Once More (My Hero Academia)

6: Accepted

One week after the exam.

"IZUKU!!" His mom screamed, holding out the white envelope with her trembling hand, "Your decision letter is here!"

Izuku was so nervous he was sure his heart would explode.

49 villain points, unknown rescue points.

If he didn't get in, he was a disgrace to U.A. He went there for a year of school, for goodness sake! He had the most experience out of everyone there at the exam, even if his body wasn't used to his quirk yet. If only he didn't hurt his leg at the very beginning, or if he did more during the 10 months of training...

Izuku shook the thought away. It was too late for regrets -- he did his best, and that's what mattered.

In his room, he took a deep breath and tore open the envelope.

A small projector lit up, and All Might appeared in the hologram.

"Hello, young man!" The hero said with his usual, gigantic grin.

Izuku smiled nervously, "Hey All Might."

"Okey-doke, here comes the exciting moment for your status update. Are you stressed? HAHA!"

"Gah! Just get to the point!"

All Might cleared his throat.

"Congratulations! You have passed the entrance exam and have been admitted to U.A. High School."

Izuku let out a breath of relief, eyes watering.

The last 10 months had been really hard for his mind. Even though he knew he had a pretty good chance of getting in, the small possibility of not getting accepted had always lurked in the back of his mind.

But it was relieving. He was one step closer to defeating the villains.

"Wait, what were my scores?" Izuku asked.

"You passed the written exam with a pretty good score, and for the practical test, 49 villain points, very impressive! But most breathtaking, 47 rescue points, making 96 points in total, placing number 1 in the entrance exams this year!!"

"WHAT?" Izuku shot up from his seat. He started panicking a bit.

Really, he was grateful for the high rescue points, but if he was in first place... What about Bakugo? If Izuku knew anything about Bakugo, is that Kacchan would NOT be happy with this.

The future was already starting to change.

And for the first time since coming back, Izuku had no idea what would happen.

•••

Izuku opened the door, and his mother turned to him anxiously.

He smiled and told her he got in.

"Oh!" His mom covered her mouth with her hands, tears sparkling in her eyes. She then pulled Izuku into a tight hug and cried in joy.

In the evening, Izuku met All Might at the beach again. The sun was gone, only a dim purple light remaining in the atmosphere. The sky was a beautiful, deep blue.

"Congrats, young Midoriya," skinny All Might hugged Izuku, "I watched you in the observation room, and I gotta say, any last scrap of doubt I had in you dissipated. The way you use One For All... it's clearly a part of you already."

"Even so, I couldn't have done it without you. You changed my life forever."

The hero laughed, "Well, work hard, young man. And remember, don't be too reckless. With knowledge from the future, you have an advantage. Don't lose it."

•••

"What the hell did you do? Did you have some sort of advantage? You cheated, didn't you?!" Bakugo snarled as he slammed Izuku into the wall.

They had just come out of the main office, where their teachers praised both of them for getting into the best hero school in Japan.

"Kacchan--"

"SHUT UP, you damn nerd!" Bakugo grabbed the hem of Izuku's uniform, "Now tell me, word by word, how the hell did you get into U.A.?! Most of all, how did you get a score higher than me?!"

Bakugo leaned in close, his face only inches apart from Izuku's. Izuku had never seen such hatred in Bakugo's eyes.

"What did you do to cheat?" Bakugo growled.

Izuku clenched his fists nervously. Not because of Bakugo's killing glare, but because the blonde boy was much angrier than last time.

Last time Bakugo got the highest score. But Izuku? The previously skinny, pathetic nerd Deku, suddenly getting the highest score in the U.A. entrance exam? That was simply impossible.

"Answer me!!" Bakugo hollered, blasting an explosion in the side of Izuku's face.

Izuku let him. The explosion burned his cheek and made his head spin. His eyes defocused, black spots swimming.

"Kacchan," Izuku took a deep breath.

"I got my quirk."

Silence.

"As if I believe that," Bakugo scoffed, letting go of Izuku's shirt, "show me then, you liar."

Izuku activated his quirk, and the dark corner they were standing in lit up from the green glow of One For All. Izuku leaped into the air, at least two stories tall.

When he landed, Bakugo's face went from shock to utter disbelief, then to rage.

"You've... been tricking me all this time?!" Bakugo lifted a palm, sparks flying.

"Kacchan, listen, it was really sudden for me too. It literally happened right before the exam--"

"Lie again and I'll blow your face off," Bakugo threatened, "your quirk randomly, impossibly manifesting doesn't make you better than me. Fight me, I'll prove you cheated."

"Fine," Izuku said, "beat me up however you want if that makes you feel better."

Bakugo's eyes widened, "What?"

"It's reality," Izuku asserted, "I did not cheat. If I had to take the test again, I'd still get in. You can't stop me. I'm going to that school and becoming a hero whether you like it or not."

Bakugo yelled, his shoulders trembling in anger. He then blasted Izuku in the stomach with an explosion.

Izuku grit his teeth, his mind tore between whether he should fight back or not. He decided not to.

Bakugo glared coldly at Izuku again.

"I'm gonna destroy you at U.A," the blonde boy said.

Izuku stayed silent, and Bakugo walked away.