18 Checking The Mailbox

Kacchan had been anxiously checking the mailbox every day, not matter how firmly or how often he denied it. Izuku watched the blonde teen with twinkling eyes as he headed out for the nth time that day to check the mailbox, even if they hadn't heard the mailman stop by. He'd been doing this every hour, his anxiety shooting up with each increasing day.

Izuku lowered his head as he watched Kacchan leave the room, lightly squeezing the pen he'd been holding, once again starting to write in his notebook.

A week had passed since the UA Entrance Exams, and Izuku was looking forward to the letter that would be coming. Quite frankly, he didn't think there was much to be worried about, considering how Kacchan was a hidden perfectionist, but he wouldn't be telling him that.

He actually quite enjoyed watching Kacchan being fidgety in the confines of his house. And if Kacchan happened to subconsciously invade his personal space when he was feeling particularly fidgety, well, Izuku wouldn't be saying anything to anyone, especially since those were some of the rarer times where Kacchan wasn't feeling any pangs of guilt.

Was it weird that he felt Kacchan's cuteness was just out of this world? He was sure hardly anyone else would agree with him, but he was fine with that. All the more for him.

Izuku didn't want Kacchan constantly feeling guilt over him. It was his decision, and his decisions were made by him, not by anyone else. The consequences and results lay entirely on his shoulders, and he wouldn't have anyone else, especially Kacchan, carrying guilt over it.

The green-haired teen felt like his thoughts were jumbled pieces of an incomplete puzzle, but he kept everything inside. He knew he couldn't rush these things. He was hit by pangs of terror every day. The thought that Kacchan would suddenly wake up one day and realize that this wasn't the life he envisioned for himself.

Eventually, Kacchan would realize that before his attempted suicide, Izuku might have toted it as a lack of love, but in truth it was because he was entirely because he had been undeniably and utterly weak. Kacchan detested weakness, both in himself and everyone else.

Kacchan wasn't only tough on others, but also to himself. Izuku had seen the trainings that Kacchan put himself through, school or not. There wasn't a day that went by he missed training.

Izuku knew Kacchan had seen Izuku's Quirkless state as a sign of weakness. In a world full of Quirks, the people without were practically helpless in the face of them. Kacchan just couldn't accept the fact that one of his friends was so helpless, so useless, and it had disgusted him.

"BANG!"

The door slammed hard against the wall from Katsuki's direct kick.

"Izuku!" Katsuki yelled out, glee coating his voice. He waved around two thick envelopes in the air. "It's here!"

Izuku hurriedly closed the notebook he had been writing in, realizing that he'd been writing down his feelings about his distress. Hopefully, Kacchan didn't realize. He placed the notebook on the table, waiting for Kacchan to walk towards him.

Izuku was inwardly baffled that the mail was here, considering they hadn't heard any noise. The mossy-haired teen inwardly evaluated that the postman must have some sort of Quirk that helped him in his everyday job.

Katsuki dropped into the chair and crowded in close to Izuku, casually grabbing his hand, eyes burning with excitement.

The blonde teen ripped open the letter in his haste, the small metallic disc hitting the table. Both of them were startled as the projection appeared.

"This is a projection!" came the booming voice of All Might. Katsuki twitched subtly, not expecting the sudden explosion of sound.

Izuku felt a little helpless. He didn't realize that he'd gotten used to being constantly surprised during the ten months he'd been gone. It seemed like his training was more widespread than he thought.

Katsuki felt slightly bewildered. He had expected a lot of things, but the one person he hadn't expected to be briefing them was All Might. He looked down at the envelope to confirm that it was from UA before concentrating on the Number One Hero again.

"Midoriya, my boy! It's been some time. There is much to deliberate on!" All Might's signature grin filled the projection screen. "I am here for ONE reason, and one reason only! I am here to teach at UA!"

Katsuki and Izuku both stared at the Number One Hero with wide eyes. Being able to be around All Might all the time would be a dream come true. There would be so much to learn from just his experiences alone. It felt like the standards at UA had shot through the roof, though logically they knew it wasn't true, that didn't stop them from feeling it. They were even more excited than before the letter came.

"What? What did you say?! Get to the point?! Whatever I want to say to him…can be said later?! Ah, fine…"

All Might cleared his throat. "Ahem! Young Midoriya, young Bakugou. Both of you have passed the written exams with high grades! Your practical, on the other hand… Young Bakugou has passed with a grand total of… 77 points! Taking down one and two pointers, the faux villains were all itching to capture you! In the second half when the other candidates were slowing down, you started speeding up even more!"

The awe-inspiring figure of All Might paused slightly.

"Young Midoriya, with a total of 20 villain points, this would not be enough for you to get into Class A…"

Izuku suddenly felt Kacchan's elation from passing turn into dread and concern, his hand squeezing down hard on his for comfort. He felt emotional that Kacchan would care this much about him. It felt like a dream. If this really was a dream, he hoped he never woke up.

"But! That's not the end of the story! Look here!" All Might pointed at the screen behind him. A petite brunette appeared on the screen behind him.

"Excuse me! I'd like to give some of my points to the teen who saved me earlier in the test! He saved my life!"

"You see?" boomed All Might, "In this exam, we weren't just watching for villain-based points! We, of UA, produce Heroes! And Heroes who reject doing the right thing isn't a Hero at all! Do you think we do all of this just to look good in front of the camera? You can think what you want! As a Hero, we risk our lives and put the money where your mouth is! Rescue points were also a factor! 60 points for Midoriya Izuku! And 45 points for Uraraka Ochako!"

All Might took a deep breath, his smile seemingly growing to impossible brightness.

"Welcome to the Hero Academy."

Katsuki suddenly crushed Izuku in a tight hug. He was surprised to find that he had no jealousy or any negative emotions that Izuku had beat him. His entire being felt like a great weight had been lifted off him. He felt as light as a feather. He was just that happy.

"We did it, Kacchan!"

Katsuki didn't respond to him, just squeezing his boyfriend tighter. He was so glad he wouldn't be going in alone. Suddenly, something occurred to him. He felt like he'd been struck like a Quirk out of the blue.

"You've met All Might before?"

"Ah…"

Izuku felt his stomach drop.

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