Hello once again my dear readers, now I know you all are waiting to see the entrance exam and get the origin story over so I will not hold you for long, I am only going to say that I have a beta reader now! So I will go being back to update and fix chapters as my friend Bellgram proofreads the like and catches up to where I am today! I will still be writing as we do this but it will be slower updates in general from now on. Anyways let's get right into the story!
Izuku let out a nervous sigh while he approached the building with his backpack on. Feeling a little awkward as no one else was carrying such a burden on their own backs while he went along the path, trying to ignore the looks he was getting.
"Deku, why the hell do you have that bag on you? You know we can't bring outside equipment into the practical exam well, except for your web-shooters so what is in that?!"
"Oh, Kaachan I was just bringing this with my notebooks in it, mainly the costume design and support item ones. I was kind of invited to join the support program and decided to try that part-time alongside the hero program." Izuku chuckled awkwardly as he looked away from the boy, embarrassed about being called out by his friend like that. Not noticing the pink haired girl that took notice of their talk and paused a bit with excitement in her eyes.
"Alright, just don't fuck up your chances in the test cause I for one will not pick up the slack on that end alright?" Bakugou left his friend with a wave, leaving him to walk on his path alone again. Or it would have been alone if one girl with a large pair of brass lined goggles didn't approach him from behind.
"So you make support items too?! That's awesome! Lemmie see lemme see em!" The high, slightly on edge voice coming from behind him almost made Izuku jump from surprise before he turned around to find a woman with crosshairs in golden eyes grinning at him with something a mile wide.
"Oh you, you heard that? I-ah I don't have much stuff on me now, only being able to work from home and all that you know?" Izuku blushed and backed up some from the woman who seemed to be scanning all along his body to see some sort of hidden gadget or gizmo up his sleeve and ask everything she could about it. Though her disappointed look when he said he had nothing on him made Izuku's will crumble as he started to walk again.
"I do have one thing on me though, well really two but they are part of a set." Reaching towards his left wrist, Izuku undid the strap on his web shooter and showed the silver weapon towards the girl who snatched it right out of his hand and started to examine it from all angles.
"Ooh, sleek silver. I like, it. So what is this thing supposed to do then? Some sort of quirk enhancement device or something completely different?" Looking into the underbelly of the device as she walked, the woman saw the small but sensitive pressure plates and lightly pressed her palm against them letting out an excited gasp when the trigger flipped out of its resting place and revealed the nozzle it had been hiding.
"So a projectile of some kind? The pressure plates there so you won't misfire accidentally right? Simple solution but I admit it likely works like a dream huh? Though I wonder what it is you fire out of this thing, doesn't look like a typical bb or airsoft gun so it can't be that."
"I-it's a web shooter, you know like from Spider-Man? I created them to use because... Because" Izuku mumbled to himself as he reached to grab his weapon, suddenly feeling a bit exposed as the girl looked at the culmination of nearly a decade of trial, error and perfecting the small piece of technology.
"Web shooter? Web shooter, I am sure I have heard of something like that... Reaching around to the other side and letting the trigger reset. Mei pressed a small button on the back of the thing and blinked when the cartridge within was ejected into her face, the metal canister of pressurized web fluid hit her on the nose painfully and focusing her thoughts some.
"Wait, where you that quirkless kid in the news last year? Ow that smarts, so you made these things to emulate a quirk when you have none?" Stopping for a bit, the girl realized she hadn't introduced herself yet and while the weapon in her hands was certainly interesting, so was the boy who she had taken it from and returned the device to Izuku. Who quickly went to his belt and detached a backup canister of web fluid and replacing the one she ejected accidentally.
"I like that! It's the essence of what support gear is meant to be! My name is Hatume Mei, future support technician at your service, and I would like you to be my partner." Mei then stuck out her hand for Izuku to shake, but the boy was just preoccupied with checking all around his precious weapon to be sure everything was working like it was supposed to causing Mei to realize she could have broken this man's baby! That...That would have been horrible of her to do!
"Is it alright, please tell me I didn't break anything with my little exploration there. I could never forgive myself if I killed him like that!" She was mentally panicking a bit, Hatsume used her quirk to zoom in on the details of the thing like before, letting out a relieved sigh when it was apparent that nothing was wrong with it in function and Izuku recovered some and looked over to her. The look in his eyes was cautious but...Optimistic in someway as he finally seemed to process her offer.
"Partner? Like, us making support stuff together in the course? Wait... Isn't the support course exam like six hours from now? Why the heck are you here so early? Oh, also my name is Midoriya Izuku, in case you were wondering about my name."
"Well my dear quirkless friend, a good support technician is always preparing themselves for their client's needs. I decided to come early and work out some designs and scope out the tools UA's support lab has, the pressure cutters, robotics, computers, how many wrenches they have..." Mei started to trail off as she practically started salivating from the idea of handling all those tools, stuff her family could never dream of using and all to make her babies come to life!
"Oh, well ok. If you want to work together on this then I don't see any detriment to it, you seem like you are...Passionate with your dreams at least, though will they even let us work together during the test? I am pretty sure we need to make some sort of useful support item...Though they never specified that teams were not allowed I guess." Izuku mumbled to himself a bit more, bringing Hatsume out of her tool fantasies with a grin on her face as the boy seemed to consider this. Sure she wanted to make a good name out there in the world but working with someone else would surely make their children together all that much stronger!
"Sure, I think we will work together if the judges allow that. How about you look through this and we can try making something from it though we would both need to show off our abilities here right?" Bringing around his backpack, Izuku unzipped the big yellow thing before passing Mei his notebook labeled Salticidae Costume designs Vol 2. Which the girl took graciously and with a devilish grin.
"Alright then, see you in a few hours ! I will be sure to pick out an excellent little idea for us to forge into reality!" She then waved the boy off and pushed his back to get him going towards the hero testing center before sitting on a nearby bench and opening the book to see what it had in store for her.
"Ooh, these eye lenses look quite nice indeed..." The girl got a devilish glint in her eye as she started to read through it all, this partnership would be profitable for her indeed!
Izuku sat in his chair, still shaking a bit nervously after the long written exam. The young man had gone over his answers three times in his head, but still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed something somehow or messed up. Chalking that up to his jitters, Izuku clapped the sides of his face once to focus and stared down at the stage. Waiting for whoever was going to come on to just do it already and explain what they were going to be going through.
Down at the bottom, a man with bright yellow hair and wearing a strange neck brace of sorts walked out onto the stage quietly. He let the crowd of children continue their chatting and prattle for a few moments as Hizashi looked through all the faces he could see. Mentally noting who he was sure would pass and who would fail letting his eyes flicker up along the crowd, the pro noticed the distinctive blue hair of Ingenium must be his little brother or something and the only other kid that had even noticed his presence was a broccoli haired lad near the back who was muttering on about something and looked to be scribbling mental notes on the desk which annoyed the ash blond next to him. Lifting his hand to his mouth and clearing his throat out, Hizashi transferred into his Present Mic persona before turning on his support gear.
"Hello, my young listeners! I hope you all are ready today!" Hizashi smiled as the kids quickly shut up and laser-focused on the guy in the middle, ah it was nice to have center stage again. He should start touring again some during next summer, maybe that ear jack chick from twenty years ago was still playing her music? He hoped so, she was good after all.
"Now, I know why you are all here today! My young listeners, you are here for the UA Transfer exam, right? Everybody say yeah!" Hazamada yelled at one of his louder tones, he expected the usual silence like every year he did this but was surprised to hear a meek response from the green haired kid in the back which made most of the crowd laugh at his attempt to sound cool with the pro. Well, saving people didn't always mean diving in physically after all.
"Alright, entree 253! I like your spunk, make sure you get in so we can rock out later on my man!" Present Mic gave a finger point towards the kid with a genuine grin, glad that the crowd was dying to spare his would-be student the embarrassment. Transitioning from that to pointing back towards the large screen behind him with his practiced precision. The TV turning on just as his finger's aim landed.
"Now my listeners! Here is what you all will be up against! Today we have three varieties of robots for you to gain points! One point, two point, and three-point robots! You need to destroy or disable these mechanized monstrosities to gain points, get within the top thirty-six scores and you win your spot to learn her at UA!" Looking up to the crowd, Hazamada noticed the Ingenium-looking kid raising his hand desperately with some sort of question and the showman rotated his left arm around to point right at him with a nod.
"Yes, entree 7111? What is your question?"
"Sir! You say there are only three kinds of robots but the printouts you handed out clearly state that there are four! Is this a mistake? Such a thing is unbecoming of such a school as UA High!" Ah, from his demeanor and way of acting Present Mic could tell he was one of the tightwad chivalrous types, that wasn't really a bad thing especially if he wants to be a hero. Though Hazamada would do his best to inject some punk into the kid's schooling when he got in, and this Ingenium kid would get himself in no doubt about it.
"Why thank you for pointing that out 7111! You see, that fourth robot is a hazard that we will send out at you at a random time. Not only is it not a point robot, but if you damage or try to attack it recklessly to show off you will lose seventy-five percent of all your points! So just run away from it are we clear?!" Giving his audience no time to respond after that, Present Mic stood up fully before his crowd as the screen turned off.
"Now all of you will be ushered towards your respective test sites! See you later!" And like that, Present Mic glided off the stage as the third years came in to funnel the crowds towards the right sites. Hazamada himself heading off towards the judging room, cracking his knuckles as he thought about how to challenge the brats with the zero pointers today.
The area outside of the testing gate was bustling with activity as young men and women congregated to talk about...Things, Izuku wasn't exactly sure about what they were talking about but he sure as hell didn't bother to ask, fearing that people would react to him with some sort of pity when he said he was quirkless when the question eventually came up. It was what everyone did when growing up after all. Feeling a firm hand on his shoulder, Izuku froze some before he looked behind himself to see the serious kid that talked about the robots before.
"Hello, sorry to bother you but are those weapons on your wrists? I thought that UA did not allow for any outside assistance during their entrance exams, if you are trying to sneak your way into UA with some unfair means then I must implore you not to do so and steal a spot from someone more deserving." The young man spoke with an oppressive authority and enthusiasm that Izuku just couldn't return as he looked away from him.
"A-ah you mean my web-shooters right? They, they were approved by the staff after I sent in the request from last week. I-I am quirkless you see." Izuku flinched a bit at that but heard nothing from the man basically interrogating him. The guy likely thought he was lying about it, but Izuku continued on.
"T-though I still want to be a hero so I made these things myself, I can use them about as well as most quirk users I suppose. I have worked towards this moment for most of my life, so if I pass then I won't be stealing anything. I will have rightfully earned my spot in UA through my own hard work alone!" While Izuku spoke, he slowly started to gain more confidence until he was looking this stranger right in the eyes with his last proclamation, daring him to say something against what he just said.
"Ah, is that it? I apologize for the way I spoke then, it was shameful of me to assume you were trying to sneak your way into this school for some reason." The young man then did a ninety-degree bow towards Izuku as he hoped to convey the sincerity of his words.
Izuku, for his part, was just plain surprised at what was going on here, this guy wasn't admonishing him for trying for a crazy goal or pitying him for his lack of powers like he had come to expect. Unsure of how to act now, he just extended one cautious hand towards the stranger, hoping he would get the gesture while a gulp came from his throat.
"It's alright, I guess most people would wonder why I have these things on my wrists during a test like this. My name is Izuku Midoriya, I guess I hope we both pass today?"
"Oh, yes I do hope you are successful in getting into UA. I would quite enjoy having someone clearly devoted to this career in my class or at least learning at the best place he can. My name is Iida, Tensei Iida" As the words passed Iida's mouth a large buzzer rang out loud, demanding the attention of all around the scene as Present Mic's unmistakable voice came through some speakers.
"Start! You have one hour to collect as many points as you can!" Right after the voice stopped echoing the gates to the testing site burst open and like a flood being held back by a dam, the crowd of teenagers surged forward. Every one of them eager to prove their worth and attain UA status.
The staff of UA had all gathered around in the teacher's lounge to judge their prospective students. Most of them hanging out on one of the lavish couches, some chose to stand or even curl up in his sleeping bag even during this important test. One resident loudmouth was sitting next to his best friend who slept on the floor for some reason while watching the live feeds of the test.
"So Yamada, how many of the brats do you think have potential to pass through the exam this time?" The tired voice of Aizawa came from the bag next to the blond who shrugged a bit, letting out a yawn, the man was waking up on a Saturday morning tiring.
"I got about ten definates from that crowd and around forty or so maybes? Everyone else was just kind of lazing around while I came on stage to explain it all. We got Ingenium's little brother here who I know will give his all to get into UA. Not too many standouts from the crowd though."
"Hm, do you remember the numbers of those definates Yamada? Or at least some distinctive features so we can watch them and start formulating our plans for the young men and women coming to the academy?"
Hazamada looked over to his boss who asked him that with an incredulous look. Did he really believe that he could memorize all those numbers on the spot? He made up most of that stuff on the fly after all. Looking down at the Slurpee on the coffee table, he sighed remembering the number he gave the Iida kid.
"No numbers bossman, though I do have some description. First off is the Iida kid who looks like a smaller, more proper version of his brother outside of his costume, then there is was this kid with pure white hair and what looked like white birthmarks round his eyes. Next was a kid with a crow's head, I mean his head literally looked like a black crow's, then there were two boys who looked like they were friends one had black hair in a droopy bowl-cut like hairstyle I guess? The other had messy ash blond hair and both of em sported crimson eyes." Hazamada paused a bit for the mouse-bear-thing? To respond but was only met with the piercing eyes boss' expectant stare.
"Alright... Anyways next is this firey oranged haired chick who wore a ponytail, a chick with vines for her hair, a punk rock looking girl with purple hair and earphone jacks dangling from her head and a girl with bright pink skin and horns." Hazamada motioned to his head when describing the last girl before he looked towards the twin televisions again watching as each switched around the entrants he mentioned best they could, he could practically feel Midnight's drool on him as they showed off the friend combo he mentioned. Though they were in different testing areas, the thirty-year-old knew that the image of the sweat-drenched young men fighting it with their all against the robots with their quirks was sure to fire that chick up. Opting to focus on the kid with the black hair more, Hazamada caught something on the feed it looked like a dude shot webbing from his wrists and hit a robot that would have snuck up on the kid with the hardening quirk. Spying the clear silver bits on this newcomer's wrists as he gave the fellow young man a swift fist bump, Hazamada was a bit confused.
"Hey, that kid with the bush hair. He was approved to have those weapons on him right? I know that sort of stuff is more Nezu's and Maijima's deal I just don't want him booted out the cause of a miscommunication." It was the boy who spoke out during his little stage show earlier, one of the maybes on his mental list of entrants, the kid looked to be seriously trying his hardest and Hazamada would hate to see the effort go to waste.
"No need to worry pardner, that little rascal sent in his application weeks ago just so it could be approved." Snipe's low western drawl assured his colleague that it was alright as the kid's profile was pulled up on one of their staff tablets and passed down to Present Mic who took a look at it. Eying the profile up and down he looked through it all.
"Let's see, Izuku Midoriya, 16 went to a small middle school before applying... Ok, wait." Spying the kid's quirk listed as N/A caused him to raise an eyebrow and looked back towards the screen as the kid busted through a series of one and two pointers, his arms looking to move around on their own as his hands either crashed through the weak metals or fired off that web stuff into the gears of the robots to stop their movement. That, that couldn't be right could it? Shaking his head of the thoughts, Present Mic read further until he reached the approved weapons section, opening the thing to find two devices listed as Web-shooters there.
"Alright then, glad to see that my excited listener will be fine in that regard. Also, I think that pad of yours is bugged as it didn't list any quirk for this Midoriya kid. That arm thing he is doing must be one right?"
"Actually no, Izuku here is our first applicant ever to go into the UA Hero program's entrance exam quirkless. I am so proud of how he is doing as well, getting around thirty villain points alone with his actions and racking up ten or so rescue points with his timely arrivals I am so proud of what the young people can do when they put their minds to it." Nezu's soft, amused tone to what he said made it clear the principal was hiding something from them.
Rescue points, oh who was giving the rescue points out this year then? He usually was on the panel but opted out this year to just enjoy watching the kids without having to constantly judge them. Looking around the lounge he noticed Cementos, 13, Vlad, Lunch, Dog and Power loader were missing from their little gathering. Whatever he was glad that he missed out on that shitshow that happened every year.
"Well, good to know that he has enough to get in now he seems like such a good potential student." Stretching his arms upward and hearing a nice crack in his back, Hazamada relaxed a bit before turning towards his boss with a smile on his face.
"So bossman, when do you think we should release the Zero pointer? I wanna see how they react without having to judge it harshly for once already." He then looked towards Yagi, who looked dead set on the screens in front of him while his lips moved silently and the English teacher gave his fellow blond a curt nod, glad the first time teacher was taking his job so seriously.
"Oh, I was thinking now would be a good time. Thanks for reminding me!"