Three day weekend, woo! Happy Memorial Day for those of you in the U.S.
This is a chapter I've wanted to get to since I started writing this, and it's the longest one yet!
Review time:
Aguion12: Well, it's never explicitly stated, but to me it just makes sense. It's established that All Might has strength, speed, durability, heightened senses, what seems to be an increased tolerance for pain, and more besides. To me, that's just way too OP for it to be the work of a single Quirk, but here we have a Quirk that's been passed down through eight people, of which Izuku is the ninth, and it's explicitly stated that it evolves over time, so this just makes sense to me. Plus, it works well for the purposes of this fic.
Not Stale Bread: Your vote has been noted. And yeah, I'm definitely striving to shake things up a bit here. I hate word-for-word rehashes of canon, and I am seeking to avoid them whenever possible.
Legion's Gurdian: Your vote has been noted. Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying it. I like writing downtime stuff like that too, especially now that we're getting to the good stuff. Calm before the storm indeed.
Addles28: That question will be answered, at least in part, by this chapter! It's kind of both. This will be mechanically explained later on.
wildtrance: You know, it's funny to me that everyone knows Izuku will be eating fire even though he hasn't actually done it yet. That'll definitely be something to explore though. I can totally see a character like Denki asking him that.
RandomDude: At least one of those questions will be answered in this chapter for sure. And yeah, that's a conversation that will have to happen at some point. Most likely he'll be confronted about it after the Quirk Assessment if he hasn't told him by then, though I do drop a hint about it in this chapter.
Enji. It really, really bugs me how he's portrayed in the Anime/Manga. He comes off as so one-dimensional and I know that every character has more to them than that. He's not a nice guy, to be sure, but he IS a Hero, and that counts for something. I'm really looking forward to doing more with him.
I'll admit that some of those do happen, but hopefully the differences here will be enough to still make it special. Thank you for the compliments as well. I'm really trying to make everything feel natural here. I don't want anything to come off as forced.
Gokuu the Carrot: It might be a bit more obvious in the manga than the anime, but yeah. Katsuki a beast. Also, your wait is over, for a chapter is here!
Blizzardfang: Thank you. I hope you continue to feel that way.
Kneck: Thank you. It always means a lot to me when someone says that. I hope you continue to like it!
Now, without further ado, a chapter a lot of you have been waiting for!
Chapter Six: Smash And Burn
Izuku Midoriya was having a very eventful day. It wasn't even noon yet, and the main event was yet to come, but his mind was already reeling from the morning's occurrences.
He had rushed home, showered, gathered his things, said a quick goodbye to his mother, and boarded the subway. His trip to U.A. was set to take about forty minutes, and he took that time to mull over what All Might had told him after he had nearly forced one of his hairs down Izuku's throat.
"Guh! *hack* Bleh!"
"Ah, my apologies, Midoriya my boy, but we really don't have time for Twenty Questions right now. Here, have some water."
All Might handed Izuku a bottle of water to help him chase down the hair, and continued speaking as he gulped it down.
"You won't feel anything for about two or three hours, that's normal. Honestly my boy, I have no idea how One For All might interact with your existing Quirk. The only advice I can think to give you is to dig deep and scream out from the very depths of your heart! Follow your instincts and One For All should do the rest."
"You, ah, don't have anything more specific than that? How did you figure out how to use it?"
"I? Well, I found that all I had to do was clench my butt cheeks and cry out 'Smash!'"
"Oh, is that why all of your attacks have 'Smash' in them somewhere?"
"That is part of it, yes. Also, it helps me visualize my different Super Moves and just sounds really, really cool."
Izuku couldn't deny that it did, in fact, sound really, really cool when All Might let loose with his Super Moves. Maybe, if he got into U.A., he could find some time to work on some special techniques of his own? Almost every Hero had at least one, and they were all Super-Special-Awesome with a candy coating made of concentrated Cool Factor and a generous helping of Badass sprinkled on top. At least in his humble opinion.
…And this was his stop and he spent the whole time fanboying about Super Moves and he didn't do any strategizing or reviewing whatsoever and ohdeargodhe'sgoingtofailKacchanhelp.
Wait. Kacchan. He promised to meet up with him before the start of the exams so they could talk strategy and…Izuku had shown up much later than he was planning on. Kacchan would have been on time for something this important, and when Deku hadn't shown up, he would have started going around looking for him.
And most likely he would be pissed. And worried, in his own way, but mostly pissed.
Great. Now not only was Izuku going to fail because he didn't do any last-minute studying but Kacchan wouldn't do as well as he usually would because he would be distracted wondering where his friend was and maybe that would cost him that extra point he needed to pass and ohnoheruinedeverythingthiswasterrible.
It did not occur to Izuku that he came in a very close second place on the mock exam, only below Kacchan, and therefore the paper exam should not be an issue. He was too busy walking in little circles, whipping his head from side-to-side outside of the large building the written portion would be held in, desperately looking for his friend.
"Um, excuse me, are you looking for someone?"
Izuku's head reflexively whipped around at the feminine voice, because there was no way his luck was this bad. Not only was he in full-on Panic Mode, but he was in full-on Panic Mode outside of U.A. Not only that, but he was in full-on Panic Mode, outside of U.A., making a complete ass of himself in front of a very cute girl about his age with brown hair wearing a scarf to stave off the cold February air.
…And now he was staring.
"I, uh, know it's not really any of my business, but you just looked super nervous and it looked like you were looking for someone, so I figured…"
"Ah! I, er, that is…" deep breaths, Deku, "Y-yes. I was s-supposed to meet m-my friend here, but I s-showed up late. I h-have no idea where I'm g-going or where he w-went."
"Oh no! That's terrible! He must be freaking out looking for you! You want me to help you look?"
She looked so genuinely concerned that Izuku couldn't even bring himself to question her.
"I-if it's not too much trouble, t-that would be g-great. I w-wouldn't want to i-inconvenience y-you."
The girl gave him a warm, friendly smile and gripped his shoulder with one hand, steering him towards the building.
"I don't mind, really! Why don't we start by heading for the exam rooms? Everyone has to end up there eventually, so even if he's not there right now, he should be soon, right? We don't have that long until the written portion starts."
The realization that he should have done this immediately upon arrival led to Izuku mentally kicking himself so hard that he forgot to be embarrassed by the physical contact from this girl that he didn't even know.
"Y-yeah. That's a g-good idea."
"So what does this friend of yours look like?"
"Oh! R-right. He has spiky, ash blonde hair, red eyes, and usually looks like he's m-mad about something. Th-though in this case, he p-probably is."
The girl did not respond, simply making a thoughtful noise and starting to look around as the pair entered the building and followed the signs. Of course there would be signs. Izuku felt more and more like an idiot with each passing moment. Really, he should have known that there would be directions, and he should have known to head straight for the exam room. Concerned Kacchan might be, but he would never in a million years miss the entrance exam for U.A. Nor would Midoriya. Worst case scenario would be they just met up during the break between the written portion and the practical portion, and he would apologize to Kacchan then. What the hell was he so worried about? And now he had roped this nice girl into helping him out, even if she said she didn't mind.
"Erm, are you okay? You're mumbling up a storm there."
Of course she heard that. Why would she not have heard that?
"Ah, no, er that is, yes. I'm f-fine. Sorry."
"Nervous tic?"
"S-something like that."
"No sweat. It's a big day for everyone! Of course you're nervous. I am too, honestly. I guess maybe part of the reason I decided to help you was because I was looking for something to distract me. Stop me from worrying as much, you know?"
He could understand that. He could absolutely understand that, and now that he thought about it, she had pretty much taken his initial wave of panic and kicked it straight over the horizon.
"I g-get it, really. Y-you've actually helped me calm down a lot t-too. Th-thank you…?"
"Oh! It's Uraraka. Ochako Uraraka. You're welcome! What's your name?"
"Uraraka-san. Right, m-my name is-"
"DEKU!" Right on cue, Katsuki came marching down the hallway straight towards Izuku and Ochako. The people in the hall parted before him, nobody wanting to get in the way of the man on a mission.
"H-hey, Kacchan. We f-found you!"
"Don't you give me that crap, Deku! Your ass was supposed to be here half an hour ago! What, were you busy sucking face with your girlfriend or something?! That the 'training' you've been doing these past ten months?! EH?!"
It was at this moment that Izuku realized Ochako's hand was still on his shoulder.
"I-it's n-not what it l-looks like! Honest! She was j-just helping me!"
"Helping you? Helping you what? Helping you 'relieve some stress' before the exams?!"
Oh, someone just kill him now.
"Um, if I could cut in here?" Kacchan rounded on Uraraka as she spoke up.
"What?!"
"You really do have it all wrong. We just met, and he was outside looking for his friend, which I guess is you. I offered to help him look, and we headed straight here."
"Then why are you getting all touchy-feely with him?!"
"Honestly? He kept talking to himself on the way here and I was worried he'd bump into something."
"Tch. Wouldn't be the first time."
Seriously. Someone kill him. Right now. Poor Izuku was so embarrassed that it felt like he had a fever.
"Ah, Deku-kun? Are you alright?"
"He's fine! He just needs to get his ass in that exam room before I throw it in there!" Bakugo seizes Izuku and shoves him in the direction of the designated room, "Seriously, talk about cutting it way too fucking close! Exam starts in five minutes dumbass! You gonna let yourself get disqualified by a technicality?!"
Before following Deku, Katsuki turns to Ochako briefly.
"You can talk to him some more once all this crap is done with, Round Face." He then departs, leaving a rather confused Ochako in his wake.
"…Round Face?"
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
"Well that was piss-easy eh, Deku?"
"Yeah, yeah it kinda was."
It hadn't been quite as simple as Kacchan was making it out to be, but Deku was still reasonably certain he had passed it.
"I told you it would be. Bet you still worried yourself stupid about it anyway."
"Yeah, yeah I kinda did. Well, at least until Uraraka-san snapped me out of it."
"Who the fuck is that?"
"The girl I was with."
"Oh, her. You sure she's not your girlfriend?"
"I am v-very sure of that, yes. It's like she t-told you, w-we just met."
"Dude, chill. I'm fucking with you because I'm still kinda pissed at you for making me stand outside U.A. looking like a dumbass. Seriously, what kept you?"
"There was still one thing I had to do to complete my training regimen, and it took more time than I thought it would. Sorry about that."
The pair proceeded towards the auditorium as they had been directed to after the written exam had concluded. Uraraka had taken her test in a different classroom apparently, and was nowhere to be seen at the moment. Kacchan looked thoughtful, and Izuku hoped he wasn't going to ask what he thought he was going to ask.
"Yeah, so this training you've been doing, I could tell when I shoved you into the exam room that you've been working out, but that can't be all you've been doing, right? Quirk nut like you must've been trying out some new tricks. Got anything that works?"
Carefully. Izuku had to answer this question very carefully. He didn't want to lie to his best (and really, only) friend, but he couldn't tell him about what he was really up to all those months either. He had promised All Might, and besides, One For All wasn't his secret to spill. Plus, he had no idea what he could actually do with it yet. Kacchan deserved some kind of answer though.
"Well, yeah. I'm definitely way more fit than I was before, because that just seemed like a really good idea, you know? But you're right: I have been working with Flame Magnet as well. I can actually sort of…focus the attraction point?"
"You can do what?"
"Well, you know how every other time I've used my Quirk it just kind of…attracts fire to my center of mass? Well, I found out that if I really, really focus, I can make it go somewhere else."
"You mean you can send it zooming all over the place now? That's kind of awesome."
"No, no. I can still only attract it to myself, but I can, like, choose which part of my body it gets attracted to. So instead of setting myself entirely on fire, I could just…set my hand on fire."
"That's not as awesome."
"No, no it isn't. I think it has potential though. I've been experimenting with changing the attraction point on-the-fly, which might let me do some neat things, but I still don't really have it down yet." As an after-thought to try and explain any extra things he might discover as a result of One For All, Midoriya quickly tacked on, "And there's something else I've been futzing around with too, but I don't know if it's even possible, so I'd rather not talk about it just in case it ends up being a dead end."
"Whatever."
"So, what have you been up to?"
"I'm bigger, better, and all-around more badass."
"Well, alright then."
"Here, before the practical starts, we should talk strategy. I'm thinking you just follow me around and we'll double-team whatever this is. Probably some sort of combat trial or something is what you were saying, right?"
"Y-yeah. From what I was able to find on the internet, it's usually some kind of live field assessment. But, Kacchan, the thing about that is…"
"What?"
"Well, they'll probably end up separating people that are from the same middle school."
Katsuki actually stumbled slightly upon hearing this.
"Eh? Why the fuck would they do that?!"
"Well, this is why. Just imagine if a whole group of friends applied together and formed a big team. They could steamroll right over whatever the examiners threw at them, and they wouldn't really be able to get a good idea of what each individual can do. These are the kinds of tests that you need to be able to prove your own worth in. If you're just a weak link, then there's nothing to stop you from coasting along on the strength of your teammates. With this, that's impossible."
"But what'll you do then?"
The pair had reached the auditorium at this point and were sitting down, waiting for everyone else to file in so the presentation could begin. Bakugo was looking at his friend with genuine confusion on his face.
"What do you mean, Kacchan?"
"I mean, you're my Sidekick. We work good together, but you don't think you'll be able to just breeze through on your own, do you? It'll get rough, especially if there's anyone in your test group even half as tough as I am, unlikely as that is."
There it was. The same thing that was constantly niggling at the back of Izuku's mind during his training with All Might. The very same feeling that had come to a head when he had collapsed during his training.
Irritation? Defiance? Pride? Deku wasn't sure.
All he knew was that the label of Sidekick didn't sit well with him. Not anymore.
"I'll be fine."
"Deku, that's fine and all, but how can you be sure?"
"What do you think I spent the past ten months training for, Kacchan?" Izuku looked over at his friend and gave him a determined smile, "I have no intention of failing here. Not gonna happen."
Before Katuki could respond, he was interrupted.
"Welcome to today's live performance! Everybody say 'HEY'!"
A powerful voice emanated throughout the auditorium, making the air vibrate in a way that only one voice could. It was Present Mic, the Voice Hero.
Nobody responded to his prompt to say "HEY", likely because of the suddenness of his appearance and the gravity of the situation. Izuku was proceeding to lose his shit next to his long-suffering friend though.
"Oh my god that's Present Mic! I listen to his radio show every week. It's so inspiring! I guess all the U.A. teachers are Pro Heroes but I never really gave it any thought I guess. I mean it makes sense that he'd be here and everything, his personality is right for it, for sure. And-"
"Deku. Shaddup. He's talking."
"Well, that's cool, my examinee Listeners! I'm here to present the guidelines of your practical! ARE YOU READY?! YEEEEEEEAH!"
His continued efforts to pump up his audience were met with complete silence, but Present Mic either didn't notice or didn't care.
"This is how the test will go, my Listeners! You'll be experiencing ten-minute-long mock cityscape battles! Bring whatever equipment you want along with you! After this presentation, you'll each head to your assigned testing location! OKAY?!"
Upon looking at the list of names and locations, Izuku and Katsuki found that they were, indeed assigned to different locations. In fact, sequential ID numbers were never in the same place amongst the seven testing grounds.
"Each site is filled with three kinds of Faux Villains. Points are awarded for defeating each kind according to their respective difficulty levels! You've got One-Pointers, Two-Pointers, and Three-Pointers. Easy, right?! Just use your Quirks to disable these Faux Villains and earn points! Get as many as you can! Of course, playing the Antihero and attacking other examinees is prohibited!"
"Excuse me! May I ask a question?!" A rather well-dressed, tall young man with neatly combed hair and glasses had stood up with his hand raised. He proceeded without waiting for an answer, gesturing to the handout they had all received, "There appear to be no fewer than four varieties of Faux Villain on this handout! Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming of U.A. as Japan's top Hero Academy! We're all here today in the hopes of being molded into model Heroes! And you! With the curly hair!" At this he pointed directly at Izuku, making the boy jump, "You've been muttering this whole time…it's distracting! If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!"
"Sorry…"
"Tch. Told you, Deku."
"Alright alright. Examinee Listener 7111, nice catch. Thanks! But the fourth Faux Villain doesn't get you any points! Zilch! Zero! Nada! He's not meant to be fought so much as he's just an obstacle! Kinda like a Thwomp from those old Super Mario games! There's only one of them at each site, but they're seriously tough! Their sole mission in life is to rampage around and ruin your day, so you should probably just avoid them!"
The young man with glasses bowed sharply before sitting back down.
"Thank you, sir. I apologize for the interruption!"
"That's all from me! I'll leave my Listeners with our school motto. There was once a man who said 'True Heroism consists of being superior to the ills of life.' It won't be easy, and it won't be pretty, but with enough grit and determination, you can overcome anything that stands in your way! Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA! Break a leg, everyone!"
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
After a quick trip to the locker rooms to change into gear and clothing more suited to the practical examination, the examinees made their way to their respective testing sites. Izuku was one of the last to arrive at his site, being a nervous wreck.
The reason was simple: he had talked a big game to Kacchan earlier. He had no choice but to follow through on that now, or he'd prove himself wrong in the most definite way possible.
The testing site was another reason. It was as large as a small city, with skyscrapers and everything. The idea that U.A. had at least six more of these on-site was mind-boggling to say the least.
As he scanned the group of prospective students before him, Izuku noticed a familiar head of brown hair.
It's Uraraka-san! We're at the same site! I should wish her luck or something. I never did thank her properly for earlier.
As he walked towards where Ochako was standing, eyes closed, doing what looked like some kind of breathing exercise, a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.
"That girl seems to be doing some kind of meditation." A large hand gripped Midoriya's shoulder and spun him around to face the tall young man with glasses from the auditorium, only now instead of wearing a suit, he was wearing a form-fitting tracksuit that revealed his muscular physique. "Why are you here? Hoping to interfere?"
Oh god, him too?!
"Hey that's the kid that was acting like an idiot back at the front gate."
"I guess that's one less rival to worry about, huh?"
"Lucky!"
I can't really blame them for thinking that…
"AND BEGIN!" Present Mic's voice rang out over the landscape from a large tower that overlooked all of the testing sites. From this distance, he was just a small speck on the rooftop, but his Quirk-enhanced voice was loud and clear.
Nobody moved.
"What's wrong?! The test has already started! Clock's ticking, Listeners! Run! RUN! The die is cast!"
By the time Izuku realized what was happening, everyone else had started stampeding into the testing facility. He forced himself to calm down and ran in after them.
Gotta find something to use as a weapon. If these are robots, I shouldn't try hitting them with my bare hands. No idea if One For All will enhance me like it does All Might.
Izuku came across a wrecked car and tore the door off, thinking it might make a decent shield if nothing else.
Huh. Guess I have gotten stronger. That or the door was loose.
Suddenly, a robot with a single massive wheel, a long neck, and two armor-plated arms with a large '1' painted on them busted through the side of a building close to him, charging full-speed ahead.
"Target locked! Prepare for termination!"
One pointers…quick but fragile is what the notes said! Here it comes!
The one-pointer cocked it's arm back as it charged, preparing to deck Izuku full in the face. He dug in his heels and raised his car door just in time to catch the blow. He felt himself getting pushed back, and with a shout of effort, angled the door to one side and caused the punch to go wide, leaving the body exposed.
Not taking any time to think, Izuku let the momentum of the door carry him in a circle, raising the door above his head, he did the only thing he could think to do.
"SMASH!" The door came down, bifurcating the robot and embedding itself a few inches into the concrete below.
Izuku took a moment to absorb what had just happened before a small grin made its way to his face.
That was nowhere near All Might's power, but it'll help! My back muscles feel a little strained, but I think I'll be okay!
Izuku started to run off before he realized the implications of his newfound power.
"Smash!" He kicked off of the ground with one leg, this leap sending him shooting through the air. He landed on his other leg and, "Smash!" kicked off with that one, creating a sort of exaggerated run cycle that was nonetheless much faster than he could normally move. He felt the kickback in his legs, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He'd get used to it. He had just never used this power before, so of course his body wasn't used to it. But the training had made it ready.
Izuku couldn't stop himself from whooping with joy and exhilaration as he flew through the air, grabbing a large piece of rebar with a chunk of concrete on the end of it, spinning around and with another "Smash," knocking another robot's head clean off.
Was this how All Might felt all the time? So…free? He zig-zagged towards a two-pointer, which looked like a robotic scorpion, causing it's tail to miss him as he landed on its back and, in a moment of reckless abandon, drove his fist into its neck.
"SMASH!" the two-pointer collapsed, its neck having been broken, and Izuku winced slightly at the impact of his bare knuckles against metal. Not broken, but certainly not pleasant. He would have to make sure his costume had some thick gloves or something.
"Seven minutes remaining!"
Present Mic's voice rang out and jolted Izuku back to his senses. He could think later; now was the time to act.
Izuku threw himself into the melee, using whatever he could find as a weapon in the process. He managed to take down three more one-pointers, another two-pointer, and even a three-pointer when he tricked it into bringing a section of wall down onto itself.
"Alright, twelve."
"Haah…twenty-eight points…" This came from Uraraka as she caused a multitude of robots to fall from the sky onto the ground. Apparently her Quirk involved either telekinesis or gravity manipulation.
"Hah! Forty-five points!" This was the glasses-wearing boy from earlier. He moved with incedible speed, and it looked like he had exhaust ports coming out of his oversized calves.
"Thirty-two!" Another examinee in the background"
Crap! This isn't good! We're running out of enemies here, and I took too much time getting used to One For All! They didn't tell us how many Villains there would be, or where they would be placed, but there's no time to comb the entire city looking for them!
It was at this moment that a nearby skyscraper was entirely demolished by a colossus of steel. A single massive limb was raised up, casting a shadow over the Hero hopefuls present, before slamming down into the street, sending chunks of debris flying everywhere.
Izuku froze. How could he fight that? How could anyone fight that? He knew this must be one of the zero-pointers, so they weren't supposed to fight it, but this was ridiculous!
Everyone else was getting the hell out of dodge, and Izuku was getting ready to follow them, but then he heard a sound that froze him in his tracks and made his blood run cold.
"Oww…"
No. There was no way. That shouldn't be allowed. But sure enough, there was Ochako, on the ground, her legs pinned in place by an exceptionally large chunk of concrete. She was trying to reach a hand back to touch it, but she couldn't, and the Zero would be there in just a few moments.
"Uraraka-san!"
Izuku didn't think. He didn't have time to think, so he moved.
Smash! Smash! Smashsmashsmashsmashsmashsmashsmash!
He made it to the girl in record time, the Zero was not yet upon them, and he tried to fling the piece of concrete away, but it was too heavy and he thought he might have pulled something in his back.
"Deku-kun, what-"
"I'll get you out of here! Don't worry, Uraraka-san!"
He planted his feet and channeled One For All through his legs, allowing himself to shift the chunk just enough for her to crawl out from underneath it. Ochako tried to get up but she couldn't and there was no more time and there was smoke and debris and fire and there was no more time.
Fire. There was fire, but what could he do?!
"The only advice I can think to give you is to dig deep and scream out from the very depths of your heart! Follow your instincts and One For All should do the rest."
Izuku took a deep breath, deeper than any he had ever taken before, and he pulled. The surrounding flames converged on his mouth, and he didn't stop. He pulled them in, not knowing what he was doing, pulling in more and more fire until he couldn't inhale anymore, and he cocked his right arm back towards the massive foot that was descending towards him and Ochako.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, and time seemed to slow around him. His eyes snapped open, glowing orange like the coals of a brazier instead of his usual green. Flames exploded from his right arm, which was now shot-through with glowing red veins, as if his very blood were burning.
It hurt. It burned. His arm was burning, but it wouldn't last for long. He just needed this one punch, and he couldn't afford to hold anything back. Izuku's fist swung upards in a mighty uppercut and his lips parted, mouth opened wide in a battle cry that came from the very depths of his soul. A cry that he had only uttered once before, those ten months ago when he stood before his own impending destruction, and refused to be the one to blink first:
"BUUURN!"
His fist collided with the foot of the Zero, and a gargantuan pillar of flames exploded upwards, blasting the menace backwards with incredible force. It tried to regain its balance, but its foot was destroyed and it started to fall forward towards Izuku, who was currently dealing with a very large amount of physical pain and didn't notice.
"DEKU-KUN!" *slap*
A hand collided with Izuku's face and sent him shooting backwards, suddenly feeling weightless. He spun through the air until he collided with a large robot part and stopped dead, still floating. When a body suddenly collided with his chest and made an "Oof" sound, he understood what had happened.
Uraraka had made him weightless and sent him flying before making herself weightless and leaping after him.
As soon as he realized this, there was a titanic crash as the Zero pulverized the ground where the pair of them had just been, smashing its head and ceasing all movement.
"R-release!"
Suddenly gravity existed again and Izuku fell to the ground, groaning as he landed awkwardly on his abused right arm. Ochako landed as well, sprawled across him, her chest on his shoulder and her head behind him.
"Uraraka-san, are you alright?!"
"Bleargh…"
The sound of the girl emptying her stomach all over the ground behind him answered that question rather succinctly in his opinion. He rubbed her back awkwardly with his still-functional left arm, trying to form soothing circles like his mother had done for him before when he was sick. He could feel her taking slow, shuddering breaths, but those gradually evened out. After a few moments, he asked again:
"Uraraka-san, are you alright?"
She struggled for a moment, and he realized she was trying to get up.
"Gotta…get back out there…not over…yet."
He kept making circles on her back.
"That doesn't matter right now."
"Easy…for you to say…power like that…you must have like eighty points…"
"Twelve, actually."
"No way…but, you need to keep going too, Deku-kun! We have to pass this test!"
"I'm afraid I'm done. My arm…"
Ochako managed to push herself into a sitting position, plopping down on the ground in front of Izuku and seeing his condition for the first time.
His right arm was a mess. The sleeve of his track jacket was entirely burned away and his arm was unnaturally twisted and badly burnt.
"Oh my god! Deku-kun, are you okay?!"
"Well, with you and the adrenaline helping me to ignore the pain, I'm okay for the moment." Strangely enough, the pain and adrenaline seemed to be keeping him calm as well. In retrospect, he would wonder how he managed to be so casual. "Besides, the test has to be almost over by n-"
"TIME'S UP, LISTENERS! IT'S ALL OVER!"
"So yeah."
Uraraka looked positively put-out.
"I'm sorry, Deku-kun. If I hadn't gotten stuck you might have been able to earn some more points."
"Hey, I should be thanking you. You saved me back there."
"That's my line!"
"Call it even then?"
In spite of herself, Ochako laughed just a little.
Then the pain really hit. It was all Izuku could do to grit his teeth and stop himself from screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Deku-kun! Oh no!"
"Well, well, so your own beloved Quirk did this to you, eh?" a kindly, elderly voice said from behind Ochako, "Almost looks as though your body isn't used to it yet. Well hold still and let me kiss it better."
The little old woman did, indeed, kiss him on the head. He did, indeed, immediately feel better, if not very drained. Izuku knew immediately who this must be.
"The Youthful Heroine…Recovery Girl?"
"Oh, you know who I am do you? Yes, I'm the nurse here at U.A. You take better care of yourself young man, you hear me?" Not waiting for a response, Recovery Girl gave Ochako a once-over, a peck on the head, and then walked away, looking for any other injured applicants.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
One week had passed since the U.A. Entrance Exams. After Izuku had been healed by Recovery Girl, Ochako thanked him again, but said she had something important to take care of and ran off. Afterwards, he had met up with Kacchan at the subway and gone home.
On the way, Kacchan had waxed eloquent (or as eloquent as he ever got) about how he had completely dominated in the exam and racked up seventy-seven Villain points. When he asked Deku how he had done, he claimed that he got too caught up in it and was honestly not sure. The test results were due in about a week though, and he promised to let his friend know then.
Honestly, Izuku knew that he didn't get anywhere near enough points in the practical portion to pass. He hadn't heard from All Might in a week either. He wondered if All Might would ask him to give One For All back, after a failure like that.
The one thing that kept him above water that week was the knowledge that, if nothing else, he had managed to help someone. Really, truly help someone. Uraraka had over double the points he did so she probably had a decent chance of making it in, right? If she became a Hero then his actions that day were worth it.
His mother was over the moon about the whole thing as well. She kept telling Izuku that, pass or fail, she was just so proud of him for trying and doing his best.
She had no way of knowing that she was just making him feel worse. He hadn't told her about All Might or One For All. Just like with Kacchan, they weren't his secrets to tell.
He sat on the couch with his dumbbell, absently following the same workout routine he had been for the majority of the past year. He just did it automatically now, which left his mind free to wander.
I did what I thought was right, no, I know it was right. I thought it would be the kind of thing All Might would have done, the kind of thing he would have wanted…but even if it wasn't, I know I wasn't wrong to try and save her.
He did know that too. He knew it with complete certainty. If there was ever a chance to help someone in need, then a Hero was honor-bound to take that chance, regardless of personal interests.
"I-Izuku! Izuku!" His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by his mother, and her voice was filled with urgency, "It's here! The letter! It's really here!"
Izuku shut himself in his room and sat down at his desk to read the letter. The envelope proved rather difficult to open for some reason, so he just tore into it. When he did, a small object clattered onto his desk, and immediately lit up, projecting a face he had thought he might never see in person again onto his wall.
"I am here as a projection!"
"Huh? What?! But I thought this was from U.A.?!"
"It's been a while. My apoligies. There was much to deliberate on." All Might rose from his apologetic bow and Izuku realized he was wearing a tan pinstriped suit, "I'm in town for one reason only: I've come to teach at U.A.!"
A hand entered the frame and made a "get on with it" gesture to All Might. The muscular hero looked put-out for a moment.
"Whatever I want to say to him can be said later?! Ah, fine. Got it. Well, my boy, even though you did pass the written portion, and made a good showing at the practical, twelve points is simply too few to pass."
He knew it. He had known it all along but…it still hurt to hear. Izuku's eyes started to tear up, but All Might was not done.
"But that's not the end of the story! Oh my, no! Let me entertain you for a moment! Please watch the screen behind me!"
"Um, excuse me…" It was Uraraka, with an anxious but determined look on her face.
"She came to see us right after the test, my boy. Why, you ask?! Stay tuned!"
"That boy, Deku? Ah, he's the one with curly hair and freckles…kind of plain looking?" The camera zoomed out and it was revealed that she was speaking to Present Mic, "Can you give him some of the points I earned?! I know he didn't earn enough to pass…but he saved me! He saved my life! At least give him however many he lost trying to save me!"
"You've moved others with your actions, my boy."
"Please! He saved my life, and he stayed with me to make sure I was okay! If anyone deserves to pass, it's him!"
"You see, in this exam, we weren't just watching for Villain-based points!"
Present Mic patted Uraraka on the head with an affectionate smile on his face.
"I'm afraid we can't give him your points, my little Listener…but I think you'll find there's no need for it!"
"A Hero course that rejects those that do the right thing…why, it would be no Hero course at all, my boy!"
No. This couldn't be happening. Was he saying what Izuku thought he was saying?!
"Do you think Heroics is all for the cameras?! In this job, you risk your life and put your money where your mouth is! Rescue points were also a factor here as another fundamental way for U.A. to evaluate you! Sixty more points for Izuku Midoriya, and forty-five for Ochako Uraraka! My boy," All Might extended his hand towards the camera, and Izuku's eyes started to overflow, "you're in! This day marks the start of your Hero Academia!"
Bang. Boom. Other situationally-appropriate onomatopoeia.
I'm going to address a couple things here (sorry in advance for the long A/N):
First off, how strong is Izuku's base Smash? Well, 5%. How strong is 5%? It's about a 2.5x boost. How did I figure this out? *Takes breath*
In Chapter 6 of the Manga, Izuku is gearing up to throw the ball with 100% One For All with his entire arm, when Eraserhead erases his Quirk. This results in him throwing the ball 46 meters. We can safely assume this is as far and as hard as he is capable of throwing that ball, since he was going all-in on this one. When Izuku throws the ball again, this time only using 100% on one of his fingers, it goes 705.3 meters. If we subtract 46 from 705.3 we see that 100% on one finger boosted his distance by 659.3 meters. However, we can safely assume that this is not the same distance he would have thrown it if he was using his entire arm. It's a finger vs an arm for chrissakes. So, how much power, comparatively, would the arm have? I choose to say double. Why just double? Because he threw that with his finger in the best possible way. He hauled back, let fly, and waited until the last possible moment to give that sucker the Broken Finger Special. If he was throwing it normally and did just one finger, I guarantee it would not have gone as far as it did. So that's my logic.
So we take 659.3 and divide it by 10 (as opposed to 20, because remember, whole arm would be double) which gives us 65.93. Add that 46 back in and we have 111.93 meters, which is about how far we could estimate Deku could throw the ball if he was just using 5% of One For All's power. Why does this matter? Because then we can take 111.93 and divide it by 46 to find our increase, which in this case is 2.433260869565217 times. That's an ugly number, so we're gonna bump that to 2.5 times for the sake of easier math. This means that at full power, One For All would boost Izuku's physical abilities by a whopping 50x! Why is this funny? Because it is the SAME boost that is popularly assigned to FUCKING SUPER SAIYANS. That's right, All Might is literally a Super Saiyan, and that's why he's so strong. Incredible power? Golden hair that spikes up when he transforms? It all makes sense now!
This also explains why 8% Full Cowl is so much better than 5%. If 5% is a 2.5x boost, then 8% is 4x. That's significantly better. In fact, the math is SO nice at this point, that every percent equals a 0.5x boost. Just to clarify, Izuku does NOT have Full Cowl right now. He has to figure each motion separately. So it would go something like arm, leg, leg, arm, leg, etc. Still, it gives him something to work with as a baseline for when there's no fire around, and this WILL be explained in detail later, though given how clever you've all been so far you might be able to guess how it works anyway.
If you took the time to actually read all that then feel free to use it in your own work if you like. It just pissed me off not knowing what Izuku was really capable of so I had to know XD.
The second of these couple things is the Battle Trial voting. It is now officially closed because in the next one or two chapters, that'll be happening! That means I need to start making some notes on it.
So, the results are as follows:
A) (Keep everything as canon): 0. I agree. To hell with keeping everything canon. That's not why we like fanfiction!
B) (Randomize all teams and matchups): 3. This is for sure an interesting way of doing things. Let the dice fall where they may and see what happens.
C) (Randomize the teams and matchups, but have a couple things set in stone for the sake of plot): 5. In all honesty this is what I was thinking would win, because it's the best of both worlds. Incidentally, here are the requested things:
Uraraka+Deku Team: 1
Bakugou+Deku Team: 1
Bakugou Team VS Deku Team: 1
Todoroki Team VS Deku Team: 1
Now, obviously, not all of these can happen. I can make two of them happen though, and that's Uraraka+Deku Team VS Bakugou+? Team. The reason I'm not putting Deku VS Todoroki in the Battle Trial is because...it's too soon. I want that fight to be BIG, and it would be anticlimactic as all hell for it to happen now. The Sports Festival really is the best place for it for a couple of reasons, so that's where it'll be. (Spoilers? Nah, I don't think that qualifies). I think that Deku's different style here combined with Bakugou having a random teammate will make this different enough to be enjoyable.
And don't think I'm gonna skim over the other fights either! Every single fight is getting my full attention. No student left behind!
Tell me what you think! This was a big chapter and I hope I did it justice.
As always, thank you for reading!