DEKU

The day before the contest...

Location: Izuku's house

Izuku can't sleep since tomorrow is the day of the contest. He had prepared his items to go to where the contest was held after receiving news of the contest venue. He had also double-checked his items several times. He tried to sleep but stayed awake until the next day.

"Izuku? Where are you going to carry a big bag like that?" Asked Inko.

"Umm...ma'am it looks like I can't cover it anymore...I-" Izuku answered before being cut off by his mother.

"Following the contest?" Asked his mother who looked worried.

"Y-yes, I will go to North Star Mountain. They held the contest there for a week." Izuku answered in silence.

"I knew you would participate in that contest," Inko said.

"EH? Aren't you surprised?" Izuku asked.

"Of course I'm surprised. But your behavior lately has made you suspicious. First, you keep asking permission every day to go to the Herbal Forest. Second, you go downtown to work and collect money. I think to buy the sword." Inko answered while pointing at the sword Izuku brought.

"Ah...I shouldn't have lied to you about this...I knew you would find out. Will you let me go?" Izuku holds her sword.

"But I'll not forbid you. I don't know what you've been doing all this time. But I think it's all to participate in this contest. So I will not forbid you or stop you after all your efforts." Inko answered with a smile even though she was still worried that something might happen to her son who was following the contest.

"MOM!" Izuku ran to hug his mother.

"But, before you leave you must promise me that you will return safely." Inko hugged Izuku even tighter.

"Y-yes, I promise." Izuku felt his mother's worries. He then let go of his arms and prepared to leave the house.

"Alright, wish me luck! See you later!" Izuku ran out of his house while waving his hand.

Location: The contestants' gathering point. Grassy Path.

Izuku arrived at the gathering place. He was surprised to see so many participants taking part in the contest that there were more than 100 young men from all corners of the kingdom who came to compete in this contest.

"ATTENTION!" The shouts of Present Mic caught everyone's attention.

"Contestants! Before we leave for North Star Mountain, I will introduce the judges of the contest this time!" Present Mic gave a signal to the judges to come forward.

"First! Chief General of the Knights, strategist and also the number one knight of the northern kingdom Eraser Head!" Present Mic introduces the Eraser Head.

"Hmm" Eraser Head watched each participant with his flat expression.

'(He looks like he can't sleep because of the contest)' thought the participants.

"Second! Midnight the Royal Witch!" Present Mic introduces Midnight.

"Ah…Youth ~" Midnight posed to show her body.

'(This witch must wear a robe that shows more that she is a witch)' thought the participants.

"Third, the defensive general of the wall of the kingdom, Cementoss!" Present Mic introduces Cementoss.

'(Not commenting)' thought the participants.

"The three of them are the judges for this contest! And I, Present Mic, will join you regarding the rules of this contest. But before that, let's start our journey to North Star Mountain! YEEAAAHHH!" Present Mic pointed towards the north and with the other judges leading the way the participants.

Izuku who was walking in the back row heard a scream and looked towards the voice. In the distance, a teenage girl ran with a wand and wearing a robe. Izuku thinks that she's a witch.

"WAIT! Geez...how can I be late on a big day like this?" Shouted the witch as she ran toward the participants who started walking to go to the venue for the contest.

Izuku who saw the witch stopped because she was tired after running around decided to approach her and offering her his water.

"Umm...S-sorry, do you want to drink?" Izuku offered his water to the witch.

"Eh? Umm…thank you. But no need, I also brought my drinking water." The witch answered.

"I-Izuku Midoriya." Izuku introduced himself to the witch.

"Huh?" The witch is confused.

"M-my name, Izuku Midoriya is my name." Izuku introduced himself once more.

"Oh…is that your name?" The witch asked.

"Y-yes, and your name?" Izuku answered the witch's question and asked her name.

"Oh...sorry, because of fatigue I became less focused. My name is Ochaco Uraraka, nice to meet you." Ochaco answered.

From a distance came the voice of someone calling Izuku.

"OI! DEKU!" The man shouted.

"Eh, K-Kacchan?" Izuku looked around and realized that the other participants had walked away from the two of them.

"Geez, the other participants are far ahead. We better catch up with them." Ochaco pointed out the participants who were not too far ahead of them.

"Yes," Izuku nodded his head.

After catching up with the other participants, Izuku and Ochaco walked in the back row while chatting.

"It was like that Kacchan called me," Izuku murmured.

"Is something weird, Deku-kun?" Ochaco asked.

"N-No, it's nothing...EH? What did you just call me?" Izuku was surprised to realize that his nickname was from Ochaco.

"Oh, "Deku" I guess someone called you like that, so I thought I'd also call you "Deku" too. Is it ok?" Ochaco asked.

"Eh, but..." Izuku felt strange because Ochaco called him "Deku".

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Ochaco asked, looking at Izuku's slightly depressed expression.

"Eh, it's fine...it's just that the nickname has the meaning "useless"," Izuku answered.

"Eh, doesn't "Deku" means "fight harder"?" Ochaco asked, looking confused.

"Fight harder?" Izuku was confused by Ochaco's question.

"Yup, I'm a little difficult if I have to explain it. But what I know, "Deku" means "fight harder" and it's better if it has to be interpreted as "useless" so I choose to call you "Deku", but if you don't like it I'll call you "Midoriya" or "Izuku"." Ochaco explained the meaning of the word "Deku" according to herself to Izuku.

Izuku pondered for a while after hearing a few moments.

"No." Izuku shook his head.

"Hm? What does it mean?" Ochaco asked.

"No, I think uraraka-san can call me by the name "Deku". After hearing the explanation from Urakaka-san, my view of the name "Deku" became better. Therefore I'm happy if you call me "Deku"." Izuku answered.

"Hm! I also prefer to call you "Deku", De~ku~kun." Ochaco smiled and laughed a little at the answer from Izuku.

"Thank you. But that means uraraka-san heard that call right?" Izuku asked.

"Oh. Someone indeed called you but I didn't see it. Who is that?" Ochaco answered and asked the person who called Izuku.

"I didn't see it either. But from what I heard, that voice is the voice of Kacchan. He's my childhood friend. But it's weird he called me but didn't come to me." Izuku confused.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ochaco asked.

"Oh, no, that's not a bad thing," Izuku answered by giving a fake smile.

"But, I still don't understand, why is Uraraka-san participating in this contest? Uraraka-san wanted to become a royal knight too?" Izuku asked.

"Oh, about that...um...I'm a witch like Ms. Midnight though it's still in-training" Ochaco answered.

"Wow! I didn't expect you to be a royal witch too. After seeing Ms. Midnight and his strength I think is only the witch who works at the Royal Palace." Izuku said.

"I also didn't expect to be chosen by Ms. Midnight to be trained to be a royal witch too. But enough of that! Do you also want to work in the Palace, Deku-kun?" Ochaco asked while feeling embarrassed by Izuku's opinion.

"Yup! I wanted to be one of the royal knights and this was my dream since I was little. I hope with this contest, I can achieve my dream. Besides that, I also want to help my mother in financial matters. We who are a farming family have a little difficulty with very little wages while the taxes imposed on us are quite expensive." Izuku answered while holding and bowing his head in shame.

"EH? Does Deku-kun have financial problems? I became a royal witch because my family had the same problem as wages and taxes. Therefore when Ms. Midnight offered me to be a royal witch, I didn't think twice." Ochaco said, who was also slightly embarrassed by her reason for being a royal witch.

"Uraraka-san also has a reason like that? I guess even though they are not royal witches, witches get a pretty big reward." Izuku murmured.

"A few years ago King Endeavor reduced the wages of witches and also raised taxes a little. Since then my family has been having a little trouble with our finances. But now, I've become a royal witch. So I can help our finances a little." Ochaco explained the reason his family had financial problems.

"I'm glad you can help your family. I also hope that I can achieve my goals and help my mother too." Izuku smiled while looking at the sky.

Izuku and Ochaco continued their journey to North Star Mountain together. During the trip, they asked each other to get to know each other so that they didn't feel tired when walking long distances to the contest venue.

To Be Continued...