It had been a rough week.
Not only had Izuku had to lie about how, exactly, he had defeated the gigantic robot (the string he could chalk up to being crazy-prepared and the water to buying something from a vending machine, but the various impacts were something that couldn't just be explained away) when he recounted his story to his mom, but his mom had just started crying once he, in his frantic storytelling, had told her how he apparently developed a Quirk in the middle of saving a cute girl.
As it turned out, Izuku's mom was crying because not only had Izuku been a late bloomer in Quirk manifestation, but also because it was so powerful and the way it had awoken sounded like something from a romance. She then asked if Izuku had gotten his Quirk registration changed.
He had not, in fact. Which just added into the roughness of the week. Paperwork, no matter how streamlined, still sucked.
Finally, after seven entire days of anxious waiting (Izuku had yet to go down to the beach, but at one point he looked into trash removal services, so he was expecting things to be finished very soon), it happened.
"Iiiiizukuuu!" Izuku's mom had cried, and as Izuku sped into the hallway (nearly crashing into the wall), he saw his mom shaking and on all fours, holding a letter. "It's for you! It's from UA!"
And thus, Izuku had found himself sitting at his desk, lights totally off save for the desk lamp illuminating the solitary envelope. Izuku's nerves were in haywire; what if he failed, as he thought? What if he didn't fail, but he wasn't good enough for the hero course? What if they put him in support? What if he was general studies? Maybe they would make him the school mascot? What if he was ONLY the school mascot and they had him go to kindergarten for the rest of his life? What if it was a bomb?!
That last one made Izuku pause. How would death by explosion even affect him? The last times he had died, his body had been pretty much intact, but a bomb at such close range would likely eviscerate him and leave him a mess of limbs and ashes. And even if he did revive, what ability would that give him? Could he turn whatever he touched into a bomb? Could he make exploding bubbles? What if he just was able to make paper explode?
Izuku shook his head. Now was not the time for "potentially"s. Now was the time for definite action. With that in mind, he grabbed two corners of the envelope and tore it open.
A holographic projector fell onto the desk with a clatter, along with a note. Izuku read the note.
To play, press the center button. Then you shall know your results.
-Principal Nedzu
That was straightforward. Izuku pressed the indicated button, and a screen lit up into existence.
It was All Might.
Izuku's jaw dropped. He hadn't seen All Might since the day he was saved from the Sludge Villain. What was he doing announcing exam results?
All Might stood motionless for a solid three minutes before an off-screen motion was made. "What? We're rolling?" He asked. "Ahem. Good Evening, Young Midoriya!" All Might boomed, "I am here! And I am delivering your test results! What? Camera two?" The angle changed, and All Might belatedly looked to the new camera. "Right then! To start with, Young Midoriya, your written portion was sufficient enough to pass!" (What All Might was not telling Izuku, but what I shall tell you now, is that Midoriya had, in fact, done pretty great.) "You need brushing up in the areas pertaining to linguistics, but otherwise you are doing well enough! However, as you know, that is only half the battle!" A large scoreboard appeared behind All Might. "For your physical examination, you scored..."
The number hit zero, and, instead of going anywhere upwards, remained at zero, despite the drum roll that would insinuate otherwise.
"...Zero villain points!" All Might shouted after an awkwardly dramatic pause.
It was as Izuku feared. He h-
"That's not all, however!"
What?
"I was a television show host in a past life; if I may direct your attention to this screen?!" All Might took out a remote and pressed a button, converting the gigantic zero into a shot of the cute girl he had saved and who he immediately knew to be Present Mic.
"Um... Present Mic?" The girl was saying.
"Hah? Yeah, female listener?"
"Um... During the exam, I-I'm sure you saw, but I was saved by this boy with really curly hair and freckles, kinda plain looking, but, well, he saved me from certain death, but he was talking about how he needed a single point, and I-I think he meant that he doesn't have any points?" If Izuku muttered, the girl could definitely ramble on. He felt a connection to her. "So, anyways, my point is, I just... I want to give him half of my points!"
Izuku blinked.
"Oh?" Present Mic said, "What if that means neither of you two get in?"
The girl faltered. "...Th-then give him all my points! It's better a boy who selflessly leaps to other peoples' defense than a girl who gets sick every time she uses her Quirk!"
Izuku blinked again, and this time, he found that he had teared up sometime during the exchange. A girl he had barely talked to, a really pretty girl, had done this? For him?
"Worry not, female listener!" Present Mic said, "You'll still be getting in! But we're not going to give the young man the points."
"What?! But-"
"Don't fret it! Things'll work out! Promise!" The screen paused.
"Young Midoriya," All Might said, "What you did for that young lady, that selflessness your actions inspired in her, was absolutely stunning. We almost never see it in these exams (I think)." He pressed another button, and the board lit up again, showcasing a list of names and two columns with numbers in them. "The physical examination was not simply graded on the amount of villains defeated; indeed, there was a second portion to this examination! Rescue points! And Young Midoriya, for your selfless acts, inspiring visage, and overall coolness factor, our panel of judges have decided to award to you..."
"Seventy rescue points! Though you still do not have any villain points, you are catapulted by the rescue points to overall seventh place!"
Izuku's jaw dropped. Did that mean...
"Young Midoriya, you still have a lot to learn. That is why I am here. Come."
Izuku's eyes welled up.
"This..."
The tears flowed.
"Is your hero academia."
Izuku began to openly cry.
He had done it.
"You have your books, right? Pens? Ruler? Key? All that?"
"Yes, mom, I have it."
"You remembered your tissues? Sickness mask? Underwear?"
"Mom!"
"Pfft, hahaha... Just messing with you, Izukkun."
Izuku smiled and put on his shoes. It was nice to hear his mom worry about him. "I'm off, then!" He opened the door.
"W-Wait, Izuku!" His mom said. Izuku turned towards her, and his eyes met Midoriya Inko's tired, yet loving gaze.
"I'm so proud of you. Go do your best at becoming Japan's number one hero."
With a swelling sense of happiness that not even a lightning bolt from the clear skies could burst, Izuku nodded. "Thank you, mom. Love you." And with that, Izuku ran down the steps of his apartment building and made his way to the streets.
Izuku looked at one of the giant screens playing the news; apparently, All Might had officially given a statement that he was going to be teaching at UA himself, and he was looking forward to teaching Heroics classes. Izuku thought back to the message. So that meant that All Might was going to be a teacher? What if he was his teacher? What if he was his HOMEROOM teacher? Izuku didn't know if he could handle the suspIzuku got hit by a car.
This was probably long overdue, Izuku thought to himself as he flew through the air in a perfect arc, It has been a while since anything really bad happened.
And with that, Izuku hit the street in such a way that his neck snapped perfectly, killing him instantly.
Five seconds later, Izuku woke up, yet he kept his eyes closed. His neck actually really hurt this time, and he waited for it dull down to a faint throb before he opened his eyes.
It was quite a sight. About three different people (one of them likely a Hero, considering her outfit) were all reprimanding who he assumed to be the driver, who had run a red light. Not only that, they probably all believed that he had just gotten badly injured instead of died. Lucky for him, then; he hadn't made it public that his Quirk made him immortal, he was not starting now.
Slowly, he got up, to the sounds of surprise from some onlookers. Ignoring them, Izuku looked around and started to gather his things, which had scattered with the impact.
"Kid, you alright?!" A voice he recognized as Deatharms shouted, running over to him.
"Ugh," Izuku winced at the loudness of the man. Turns out he had a slight headache, too. "I'm fine... Wait, hold on..." Izuku cracked his neck. "Now I'm fine. Can you hand me my watch? I think it fell off..."
"Huh? Sure." Deatharms moved away, and by the time he had come back, Izuku had finished picking up his loose affects and placed them into the bag. "This All Might watch, right?"
"That's it, thank you, Deatharms." Izuku said, absentmindedly putting on the watch, "Sorry if I'm not the stuttering wreck I normally would be, I think I died."
"Really?" Deatharms replied with a bit of a chuckle, "Coulda fooled me, you're pretty active for a dead guy!"
"Guess I am, eheh..." Izuku sheepishly smiled, then looked at his watch.
His eyes bugged out.
"I'M LATE!" Izuku squealed, jumping to his feet. "I'm gonna miss my train!" And with that, he ran off to the station.
Deatharms blinked the guy's speed. "Fast lil' kid, ain't he?" He muttered.
Somehow, Izuku had made it in time for his train, and after an incident-free train ride, he was once again here.
UA Academy.
This was it. Izuku took a deep breath and took his first steps as a student of those hallowed halls.
It went a lot better. He didn't trip.
Pleased with his small success, Izuku made haste and went into the hallways. The class schedule he had gotten placed him in Class 1-A, and while he was happy that they at least considered him talented enough to be in the premier class of the year, he was worried. Bakugou was also pretty powerful, and he didn't know what he would do if either he or that weird glasses kid were in the same class. On the other hand, he wouldn't mind that girl being there too. Once he finally located the (comically over-sized) door, he took another deep breath.
This was it. Again.
Izuku mentally crossed his fingers. Not Bakugou, not megane, yes nice girl, maybe that French kid?
Izuku opened the door.
"WOULD YOU KINDLY GET YOUR FEET OFF OF THE DESK?!"
"Haah? And what are you gonna do 'bout it, prep school?"
They were both here.
Fuck.
Aizawa Shouta was unamused with his current class of wannabe jokers.
Sure, they all probably knew what their Quirks were and how to count to ten and all that nonsense, but personality-wise? He hated them.
Except for that girl with the blank face and the big hands. She just exuded some sort of calming energy.
"So, you think this is a game, huh?" He said, responding to the kid with the bright yellow hair. "Then how about this... Loser gets expelled."
A stunned silence fell over the twenty hopefuls. Good. Less of a headache this way.
"You'll find," He continued with no prompting, "That UA is known for encouraging free will. This extends to the teachers. In my case, I've decided to exercise this by making sure you understand exactly what you're good for. If you can't even show me any potential, you're good for nothing." He pulled up the list. "First trial is the fifty-meter dash. First up, Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku."
As the students lined up, Aizawa made special note of Midoriya Izuku's actions. He (and everyone else with a tactical mindset) had noticed several odd things with Izuku's skillset, including (and especially) the jets of water from nowhere and the string without a source. Principal Nedzu had even analyzed the string and couldn't find any current fabric it resembled. If Aizawa was kidding himself, he would say Midoriya Izuku had multiple Quirks.
But that was silly. There was logically a near-zero chance of that.
"3.12 seconds."
Scratch that. There was now a near-one hundred percent chance of that.
Izuku blinked as he found himself at the finish line. Was he faster now? Normally that would have taken him about eight seconds, but now he was at three?
If Izuku had time to think any more, he didn't get it; he immediately noticed how some of the other students used their Quirks (the French kid using his laser as a propulsion system was genius, honestly, and he wondered if he could replicate it with the water jet), and he quickly began to come up with potential uses and counters to the Quirks being shown off. This reverie conveniently distracted him from the mystery that was his newfound speed, and also, incidentally, from Bakugou's barely-restrained anger.
The next few tests passed without any real incident. A girl had used her Quirk to create a clamp in the grip test, and he had overhead another girl who was holding the grip in her hair about how she was jealous of a really tall (and, in Izuku's opinion, hunky) boy's six arms, whose grip strength was easily proportional to the amount of arms he held it in. The French guy really seemed to love his lasers, and Izuku thought he had seen him sparkle at one point or another.
Then came his turn in the softball pitch. Izuku took one look at it and knew what he was going to do. He took the ball. He tossed it upwards. He swung a punch at it.
"58.2 meters."
Izuku blinked. "What? I... I thought I..."
"...I've 'erased' your Quirk," Came a dull voice, and Izuku turned towards the source.
His homeroom teacher. Aizawa Shouta.
With glaring red eyes.
Izuku suddenly knew which Pro Hero he was.
"I'll be honest with you, I got suspicious of you during the actual entrance exam, but when you exhibited that speed earlier when you certainly hadn't had it during the exam... It confirmed my suspicions." Suddenly, Izuku felt a soft, yet strong, presence on his back, and he was drawn forward towards the totally-unwrapped teacher.
"...So that's who you are..." Izuku muttered, eyes darting between Aizawa's eyes and goggles, "You're the Erasing Hero, Eraserhead... You're an Underground Hero whose Quirk is to erase other peoples' Quirks just by looking at them..."
"You've heard of me. Good. Annoying, but good." Eraserhead replied. "The speed, the water, the string, the strength..." Eraserhead paused. "Your Quirk evolves to suit your need, doesn't it?"
Well, if that's what he wants to hear... "...Yes." Izuku replied. Eraserhead was pretty scary up close, like some sort of predatory cat, and Izuku really wanted to stop being in his clutches.
"Good, that's all I needed to know." Eraserhead sighed, and he closed his eyes. "I'm giving y-"
That was all Izuku heard before his nerves lit up and he passed out.
When Izuku woke up, he was on the ground, his classmates surrounding him. His head was on something soft, so someone likely had it in their lap.
"D-did someone get the license plate of that car?" Izuku made a weak attempt at a joke.
The kid with the gold hair (Kami-something? Kamoshide, probably) stifled a snicker, and was immediately slapped by a girl with extremely long earlobes.
"Dude, you good?" Asked a redheaded boy, Kirisame if he remembered correctly, "You sorta fell over moanin' and stuff."
"Yeah!" Said the cute girl from the exams, (Urameshiya? No, totally incorrect.) "You looked like you were in pain, so we dragged you over into the shade. You're currently on Shiozaki-san's lap."
"Eh?" Izuku turned his head, and he looked into the face of the girl with the prehensile green hair.
His brain caught up to him.
"Aii!" He screamed, jumping out of her lap, "S-s-s-s-s-sorry! I-I didn't mean to-"
"Oh, it's quite all right," Shiozaki replied, smiling serenely, "It is the least that I could do for a classmate in need."
"If you're quite done," Eraserhead shouted flatly, "Midoriya needs to pitch his ball."
"What?!" Shouted glasses boy (Iino?), "But Aizawa-sensei! Midoriya-san is likely totally unable to-"
"Um, actually," Midoriya interrupted, kinda touched that this guy he thought disliked him at least cared for his well-being, "I'm feeling all right, at least enough to throw the ball..."
With that, Izuku walked over, and picked up the ball. He clenched his fist, and activated his kinetic energy impact ability (he really was shit at names, huh?). Throwing the ball in the other hand, he timed the punch just right.
"614.9 meters."
Now that was a pitch.
In the end, no one got expelled (to the audible relief of Hagakure, who was apparently totally invisible). He only barely avoided directly facing Bakugou's ire, lucky for him, although for the rest of the day all Bakugou could talk about was "shitty Deku" this and "Quirkless Deku" that. And, to top it all off, he apparently could now run at high speeds.
Besides the part where he got hit by a car and then passed out in front of his peers from what he assumed was the pain of every death at once, all in all it was a decent firs-
"Hey!"
Izuku turned. It was the cute girl and the glasses boy, only now Izuku could place names to faces: Uraraka and Iida.
"Midoriya-san!" Iida shouted, "I must apologize to you for my conduct towards you before the entrance exam!" Iida bowed a perfect ninety degrees. "It was wrong of me to embarrass you in such a manner!"
"Pfft, I'm sure he forgives you!" Uraraka said, slapping Iida on the back (carefully not touching him with all five fingers, Izuku noted), "Isn't that right, Deku?"
Izuku twitched slightly at the painful nickname. Great. Bakugou had convinced the whole class that his name was "Deku".
At Izuku's slight flinch, Uraraka frowned. "Huh? Isn't that your name?"
Izuku mutely shook his head. "No, that's just what K-" He stopped himself. "Bakugou. It's what. Bakugou calls me."
Iida and Uraraka shared a glance. "So, it's a derogatory insult." Iida deadpanned, glasses glinting dangerously. Izuku suppressed a shiver.
"Well, I like it!" Uraraka said, in an almost defiant manner, "It gives a sort of 'can-do' vibe! Like "Dekiru!", y'know?" Uraraka swung her fist in a sort of "good luck!" motion, then paused. "Actually, then what is your name? Cause if it's not Deku..."
"Ah!" Izuku stammered. A girl was asking his name? "M-My name is Midoriya Izuku... Y-your's?"
"Uraraka Ochako!" Uraraka grinned.
"And I am Iida Tenya!" Iida shouted, extending his hand, "A pleasure to meet you!"
Izuku shook Iida's hand, and as Uraraka threw her arms around them, Izuku knew this was going to be a good school year.
