My Brothers Keeper

Starting Line

Episode 3: Starting Line

The U.A. high school hero course is designed to give students everything they need to go pro! It is, without a doubt, the country's most challenging and most popular hero course. Only one in 300 applicants is accepted! The alums are a list of who's who of heroes. There's All Might, who magnanimously declined the People's Choice award! Then, the man who's stomped out more crimes than anyone else in recorded history: Endeavor! And the guy who has won the Best Jeanist award eight years running: Best Jeanist! It seems graduating from U.A. is simply a requirement for becoming a great hero!

It was finally the day we had been waiting for, February 26th, the day of U.A.'s entrance exam. Izuku and I had worked extremely hard to get to where we were standing, and I could feel the anxiety starting to bubble up within me. All Might stood before Izuku and me, holding a strand of hair between his massive fingers, waiting for Izuku to take it.

"It doesn't matter what you eat as long as you get my DNA. Now hurry!" All Might urged Izuku to take the hair.

"Not exactly how I thought this would go..." Izuku timidly reached out and picked up the hair. He placed it in his mouth and forced himself to swallow. A look of disgust crossed his face as it slid down his throat. I couldn't help but laugh at the situation—all that for just a hair off of All Might's head.

"You swallowed it, yes?" All Might asked. Izuku looked down at his hands to see if they had changed. To me, he looked like the same Izuku I had always known.

"Yeah, but I don't feel like anything different yet. I don't feel myself transforming." Izuku replied.

All Might let out a hearty laugh.

"Well, of course not! Your body has to process the hair first." He looked at the time on a nearby sign. "It should kick in after two, maybe three hours."

My stomach flipped when I heard this, and I thought about how soon the entrance exam was. In several short hours, I would sit in a room with my peers from around the country, taking the most crucial test of my life. My stomach flipped again at the thought.

"Izuku, we need to go. My stomach is in knots." I urged, feeling I needed to start moving to calm my nerves.

"Mine too. Plus, we both need to get home to take a shower and eat something before the test." Izuku agreed. We both turned to start the jog home when we heard All Might's voice.

"You may have molded your body into a proper vessel, but you did it quickly, so be cautious." We both stopped and looked at All Might, listening to his warning. "The physical backlash of One for All can be intense. There's no time to go into the fine details but take note. You have got to prepare yourself before using this quirk. So when you go to use it, I want you to clench your butt checks and yell this from the depths of your heart! Smash!" All Might threw his fist in the air. Izuku smiled at All Might, joining him by punching the air.

"Thank you, All Might, for all your help and advice. I won't let it go to waste!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, now get a move on before you are late." All Might said, turning to walk away, leaving Izuku and me standing on the beach.

"Come on, Izzy. We have to get going!" Izuku nodded, and we started the short jog home. Once inside the house, I immediately took a quick shower while Izuku made us a quick meal. Once I was done, I came out to sit with Izuku. Both of us ate in silence, thinking about our upcoming exam. Once Izuku had finished eating, he headed off to take a shower.

I picked at my meal, too nervous to eat much. My mind raced with what the exam could be. I knew there was a practical and written exam, but I had no clue what either would entail. What would they want to see from the examinees? As my mind raced, Izuku exited his bedroom wearing his school uniform. His hair was still damp and messy, as always. As we finished, there were only about 90 minutes until the exam started.