February 24th, U.A. Highschool Main Building, Interview Room, 1627.
"Machibuse Hakuba, why do you want to become a hero?"
The principal's question hit Hakuba with much more force than it would to any other of the candidates. It was such a simple question, anybody could just have claimed to be inspired by All Might, Endeavor or any other hero and it would be a reasonable answer. Claiming interest in hero work for financial reasons or just to be allowed to use one's Quirk without complete regulation from the law also made sense.
But then again, Hakuba had no justification. He could not really see himself as a hero, at least not since his decision to follow in his parents' footsteps and become a soldier.
"Sir, is this a question posed to all candidates during this part of the exam?" the teen asked, keeping his posture, a mix of curiosity and worry hidden behind his strict military tone. If anything, Hakuba hoped to buy some time to think.
"Hey hey, I'm the one asking the questions here Machibuse-san!" the principal laughed off. "All five of you to reach this far have already secured a place in the Hero Course, this interview is more of an excuse for me to congratulate you personally… However, as it was the case with Todoroki-san, I wanted to see how you reacted to this question."
Hakuba assumed Todoroki to be de one with the scar, for the third male to come this far, the one that looked like a skull, had introduced himself as Honenuki Juzo earlier. Machibuse wondered what could've brought the principal's attention to question Todoroki as well.
"I am well aware of what you can do, Machibuse-san…" Nezu interrupted his thoughts with a more concerned voice "…we, the school board, had a meeting regarding your accomplishments during your time in the military academy and how that would impact your transference."
"Then you are aware that I am not hero material, Sir." Hakuba responded, his shoulders slumping slightly.
"You want to protect people, don't you?" the principal questioned, looking the teen in front of him dead in the eyes.
"Yes, Sir." he said without a second thought.
"That is all I wanted to hear!" Nezu's upbeat tone was now back "Welcome to the Hero Course!"
Machibuse was surprised by the sudden shift "T-thank you, Sir!" he stuttered, bowing sharply with his hands by his sides. Regardless of his very unsure stance on becoming a hero, part of him still felt pride in the fact that he had made into U.A.
Principal Nezu gestured towards another door in the room "The others are waiting alongside professor Power Loader. He will take you guys to the Development Studio to discuss about the gear you requested."
The teen now recently turned U.A. student bowed again, turning towards the door as the principal spoke again.
"You have not read the recommendation that was submitted for you neither our response to it, haven't you?" Nezu shoot as he poured himself a cup of tea.
"… I have not, Sir." Machibuse admitted embarrassed, quickly returning to his position as the principal took a sip.
The principal resumed in a serious voice "It was your mother who requested your transference… you might want to read those papers. But not now, give yourself time."
Hakuba was taken aback, how could've his mother push such a decision on him?
"Dismissed soldier! Miss Yaoyorozu is waiting her turn!" Nezu spoke again while performing a mock military salute.
Machibuse could only stifle his laughter as he left the room.
-.
February 24th, U.A. Highschool Development Studio, 1715.
"Your costume is fine, we already have sent the design to an appropriate company… You will need a permit from the school for this though." Power Loader said, not very amused. Not by the request he received, it was a very ingenious idea. What bothered him was the paperwork he'd need to go through in order to deliver what had been requested.
"Very well, I'll have the form filled and delivered by tomorrow morning, Sir." Hakuba said, clearly as dismayed as the teacher in front of him.
"No need to rush it so much, you are likely not going to be able to come here tomorrow to deliver it because we will be setting the entrance exam." Power Loaded said with a heavy sigh.
"Come back on the day of the exam, it will be crowded but if you speak to someone from the school they will allow you to come here or at least to wherever I might be. It may take a while for your request to approved though. And no need to call me "sir", you are part of U.A. now, I am your teacher." he added.
"Thank you, Si… Thank you, sensei." the teen bowed after standing up. He then proceeded to call Yaoyorozu's attention, it was her turn to speak about her gear with Power Loader. She was studying the various pieces of equipment scattered across the studio while waiting. The other three students have already left, as they decided to follow the same order they previously created for the interviews.
Honenuki Juzo and Tokage Setsuna were pleasing enough, the latter being more talkative while the former was more reserved, good company overall during the walk from the interview room to the studio's location, the news of being accepted into U.A. got everyone's spirits up… everyone but Todoroki's. The guy was a whole new low in the book. Hakuba felt as if he had more productive discussions with the boxes in his apartment. He seemed to take even eye contact as a challenge and showed no interest in anything whatsoever, no wonder the principal wanted to have a talk with him.
"Fine, I will cover my back." Yaoyorizu said resigned as she got up and thanked Power Loader for his time.
Yaoyorozu Momo quickly became his favorite amongst their little group. Level-headed and very honest, she had a visibly strong sense of duty and leadership. She was also proved very fun to tease, as demonstrated by Tokage causing her to stammer when commenting on her more revealing choice of attire for the exam. Her Quirk would rip her clothing apart, so, logicaly, she decided to keep her skin exposed. A logical choice that Machibuse and Honenuki silently agreed upon purely for logical reasons when they looked at each other during Yaoyorozu's explanation,
"Oh Machibuse-san, you waited for me." Yaoyorozu spoke as she approached, calling Hakuba back to reality. She was visibly inconvenienced by the short talk she had with Power Loader.
"…Hmm! Yes, ma'am." Hakuba turned, lying as he quickly assumed his usual stance, back straightened and arms behind it.
"You are a very bad lair." she said bluntly rising an eyebrow.
"Indeed I am. I'm sorry ma'am, I was actually spacing out." Machibuse responded. He was a terrible lair, but his ability to keep a straight face and speak strictly during any situation was impeccable.
"Well, walk me to the station at least, will you?" Yaoyorozu said, laughing as she stepped out of the studio.
Hakuba allowed himself to chuckle as he followed, walking besides her.
-.
February 24th, Machibuse Residence, 1900.
Hakuba shifted through the news on his cellphone, bored as he waited for his rice to finish cooking. He did prefer to watch the news on television, but life taught him that rice would instantaneously overcook the moment he stepped away from the kitchen. The news about U.A.'s regular entrance exam were common on the internet, as were rumors about Japan's number one hero, All Might, joining the school's board of teachers this year. Hakuba never built a solid opinion on All Might, he couldn't deny that the hero was absolutely amazing at what he did, but, as the sixth generation of a military family, he knew that the "Symbol of Peace" was just that, a symbol, and all the evil that All Might kept at bay would build up. Whatever heroes came after All Might had their work cut for them, and Hakuba was set up to be one of them.
Sighing as he turned off the heat, after popping a bow of curry, leftovers from yesterday's dinner, into his beloved microwave Hakuba proceeded to his room, stepping over a box on the narrow hallway. The envelope he had received was on top of a large, unopened box containing his actual desk, ready to be assembled and used but box would suffice for now. He had only dealt with the envelope on his flight to Tokyo, only bothering with the papers he had to fill.
He stood still for a while, pondering whether or not to read his mother's request. The principal had told him to wait and not read them for a while, and that had him even more confused. The package was pretty heavy for actually...
Hakuba would not ask his mother about it. She would not give him an answer anyway.
Curiosity tempted him, laziness and the principal's suggestion deterred him. In the end what decided that the envelope's contents should remain unread was the microwave beeping.
-.
February 26th Express to U.A. Highschool, 1115.
A lazy yawn escaped Hakuba's mouth. He wanted to make it to U.A. before the crowd arrived but had no such luck as apparently every candidate had the same idea. The written exam only started at 1200 and yet the transport was filled to the brim with hopeful candidates. Pressed with his back against his was probably the most inconvenient of the lot: green hair, a few centimeters shorter than Hakuba himself, his knuckles white as he gripped the strap of his bag. He was obviously nervous, and Hakuba could not blame him for that, after all he had been admitted through a much easier exam. Hakuba however could blame his incessant muttering for his mild migraine and far from stellar mood.
He opened his mouth wide again, the previous yawn caused a pair of chelicerae into his upper mandible to spring out just next to the jaw hinge, they would retract if he closed his mouth, but it felt weird to speak with them at ready.
"Can you please stop?" Machibuse asked as politely as he could, turning only his head towards the source of his annoyance since the crowd prevented him from turning properly.
"E-eehhh!" the greenhead stammered in panic, he likely hadn't even noticed what he was doing "S-s-sorry!" he said as he attempted to turn towards Machibuse and bow but stopped once he bumped into someone else.
"…Calm down." Machibuse sighed as he watched the young man at his back apologize to whoever he had bumped into.
"Fuck I'm bad at this shit…" Hakuba thought as the now less frightened teen turned his gaze to him.
"You are way too nervous to do this properly, you will end up messing your hand up before the exam even starts." he said, directing his eyes to the white knuckles still grasping for the strap as if it were a lifeline.
"What's your name?" Machibuse asked, perhaps some small talk would keep this fellow from having a heart attack and keep him from getting too bored. Hakuba had forgotten to charge his phone overnight and watching the window got pretty uninteresting pretty fast.
"M-Midoriya." he still stuttered, as he relaxed his grip.
"Machibuse. Pleased to meet you."
-.
February 26th, U.A. Highschool Entrance, 1150.
"OUT OF THE WAY TRASH!" someone ordered from behind Machibuse and Midoriya.
"M-Morning Kacchan, le-le-let's do our b-best!" Midoriya fumbled his words as he stepped aside as if by instinct.
"You will die in there, Deku!" he spat.
As Hakuba turned to see what just happened he ended up standing in the direct path of this so called Kacchan by accident, forcing him to stop.
"WANNA DIE FUCKER!?" he shouted again. Hakuba was sure he'd seen Kacchan's face somewhere in the news over the last year. He squinted his eyes, forcing himself to remember.
"You deaf or something!? Move. Out." the blonde continued his assault while Hakuba remained focused. Then it clicked.
"I remember you from the news. You are the one taken hostage by that slime villain, am I correct? Bakugo?" Machibuse asked, unfazed by all the shouting thanks to his years in the military academy.
That clearly hit a sore spot. Bakugo glared daggers at the teen that stood in his way, leaving an unspoken death treat as he walked around the roadblock.
"Thank you for helping me, Machibuse-san" Midoriya said, looking at the ground as they walked to the entrance. Seemed like he calmed down for the moment.
"You are welcome." Machibuse nodded in response. He was pretty sure that Midoriya would have another fit soon enough, but they would have hopefully taken their separate ways.
"Umm… Machibuse-san?" Midoriya called, looking at the taller teen's back "I could not help but notice that you did not bring a bag, you know that there is a written exam, right?"
"Oh…" Hakuba realized that he was the only one not carrying a bag of some sort while heading towards the exam site.
"I already took the exam, two days ago to be precise. I am here just to return some papers." he explained.
Midoriya stopped dead in his tracks, some incredulous look on his face. He opened his mouth but took a moment to actually speak.
"T-t-the Recommendation Entrance Exam!?" he began stuttering again as Machibuse turned to face him. "W-what hero gave you the latter!?" he asked nervously, walking towards Machibuse.
A little too excited for his own good, Midoriya could not keep himself from stumbling his feet. The ground likely to reach Midoriya's face before Hakuba could prevent his fall.
And yet the ground never reached the teenager's face. He simply stopped mid fall. A girl about Midoriya's height had managed to touch his back and was now helping him to regain his footing. Round eyes and rosy cheeks, brown hair that reached her shoulders and a very warm smile. Adorable.
Midoriya's face lit like a beacon as she spoke to him about how falling down would be a really bad omen before such an important exam. She then left with a very enthusiastic step, leaving poor Midoriya with his mouth open.
Hakuba took the opportunity to part ways with the stunned teen, bowing before Midoriya could recover and ask more questions that were better left unanswered for the moment.
"I'll also take my leave Midoriya-san. Good luck on the exam."
-.
February 26th, U.A. Highschool Surveillance Room, 1235
It took a few minutes of searching for Hakuba to find someone to point him out to Power Loaders current location, and more than a few minutes do convince the staff that he wasn't there for today's exam nor cheating. The man looked like he just got out of bed, and that he hasn't slept enough even if he really just got out of bed. Regardless of his sleeping schedule, the man called out Power Loader via radio to confirm and pointed Hakuba towards the Surveillance Room, which Hakuba was grateful for.
He was actually greeted by principal Nezu himself, who introduced him to the staff members in the room. There were a great deal of pros in the room, amongst them were Power Loader, Snipe and Midnight, as lovely as ever; three of the four teachers he met during the Recommendation Exam. It was safe to assume that Present Mic was in a booth somewhere else preparing to narrate the event.
All Might himself was also present, although not in his hero outfit, instead wearing a business suit that barely contained his massive frame.
"Young Machibuse!" his voice boomed, Hakuba could tangibly feel his power in every word.
"We spoke a great deal about you! It is most unusual to have a student in this room but come, watch the exam! Some of these brave candidates will be your classmates!" All Might's smile got wider as he gestured the teen to come closer
Machibuse, bowed deeply before nervously entering the room. He could feel that all eyes were on him as he made his way to Power Loader and gave him a letter containing the form he requested.
"Principal, I have something to discuss with you after we are done here." Power Loaded spoke, waving the paper nonchalantly.
"Very well. Now, Machibuse-san, get yourself comfortable, there is still sometime before the physical exam starts." Principal Nezu said as he sat down with his cup of tea.
"Oh and please inform us if you spot anyone cheating during the written exam! Consider this your first assignment in the Hero Course!" he added, turning his attention to the monitors in the room.
-.
February 26th, U.A. Highschool Surveillance Room, 1328.
MIDORIYA IZUKU: ZERO POINTS GAINED, ZERO POINTS TOTAL
Machibuse could not believe what he had just seen. The boy from earlier, short, scared Midoriya was a fucking madman. No better words could describe the scene that just unfolded.
From what Hakuba picked up, the exam was a search and destroy mission. Robotic targets were worth from one to three points and the candidates would be tasked with scoring as many points as possible within ten minutes. Simple enough.
The catch however was the existence of a single robot in each exam site worth no points at all. What Hakuba didn't see coming was that the zero-pointer was a military grade weapon as tall as a building.
And fucking Midoriya just obliterated one of those things in a single punch.
He had visibly broken limbs after his moment of glory and was only saved from certain death because the same girl he'd met at the entrance broke his fall with her Quirk. Pros in the surveillance room cheered, some less than others, but no one remained passive about Midoriya's feat.
All Might went absolutely ballistic, proclaiming that what they had just seen was the showing of a true hero to no one's disagreement. The purest form of heroism, Midoriya threw everything away; his safety, his chance to earn points in the exam, his objective, and almost his life.
Then it dawned on Machibuse, it was another trap hidden in the entrance exams: The points.
True heroes had no reason to be selfish, the points were just something to pick up on those capable of fighting. The computer registering the points was more than capable of keeping track of those. The pros in the surveillance room were on the lookout for a hero's behavior amongst the candidates.
Principal Nezu was quick to notice Hakuba's expression changing from surprised to understanding. His quick plan to show the recommended student what it meant to be a hero had worked out much better than he expected.
"Machibuse-san! I hope you enjoyed the show!" the principal called out, immediately gaining Hakuba's total attention.
"I will speak with professor Power Loader after we deliberate on the results of todays exam, but for now I must ask for you to leave, we can't have a meeting regarding the candidates results with you present." Nezu continued as he walked towards his new student.
"Of course, Sir! Thank you all for having me!" Machibuse once again bowed in respect before leaving the room.
He then stopped just as he reach for the door.
"Permission to break protocol, Sir?"
"Yes soldier." The principal teased.
"…I happened to meet Midoriya-san on the way to the campus. He is much more worthy to be in this school than I am, yet he had no points in the entrance exam and seemed badly injured after what just happened." Hakuba questioned, worry visible for a moment after he spoke.
"Midoriya-san is gonna be ok, right?" he finished, his eyes meeting the floor for a moment before turning to the principal once more.
His only response was a single, sincere, nod, after which the principal ushered him out gently.
Machibuse Hakuba left with a true smile in his face.
…
..
.
AN: And there we have it, took me a while to figure it out how I would get Hakuba to deal with Izuku's first Smash, but I guess it worked out in the end