MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Musutafu.
"Today should be the day." Alfonzo said as he and Tatsuo sat at the kitchen table in his apartment. "So, what rank do you think you'll end up with?"
Time has passed since Tatsuo, Akatsuki, and Sakura took the U.A. High School Entrance Exam. And as Alfonzo said, today was the day they would receive their results by mail. And for this occasion, Alfonzo even took the day off from patrolling to see how well Tatsuo, Akatsuki, and Sakura did on the exam.
"Probably second." Tatsuo repied nonchalantly. "If I could use all my abilities, I would have no doubt about getting first. But with these nerfs, I can't compare to Sakura when it comes to AOE damage."
"Well, you could." Alfonzo pointed out. "But you'd cause way too much collateral damage."
"True." Tatsuo said with a nod. "Anyway, when do you think the package will arrive?"
"Who knows?" Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "Anyway, why don't you go and get lunch started? I'm getting hungry."
"Why don't you cook?" Tatsuo asked in return. "You're better at it, anyway."
"Nah... It's my day off." Alfonzo said with a smirk. "And I plan on just relaxing today."
"Whatever." Tatsuo said as he pushed himself up from his seat. "Then, I guess you're not eating today."
With that said, Tatsuo went into the kitchen and started looking through the refrigerator for something to cook. Meanwhile, Alfonzo only followed Tatsuo's figure with his eyes half closed.
'He wouldn't just cook something for himself, would he?' Alfonzo asked himself.
*Growl!*
Not long after he had that thought, Alfonzo smelled the scent wafting from the kitchen. When he did, he could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. On top of that, his stomach made its presence known, as well.
As time passed, the smell coming from the kitchen intensified. And with it, the frequency at which Alfonzo's stomach growled increased, as well. All the while, Alfonzo's fear that Tatsuo would only cook for himself grew exponentially.
Eventually, Tatsuo came out of the kitchen with a plate in his hands. However, when Alfonzo realized there was only one plate, his expression fell and he looked at Tatsuo as if he had just been hit with history's greatest betrayal.
"Seriously, Tatsuo?" Alfonzo asked in a despondent tone.
Tatsuo only shrugged his shoulders in response, a small smirk playing on his lips as he approached the table. Meanwhile, Alfonzo's eyes were glued to the plate in Tatsuo's hands all the way up to the point it was set on the table.
*Ding!* *Dong!*
However, before Tatsuo could sit down and start eating, the sound of the doorbell interrupted the moment.
"Since you're already standing up, you answer the door." Alfonzo said without taking his eyes off the plate.
"Like I don't know what you're thinking." Tatsuo muttered under his breath.
Even so, Tatsuo did as Alfonzo asked. But not before he tapped the table, causing a translucent purple barrier to cover the plate he just put down. And when he saw the look on Alfonzo's face that said: "Are you fucking kidding me?" Tatsuo could not help but smile brightly.
With that, Tatsuo made his way towards the front door. And Alfonzo watched him walk away, his slow steps feeling like a taunt to the older man.
When Tatsuo's figure eventually disappeared around a corner, Alfonzo's head snapped back in the direction of the plate and the barrier. He then activated his [Electromagnetic Quirk] and started working to breach the barrier. Unfortunately, nothing he did worked. Though, that's not to say that Alfonzo was not strong enough to break the barrier. Rather, using that much power would definitely damage the room. Even more important than that, he might destroy the food.
"Damn it." Alfonzo grumbled as nothing he did worked. "Is it really that serious? You could just cook some more, right?"
By that point, Alfonzo had forgotten that he had the ability to cook, as well. Then again, hunger can make you do stupid things.
Seeing no way to get to the food, Alfonzo was just about to give up. However, just before he did, he had one last idea of how to get through the barrier.
"This is the last time I'm gonnna try." Alfonzo muttered to himself as he created an electromagnetic field over the center of TAtsuo's barrier. "If this doesn't work, I'll just order something."
On top of forgetting that he was an even better cook than Tatsuo at the moment, Alfonzo's hunger had also made him neglect the fact that Tatsuo was taking much longer than necessary to answer the door. So, he naturally missed the fact that Tatsuo was watching him from the room's entrance with a large manila envelope under his right arm.
'Hmm... it looks like he's compressing a electromagnetic field.' Tatsuo thought to himself while watching Alfonzo. 'Oh, he's gonna try and make a small black hole, isn't he? I never thought about trying something like that before. But this doesn't look like his first time. And with his control over his ability, there'sa very small chance that he would damage anything other than what he wants to. Not a bad idea.'
While watching Alfonzo work, Tatsuo raised his left hand to his chin and cupped it while he continued to think.
'Is there any way I can apply that with [Space Manipulation]?' Tatsuo asked himself. 'I mean, if I made a region of space collapse in on itself, I should be able to create a black hole, too, right? Or do I even have to take it that far? What if I just compressed space? Could I create gravitational force if I did that? I'll have to test that out during this evening's training.'
*Shatter!*
Tatsuo was eventually pulled out of his contemplation by the sound of glass shattering. And when Tatsuo focused on Alfonzo once again, he saw exactly what he expected when he heard that sound.
Currently, Alfonzo was smiling brightly as the shattered shards of Tatsuo's barrier were sucked into a miniature black hole. Then, Alfonzo dismissed the electromagnetic field before the food on the plate could be affected. He then quickly reached for the plate, pulled it in front of him, and started eating ravenously with an expression of triumph on his face.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo could only smile wryly when he saw that. Then, he made his way back into the kitchen for a few moments before coming back with a plate that was filled with an identical meal and taking his seat at the table.
"The exam results are here." Tatsuo said, drawing Alfonzo's attention away from the food for a moment while holding the manila envelope up for Alfonzo to see once he looked up from the plate.
Initially, Alfonzo wanted to glance up with a victorious smile on his face before telling Tatsuo to open the envelope. However, when he saw the plate in front of Tatsuo, his smile froze on his face.
"Where the fuck did that come from?" Alfonzo asked in an annoyed tone.
"From the delivery guy." Tatsuo replied while innocently tilting his head to the right.
"Not the damn test results!" Alfonzo shouted while pointing at Tatsuo's plate. "I'm talking about the fucking food."
"The kitchen?" Tatsuo replied, his answer sounding more like a question as he tilted his head to the other side.
"So, you're telling me you made something for me, too?" Alfonzo asked with an eyebrow twitching.
"Yup." Tatsuo replied with a nod and a smile.
"Then..." Alfonzo said while lowering his head, causing his dreads to fall in front of his face. "Why did you tell me that you only made enough for yourself? If you had just told me the truth, I wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble to get something to eat."
"Huh?" Tatsuo intoned in mock confusion. "But I never said that."
"Bullshit!" Alfonzo shouted as he raised his head and pointed at Tatsuo with his right index finger. "I asked you if you really only made enough for yourself before you went to answer the door and you---"
At that moment, Alfonzo's words came to an abrupt halt as the conversation he was referencing replayed in his mind. And when he realized that Tatsuo never actually answered his question, his expression grew dark.
Meanwhile, Tatsuo, seeing the change in Alfonzo's expression, let his innocent expression turn into a teasing, victorious smile.
"Damn it..." Alfonzo muttered. "You never answered the fucking question."
"Nope~." Tatsuo sing-songed. "Sure didn't~."
"And let me guess..." Alfonzo continued while shaking his head in defeat. "You watched me break the barrier to learn other ways to use my [Electromagnetism Magic], right?"
"Bingo!" Tatsuo replied in a jovial tone. "You gave me an idea to try with [Space Manipulation], too. So... Thanks a lot."
Hearing that, Alfonzo clenched his fists while looking at Tatsuo intensely. Meanwhile, Tatsuo stared back while continuing to smile.
As time passed, the tension in the room rose slowly, yet surely. And after a few seconds, the tension suddenly shattered when...
"Ahahahahahaha!"
*Slap!* *Slap!* *Slap!* *Slap!* *Slap!*
... Alfonzo started laughing hysterically while repeatedly slapping his thigh.
"Damn... You got me." Alfonzo said through his laughter. "I was so fucking hungry that I didn't even think about it. Fuck!"
Tatsuo only shook his head in reply. However, he was wiping away beads of sweat internally.
'Honestly, I thought he was gonna wanna fight when I saw the look on his face.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Then again, would that have been all that bad? I mean, even though I have memories of sparring with Alfonzo thanks to the background I bought, I've never fought him since the [Chat] opened up. Hmm... I'm gonna have to fix that before school starts.'
"Anyway, open the letter." Alfonzo said, snapping Tatsuo out of his thoughts. "We can eat while we watch the video."
Nodding his head, Tatsuo tore the envelope open. He then pulled out several pieces of paper and a disc-shaped device with a couple of buttons in the center.
Taking a quick look at the documents, Tatsuo realized it was an acceptance letter and a sheet that told him his score on the entrance exam's two parts. However, instead of reading it, he put it down on the table before placing the disc-shaped device in the center of the table and pressing the play button.
*Flash!*
In the next instant, a light rose from the center of the disc-shaped device. Then, after another moment, an image of All Might, wearing a bright yellow suit that looked as though it was struggling to cope with his muscle mass, appeared in the light.
{"Hello, Young Soramoto!"} All Might's image said in a booming voice while a wide smile adorned his face. {"Allow me to congratulate you on being accepted into U.A. High School!"}
The recording then went on to talk about Tatsuo's performance during the entrance exam, eventually showing the top ten participants and their scores in a chart.
{U.A. Entrance Exam: Practical Exam Results
Rank Name Villain Rescue Total Score
1. Matou Sakura 94 45 139
2. Soramoto Tatsuo 87 51 138
3. Hanekura Shizuka 80 43 123
4. Midoriya Izuku 25 70 95
5. Bakugo Katsuki 77 0 77
6. Uraraka Ochaco 28 45 73
7. Shiosaki Ibara 36 32 68
8. Kirishima Eijiro 35 31 66
9. Kendo Itsuka 25 40 65
10. Ida Tenya 52 9 61}
"Looks like Kirishima really took a hit in his number of points because he was in the same group as Sakura." Tatsuo said while looking over the top ten and ignoring the rest of All Might's recording.
"Yeah, I don't remember what his score was in the canon, but I know he came in second place." Alfonzo added. "But the real big difference was Midoriya. If the three of you weren't taking the test, he would have ended up in first place. I guess having a modicum of control over [One for All] makes a hell of a difference."
"Still managed to bust up his arm and legs, though." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "But I guess progress is progress."
"Well, you can't expect all that impulsiveness to just disappear." Alfonzo said. "Not everyone was trained to be an assassin who always keeps their calm."
"I guess." Tatsuo said as he went back to eating his lunch.
{"... Just remember."} All Might's recording said, bringing his speech to an end. {"No matter what you do, you have to always go... PLUS ULTRA!"}
With that, the recording ended, and the disc-shaped device shut off. However, neither Tatsuo nor Alfonzo were paying attention. Neither did they get overly excited since they expected a result like this. Instead, the only thing they thought of was that one of their [Mission Objectives] had been completed.
A few hours later, after celebrating with their families in this world, Akatsuki, Sakura, and Izuku arrived at Alfonzo's building to celebrate as a group. And for this celebration, both Alfonzo and Tatsuo combined their talents to prepare a meal fit for kings for the top four scorers of this year's U.A. High School Entrance Exam.
Meanwhile, Toshinori, who had to be trained as a teacher, causing him to miss the celebration, was nearly in tears because he missed it. Or rather, because he missed the food.
And when the other U.A. High teachers saw the way Toshinori, who was in his All Might persona, was acting, they were both amused and thoroughly confused. Just seeing the symbol of Peace muttering to himself and whining about not being able to go somewhere like a petulant child would make just about anyone feel that way, after all.
Even so, despite being so curious that it almost physically hurt, none of the other U.A. teachers asked Toshinori what was bothering him out of respect for his privacy. AS a result, the sound of sniffling could be heard throughout most of the evening in the U.A. High School Teacher's Office.