Bat-trained Izuku takes the U.A. entrance exam.
Robins Still Fly
Izuku is so nervous his heart feels like it's about to beat out of his chest. It's been ten months since he discovered his Quirk (and not even in his next life, Kac—Bakugo; he'll probably never have a next life), ten months since he met Jason Todd and started training to be a pro hero. Now he's standing in front of U.A. High School, ready to take the entrance exam.
Well, technically he's ready. Jason and everyone else Jason brought in to teach him say he's ready. He just doesn't feel ready.
He hears a whisper behind him accompanied by a sudden cold spot on his shoulder. He guesses that Boston Brand has said something encouraging and patted his shoulder. He wasn't dead for long enough to be able to fully perceive Boston like Jason can. That didn't stop Deadman from teaching him acrobatics to go with the grapple gun slinging, rooftop parkour and hand-to-hand fighting Jason drilled into his muscle memory. He's also Izuku's regular bodyguard.
Izuku takes a deep breath and straightens his shoulders. He has his mom and his teachers rooting for him. He can do this.
He trips and falls two seconds after he steps foot onto U.A. grounds. And turning his fall into a roll obviously failed because he's spinning head over feet in midair. This day is off to a great start.
"Ah! I'm sorry!"
A pair of hands grabbing his arm stops Izuku's endless tumbling and he's able to put his feet back on the ground, though it still feels like he might float away at any moment. He looks over at his rescuer and freezes when he sees that they're a cute girl with big brown eyes and a sunny smile.
The girl presses the pads of her fingers together. "Release!"
Izuku catches his balance as his weight returns to him. The girl's Quirk must be some sort of gravity negation or mass reduction. That would be so useful for rescue work. Is she taking the heroics exam?
"Ah," Izuku says.
The girl's smile widens. "Sorry for using my Quirk on you without asking. I thought it would be bad luck if you fell before the exam, but it looks like you had it handled without me."
"Thanks fine." Izuku shakes his head roughly, trying to get his brain to work. He's sparred with an Amazon; he can talk with a cute girl. "I mean, that's fine. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Good luck with the exam!" The girl waves to him as she walks towards the doors.
That wasn't so bad. Now for the actual exam.
The practical exam for U.A.'s hero course is fighting giant robots. Izuku knew that already. He'd figured it out through process of elimination (robots had been one of five possible options) and even if he hadn't Jason would have told him so he could prepare. Izuku needs to get into U.A. for his own safety. Keeping the exam secret would be stupid.
So, Izuku has a plan to deal with the robots. They're allowed to bring anything they want to the testing site, within reason. He has his grapple gun, a blunt metal practice sword and his cell phone. He's glad that people from the same middle school have been separated. He doesn't have to worry about Bakugo blowing up his equipment.
He catches sight of the girl with the gravity Quirk closer to the gate of the testing site. She's tapping her fingers together and mouthing something silently to herself. In the tense silence, she's practically an island of calm. He never did get her name earlier. He didn't wish her luck either. Maybe he should do that?
He's making his way towards the girl and psyching himself up to talk to her again when a tall boy with navy blue hair blocks his path and starts yelling at him. Izuku is half a second from using one of the takedowns Jason taught him when he realizes that the other boy isn't being hostile. He's scolding Izuku for intending to distract the gravity girl, which is sort of fair except that in doing so the boy has distracted everyone around them.
Present Mic casually tells them that the test has started and Izuku is off like a shot. No one else moves.
"What are the rest of you waiting for? There are no countdowns in real life," Present Mic shouts.
Izuku hears the rest of the students scrambling to enter the testing ground just as he comes upon his first robot. It's worth one point and is practically in his face. He yelps and then rolls to avoid being crushed. He should have gotten his phone out earlier. Instead, he reaches for his grapple gun and fires it at one of the robot's legs. It catches and he yanks hard enough to bring the robot crashing to the ground. These robots aren't exactly high quality. They can be taken out by a significantly motivated kid with a baseball bat, or a weighted practice sword.
That's one point. Izuku figures he needs at least fifty points to pass, judging by the distribution of past exam results. He exchanges his sword for his phone. Now he can put his plan into action.
The robots have rudimentary AI systems that were made to be hacked. It's one way someone with a non-combat Quirk can pass the exam, if they have the Quirk or the training for it. Izuku takes control of a two-point robot on a side street. To make sure that the invigilators know whose robot it is, he climbs onto its back and rides it into the fray.
Izuku's plan? Hack what he can and smash everything else.
There are a few detours to shield others from falling debris and one change of robot when a student with a laser canon in their stomach blasts his out from under him (they're apologetic when they realize Izuku was nearly hit), but Izuku has earned thirty-two points by the time they're five minutes from the exam ending. There are fewer robots now. He's searching for more like everyone else when the ground begins to shake. He turns until he can see what's causing the quake and...
Oh.
That's a big robot.
Plus Ultra?
Joining the crowd of people running away seems like a good idea, but then Izuku spots what looks like a person pinned by a chunk of concrete directly in the path of the zero-point robot. He directs his robot towards them, dodging another student with visibly broken legs who goes flying past on a floating concrete slab. Yup, that's definitely a person. It's the gravity girl.
Izuku jumps down from his robot. The concrete is pinning down both of the girl's legs. It looks too heavy for him to lift on his own, but he's got a large robot and adrenaline on his side.
"I'm going to free your legs," Izuku says. "Do you think you can move after that?"
The girl nods.
Izuku's robot lifts the concrete off the girl's legs. If it had a bit more dexterity he'd have it throw the concrete at the zero-pointer that's rapidly bearing down on them. Instead he sends the whole robot at the zero-pointer and helps the girl up. She yelps when her feet touch the ground.
"I don't think I can run," the girl says.
Izuku glances at the zero-pointer that's barely been delayed by the two-pointer he threw at it. "Is it okay if I carry you?"
"Yes," the girl says after a second.
Izuku scoops her up in his arms and runs.
Recovery Girl finds them after the exam is over. Izuku is still carrying the girl, Uraraka Ochako, because neither of them knows how badly her legs are hurt. Both of them are shaking.
"Every year we get broken bones," Recovery Girl grumbles. "Shiketsu doesn't have this problem."
Shiketsu's exam is a much less dangerous obstacle course. Izuku took it last week as a backup plan.
Recovery Girl's lips extend away from her face like her skin is made of elastic and she plants a kiss on Uraraka's forehead. The bruising on Uraraka's legs disappears.
"Thank you," Uraraka says. Izuku puts her down and she smiles at him. "Thanks for saving me."
"Have some gummies." Recovery Girl presses a packet of gummy candies into Uraraka's hand before turning to Izuku.
"I'm fine," Izuku says.
Recovery Girl scoffs. "I saw that swing you did. If you haven't dislocated your arm then you have torn something."
His arm does hurt a little.
Recovery Girl uses her Quirk on him and gives him his own packet of gummies before leaving. He and Uraraka look at each other.
"Want to trade phone numbers?" Uraraka asks.
"Uh, sure," Izuku says.
Jason doesn't let Izuku slack on training just because the U.A. exam is done. There're always more fighting techniques to learn, more investigative skills to practice, more Quirks to analyze. Jason and Donna have started teaching him de-escalation tactics. Jason asked him if he's ever wanted to see the Arctic and Izuku's still waiting to see what that's about.
The day the letter from U.A. arrives, Izuku has grapple gun drills to run at the warehouse that's a ten minute walk from home. He gets there in seven.
"Jason-san!" Izuku waves the envelope at Jason until his mentor puts down the grapple gun he's cleaning.
"Have you opened it yet?" Jason asks.
Izuku shakes his head. "I...ah...I wanted you to see it."
Jason's lips quirk into a smile. "Okay, let's see it."
Izuku rips open the envelope and a metal disk spills out onto the table next to Jason's grapple gun. It lights up and projects a hologram of a white-furred...What is that?
"Am I a dog? A mouse? A bear? Who knows?! The important thing is that I'm the principal and these are your entrance exam results!" The hologram of the pro hero Nezu (ohmygodsIknewhewastheprincipalbutIdidn'texpecthimtopresenttheresults) grins and a list of rankings appears on the wall behind him. "Midoriya Izuku, you passed the written exam with a grade of S! You are one of the highest scorers in the written exam! In the practical exam, you earned thirty-four villain points, which is not enough to pass!"
Izuku wilts.
Nezu's grin widens. "But we don't only have villain points! By helping your fellow examinees, you earned forty rescue points, leaving you with a total of seventy-four points! That is more than enough for you to enter U.A.'s hero course! Congratulations, Midoriya-san! This is your hero academia!"
The recording ends and Izuku bursts into tears. Jason sighs and pulls him into a hug.
"I made it," Izuku says, his voice muffled by Jason's shirt. "I really made it."
"You did," Jason says. "Top scores and everything. You did good, kid. Boston says so too."
Izuku keeps crying. They start training ten minutes late.