UO: *Checks notes* Been a while on this. What do we do?
NS: Time for the entrance exam.
"Speech"
Text
Thought
Telepathy
Super Form
Super Move
Chapter 6: Making the Grade
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. The school year slid by, as Izuku was able to easily keep up. He had been called to the future several times in that span, each time causing Toga no end of grief as he would disappear into thin air for hours. The fact that he could never tell her what he'd experienced chafed her, no matter how many times he apologized and tried to make it up to her, irked her to no end. But in the end, she had to settle for waiting for him to come home before his mother worried.
Himiko's blood cravings, while under control, were becoming stronger. Izuku disappearing constantly only added to her stress, with preparing for the entrance exam not helping matters. It had gotten to the point that Izuku decided to take a day off of training and help her destress, letting her drink some of his blood without complaint. Izuku had also brought this up to their Jeet Kune Do master, Nura-sensei. The old grandmaster had suggested taking a hobby as a creative outlet. Taking a cue from the old days of Samurai, he suggested doing artwork.
The blood user was hesitant to go down that route, but thanks to Izuku's encouragement, she started simple. One thing she noticed right away was that she used a lot of red, reminding her of the blood she craved. Seeing it on the actual canvas made her feel just a little more relaxed.
Now she kneeled on the side of the studio, watching as Izuku attempted to strike the old man in any way he could, clearly using his PSI. His arms and legs lashed out with blurring speed, so fast that Himiko had long since given up on trying to counter him. That didn't stop Nura-sensei from deftly smacking him, simultaneously deflecting his strikes and knocking him off-balance effortlessly.
Damn it, Izuku swore in his head. I've never had this much trouble fighting sensei before!
"There is something holding you back," Nura-sensei chastised him shrewdly, "Something in your mind. You've been through trials, but rather than face them, you helped your friend. While commendable, you neglect your own training and your own desires."
Izuku stood up. "I'm fine, sensei!"
"Are you? If you hesitate for a second out in the field, it could mean life or death, and not just for you. I might not be a Hero, but even I understand that! Don't hold back for my sake. Use what you have and come at me!"
Izuku grimaced. The only thing that he had yet to use was his Trance PSI. But the idea of peering directly into someone's mind and parsing through their thoughts…it would be an extreme violation of privacy, to say the least!
At the same time, he didn't have a lot of options at the moment, so he took a deep breath and simply…opened up his mind.
His awareness spilled out of his head, connecting easily to Nura-sensei's mental aura, and he became aware of his thoughts.
PSI surged through his limbs, and as he began to move, he could feel the old man's aura shift, corresponding to his own limbs, which were already in motion. The master could already see where he was going to strike, and already knew intuitively how to turn the attack aside and hit.
And because he knew, so too did Izuku, and he shifted his attack accordingly, ramping his Rise PSI up to its maximum power for a further burst of speed than Nura had anticipated. His fist slammed hard into the old man's jaw, and he fell back with a grunt of surprise, falling back in slow motion.
The boy gasped, releasing his power as his sensei hit the mat with a thud. "S-sensei! Are you alright?"
The older man said nothing for a moment, but then gave a laugh. "That's what you've been missing, Izuku-kun."
Izuku bit his lip. "But…I had to read your mind to do it."
"And? You're not gonna give some punk villain a half-assed beating just because you don't wanna invade their privacy, are you?" Nura shrugged. "When you're out there fighting as a Hero, things like that don't matter. The only thing that matters is the people you might save by playing a little dirty. So, adapt to whatever they throw at you, and sweep them up in your flow."
The boy curled his fingers. "That feels…kinda like a slippery slope," he admitted, "Like I could end up doing something terrible, using that line of thinking."
Toga spoke up, then. "Then I'll keep an eye on you, so that you don't," she told him, giving him one of her signature grins when he looked her way, "I mean, if you'd trust me to…"
"Yeah…yeah, of course I trust you, Himiko-chan."
She beamed happily.
TML
Stone cracked and crumbled as Izuku's fist smashed into it with a sharp Kiai. Nura watched with pride as his more advanced student finished the last block. He had watched for the last hour as the determined green-haired boy went through every test that he had offered him for this blue belt and was satisfied he completed all his goals.
Izuku grunted as he let his power fade from his hands. Using Rise to increase the toughness of his skin was an idea he got from the Quirk of one of the previous Drifters. It was more difficult than just increasing his strength or speed, and he couldn't just turn it on and off on a dime either. So part of his training since he came back from his last Call had been to use PSI to enhance his skin. After all, if he could protect his hands, he could theoretically use more strength, without relying on Support items.
"That's enough," said the old man finally, "Give me your belt, Izuku-kun."
Nodding, the boy unfastened the cloth belt and handed it over. Laying it out, Nura took out a bottle of dye and carefully dripped a few drops along its length. Color quickly spread across the surface, turning the green to blue.
"You are now half-way up the ladder that is our discipline, halfway to becoming a master of the art itself. Of course, I know that such mastery will not be a priority to you, but I ask that you continue to keep the lessons of Jeet Kune Do ingrained in your mind and body."
Izuku nodded as Master Nura tied the belt around him. He knew, with the eight months of training he had undergone both with his Psi power and his Jeet Kune Do, he had reached a point of parity with his former tormentors. But now, he had his eyes set on Yuuei's entrance exam, which was one month from now. If he remembered the lessons he knew he could pass them and hopefully earn his way to a black belt while attending the hero course.
"Your lessons will continue even during your hero training. But seeing as that course might be time consuming, do not fret if you can't attend as often as you like."
"I will find a way, Sensei," Izuku promised him, turning around and bowing to him. Nura returned the bow.
"Congrats, Izu-kun!" cheered Toga, hopping to her feet as her friend made to exit.
"You keep up your training as well, Himiko-kun!" Nura called after them.
"So now what?" Izuku asked.
"Now, ice cream!" she said cheerily, "I'd say we've earned a break for today, yeah?"
Izuku smiled and took Himiko's hand. "Yeah…I guess we have."
She grinned widely, squeezing him in return. Over the past few months, Toga had been particularly aggressive, taking any and all opportunities to get as physically close as possible. He of course found it immensely distracting, making him blush from such close proximity to a cute girl. However, slowly, helped by several months of sparring, he'd started to grow used to it. When he wasn't turning into a blushing mess every time Himiko snuggled up against him, he found that he rather enjoyed it.
When asked why she kept getting so close, she only shrugged and said, "It feels nice to be close." The movements of her aura would slow, the colors growing clearer when she leaned on him, or held his hand; in addition, as time went on, those colors began to change. The rust began falling away in favor of crimson, the harsh edges smoothing out, and new colors began interlacing Himiko's mind. Not wanting to invade her privacy too much, Izuku refrained from investigating them too much, but he marveled at how different she looked to his senses.
That bloodthirsty wildness was still there, and likely always would be, in some fashion, but Himiko really was changing.
Izuku smiled as he remembered the Call, and the Hero that he had seen her become.
"Whatcha smiling at?" she asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"Just thinking. About life, the exams and the type of heroes we'll become."
She laughed. "I don't even know why I asked. What kinda Hero do you imagine being?"
He shrugged. "My powers would let me do just about any Hero work that I'd need to do. Trance is great for Search and Rescue, Burst and Rise are good for Villain-fighting…"
"Uh huh. And what about me?"
"Hm…" Izuku put his free hand to his chin in thought. "Well, your Quirk would be pretty good at letting you infiltrate a Villain's base. All you'd need to do is learn how to act like whoever you're impersonating and you'd be pretty much undetectable."
"Mmm," she hummed, "So I guess I'd be one of those…what do you call 'em, Underground Heroes, right?"
"Yeah. They don't get a lot of attention or recognition, but their job is just as meaningful as other Heroes," he assured her quickly.
Himiko shrugged, not all that concerned. "Right. Hey, can Underground Heroes work with other ones?"
"Of course! Any Hero can team up with others as the situation calls for it."
She grinned sunnily, squeezing his hand and leaning into him. "Fine by me, then! As long as we can work together!"
Izuku smiled ruefully. Walked into that one, I guess. "I'd like that."
TML
The next day, they returned to Dagoba Beach. By this point, the mountains of trash were all but completely gone, with a few major pieces of defunct junk still left. It still provided enough material, especially the washers and cars, for a parkour or free run experience. They figured that if they were to fight they would have to get used to terrain differences; with Izuku's telekinesis, it would be easy to pick them up and dispose of them once they were done. At a given signal they began to vault over the scattered material while running across the sand. Izuku, having longer legs, was able to out step her, but the soft sand, which hadn't been disturbed in who knows how long, was making it harder to step through. He found himself activating Rise to keep himself going three times earlier than he usually would have, speeding along.
I wonder how the other new Drifters are holding up, Izuku thought to himself, Sero-kun and Shouji-kun said that they've gotten used to their new abilities. I'm interested to see what they Sensei should be around, maybe she can help to. Matsuda seems like he'd be a decent teacher for Sero..."
"Ei!" Toga said in his ear, making him jump and stumble, running headlong into a dishwasher.
"Son of a…who leaves a dishwasher on a freaking beach!?" He rubbed his face and bent backwards to see Himiko sitting on a car hood. The car was not attached. "Himiko, where did you pop up from?"
"You seemed so lost in thought, I thought I could sneak up on you!" she chirped, grinning shamelessly at him
He deadpanned at her, even as he privately thought that her carefree smile was charming, fighting down a blush. Even with my PSI abilities, I should be able to pick up on her. The only way that she could do this is if she was somehow suppressing her own mind…
"Hey, Himiko-chan," he began, "What did you do, so that you could sneak up on me?" When she smirked, he insisted, "Seriously! Even if I wasn't looking, I can usually tell where you are thanks to your aura."
Himiko shrugged. "Yeah, I know that. So I figured, what if I thought as little as possible and just…moved?"
Izuku frowned thoughtfully at her, offhandedly activating his Trance PSI. Even months later, it gave the boy a tiny thrill to be able use his extraordinary abilities as easily as breathing. However, as he gazed at his friend, her aura looked much the same as always. "Hm…could you try doing it again?"
She shrugged, but her expression slackened slightly, her tawny eyes suddenly becoming razor-focused, her slitted pupils fixing on him in such a way that a shiver ran up his spine. More importantly, however, as he watched, the swirling colors of her aura stilled, before shrinking, drawing themselves into her body until it became only a thin outline.
"Whoa…" he murmured, blinking. While he was looking right at her, he could of course still sense her. However, if he were to look away for even a moment, her suppressed aura would instantly blend in with her surroundings, making her effectively invisible to his senses. "That's…that's amazing, Himiko-chan!"
The blonde girl blinked, her aura spiking with gold and pink for a moment, before returning to normal, but she smiled again, blushing slightly. "Hehehe, isn't it? I figured if I could hide from you, then there's no way I'd get caught by any lame villains!"
"It's a really impressive skill!" he praised her, making her preen happily. "You can be a ninja and get blood from anyone."
"Y-Yeah…" Himiko bit her lip. "But I can't let that be the only thing it's good for." She rubbed her hands together nervously. "I mean…I don't wanna get too into it and get complaints or whatever…"
"Rescues, sneaking into a hideout, there's a lot you can do with this," he assured her.
"OIIIIIIII~! MIDORIYA!"
The two of them blinked and looked around, to see a black haired young boy running towards them, waving.
"Kirishima-kun?" Izuku wondered aloud.
"Eh? You know this guy?" asked Himiko, surprised.
"Midoriya!" the boy skidded to a halt in the sand, "I remembered you mentioning that you were training out here, and wanted to join in!" Then he paused, looking at Toga. "Eh? Aren't you…?"
Izuku quickly spoke up, trying to head off the black-haired boy's question. "Oh! Erm, Kirishima-kun, this is Toga Himiko, my friend. Himiko-chan, this is Kirishima Eijiro; we met a few months ago when I was…unavailable."
Indeed, when Izuku was Called to the future many months ago, he found that a great many people had been collected, far moreso than before. Among them had been Kirishima, whom Izuku had had to convince to not give up on his dreams of becoming a Hero.
"If a Quirkless boy like me can dream of it, then so can you!"
He quickly reached out and connected telepathically to Kirishima. "She doesn't know about the future! We can't say anything, no matter how much we try."
Kirishima flinched at the sudden connection, but nodded uncertainly, giving a shaky smile of his own. "Y-yeah, Midoriya helped me out when I was feeling down and, uh…kinda unsure about myself."
"Hmm…" The blonde's eyes narrowed to slits as she looked between the two of them. "Alright then. So, are you looking to go to Yuuei too, Eijiro-kun?"
"Heck yeah! I'm gonna be like Crimson Riot!" proclaimed the boy.
Toga cocked her head. "Eh, who?"
Kirishima deflated. "Ah, I guess he's still pretty oldschool…"
"I know him!" Izuku offered, "The Chivalrous Hero, who had a Hair-Hardening Quirk and always did his best to save others without fail!"
"Yeah! The manliest of men!" agreed the other boy, pumping his arms, "Not that All Might isn't great too, but Crimson is the guy that I wanna be like!" He held out his arm, which bulged for a moment, his skin suddenly gaining a faint rock-like texture. "I've been practicing with my Hardening, and I figured, why not get in some manly sparring? And I remembered that you said that you were hauling trash at the beach, and figured it would also be manly to help out!"
"Okay, so, where should we start?" Izuku wondered. "I mean we already cleaned up part of it."
Kirishima shrugged. "I mean, let's go with some of this heavier stuff, then."
Both boys walked over to the dishwasher that Izuku had made friends with and strapped themselves to it while Himiko watched. "You know you could just use your telekinesis to carry that, Izu-kun!" she called out, leaning her chin on her hands
"I could, but this is in case I can't use that; it's my toughest ability to use for long periods, after all. Plus, I want to talk to Kirishima-kun."
"S-sure…thing!" grunted the other boy. The two boys grunted as they pulled on the machine. It was hard because the machine had sunk into the softer sand, but, with a quick application of Rise let Izuku lift up the side, giving them the leverage needed to start dragging it.
"So, how have you been since we came back from the future?" Izuku asked as they pulled the machine.
The other boy remained silent for a few moments, frowning, even as he sweated with effort. "To be honest…I've been trying not to think about it that much. I mean...I went to the future, saw that everything was in ruins, and we can't even talk about it? That's messed up!"
"It might be for the best. I've been to the future three times at this point, and each time it's changed pretty significantly." Izuku thought about Himiko, "I think we just need to…do our best. That future exists because we weren't part of it, so we have to become people that can make big changes."
Kirishima laughed. "Man, way to make it sound easy!" He fell silent, grunting as they continued dragging the washing across the sand. "But y'know, I can't help but feel like I wouldn't make much of a difference as I am," he admitted, "Sure, my Quirk is stronger now, but I haven't really gotten anything new out of it like the other guys. I mean, I don't think so anyway. But…I'm too simple. Even besides saving the future, do you really think that I could stand out as a Hero, Midoriya? That I could make a difference?"
Izuku listened to him as he spoke, quickly realizing that Kirishima was divulging some feelings that he'd been stewing in for a while. I should respond as sincerely as I can. "Yeah," he told him, nodding sharply, "I think you can. Your Hardening has gotten stronger, you said?"
"Yeah, I've been practicing. Before, I could only make myself a little tougher, but now I can take hits from a metal pole and not feel a thing."
That made him stare at the dark-haired boy in some concern. Is…is that okay? "W-Well, if you've managed to toughen up that much already, imagine how much harder you'll be able to become while training at Yuuei!" he pointed out, "I mean, I can make myself a little tougher with my PSI, but I bet you could…I dunno, withstand a bomb or something! Imagine shielding innocent civilians from a villain with hugely powerful attacks, without falling! What could be more heroic than that?"
"That sounds scary as hell," Kirishima commented, wincing, before his eyes narrowed, "But if Crimson can stand tall and face the odds, then so can I!"
"OH!" Izuku brightened, "Like in that interview he did where he talked about his bravery!"
Kirishima stared at him, astonished. "Eh? You know about that interview? I only saw it recently, in my old fan-merch set."
"R-Really?! That must be…the Crimson Riot Commemorative Collection!" gushed Izuku, his eyes sparkling delightedly, "You're so lucky! I had to look up that interview on YoTube, and the quality was really bad…but him talking about how his fears of failure moved him to overcome his other fears was really moving!"
"Yeah!" agreed the other boy, grinning widely, "It really got me off my ass! Wow, I didn't think you actually knew about that interview…" Then he glanced over at Toga, who was sitting on the wall at the entrance to the beach, watching something on her phone. "Hey, by the way…that girl, Toga-san…doesn't she look like that Hero we saw in the future?"
Izuku's smile widened as he threw a look in her direction as well. "Yeah, she's the same person." His smile dimmed. "Don't spread this around, but…on my second Call, I learned that she was going to join the League of Villains. This was also just after I'd made friends with her."
"S-seriously?! She joins up with those guys?" asked Kirishima, stunned.
"It's…it's complicated," he replied, not wanting to get into her blood obsession, "She just has some…some difficulties. She's kinda like you, actually," he added, drawing the boy's bewildered gaze, "She thought that she wasn't cut out to be a Hero. But I decided to help her out, in any way that I could, until she believed me when I said that she could be one." He threw another grin her way, just in time for her to glance up at him. She gave one of her gleeful, fang-flashing smiles back at him and waved, making his heart flutter. "But you know…this whole thing about not being able to talk about the future really sucks. I can't even tell her that I'm so…proud of her, you know?"
Finally, the two of them reached the parking lot, where they heaved the washing machine up and over the barrier, setting it down in the parking lot to be picked up and disposed of.
Kirishima laid a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Midoriya…"
"E-Eh? What is it?"
He gave a shark-toothed grin. "You really are a manly guy!"
Izuku blushed deeply, looking away. "Eh, ah, w-well…"
"Hey!" called out Himiko, sauntering over, "No making Izu-kun blush! That's my job!" She gave him a smirk, admiring the way his blood made his skin flush.
"Toga-san!" proclaimed Kirishima, putting his hands on her shoulders next, "You're super manly too!"
She blinked at him, nonplussed. "Okay. I'm a girl, though."
"Girls are just as manly as men!"
Himiko stared at him for a moment, then gave a giggle. "Pfft, you're such a weirdo, Kiri-kun!"
"W-Weirdo?" he stammered, "What's weird about telling you that you're cool?"
"E-Eh?! Are you hitting on me?! Izu-kun, what do I do?!"
"I'm not hitting on you!"
Izuku laughed to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. I'm glad that they're getting along. It would've been uncomfortable if they hated each other even though they're both my friends.
"It's not like I'd butt in on another man's romance!"
He choked on his spit, abruptly snapped out of his thoughts. "W-Wait, what?!"
Himiko's golden eyes bulged, and at some point in between Izuku looking back and forth between her and Kirishima, she vanished in a blur.
When Izuku found her, crouched behind the washing machine, she refused to look him in the eye and her ears were bright red.
TML
Time passed, fortunately in the normal fashion, as opposed to time travel. The last month had been productive for the trio, as they made their final preparations for the Yuuei Entrance Exam. In between helping Kirishima train his Quirk by whaling on him like a sandbag. The experience also helped Izuku with his Rise, using it to toughen the skin on his fists so that he could punch Kirishima's craggy flesh without suffering awful amounts of pain.
Not that he didn't anyway, early on.
Toga, meanwhile, had somehow acquired a pair of knives, incorporating them into her acrobatics and Jeet Kune Do. She had quickly assured the two boys that the weapons were dull and couldn't draw blood, though her pout as she admitted that last part made Kirishima sweat nervously.
Of course, just practicing their physical capabilities was half the problem. Izuku also hosted study sessions, even inviting Shouji and Sero. The other members of the Drifters declined, stating that they were a little too busy to make the trip over Dagobah, presumably getting ready for the entrance exam in their own ways.
Inko was positively ecstatic that her son had made some new friends after so long, even a female friend like Himiko. For the longest time, she felt that Izuku was alone, feeling like even she supported him enough thanks to her overwhelming guilt about his former status. When she confronted Izuku about it and apologized, it was a wonder the whole building didn't get flooded with tears.
Two weeks into the final training, they finally cleared the last of the trash on Dagobah. Kirishima and Izuku let out, in the excited boys' mind, a manly scream of triumph, throwing their fists in the air.
Toga, who had done a lot less of the carrying, but was equally glad it was finished, only chose to give the two boys a deadpan stare until they stopped. Kirishima didn't notice, while Izuku did, and desisted with a flush of slight embarrassment.
"It feels great, seeing the whole beach clean," said the green-haired boy, gazing out over the cleared sand.
"Yeah...I only came in at the end, but that was seriously a lotta stuff," agreed Kirishima.
Toga groaned. "You shoulda seen what it was like at the beginning! It was like a mountain of junk with the ocean behind it."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing as he remembered said mountain. "Well, at least I got a lot of practice with my Burst out of it…"
Indeed, while his endurance was still at its weakest when using his PSI on the world around him, the Psychic had gradually learned how to get more and more out of his power without burning himself out too quickly. In addition to improving his ability to use Telekinesis, he had learned to use his Burst to affect the world in other ways. It was still pretty difficult, but Dr. Satori had reassured him that that was normal.
"It's just that your PSI focuses naturally more towards Trance," she told him, "Like how mine is better for Rise and Matsuda specializes in Burst. You can use it, of course, but it's always gonna be more difficult to learn than something that comes naturally to you. It's like any skill, so there's nothing really stopping you from learning or even mastering it. And if you master it even to Matsuda's level…"
Matsuda sent an impression of a shiver over the telepathic 'call.' "A Hero that knows what they're doing, that can do what I can…I'd probably just turn myself in if I were a villain!"
"The point, Izuku, is if you're going to learn all of the major aspects, it's best to focus on your primary PSI affinity before you expand your horizons. Especially with UA's entrance exam just around the corner."
Izuku sighed, remembering his fellow Psychics' words. I don't really know what else I could train in with Trance. It's the same problem as Burst, but messing with people's minds would get me in serious trouble…maybe once I'm at Yuuei, I can ask for help in developing that.
"So, the entrance exam is in two days," said Toga, stretching out in a way that almost reminded a cat and making him blush when her shirt rode up to expose her smooth, creamy belly, "What's the plan for until then, Izu-kun?"
"Sleep, relax, food," Izuku groaned, "Nura-sensei always says that taking the time to rest is just as important as the training.
"Speaking my language, bro. My coach said the same thing," Kirishima laughed. He ran a hand through his straight black hair, frowning. "You know, for all this training, if I get into the school, I was thinking of making some kinda change…even if my Quirk is good for Heroics, I'm still pretty plain-looking."
"Yeah, totally," agreed Himiko blithely, "Maybe do something about that hair."
He pointed at her emphatically. "That's exactly what I was thinking!"
"I was joking!"
"That's okay, it's still a good idea!"
Izuku shook his head, but smiled. "Yeah, it's a real manly idea, Kirishima-kun."
"Don't encourage him, Izu-kun."
He laughed.
TML
And then, at last, the day arrived.
After a short train ride, Izuku stared up at the gates that led to a future in heroics. All around him were dozens of other students, wearifferent school uniforms or something for exercising. His stomach churned with excitement and nerves, and he couldn't help but grin. Finally, after years of dreaming and months of training, he was one step away from applying at his dream school: Yuuei High School!
"Move it!"
He tensed up as a familiar voice called out to him from behind, and he whipped around to see Bakugou Katsuki stomping towards him. Miraculously, over the past year, Bakugou had kept silent, occasionally hurling suspicious, venomous looks at Izuku. There was no doubt in the boy's mind that Bakugou had long since figured out that he'd done SOMETHING to make him leave that one time, but thanks to his Telepathy and Aura Reading, Izuku had always managed to avoid getting ambushed by him after classes. It was easy to tell when the other boy wanted to try something, after all.
One of Bakugou's eyes twitched and his lip curled in a snarl, but he marched past Izuku without a word.
"Jerk," he muttered to himself. Then, looking around, he spotted a familiar face. "Ah, Himiko-chan!" he called, waving to her and jogging over.
The girl stood a little further back, gazing at the gateway like he had. Unlike him, however, she looked pale and drawn, and was almost shaking. However, she brightened up slightly when she saw him. "H-Heya, Izu-kun!" she greeted him, hands gripping the straps of her backpack, "So it's, um…it's finally time, I guess." She tried to grin, but somehow only managed to look nauseous.
Of course, being the perceptive boy that he was, he knew that something was wrong. "Hey." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
She glanced at his hand distractedly, almost as if she didn't immediately notice this. "...I don't think so," she murmured almost guiltily, her tawny gold eyes turning back towards the school gate.
Izuku glanced around, before whispering to her, "Do you want some blood?" he offered, reaching out to pull back his sleeve.
Himiko stilled, eyes widening and flicking to his wrist. Her mouth opened, momentarily exposing her fangs, but then she licked her lips and flinched. "I…I do," she admitted, a quaver in her voice, "But d-don't give it to me…"
"Then…?"
"C-Can you just…" she took a deep breath, as if she was trying to keep down her nerves-induced nausea, before saying in a tiny, vulnerable voice, "I need you to tell me that I can do this."
He blinked, but then smiled widely at her, simultaneously relieved that he only needed to do something so simple, but also that she had actively refused his blood, something that she definitely enjoyed. "You can do this, Himiko," he told her, squeezing her shoulder, "We've been training for this, and you've come a long way. So, let's get in there and do our best!"
"Yeah!"
Both of them jumped as a new female voice spoke up, and looked around to see a brown-haired girl wearing a winter coat, grinning at the two of them. Her face was round, with a wide, carefree smile, and her cheeks had a pair of permanently pink spots. Izuku blushed as he realized that this new girl had overheard him, while Himiko merely squinted at her shrewdly.
"O-Oh, sorry, was that a private thing?" asked the girl, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous smile, "I was just thinking that I wanted to say that, so I was kinda relieved to hear someone else saying it too…" She gave Himiko a smile and held out her hand. Izuku noticed that her fingertips each bore a strange, pink pad, almost like a cat or dog's toes. "I guess it won't mean much, coming from a stranger, but I think you can do it too! Whoever you are!"
Himiko let out a shaky huff of laughter, even as she reached out to gingerly shake the girl's hand, the latter keeping her pinky extended. "Y-Yeah, uh…good luck to you too, I guess."
The brunette beamed at the two of them, and ran off. "Seeya round!"
"Well, she was…nice?" mumbled the blonde, seemingly at a loss, "Are all people who want to be heroes so friendly, Izuku?"
Izuku didn't answer, frowning as he gazed after the retreating girl. There was something about her that struck him as familiar…and then it clicked. "Holy crap!"
"Eh?"
"Er, ah, n-nothing, I just remembered something!" he replied, shaking himself, even as he recalled the heroine who had once saved him and told him the words that he'd most wanted to hear in his life.
Or rather, the one who would save him? But maybe not anymore, since that timeline technically didn't exist now…?
Nevermind…sorry, Uravity-san!
TML
Despite his nervousness, Izuku thought he did well in the written exam, but the three hour test was exhausting. After a quick water and lunch break, the students were led into a huge auditorium. Izuku and Himiko were fortunate to be next to each other, unfortunately Katsuki was in the same row.
As the last of the students came in, the lights went down and smoke billowed out from behind the podium. A figure rose up behind posing with his finger pointed at the crowd "POTENTIAL! YUEIIIIIII! STUDEEEENTS! WHAT IS UP, MY LISTENERRS!" The man spun around and Izuku couldn't hold back an excited smile, though he did manage to stifle a fanboy squee. The famous radio host and Voice Hero: Present Mic, dressed in a rock and roll leather outfit and glasses, with his hair spiked up into a towering crest, was going to brief them, and the Psychic immediately wished he had his notebook for the man to sign.
"IT'S PRESENT MIC IN THE HOUSE, WITH ALL THE LOWDOWN FOR YOUR PRACTICAL EXAM!" He yelled out, his Quirk allowing his voice to reach all throughout the hall without a microphone, striding out into the middle of the stage. "What we've got planned for you is simple! You're gonna be doing a mock battle simulation in one of our various mock-city battle grounds!" Flourishing a remote, he clicked a button to bring up a screen, with three different robots. "Before you entered, you were all given cards to tell you which site you're gonna be fighting at! The objective is simple! You've got ten minutes to bash these little baddies and protect the city! Each robot here can be worth up to 3 points; which robot is worth which will be marked, and they'll have their own designs! They're packing some heat, but don'tchu worry, you'll all be going home alive today! Any questions?"
Izuku and Toga each glanced at their own cards. Sure enough, Izuku had been assigned to Site A, while Toga was in Site E. The girl pouted at being separated from her friend, but at his apologetic shrug, she only sighed and resigned herself to it.
A tall blue haired student stood up. "Excuse me! But according to the pamphlet you gave us there are four types of robots!
"SURE ARE!" boomed the Voice Hero, making all the examinees wince; they had woken up fairly early to take this exam, after all, "But I know what you're thinking, Number 7111! But those three fake villains up here are the only ones you need to focus on for points! The fourth one? Well, just think of it as a little obstacle to throw ya off-rhythm, ya dig? Sure, you COULD destroy it if you try hard enough, but you won't get anything except bragging rights. Aw, who'm I kidding, bragging rights are the best reward, AM I RIGHT, KIDS?!"
Not a single soul answered him.
"Yeah, you know I'm right. ANYWAY! ENOUGH FROM ME! LETS GO TO THE FIELD BOYS AND GIRLS! GOOOOD LUCK SUFFERING! MIC OUT!"
Begrudgingly, the entire auditorium filed out into a parking lot, where a series of buses would take them to their designated testing sites.
As Izuku stepped out onto the road, he gazed at the gates to the testing ground. As expected from a school of Yuuei's caliber and resources, the gate and walls were massive.
"Excuse me. I know Yuuei's facilities are amazing to look at, but can we move along? Not everyone is off the bus," a familiar voice from before said. Izuku turned and saw the blue haired boy from before. Now that he could see him clearly, he saw that he was quite tall, and wore a pair of rectangular-framed glasses.
"Sorry, it's been my dream for a long time, I'm just taking it in."
The boy nodded stiffly, pushing up his glasses. "I suppose that's understandable. However, try not to be overcome when there are people waiting behind you."
"R-Right!" Quickly, he hopped off the bus, heading for a small building setup nearby in order to change out of his school uniform and into a tracksuit, several other boys joining him.
Once everyone had changed and gathered in front of the gates, Izuku took a look around, spotting the bespectacled boy again. As it turned out, he was quite toned and muscular, more than prepared for whatever might await them. He also, with a start, noticed the brown-haired girl. Ah! It's Uravity-san. But, that's probably not her name. Maybe I should ask her what to call her…
As he gazed at her, he activated his Aura View power, and was immediately surrounded by the stars. He had to stifle a laugh when he saw that the boy from earlier had an aura that was so stiff and straightforward that it was practically square. Nevertheless, it was fitting; the guy already practically radiated seriousness even without Izuku's power-assisted sight.
The girl's aura, meanwhile, drifted and swirled weightlessly around her. Remembering how she had seemingly manipulated gravity in the future, Izuku had to wonder whether a person's Quirk was tied to their mental structure. It wouldn't surprise him, considering Himiko's blood fixation.
Dismissing his Aura View, he shook himself, loosening up his muscles, even as he began to focus, getting ready to power up his Rise at a moment's notice.
"AND START!" Present Mic suddenly bellowed from the top of a solitary pillar in the distance. Thanks to his Quirk, he had no need for a megaphone, though he carried one anyway.
Everyone turned to look at him in confusion.
"C'MON, GO! GO! WHAT, YOU THOUGHT THERE'D BE A COUNTDOWN OR SOMETHING?! NOPE! JUST DO IT!"
Not needing any further prompting, Izuku drove his PSI down his limbs, causing a circuit-like green pattern to light up along his arms, and dashed forward. He blazed through the gate, keeping pace with those other Hero hopefuls who'd had the same idea. They flooded into the fake city and dispersed, on the hunt for robots.
After a few moments, Izuku dialed down the intensity of his power; it wouldn't do to tire himself out before time was up. Instead, he channeled a tiny amount of energy to his eyes and ears, boosting his senses to beyond crystal clear in order to spot any targets. Ordinarily, he would have just used Trance to detect them, but he doubted that he'd be able to sense minds from machines…
He stopped, frowning. Wait…what if I could? The others always said that everything that can be done from PSI is based on imagination, so…why not?
He closed his eyes, and instead of focusing on people, he focused on the air above, while letting the PSI hum around his brain. Everything in modern society gave off a certain electrical signals, not too dissimilar from the auras he used to read people. From phones, to computers to even robotics, everything had a unique signal and frequency, and if he could use PSI to see a person's emotional state- something that had no detectable form -then what was stopping him from exploiting the electromagnetic spectrum? As he concentrated, he found a concentrated signal coming from a far off tower. So that's where UA is controlling these things from.
With a mental flex, he 'pinged' the tower with his power, and allowed his mind to ride down the signal, spreading all over the testing site.
When he opened his eyes, his vision lit up with received signals, showing him dozens of various-sized robots wheeling about the streets. Although, that number was already starting to drop slowly.
He took off, running through alleyways towards the nearest bot and curling his fingers. This time, he pushed the PSI out of his body, forcing it to coalesce in his palm. Slowly, the air began to glow, a tiny sphere of light forming in his hand as he ran.
He emerged onto an empty street, just as a big, bulky robot came wheeling out across from him. Its boxy head turned to look at him, and Izuku felt its processors register his presence, before triggering to ready its missile launchers. "Lone target detect-"
With a shout, Izuku threw out his hand, and launched the ball of psychic energy. It blasted forth, a nimbus of flame-like power flaring around it as it shot across the way and collided with the robot. When it struck, it burst with a rippling of jade light, tearing metal into pieces and demolishing the fake villain.
"Three points!" he said to himself, before running again. With the exertion of his Burst, he made sure to drop his Rise a little, just to maintain his stamina; he could still work for ten minutes easily.
He sped along, keeping on the lookout and changing course whenever he felt another robot stop receiving.
Leaping out into a new street, he briefly noticed in his periphery that there were a bunch of students already in battle. However, there were more than enough robots for everyone, swinging their large, shielded arms and shooting rubber bullets around. Hardening his fingers, Izuku closed the distance to a 1-pointer and thrust out his hand, spearing through its thin metal casing and the circuitry inside. Yanking free, he jumped to another 1-pointer and smashed through its chest, before somersaulting towards a 2-pointer, which had just noticed him. He tensed his body like a spring, before kicking upwards with both feet, knocking the robot's head off. "That's seven…!"
As he landed back on his feet, looking for another target, he noticed an empty, human-shaped Aura. An invisible person? Even as he pondered this, he noticed a 2-pointer wheeling down the road towards the fray. It seemed that the person hadn't noticed, and was in danger of getting run over by it. Without time to shout out, he quickly sent a telepathic message towards them, of an image from his point of view.
"E-Eh?!" He heard a female voice cry out in shock, before the invisible person (apparently a girl) quickly stepped around the robot, hopped up onto its back and did something, causing it to roll to a stop.
He smiled and waved towards her, getting her attention. "Sorry! I thought it might knock you over!" he sent to her mentally.
"Um…thanks!" she called back.
Izuku nodded, before spotting another robot and dashing towards it with a burst of speed and ramming another ball of PSI into its chest, blasting it into pieces.
MTL
A thrown rock drew a robot's motion sensors, making its head turn to follow it.
"Hup!"
Himiko lightly hopped up behind the fake villain, balancing on one hand before slapping the off-switch on its back with the other. It had been pretty easy to get these robots to fall for some of the oldest tricks in the book, but then, they had been programmed to be simple.
She weaved through them with hardly a thought, jabbing her dulled knife through the sides of their boxy heads and turning them off with a display of acrobatics. My Quirk isn't much use against these, she considered, pivoting around a 3-pointer that was aiming at a pink-haired girl and drawing its attention for a moment, Not that I'd want to use it.
"New target acqui-"
She flipped over its body and turned it off, rolling down off the other side. But y'know, this isn't so bad. I can't tell if my stealth works all that well on robots, but it's letting me get by. She frowned for a moment. Wait, should I have been counting how many I've taken out, or how many points I got? Himiko gazed around at all the downed robots littering the street, not all of which had been disabled by her.
"Don't worry, Himiko!" said a mental image of Izuku in her mind, giving her one of his warm smiles, "They're probably recording how many you're taking out and will tell you afterward!"
"Ehehe~" she giggled, giving a happy grin of her own as her heart fluttered, "Of course, he's right. I'll just keep doing what comes naturally!"
The fanged blonde skipped along, casually evading the lines of sight of more robots. Despite her cheery smile, her narrow eyes coldly picked out which ones looked like the most trouble, or isolated from the others.
Pouncing on a 1-pointer that was straying behind its group, she hit its Off button, allowing her to sneak up behind the ones ahead, her steps light. She hopped over dried puddles of what she hoped was glue and found a large kid with a yellow helmet. Oh, wait, that's his head. Yikes. Looking around, she saw three two pointers approaching him and a girl standing behind him. It didn't look like they had Quirks to take down these bots.
"You should help them!" her mental Izuku told her.
"Oh…I guess so," she mumbled, shrugging, "Sorry, Izu-kun. Thanks for reminding me." As she skipped forward and threw herself into the throng of robots, she thought to herself, A normal person would've thought of that right away, wouldn't they?
"They really will let anyone apply these days!"
Himiko gritted her teeth at the suddenly intruding memory, even as she wove between faux villains and began hitting switches, drawing the attention of the rest.
"Of course you can be a hero, Toga-san!"
That's right…it doesn't matter what you think! she thought, If he thinks that I can be a hero, then I can!
"Hey! You alright?"
Blinking, the girl looked over to see the two other examinees gazing at her. With a start, Himiko realized that she'd got their attention and distracted the robots. As they did so, with the attention off them, the two of them acted quickly. The strange, bucket-headed boy sprayed some sort of white substance from his…eyeholes? Whatever it was, it stuck to the robots wheels and treads and quickly ground them to a halt.
The girl, whose eyes were covered by the long bangs of her wide, fluffy bob cut, put her hands together and tossed out some sort of dust. Suddenly, mushrooms began popping up all around the robots. Within moments, the faux villains were completely coated in fungus, their inner workings completely gummed up, before toppling over.
"Um...what just happened?" Himiko asked.
"Oh...that was my Quirk, Mushroom. I was having truffle making them grow, since it's so dry out today," explained the brown-haired girl, seamlessly slipping in a mushroom pun, "Winter, gotta love it." She nodded to the big student. "Thanks for the set up-shroom."
"Oh thank you…" murmured the large boy quietly.
"Kinoko Komori."
"I'm Bondo Kojiro. I can spit out glue from my head. I think if we use all three of our Quirks to rack up points, we can all pass."
"Team up?" Himiko asked slowly, blinking and befuddled. She'd never really considered fighting alongside others, besides Izuku of course, and maybe Kirishima. "...Well, I mean, if you're sure you want me…I'm Toga. Toga Himiko"
Their brief introductions were halted as more robots appeared. The three looked at each other, nodded and lept back into the fray.
Hey, Izuku…am I doing well? Is this something a good person does?
TML
"COME OOOOOON!" roared Kirishima, charging straight towards a pair of 2-pointers and a 1-pointer. As they turned to track him, he activated his Quirk, transforming his skin into a rock-like texture. Pounding his fists together, he jabbed forward the moment he was within range, denting metal with a loud, satisfying *BANG!* When the robot swung one of its wide arms at him, he put up a block, barely even flinching when the blow smacked heavily into his arm. Then he reeled back, putting a swivel into his hip and shoulder, to deliver as powerful a right straight as he could.
His Hardened fist smashed through the faux villain's chest, before he yanked his arm free and quickly retreated, light on the balls of his feet. As the villains opened fire, pelting him with rubber bullets, he put his head down and charged, dashing into one of the 2-pointers' melee range. pair of short hooks smashed into the robot's torso, denting it savagely, before a downward punch to its wheels toppled it over.
When Izuku had told him that he'd taken up Jeet Kune do as a compliment to his power, Eijiro had figured that it would be manly to take up a fighting style himself. With the natural sturdiness afforded him thanks to his Quirk and its simple nature, it made sense to try something equally simple, something that would let him take advantage of his hardness and bulldoze through villains.
He had then discovered Boxing.
Of course, the art was still more complicated than he'd expected, but that had only gotten him more stoked to try learning it. Of course, his Quirk let him take punishment better than any Boxer (which meant that he'd never be able to become a professional, not that he wanted to), allowing him to focus entirely on offense.
Even as he focused on increasing his offensive options, his Quirk was still there to provide him with the wall that he needed to be a hero. Especially after what happened after being sent to the future.
So engrossed was he in punching the 2-pointers into submission that he didn't notice the 3-pointer wheeling up behind him. He saw it and quickly expanded his Hardening around his back, though it was thinner to prevent a loss of flexibility. The metal fist came down across his back, cracking the thinner armor. Kirishima hissed in pain: despite the low settings for the robots, getting punched still hurt. It was a miracle that he wasn't bleeding. But instead of panicking, he grinned sharply as he felt his Quirk react. "Alright then, if that's how you wanna play, then I'll make you pay for it!"
Red sparks suddenly flashed from his cracked armor and shot back at the robot, ripping through its armor and causing it to twitch erratically, before powering down.
Kirishima winced at the pain in his back and relaxed his Quirk. "Oof…even if it gives me more offense, even with Awakening I'm still gonna take a beating, huh?" Then he shrugged. "Eh, but who wants a man that complains about everything. Time for more!"
TML
Far from the testing grounds, the future teachers of the applicants watched the exam take place. On screen was Kirishima after he had unleashed his back attack and it surprised them.
"Oh, so he can respond even if taken by surprise," commented a man with a deep, warbling voice, "That's good. Not to mention he keeps drawing the robots away from the other examinees."
"Speaking of other examinees, looks like we're getting a lot of good ones this year!" said a woman gleefully, "They're all so proactive and vigorous~"
"Though some I wonder how they will fare teaming up," a tired voice commented watching Katsuki on one screen blowing through the robots left and right. On another, Himiko, Bondo and Kinoko were using their quirks to stall the robots and taking turns on who would get the final blow.
"But the true test is yet to come," a slightly high pitched voice gleefully spoke.
"Yes." A boisterous All Might grinned as he reached down to flip open a panel, revealing a Big Red Button. "But of course, the greatest test of heroics is, what to do when an unexpectedly disastrous threat rears its head!"
He pressed the button.
TML
A blazing star of green light erupted among a group of robots, blasting them into pieces.
"Thirty four!" Izuku uttered to himself, flinching when the faintest hint of a headache ghosted about the edges of his mind. I'm starting to run low on stamina.
A rumbling suddenly shook up the grounds making everyone stop. Izuku looked around in confusion. "An earthquake? No, something else." Extending his PSI, he picked up that whatever was broadcasting the signal to these robots had diverted away to something else, transmitting a new signal.
His eyes bulged as the receiver of that signal activated...and a body of massive proportions rose up. Moments later, it came into view properly; a robot of truly gigantic proportions. It leaned in, one building shuddering and cracking as it braced its truck-sized hand against the roof, pancaking part of it and dislodging pieces. It then reared back its fist and drove it into the ground. The impact split the ground and kicked up a huge cloud of dust, blanketing the street.
"Oh!" Izuku squeaked, "So that's why they said to avoid it!" His worry only intensified his slowly growing headache.
All the examinees nearby turned as one and began running in the opposite direction. Izuku made to do the same, powering up his Rise, only to stumble from a brief wave of dizziness. Getting close to my limit. Definitely shouldn't use Burst anymore…
"O-Ouch…!"
A female grunt of pain made him blink and turn around, only for the blood to drain from his face. A little way down the road lay that familiar brown-haired girl; it seemed that a piece of rubble kicked up by 0-pointer's attack had landed on her, trapping her legs. She was weakly struggling to pull herself free, but judging by her face, she was feeling woozy or nauseous herself.
More importantly, however, the massive robot was rolling straight towards her, slowly trundling down the street and gouging away the sides of buildings with its bulk.
"I think you can do it too!" she told him, just that day.
"You can become a Hero, Midoriya-kun!" she would tell him, many years from then.
Rise burned in his legs as he dashed straight for her, skidding to a stop just in front of the rubble. "D-Don't worry!" he told her, "I'll get you out!"
He concentrated hard, wincing as his headache spiked, but a glowing green bubble of light swelled around the girl, lifting the rubble on top of her away and to the sides.
"A-Anything broken?" Izuku asked, panting as his head throbbed, making his vision blur. Something wet dripped from his nose.
"My ankle, I-I think I sprained it," she said, wincing, even as she gazed in awe at the telekinetic bubble.
"Alright…sorry about this in advance!" He reached forward and, channeling Rise one more time, lifted her up in his arms.
She gave a soft "Oh!" of surprise, and he missed her already pink cheeks darkening slightly.
Then, with his PSI thrumming in his muscles, he took off down the road, speeding along fast enough to become a blur, bypassing some of the examinees who'd already been running away. Gotta get her to safety! he thought, gritting his teeth through his migraine, blood dripping more heavily from his nose, vision darkening from the pain, It doesn't matter if I can't fight villains anymore if she gets hurt!
"TIIIIIIIME'S…UP!" Present Mic's voice boomed out over them all. "STOP PUNCHING! FIGHT'S OVER, FOLKS!"
Izuku stumbled, the words taking a moment to penetrate the haze of agony that had settled around his skull. However, he finally stopped, and set the girl back on the ground.
"Hey, are you okay?" he heard her ask as he swayed, eyes refusing to focus.
"I...I feel like I'm gonna throw up…" Izuku moaned as he sat down, holding his head in his hands.
"S-So do I…" admitted the girl, holding her stomach gingerly, "My Quirk makes me sick if I use it too much…"
"Oh dear, we can't have that," said a high, elderly voice. Everyone looked around to see a tiny old lady shuffling towards them. She wore a long (for her) white coat, and her gray hair was gathered up into a large, but neat bun, with a syringe keeping it in place. Her walking cane was also a giant syringe.
"Recovery...Girl...Bleegh…" Izuku got out before his lunch decided to revisit him. He vomited, making sure to turn his face away from the old Youthful Heroine.
"You must have pushed your Quirk too far, so hold still." The woman tottered up to him.
"H-Huh?" With his head-splitting migraine, it took Izuku a moment to remember how Recovery Girl's Quirk worked.
"CHUUUUU~!" She planted a great big old-lady kiss on his cheek with a loud smack. Everyone else cringed, but Izuku perked up when the pain of his headache immediately began to recede. "Here, have some gummies," she told him, making him hold out his hand, into which she deposited several gummy bears, "That'll get rid of the bad taste in your mouth." She also gave some to the brown-haired girl, after kissing her to heal her sprained ankle.
"Heheh…I guess we're not the first students taking the exam who've thrown up," Izuku remarked to her as the school nurse moved on, grinning embarrassedly.
The girl giggled as well, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess so! That makes me feel a little better, now that you mention it."
"Oh, sorry again for carrying you like that."
"It-it's fine!" she assured him, blushing, "I was kinda scared that I wouldn't be able to run fast enough, so…" Then she blinked. "Oh yeah, by the way, my name's Uraraka Ochako!"
"I…" he had to stop himself from blurting out 'I know.' "I'm Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you, Uraraka-san."
"Un!"
They both sat in a strange, awkwardly comfortable silence for a moment, before Izuku spoke up again. "I hope we end up becoming classmates in the Hero Course."
Uraraka blinked at his statement, then grinned back at him. "Yeah! I hope so too!"
I hope Kirishima-kun and Himiko-chan did well too, he thought to himself. He wondered whether he should contact them telepathically to ask how they did, but decided against it; they'd probably have just as little of an idea about whether they'd passed as he did.
All they could do now was wait for Yuuei to judge their progress for themselves.
TML
AN: At long last, it is finished! I stalled out for a good while on this one, during which time I began my new Highschool DxD SI, Advent of the Shadow Monarch. If you have not read it, I recommend it.
I will slowly reveal just who is aware of the future over time, as well as their Awakened Quirks.
Kirishima Eijiro
Age: 15
Quirk: Harden and Shatter. He can cause any and every part of his body to grow tougher, including taking on a rock-like texture. He can vary the severity of the hardness, and thanks to being Awakened, any attack that manages to crack his armor will also be reflected back onto the attacker. The enemy will pay for every inch they take! MANLY!
Uraraka Ochako
Age: 15
Quirk: Zero Gravity. By touching all five of her finger-pads to an object, she can negate gravity's effects on it! However, nullifying 2 tons' worth of weight will make her nauseous. Pressing her fingertips together negates the effects.