Chapter Text
This… this could not be real.
That was the thought going through the mind of a certain green haired boy for the last… five or so hours, give or take.
The green haired boy in question was currently sitting in a large, dark auditorium next to his best friend bully, they weren't back to being friends yet. Notice how he said 'yet'? Yeah, that's gonna be important in a minute, pay attention.
Now, back to this green haired boy… his appearance was… according to a certain cunt old friend he never wanted to see again 'plain'. He had fluffy green hair, diamond pattern freckles, eyes as green as emeralds, and was surprisingly buff under his school uniform.
His face still had a bit of pudge, but he was sure he'd lose that soon… the other him seemed to be going through the second phase of puberty when he last saw him… about six hours ago.
He keeps bringing this up, he should just focus right?
Anyway, this green-haired boy in a black school uniform was currently screaming on the inside.
/Izuku Midoriya/
/Don't worry, bro. I got you/
For some reason, Izuku felt strangely reassured, as if some force beyond his comprehension just gave him a pat on the back and told him everything would be fine. It was a strange feeling, since for his entire life, he felt the opposite… as if some grand force out there was actively conspiring to make his life hell at every turn. As if he was the punchline to some exceedingly cruel joke.
He was digressing though… Izuku Midoriya was freaking the fuck out!
Why?
Well, to any outside observer… the answer would seem obvious, Izuku Midoriya was about to participate in the UA Entrance Exam, the exam to land yourself a placement in the world's best most overrated not worth the price of admission most prestigious Hero Program in the world!
Of course, he, Izuku Midoriya, the Quirkless Wonder of Aldera, would be nervous… if not for the fact that he graduated from UA years ago!!
Want some backstory? With pleasure!
Meet Izuku Midoriya, the chosen successor of the Symbol of Peace All Might. This quirkless boy was given the incredible opportunity to receive the Symbol of Peace's invincible power, One for All.
With this power, Izuku, barely, made it into UA's Hero Course! Where he was attacked by villains on the first week! And then… it was all downhill from there.
Shenanigans later, and Izuku lost the power he worked so hard to cultivate to save a worthless piece of shit no! He meant an unrepentant monster no! He gave up One for All to save a crying child!
Izuku slumped on the table with a groan. "No wonder Rex thought I'm retarded…"
"Who the fuck is Rex?" The boy next to Izuku asked confusedly.
This blond boy, with hair like an explosion, and red eyes full of vitriol, was Izuku's childhood friend/bully.
/Katsuki Bakugou/
/Just because he's getting redeemed, doesn't mean I'm gonna be nice/
"I'll tell you later, promise…" Izuku mumbled into the wood.
"Whatever." Katsuki scoffed quietly, but still looked at Izuku strangely, his whole demeanor was off, for some reason.
He figured the damned nerd would be all jittery and nervous, not… tired?
"Did you stay up all night looking for hero trivia again?" Katsuki asked gruffly.
"The night before the entrance exam?" Izuku asked incredulously while tilting his head on the table to look up at Katsuki. "Kacchan, I'm an idiot, not a moron."
Katsuki actually had to fight hard to suppress a snort of amusement, since when did the nerd have jokes? Of course, the realization that the stupid nerd made him laugh pissed him off, so he just went back to sulking.
'Naw, he's so tsundere…' Izuku thought dryly.
Now, you must be asking… well, if Izuku already saved the world minus the hundreds of thousands that Tomura Shigaraki killed, why was he here? Why was he a teenager taking the exam again?
And the answer to that question, dear hypothetical viewers, is…
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
See, now, after that… would probably be some cool intro sequence showing off everything that led Izuku to this point, likely to the beat of "Dare" from Transformers the Movie. From his rise and fall as a hero, to the years of abandonment, to his final climactic confrontation with his other self where they accepted each other and swore to be better.
And as much as he'd LOVE to continue his explanation, the minimal lights in the auditorium shut off, and he knew what that signified.
A single spotlight shined down on the center of the auditorium, where a man with large blond hair like a cockatiel, sunglasses, headphones, and clad in leather, appeared in an exaggerated pose.
/Hizashi Yamada/
/Sound Hero: Present Mic/
/Major enabler vibes, this guy/
"CAN I GET A YEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!??" Present Mic roared out, his voice echoed all over the auditorium.
In a split second, a phrase appeared in Izuku's mind.
"Be a bit more assertive, enforce your will!"
Against his better judgement, Izuku shot up to his feet and called out. "Y-Yeaaaahhhh!!!!"
Katsuki nearly fell out of his seat and stared at Izuku in shock, every single student in the auditorium looked at him.
'Why did I do this!?' Izuku thought in mortification, his face turned beet red. He wanted to die! Why did he do this!? Rex, this is all your fault!!
"Hahahaha! I like you, little listener! I'm definitely rooting for you!!" Present Mic called out with a grin, his gaze directed straight at Izuku.
Izuku smiled sheepishly and fell back into his seat while hugging his head.
"The fuck was that, Deku…!" Katsuki whispered, his own face slightly red from secondhand embarrassment.
"Kill me…" Izuku sobbed.
"Later." Katsuki promised.
"Okay, okay. Now that we got that out of the way! Welcome, all of you aspiring young hopefuls, to the UA entrance exam. As you should already know from the pamphlets you were given, you boys and girls will be conducting ten-minute mock battles in urban settings!"
Izuku was only half listening, he already knew how the exam worked. He went through it already… but this time…
Closing his eyes, Izuku felt for the familiar thrum of energy within him… and he felt it, that comforting warmth that he had lost all those years ago… One for All.
He knew how to control it, his body could handle about five percent… and even if he hadn't unlocked the other quirks yet, he was sure he could handle this exam now!
Izuku opened his eyes with a confident grin only to recall the embarrassing experience he went through last time in the exam… when an all too familiar blue haired boy who had shot upright while Izuku's eyes were closed was now pointing directly at him.
"Moreover you! With the unkempt hair!" The blue haired boy glared over at Izuku with his severe blue eyes, framed by rectangular glasses.
/Tenya Iida/
/Shit! Factory reset! Someone get this kid some Majima!/
Izuku flinched, but tried his best not to wilt like he did last time around.
"You're very distracting! Are you even listening-"
"It's an obstacle." Izuku said quickly.
"Beg pardon?" Iida tilted his head.
"The fourth villain type on the pamphlet." Izuku raised his pamphlet. "If you noticed, the other three mock villain types each have an assigned point value… other than the fourth. Meaning… it's less like a Goomba or a Koopa Troopa, but more like a Thwomp." He looked over at Present Mic. "Right, sir?"
"That's exactly right! Thank you for the explanation, examinee!" Present Mic called out.
Izuku smiled shyly and leaned back in his chair while putting down his pamphlet and picking up his examinee card off the desk to look at it, he was in test grounds B… was that where he was last time? He didn't think he remembered.
"How the fuck did you know that, nerd?" Bakugou whispered harshly.
"I read the pamphlet and listened to the explanation," Izuku slid the pamphlet to the side for Bakugou to see. "The point values are written above the silhouettes of the villain bots, the fourth one has zero written above it. If the objective is to collect points, and one of the targets has no points, then logic dictates that you aren't supposed to engage it. If you aren't meant to engage it, but it is still counted amongst hostiles, then it is an obstacle, not an opponent."
Bakugou frowned in thought while taking in Izuku's words, and, as much as he hated it, he saw the logic behind them. But something felt off… he didn't know what, though. It made sense that the nerd would figure this out, his brains were all he had going for him, but to actually say it outright? In front of so many people?
Meanwhile, Iida was sputtering and stammering, the wind was taken out of his sails.
"Well-!" He seemed to want to say something else, but he was suddenly turned around and forced to sit by something… some sort of invisible force.
Both Izuku and Katsuki noticed it and glanced at each other to confirm that the other saw it.
Katsuki gestured down with his head, and Izuku shook his. Neither of them had an idea what it was, but they saw it.
Soon enough, Mic's explanation came to an end, and it was time to head out.
"Good luck, Kacchan." Izuku said while standing up. "I'll see you in class."
Katsuki scowled; the nerd was acting way too confident. "Tch-! Whatever, good luck not dying, I guess."
It pissed him off to no end when the nerd just grinned and ran off. What the hell was going on!? He was weird since morning… he wished him luck, and… said that they'd ace the exam and take UA by storm… the two of them.
What the fuck was up with Deku?! Something was seriously wrong… and Katsuki Bakugou would figure it out!
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
Izuku stood just outside the fake city, he was a bit nervous… last time, he screwed up so badly that the only reason he even made it into UA was the rescue points.
This time, however… oh, this time he was going to destroy this exam!
His body might only be able to handle five percent, but that five percent was still stronger and faster than most of his class at this point!
Izuku looked around cautiously, last time, pretty much everyone wrote him off, treated him like a joke… that hadn't changed. He could see people looking at him, less than impressed.
"I bet if it was Rex, he'd just glare them into submission…" Izuku muttered before shaking his head. "No, at this point in time, Rex and I haven't diverged so dramatically yet."
Still, it was pointless to think about this right now, about his other. Even though… Rex didn't even have One for All when he took on the exam, and he broke All Might's record… darn, Izuku really wanted to one-up him, was that normal?
Okay, back to observing fellow examinees, he was looking for a certain flashy classmate of his… but he couldn't see him. He spotted a familiar bird headed boy, and a boy with black hair that was probably the class's resident hardhead… but he couldn't see his flashy classmate, and she was nowhere in sight either.
Izuku let out a sigh of relief before someone else caught his eye, a beautiful girl with short red hair, eyes like a warm hearth, and an emerald cross over her chest, hanging from a necklace. She was dressed in red tights and a black polka dotted red jersey… she looked like a ladybug, it was adorable.
The girl seemed to notice Izuku was looking at her, and she smiled and waved to him.
/Homura Seihai/
/The heroine we needed, but not the one we deserved/
Yes, this girl was Homura Seihai, the one who stopped Izuku from falling flat on his face outside of the school, alongside her equally pretty twin sister.
What was the issue with this sweet, gorgeous girl? Well… she didn't exist during Izuku's last run. She wasn't one of his classmates, she wasn't a hero student from another school… she didn't exist.
But she did exist in another world… because she was the spitting image of Pyra, Rex's first love, his top girl.
Still, much like Pyra, Homura seemed very sweet, very earnest, and just very kind… maybe Izuku should do more than wave, and actually go up and say hi to her.
Yeah, unlike last time, he had a bit more confidence in him, right?
Izuku walked towards Homura, not noticing her smile widened as seeing him approach, since a warning blared in the back of his head. Izuku spun around to catch the hand of one Tenya Iida before it grabbed his shoulder.
The two boys stared at each other, Iida's eyes were wide with shock, and Izuku's were shaky, but he took a deep breath to calm down.
"Uhm… please don't touch me." Izuku said demurely before letting go of Iida's hand.
Iida withdrew his hand while Izuku turned around and walked over towards Homura, he heard a few whispers about how quickly he turned around, or about how he knew that the 'glasses guy' was behind him, but he tried to look like he wasn't paying attention.
"Midoriya! Hey!" Homura greeted him happily.
"Hey there, Seihai…" Izuku bowed his head to her. 'This is so weird… she looks exactly like Pyra…' He studied the girl's features. 'At the very least, it's easy to see how Rex fell in love with her.' He shook his head before offering a shy smile to the girl. "I just wanted to wish you luck."
Homura smiled brightly. "Well, thank you. And good luck to you too."
Izuku nodded hesitantly before frowning… was this when the exam would start?
He felt a certain excitement in the air, from above… and yeah, he figured it was show time.
And so, for the first time in years, Izuku whispered the words he thought he'd never get the chance to say again.
"Full… Cowling…"
Homura watched in amazement as red lines began to light up across Izuku's body before fading away, leaving his body glowing and wreathed in jade lightning. She wasn't the only one either, plenty of other examinees were now staring at the boy that they had initially wrote off as a nervous failure.
"START!!!"
Izuku shot off into the city while shouting over his shoulders. "He's not giving us a countdown, get moving!"
He hated that part of the exam last time around, when he had to scramble after everyone. He got the idea behind what Mic did, but they were all kids, they couldn't know… it almost felt like they were punished for not being perfect to begin with, rather than taught what they should do- Nope! Nope! Nope!
That was the Rex in him making that assertion! UA might not be perfect, but he refused to sink too deep into the mindset of his other.
Still, enough of those thoughts, Izuku was going to crush this exam!
[Objective]
[Pass the Entrance Exam]
Izuku let out a cry of exhilaration as he shot deeper into the city and came across a one-point villain bot, without slowing down, Izuku ran straight through the robot and reduced it to pieces.
After that, he dug his heels into the asphalt and slid to a halt, he looked down at his lightning covered hands – the color was a bit different, but he liked it – and tears soon began to form in his eyes.
"Welcome back… old friend." Izuku allowed himself to cry for a second before he went back to zooming around to look for villain bots.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
Tenya Iida was shocked, that boy who he called out at the hall, and who humbled him quite easily, was clearly much stronger than he had initially thought. When he saw the same green-haired boy in his exam area, approaching another examinee, he took it upon himself to chastise him. However, the boy turned around and caught his hand before leaving to speak with that red-haired girl.
Then, Present Mic called for the exam to start.
However, before anyone had a chance to deliberate what Present Mic did, the green-haired boy disappeared into the fake city with a massive rush of wind, leaving everyone in shock before he called out for all of them to get moving, explaining that they wouldn’t be receiving a countdown.
Iida ran through the city and was shocked at the devastation that the green-haired boy had left in his wake. Iida did his best to destroy any robot he came across, but he knew, even if he passed the exam, that boy would place higher than him.
This felt somewhat humiliating to him, a son of the Iida family, pro heroes known for their speed, to be too slow compared to someone. Because Iida caught glimpses of the green boy throughout the exam, he would see the jade blur rush past every once in a while, in a speed Tenya knew he couldn't reach yet, not without his trump card, but that boy was maintaining that speed with ease. More than that! That boy was having such an easy time with the exam, that he was willingly giving up points to help other examinees!
He saved examinees from stray attacks from others, from robots that ganged up on them, from pieces of rubble that were flying around. And through it all, whenever Iida caught a look at the boy's face, he was grinning, blushing, his eyes were hazy… as if he was under the influence of something. That expression… it was unheroic… disturbing… sinful.
'What is that guy?' Iida couldn't comprehend it, his heart pounded just a bit quicker.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
It had been four minutes so far, and Izuku already lost track of how many villain bots he destroyed.
But the important part was… he was having so much fun!
"Wooohooo!" Izuku cleaved a three-pointer in half with an axe kick and flipped forward as the two pieces of the robot fell apart to his sides.
Izuku landed roughly before charging at a two-pointer with a wide grin. 'If I remember how he did that…'
Izuku slammed a fist into the two-pointer's midsection, then at the robot's neck, and then punched it in the eye. While the robot was reeling, Izuku punched either side of its head, trapping it between his fists before he jumped up and slammed his knee into the robot's eye, completely shattering its head.
Izuku stumbled back while shaking his fist. "Heh… not as good as Rex, but he's been practicing with the True Dragon Style for a while." All Izuku had was his time observing Rex.
"Let's try his Beast Style, then…" Izuku picked up a piece of the robot he broke and smashed into another robot to shatter it to pieces. "This is fun!"
He had to say this for his other, when it came to pure fighting capabilities, he'd definitely be considered the strongest, in either his own world, Izuku's old world, and even in this new world.
Thinking about it… Izuku really only ever had one actual fighting style… the Shoot Style. But… he just sort of abandoned it, didn't he? When was the last time he actually used it?
Rex had at least four styles that he learned to use: Brawler Style, Rush Style, Beast Style, and his strongest… the True Dragon Style. And that was just in hand-to-hand fighting, he was also an incredible swordsman, could fight with firearms, and that's not to mention all the crazy things he learned from his mentor, the Mad Dog.
But Izuku only had one fighting style that he abandoned once he started receiving his other quirks.
'I need to make my own styles…' Izuku decided. 'And to start… I'll recreate the Shoot Style!'
Izuku charged at another robot and leaped up while spinning his body and raising his leg. Izuku's heel tore through the robot, and he continued his spin in the air before landing and using his momentum to leap at another robot.
'My legs have longer reach than my arms, they're also stronger, which means I can exert more power and hit farther… I've been thinking about the Shoot Style all wrong before, rather than a way to fight without my arms… I should have considered the advantages of a kick-based fighting style…'
Izuku mowed his way through robot after robot with insanely fast spinning kicks.
On one spin, Izuku caught a glimpse of who he recognized was his old bird-headed classmate, using his sentient quirk to toss a villain bot behind him without looking.
Izuku's eyes followed the robot's trajectory to see it was about to hit someone, and before he even realized it, Izuku moved.
With the speed he missed oh-so dearly, Izuku dashed over to the unaware examinee and picked them up in his arms a second before the debris could hit their head. He braced their head against his chest to prevent whiplash, and kept a tight grip on their body.
Izuku spun around and dug his heels into the ground to stop himself just as the robot piece crashed on the ground where the examinee used to be.
He watched the aftermath with a grimace before forcing a smile to his face and looking down at the one he helped. "Are you-"
He froze when he finally saw their face, or rather… her face.
Ethereal blue eyes, silver hair with bangs that normally covered half of her face, but were now blown aside due to the wind, full lips, and bags under her eyes. She looked a bit like a ghost, and she definitely exuded this sort of cold aura… Izuku knew exactly who she was.
/Reiko Yanagi/
/My second best girl after Yui, and y'all can fight me/
How could he not know her? The Reiko Yanagi of Rex's world killed Kacchan. For a moment, Izuku felt like it would have been better to leave her to her fate, but he slapped himself internally.
No, he had been lecturing Rex over this. This Yanagi didn't do anything wrong… even if she looked exactly like the one who killed Kacchan.
However, she was staring at him with both of her eyes wide… huh, there was a scar around her left eye, pretty gnarly one, but he just thought it looked kinda cute… like a puppy with miscolored fur around its eye, and this was getting awkward… dammit! What would Rex do in this situation?!
Well… considering Yanagi was definitely one of his favorites… flirt?
"Ahem… sorry for the rough treatment, my Charming Demon Belle. But I figured you'd prefer it over being crushed by that robot." Izuku spoke in an exaggerated manner, if he recalled correctly, Yanagi tended to like this sort of stuff… Rex's certainly did. So, he figured that this would help calm her down.
Her eyes went to the broken robot on the ground where she had been standing mere moments before. Her lips were pursed, but her eyes were wide with horror at what could have happened to her.
"Are you okay?" Izuku asked worriedly.
Yanagi nodded slowly before shifting slightly in Izuku's arms, he took the hint and lowered her to her feet.
"Will you be fine?" Izuku inquired.
Yanagi nodded. "I shall be fine, Valiant Spirit." She bowed to him. "Please, return to your own battleground, less you fail this quest."
"I'll be fine." Izuku assured her. "I think I'd rather help out other examinees." He turned around and gave the girl a wave, he thought that it would look cool. "Best of luck, my Charming Demon Belle." And with that, he dashed off to find more examinees to help… while trying to suppress the crawling of his skin at acting flirty with Kacchan's killer.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
Reiko Yanagi marveled at the breeze left behind by the valiant spirit who saved her, she watched the sparks he left behind disperse in the air with awe in her eyes.
Her cheeks turned slightly red at the memory of being held in his arms as he looked at her with concern and called her 'my Charming Demon Belle'. It caused pleasant shivers to creep up Reiko's spine.
And not just his words… that smile…
She had seen him rush around before, and caught hint of that sinful smile of his… it was the single most beautiful thing that Reiko had ever seen.
"That boy is… spooky." Reiko muttered before going back to trying to gather points, she made sure to help other examinees, just as the valiant spirit had done for her. Her cheeks red and her heart pounding as she kept recalling that smile.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
It was almost time… Izuku knew it.
Any minute now, the Zero-Pointer would be released… which meant a lot of panic, so Izuku would have to help out as many people as he could.
The rumbling of the earth told him that it was time.
Izuku stood still as the mechanical colossus known as the Zero-Pointer rose from the ground, its hands gripped the buildings to pull itself up.
All around Izuku, the examinees ran away, but his eyes were glued to the giant monstrosity… this was the first time he had used his quirk last time… when he broke his legs and arm to save… her.
He shook his head free of the thought, she didn't matter anymore. Izuku raised his head to look up at the Zero-Pointer, and he could almost swear that the damned thing was glaring back at him with its glassy red eyes.
He wondered if he could take it down with his current mastery of One for All… but he had no reason to. No one was in danger of the thing, so-
"Midoriya!"
Izuku flinched and looked ahead to see Homura unsteadily walking away from the Zero-Pointer… she seemed to be carrying something… no, someone… someone invisible… no way.
"Don't worry, I'm there!" Izuku called out and rushed right over, he ran through the dust cloud and reached Homura and the invisible girl.
"Here!" Homura shoved her into Izuku's arms. "You take her to safety, and I'll hold that thing o-ahhh!" Homura yelped when Izuku grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. "M-Midoriya!?" Homura squeaked, her face turned cherry red.
"Fighting that thing is pointless!" Izuku shouted and started running, he was carrying Homura over his shoulder, and the invisible girl under his arm… his hand was grasping something soft, but he honestly did not have time to think about that.
He broke out of the dust cloud and ran as fast as he could to make some distance between the Zero-Pointer and the precious cargo he was carrying.
He made it far enough and placed Homura down before kneeling to release the invisible girl.
"Whew… thanks for that…" The invisible girl sat up, at least, Izuku assumed she did. He saw some movements in the dust, and… wait… this was before she had any control of her quirk… if he couldn't see her, that meant that…
"I mean…" The invisible girl drawled. "You did cop a feel, but-"
Both the invisible girl and Homura blinked at the sudden rush of wind, and then stared in shock when Izuku was gone.
"Oh, a grope and run, is it?" The invisible girl snorted.
"He couldn't even see you." Homura pointed out.
"That's quirkist…" The invisible girl muttered, her pout was downright audible.
Homura sighed.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
Izuku felt like screaming… no, that was a lie… he was just screaming.
He felt so embarrassed! He had just copped a feel on a girl! A minor too! He could just hear Chris Hansen telling him to take a seat!
Wait a minute… he was back to being a minor! But how would that work!? He had the body of a teenager, but the mind of an adult… should he turn himself in? Was there a law for this? Should he worry about a rapper writing a diss track about him?
Something that goes like… Say, Deku, I hear you like 'em young!
He could honestly see Rex making that joke, but considering Rex was sleeping with several adult women, at least… Blades shaped like adult women, he had no room to criticize!
What was Izuku doing again? Oh, right, he was running back towards the Zero-Pointer just to avoid the awkwardness of having sexually harassed a girl… he should go back to apologize afterwards.
Even if he resented his old classmates… he didn't think that harassment of this sort was payback, just a discourtesy, and he'd correct it.
Still, that was for later, he was going to take his frustration out on the Zero-Pointer… it was pointless, likely counter-productive, but dammit! He was doing it anyway!!
Izuku finally reached the massive robot's treads and began scaling it.
With just five percent, he couldn't just jump up like he did last time, he also still didn't have his other quirks, so he couldn't fly, or store kinetic energy, or tell the laws of physics to blow him.
All he had was his strength… and…
Izuku finished scaling the Zero-Pointer and jumped high above it with that sinful grin on his face, the grin that his other put on him during their fight. This feeling… this addicting sensation… the adrenaline, the feeling of power, but most of all… the knowledge that he was pursuing his desire… it was all too much.
For a moment, Izuku felt like he wasn't alone, a taller, slightly older version of him appeared beside him in the air as he drew his fist back.
"Imperial…" Izuku whispered out, the ghostly other beside him seemed to speak the same word.
Flaming green aura burned around Izuku's body as black and red lighting crackled around his fist. Izuku dove down and drove his fist into the Zero-Pointer's head, his ethereal other copied his movements.
"SMMAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHH!!!!!"
And the entire city shook.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
Homura and every single applicant in the fake city stared in disbelief at the sight of the giant and imposing Zero-Pointer suddenly being crushed by a single punch.
Dust was blown everywhere from the impact, but it soon dissipated to reveal the form of Izuku, standing over the giant metallic pancake that was once the Zero-Pointer. He flattened it… completely flattened it.
Homura quickly ran over to him, she released a burst of flames from her feet to send herself flying towards the boy faster. And it was a good thing she did, as soon as she landed on the metal pizza in front of Izuku, the boy collapsed into her.
Homura caught him and looked down at his right arm… the sleeve was torn, and the surprisingly muscular arm was all bruised.
"Heh… you win this time, Rex…" Izuku mumbled deliriously.
"Midoriya, are you okay?" Homura asked worriedly.
Izuku didn't respond, his eyes just fluttered closed and he fell asleep in Homura's embrace.
"You're so strange…" Homura giggled before the speakers around the fake city blared to signal the end of the exam.
Izuku didn't wake up, not from Homura's giggles, or the announcement that the exam was over.
But unlike the last time he passed out after the exam… he was pretty content.
「 MULTIVERSE THEORY'S A BITCH 」
"You didn't have to stick around until I woke up, Seihai." Izuku said shyly as he walked side by side with Homura.
"Of course, I did!" Homura said heatedly. "You only got in range of the Zero-Pointer because of me."
"M-more like… because I'm a nervous mess… don't you think?" Izuku mumbled while hugging his red face with his arms to hide it from Homura's view.
"A nervous mess who flattened a skyscraper sized robot into a pancake… with a punch." Homura pointed out. "I figured you were strong, but I had no idea you were THAT strong!"
"Hehehe… what can I say?" Izuku chuckled nervously.
No, seriously, what COULD he say? How did Rex make this look so easy!? Rex was flirty and confident and cool! But Izuku, who was technically much older, and had much more life experience, still had no idea how to talk to pretty girls!
"You can share what you two are talking about." A voice that was very similar to Homura's, but much rougher, spoke up.
Izuku and Homura turned around to see a girl, nearly identical to Homura, but with long golden hair and golden eyes like stars, rather than short red hair and red eyes like a hearth, standing behind them with her hands on her hips.
"Hey, Hikari!" Homura greeted the girls cheerfully.
The blonde sighed.
/Hikari Seihai/
/The heroine we deserved, but not the one we needed/
This girl was Homura's twin sister, and much like Homura, she also didn't exist in Izuku's original world, but she did in Rex's world.
Hikari was the spitting image of Mythra, the other personality of Pyra, or was it the other way around?
Izuku could only hope that Hikari and Homura weren't as powerful as Mythra and Pyra… considering that Mythra destroyed an entire world singlehandedly.
"What's going on?" Hikari walked up beside them and fell in line right next to Homura, leaving the redhead between herself and Izuku.
"Midoriya flattened the Zero-Pointer. With one punch." Homura punched the air to demonstrate her point.
Hikari stared between Homura and Izuku before frowning. "Seriously? You too?"
"Too?" Izuku repeated.
"There was a guy in my block who took down the Zero-Pointer with one attack. He didn't just flatten it… he flipping erased the top half of it." Hikari revealed. "Dude was a freak…"
Izuku lowered his eyes. 'Could that have been… Kacchan? No… he doesn't have that kind of firepower yet. So, who could it have been?'
"Still, you're telling me green eggs and ham here actually has the power to take down those massive clunkers in one hit?" Hikari looked at Izuku skeptically.
"I was there, it was so cool." Homura smiled. "He was all like "Imperial Smash!!"."
"Smash?" Hikari smirked in amusement. "An All Might fan, huh?"
"His biggest fan!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Oh?" Hikari quirked an eyebrow. "Still… how the heck did you do it? Take down that clunker?"
"Uhm…" Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's simple. I upped the power of my quirk at the last moment before impact, and aimed for a spot I knew would cause the most damage."
"That does sound simple." Hikari conceded.
"Still!" Izuku suddenly turned to Homura. "I saw you shoot fire out of your feet! Can you only expel flames from your feet? Or maybe it's your limbs? How about the output?" Izuku already had his notebook in hand, his eyes shined with possibilities.
Hikari flinched back with a disturbed expression, but Homura just smiled.
"I'll tell you all about my quirk, if you want." Homura said. "How about the three of us go hang out? It'll be great."
"Eh? But there's a new episode of Familia Epic coming out today, I wanted to watch it!" Hikari complained.
Izuku's eyes snapped over to Hikari, and the blonde seemed to realize what she said. She slapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks flushed.
"You can watch your dumb harem anime later." Homura said simply.
"It's not a dumb harem anime! It's a good harem anime with a deep story and a well thought out story based on classical mythology!" Hikari argued heatedly.
Homura snorted. "As you can see, my sister is a massive otaku." She said to Izuku.
"N-no, I'm not!" Hikari denied and crossed her arms before looking away. "She's just spreading lies about me!" She glared at Izuku. "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you!"
Izuku turned his head from side to side to look at both sisters, and a moment later, he started laughing.
"H-hey! Stop laughing!" Hikari punched Izuku's shoulder, but he didn't even budge. "Damn! You are solid!"
The three of them walked out of the gate together.
"Come on!" Homura took Izuku and Hikari's hands. "I know a great place! How do you feel about karaoke?"
Izuku didn't really have any attachment to karaoke, he didn't even think he could sing… but… Rex and his friends always made it look so fun. And… maybe this was what he needed?
He spent so long just rushing and rushing towards his goal on his own, he never stopped to smell the roses… maybe a bit of fun was good?
"Sure!" Izuku agreed.
The three started walking, Izuku walked on the edge of the sidewalk, closer to the road, and just then, a black motorcycle shot past.
It suddenly felt as if the world slowed down for a moment, just for that single breath when Izuku and the motorcyclist were side by side.
The breath passed, and Izuku stepped forward, but then stopped to look back and see the motorcycle disappear into the distance.
"Huh… I wonder what that was about…" Izuku muttered, a strange feeling took hold in his chest.
"Midoriya."
Izuku looked forward again to see Homura holding out her hand to him with a smile, while Hikari was standing next to her with her arms crossed and a huffy expression on her face.
"Are you coming?" Homura asked.
Izuku swallowed.
He wouldn't mess up again.
He wouldn't lose everything again.
He wouldn't get left behind again.
This time, he was going to fight with all he had for his happy ending!
And he was going to have fun while doing it! Saving people with a smile was still his goal… but he wanted his smile to be genuine.
Izuku took Homura's hand, and the girl started running, dragging Izuku along behind her. Hikari scoffed and ran after the two.
Izuku's face was bright red from running hand in hand with a girl, but… he had to say… he felt really happy!
Maybe giving the Rex way a try wasn't all bad?