Chapter 9: Serenity (Patreon)

After a quick breakfast with his mom once again cooking his favorite Katsudon, Izuku got dressed with an old shirt that was, in plain Izuku fashion, printed with the title "White Shirt", and paired with durable cargo pants for the trials ahead.

With his early rise in the day, not that he had slept at all, Izuku would be having a large amount of time to himself before the start of the U.A. entrance exams.

Yesterday, before Izuku and Inko separated from the heroes, Nezu gave Izuku a piece of paper that would allow him to take the entrance exam.

"Wait, I have to take a test?" Izuku asked the chimera, to which the confusing being nodded.

"Indeed." Nezu grinned like a madman, as much as an animal could look like a man, and waved his paws. "That said, even if you fail, you will still be admitted to my school as a special circumstance."

"Damn, you're really pulling all the stops on this." Izuku lips quirked in amusement.

"There is no small price to pay for top quality heroism." Nezu chirped back, slightly scaring off the other adults with his squeaky laughter. "After all, society can be a bit fickle at times."

"Izuku, sweetie." Izuku's mom looked at him with worried eyes, her lips quivering slightly at the sight of the reminiscing teen. "Be careful, okay."

"I will." Izuku gave his mother a smile, before slowly approaching her with arms stretched outwards. Inko did the same and embraced her son in her own hug, breath coming out shakily as she relished in the presence of her own flesh and blood. "I'll come back, and you can feed me more katsudon."

The remark got a laugh from Inko as she reluctantly separated from her son. With one last look, she gave Izuku a confident, albeit slightly anxious grin. "Come home safe and I'll let you have a buffet of my special recipe!"

"Deal!" Izuku barked out and gave his mother a kiss on the forehead before saying his farewells.

As he left the humble apartment with his bag full of supplies for the entrance exam, he couldn't help but feel refreshed at the feeling of contact with a person after an extended amount of time of isolation. Plus points with it being his mother, the person that let him stayed glued together during his time in Lordran.

It was pure bliss, and he would do anything to make sure nothing happens to interrupt this feeling.

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"Hmmm..."

A giant building made of glass surrounded by thick, metal walls stood imposingly before Izuku. Crowds of U.A. hopefuls all trickled in slowly through the front doors not unlike a steady flowing river.

"Hmmmmmmmmm..."

Arms crossed with squinted eyes directed at the giant man-made construction, Izuku couldn't help but feel like the principal was a bit too... eccentric with his choices in architecture.

"You know what, this isn't even that weird compared to that manor library place..."

Izuku also noticed a sharp gasp from behind him, but paid it no heed as his legs moved on autopilot, bringing him closer and closer to the building shaped in a giant, conspicuous letter.

Squeezing through the river of bodies proved no problem to the person who had mastered the art of slipping through a bunch of obstacles in tight spaces. That said, Izuku had to repress his instincts to slash through everything around him and turn them into a gory mess of their former selves because one, that would be bad, and two, he did not have his preferred weapons of choice.

Also, it would be very, very bad. Izuku had to remind himself twice because his instincts were getting harder and harder to ignore due to the noise the other U.A. hopefuls made.

'Somehow, this is making me miss the Firelink Shrine...' Izuku somberly reminisced about the serene place that was his, and some of the other undead, gathering hub. And now that feeling was being trampled upon due to the noise the humans were making.

Izuku normally wasn't too stab-happy, but if he was annoyed, then he would gladly go on a killing spree. It happened before, it can happen again, but this time there would be consequences, so he mentally kicked himself and focused on the task at hand.

Take the entrance exam and immediately book it home.

"All examinees, please proceed to your designated rooms to begin your written exams."

The voice of the rat-bear-dog principal of the school echoed through the halls via the PA system. Following that, all of the other human teenagers quickly shuffled about in search of their rooms, to which Izuku was left befuddled.

He took out the paper Nezu gave him yesterday and perused its contents, only to stare in complete confusion.

'Nezu forgot to tell me...' Izuku stood silently as he stared dumbfounded at the piece of paper. He looked left and right, realizing that the river of examinees had diminished into trickle of humans hurriedly walking towards their designated rooms.

"Midoriya Izuku, right?" The voice from behind nearly caused him to roll forward and prepare for a fight, but Izuku immediately brought his instincts to heel as he turned around to face the source of the voice.

"Yes...?" Izuku stared at a shaggy man dressed in black, his hair a mess and face looking like it had seen better days. The most notable thing about his appearance, however, was the odd-looking scarf that wrapped around his neck and shoulders like a giant mantle.

"Follow me. Principal Nezu tasked me to bring you along." The man turned around and began power walking through the hall. "And don't ask me any questions. My paycheck isn't enough to handle a case like yours."

Izuku could hear the tiredness in the shaggy man's voice, so he shrugged and followed him without saying a word, a gesture the man seemingly appreciated as his tense shoulders ever so slightly relaxed.

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The teen behind him was obedient, if anything. He was silent, incredibly so, the whole walk to where the damn rat... Excuse himself, the RAT GOD, yes, in all caps, as the damn animal demanded to be mentally called, wanted the green haired teen to be dragged in.

Don't ask how the rat knew, he just did. He was terrifying like that.

As their feet shuffled through the unoccupied hallways, Izuku glanced here and there, taking in the architecture of the building, as well as making a mental map in his head in case he went on his way alone without any help whatsoever.

A few more minutes of silence and walking and they finally stopped at a gigantic door with the label "Principal's Office" labeled on the front.

"Go inside and meet with principal Nezu." The shaggy man motioned for the teen to head in. "He'll instruct you further on your own... brand of an entrance exam, if it can even be called that."

The man's voice trailed off at the end, barely amounting to a whisper. Izuku tilted his head slightly sideways at that, but otherwise shrugged then headed in, leaving the black-themed man to his own devices.

"This is going to be a fun, fun year, I can tell." The man sighed as he lazily shuffled towards another room just down the hall.

All was fine in the world, no student to annoy him, no other pro hero harass him, and the wonderful, tranquil silence of his own thoughts making his only company.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite sleep-deprived colleague." A sultry voice broke the man's thoughts and he grumbled.

Scratch that, his day was now perfectly ruined.

"What do you want, Kayama?" He turned to look at the person behind him, fully aware of the antics of one of his oldest friends wearing something a teacher wouldn't be caught dead with.

"Can't a girl greet her own friend, Shota?" The heroine strutted forward, a sultry smirk plastered on her face.

"Not if it includes sexual harassment." The man now known as Shota grumbled as he deflated slightly. "Anyway, how's your end of the exam?"

"Eh, same old, same old." Kayama shrugged and tagged along Shota as they headed to the same room. "Teenagers being teenagers. It's fun looking at their faces whenever they see me."

"... I swear you're a lawsuit waiting to happen." Shota grumbled again. "That said, heard anything about a Midoriya Izuku?"

"No? Why?" Kayama raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Nezu wants him... Badly."

"... Well, shit."

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"Take a seat, Midoriya." Nezu's eyes gleamed underneath the lights of his office. A cup of tea sat silently on his desk, its sweet aroma wafting about the area.

"Principal Nezu." Izuku smiled, pearly white teeth glinting slightly. Plopping his ass on the couch provided, the teen regarded the principal with a slight frown. "You didn't tell me about the written exam."

"I didn't, did I?" The amalgamation of animals chuckled and shook his head. "Forgive me, my old age must be catching up."

"Eh, not older than me, I hope." Izuku's frown vanished, replaced by a slight grin.

"Oh? Do tell." Nezu's curiosity piqued, the animal leaned slightly forward, eyes locked on the face of the grinning teen.

"Nothing much." A shrug, however, was the only response from the teen. "It's just that during my time in that god-forsaken place, I became somewhat of an immortal."

"An immortal, you say?" Nezu raised a brow. "Are you implying that you are undying?"

"Technically, yes." Izuku sighed, before he regained a maddening grin. "Ah, the sensation of blood draining from your body, or being burned alive! Fun times."

At the revelation, Nezu stilled, lips pursed as his highly intelligent brain parsed through the information at breakneck speeds.

'Cease. That way lies madness.'

The voice in his gut, one he normally would've ignored, roared to life within his ears. Visions of a bloody table right next to a trolley full of rusty blades and tools rushed through his mind. The scent of iron mixed with ammonia and feces. The insane laugh of his captors-

Nezu shook his head.

"Can we switch topics, Midoriya?" Nezu was quick to lock away the visions deep under his mind. "Like as for what rules the place... Lordran, if my memory serves correct, worked?"

Ignoring the brief pause from the principal, Izuku recalled one aspect of Lordran that he was a bit confused about.

"Well, there is one." Izuku hummed with a frown. "Time in that place was... Pardon my... What was the term again...? Pardon my Frens? No, Frenc? Ah, I got it! French! Yes. Pardon my French, but time there was completely fucked up."

"Language, although regarding your circumstances, I can easily let it slide." Nezu all but chuckled at the swear. "Although, time shenanigans? Care to elaborate?"

"To put it simply, you have some weird... Phantoms, from either the past or the future you can summon to come to your aid in specific circumstances." Izuku leaned into the soft fabric, his muscles slowly losing its tension. "I can still remember that one time I found the skeleton of a phantom I just met few days later - at least I think it was a few days, time shenanigans and whatnot - already dessicated."

Before Nezu could interrupt, Izuku continued with a laugh followed by a smile. "Had a nice dress and a giant hat. It was fun wearing it into fights, tripping over the damn skirt was something I had to get used to though.

"I see..." Nezu cupped his chin with a small huff, before he gazed back at the green-haired teen. "Anyway, regarding the written exam, you are exempt. After all, an extended amount of time without education, with even lesser time to study for this exam, would be unfair to you, wouldn't it?"

"... Fair point." Izuku shrugged at the logic. "So... What am I supposed to do now?"

"Now? We wait."