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Patience was always something Midoriya lacked. Throughout his entire sad childhood, he could never wait for the important things in life, like people's birthdays and the ‘skip ad’ button.
Waiting for the results of three exams was just short of complete and utter hell; a sentiment wholeheartedly shared by Hatsume.
He wondered briefly what he’d done in his past life to deserve such suffering.
The only cure for the boredom that bordered on being painful was conversing with Hatsume and relentlessly harassing Nezu in any way possible.
Half way through a three paragraph rant about the crime that is clothing labels, he received a message from the Rat God himself.
He was tempted to ignore it out of spite, but before he could dismiss it five more were sent. He sighed and reluctantly clicked on it.
Nezu
Hello Midoriya-Kun!
I have no doubt you’ve been waiting for your exam results.
Luckily, I have a simple solution!
Because you took three exams instead of one, we have decided to offer you access to your results early!
After checking your schedule and comparing it to my own, I have arranged a meeting at midday tomorrow to discuss your results.
Of course, if you would prefer to wait I understand
Midoriya
No, no, I’ll be there
Nezu
Wonderful!
Midoriya grinned widely, making a mental note to shove his early results in Hatsume’s face.
Of course, he was sure she’d find a way to get back at him somehow, but the momentary satisfaction would be worth it, doubtlessly.
Attempting to sleep was a struggle; excitement threatened to bubble over time and time again, rolling over in a failed attempt at wearing off the excess energy.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t manage to rest. When the morning arrived, he was utterly exhausted yet still fully awake.
Walking to UA was not dissimilar to a chore with an unfortunate lack of sleep, yet his deficit of energy failed to even dent his unwavering curiousity.
Even though it wasn't necessary in the slightest, Nezu had sent him a flurry of cat pictures as bribery, much to Midoriya's delight.
The journey took longer than Midoriya would have liked. It was an unsurprising fact considering how desperate Midoriya was to finally find out which course he got into, if any.
Logically, there was no way he’d failed all of the exams, but anxiety writhed and slithered through his mind; worse case scenarios plaguing his thoughts.
The disastrous thing about anxiety is the lack of logic that twists itself into a shape that mocks actual probability. Midoriya was well acquainted with this, one of the many things that came with the quirkless life. Lost in thought, Midoriya failed to realise he’d already arrived at the school until he walked straight into a pole.
“Fuck!” He exclaimed, frowning as he rubbed his face. His hand came away stained lightly with blood.
Mourning the future loss of his shirt, he held his sleeve to his face to stem the bleeding.
By the time he arrived at Nezu’s office there was a frustratingly large crimson stain decorating his cuff.
Knocking on the door, he attempted to appear presentable; an admirable effort that failed miserably.
When the door opened to reveal the principal, he offered the teenager a tissue which was gratefully accepted.
“Thanks.” Midoriya said, taking a seat opposite Nezu’s desk.
The mammal sat himself down, clasping his paws as he usually did when discussing student matters.
“Well, Midoriya-Kun, I really must thank you for participating. You truly went above and beyond my expectations!”
The greenette bowed his head in embarrassment, a pink tint dusting his cheeks.
“Unsurprisingly, you passed the support course exam in second place. I must admit, creating a permanent correcting lens is truly a fantastic achievement. You should be proud!”
Midoriya nodded and accepted the acceptance letter presented to him.
“You came first place in the general education exam with full marks, and I cannot express how proud I am of you for this!” Nezu smiled kindly, a rare occurrence.
Another folded sheet of paper was passed to the boy.
“And, last but not least,”
Midoriya held his breath.
“First place in the heroics exam!” Nezu threw his arms up in celebration.
“My, I must say, keeping this a secret was a herculean challenge indeed!”
Midoriya sat there, frozen as if face to face with Medusa herself.
“Hello?” Nezu waved a paw in front of his face.
Snapping out of his semi-trance, Midoriya blinked owlishly.
“I-I passed?!” He asked, voice hesitant.
Nezu gently placed a paw on his shoulder.
“You passed, Midoriya-Kun.”
Unable to stop himself, the teenager burst into tears as the principal attempted to soothe him.
“There, there.” The chimera hushed, patting the child on the back awkwardly.
The act of comforting was rather unnatural to Nezu, but if it were for Midoriya, he would learn to the best of his ability.
The principal had offered to walk Midoriya home, but the teenager refused; he’d planned a short detour to the local arcade.
Mentally, Midoriya felt he deserved it. It was a stressful day and there was nothing more he wanted than to beat the shit out of pixels.
Pushing open the doors, he found the place borderline empty, with only one other person in sight.
The aforementioned person was trying his (Pretty shit, by the look of things) luck at the claw machine.
Midoriya stood by the entrance for a while, simply observing. The man was a couple years older than him, shoulder length hair messily tied up in a low ponytail.
After almost winning a small dinosaur plush only to have it fall into the abyss (The pile of other cuddly toys) for the third time in a row, the man slammed his fist into the glass and vocalised a stream of profanities.
Honesty, it was a reasonable response.
Midoriya sighed empathetically and walked over to the stranger.
“H-hey.” He began, flinching back when the man turned to face him.
“I, uh. I noticed you were having trouble.” He continued, eyes drifting anywhere but in the stranger’s direction.
The man raised an eyebrow.
“If you aim slightly to the right, you should be able to get the dinosaur.” He finished, wringing his hands together.
The man stepped aside, gesturing for him to attempt the torture that was the claw machine.
After a few seconds of thinking, Midoriya carefully manoeuvered the claw into the perfect position to get the best dinosaur of all: the velociraptor.
Sure enough, the fluffy animal was dropped into the chute and within the next five seconds, safely cradled.
A small stream of tickets were surrendered by the machine with a beeping that the teenager was pretty sure translated to a long string of swear words in morse code.
The stranger looked at him judgmentally.
He stepped forwards until he was right next to Midoriya.
Eyes fixed on the diplodocus, he placed one hand on the glass, which decayed within mere moments.
Midoriya gaped wordlessly.
The long necked dinosaur was pulled from the wreckage of the game.
The greenette stared at the man, then at the ruined machine, then back to the man.
“Wh-”
Without even glancing at the teenager again, the stranger walked out, holding his prize tightly.
As if predicting the future, Midoriya covered the plastic eyes of his velociraptor mere moments before the diplodocus was turned to dust.