Rewards for Hard Work

It has been almost a year, a grueling year of nonstop training. Izuku stood before a clean beach, slowly breathing in, the nightmare has finally ended.

"I made it!"

He screamed from the depths of his lungs. He finally cleaned the beach. He reminiscent about the past year. He remembered how he had to lift big pieces of junk, at first it was still bearable, it was the littler pieces after all. The problem was where he had to carry all that.

He had to carry it to the junkyard that was at the other end of the city, that was a pain. This wasn't the only painful thing though.

Akane visited him, not as Akane, as Arata. At first, he thought this was a little grave from her, a little rest day. He was wrong, he remembered back then to one of her visits to him.

(Flashback start)

He was peacefully sleeping on his bed. Yesterday's training was especially hard. Akane was there too on that day, he shivered once again.

Suddenly the door to his room was kicked open, revealing the silhouette of a certain crossdresser.

"Izuku, it's nine in the morning! Time for your Sunday training!"

It was needless to say, but Izuku didn't want to be Izuku in this moment.

"NO! HAVE MERCY ON ME! JUST A LITTLE BIT OF REST, ONLY A LITTLE REST DAY!"

But of course, Akane wasn't going to let him off for even a single day and so she flipped his bed and started to pull him out of the room. Izuku screamed and flailed like his life depended on it.

He created so much noise that his mother was starting to get worried. She was his mother, and as such was of course a bit suspicious about that Arata that suddenly appeared one day in front of their little house.

It was sad to admit, but she knew that his son was a bit anti-social and seeing that her son was a bit uncomfortable around the other boy, she feared that the situation wasn't like it seemed and that that boy in truth wasn't his friend.

But such thoughts were quickly resolved after the boy told her that he basically was Izukus coach. He explained to her that just like her son, he is also quirkless. He told her that Izuku wondered how strong he was, despite not having a quirk.

Well, at the end it was just training and Izuku wanted to follow Aratas regimen, to the regret of the boy of course.

"Izuku, are really sure you want to do this? You don't have to force yourself like this, even Arata is only forcing you, because you told him that whenever you act like this that he should ignore you and proceed with the plan."

Yes, she was still worried about her son, but she just couldn't stop him from the things he really wanted to do, she remembered the day where the training was first mentioned and she asked the same questions.

"No, it's all right mom. I know that I don't act the part, but I want to fulfill my dream one day and for that I need strength. You don't have to worry! Arata and I know what I can go through!"

And once again he answered with the same response, no, his response seemed even more set-in stone than last time. How could a mother deny his son his dream?

"Take care Izuku."

And with that the scene continued with Arata pulling Izuku down the stairs, while he tried to grab onto something.

(Flashback end)

Everyday life proceeded to go like that for a while. Waking up, training, being accompanied by Akane, being force fed by her with a lot with meat until he could vomit, so he has the necessary nutrients for the next day...

...it was a painful year. A painful year were much was gained. Izuku changed, he wasn't that scrawny, wimpy boy from a year ago.

He truly changed, in that single year he built up his body and a bit of his self-confidence, he wasn't the boy that did nothing to try and accomplish his dream anymore, he worked for it, he worked hard to inherit the power to be a hero.

He was excited, today is the day when this torturous training will finally end.

So, he screamed, he screamed from the top of his lungs for finally finishing this insane training.

"Seems like someone is really excited today."

He was, he really was, the adrenalin was still pumping in his body for just finishing his task. He just ran all the way from the garbage area to the beach after he realized he finished. He truly was excited.

"Midoriya boy, you truly deserve your rest now, especially after this kind of training! I already thought that I asked too much from a teenage boy, but oh man was I wrong. Seigi girls training really is on another level."

Izuku laughed, yes, he was right. A couple of months in and Izuku looked into the training plan of Akane for a moment and compared it to Yagis and he saw that his was in comparison just a cute joke. He would have changed to that training any day of the week, but so was fate.

"Yeah, look how I even looked before all of this!"

Izuku showed Yagi a picture of himself before the training, the Izuku in that picture almost seemed like a different person.

"I can't even belief that I managed to actually carry all of this trash there to its rightful place! Well, to be fair, Akane might have carried a few heavier pieces herself to motivate me, but still this was mostly my work!"

Yagi looked at the changed boy in front of him, he was very proud of the change of attitude in him, after all he spent one-year training with the boy.

"Yes, you grew into a bona fide vessel. You worked hard to earn the right to inherit this power, so puff out your chest and stand tall. You earned this power other than all the other who got theirs by chance!"

Izuku breathed in hearing this, at this point he totally forgot why he was doing all this training. His thoughts were just filled with survival and gaining strength the entire year, just now that Yagi mentioned it again, he remembered that he did all of this to inherit One for All.

Izuku started to cry as he remembered that. He cried that he was one step closer to accomplish his dream.

"Now eat this."

Yagi was holding one of his hairs in front of Izuku.

"Come again?"

"Well, we still have a bit time before the UA entrance exams, but this is basically the easiest way to take my DNA, now eat it."

This wasn't really the thing Izuku had in his mind as he thought about inheriting One for All.

"This wasn't what I had in mind!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a quick session of being force fed by hair Izuku had one big question in his mind.

"Where is Akane?"

"Well, she said she was currently busy and couldn't attend you inheriting One for All."

"Huh."

Well, he couldn't really blame her, not after he managed to take a glimpse on HER schedule. He immediately got the insanity of his training schedule just by looking at that.

Suddenly they heard a clapping in the distance.

"Who said I was too busy? Fake news! I just said that I probably am going to arrive a bit on delayed time and won't be able to witness Izuku finish training! I never said that I don't have time today!"

"Akane!"

"What? Excited to see me? Did you think I would forget the promise we made during training? Huh? What that what you thought, Izuku? That I would go back at my words?"

"No! I would never think that!"

Izuku was getting embarrassed from Akanes teasing, he just could never talk back to that girl. Suddenly he just heard a sigh, followed by a head flick.

It still hurt the same amount, even with training as much as he did that.

"Damn, grow a spine already! Don't let me talk you under!"

"Yes, I will!"

Akane just sighed at Izukus antics. When the hell did, he start acting like that around Akane? Probably since she force-fed him for his training.

"Fine, whatever. Congratulations for inheriting One for All, it was a bit of a close call, but still, you managed to end training ahead of schedule, congratulations on that! Are you proud of what you accomplished?"

Izuku just nodded excitedly as response, but Akane knew what the boy thought. She was happy for him, happy that the boy grew a healthy amount of self-confidence.

"Huhu, yup you made it far. On a side note, make sure that you come here tomorrow, you won't get your reward otherwise."

Akane said while giving Izuku a wink, while stretching her tongue out. She was just going to sing for him as a reward! Why did she had to say it in such a suggestive way!

She was already almost out of sight, until she suddenly decided to run back with all she had.

"Almost forgot! Take this!"

She pressed an envelope in his hand. He was confused what this supposed to be, so he looked up, but Akane just disappeared again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akane just wordlessly jumped into her room on the second floor through the window again. Nothing too difficult for her, the difficult part would be hiding the fact that she wasn't in her room at that time, which is surprisingly easy because she is such a good child.

And maybe in fact that she would silently, creepily stare into the air in her room in a corner if she had nothing to do, which was rare with how bloated her schedule is.

She just wordlessly left her room, where she was greeted by her mother, Rumi.

"Ran away from your room away, little princess?"

Well, to be fair, one of her mother's is a professional hero and the number four additionally to that. Hiding that you were away from the house for about half an hour was difficult if they paid attention to you.

Rumi started to sweat with the uncomfortable atmosphere. Akane just wordlessly left her room after she waited there in front of her and now her daughter was staring at her wordlessly with closed eyes. The moments when Akane suddenly decided to be silent and just stare at you were the most uncomfortable!

Mainly because you can't read the girl when she does that! She was basically expressionless in these moments!

"Ehm, you know you can just leave through the front door if you want to? Nobody is going to stop you, after all you are such a well-behaved girl! There wouldn't really be a warrant where we would forbid you from leaving the house."

Akane was put out of her daze in this moment, she tended to do that with people she was very comfortable around.

"Where would be the fun in that? Also, it saves a lot time doing that."

"But..."

"Hai hai, I know that mommy wouldn't want me doing that, but she should know best that my body is sturdy as it gets!"

"Yes, but we want you to take care of your body! We don't want any more scars on your well-developed body! You grew so beautiful with the years and so we don't want that you could possibly regret..."

"Having so many scars on my body? Mother, even though I can't see them, I know that they are there, and I am proud of each of them! They are the marks that appeared one after another because I tried to defy fate, because I did the impossible. They are the results of my hard work and nobody can take that away from me, nobody, but myself."

Rumi sighed, it was difficult to hold a discussion with this girl, especially when she was interrupting you in mid-sentence, and with reason especially. It was basically impossible to move her even an inch away from the path she made herself.

Rumi was a bit frustrated not being able to help the girl out even though she wanted to, this girl was basically already independent.

She looked at her daughter and started to smile. Akane noticed that and was a bit surprised by it, but she also decided to smile back at her mother.

"Don't regret the choices you make, Akane."

"Hey, these are my words mother!"

And so, the two of them fist bumped.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the way to the Seigi Residence:

Fumio was sweating buckets. She was nervous, she was nervous as she never was in life.

Well, with the exception when Akasuki and Etsuko once accidentally destroyed some of father's important documents. She couldn't watch how the two would get scolded, so she put the blame on her.

Thinking back to the day of her father's scolding still send shivers down her spine.

But this situation was still nerve-wrecking for her.

"Hahaha, so master Seigi, you now have a granddaughter that is about the age to enter a high school?"

"Hahaha, that's right Nezu! From what I have heard of her and seen of her on television. I am sure that she aims high! So, I hoped that she could maybe get a recommended place in UA, or maybe even a special invitation?"

"Hai, hai. I can deal with that, but I need to meet her and form an opinion about her before I could do that, I hope you can understand, sir."

"Of course, of course..."

The nervousness wasn't directly coming from her father or his interlocutor in this case. It was coming from the fact about how Akane would react.

Yes, she knew that the girl dreamed to be a hero, yes UA is the most prestigious high school of Japan, so it would be an obvious choice to show everybody her worth.

The problem was that the girl didn't want to get things easy, she always, or most of the time would choose the more difficult option. Fumio was sure that Akane wouldn't like what she was about to hear...

"Nervous, Mrs. Seigi?"

Fumio jolted up hearing the voice of the driver that sat right beside her. A woman with long black hair, glasses and big eye bags under her eyes.

"Yes, a bit."

The person nodded.

"You don't have to worry. I am sure that your daughter won't object all too much about that offer..."

Fumio was a bit offended by the woman's word. She didn't know a thing about her daughter and yet she would make such an assumption? It was a bit rude to be honest, but before she could exclaim something, something was shoved into her mouth.

"Just take a caramel, salivating helps alleviating stress."