Takoba Municipal Beach
Luist watched Izuku heading home to change. Today is the big day for the little guy, and he couldn't feel prouder of the teen. Yagi also left in the pick-up truck full of trash.
"SteLL… what time is it?" The blue-haired man said asked as he looked at the morning sun on the horizon.
"Umm… 6:26 a.m. You have four minutes before your morning shift begins." SteLL said, enjoying the way Luist's face paled.
The people of Musutafu, workers and students that where walking or driving to their jobs or schools, could see a streak of lightning flying across the sky at high speed. Luist had been working in the Tatooin Shopping District as a security guard, and at 6:30 a.m. he replaces the night guard.
Okada-san, the Director of the entire District, glanced at her watch. Okada Yukimura was a gentle-looking woman with a Heteromorphic quirk that made her look like a Tanuki. she then looked down at the ground, where Luist had just landed, breathing Heavily.
"… You arrive on time… but please, try not to bring a bad name to the district with that illegal quirk usage, boy" the older woman said walked toward her bakery. "Also, change into your uniform, dearie."
"Yes, ma'am…" Luist replied, flustered and sweating a bit. "Man… that was close. SteLL, retract the armor" He gave the order while brushing the dust off his armor from his rough landing.
The armor began to retract into a collar around Luist's neck. He had been wearing his security guard uniform underneath the suit ever since he started working here, and the nanomachines always made sure to keep his clothes clean.
"You know…" SteLL start talking from her seat on his shoulder, "just because the armor keeps you clean doesn't mean you shouldn't take a bath."
Some of the early costumers and workers wave to Luist and SteLL. Ever since they started working there, no criminal -not even the dangerous ones- had dared to approach the district. About a month ago, a couple of troublemakers tried to rob an ATM, and they ended up getting shocked by the Luist's pistols. Since he hadn't used his powers, it didn't count as an illegal quirk-use violation. From that day on, he became quite popular around the area.
Some pro heroes had even recommended that he take the Hero exam, and honestly, Luist had been thinking about it, still, the whole system seemed a bit less heroic than he liked. The great majority of heroes he'd met were in it for fame or easy sponsor money.
"And to think M9 was already devious enough… I miss when conspiracies were at least subtle. Here, I can spot a red flag just by being a security guard." Luist muttered. He may be socially awkward and a bit slow on reading the mood, but he can see an enemy in disguise from a mile away, and the Hero Public Safety Commission was nothing short of a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"Yeah… you'd think they'd at least hide the bodies better. Zero protection for AI oversight." SteLL said, equally annoyed. she was surprised how deeply the hero society was manipulated from the ground up. Still, they both knew there were true heroes among them, All Might and Izuku were living proof that on this world still had good-hearted people.
"true… Can you enter the U.A.'s security cameras?" Luist asked, glancing around. The day seemed calm, just like any other workday. At the very least, he wanted to watch his little brother ace the exam.
SteLL nodded and began the task. "Earth's network protection is so easy to break through it's not even funny" the advanced AI waited as her backdoor to U.A.'s servers began to install, though she quickly noticed this one wasn't as easy as usual. "well… look at that, a challenge! Finally!" she snapped her holographic fingers and got serious "Whoever coded a system this complex is on the same level as your uncle…"
Luist's eyes widened "Really? Woah… Do you think you can still get through?" He watched as the small hologram of SteLL opened multiple floating panels, a manic smile spreading across her digital face.
"HA! No earthling will beat me, no matter how smart they are" she declared with enough confidence that was borderline arrogance.
Luist sighed. she was getting competitive again, and that usually meant it was best to let her be. Otherwise, she'd probably disable the armor's auto-cleaning system, and he'd actually have to take a shower this time.
U.A. High School, Entrance, 8:14 a.m.
Izuku smiled as he looked with confidence the entrance and the other examinees walking in. He felt ready for whatever the exam might throw at him.
Earlier, he had stopped time before arriving home and tested the power that All Might had given him A single punch had vaporized a stone. The strength of One for All was terrifying enough to make him stay on the freeze dimension, and keep training his power output. he didn't know how long he had stayed there, but at last, he had learned to control his new quirk. He no longer shattered things into atoms at 5% of power, he had also discovered that he could control it better when focusing OFA throughout his entire body.
From there he resumed time, sprinted back home, took a shower, changed clothes, and rode the subway here. Izuku focus was broken by the familiar shouting.
"Fuck off, Deku!" The explosive teen approached with his hands on his pockets "Don't stand in my way, or I'll blast your shitty glowing head off."
Izuku smile and nods "Sure thing, Kacchan, good morning to you too." The time he spent with Luist had taught him how to deal with people like his bully and had given him confidence to stand up for himself.
"whatever, nerd, just back off, and don't make me look like a fool again!" Bakugo had been calmer since that day with the sludge villain, and stopped bothering his childhood friend.
Izuku let a sigh, smiling and shaking his head. *He never changes, does he? Well, I'm not going to stay behind, not when I owe so much to my mentors. This will be the first step towards becoming a hero…*
But even he, the kid with the power of time in his hands, couldn't stop a canon event. As he began to fall -having stumbled over a broken part of the brick floor- he thought; *… so, this is it…* he mentally sights about how pathetic it was not to pay attention to his surroundings. He was about to stop time when he suddenly feels weightless, stopping mid-fall.
"You all right?" came a gentle voice. He felt the girl's hands steadying him and placing him back on his feet, Izuku couldn't help but admire how cute and kind she looked.
"Well, thanks, you saved me from making a fool of myself" he said, bowing slightly and smile at her. "Same's Midoriya Izuku, pleased to meet you"
"Ah, don't mention it, I'm Uraraka Ochaco, the pleasure's mine" she said, bowing as well. When she clasped her hands together, Izuku suddenly felt his body weight return "sorry for using my quirk on you just now. I Just thought it'd be a bad Omen if you tripped"
He smiled and nodded, his cheeks a bit flushed "yeah I… wasn't looking where I was going. Again, thank you..."
"I understand, I'm also nervous too, bet you are as well," she added in a warm, rural accent.
Izuku paused to think. Yes, he was nervous. Even with two powers that could rival gods, deep down he felt as anxious as any other examinee. "yeah… I believe I am"
She smiles and nodded before turning toward the building "well then, good luck! Later!"
"sure thing, break a leg!" he replied.
The irony of that statement would follow them for years to come… though neither of them knew it yet.
Tatooin Shopping District 8:30 a.m.
"still nothing?" Luist asked as he entertained a group of children nearby, he was doing some tricks with his electric powers, playing dubstep-like rhythms with tiny sparks of electricity dancing from his fingertips. the kids watched in awe, cheering for him to keep going.
"ugh, shut up, you- right, right, children nearby" SteLL caught herself before swearing, her tone filled with frustration. She'd been locked in digital combat with U.A.'s twelve firewalls for over two hours and still refused to surrender to the school's stubborn countermeasures. "This… little rat!" breaking through another security layer, only to immediately run into a brand-new one. "It keeps popping out firewalls! what kind of secrets this school have o need this much security?!" she yelled in exasperation, her voice loud enough to make some bystanders look concerned, yet no one really care to find out.
The collar around Luist's neck began to warm from all the processing power SteLL was using, a sure sign that she was getting a bit too intense.
"you are overheating the armor, you might want to stop before it shuts down" Luist said, now shaping little animals made of pure energy and making them dance. the toddlers laughed and clapped, amazed by the silly dances and how awesome the "quirk" of Luist is.
"Ugh!" SteLL let out a frustrated squeal before finally closing all her holographic panels. She let herself fall down on Luist's shoulder "yeah… you're right…"
"having fun?" Luist smirked, glancing at the small hologram.
"[Beep] off"
The censor beep made Luist burst into laughter. Some of the older kids, who recognized what the sound meant, joined in, giggling uncontrollably.
"yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, [beep]hole." SteLL grumbled. "From now on, you'll be the one taking actual baths and paying laundry"
Luist froze in terror "No, SteLL, wait, I'm sorry! Forgive me, please!" But it was too late, the AI faded back into the armor/collar. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luist dropped to his knees, yelling dramatically at the sky. The kids around him laughed and pointed as their parents came to collect them.
From the doorway of her bakery, Okada Yukimura sighed and shook her head. "Yare yare…"
Today, in the Tatooin Shopping District, there was, unsurprisingly, nothing new to report.
U.A. High School, Principal's Office
The principal of Japan's most prestigious hero school giggled sadistically as he stopped coding the firewalls—the attacker had finally given up trying to breach his systems.
"That'll teach you not to mess with my school," he muttered with a smug grin, dropping his small mouse onto the desk like a rapper dropping a mic.
Satisfied with his victory, Nezu smirked, took a refined sip of tea, and walked out of his office. He had an exam to evaluate, and a reputation to maintain.
U.A. High School, Exam Orientation room.
"WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO MY LIVE SHOW! EVERYONE HERE SAY HEEEEEY!"
yet no one follow the flow of the voice-type hero Present Mic, no one except a certain kid with the power to stop time.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!" Izuku screamed as loud as he could within the freeze dimension. After calming down from his fanboyish outburst, he resumed time, no need to distract anyone else.
From there, Present Mic continued explaining the rules and structure of the practical exam. For Izuku, who had been studying inside his freeze dimension, the written portion had been a walk in the park. But now it was time to put all his training into practice.
Then the voice of Bakugo that was beside him caught his attention.
"in other words, they won't let you work with your friends, huh?" the explosive teen muttered, glancing at Midoriya's exam ticket.
"that seems to be the case," Midoriya reply as he casually looked at the ticket of his childhood friend exam ticket. "Even though our examinee numbers are consecutive… Is for the best, that way you don't need to worry about me getting in your way"
"Don't look at me, or I'll-"
Midoriya cut him off with a quiet "shh." Then he warn his childhood friend "Is better if we don't argue now Kacchan. Some people take the orientation way too serious" he whispered, noticing how Bakugo almost spoke up.
Bakugo clicked his teeth and let out a low, annoyed "nerd." Both teens focused back on Present Mic's the explanation, but just as the hero finished describing the third villain type, someone suddenly raised his hand and voice.
"Excuse me, may I ask a question!?"
A tall, serious-looking teen stood up from the middle row. Once given permission to speak, he began lecturing about the missing explanation for the fourth villain type, calling it irresponsible and unprofessional. Then, mid-rant, he turned and pointed straight at Bakugo and Izuku.
"…Moreover, what's with you two? Yeah, you, glowing haired kid, and the spiky one next to you. Can't you two keep quiet for a second? It's distracting" His glare could have melted steel. "If you two just came here to make a mockery of this exam, I suggest you leave immediately!"
Midoriya quickly placed a hand on his explosive childhood friend's shoulder, mostly to prevent Bakugo from accidentally killing an examinee then and there. The blond boy was seconds away from shouting back but swallowed his pride instead.
"Sorry for distracting you, it wasn't our intention." Izuku said calmly, forcing a small smile to defuse the tension.
Thankfully, Present Mic jumped in to smooth things over, continuing the explanation about the last villain type—the zero-pointer. As its name implied, it scored zero points and existed only as an obstacle.
When Present Mic finally finished his explanation the serious teen finally thanked the pro hero and sat down, Bakugo shoved Izuku's hand off his shoulder, shooting a silent glare that the glowing haired teen just nod awkwardly, this was way beyond anything Luist had ever taught him about handling difficult people.
Finally, Present Mic ended with the school's motto:
"…GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!"
With that, the examinees began filing out to the buses that would take them to their respective battle centers.
UA, Observation booth
The teachers began filing into a dimly lit room, illuminated only by a massive screen showing dozens of live video feeds. Rows of comfortable chairs lined the space, allowing for an ideal view of every exam ground.
"where have you been? I was expecting you to be here before me" Power Loader said, turning to the small principal.
Nezu simply giggled as he hopped into his seat. "Oh, you know—just dealing with the usual hacker trying to get into places they shouldn't."
The Support Course teacher whipped around, startled. "You!? Personally?" It was shocking enough that someone had managed to make Nezu take a cyberattack seriously. "Was the hacker really that good?"
"Oh, it was the most delicious challenge I've had in years—simply wonderful. I wonder who it could've been," the principal said, taking a delicate sip of tea.
"You don't know!?" Power Loader nearly lost his balance. It was bad enough that someone skilled enough to threaten U.A.'s systems existed, but the fact that Nezu's countermeasures and tracking protocols had failed to identify them was even worse.
"Nope," Nezu replied cheerfully. "The attacker's code was written in a language I couldn't decipher. It almost felt like I was fighting an alien invasion!" The principal chuckled at his own joke, completely unaware of how right he actually was.
Meanwhile, sitting quietly next to Nezu, All Might could only pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Luist… control your wife, please," he muttered under his breath, trying to act natural and keep the hacker's identity safe from Nezu.
"Hey, All Might! Excited to see some of the kids you'll be teaching? They're so cute when they're all fired up," said the R-Rated Hero, Midnight, leaning casually toward him.
"Stop fooling around, Nemuri" Eraser Head muttered, lifting his head from the chair where he'd just been napping. "there just a bunch of talentless fame seekers. None of them see the real danger beyond this point." He glanced at the Number One Hero with a skeptical look. "And I'm guessing you accepted the job for a hidden reason. Tell me—have you even learned how to teach a class?"
"Of course, I do, I wouldn't have agreed to take the position if I didn't" If Yagi was honest, he can answer with confidence only because he had cheated a bit, on the previous months till literally yesterday, while Luist and Izuku trained in the Freeze Dimension, he'd joined them to take lessons from SteLL on how to manage a classroom and organize lessons properly.
Still, that didn't stop Aizawa's tired glare. "We'll see… Just don't try to sugarcoat everything for them while you're at it."
"You are being too hard on the big guy, Meansawa" Present Mic interrupted as he entered the room "He seems honest enough. And remember who we're talking about, All Might's just a cool, gentle soul." Then he noticed the video fee on the screen. "kids should be ready to start, so, let's not keep them waiting" Yamada ignored his best friend's annoyed stare and made his way up the stairs toward the rooftop.
Battle Trial, Ground Beta, Entrance
Izuku could feel his heart beating with excitement, so he… -like everyone else at the entrance- …start to stretch. he couldn't do that in his freeze dimension, so better now than later. He saw Uraraka among the examinees and silently wished her good luck, but that caught the attention of the serious guy from before.
"Hey!" The deep blue-haired guy walked in front of Midoriya, blocking his view of the brunette. "what are you doing? do you plan to target a fellow examinee? That's really inappropriate on your part." His voice drew the attention of everyone nearby, but Izuku remained calm.
"Isn't that the kid that was arguing with someone back in the orientation room?" the glowing-haired teen could hear someone whisper behind him.
"You're assuming too much, buddy, and you know what people say about assuming." That earned a few chuckles, and the tension around them dissolved. Luist had taught him that sometimes humor could break awkward moments. "She just helped me this morning, that's all."
The serious guy hmphed and continued, "Still, you'd better not try to set a bad example to-" but before the taller teen could finish, the voice of Present Mic was boomed from the top of a tall building.
"AAAND START!"
the moment Izuku hear those words, he stopped time. he looked around t the frozen, surprised faces of the other examinees, took a deep breath, and then resumed time. the voice of Present Mic goes back on the background.
"WHAT'S WRONG? THERE NO COUNT- SEE! THAT GUY GETS IT!"
The examinees could see the back of Midoriya stormed ahead into Ground Beta, soon followed by the horde of aspiring heroes.
Izuku used 5% on himself to sprint through the city, as he began to replay his training in his mind, Luist's voice clear in his head.
"Listen closely, Midoriya boy. To be able to fight without relying on your OP power, you need to set three rules. First: stop time to make gear and equipment"*
Izuku punched a robot to smithereens, then stopped time to gather pieces from the wreck. Remembering his lessons of weapon manufacturing, he built a machine gun using the robot's arms. When he resumed time, it looked to everyone else as if he had just ripped off some parts from a one-pointer, but in truth, he had spent plenty of time repurposing the weapon to shoot properly. He mounted the gun on his back and kept moving.
The second rule came to mind as he kept fighting fiercely.
"Second: if the life of someone else is at stake, save it. Even if they never find out who did it—it's the duty of every hero to prioritize lives above everything else."*
A boy with indigo-colored hair was struggling against a two-pointer. Izuku rushed to help, but the robot's attack sent debris crashing down from a nearby building, fell rapidly onto the examinee, without hesitation, he froze time, moved the other teen out of harm's way, and resumed time.
"you all right?" Izuku whispered, as the robot scanned for its vanished target.
"yeah… really difficult to brainwash a Clanker." the teen muttered, frustrated that his quirk was useless against machines. Making this text really difficult to pass for the teen.
"Whoa, that's a really helpful power… hmm." Then Izuku remembered his last rule from his outer-world mentor.
"Allies and brothers-in-arms are a necessity to win any battle, and a good friend is better than a spiteful rival. If they can't defend themselves, you must take the time to teach them how."*
Izuku grabbed the boy's shoulder and stopped time, bringing the other teen into his freeze dimension. Saying the guy was freaking out would be an understatement.
The total silence, the lack of battle noise or movement from the examinees and robots alike, made the indigo-haired kid panic. "What the hell happened!?" he shouted, looking around. The only one still moving was the teen who had just saved him. "Hey, what did you do?"
"I simply stopped time" Izuku said as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Then he realized the problem, he didn't warn or ask the kid before he takes the decision for him "Ah… sorry, I forgot my manners. My name's Midoriya Izuku. My… quirk can stop time." He raised his hand, waiting for a handshake.
The boy stared at him surprised, and unsure what to think, but eventually shook his hand. "Shinso Hitoshi" Then an idea popped into the tired-looking teen's mind. "wait, if you can stop time… why didn't you just destroy all the robots from the start?"
"because that would be mean to the others. We all want to be heroes, and honestly, it'd be too boring to fight like that," Izuku said while keelling down and sit before setting the machine gun on the ground. "while we're here, let's make you some equipment for you to fight properly."
"Why? Why are you even bothering to help another examinee?" the guy asked, sitting down as well to calm his nerves.
"Because we'll be allies if we end up as classmates, if you pass the exam, of course. And your quirk is too cool to be wasted in the general education." Izuku start to dismantle the machinegun and laying its parts out neatly. "any preference? Power gauntlets, shockers fists, a regular rifle?" he mentioned some of the things he can do with these parts.
"Ah… well, I like how Eraser head fight" Hitoshi admitted.
Izuku lift his head and smile brightly "Me too! I'm a late bloomer, so I wanted to imitate him, he fights pretty much quirkless after all." As a fan of heroes, the teen knew a lot. "so, a capture gear then, I can work something out. Go search some scattered pieces of broken robots while I assemble some gear."
From there Izuku worked on getting a gear ready. For Hitoshi, the concept of time quickly became confusing. He could've sworn it's been a day already, yet he wasn't tired, even after hauling heavy chunks of destroyed robots to Midoriya, he never felt fatigued.
Once the electric harpoon bracelets were finished and Hitoshi was wearing a bit of makeshift armor, Izuku began teaching him how to use it. They trained for what felt like hours until the indigo-haired teen could handle the gear properly.
"Well… you seem ready enough. Good luck, man." Izuku resumed time and dashed off from his new friend, leaving him alone with the Two-pointer, which Hitoshi promptly destroyed.
UA, Observation booth
The live stream of the exam played across multiple windows on the screen for the teachers, and the strange anomaly involving two examinees hadn't gone unnoticed.
"did the surveillance system glitch out?" Midnight asked, as she and the rest of teachers were focused on the green glowing-harried boy, and the examinee that he just saved, now fully equipped for battle.
Power Loader shook his head. "No… What kind of quirks do these boys have?" he asked, turning toward the other teacher with the expedients on his personal tablet.
Vlad King read aloud "Shinso Hitoshi and Midoriya Izuku. Brainwashing and… Hasten quirks. No much information is given on the later, but apparently the boy can put energy on one thing at the time, that's why he moves so fast and hits harder, but as fast to create in nanoseconds something that complex? Any idea, Nezu?"
The principal narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Difficult to say. The boy must have extensive knowledge of support gear to create something like that. Furthermore, he seems like a very promising candidate. How many points has he collected?" Nezu looked back at Vlad King.
"Currently sixty-seven points, and he's still going. It seems it's about time, right?" Vlad looked at Power Loader.
"I guess so. Let their true test begin." Vlad King nodded and pressed the button that activated the Zero Pointers in each battleground.
Battle Trial, Ground Beta
Izuku was in the middle of destroying a three-pointer when it happened. From the ground, a massive robot emerged before him and the rest of the nearby examinees.
"Whoa! Isn't that too overkill? Someone could get hurt!"
He stopped time just as the robot struck a nearby building, sending debris flying dangerously toward several other teens, Izuku jumped into action, punching each piece of rubble to dust. once he is certain no one would be harmed, he walked to his original spot and resumed time.
No one noticed the missing debris as all the examinees started to flee. Izuku also began to retreat, until he heard it, The sound of someone in pain.
The kind girl from before, was trapped under broken asphalt, the strike to the ground by the Zero-pointer must have caught her off guard.
"Uraraka-san…"
He didn't remember to freeze time, nor did he notice himself running using more and more of OFA with each step, He jumped high up, flying at the speed of sound directly into the robot's head, and delivered a 100% OFA punch.
"SMASH!"
The boy screamed with all his might as the titanic behemoth of a robot was reduced to scrap metal, its remains crashing down onto the nearby buildings.
But then the teen started to fall fast toward the ground. To his shock, he felt a huge amount of pain coming from his legs and arm, they were broken, and he kept falling, unable to focus on his time manipulation. He could only struggle and panic on his way down as he realized how reckless he had been. He had failed to stop and think; he had just acted, like that time with the sludge villain. But this time, since he had better control over his chosen power, he didn't pop right into the freeze dimension.
Before he hit the ground, he felt a slap on his face, and suddenly his gravity was nullified. He could see Uraraka on a floating piece of the robot, her fingertips joined as she muttered, "Release…" Her voice sounded strained and pained, her leg probably still injured from before.
"Thank… yo-" supporting himself on one arm, he lifted his head to thank his savior, but she was puking rainbows down toward the ground. The boy grew concerned. "Hey… ugh… are… are you all right?"
"TIME'S UP!" Izuku heard Present Mic's voice from afar, followed by the sound of a siren echoing around, marking the end of the test for everyone. The first to rush over and check on Izuku was Hitoshi, still wearing the gear he had built.
"Midoriya! Are you okay, man? What happened?" The other teen -who knew how Izuku was pretty much invulnerable in his freeze dimension- was obviously surprised to see him like this.
"I guess I forgot to stop time… he he he… not the preferable way to find out the limits of your power, is it?" Midoriya joked, trying to ease the pain. "How about you, any luck with your points?"
The indigo-haired teen nodded and showed a small smile. "Forty-three points… pretty good for four minutes left, huh?" Hitoshi crossed his arms, finally able to relax. "We should take you to the nurse's office, those wounds don't look good."
"That won't be necessary dear. The nurse is here," came a gentle voice. Both Hitoshi and Izuku turned to see the short, Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl. "Oh dear, you got this hurt by your own quirk?" she asked, concerned.
Izuku let out a pained giggle. "Well… I'm a late bloomer, so I just overdid it a bit." That made the whole crowd of examinees gasp in shock.
"A late bloomer this strong!?" someone shouted. "Is that even possible?" another added, as more examinees joined the loud gossip. Izuku felt a bit shy, he might be more confident now, but that didn't stop him from feeling a little embarrassed by all the sudden attention.
"Not used to being the center of attention, are you? Stay still," Recovery Girl said gently before kissing the teen's forehead. Izuku instantly felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. "Rest there, boy. You seem to have a lot of stamina," she added, handing him a small pack of gummy bears. "Here, have some gummies."
The young hero-in-training smiled weakly as she walked away to help Uraraka, who had suffered a broken leg.
Tatooin Shopping District 6:30 p.m.
Okada Yukimura was selling her last stock to Luist.
"Thanks, ma'am, you don't know how much this helps," he said as he paid for some bread and pastries. He planned to visit the Midoriya household, and he couldn't show up empty-handed.
"Don't mention it, boy. Thanks to you, today was another peaceful day of work. In fact, you've brought in plenty of customers since the district stopped getting attacked by robbers and villains. Now go before it gets dark," she said, waving him goodbye.
As Luist stepped out of the store, the cold February evening made his breath condense into small puffs of vapor. "It's getting cold already…" he muttered, touching the collar on his neck. His armor reshaped and covered his body in a smooth metallic flow. "Ahh… much better." The automatic temperature regulator of his suit made the chill of winter far more bearable. "Hey, I was thinking… maybe I should go to some hot springs next weekend. I'd die for a good day of doing nothing."
That was one of the perks of not being a full-time hero, he could enjoy travel and relaxation in a semi-peaceful world. After all, the previous universe he'd visited had been filled with chaos gods and cosmic horrors, and his home universe wasn't that far from it. Being stranded here wasn't so bad after all.
SteLL came to life in her holographic form, hovering next to him as he walked. She had changed her avatar to one wearing a winter outfit. "Lucky you, I can't feel any of that… well, I can if I want, but it's not the same. Simulating it isn't like living it." she said, sulking as Luist entered the train, better not to pull the same stunt from this morning.
Some of the passengers looked curious at the floating hologram, but SteLL paid them no mind. After all, no one on this planet could steal her from Luist, so there was no point in hiding her existence.
"Aw, don't be like that… maybe we could find a way to give you a body. Would you like that?" he asked, looking at her and waiting for a response. He was capable of finding a way to give her a real body, but they had already discussed this back in their original universe.
"Umm… nah, that would mean getting tired, eating, working… no, that doesn't sound like something I want. But a robot body? That's another thing! I'd love to be able to kick butt," she said, making martial arts moves with her pixelated form before nodding proudly. "Yeah, I want a robot body. You better start saving money—you already offered to do it." She smirked, and Luist just let out a sigh.
"You never change… okay, I'll see what I can do," he said as he gave his seat to an elderly woman who had just entered the train from another station.
Midoriya household
The knock on the door made Midoriya Inko startle. She walked over and opened it to see her son and Luist standing there. "Good evening, Miss Midoriya. Hope we aren't late," Luist said politely. SteLL waved cheerfully from her holographic form.
"Hello again, Inko-san! How have you been?" the AI asked. She and Inko had become good friends since their first meeting, apparently, SteLL's former mother, back when she was still known as Stella, resembled Izuku's mother in a lot of aspects.
"Ah, welcome back, Izuku. Good evening to you two as well. I've been a bit nervous…" Inko began, only to stop when SteLL gave her a teasing glare. The older woman sighed and confessed, "All right, I was really anxious and scared that something bad might happen to my boy." She covered her flustered face with her hands.
"Aw, that's totally normal mom behavior," SteLL said, and Luist nodded in agreement. His own mother used to hate it whenever he got into trouble back when he was young. Izuku, feeling comforted, smiled and hugged his mother tightly.
"I'm back mom" Izuku said enjoying the embrace of his mother.
"Aww," SteLL murmured with a soft smile, and even Luist felt warmth rise in his chest. Then, almost under their breath, the two shared a quiet moment. "I miss my mom," SteLL whispered.
"me too…" Luist replied, his eyes dimming slightly. sadly, even If his original self, arrived to their home universe, his mom died a long time ago, making this scene carry a bittersweet calm.
He sighed gently, then smiled again. "Hey, I brought some of Okada's pastries for us to share." the mother and son brightened at the mention of the famous pastries from Tatooin. As the man and the boy take their shoes, the four of then moved to the dining room to enjoy a successful day.