A/N

I haven't published anything in a few days, so enjoy the chapter!

I checked my appearance in the mirror again, making sure that I looked slightly nicer than usual. In short, I wanted to go from sewer rat to plain old rat. Normally I wouldn't care how I looked, Midoriya already knows what I look like normally so I shouldn't have to dress up to go see him, but today was different.

Midoriya invited me over so he could tutor me, meaning that I would have to go to his house. He already warned me that his mother would be home, so I knew what to expect, but that did little to ease my nerves. I was never great with first impressions, I mean I look like a delinquent. Who am I kidding, I probably am a delinquent. 

I flipped my phone open, reading off the day and time.

Saturday, 9:13 am.

I looked at the address scrawled in neat writing on a sticky note, checking the time that was written at the bottom. We're supposed to meet at 10, so I should probably leave soon.

I pulled a black beanie over my head, putting on my favourite black, zip-up hoodie over my white Nirvana t-shirt. No, I don't understand English, or at least, not well. But I like some of Nirvana's songs, just listening to the music and the words can be soothing. 

For pants, I choose to wear blue skinny jeans, a black belt around my waist. And lastly, I put on a pair of worn-out white sneakers.

I went into Kuse and I's bedroom, picking my bag up off the floor and shoving in some notebooks and pencils, unsure of what I should bring for a tutoring session. Kuse rolled over in bed, blinking his eyes open.

"Tora..." He yawned. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to Midoriya's house for tutoring, remember?" I replied, bending down to pat his hair.

"Oh yeah," He nodded. "When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure," I answered. "But I'll try and be back before dinner, if you get hungry there's a sandwich I made for you in the fridge."

"Okay..." He mumbled, his eyes fluttering shut again.

"I'll see you later," I whispered, creeping out of the room. "Bye."

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

Midoriya lived in an apartment, the note he had given me said he lived in the second building. In slightly smaller print he wrote the apartment number. I climbed the stairs, my fingers trembling as I clutched the small note in my hand. Once I was sure I had the right place, I rang the doorbell, waiting nervously for an answer.

A short woman with long green hair answered the door, her grin slowly morphing into more of a strained smile. Sweat dripped down her brow as if she wasn't sure if I was supposed to be here.

"Uh, hello," I greeted, attempting a small smile. "I'm here to study with..." I wracked my brain, trying to remember his first name. "Izuku."

"Izuku!" She called into the house. "There's uh... A girl here looking for you!"

A familiar head of green hair rounded the corner, his mouth morphing into a grin when he saw me.

"Hey Tora," He greeted me, waving me inside. "Come on in."

I walked into the apartment nervously. "Thanks for having me."

"It's no problem," Midoriya (or Izuku I suppose) said. "Are you okay with studying in my room?"

"Doesn't matter to me," I shrugged. "I'm just happy that you offered to help me."

"Well, if you want us to be rivals then I can't have you falling behind." He chuckled. "Follow me, my room's this way."

Midoriya's mom watched as I followed after him, her expression blank. "I'll bring you, kids, some snacks later..."

"Thank you Mrs. Midoriya." I said, hoping I was being polite enough.

"Just Inko is fine dear." She replied, still in a daze.

I nodded, following Midoriya into his room. I found myself squinting in the darkness of the room, that is until Midoriya flicked on the lights and I nearly screamed.

"Holy shit," I awed. "You weren't kidding when you said you were a huge All Might fan."

Midoriya swung his arms around in a panic, his face turning a deep shade of red. "W-well he's just so cool!"

"You're not wrong," I chuckled. "Kuse sure thinks he's cool."

"Anyways," Midoriya coughed. "We should get to studying."

"Right away," I said, smirking. "Midoriya-sensei~!"

"Tora, focus," Midoriya sighed. "You do want to get into UA, right?"

"Well yeah," I nodded. "Of course I do."

Midoriya waved some old test papers of mine under my nose. "Then let's start with your horrible math grades, I think exponents and order of operations is a good place to start."

I groaned.

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

As shy and meek as Midoriya is, when it comes to school work he becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Math that I haven't been able to wrap my head around all-year suddenly makes sense to me. Sure my hand feels like it's ready to fall off with the number of practice questions I've been writing, but I'm improving. 

"Oh my God," I said, staring at Midoriya in admiration. "Are you an angel?!"

Midoriya flushed, waving his hands around. "N-no! It's just not that hard once you get the formula!"

"Maybe I'll actually pass this year!" I exclaimed. "How can I ever repay you?!"

"Don't worry about it," Midoriya chuckled. "For now just focus on finishing this set of problems, we still have to cover English, History, Japanese Literature, and Science!"

"Right!" I nodded, my attention snapping back to the sheet of questions before me.

A few soft knocks caught our attention, the door creaking open to reveal Midoriya's mother, Inko. She held a plate of sliced apples in her hand, smiling softly at us.

"You two are working so hard!" She gushed. "Here's a snack for you two."

Midoriya took the plate. "Thanks mom."

"Thank you..." I paused for a moment. "Inko."

"Work hard you two!" She chirped, walking out of the room and shutting the door.

My chest clenched painfully and I found myself gripping the fabric of my shirt.

"Your mom seems nice," I said, staring down at my notebook. "Does she know about All Might training you?"

"She knows that I'm training to get into UA," Midoriya replied. "But she doesn't know that All Might is training me."

"So I'm guessing that means she's already signed the consent forms for the entrance exams, right?" I asked, scowling when I remembered that I needed to get my mother to sign mine.

"Yeah," Midoriya smiled. "She signed it the moment I brought it home, she's really supportive of me."

"That's good," I sighed. "I still have to get my mother to sign mine."

Midoriya seemed to notice how I said 'my mother' instead of 'my mom,' but he didn't say anything.

"So," Midoriya said suddenly. "Do you think you're ready to move onto English?"

I shrugged, aggressively shoving an apple slice into my mouth. "Let's get this over with."

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

I planned to get back before dinner, however, Inko made it impossible to refuse her dinner invitation. So by the time I finally arrived home, it was just after 7 o'clock. 

"I was wondering where you went," A calm voice said, making me flinch. "Kuse said you were going out, but he didn't have the address."

"Aren't you supposed to be working right now?" I asked, interlocking my hands.

"Yeah, but some retard got into a fight that ended up trashing the bar," She sighed. "At least I'm still getting paid leave."

"Where's Kuse?" I asked, walking further into the apartment.

"He's in your room," She replied, rapping her nails along the countertop. "By the way, I brought home some fast food, it's not great but it's better than anything I could cook."

"Thanks," I said, walking over to the microwave where I found a greasy bag of food. "Burgers?"

"Yeah," She answered, lighting a cigarette. "Is there anything you need? Otherwise, I think I'm going to go out for a bit."

My mind went to the UA form in my backpack, the form that still needed to be signed.

"Yeah actually," I managed to say. "I need you to sign a form."

"Alright," She said, taking a long drag. "Bring me the form and a pen."

I scurried off to my room, saying a quick hello to Kuse before telling him I'd be right back. I grabbed a black pen and the form, walking back out to where my mother waited. I handed her the form and pen, watching as she signed it without bothering to read any of it.

"So," She said after handing the form back. "What's this form for anyway?"

"It's a consent form for the UA entrance exams," I answered. "I have to have parental permission in order to take the exam."

"UA?" She awed, her expression seemed to shift to one of concern. "Are you sure? It's not an easy school to get into, and how much will the uniform, and the textbooks, and all the school fees cost?"

"I can help with the cost," I replied. "I have a job, and I really want to go there."

"You have a job?" She asked, brushing a strand of lilac hair out of her face.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I make some money."

"Just do your best to get in," She sighed. "We can worry about the cost later, just don't keep your hopes up, it's hard to get in, I'd know."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You tried to get into UA."

She sighed, angrily stubbing out her cigarette. "If I had gotten into UA then my life wouldn't have turned out this way."

"What are you talking about?!" I exclaimed, worried at my mother's sudden change in mood. 

"If I had gotten in then I wouldn't have-!" She began, stopping herself midway. "I'm sorry Tora, it's just- be careful, be ready for disappointment. Sometimes I wonder if it's better to not do anything that could come to hurt you."

She threw on her coat, walking out the front door. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't find the tears. I know what she had meant. Whenever she talks about how her life turned out, it all leads back to us.

If her life were different she wouldn't have had Kuse and me.

(Edited 2022.07.28)