Receive

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Sosen ended the call and began calling the next person, "Hey, it looks like our prayers were answered," and paused as the recipient of the call replied with obvious shock. "This is really important, so listen carefully. Meet me at the usual place in an hour. Bring Shirogiri with you," he said as he relayed the instructions and the man asked him something.

"No, no need to tell her, she already knows. I have sent her out to get the most important thing. Kagami will be there on time," Sosen replied. Upon getting the expected response, Sosen ended the call with a few words, "Okay, I will see you there then."

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A sigh escaped a certain brunette's mouth as she gazed at the raindrops racing down the glass window in the corridor outside the 1-A classroom of UA. Her name might have been 𝘜𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘢, but the weather certainly wasn't. And to top things off, she had forgotten her umbrella today. The same umbrella which she had set outside last night after watching the weather forecast. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, she thought to herself as she stared at the rainclouds, as if her glare would scare them away.

"U-Uraraka! I thought you had left already," a voice called out to her. She turned around already knowing who it was. "Deku! I could ask you the same thing," she said as she looked at the green-haired boy who looked ready to leave just as she was.

"I-uh Mr. Aizawa called me to talk about yesterday's Battle Trial Exercise," he explained as his hands gestured to and fro involuntarily. "What about you, Uraraka?" he asked her once again. Uraraka blushed slightly at her clumsiness and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I forgot my umbrella at home," she laughed nervously as she continued, "So I guess I was just thinking whether I should just make a run for it," she finished as she looked out the window again as lightning resounded far away.

"Oh, in that case, you can take my umbrella," Izuku said as he opened his backpack and offered her a neatly closed black umbrella. "Oh no, I couldn't possibly- you would have to walk back home in this rain if I took your umbrella!" she put her hands up while shaking her head furiously as she refused his offer. "I-I have a spare one, so it's no big deal Uraraka," he said as he offered it to her again, scratching one of his cheeks with the hand that wasn't holding the umbrella.

"Really?" she asked and he nodded again a bit too quickly. "Thanks, I owe you one!" she said as she took the umbrella and smiled as she said her parting words, "See you tomorrow then!" and he waved as his lips curved upwards ever so slightly. Until he was startled by the door of 1-A being opened and slammed shut. He turned around to see an ash-blonde boy exiting the classroom angrily.

"Oi shitty nerd! The hobo wants to see you next!" the boy said as he glared at his green-haired classmate who shuddered. Not because he was called a shitty nerd, but because his classmate had just called their teacher, a registered pro-hero, a hobo. "Uh thanks, Katsuki," Izuku squeaked out, which only further angered Bakugo.

"Shut up Deku!" Bakugo bellowed again and Izuku winced. While Bakugo refused to call him anything but that, up until recently, it had lacked the former tone of annoyance and irritation. One which had returned since their first day at UA. "I thought you didn't have a quirk! Were you looking down upon me all this time? Taking advantage of me and my old hag's pity?" his questions grew louder and louder until the door opened again and Aizawa stepped out.

"If you have nothing to do then go home Bakugo! And Midoriya, hurry up and enter, we don't have all day," he said as he glared at the two of them. Bakugo clicked his lips with a barely audible 𝘛𝘤𝘩 as he backed off and walked away. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the classroom after Aizawa and closed the door gently behind him.

"Sit," the pro hero told him while gesturing to a chair in front of the one he was sitting on. Izuku put aside his backpack and sat down. Aizawa pulled out a small bottle from his pockets. He then spread his eyelids apart gently with two of his fingers, trying to keep them open as he applied the eyedrops to relieve his dry-eye.

"So what's the deal with you and Bakugo?" he asked the boy in front of him bluntly. "Uh-err-well Katsuki went to Aldera middle school, the same as me. And he wanted to be the only one to enter UA from our school so he didn't take my admission that well," Izuku explained, not lying but not telling the whole truth either. "That's it?" Aizawa questioned him once again with an unreadable expression and Izuku nodded slowly. "Okay then, let's discuss your performance in yesterday's Battle Trial Exercise," the black haired man said as he flipped the pages in a file. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘦, Izuku's mind was praying as his teacher navigated to what looked like a set of notes that probably contained a list of reasons why he was being expelled.

"Your final attack," Aizawa began and Izuku immediately shut his eyes fearing the worst, "-was very reckless. But considering the fact that it was a planned one and not something that was made in the heat of battle, I'll let it slide," he finished and Izuku released the breath he had been holding in. "I'm still docking points though," at which Izuku hung his head down, but knew that it would not be acceptable of him to hurt himself to such a degree when he would be a pro.

"Your other moves however were far better. I was impressed. Analysing an opponent's movements and countering them is a necessary skill if you wish to become a combat-based hero," Aizawa paused and Izuku immediately spoke excitedly, "Really?" and Aizawa looked at him perplexed, "Of course, how else would you subdue a villain?" he asked the student in front of him. Izuku nodded frantically to cover up on his earlier elation at being complimented by a teacher for the first time in years as he realized that Aizawa had misunderstood him.

"Moving on. That set of movements you used on Bakugo when you used the capture tape, have you been following me?" Aizawa furrowed his eyebrows as he asked him. Izuku put up his hands defensively as he realized the implications behind the question, " No sir! That would mean your cover as an underground hero was gone. I would never dream of doing that! That would be obstruction of justice! Am I going to be arrested? I apologize Mr. Aizawa, I will never use your moves again! I'm sorry, I just saw you during the Quirk Apprehension Test and used your moves against Bakugo. I-" Izuku was halted in the middle of his essay of a verbal apology suddenly, "Midoriya! You're not going to be arrested," Aizawa said as he put his hands on Izuku's shoulders in an effort to calm him.

"I'm not?" Izuku breathed in relief once again as Aizawa slowly shook his head to assuage his concerns. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, Aizawa thought to himself looking at the boy who had almost had what could be called a minor panic attack. He was impressed to say the least, but he was more relieved when he knew that his cover as an underground hero was safe. For someone with his quirk, the element of surprise played a crucial part in most of his takedowns.

"That's it for today, Midoriya. Keep up the good work, but work on not crippling yourself after using your quirk," he said as he stood up. Izuku beamed as the words echoed in his mind, 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, and he got up and bowed, "Thank you Mr. Aizawa!" he said before getting back up and leaving. As Izuku exited the classroom, Aizawa shook his head and muttered to himself, "Problem Child," knowing that he was not going to let go of his habit of injuring himself that soon.

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Midoriya Izuku 𝘳𝘢𝘯 to the train station, partially because he wanted to keep himself dry, but mostly because was overjoyed to walk back home or wait for the rain to stop. So Izuku ran while holding his backpack on his head as a make-shift shield from the rain, but it didn't do much to keep him dry. By the time he was back home, he was drenched. His backpack had gotten the worst of it, but it was waterproof so hopefully his school materials had not gotten wet. He sneezed as he entered and locked the door behind him, the subtle change in temperature between the outside and the inside making itself apparent.

He removed his school supplies and put his clothes in the drier, soon to be followed by his backpack later. He had expected the worst when Aizawa had told him to stay back after class. He was worried he would be scolded and expelled, but that didn't happen. Instead his teacher had praised him. It hadn't been lip-service, he had actually said that he was impressed. He smiled but his face distorted once again as he sneezed.

He wanted to thank Uraraka in his own way for trying to give her points to him after the entrance exam, but he was far too shy to ever actually tell her that the school had recorded her asking Present Mic to give her points to him. No, that would be far too embarrassing. Not to mention his prior experiences regarding classmates.

So he had resorted to doing the little things, and he realized that if he had gotten expelled, then the rain would have been an additional obstacle. However, the talk with Aizawa had brightened his day so much that he almost didn't mind getting wet. His mind was on cloud nine, but his body was dealing with the onset of a cold. His sleep was riddled with fever-dreams that night.

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The peer pressure began when he entered middle school. One would define the term as the direct influence on people by their peers, who are encouraged to follow them by changing their attitudes, values or behaviours to those of the influencing group, but in Izuku's case it was not that simple.

Or maybe it was. He tried to strengthen his resolve to be a hero, and they kicked him down. He tried to defend himself, they hurled abuse at him. It was almost formulaic, like a daily routine at that point.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜, 𝙸 𝚘𝚠𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗𝚎!

However when society offered no support, he looked back towards home. His mother hadn't outright denied him right? She hadn't told him he couldn't become a hero, right? And so Izuku clung on to his dreams, repeating to himself like a mantra: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬! 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥! he told himself as he pumped up a fist trying to give himself a pep-talk.

But, Midoriya Izuku was still a teenager. Susceptible to outside influence. Open to abuse, because if he tried to defend himself, they would just hit him harder. For society, he was the nail that was bent out of shape. Something that had to be hammered back into place. And people liked to show him his place. And it did wonders for his self-esteem. Once, he would have fought back verbally when people scoffed at him and told him that he couldn't be a hero, that he would never amount to anything, but now he would just shrink back into himself, trying to make himself as small as possible, trying not to attract attention towards himself.

𝚂𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗!

He didn't want to attract attention towards himself, but he found himself jumping at the opportunity when one of his female classmates took pity on him and sympathised. He found her supporting him against the bullies that day and when she asked him to stay back after the school had ended and meet him on the roof, he hadn't doubted her. Not for one second did his naïve mind tell him to stop and reconsider the situation.

He waited until the afternoon had turned to evening that day. He stood there on top of the roof, as he realized that it had all been a prank. He was soaked that day in the evening rain as he walked back home slowly, but the water from the skies concealed the water from his eyes.

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍.

The next day he heard a group of girls talking about the incident. He heard them laughing the prank off as they amused themselves with his suffering, by talking about it. In front of him. Midoriya Izuku had failed once again to avoid standing out, because once the rumours of the incident spread in the school, he found himself being subjected to bullying once again.

The thumbtacks in his shoes hurt him when he reached for them in his shoe locker. He felt as if he had been stabbed when he read the insults and curses and 'Deku' written on his desk with permanent ink. He agonized as he tried to remove them but failed. He despaired when the teacher, rather than punishing his abusers, scolded him for vandalizing school property. He winced when the bullies found him again after class and beat him again, just because they felt like it. Just because hurting the quirkless loser was the sort of thing the cool kids did.

𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔.

Life cut off several more tethers in those days, but Izuku hung on using the few that were left.

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He woke up with a splitting headache that morning. The ringing alarm felt as if someone was hammering nails into his head. His nose felt blocked as he tried to get up, realizing that he certainly wouldn't be able to make it to school with what was most certainly a fever. His eyes burned in the morning light as he tried to open them, but ended up closing them involuntarily as he sneezed. "Yep, definitely-" he spoke to himself but his nose didn't comply as he sneezed again.

-𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬. Ugh. he finished the sentence in his mind as he sniffled to keep the mucous from flowing down his red nose. He had to make a few phone calls, informing people of his absence and current condition, but that would have to wait until he cleaned himself of the snot. If he didn't regret running in the rain yesterday, he was beginning to regret it now. But only a little.