hero's shadow // mha

16) finally

When Toshinori sees that familiar mess of green curls pop up on one of the large screens in front of him, he doesn't choke, but it's a close thing.

He swallows back the blood in his throat and jerks forward in his chair, aware of the sudden questioning looks he receives from the other teachers around him. He ignores them, though, as he's too focused on trying to make sure that his mind isn't playing tricks on him right now. Because this has to be fake. Midoriya isn't actually here, tackling two robots at once at an entrance exam he told Toshinori he wasn't even going to think about taking. There's also no way he's doing this good.

That's not to say Toshinori thinks Midoriya is incapable, of course not, it's just that he's never seen his trainee quite like this. He's never seen him in an actual battle setting, fighting off pieces of complex machinery left and right without so much as a breath in between. The change is refreshing, but it's also frightening because why didn't I know he could fight like this? We've sparred together plenty of times.

The camera on the screen changes to a bird's eye view of the center of the mock city, and Midoriya is lost against an ocean of other examinees and robots.

Toshinori is still reeling. He can't really process this. That is definitely Midoriya. His instincts are telling him so, and besides, there's not many other short boys with green eyes and hair in Musutafu these days. At least, not ones that he's seen.

But the fact that the kid is here, taking the exam, means that he had lied to Toshinori—well, not lied. He never promised anything to the hero. The only things he'd said to him were I don't know what I want to do yet, and I'm not going to UA. Toshinori is still uncertain about why he'd specifically said UA and not any hero school in general, but oh well.

The point still stands, though, that Midoriya never promised anything, so it hadn't been a lie. So why does Toshinori feel a little... sad?

He'd been willing to wait. Just a couple more years and Midoriya would've been eligible for the Commission's hero program. Not all pro heroes get their license by going to UA or other available schools. Some can't go to school, or never made it in to their ones of choice. Those aspiring heroes apply for the program the Commission offers once they turn seventeen and are then trained directly by other pros.

It's hard to get in, sure, but with the number one hero's recommendation, Toshinori is sure Midoriya would've done just fine. He would've done fine without a recommendation, he knows, but still.

That's how Hawks had done it, Toshinori is sure, and the young hero is already number three in approval ratings at the age of twenty-two. There's no reason why Midoriya wouldn't be able to do the same. But that plan would have only worked if the boy even agreed to it.

But again, Toshinori had been willing to wait. Hell, he'd even been working up the courage to tell Gran Torino about his trainee if only to get the old man's help in training him. He had been willing to get into contact with his scary as all hell teacher to get Midoriya the best resources he could for training. Yeah, that's how serious he is about this.

Now those plans are going down the drain, though Toshinori can't say he's upset about that. He's more upset about Midoriya not telling him. He had just seen him the day before, so why hadn't he mentioned this? Had he just now changed his mind, or had he kept it a secret as a surprise?

He doesn't know, but he's certainly not complaining. The boy is destroying those robots, after all. There's no way he won't get in.

This is great for Toshinori. Finally, the world seems to be spinning his way. He won't feel so guilty about making Midoriya his successor if the boy actually goes to hero school. He can be trained a lot easier that way. That's how Toshinori's master did it with him, after all.