Chapter 15: Acceptance (Patreon)

In just the blink of an eye, a week has passed within the Midoriya household. Izuku mused as he considered the week one of the most peaceful times he had ever gotten in his entire life and unlife, not counting those before he was four, but truthfully, he had already forgotten most of what happened back then.

“367… 368… 369…” Izuku groaned as he continued his self-imposed body conditioning activity. During the week, he had grown somewhat restless, what with him not being used to the relative peace.

He had to do something.

And he came up with this. Physical exercise, the kind that could literally leave people begging in tears for how harsh and brutal it was. Izuku wasn’t that perturbed with what he was doing so far. His burning muscles felt quite relaxing, honestly.

His sweat dripped from his face and to the mat underneath, the albino breathing somewhat heavily as he continued pushing himself up and down. After a few more minutes of repetitive push-ups, Izuku stopped then slumped to the ground, a wide grin adorned on his face.

“Feels good…” Izuku focused on his muscles screaming at him due to the abuse they went through, but he ignored it. After all, pain means he’s alive, and it also means he can focus on this instead of other things.

Next was curl-ups, and his abdominal muscles shivered with dread. Izuku, however, once again ignored it and went on his merry way to torment his muscle groups with a big smirk on his face.

A knock on the door stopped him, however, his abdominal muscles crying in relief from being spared the torture.

Izuku got up and wiped down his sweat with a towel nearby then headed to the door. Opening it, Izuku saw his mother holding an envelope with his name written on it with big letters.

And when Izuku says big, he literally meant BIG. Seriously, his family name took on the entirety of the envelope’s back side, and his given name, the front. There was a U.A. seal too.

‘Well, RAT GOD really likes his jokes.’ Izuku chuckled as he accepted the letter from his mother, Inko smiling bitterly as she gave it to him. “Thanks mom.”

“Will you be opening it alone?” Inko questioned with raised eyebrows. “Or do you want me to sit in?”

“Sure.” Izuku smiled as he nudged his mother inside his room, the Midoriya matriarch frowning slightly as she eyed the scars on her son’s body.

Inko took a seat on the chair next to his desk where his computer sat showing a paused video about mutant quirks while Izuku sat on his bed, hands ready to unseal the envelope and see the RAT GOD.

With a quick tear, the envelope opened and revealed its contents. A tiny disk.

“Huh?” Izuku sat befuddled. He reached into the envelope and procured the tiny disk, his eyes glinting underneath the light as he continued observing the tiny thing.

It was only when it beeped that he twitched and flung the tiny disk to the floor, body tense and ready in case something awry happens.

The beeping continued and Inko stood back, anxious as to the meaning of the beeps. It was only seconds later when the beeping stopped and a light emanated from the disk, displaying some sort of hologram facing towards Izuku.

“Hello there!” Principal Nezu waved at Izuku, a sly grin formed on his face. “Apologies for the scare, but I’ve only recorded some of these holographic acceptance videos to U.A. High School a handful of times during my career as the principal of my lovely school. Can’t blame an intelligent being for their mischievous streak, right Midoriya Izuku?”

At the quite mind-boggling presentation, Izuku relaxed and gave a beaming smile.

“You got me good RAT GOD.” Izuku chuckled and Inko twisted her head at him, her face morphing into a horrified look.

‘I SWEAR I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE NEZU!’ Inko mentally raged as she glared at the holographic figure of the rat. Why did Nezu have to instill in her son that he had to call him the RAT GOD? It was insulting! Demeaning!

As Inko stewed in her frustration and promises of vengeance, Izuku continued listening to the recording of his principal.

“Now, normally it isn’t my job to address the incoming students.” Nezu waves his arms lazily, his smile still plastered on his face. “But during exceptional cases, one of which is you, I make sure that the rest of the staff know that I will be recording the welcome message. As for how I do that, the coffee machine in the staff’s lounge looks like it could use some maintenance work, maybe a week of them not getting that blasted drink could do some good.”

Ignoring the RAT GOD’s rambling, Izuku pursed his lips. Do the heroes at U.A. all have coffee addictions? That man shrouded in black looked like he ran on coffee, while Present Mic probably had coffee as blood somehow… Huh, could a coffee machine be used as a weapon…?

As Izuku mulled over the thought, Nezu’s hologram continued after a minor rant about coffee and cocaine.

“Disregarding my previous rant, allow me to congratulate you for passing the entrance exam!” Nezu clapped and Izuku followed suit. Inko just started looking more and more horrified as she watches the rat become more of a bad influence on her son. “Not that you needed any, seeing that you know about my methods. However, what does need congratulating are your actions during the practical exam.”

The hologram of Nezu faded before being replaced by the scene where Izuku saved that brunette, Ochako was the name, if Izuku remembered correctly after asking Recovery Girl.

Inko paled as she watched Izuku maim himself to destroy the giant 0-pointer. She already knew what happened and watched a similar video, but seeing again did not make her in any way used to it.

He was her son, goddamnit!

“Although your methods may be extreme to yourself, you did in fact, try to save a person, even at your own expense.” Nezu grinned, extending his stubby arms outwards. “Is that not a trait for a hero to have? Nay! Heroes, in the very definition, are those who are willing to help. No matter how dire the situation. No matter the cost to their own well-being. All Might is a great example for this, and it isn’t just our current number one hero who is admired for such a trait.”

Izuku smile couldn’t get any wider as he listened to the RAT GOD exalt his actions. It may not be that much in the grand scheme of things, but every little thing helps when it comes to the bigger picture.

“And you, are worthy.” Nezu toned down his extravagance and went back to the normal, calculating rat that he was. “You may have skipped a few steps to be recognized as one of our own, but that doesn’t diminish your own worth. Welcome, Midoriya Izuku, to your hero academia.”

And the hologram died down, the light sputtering out as the room was bathed in silence.

That didn’t stop Izuku’s smile from growing even wider. Finally, a chance to be something he always wanted to be, and the one sentient being he respects the most, other than his mother of course, acknowledged him!

What a great day to be alive.

Meanwhile, Inko was getting increasingly horrified. Oh, her poor baby. Is this what being a hero meant!? Why the hell did she have these rose-tinted glasses about heroes even at her age!?

A new perspective dawning on her, Inko promised excruciating pain for anybody wanting to hurt her only son, and also to that rat who is somewhat the reason as to why her baby is pursuing his obviously dangerous career choice.

Make no mistake, she will support her baby to the fullest until her dying breath, and even from beyond the grave, but that doesn’t change the fact the grudge she held against the rat for putting her baby in even more danger in the first place would vanish.

Oh no, she would let it fester and when the time comes, she’ll skin the rat and make herself a new coat out of his fur. Maybe she’ll have to go for quirk counseling even at her old age, practice moving her quirk for more useful actions.

But before that, she needed to get rid of her malnourished condition if she wanted to help her son without him worrying about her. Even if it might take a few months, there was time before he graduated and took on the mantle as a pro hero.

Once that was done, there has to be a way to support her son not just morally, right?

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Nezu was thrilled. If the actions of the Midoriya matriarch was any indication, he would gander a guess that she was promising vengeance against him.

‘My, such loathing. It makes me quite joyous.’ Nezu cackled as he watched both Izuku and Inko from his office, the hidden camera in the disk he had delivered proving quite useful.

It has been a while since he’d make an acceptance recording, and it was a treat seeing their reactions. Humans and their world views, peh. It’s better to embrace your inner being and running wild and free.

With limitations, of course. Nezu made sure that his proclivities wouldn’t cause too much of a problem for other people. After all, he didn’t want it to be directed at he himself.

He likes to be the annoyance, not the one being annoyed.

“Ah well, it is about time to stop this unethical behavior.” With a chuckle and a sigh of slight regret, Nezu pushed a button, causing the disk within the Midoriya household to beep once more and announce a self-destruct sequence.

The following panic brought even more joy to Nezu as he watched Inko scramble for the door while dragging Izuku like he was a body pillow. Please, the disk isn’t large enough to hold a bomb that can destroy a large amount of area, much less a small one.

They hadn’t invented other lethal bombs, after all, what with most of the scientists and researchers of the world focused on the confusing phenomena that are quirks. Such a waste, since technology was somewhat stunted due to the fact that quirks exist.

Not that he isn’t thankful. He likes being smart and messing with humans, sue him.

As the countdown reached zero, the camera cut to static, and nothing was heard from video again. Cackling once more, Nezu closed the application for monitoring various cameras within his school and other places and hopped off his comfortable couch.

“I can’t wait for next week. What else will you show me, Midoriya Izuku?” Nezu’s eyes glinted underneath the shining lights, a maniacal smile forming on his lips.

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“Odd.” A muffled and electronic voice pierced through the dark room, various screens showcasing the areas of his well-spread bases along the entirety of Japan.

“What is odd, master?” A short and rotund old man asked the figure hooked up to various medical equipment, the being wearing what looked like an elegant business suit that had seen better days and a very intimidating mask.

“Why Doctor Garaki, have you no idea?” The intimidating visage of the figure cowed the short doctor, his eyes quivering behind his goggles.

“N-no, master. I haven’t the faintest idea.” The doctor breathed out, carefully choosing his words as to not irritate his master even further.

“It is quite simple.” The figure sighed, a bit disappointed at the sorry excuse of a human being before him, but he had his uses. “All Might is missing. He has not been seen since a week ago.”

“Then isn’t this good for you, master?” Garaki bowed before the figure, body still trembling slightly. “It means your calculations were correct and the One for All bearer is slowly wilting away. It gives you enough time to nurture your project before we commence the plan.”

“It could. It could.” The figure hummed; his breathing distorted due to the mask covering his face. “But therein lies the problem. We have no idea where he is.”

“Don’t we have his last location, master?”

“We do, and that makes me theorize that the bastard is hiding with that rat.” The being growled, fists clenched as his nails drew blood. “This complicates things. Nezu is a chaotic force of nature with plans upon plans and backups upon backups. Creating a counterplan against him is like trying to chase a man through unidentified territory, but the man is faster, and he knows the area more extensively than you do.”

“Will we have to change some of our planned actions then, master?” Garaki raised his head and looked the intimidating figure’s mask. “Your project still isn’t ready to go against U.A., and I doubt the man child has a solid plan for storming the rat’s nest.”

“No. We’ll just have to postpone it.” The figure relaxed as he continued observing the countless monitors within the room. “In the meantime, continue your work, good doctor. They must be ready once everything falls into place.”

“As you wish, master.”

The doctor left the figure alone in his dark room, leaving a chill so grave, it could freeze the air tenfold.

“All Might… Have you found your successor? Then I welcome the challenge. One for All will be mine. Eventually.”