The Takatsuki household didn't get important mail often.
But when a thick envelope stamped with U.A.'s blue-and-gold crest slid into their mailbox, the whole house practically shook.
Ren spotted it first.
"BIG BROTHER!! IT'S HERE! THE LETTER IS HERE!!"
He barreled through the living room like a hyper raccoon, waving the envelope above his head.
Their father, cooking in the kitchen, heard the noise and hurried in from the kitchen, his eyes widened at the news.
He quickly took the letter from Ren carefully, as if it were a fragile relic, and said to Ren. "Go and call your brother, tell him that he finally got the letter from UA."
"Got it!" Ren replied, and he went to the backyard where Ryo is training.
Ren got to the backyard and saw his brother doing push-ups and shouted at him. "BIG BROTHER! YOU HAVE A LETTER FROM UA!!!"
Ryo got up from the ground and patted himself to get rid of the dirt that clung to his body. "I heard you earlier when you were screaming like a trumpet."
With clear excitement in his eye, he went with his brother to see their father holding the envelope and gave it to Ryo. "Ryo," he said, voice filled with pride. "You should open it."
Ryo swallowed. His hands hovered over the envelope. This was it. Everything he'd worked for.
They made space in the living room and gathered around as Ryo opened the envelope. Then a hologram burst upward, and All Might's towering figure appeared in shining 3D.
Ren yelped, their father flinched, and Ryo nearly dropped the letter from the scare that All Might's ghost gave them.
"YOUNG TAKATSUKI!" the projection boomed.
"I—YES?!" Ryo answered even though it's just a hologram and can't actually hear or respond to him.
"Your performance in the Entrance Examination was EXEMPLARY! And your rescue efforts and combat achievements have earned you HERO POINTS: 75VILLAIN POINTS: 40TOTAL SCORE: 115!"
Ren immediately latched onto Ryo's arm and shook him violently, and jumped up and down with glee from the news. "YOU'RE INSANE! YOU'RE AWESOME!! 115!! THAT'S LIKE—THAT'S LIKE SUPERHERO LEVEL!"
Their father closed his eyes. He can't help but be happy for his son, who has taken a step into his dream of becoming a hero, and as his father, he can help but feel extremely proud of what his son has done. When he spoke, his voice was thick.
"…I'm proud of you, son."
Ryo felt warmth spread through his chest. A tiny ache, too, one he never voiced. 'Thank you too, pops, for supporting us both all on your own, I'm gonna make you hold your head high always.'
All Might's voice still resounded throughout the house, with a grand speech about Ryo's action of helping others and gaining hero points.
All Might's hologram finished with a booming congratulations.
"WELCOME… to U.A. HIGH SCHOOL!"
As the projection faded, Ren shouted, "WE HAVE A PRO HERO IN THE HOUSE!" and ran laps around the living room.
Ryo and their father laughed in celebration.
This was real.
He had made it.
— 3rd POV —
UA high
Ryo got out of the train, uniform crisp, bag over his shoulder, legs filled with confidence, he went to his new school and his new future.
"Okay… Class 1-A should be this way."
He walked down the polished hallway until he stopped in front of a giant sliding door.
"Class 1-A."
He exhaled. "Alright. This should be it."
He slid the door open and, as he looked around, and noticed that there was only half the class there.
'Oh, good… less pressure' he thought as he stepped inside. 'Let's talk to some of my classmates to get to know them better.'
He picked a seat in the 4th row, 2nd column, toward the back.
'Perfect! Not front, not center. The teacher won't see me too much.'
As he settled in, the red-haired student in front of him turned around with a grin that practically sparkled.
"YO! You're that guy from my site, right? I saw you running around, smashing robots—that was SO MANLY!" He praises Ryo while giving him a thumbs up, grinning.
Ryo chuckled and replied because he also remembers seeing this red-haired guy at the exam, "I saw you too. You were taking hits for other people. That was pretty cool."
"Aw man, thanks! Name's Eijiro Kirishima!" he replied, and Ryo returned it by giving him his name too, "Ryo Takatsuki."
They extended their hands in a fist for a fist bump in pure shonen brotherhood fashion. Kirishima then finally turned around, but still radiated manly enthusiasm like a heater.
Ryo then looked to his left, where a shadowy figure sat quietly.
"How about you? What's your name?" he asked, hoping to get along well with his new seatmate.
The boy turned his avian head slightly. "My name is Fumikage Tokoyami."
"Oh, cool! Nice to meet you, as you might have heard, my name is Ryo Takatsuki."
They chatted calmly about the exam, quirks, and predictions for their homeroom teacher, all while the other students slowly walked in.
Then the door slid open again, and Yaoyorozu stepped into the room with a calm, refined posture.
Ryo looked up from chatting with Tokoyami, and his eyes widened, recognizing her.
"Ah—Yaoyorozu!" he waved, smiling.
She blinked in surprise, then returned a warm smile of her own.
"Oh! Takatsuki! I didn't expect to see you here so early." she got closer and sat the seat sext to him as she said so
He scratched the back of his neck and replied.
"Couldn't sit still at home. First day nerves, you know? Better to be an early bird than get lost looking for the classroom."
She let out a soft, polite laugh. "I suppose that's true. I didn't know you were in Class 1-A as well."
"Same here," Ryo admitted, "I thought you'd be in some… advanced class or something. Recommendation students sounds elite."
"I'm still a student like everyone else," she said gently.
"In fact… I'm glad someone familiar is here."
Ryo's cheeks warmed just a little, nothing too obvious, and he smiled.
"Me too. Guess we'll be classmates from now on."
The two of them chatted about the entrance exam, the written test, and their nerves for the first day, while more students trickled in around them.
Then the classroom door slammed open.
BAM!
A breathless Midoriya Izuku stumbled inside, clutching his bag. His eyes darted around, flustered, overwhelmed, and clearly not expecting so many people to already be here.
Ryo blinked."Huh… that guy looks like he ran a marathon."
Before Midoriya could even catch his breath, he heard a voice shout his name.
"DEKU?!"
A loud, irritated voice rang out as Bakugo Katsuki stood up from his seat like someone had poked a lion with a stick.
Midoriya froze being intimidated by Bakugo, and stuttered to reply."K-Kacchan! G-good morning!"
Ryo leaned to Yaoyorozu and whispered, "Are they… friends or enemies?"
Yaoyorozu sighed softly. "I'm not entirely sure myself."
Just as Bakugo was about to storm over, another voice cut in
"YOU THERE! YOU WITH THE EXPLOSIVE PERSONALITY!"
Everyone turned to look at who shouted this time. Iida Tenya marched forward, stiff and proper like a soldier.
Bakugo clicked his tongue, challenging Iida. "The hell do you want, four-eyes?"
Iida pointed sharply, chopping the air, getting in between Bakugo and Midoriya to prevent them from confronting one another.
"YOUR BEHAVIOR IS HIGHLY DISRESPECTFUL! THIS IS A PLACE OF EDUCATION! YOU MUST NOT THREATEN OTHER STUDENTS BEFORE CLASS HAS EVEN BEGUN!"
Midoriya flailed his hands as he nervously tries to explain the situation."N-no, Iida, it's fine! Really!! He's not threatening me—!"
Bakugo snarled. "Shut it, Deku."
Ryo said to Kirishima while pointing at what was happening, "Man, this class is intense already…"
Kirishima grinned. "Dude, I KNOW! This is awesome!"
While the three boys continued their loud back-and-forth, the rest of the class stared in disbelief. A couple of students whispered. Tokoyami simply shook his head, cloak rustling.
Ryo sighed as he could see the trouble in the future. "This is gonna be a long year…"
A faint rustling came from the front of the room.
SCRAAAPE… SCRATCH… SHHFF…
Yaoyorozu frowned. "Do you hear that?"
Ryo leaned forward to see what was making the sound. "What the…?"
Something was moving out from the teacher's table.Something yellow.Something… worm-shaped.
A giant yellow sleeping bag stood upright, causing Midoriya, Iida, Bakugo, and half the class to be shocked.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!?"
The zipper slid down slowly…
Revealing the tired, dead-eyed face of Shota Aizawa.
He stared at them like he'd already given up on life.
"…You're being far too loud..." he muttered.
— Aizawa POV —
'I finally memorized the entire first-year curriculum,' Aizawa thought, groaning internally as he unzipped his sleeping bag and rose like a cryptid emerging from its coffin.
'I was up all night organizing lesson plans. And now I have to deal with… teenagers.'
He looked at all their shocked, terrified faces.
'I already memorized their names. Their files, too. But meeting them in person… this is going to be exhausting.' He thought looking at the current situation.
He crawled out of the sleeping bag, hair messy, eyes half-dead.
"Alright, class," he said in the driest tone imaginable. "Enough chatter."
Everyone froze and listened.
"I know this is sudden, but put these on—" he tossed a stack of P.E. uniforms at them
"—and follow me to Training Field Beta."
He stared at them, eyes narrowing.
"We don't have time to waste." Aizawa said as he turned around.
'This year is going to give me stress wrinkles.'
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