Chapter 7: UA’s Acceptance
"Today's the day the acceptance letters come, right, Onii-chan?"
Ayako was at the door to their apartment, checking the mailbox that was attached. It was the third time that day, and she was starting to get a little antsy. She wanted to know how she had done with the test. She had managed to take out a decent number of robots once she got something to use as a weapon, but she hadn't been able to do much support. Since that was her strong suit and her best chance to really show off to the watching teachers, she was worried.
Still, if they looked at the details of her Quirk, they might make an exception. There were some great examples of non-combat heroes, like Recovery Girl, the nice old lady that was UA's nurse. She could heal with a kiss and had no other abilities. Ayako could do something similar, controlling someone's bioenergy to enhance recovery. However, it was not a very strong level of healing. Nothing like her little sister Yukiko, who was still in Hokkaido with her parents. She had taken after her mother more, having more "Healing Hands" than "Life Detection."
Ayako didn't have the highest hopes for getting into the hero class. She was expecting a letter for the general education department. Even though she was expecting it, the fact that it wasn't here yet was enough for her to get nervous anyways.
Kai, meanwhile, was on his computer digging through news articles. He wasn't concerned with the acceptance letters, to Ayako's annoyance. Instead, he was looking at various villains and suspicious activities.
One article caught his eye. "Sludge Villain Disappears from Prison! In a case that has bewildered police, the villain captured by All Might last year is nowhere to be found…." Kai found the article interesting for a couple of reasons.
The main reason he was interested was also the reason that he felt a strong wave of disappointment. He had warned who he could that this guy had a good chance of disappearing like this. Hopefully they were doing something like tracking him. Otherwise….
Well, there wasn't going to be anything much he could do at this point. Clicking to a document, he added the details on the Sludge Villain to a list.
"Ara… another name on the 'kill list?" Suddenly, Ayako was looking over Kai's shoulder at his notes.
"Yeah, another prison disappearance. He was caught by All Might last year, but now he's just gone. The last record they have is that someone visited him, but the name led nowhere and they don't have a good picture of the guy."
"Hmmm, that would be a problem…." Her voice trailed off as she read further. "Able to turn into sludge. They sure he didn't just flush himself out?"
"You know they have ways of keeping people from Quirking out. Otherwise, the first 'porter to ever get caught would have escaped immediately."
"I guess you're right. Still a funny thing to think about, though."
Kai just shrugged in response. For a moment, both of them were quiet. Kai's notes turned into possible counters to the Sludge Villain. Ayako had some ideas to add, but when that was done, she got bored. After all, there was only so much that you could do against someone whose form was as amorphous as the Sludge Villain. Her eyes turned back to the door.
"If you keep watching, it's never going to come," Kai said, breaking the silence.
"That's not how it works."
"It's still true enough. Find something to entertain yourself, and before you know it, the mail will be here, and we'll be able to officially prepare for UA."
"I know, I know," Ayako said. "Aren't you anxious? Or at least some kind of excited? UA is a big part of your plan, isn't it? You know, that big important thing you're always working on but almost never tell me anything about," she said with a pointed look at the "Kill List" that was still open on his laptop.
In response, Kai closed the file, revealing the article that he had originally been reading. In the background of the picture that was front and center was a recognizable face. Or rather, a head of green hair.
"Oh, that's Midoriya," Ayako commented, intrigued.
"Were you in his testing area?"
"No, but before we met up, I passed Aoyama-kun. He said that Midoriya took out his area's Zero Point with a single punch! Although, he did mention that he was pretty messed up. Still, it sounded pretty exciting! So…"
Ayako explained the whole story as Aoyama had seen it. Kai was impressed. Midoriya had shown clear strength and heroic spirit. He had gone as far as sacrificing his body to work toward the ideals of heroism. However, if he was always going to be "deal 1000 damage while taking 900 damage," he was going to have a hard time.
Looking at the caption of the picture, there was one thing he found odd. He was listed as just a bystander, someone who was caught in the crossfire for a brief moment trying to save a friend, and yet did nothing. The article basically treated him as Quirkless. If he was that powerful and had such a drive to save people, not to mention that he felt that urge in a test that wouldn't have seriously directly harmed someone in a way like that girl he saved being almost stepped on, why didn't he use his power then…
While Kai was musing and Ayako finished her story, both of them suddenly snapped their heads to look towards the door.
"Mail's here!" Ayako sang.
She dashed straight for the door, narrowly catching herself and avoiding a solid collision with it. Quickly, she opened and emptied the mailbox. Shutting it and turning around, she walked up to Kai with a slightly confused look on her face. Or perhaps it was worry. A bit of both, really.
She was holding one envelope in each hand, and it was plain to see why. One was significantly thicker than the other, clearly containing something that was not a simple letter. The other was just a regular envelope filled with a few papers. Once she came up to him, Kai could see where the worry came from. The thick one was addressed to Kai. Since his acceptance was almost a given for them, that meant that Ayako's letter…
"… Let's take a look at yours first, Ayako."
Trembling just a little, Ayako set Kai's letter down on the table and sat down next to Kai. Slowly, she opened the envelope. The pair quickly skimmed through the contents, looking for the right key word. They didn't notice that the thickness of the packet was clearly more than a simple "no" would have had, nor the score being more than Ayako had anticipated. They were just focused on finding the word they indeed found.
"I'm in!" Ayako shouted with delight. Squealing, she hugged her brother. Now that the source of panic had been erased, they took a closer look at her acceptance packet. She had managed to get 30 points combined from robots and supporting others.
"General Studies Class C. So, you were really close to making it to class B! You know what that means? It won't take too long to join the hero class!"
After a moment more of hugging, Ayako blushed and they let go of each other.
Now, it was time to look at Kai's package.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Tvrkm
Tvrkm Sorry I'm still not a steady writer.
Well, this started taking longer than I thought, so the acceptances have been split. SPOILER: Kai is accepted. Duh.
Anyways, I have asked this elsewhere, but anyone know how to see/make paragraph comments here through a browser?
Lastly, I have another idea. Working title: "Another Kind of Mandalorian." I was talking with my brother about Star Wars and how things don't change much over the years. No radical technology advancements and such.
Anyways, so we were talking about the first Death Star run, and how they might have been able to take it down with a foot soldier doing a small space walk and throwing a few thermal detonators down the shaft.
Then I, with my non-sequitur powered imagination, imagined Iron Man doing that. Then my brother added that that would look a lot like a Mandalorian. How does that sound? A Mandalorian with Tony Stark's inventive intellect? Beskar armor with repulsors, spaceworthiness, and lots of little tricks? Could the Star Wars 'Verse handle such a thing?
And don't say it wouldn't work, Star Wars is in a whole galaxy, there is plenty of room for some interesting things to happen.
If you want it done faster and more consistently, find someone else. Otherwise, if I don't see it, I just might do it myself. *Sips hot chocolate from Infinity Mug, which is conspicuously missing the Time, Soul, and Power stones.*
Then again, I have enough projects sitting without enough work done without adding another. If someone does start it, do please tell me. Heck, if you want my help on plot points, mechanics, and other worldbuilding, hit me up! Just don't let me go entirely creditless....
Bah dum tss!
Well, time to get back to work on the next chapter. See you soon!