Monster

Entrance Exams.

It was ten months after Izuku met All Might. The day of UA's entrance exam.
Izuku had already sent in his application before meeting All Might, so he decided to just go for General Studies instead of the Hero Course.

His fifteenth birthday had passed as well. He now had gills on both sides of his neck, as well as fins on his arms and legs.

But that wasn't really important.

Izuku was about to head out, when his mom called out to him, "Izuku! Are you sure you want to wear.. that?" She gestured to his t-shirt, which had the words "fancy shirt" written on it.

"It's just a shirt, mom. It doesn't really matter, does it?" Izuku said, before grinning, "well, I need to go now, bye mom! I love you!"

"I love you too, sweetie! Be careful!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The exam was easy for Izuku. All of it was either things he knew from school, his own research, or quirk analysis.

And since it was just a written exam, he was confident that he had passed.

He finished the exam within the first half, and had to wait the rest of the time.

He looked over at the boy to his left, who seemed to be half asleep. He had fluffy purple hair, and dark eye bags under purple eyes. Izuku thought he had seen the boy going to the hero course entrance exam, though. Maybe he was just taking the General Studies exam in case he failed the Hero exam. He was covered in bruises, after all.

Or maybe he was beaten up by some bullies. Izuku knew how that could be.

He could ask the boy about it after the exams, he decided.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, wait!" Izuku yelled out, running to catch up to the purple haired boy.

He groaned in response, "what do you want?", not looking back at the mutated boy.

Izuku panted slightly, "are you ok? You're covered in bruises! I mean, I know I saw you heading to the Heroics entrance exam, and that probably had some sort of physical test too, but-"

He was cut off by the purple haired boy, "you're talking a mile a minute. I'm fine, don't worry about it. If that's all you want, you can leave now."

Izuku nodded and turned away, looking for the path back home.

The boy made it obvious that he didn't want to talk to Izuku, and he would respect that. He couldn't blame the boy, really. From a first glance, Izuku's mutations made him look scary, and gave him a monstrous first impression.

No one would want to talk to him, really.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izuku's talons gripped the wooden beam that was installed on his bedroom wall, as he perched there, scribbling a drawing into his notebook.

He had ended up drawing a hero costume for himself. Again. He threw the note book onto the floor, groaning. "Why can't I just let go of that childish dream?! It'll never happen, even All Might said it! Besides, I didn't even apply for the hero course!"

Somewhere in his mind, Izuku knew that it was because he simply wanted to help others. Almost to a point where it was more like a need. Like he needed to be able to have some sort of usefulness in order to be content with himself.

It made sense, though. He was called alot of things in school due to his quirk. That led to a low self-esteem, equalling a feeling of uselessness. A feeling that he desperately wanted to prove wrong.

He dug his talons into the wood further out of frustration.

He looked down at the notebook, and tilted his head. "Heh.. my drawing almost shows how much of a monster I am this time.."

I'm not a monster... just different.

Knock

Knock

Knock

Izuku turned his head to look at the door, releasing his grip on his perch and flying down to land in front of it. He opened the door, revealing his mom. She held a letter from UA out to him, smiling. "It arrived!"

Izuku took the letter, and opened it up. "What does it say? Did you pass?" Inko asked.

Izuku read it out loud, "Dear Izuku Midoryia, we are happy to say that you passed the exams. Your very impressive score of 100% will ensure you a spot in UA. We are proud to have you attend our school!"

Izuku and Inko both started tearing up, and engulfed eachother in a hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izuku stood at the door, wearing his new school uniform. Even if he was only going to General Studies, he was excited for the first day. He figured that UA wouldn't be like his old school.

"Bye mom!" He called out, before he left the house, running along the sidewalk. The wind blew through his already messy hair, causing it to tangle up in itself.

He had an incredibly bright smile, bright enough to blind someone if they weren't careful.

Izuku was going to his dream school, even if he wasn't going to be a hero.