, his hand passed right through.
"Uh no I cannot."
He heard the voice groan, "Ugh I figured."
Then, the bathroom door creaked open, and out came Midoriya, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. His signature green hair was dripping wet. But what was more noticeable was the large scar that spread from the base of his neck down to the middle of his chest, covering the top of his right shoulder as well. Medium sized cuts ran down his arms, but the spirit knew they were from the bottle shards that occasionally got embedded in his skin. He knew the teen tried to hide his scars, so he averted his eyes quickly in hopes he wasn't making him uncomfortable.
The boy was uncomfortable at showing so much of his injuries, but tried not to show it.
"I forgot my uniform in my bag."
"So you went into the bathroom with no clothes?"
He pouted, "I had my boxers!"
The specter huffed jokingly, "Whatever you say."
He grumbled and snatched his backpack, then rushed off to his bedroom. Gami smirked, feeling like he had thoroughly gotten his revenge for the comment earlier. The man looked up at the clock. Midoriya's shower hadn't lasted as long as he thought it did. As long as the teen didn't take too long getting ready, they would be able to arrive at U.A. with ample time to spare.
As if he had read the ghost's mind, the boy emerged from his room fully dressed in his school's uniform. He had his backpack strung over his shoulders and was currently putting on his usual polyester gloves.
"I've got my tracksuit and my other gloves," he cheered, "Let's get going!"
"Alright then," he replied and lifted himself off the couch.
The duo left the house eagerly, with Midoriya quickly locking the front door. He then shoved his house keys into his backpack and started towards the subway, Gami close behind. He gripped his bag's straps confidently, a small smile adorned his face.
Today was his big day.
And nothing was going to stop him.
One 40 minute subway ride later, the two had arrived at the front entrance of U.A. high school. The school was large and grand. The sunlight that bounced off its numerous windows could be mistaken for the building simply shining on its own. Bare trees lined the walkway, and Midoriya was excited to see how they would frame it once they grew leaves again.
He was a bit nervous, but that was to be expected. He knew as long as he took steps forward, no matter how slow or timid they were, he would make it through that door. Besides, the boy knew he wasn't alone. With Gami simply walking beside him, he knew he could take on anything this exam threw at him.
"Get out of my way or you're dead."
The teen instinctively flinched away from that voice. He didn't even need to look to confirm who it was.
Bakugo walked past him, seemingly annoyed. He wore a moderate coat and a beige scarf over his uniform. Midoriya stared, a bit jealous towards the blond. The set of winter accessories looked warm and cozy, and much more protective than simply the school uniform like the shy teen was wearing.
He didn't respond to Bakugo though. This was the first time he'd spoken to him since the sludge villain incident. Actually, the angry teen hadn't tormented him since the villain attack either. Not that he or Gami hadn't noticed. Both were very observant and picked up on the strange behavior, but just took it as a blessing in disguise.
The kids around them noticed the blond as well, and started whispering. Bakugo was infamous for that whole mess with the sludge villain. His face was known throughout practically the whole country. But the boy wasn't jealous over that. He was glad he wasn't the center of attention. That would make him simply more nervous.
"Well Izu," the ghost began, "Do not let him bother you. Let's get inside."
"Mhm," he hummed, careful not to seem as if he was talking to himself.
But Gami still picked up on his successor's shaky confidence, so he kept his pep talk going, "Keep these past 10 months fresh in your mind. You are an entirely new person and this is your first step to becoming a hero!"
He nodded sharply, looking up at his mentor.
"This is your time to shine and move forward!!"
"Yeah!" he whispered strongly, trying his best to keep his voice under his breath. The ghost was right. This was his first step as well as an important one, and he knew he had the skills to have a chance. Staring at the specter, he flashed a small, unassuming smile to show the man he was feeling good.
And then proceeded to trip over his own feet in distraction.
He could hear Gami yell his name in concern, but he was about to fall on his face. What a great way to start the day.
But he never met the ground. Instead, he floated a few inches above it. He could definitely admit, he was surprised, but he didn't squirm around or anything. He turned his head to see a pretty looking brunette wearing a burgundy coat.
"Are you okay?" she asked gently.
"Uh y-yeah," he stammered back.
The girl smiled before helping him back upright. Once he was, Midoriya felt himself stop floating and land softly onto the walkway again. He was still in a state of semi-shock and didn't realize he had been touched on the arm, right under his scar.
"It's my quirk," she continued, "Sorry for stopping you, but it's a bad omen to trip and fall."
"Ah well t-thank you," the teen replied shakily.
"This sure is nerve wracking," she chuckled, breathing out a puff of frozen air.
"Y-yeah, for sure."
The brunette then started to walk away, but as she did, she looked back and waved.
"Good luck to the both of us!"
Midoriya went to reply back, but by the time he willed up the confidence, she was gone. He wasn't really sure what just happened. All he really figured out was that he just had a nice conversation with another kid his age. That was definitely a first.
"Izu, we should get going," his mentor finally said, snapping him out of his head.
"Ah yeah, right right," he stuttered out. A lot of the other kids around him were now eying him and sneaking glances. They were probably sizing him up, and deeming him not a threat. The boy's fingers shook as he scampered up the steps and into the school, his confidence faltering a bit.
He hated being the center of attention.
The teen walked into the large lecture hall, albeit a bit later than he wanted to. He shuffled to find his seat, which was unfortunately next to Bakugo. He sat nervously and waited for the briefing to start.
Gami must have noticed his shuffling, because the man placed his hand on his left shoulder, avoiding the one with the scar. He brought his hand up to grip the spirit's extended sleeve, making it look like he was grabbing his uniform instead.
"WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE!!" the shout nearly made Midoriya yelp in surprise, "EVERYBODY SAY HEY!!"
There was no way he was going to yell back, even if it was Present Mic. He was eager to draw as little attention to his form as possible. He noticed that everyone else in the hall felt the same way, even if it wasn't for the same reasons.
The pro faltered a bit under the heavy silence, but immediately followed that up with more excitement.
"Well that's cool, my examinee listeners!!" the hero continued, "I'm here to present the guidelines of your practical!! Are you ready?!"
Again, he was met with pure silence, so he answered his own call with a loud "YEAH".
"Izu," the ghost's low monotone voice startled the boy a bit, "who is this loud, obnoxious man?"
"That's the voice hero, Present Mic," he explained softly, "He's got an offensively powerful voice activated quirk, plus his own radio show and everything."
"Shut up nerd," Bakugo groaned. The teen wasn't expecting him to talk, but he did follow his directions.
"This is how the test will go, listeners! You'll be experiencing 10 minute long 'mock cityscape maneuvers'!!" Present Mic resumed, "Bring along whatever you want! After this presentation, you'll each head to your assigned testing location!!"
At that, there were murmurs in the crowd. Midoriya and Gami both listened in.
"That's so kids from the same middle school can't help each other out."
"And why consecutive I.D. numbers are assigned to different locations."
Midoriya checked out his exam card. After glancing at Bakugo's next to him, he confirmed the whispers. His I.D. number was only one lower than the blond, but they weren't assigned the same exam location. That made him release a sigh of relief. He definitely wouldn't be comfortable while knowing the angry teen could come out from any corner and attack him.
After letting the students in the hall talk for a bit, the hero got back on track, "Each site is filled with three kinds of faux villains. Points are awarded for defeating each according to their own respective difficulty levels!"
So they would be fighting faux villains? That made the boy feel much better about his chances. The villains would likely be dummies or robots, and neither felt any pain. He would be able to use DT without too much guilt then.
"Use your quirks to disable these faux villains and earn points! That's your goal, listeners!!"
"You are looking very confident, Izu."
The teen let out a happy huff, quietly confirming the man's statement.
"Of course, attacking other examinees is prohibited!! That's not very hero-like!!"
Suddenly, a student stood up from his seat. Both he and the ghost moved to look at him. The kid was tall, with very broad shoulders and a broad stance to match. He had neatly combed blueish black hair and what looked to be a pair of square framed glasses, but he couldn't really tell as he was facing away.
"May I ask a question?!" the student exclaimed loudly, raising his hand stiffly into the air.
He continued without any confirmation from the hero, "There appear to be no fewer than four varieties of faux villains on this handout! Such a blatant error is highly unbecoming for U.A. We are all here today in hopes of being molded into model heroes!!"
Midoriya had noticed the same thing, but he assumed that Present Mic would explain it later. I guess he would have to explain it now then.
"And you, with the curly hair!!"
The bold teen was now pointing at him. He jolted from the sudden call, and began to wither under the stares of everyone else in the hall.
"You've been muttering this whole time! It's distracting. If this is some sort of game to you, then leave immediately!!"
At that, the timid teen sank down into his chair. There were many giggles and glares, all of which were directed at him. Gami growled aggressively, fed up with rude children at this point.
"Alright, alright," the pro finally broke the tension, "Examinee 7111, nice catch. But the fourth faux villain gets you zero points! He's more of an obstacle than anything!"
Present Mic waved his hands around, trying to emphasize his point, "There's only one at each site! A 'gimmick' that will rampage around in close quarters!"
"Thank you sir! I apologize for the interruption!" the blunt kid bowed, then sat back down.
"Well, that's all from me!! I'll leave you listeners with our school motto!!"
Midoriya gripped his exam card with hesitation. His confidence was sorely shaken from all that had happened, and the exam hadn't even started yet.
"PLUS ULTRA!! BREAK A LEG EVERYONE!!"
"Woah!" Midoriya gasped out at the sight of the faux city. It was so amazing how U.A. had a bunch of these on campus!
The teen looked around in awe. Even his fellow examinees amazed him.
"Everyone here looks so confident," he whispered to the spirit standing next to him, "They've even got equipment to match their quirks…"
"That may be true," the man replied, "But do not forget about yourself. You are just as impressive."
"I don't know…" he tugged on his new tracksuit. He couldn't lie, he felt good in his black jacket and pants. He had switched out his usual polyester gloves for his new fingerless, leather ones. He was a bit nervous wearing them, but he knew they would be better for the exam than the ones he felt comfortable wearing. At first, he thought he looked too monochrome when he tried on the tracksuit, so he made sure to wear his signature red sneakers to fully complete the outfit.
Looking around, he spotted the nice girl who had helped him before the briefing. She had her eyes closed and was moving her hands rhythmically.
"Oh look Gami," he mumbled, "It's her! She looks kinda nervous though."
"Indeed."
"Maybe I should see if I can boost her spirits. Since she helped me out earlier."
"That sounds like a good idea, as well as a friendly gesture."
Midoriya took some slow steps towards the brunette, but was completely halted in his tracks by a firm grab to his right shoulder.
"What are you doing?! Hoping to interfere?!" The duo recognized it as the same student who had called out the boy before.
Gami noticed his successor's breath turn raspy. The child was still tightly holding the shoulder with the scar. He could see the boy's hands shaking.
Murmurs grew from the crowd as they once did in the lecture hall. Each one made the reserved teen doubt himself more.
"That kid was acting like an idiot at the front gate."
"He flinches at the slightest touch."
"I guess that's one less rival to worry about."
Midoriya went to swat away the hand, but then he realized he didn't have his usual gloves on. As much as this kid made him uncomfortable, he wouldn't put him at risk if he couldn't control his power. So he mustered up all the leftover courage he had.
"Get your hand off me," he spoke bitterly. Wait, bitterness? This wasn't him. Where was this coming from? "Before we have a problem…"
"What?!" the kid scoffed, but removed his hand, "That isn't like a hero at all!"
But the teen didn't care. He was done being pushed around today. He felt an unnatural rage pooling in his gut, and he was a bit afraid of it. He wasn't a very angry person, and he really didn't want to become one. So he took a deep breathe in and focused his thoughts anywhere else, as long as they weren't on the kids around him.
"That was unlike you, Izu."
"Boy do I know…"
Suddenly, Present Mic's voice echoed over the plaza.
"AND BEGIN!!"
To the boy, it felt like a switch flipped. He could hear the groans of the gates being opened, but didn't even hesitate. He ran through the crowd of examinees and was the first to enter the faux city.
"The test has started!!" the hero yelled to the rest of the crowd, "That kid's got the right idea!!"
All the other examinees then took off, pushing past each other to try and get a head start. But none could catch up to the boy they were just mocking. Gami, who stayed behind with the other kids, rushed to catch up with his successor.
Midoriya was definitely not as confident as he was when he first walked into U.A.'s front gate, but he would make do. Sprinting down a fake street, he could hear a sudden crack to the building next to him. Then, a huge robot bursted through the wall of one of the faux buildings. He could read a bold, white "1" on one of its appendages.
It's a one-pointer! They're quick, but fragile! he remembered from the handout back at the briefing.
But he didn't flinch as most would expect him to. Instead, he flexed his hand and summoned his weapon. The robot charged him.
"Target locked!! Prepare for termination!!"
He gripped his scythe with both hands. Lifting it up over his head, he poured his whole body as well as DT into the swing. The blade cut cleanly into the robot, but that wasn't what did the most damage to the villain. As he sliced, DT instantaneously spread throughout the entire bot and it crumbled into pieces, metal chunks shattering everywhere.
"That's one point for me!" he exclaimed proudly, making his weapon disappear.
"Great job Izu!"
The teen turned around in surprise. He hadn't noticed that Gami wasn't with him. But he didn't have any time to spare. Rushing out of the wrecked area, he went on search for more villains.
"Down here! There are two!" the ghost called out.
He responded immediately, racing down towards his mentor's voice. He turned down a seemingly empty alleyway, only to watch the specter point up. He looked up in confusion, only to jump back as a one pointer and a two-pointer fell from above him. He didn't have time to summon his weapon, nor the room to swing it, but he still didn't hesitate. Almost acting on instinct, he swiped one of his hands out to graze the one-pointer, but as it did, the robot cracked and fell to the ground in pieces. The two-pointer's large scorpion tail lunged at his form, but he leaped out of the way, then countering with a strike using his other hand. The robot decayed just as the others had.
"Four points!" he cried to no one in particular, "Gami, can you keep searching for robots?"
"I shall do my best."
"Great! Then let's go!"
The two continued their team strategy, with the spirit acting as an intelligence gatherer and Midoriya swooping in to get a quick kill. They worked extremely well, as Gami's spiritual form allowed him to pass through rubble and buildings to find bots or map out paths. And while he would never admit it to his successor, his fears from earlier were quelled. The man was worried that he wouldn't be able to do much for the boy during his exam, but those thoughts diminished slowly after each robot he discovered.
The teen largely favored his scythe when dismantling the faux villains, still unsure of his new gloves. But if a situation arose, similar to the alleyway before, he acted completely on instinct, unafraid to use his deadly touch. He was quick on his feet too, not pausing for a moment after he scored a point. Unfortunately, he had a few points stolen from him, but even then, he'd racked up a decent 26 points.
"Six minutes, two seconds remaining!!" he could hear from a speaker somewhere.
He now found himself in the center of the mock city, surrounded by robot carcasses. There were other examinees around him as well, but no active villains to fight.
"I cannot find any more enemies."
He could hear the other kids calling out their points, and as each score was said and higher than his own, his confidence faltered.
This wasn't good.
Unsure of what to do, he looked around at the kids in the area. If the situation were different, he'd love to examine their quirks.
Then, he felt the entire ground shake violently. He, as well as the other examinees, searched around for what could be causing it.
That's when all hell broke loose.
Midoriya immediately recognized it as the zero-pointer Present Mic mentioned back in the briefing. It tore through the tops of buildings with ease as it plowed its own route down the street. Debris fell everywhere as all the students rushed to escape its wrath. He could make out the kid that had embarrassed him earlier as one of the first to get away, with surprising speed. The teen figured he must have some sort of speed quirk.
"Izu, let us get going," Gami called out over the chaos, "This looks dangerous."
"I guess that's true. Hopefully we can find some more points before the exam ends."
So he did his best not to get trampled by the crowd as he evacuated. Weaving around fallen, as well as falling debris was challenging, but similar to the sludge villain fight in the alleyway, so he didn't have as much trouble as he expected. He turned one last time, just to view the destruction of the massive obstacle. His eyes widened in shock, and not from said destruction.
The nice brunette, who had made sure he didn't fall on his way into the lecture hall, who he had his first pleasant student conversation with, who had wished him luck on the exam…
Was lying helpless on the broken pavement.
He turned around completely now, ignoring his mentor's comments on how he should keep moving. The zero-pointer was plowing towards her, with no intention of stopping.
He froze, internally debating what he should do. He hadn't had a premonition about her, so surely she wasn't going to die, right? The U.A. staff would surely stop the robot before it reached her, right? But what if they didn't? Was this her time to go? That thought sickened him.
"It's a bad omen to trip and fall."
That killed any conflict he had.
He rushed towards her prone form. She struggled to look up at him. He noticed her left foot was caught under a pile of rubble from the villain's rampage.
"Don't move," Midoriya reassured her, "I'll get you out."
She didn't answer, but he could see it in her face. He wouldn't fail the first person his age that had been nice to him.
He slammed both hands onto the pile of debris and instantly, all of the rubble decayed away, turning to mere dust. He didn't have the time to look at her reaction, but if he did, he would see complete shock and awe plastered on it. He took a glance at her recently trapped ankle and winced.
"Can you walk?" He knew she couldn't, but figured he'd ask anyway.
"N-no."
"Alright then, I'm going to carry you."
The teen moved quickly to her side and slid his arms under her limp body. With a huff, he mustered up more of his strength to lift her up. She wasn't particularly heavy, but he has also never carried a person before. He cradled her in his arms and took steady, but fast steps away from the zero-pointer.
"You can set her down here," Gami pointed towards a building away from the giant robot, "This building is still structurally sound."
Midoriya didn't respond, but rushed over to the building that the spirit picked out. He set her down against the wall of the building. She immediately cradled her injured foot, but looked up at him.
"T-thank you," the brunette whimpered.
He nodded, but lurched his attention back to the zero-pointer at a loud crash. He watched it ram into another building, bringing it down without a sweat.
"This is bad," he said aloud, "Someone is going to get seriously hurt if that thing isn't stopped."
"Two minutes remaining!!"
He flinched at that. Two minutes? That's it? That wouldn't be enough time to find any more robots. That wasn't enough time to get the points he needed to pass the exam.
But it was enough time to stop the rampaging robot.
He rushed away from the girl who he had just helped, ignoring the specter's cries for him not to. He couldn't just disintegrate the bot from one of its feet. With the way it hunched over, if he did, the bot would come crashing to the ground faster than he could decay it. That would only put more people in danger.
He would have to start from the top.
Reaching the zero-pointer massive, moving foot, he made a split second decision that would nearly give Gami a heart attack, despite not having a physical heart.
The boy hastily summoned his scythe and poured a small amount of DT into it. Then he slammed as high as he could into the robot's foot. Of course, the bot didn't even flinch, but that wasn't his plan.
He tugged on his weapon, and once he was sure it wouldn't come out, he stopped the flow of DT, effectively ending the decay. Using only his upper body strength he had gained from swinging the thing around at Dagobah, he began pulling himself up the handle of his weapon.
"What is he doing?!" the girl cried from her spot by the building.
The ghost standing next to her couldn't agree more.
Once Midoriya reached the end of his scythe's handle, he removed one of his hands. He made a mental note to thank his mentor later for the fingerless gloves as he raised a hand above his head and grabbed as high as he could. Again, only using a small amount of DT, he decayed the space where his hand was, just enough to make an indentation that he could grip. He removed his other hand, the one still holding onto the handle, and did the same thing. In the moment, he relied solely on his upper body strength, as he didn't have a place for his feet to rest yet.
He continued the rhythm, effectively scaling the zero-pointer like a rock climber. His feet eventually found placement in the holes he had first decayed for his hands. Working fast and furiously, he climbed up the leg and back of the robot, with the injured brunette and his mentor watching on in astonishment. He reached the right shoulder of the bot and hoisted himself onto it, stabling his form on all fours. But even now, just disintegrating the zero-pointer's head wouldn't be enough to make it fall backwards as he needed it to.
I need to get in front of it!
And so, with who knows how much time left to spare, he scampered down the robot's right arm, remaining on all fours so as to not fall off. The bot still didn't notice him, maybe considering him too small of a threat to really care about. But that worked in Midoriya's favor, as he had no trouble reaching the end of the metal arm.
Looking up at the robot's rectangular face, he formulated a plan. The teen flexed his hand again, gripping the familiar feeling of his weapon's handle in both hands. He then made another decision that would make the ghost keel over, even though he again, technically couldn't.
He leaped off the arm of the zero-pointer, but turned his body so he was facing it head on in the air. Lifting his scythe as above his head as he possibly could, he channeled every single ounce of DT he had and more, and shared it with his weapon.
I need to hit this thing with everything I've got!! Then, the backlash of my swing should make it fall backwards!!
With every bit of strength and DT he had, he slashed the blade directly at the robot's head. The swing ripped through the air with force Midoriya had never used before.
But it wasn't close enough to hit the villain's head.
NO!!
He began to fall, thinking he had failed. That all his efforts were for nothing.
But a loud explosion made him look up.
His swing, while it only cut air, had so much DT pouring through it that it disintegrated every single molecule it had passed through. The absence of anything in that strike created an unstable vacuum. And as the molecules around it rushed to fill the void, the sheer instability generated an enormous shockwave that struck the zero-pointer head on!
The teen watched as the gigantic robot's face was decimated by the blow. It fell completely backwards from the swing and crashed into the area it had destroyed before, injuring no more examinees. He knew there was no way it would be able to get up after that.
Everyone in the mock city turned to watch the zero-pointer collapse and gasped in pure shock. Some had gotten to watch the show in action, but many were left wondering who took down that massive of an obstacle.
Unfortunately, there was one part of his master plan that went unaccounted for.
That being his descent.
He hadn't thought about how he would get down once he jumped off the robot, but as he was currently falling, the boy couldn't think of any way he could save himself. Sure, he wouldn't die of course, but his modified quirk records didn't mention his immortality at all. Once he eventually recovered from being a pile of mush, he would have to explain himself. And that would obviously cause a lot of problems.
As he came closer and closer to the ground, he truly realized there was nothing he could do. If he even tried to do a similar strike at the ground, the shockwave would likely injure many examinees. He would just have to splatter and come up with a story later.
Suddenly, he was slapped in the face. His end wasn't as painful as he expected, but he wasn't complaining.
But then he noticed he was floating above the ground, just inches from falling face flat. He instantly knew what was going on. It was the girl's quirk again!
He looked up at her and watched as she floated on a chunk of a robot. She looked to be struggling and in pain. Midoriya felt the guilt pool in his stomach. He didn't mean for her to get hurt more, especially trying to save him.
"Re...lease," she stammered out quietly, but just loud enough for him to hear.
He then dropped to the ground roughly, and the robot that the brunette was on fell right beside him. He got to his feet as quickly as he could and rushed over to her.
"W-watch out!" she cried, waving one hand in front of her face.
He stopped in his tracks at her warning and stepped back as she proceeded to barf right at the spot he previously was at. When she finished, he stumbled over to the side of the robot piece she was still laying on.
"Are you alright?" he asked, "Here, let me help you down."
She gratefully took his outstretched hand and pulled herself up so that she was sitting. The teen then motioned for her to jump down, opening his arms to gesture that he would catch her. The girl hesitated, but slid herself off the rubble. And as he had gestured, he did catch her, making sure her injured foot didn't hit the ground.
"I'm going to set you down. Is that ok?"
She nodded, so Midoriya set her down against the robot piece she had been floating on, just like he had done originally with the building.
"AND IT'S OVER!!"
The boy finally let out the breath he had been holding since the beginning of the exam, and let his shoulders slump. He was sure he hadn't passed the exam, but he had taken down the zero-pointer single handedly! That was enough for him to feel semi-prideful.
The examinees had now congregated around him and the girl, whispers and murmurs traveling through the crowd. But Midoriya didn't care at that moment. He just wanted to make sure the brunette was ok before he left.
The crowd then cleared as a small, old lady made her way through, using a giant syringe as a cane. He turned to look at the woman, immediately recognizing who it was.
"Recovery Girl!" the teen called out.
"Oh?" the heroine responded.
"Ah, um she has an injury to her left foot," he stated, motioning to the sitting girl.
"Well alright then."
The older woman moved to give the girl a kiss on her head. Almost instantaneously, her injured foot was completely healed, as if she never had the injury to begin with.
"Are you hurt anywhere dearie?" she now asked him.
"Ah, no no."
"Nonsense, here, take these gummies."
She then shoved a handful of gummy bears into his hand. He stumbled to catch them, but a good majority of them decayed at his fingertips. She looked up at him in confusion.
"Ah, sorry," he apologized, "That happens when I'm stressed."
"Oh that's alright. Do you want any more?"
"No, this is fine," he shoved the remaining gummies into his mouth.
She laughed at his antics, "Alright then dearie! Have a nice day!"
Midoriya moved to walk out with the rest of the examinees, but not before turning back to smile at the brunette. She smiled back at him, but before she could call out for him to stop…
He was gone.
Midoriya was confident he didn't pass. He knew that he'd scored well enough on the written portion of the exam, but with only 26 points, there was no way he passed the practical portion.
In the week after the exam, Gami did his best to lift the boy's mood. Sure, he did drill into him the day after the exam, making sure his successor would be more self preserving in the future. But he was proud of him, and of his success with his abilities. The shockwave from his scythe was proof enough that his training had paid off.
But that week, there wasn't much the man could do to make him feel better about his performance. He was sorely convinced that he'd blown the only shot he had at U.A.
His mother obviously hadn't noticed her son's change in behavior. And neither had his classmates. Ishihara would have probably noticed, but he hadn't gone to see the man since the entrance exam. He didn't want to disappoint the only other person that had believed in him.
It was around midday, and Midoriya was writing in one of his notebooks with the news playing in the background. The specter had gotten up at some point and hadn't joined him back on the couch. The man had probably left for the day, and he couldn't blame him. Who would want to hang out with such a failure like him?
"Izu!"
He turned to face the call in confusion. He thought that Gami had left.
"The letter! It's outside!!"
At that, he stumbled off of the couch and raced out the front door. Just as the spirit said, the letter from U.A. was inside his mailbox. He grabbed the envelope and rushed back inside, with the ghost right behind him. They both plopped themselves onto the sofa.
But staring at the letter in his hands, the teen suddenly lost all excitement to open it. He was lucky to have his normal, polyester gloves on, or the envelope would have probably disintegrated out of stress.
The man sitting next to him noticed his successor's hesitance and tried to ease him into opening the letter.
"Izu, we both know how great you are. And if U.A. cannot see that, then we will find another way for you to become a hero."
The boy sighed, "I guess you're right…"
He carefully ripped open the top and slid the contents out onto the coffee table. Out came a piece of paper and a metallic disc. As the disc hit the table though, it seemed to turn on. Both Midoriya and Gami flinched away from the bright screen that seemed to emerge from the device.
"THIS IS A PROJECTION!!"
And that was the last voice he wanted to hear today.
He could hear the ghost next to him groan. He almost did the same.
"Young Midoriya! I am here to discuss your exam results!"
"I wonder why All Might is speaking on behalf of U.A."
Midoriya was wondering the exact same thing.
"You did pass the written exam with flying colors!!"
He pretty much knew that already, but it was nice to have the confirmation.
"But with only 26 points on the practical, it naturally results in failure."
He looked down, not wanting to hear any more. His lip quivered and he could feel the tears threatening to fall. He knew he failed already.
"But that's not the end of the story!"
What?
"Please, watch the screen!!"
He looked up from his lap at the screen to see the brunette from the exam, looking worried.
"Excuse me, but…" he heard her say to Present Mic, "um that curly haired boy… with freckles…? If it wasn't for the scythe he had, he'd look pretty plain."
He watched the pro hero nod.
"Can you give him some of the points I earned?"
"What…?" Midoriya gasped in shock.
"He used up the last minutes of the exam to save me, but he could have gotten so many more points instead. Can you at least give him however many points he passed up trying to save me?!"
Both he and Gami turned to look at each other.
"That boy… he saved my life!!"
The screen paused, and the duo could hear All Might's voice return.
"You see," he started, "In this exam, we weren't just watching for villain based points!!"
The video then kept going and Present Mic moved to respond to the girl, "I'm afraid we can't give him your points. But there shouldn't be a need for it, my little listener!!"
Then the video stopped again, for what the teen assumed to be the last time as All Might's face reappeared on the screen.
"A hero course that rejects those who do the right thing… IS NO HERO COURSE AT ALL!!"
Now the two were intrigued. Where was the hero going with this?
"Rescue points were also a factor! Another way for U.A. to evaluate you!!"
Rescue points? Like points for saving people?
"60 POINTS FOR IZUKU MIDORIYA!!" he announced, making the boy fall back into the couch, "And while we're at it… 45 POINTS FOR OCHAKO URARAKA!!"
That was enough for the boy to let the waterworks fall, but for an entirely different reason that why he was going to before.
"Though I'm not sure how…" All Might huffed under his breath, though both individuals caught it.
He then thrusted his hand towards the screen.
"YOU'RE IN!!"
The projection stopped after that, but Midoriya's tears didn't. Gami wasn't too sure what to do, so he rubbed his hand onto his successor's back, hoping to calm him down.
"I did it…" he whimpered out, "I passed!"
"I am so proud of you. I knew you could do it!"
He jumped to embrace his mentor tightly. The ghost wasn't expecting it, but happily hugged back. He could feel the waves of happiness rolling off the boy, even as he was crying. They remained like that for a while, until the spirit suggested an idea.
"You have not visited Ishihara since the exam. Why don't you go tell him the good news?"
"Oh, that would be great!" he exclaimed, "He would be so proud!!"
The teen stood up and grabbed the paper that had come with the projection device. He didn't even get his backpack, or his coat, and flew out the front door, just stopping to grab his keys.
He shut the door roughly before running down the sidewalk in the direction of that beautiful, blue house.
And just like that, Midoriya's mood was ruined.
Dashed.
Devastated.
He was watching the news right before he had gotten his letter. There should have been no way he could miss a story as big as this.
Ishihara's quaint, blue house was partially crushed by a huge chunk of a building. The entire street was blocked off by police and surrounded by civilians. Looking up, the boy realized that an office building the next street over was missing the exact piece that was currently crushing his friend's home.
He frantically shoved his way through the crowd and approached the nearest officer.
"Sir, w-what happened?"
The officer turned to look at him, immediately recognizing who he was, "Oh is you, from the sludge villain incident 10 months back. Look kid, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You can't really be trusted to be this close to the scene."
"Please sir! I know the man who lives here!" he nearly broke down into tears again, "Please I need to know!"
The man sighed in exasperation, "I can't say much, but there was a pretty nasty villain attack here. His quirk hit that building over there during an altercation with some heroes and it fell on the house."
"Was there anyone in the house at the time?!"
The officer's shoulders slumped in annoyance, "Yeah, there was a man. He sustained pretty severe injuries and was in critical condition when he was rushed to the hospital."
Midoriya's hand shot up to his mouth, afraid he was going to throw up. He backed out of the crowd and stumbled on the sidewalk towards him home, nearly dropping the letter from U.A. in the process.
"Izu, I am sure he will be alright…"
But the teen didn't listen. He just wanted to get home. That, or see Ishihara alright. He hadn't spoken to him since before the exam. He actively refused to visit him in the week after he finished the exam, solely because he was afraid of disappointing him.
There was no way he could live with himself if something happened to him.
The two arrived back home, and Midoriya went right to the TV to turn on the news channel. He sat in front of the TV for the rest of the night until his mother came home, forcing him to evacuate. He didn't even eat any dinner, as much as Gami pushed him to do so.
He spent every single second trying to piece together what had happened to the man he had grown to care for so much.
The officer wasn't wrong. There was a villain attack in that area, but it didn't start out that close to the blue house. The heroes had pushed the villain by accident into the suburban area, away from the city where it started it. The villain had some sort of finger missile quirk, which allowed him to shoot his fingers off his hands like rockets, and then regrow them instantly. Whatever they hit, they did serious damage to.
Apparently, one of the villain's fingers strayed away from its target and hit that office building instead, causing a good sized chunk of it to fall down. And it fell right on Ishihara's house.
The man was in the house at the time, and like the officer said, was severely injured. The ambulance didn't arrive until almost 10 minutes later, after the villain was restrained. That's why his friend was in such critical condition. He had remained trapped and injured in his own home for nearly 10 minutes. That thought made Midoriya sick. But what made him sicker was the fact that there weren't any updates on his condition. He had no idea how the man was doing.
His mother eventually came home, so he moved into his room and turned off the TV.
Now, he sat at his desk. He was sketching in one of his notebooks before, but he couldn't will himself to do that anymore. He had sat completely still in the chair for a good while, unsure of what to really do, but eventually settled on doing his job. That needed to get done anyway.
He wasn't sure how long he had been working with the little puffs of light. Based on his mentor's begs for him to sleep, he was sure it had at least been two hours. But the boy didn't want to sleep. He simply felt too sick to shut his eyes. His head had been phasing in and out after each soul he sent away, not really paying too much attention to their names or their lives.
"Izu please. I understand you are hurting, but you need to sleep. It is nearly one in the morning."
"I..I can't sleep. I don't want to sleep knowing everything that's happened today."
"But you have to. At least try."
"I'll… I'll go to sleep in a little bit," he compromised, "Just not now."
Gami sighed, but took the little leeway he had been given. He moved next to his successor and ruffled his hair.
"Fine, but do not make it too long."
Midoriya nodded shakily and reached for another little orb. As it can to him, he could feel the warmth coming off of it. It felt sort of comforting, and he appreciated that in the moment.
But as he touched it and the information came flooding to his head, he choked and fell to the floor on his knees.
"No, no…" he stammered, dropping the soul to clutch his mouth.
"Izu what is it? What is wrong?"
"NO!!" he wailed and hunched over.
Gami immediately got the message.
But he wasn't sure how to help the distraught boy on the floor. Distraught wasn't even the right word for him at the moment. He was torn.
Broken.
Destroyed.
The specter was worried that the teen's mother might wake up because of the noise, but he couldn't lock the door, so he simply hoped that she was too drunk to even open her eyes.
"I didn't get to… I never got to… I… I…" he jumbled up his sentences to the point where the man was having a hard time figuring out what he was saying. He attempted to get closer to his successor when he let out another blood curling wail.
"I'M SORRY!!"
The noise in the room slowly diminished into pained gasps and sobs. Midoriya still didn't move from his spot on the floor. The small soul he had let go of was now floating right in front of his drooped head. The puff didn't move from its spot either. The room stayed silent other than the cries, but neither person made a move to change that. Not for a long time, anyway.
"I can't…" he finally stuttered out.
"Izuku…"
"I can't do it!"
The ghost took that as his cue to move in with the embrace. He knew exactly what Midoriya was experiencing right now. There had been a time where he himself had come face to face with his own loved ones while doing his job. It was painful, to say the very least. But he did realize that no matter where they were when they passed, or who they were with, he always got the last goodbye.
"I know, I know it hurts right now…" he started, hoping to calm the boy enough to at least hold the orb again, "But you have the chance… to show him before he has to go."
The teen's lip shook uncontrollably and ugly, fat tears streamed down his cheeks, but he still managed to look up at Gami.
"C-can he hear m-me?"
The spirit's gaze moved away, not that the boy could tell, "I… do not know… but you can still tell him."
The boy wasn't sure if he liked that answer, but he managed to get his shaking under control long enough to cup the soul again. He felt the warmth spread throughout his body again, like he was under the morning sun. The ball of light seemed to shine brighter in his hands, but he couldn't tell if that just was from the glint of his tears.
"Well, I've got full faith that you'll turn out to be someone great. And if you're planning on going into heroics, then I'll just have to keep an ear out for you."
"I…," he moved the light close to his chest.
"I meant what I said when we first met. Quirk or not, you are going to be a great hero one day Midoriya."
"I-I…," his tears fell from his face and onto his cupped hands, going right through the orb.
"Well I'm not saying you have to prove them wrong, but maybe try not to associate their words with negativity."
"…"
Gami watched as the boy struggled with what he wanted to say. He knew from personal experience, this was really difficult. But as much as he wanted to comfort him, he knew this wasn't the right time to do so. This was Midoriya's moment, and he wasn't going to intrude.
Said teen continued to sob, but it was much quieter than before. He felt like an absolute hurricane, as well as an awful person. He wished he could go back in time just to visit him again before today. The guilt that was eating at him wasn't pulling any punches. He wanted to make it up to the man. He wanted to make up for the fact that he hadn't come to visit like he should have. But he didn't know what words to use. What words could ever make up for what he had done, or more accurately, what he didn't do?
He turned his head away and looked towards his desk at random. Even from the floor, he could see the letter from U.A. as well as the holographic disc that had announced to him the good news. What a rollercoaster of a day it had been. And what he wouldn't give to make it less disastrous.
He looked back at the soul in his hands. He almost thought it was staring back at him, from the way it glittered.
"Just make sure to remember your biggest fan when you go pro."
"Ishihara-san…" he began again.
The light glowed in response, but Midoriya swore it was just his head messing with him.
"I did it. I'm going to U.A."