章 14: A Test of Strength, not of Character: Ch 2
HEEEEEEy Everybody, I'm back!
OKOKOKOK! Lots of content from last chapter, not enough time! Speed fill-in-holes-time!
*Beeeeeeeg Hot Chocolate Sip*
A few people brought up the fact U.A. has Cementoss build all their stuff, and that's how they make the cities, and you know what, fair point. I'll give you that one, but have you considered that they still have to buy the cement for him to use? So cutting material quality would still be an efficient way to cut costs?
And the buildings they have that Villain vs Hero training session in are full of other things besides concrete, like doors, windows, and railings. Those can't just be 'Cementossed' away as an explanation.
AndAnd And Cementoss isn't immortal (I don't think) and UA has been running for a long time, before Cementoss worked for them, so they had to be doing this stuff before he was in their employ. And Nezu would be an idiot to make UA's entire system dependent on one guy who could be kidnapped and/or killed in Hero work at any time.
Eh? Eh? Whadd'ya think of that one?
'Course that's just what I came up with in the five seconds since I sat down to write this opening, and I haven't the slightest idea how it'll stand up to scrutiny!
*Sips Hot Chocolate*
Feel free to argue the points I made and tell me how wrong I am. Just, ya'know, don't try to take me to court over it.
-A Test of Strength, not of Character: Ch 2-
Tick Tock
…
Tick Tock
…
Tick Tock
What a waste…
Tick Tock
He had spent all that time and effort to make his serum, literal months of all nighters, betting his life on a rushed project that he had to cut far too many corners to get done on time. All of that… and he hadn't spent five seconds googling how to properly throw a punch?
Tick Tock
Just… really?
Tick Tock
If he had learnt how to properly fight, he could have easily gotten quite a few points under his belt. Nothing jaw dropping obviously, he wasn't exactly strong enough to rip steel plating with his bare hands so he'd have to play it smart and cautious, but a decent score was definitely something he could have achieved.
Tick Tock
Learn how to properly dodge, weave past the bot's attacks, hop on their back, spear them in the joints with anything remotely pointy- simple enough. But instead he had cut it to the literal wire, and bet everything on his last minute stunt.
Tick Tock
A stunt that hadn't even worked.
Tick Tock
Strength was nothing without the knowledge of how to use it… and he obviously didn't know how to.
Which was what he'd spent the week waiting for his test results trying to rectify. Reading martial art theories, watching and replicating basic fighting tutorials, and spending time honing his reaction time and spatial awareness out in the forest.
The results were, well, what you'd expect a week's worth of effort to be.
Definitely better now that he actually knew what he was supposed to do, but still sub par- overwhelmingly mediocre at best. Especially considering he'd only been able to work out in the evenings, after finishing his lab work.
Give it another few months of training, some better reference material, toss in a self made gadget or two to help compensate, and he'd at least be adequate in combat.
Hindsight might be 20/20 but that doesn't make it any less stupid!
Tick Tock
Of course in the back of his head he knew if he had delegated the time to learning to fight he wouldn't have been able to finish his serum on time. It had been last minute as it was, even then only possible thanks to constant all nighters every week, and far too many cut corners. Splitting time away for yet another project would have left his efforts spread too thin, and when the exam came he would have had an unfinished serum, and an underdeveloped martial skill set.
Tick Tock
But he refused to acknowledge it! There had to have been a way for him to pull it off by his own merits!
Tick Tock
There had to be a way for him to have passed…
Tick Tock
...there had to.
Tick Tock
…
Tick Tock
…
Tick To-
The annoying noise was cut off as Izuku brought his hand down on top of the clock from across the table. Raising his head from the crook of his arm, where he had been trying to forget the world around him existed, he squinted his eyes through the bright sunlight and glared at the ugly thing sitting across from him.
It was a strange amalgamation of an AllMight bobblehead and a digital clock that displayed both the time and date in an absolutely awful font, that was apparently supposed to represent the Hero's loud way of talking.
"What idiot designed this… why the hell does it have to make a ticking noise if it's a digital clock?"
Terrible design or not, it did do its job as a clock surprisingly well, and the information it provided made Izuku groan and drop his head back down.
36 Hours… It had been 36 Hours since he opened that damn letter.
36 Hours since he stormed out of the house in a rage.
36 Hours since his mother last knew where he was.
36 Hours of wandering around in a haze.
Tick Tock
Tick Tock
Growling, the failed hero candidate glowered at the stupid clock that had the gawl to start ticking again.
A few hours ago he had wandered into a shopping mall, and after several food advertisements made him realize how hungry he was, he swung by a grab to grab a soda.
"Congratulations!" They had said. "You're our 100th customer of the day- you've won a free LIMITED EDITION AllMight clock!"
Tick Tock
"So Lucky!" They said.
He scowled.
The stupid clock just smugly smiled back.
Tick Tock
He really wanted to punch it.
Tick Tock
"Tch."
His phone began buzzing in his pocket before suddenly cutting off short.
Must have finally run out of power.
It's not like he needed to check it anyway, he knew exactly what he'd find.
Countless missed calls from his mother worrying about him. Calls from Ujiko wondering where he was. A wall of unread texts and emails, and multiple notifications telling him that someone on his family plan was asking permission to turn on his location services.
Strangely Ujiko had stopped all attempts at contact after the first six or so hours. Knowing the Scientist, he had either A): gotten distracted with a project, or B): had somehow already found Izuku and was keeping an eye on him through… some kind of means.
… of course how he even knew Midoriya ran off in the first place was anyone's guess.
Tick Tock
Tick Tock
'Ok, that's it-'
Tick Tock
'-I'm killing this thing!'
Tick Tock
But as Izuku was debating the moral repercussions of beating a clock, over the top with a metal pipe, in a dark alleyway, the universe decided to throw him a bone.
"E-Excuse me, could I have a moment of your time to talk to you about the HFQO?"
The young scientist made a contemplative 'hmm'ing sound and, without breaking eye contact with his (new) eternal nemesis, tilted his head towards the voice to show he was listening. "Sure, why not? I don't have much better to do."
"Ok then, sorry for wasting yo- Wait you'll listen!?"
"Uhhh," Leaning back in his seat, and taking a sip of his still mostly full, and now lukewarm, soda, he blinked a few times before unenthusiastically responding with, "I mean that's what I said, right?"
"Oh, um, thank you! I promise this won't take long. I'm spreading awareness and raising donations for the Home For Quirkless Orphans, we're a non-profi-"
"Wait, the whatwhat !?"
THAT got Izuku's attention. Tearing his eyes from the smug clock, he whirled his head around to find a normal girl who couldn't be much older than him. And normal as in, normal normal. No claws, no wings, no oddly shaped body parts, standard height, not even any dyed hair. Just a normal, black haired, brown eyed, normal looking girl, who you could easily lose in any crowd.
"O-Oh I'm sorry, I'll leave if you want me to…"
"Nonono- wait, no- Why didn't you just start off with that?!" He asked, still shocked. "It's much more attention grabbing than that acronym you started off with."
"W-Well," She scratched her neck and glanced away, "When people learn that it's a private orphanage specifically for Quirkless children they tend to lose interest or jump to conclusions. 'Why a private orphanage?' 'Why just for them?' 'The government has many successful state funded orphanages, why not send them to those?'- they don't let me finish explaining."
"I mean-" The young Scientist put down his soda, and turned to fully face her, "You'll have to forgive me, but those are good questions. Why not send them to state funded homes? They wouldn't lack any funding."
"BECAUSE!" She slammed her hands down on the table, causing Izuku to lean back in surprise, unprepared for her sudden change in demeanor. "Those orphanages are TERRIBLE for quirkless children!"
The girl who had been so timid just three seconds ago, hissed like a rattlesnake. "They're picked on, bullied, and in the worst cases even physically abused by the other kids! Not to mention being quirkless is more and more often being treated like a birth defect, and the percentage of quirkless children abandoned by their parents is higher than any other…" She grimaced and unconsciously brought a hand to her side, as if clutching an old wound "It's a terrible place to grow up in."
"Oooh." He made a noise of understanding.
Well that certainly explained how she could become so passionate about it at the drop of a hat. And it also made the situation so much more awkward for Izuku, partially because talking about things like abuse wasn't something he was experienced in, especially not talking about it to someone who had been, but also because he had no idea how to deal with someone who's attitude flipped like a coin so fast.
'Someone like me.' He grimaced, knowing from experience, just how difficult that made it for some people to hold a conversation with him.
"Come now, take a seat." He gestured to the empty seat across from him. "Let's see what I can do for you."
"Y-You're not going to demand to see evidence?" The young woman blinked owlishly at him. "O-Or call me a liar?"
"Of course not." Izuku smiled with a sad laugh as he motioned for her to sit down. "I've encountered plenty of evidence on my own, I guess I just never thought it was so widespread. Now why don't you sit down and fill me in on how I can help?"
"O-Oh, th-thank you, not many people are willing to hear me out." She said as she carefully sat down. "My name is Yuna, as you already know, I work for the HFQO, a non-profit organisation dedicated to saving quirkless children from abusive environments. Every day…"
As Yuna explained their mission, and gave descriptions of the environments they had pulled children out of, Izuku couldn't help clenching his fists in anger, bending the edge of the flimsy metal table he was sitting at. His mind shot back to Bakugo, his cronies, and everything that had happened since the boy had gained his quirk.
Bakugo for his part had always been upfront, anything and everything he had done, he did looking Izuku in the eye and in response to some perceived challenge. He demanded that Izuku step down, and then fought a very one sided fight with him when he didn't. The explosive teen was a lot of things, but a coward wasn't one of them- and he didn't go out of his way to target Izuku either, he fought anyone he thought was challenging him.
Bakugo wasn't, and would never be, a coward. He never did anything 'under the table'… the other kids hadn't been nearly as 'chivalrous'.
From threatening notes in his locker, to stealing his stuff when he wasn't looking, and tacks on his chair, he had known for a long time that Bakugo wasn't the only one who thought less of him for being quirkless. But it had always been him that was targeted by the class, it had always been him that had wound up burnt, he had always stood up for other people when they were bullied, but he could toughen through it because it was him that they were taking it out on, instead of someone else… except he wasn't the only one.
In hindsight it was obvious, he wasn't the only quirkless kid in Japan, and they were just as appealing to bullies as he had been. Not to mention that not everyone had a Bakugo prowling around their school, making sure no one ever got too aggressive for fear of him thinking they were challenging him.
As Yuna ended her sales pitch, Izuku drummed his fingers on the table. It was a strange feeling, he had run into these situations many times before, where something bad was happening right in front of him, but every time- every SINGLE time, he was always helpless to do anything at all. Even with the sludge villain he hadn't really made any impact. But here he was, sitting at the mall of all places, with what was undoubtedly the most personal of these situations he'd ever encountered, and somehow, someway, despite being further from his dream of being a Hero than he ever had, he was able to help more now than ever before.
His job at the lab paid well, especially well for someone his age, and while it was nice to have a good amount safe in the bank, he didn't exactly have anything to use it for. He had gotten a new laptop, and some clothes to replace the ones he had outgrown, but other than that?
He smiled as he pulled out a check and jotted down more zeros than any person his age should reasonably have free access to- it was much better off helping people than sitting in a dusty old vault.
"Th-Thirty five Thousand!?" Yuma sputtered as he handed her the check. It was almost four fifths of what he had, sure, but it wasn't like he needed it, and besides…
"M-My God, I-I can't take this, w-w-we could replace all the kids' old clothes with this! We can finally get them new mattresses! We could fix the AC! Hell, we could expand an entire new room with this!"
Izuku smiled as the girl began sputtering to herself, her eyes wet with the beginning of tears, they could use the money far better than he could.
-Rain of Sins-
Tick To-
Thunk, Fwoop
-ck Tick
Thunk, Fwoop
Tock Ti-
Thunk, Fwoop
-ck Toc-
Thunk
Izuku hummed as he interrupted the clock's annoying sound again and again. Smirking as he tossed it into the air-
Fwoop
-letting it tick as it wanted to. Letting it believe that it was free, free to tick tock as it wanted, free to pursue its own dreams.
Tick
But like all things, the clock couldn't escape gravity, no matter how hard it dreamt.
...or how hard it lied.
And so-
-It fell
...And he was waiting for it.
Toc -
Thun- Crack
Izuku hummed again, though this time in displeasure as he glanced down at the clock. It seemed as though he had grabbed it a bit too hard that time, as indicated by the large crack running up the clock and through AllMight's face.
Frowning lightly, he tossed it up again and confirmed with a sigh that it no longer ticked it's tocks, which made it a broken clock.
Thunk .
Izuku paused as he caught it again, looking over the edge of the bridge in contemplation. The setting sun reflected off the still bayou water, it's reds and yellows illuminating the world in a somber glow.
A broken clock that didn't tick was a clock that didn't tell the right time, which made it a lying clock.
He glanced at AllMight's cracked face.
A Lying clock for a Lying Hero, a perfect match!
And well, there's only one thing to do with liars after all.
The failed hero reeled back and threw the clock over the edge of the bridge, where it landed with a satisfying splash.
Izuku smiled as he watched AllMight's fake smile sink below the water.
He hated All Might, All Might willingly lied to millions of people every day, spewing fake slogans and catchphrases that he didn't even believe in, himself. Sure he claimed it was for the greater good, and he probably even believed it, but then again…
...anyone could convince themselves that, when they're raking in huge sums in merchandise money.
"I hate what he stands for." The scientist muttered, and he grinned as a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He didn't need AllMight, he didn't need Bakugo, he didn't need fake promises, and he didn't need to be a Hero!
After all, he had something much better than AllMight. A genuine smile spread across his face as he pulled a flier from his pocket.
He could make the world a better place on his own.
Home For Quirkless Orphans
You'll never help anyone just by sitting still!
Donate and help those less fortunate keep moving forward!
Be a Hero! Help make a better tomorrow, today!
Hero… his gaze lingered on that word for longer than he would have liked before drifting to the sinking AllMight clock.
"You do your thing AllMight," Izuku hummed as he walked past a small butterfly, "And I'll do mine."
And the rain began to fall.
-End Chapter-
-Rain of Sins-
-Bonus Scene That Is Cannon For The Fic, But I Couldn't Find A Good Time To Put In-
A week had come and gone without a response from UA but that was to be expected, it probably took them a decent amount of time to sort through all the resulting paperwork and scores from the entrance exam.
But that wasn't worrying Izuku, he was certain he passed, and was far too busy scolding himself over his performance to think too hard about it anyway. And he was far, far too busy trying to decipher what was happening in front of him to even think about the exam.
The green haired boy currently stood in the front door of his apartment, staring blankly at the scene in front of him.
"Izuku my boy!" Ujiko greeted him with a strained cheer. "Quickly, quickly, come sit down with us!" he rapidly patted an empty seat at the dinner table, waving him over with a slight undertone of panic in his voice.
"Yes, Izuku. Come sit down, we need to discuss something." His mother spoke in a completely neutral voice, her arms crossed in front of her on the table as she stared directly at him.
'Ok, deep breaths.' Izuku slowly made his way to the table, and sat down hesitantly. ' This probably isn't as bad as it looks.'
"W-Why are you here Dr Ujiko?" he hesitantly asked.
"Good question my boy!" Ujiko leaned forward, talking much faster than he normally did. "Now you see, I was ordering some coffee from a local Starbucks you see- online and with extra caffeine obviously- when I got no less than five- FIVE! messages from you my boy! Granted they weren't actually sent by you- but I didn't know that at the time. So why I figured that, since I was in the area, I might as well take a jolly good 'ol stroll down here and see just what the fuss was all about! Because my boy, you see, you know how I am in these situations, I strive to get work done WELL! And who could do a better job than myself?! Indeed-Indeed, you see I, as a man of science, always have, and always wi-"
A sharp "A-hem" from Izuku's mother brought the Doctor's rambling to a quick death.
'This is definitely as bad as it looks!'
"What I want to know…" She stared both of them down with more ferocity than Ujiko had ever seen from even his master. "Is why my baby boy suddenly grew a foot and a half, and why I found a broken vial with glowing liquid in his room!?"
"Oooooh…" Ujiko stroked his mustache and nodded, apparently just now learning the reason he'd been wrangled into this mess.
Izuku felt a soft kick to his foot, drawing his attention from his mother to the mad scientist, who gave him a wink before clearing his throat as he turned to address Ms Midorya.
Rather than be reassured, Iuzku instead felt his survival chances plummeting.
"Ms Izuku's mother-" Ujiko said with a stroke of his mustache and his sales voice, "I understand your concerns, and the position you're coming from, but I assure you that my apprentice here has done nothing wrong at all!" He clapped the boy on the shoulder. "Now I must admit that the serum the boy took was highly experimental, and indeed it hadn't been tested on anything- BUT I personally read over all the boy's notes and approved! Granted it was after he had already used it, so if it was really dangerous I wouldn't have known until long after things went wrong- but it wasn't, and nothing went wrong, so there's no reason to even entertain the idea that he could have gruesomely died alone in his room!"
Watching as his mother's face grew paler every word, Izuku frantically kicked the Doctor's leg, desperately trying to get him to shut up. Not that it worked of course.
"Now that's not to say that it wasn't dangerous, it definitely was, but it was well within the acceptable fatality rate for standard operating procedures in the lab-" He leaned forward, gesturing with his hands in a joking manner, "and honestly, I mean, the kid's worked with plenty of things much more dangerous than some half-baked steroids. If he was gonna die on the job, he woulda done so long before now! And as I was saying before-"
Izuku cried as he cupped his face in his hands, this was it. He knew that frozen look on his mom's face, Ujiko had doomed them both, they were dead! He had survived his serum, survived the U.A. exam, but was going to be killed by his mother!
-End ChapterX2-
Momdoriya OP
Next chapter, we check in on everyone's favorite living warhead, and we finally get to justify having Momo in the tags.
Also I really don't feel like converting to yen every time I have to do anything with money, so we're just going to stick with good ol' American Dollar Bill$ for everyone's convenience.
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