7

Cheat Code: Support StrategistClouds (myheadinthecoudsnotcomingdown)

Chapter 7: Acceptance

Summary:

Izuku gets a letter from UA

Chapter Text

The letter was heavier than he expected. Well, logically, Izuku knew that the envelope was probably stuffed with all sorts of paperwork for if he was accepted, or maybe resources for if he wasn't, so it made sense for it to weigh something, but for some reason, it felt heavier than just paper. Or maybe that was an emotional reaction to the tension he'd been feeling ever since Mom had run in from getting the mail. 

This letter was going to determine the rest of his future. This would determine if he remained a worthless loser or if he went to All Might's alma mater to become a professional analyst, so no wonder the envelope felt so heavy. 

Mom hovered nervously, wringing her hands as she waited for him to open it. A few months ago, he probably would have gone to his room to be alone, but she had been just as involved in his preparation for the entrance exam as he had been, and honestly, after bombing the practical, he could really use the support. 

"Izuku?" Mom said finally. "It's not going to get any easier if you wait…"

Izuku nodded and took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and ripped the envelope open like he was taking off a band-aid. There was a metallic thud that made Izuku open his eyes as something inside fell out and hit the coffee table. 

"Is that...a hologram projector?"

Almost as soon as he said that, the disk came to life and a small screen appeared. Powerloader was staring right at the camera, looking somewhat tired, which made sense if he'd had to make one of these for every student in the support course. 

"Izuku Midoriya." Powerloader began. "You passed the written exam with flying colors and turned in an impressive portfolio. However, I have been told that during the practical exam, you did not succeed in hacking UA."

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he could feel Mom looking at him with pity as he stared at the ground. Of course he knew that he'd failed the exam! As much as he wanted to believe that Mei had been right about them not expecting him to succeed, he hadn't been able to push away the dread whenever he thought about the test. He really was a failure. He was a quirkless nobody, just like Kacchan always said. 

"I'm glad."

Izuku whipped his head up fast enough to almost give him whip-lash. Was Powerloader...glad he didn't make it into UA? Was he rubbing it in? That didn't seem like appropriate behavior for a pro hero...

"If you had succeeded, I would honestly be concerned about the quality of our school's defenses." Powerloader chucked, "Thankfully, Nedzu didn't actually expect you to succeed, he simply set the task as a way to gauge your skill and drive, even though your portfolio was impressive enough to guarantee your admittance without any need for a practical. Take it from someone who has been working under him for quite a while now, impressing Nedzu like that is no easy feat. He seems to have..." Powerloader shivered almost imperceptibly, "special plans to help you realize your potential."

Izuku held his breath as Powerloader gave a tired smile, "As the head of the support course at UA, welcome, Izuku Midoriya. This is your support academia!"

Izuku's jaw dropped and he kept staring at the screen as Mom cried and hugged him tightly. He made it...He made it! He was going to UA! He did it! Oh, wait, Powerloader was still talking.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, there's a few housekeeping items I need to tell you about. There are three first year support classes at UA. Classes 1-F and 1-G cater to the invention track, while class 1-H focuses primarily on design. Because of the rarity of students entering the intelligence and analytics track, you have been assigned to class 1-F with the invention students. Your projects and assignments will, of course, be modified to fit your emphasis, and you'll also have daily lessons with Principal Nedzu, but you will still need to pass the lab safety test on UA's website before school starts, since 1-F meets in a lab rather than a traditional classroom. Please fill out the forms included with your acceptance letter to inform us of any equipment or materials you need so we can have those ready for you on the first day of class. Congratulations, Midoriya. I look forward to seeing you in my class."

"You did it, baby!" Mom hadn't stopped hugging him since Powerloader had said he was accepted. "You worked so hard! I'm so proud of you!"

That was what finally pushed Izuku over the edge into tears of his own. He had had no idea how much he needed to hear that. All those years of her apologizing for him being quirkless and telling him to choose a different dream were over. His mom believed in him now! She was proud of him. That felt almost as good as being told he actually got accepted into UA.

"Um, Izuku?" Mom said, "I think your phone is vibrating."

Izuku listened and, sure enough, there was a faint vibrating noise. He looked around to see that his phone had fallen out of his pocket and was sitting on the couch beside him. Who would even be calling him? Kacchan was the only one at school who had his number, but Izuku was half convinced he had deleted it as soon as Auntie Mitsuki had forced him to put it in his phone. Hesitantly, Izuku answered the call.

"I got in!" He didn't even get a chance to say hello before Mei was shouting in his ear. "I got in, Izu-kun, I'm going to UA!"

Izuku couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, "Congratulations, Mei-chan! I knew you could do it!"

Mom looked very confused and Izuku suddenly realized that in his post-exam depressive haze, not only had he almost forgotten about giving Mei his number, he'd also completely forgotten to tell Mom that he met Mei at all! He'd been so depressed when he came home after failing the practical that he'd gone straight to his room, and then he'd spent the rest of the wait trying not to think about it, especially since he was never going to see her again if he didn't make it into UA. Now he had to explain who this random girl was to his mom. Awkward.  

He pulled the phone away from his mouth and spoke quietly, "Mei-chan is…" well, Mei was acting like they were friends, but he still didn't want to assume anything, "We met at the entrance exam."

"Ah…" Mom nodded in understanding, but still seemed a little nervous.

"What about you, Izu-kun?" The question made Izuku tune back into Mei's ramblings, "Did you pass? Because if you didn't I'm gonna march straight into UA and tell them that…"

"No!" Izuku screamed, but then realized that could be taken the wrong way, "I mean, no, please don't do that Mei-chan. I got in. Apparently, my final was just a formality and they didn't actually expect me to succeed."

"I told you so!" Mei cackled, "I knew they wouldn't fail you! That would be like ignoring my perfect babies! So what class are you gonna be in? Are you gonna be with all the other analysis students?"

"Um, actually, I'm the only one, so they put me in an invention class..." Izuku said nervously, "I'm in 1-F."

There was a beat of silence and Izuku was just starting to wonder if he'd somehow said something wrong when Hatsume squealed so loud that he had to hold the phone at arm's length just to avoid going deaf. 

Mom kept looking between him and the phone, obviously concerned, "I-is she ok?"

"Um," Izuku shrugged helplessly, "I think she might just be excited."

"I'm in 1-F too!" Mei screamed. "We're in the same class!"

Izuku blinked in shock for a moment. He was going to have a friend in class! That hadn't happened since...well, it depended on if he was counting Kacchan as a friend. They'd been in plenty of classes together, but it definitely wasn't enjoyable, or at least not as enjoyable ashe thought being in a class with Mei would be, so he wasn't sure if that counted. Izuku grinned. He was finally going to be in the same class as a friend! Well, if they were actually friends.

"We should do something to celebrate!" Mei declared. 

"O-oh?" Izuku held the phone away from his mouth again and glanced at Mom, "Um, would you mind if I went to hang out with Mei-chan? She wants to celebrate us getting in."

Mom frowned for a moment, "Does she want to come over for dinner? If she's your friend, I want to meet her. I could make your favorites?"

"Um," Izuku hesitated. Was inviting her over weird? He couldn't imagine inviting anyone from his middle school over, and Kacchan would probably laugh at Mom insisting she meet his new friend, but Mei didn't seem like the type to get embarrassed by societal norms like that, so she probably wouldn't care, "I guess I can ask her…"

Twenty minutes later, Izuku was frantically cleaning the kitchen while Mom started dinner. What if Mei thought their house was too dirty? What if she thought it was in a bad part of town? What if she saw the pictures of four-year-old Izuku in an All Might onesie and never wanted to talk to him again? They were in the same class, he'd have to be careful to always sit on the other side of the room, or maybe behind her so she didn't have to see his face. Was it safer to take the pictures down? Yes, definitely safer to take the pictures down. Oh no, that was a knock. Too late! Abort Mission!

They both ran to answer the door, but before Mom could open it, Izuku suddenly grabbed her hand, "Um, before you meet Mei, I kinda need to warn you about something…"

Mom looked worried, "Does...does she have tattoos or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Izuku said frantically. "It's just...she calls her inventions her babies."

"Why would you need to warn me about…"

Izuku opened the door before she could finish and immediately got an armful of excitable Mei-chan, "Izu-kun! This year is gonna be so much fun!"

"Um," Izuku willed his face to go back to a normal color as he pried her away from him, "Mei, um, this is my mom. Mom, this is Mei-chan."

Mei's eyes lit up and she ran up to Mom, practically vibrating with excitement, "It's awesome to meet you, Midoriya-san. Your son and I are gonna make so many beautiful babies together!"

Mom immediately choked and stared at her in shock before she connected the dots. She visually relaxed and sighed in relief, "Oh, that's what you meant, Izuku. I see why you warned me. And yes, Izuku seems to be looking forward to working with you too."

"Good!" Mei grinned. "I'm so excited to see what babies I can make with your son's awesome brains. Did you teach him how to do that?"

"Um," Mom still seemed a little overwhelmed by Mei's energy, "what?"

"I think she means my analysis, Mom." Izuku came to her rescue, "Or did you mean the hacking?"

"Both!"

"Oh, um, analysis has always been Izuku's hobby, really. Even as a kid, he was looking at quirks and writing notes about them. I didn't even know what he was doing until he showed me his first notebook." Mom said. "And besides buying him notebooks and computer classes, it's all him."

"Wow," Mei said, "I knew you were smart, Izu-kun, but that's something else. You really taught yourself how to make your notebooks?"

Izuku nodded, "I, uh, just always loved heroes, so it just kinda...made sense? I've been doing them forever, so the first ones are really stupid and I think they're probably written in crayon."

"Cool, my first blueprints were the same! I knew they were blueprints, so I was very particular that I had to draw them with blue crayon!" Mei grinned and Izuku was pleased to realize that Mom looked more at ease now that she'd had a chance to adjust to Mei's energy, "So what's for dinner?"