The Hero's Stand

4: Day 2

Me and Ururaka were joined by Iida for a bit on the way home. He was interested in the specifics of my 'quirk' and I was able to get away by only giving him vague answers. Ururaka on the other hand had her own volley of questions for me. She started with the one topic I knew she would. Bakugo.

"Why does Bakugo call you Deku?"

"He made it up as an insult to me. It means 'useless'. It was because he had a string quirk and I was weak at the time."

"Can't Deku mean something nice too?"

"It might, I'm not sure. Why?"

"I think Deku sounds cool! Can I use it as a nickname?"

"I'm not sure how you see it as..."

"It'll annoy Bakugo"

I sighed "you know me too well."

I stopped at my house and waved farewell to her. My mother was waiting at the table for me, ready to hear all about my day. I told her over my noodles but it really felt more like an interrogation than a mother asking her son about his day. She drilled me for every detail to the point where I felt bad for lying to her about how good I did on the tests and about the friends I had made. I went to bed that night exhausted. Who knew that a curious mother could be more of a workout than a 20km run.

I woke up the next day and fell into what would become my daily routine. Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, meet Ururaka and go to school.

At school the day started pretty much the same as our first, but this time there was a thick layer of excitement in the air. Everyone had seen the schedule, All Might was teaching us today. Just as Mr Aizawa opened his mouth to speak we heard the door slide and there he was, in all his glory, ready to teach us. Mr Aizawa warned us not to get too lax and walked out, leaving the rest to the legend in front of us.

"So students! Who here is ready to push beyond their limits as heroes!?"

Everyone gave a cheer.

"Heh" muttered Aizawa from outside the classroom "He certainly knows how to rile up a crowd"

"Now of course, you young aspiring heroes have to look the part! I trust you all handed in your costume design slips before the entrance exams?"

We had. All Might pushed a button and a compartment emerged from the wall. Each section varied in size and had a number on it. I had number 7.

Deku's costume is just his one from the anime but with some added pockets. If you really want to then imagine it in a way that fits Deku better.

All Might led us and our costume holders (suitcases) to some changing rooms outside of one of the training grounds, a large city-like landscape.

My costume, although plain, had lots of little gadgets that fit and adapted Star Platinum's (and my) fighting style to suit all situations. One such example of this was a pocket full of 3cm thick metal balls that Star Platinum was able to flick towards my opponent with more force than a bullet from a gun. Another would be the other pocket, which held five large balls that each released a heavy amount of smoke that obscured the vision of an opponent. Star Platinum's eyesight was good enough to see through it so I was unaffected. Finally there was a small bundle of what appeared to be extremely strong, metal string that wrapped tightly around an opponent to hold them in place as well as a pair of metal-reinforced leather gloves that could stop even the stab of a rapier head-on. Those were for me to wear on my hands alongside my costume.

I walked outside and took a moment to observe everyone else's hero costumes. Everyone had come up with cool, effective designs that showed off their abilities and maximised their potential. All I'd done is make myself look cocky in some simple clothes. I continued thinking I was the only one who'd done this until I came to Ururaka. Her costume was just as simple as mine. She wore a full body suit that had pink rings around a pitch-black main body. It almost looked more like kids pyjamas than anything else, but it suited her personality and quirk. She noticed my costume and ran over to me to shower me with compliments. This made me really embarrassed and I spent the time trying to tone her down before the event started.