Chapter 4: Out of Control

"You know, training this morning sort of negates what my dad did for you last night." Shinsou walked next to Izuku, head tipped back, eyes on the sky while Izuku was looking at the ground, thinking silently for once.

"I know. I just had to finish something." Izuku murmured, then looked up briefly, "But it really helped. Even with the exercise this morning I feel so much better than yesterday."

Shinsou smirked, "That's why he's never wanting for customers."

Izuku chuckled, "Yeah, pro customers. That must be pretty cool."

Shinsou's eyes shot open and quickly glanced around to find no one close enough to hear. Hopefully, no one had a quirk that would let them. He turned, frowning, "Don't spread that around please. He may not be a doctor, but he doesn't like to let people know. You remember what happened to you last night after he used his quirk?"

Izuku winced at the look Shinsou gave him. It was more serious than he anticipated a rarity to be sure. "N-no actually."

"Yeah. That's what I thought." Shinsou looked back to the road, dropping into sotto voce, "That sort of thing can happen with pros too."

Izuku's eyes widened sharply, and he dropped to the same tone, "Even with pros?!"

Shinsou shot him an unamused glance, "Did I stutter?"

Izuku blanched, "I'm sorry. I thought it might have been because I was so tense or something." He cringed. The thought that that information might get out, potentially falling into villainous hands, was frightening. No wonder he kept it secret for so long from a self-admitted fanboy like himself.

Shinsou seemed to relent after a moment, chuckling "You were mostly right, but I didn't think I'd have to tell you, of all people, to think about the implications."

"Y-yeah." Izuku replied still shamefaced. He finally looked up, and saw they were almost under the UA gates. That put a thrill up his spine, but also got him worrying again. He hadn't even had to test his powers. And there was the question of what and when he was going to tell Shinsou. Of course that only mattered if he actually *passed*. His gut roiled. The hair didn't help, even if it likely had moved on by now.

"You two losers." An all too familiar voice growled at them from behind, "Get out of my way before I set you both on fire."

They both glanced back to see Bakugo marching forward. Izuku groaned and stepped aside, he had more important things to focus on. But Hitoshi seemed to relish the moment, turning to face Bakugo while remaining in his path, "Morning Bakugo, heading to the exams?" Bakugo twitched, but said nothing. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Shinsou…" Izuku murmured. Bakugo had almost reached them, and Izuku briefly worried what would happen if his friend didn't move.

"Hmm?" Hitoshi glanced at him, saw the pleading look on his face and suppressed a sigh, stepping aside and waving Bakugo on, "Good luck."

Bakugo growled again, and swiftly moved on. Hitoshi rolled his eyes, "How's he supposed to become a hero if he's that angry all the time? Can you imagine him as a pro?"

Admittedly that thought had occurred to Izuku as well. Pros had expectations, not just talent, but of demeanor as well. But just as the thought crossed his mind he heard praise coming from the students ahead of him. "I think that's the kid who withstood the Sludge Villain. His name's Bakugo, right?"

"Yeah, he's the real deal."

"Real deal my ass." Hitoshi whispered through the corner of his mouth, "Do they even remember that he set the entire alley on fire? Maybe Backdraft would have been able to help if Bakugo hadn't been so busy blowing up everything besides the villain?"

Izuku snorted and shook his head, "Maybe, but he was panicking. I panicked too when that thing was wrapped around me."

Hitoshi cringed, "Sorry for bringing that up."

"It's fine. I wouldn't have gotten to meet All Might otherwise." And if he hadn't met All Might, he wouldn't have the chance he now had. He was so much better equipped to become a hero now. It wasn't just the quirk either; he was so much stronger and faster than he had been ten months ago. But receiving All Might's quirk would be the thing that gave him his real shot at becoming a hero.

And that was when he tripped over his own two feet. Shinsou looked up in alarm, but then he just… stopped. He glanced around, still seeing the ground in front of him, but there was air beneath him.

"Heh, are you okay?" He began to struggle despite the chipper voice beside him. Then a hand reached out and grasped his arm, guiding him down to the ground and he looked into the face a girl, "I stopped you with my quirk, I'm sorry I didn't ask first." She briefly clasped her hands in front of her, an endearing smile on her face, her cheeks were slightly flush in the cool air, "But, I figured you wouldn't mind me catching you." Izuku nodded mutely, "Isn't this all like way nerve-wracking?"

Izuku blinked, and laughed nervously. "Well, I guess I'll see you inside." And with that she started walking off.

Izuku's mouth opened as he watched her leaving. His brain cudgeled itself. Words. He knew words. He could speak. He wanted to say something. He wanted to-to-to… "Wait!" She glanced back at him, still smiling. His heart skipped a beat, and he realized he had asked her to wait. He had something more to say! He made an inarticulate noise, and she looked somewhat puzzled. He remembered! "T-thank you!" She smiled again and he had to struggle to remember words again.

"Good luck on the exam." Shinso said, "Thank you for keeping my friend from breaking his nose."

She laughed, "No problem! Good luck to you too!" And then she was off again.

Izuku stood there in absolute silence for a moment, "I. I just talked to a girl."

Almost at the door Ururaka blinked at the sound of a slap and glanced back, but all she could see was the friend of the boy she had just helped with his palm fixed to his forehead.

"What's up UA candidates? Thanks for tunin in to me, your school DJ." Present Mic threw his arms out, "C'mon. And lemme year ya!" The hero's plea fell on deaf ears. Shinsou looked around. Outside of Deku, who was practically vibrating in his seat, and Bakugo, who clearly couldn't care less, the rest of the candidates were shooting each other furtive glances or shrugging. At least he wasn't alone in doing it. "Keeping it mellow, huh?" Present Mic continued, trying to cover for his inability to rouse the 'audience', "That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, okay?" Present Mike threw a hand out towards the audience, his voice rising in a pitch, "Are you ready? Yeah!"

Silence cloaked most of the room. It was only because of where he was sitting that he heard Izuku gushing, "Oh my goodness it's the voice hero Present Mike! So cool! I listen to his radio show every day of the week! It's so crazy nuts that all the UA are pro heroes!"

"Will you shut up?" Bakugo muttered in irritation.

"Like your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super-hip urban settings!" Shinsou was vaguely surprised that the lack of reaction from his audience failed to dim his enthusiasm. He must have at least some experience bombing, even if Izuku continued to gush like a broken pipe. "Gird you loins, my friends." Now that was an unpleasant thing to hear, enough that when Shinsou glanced at Bakugo he too had a look of distaste on his face. "After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, sound good? Okay?!"

Around them people were inspecting the cards they had been dealt out upon entering.

"I see. They're splitting us up so we can't work with any of our friends." Bakugo lacked his usual malice, and Shinsou had to nod.

Shinsou offered Bakugo a grin, "It also prevents us from working against our enemies."

"Yeah, you're right." Izuku murmured in agreement, looking from Shinsou's card to Bakugo's "Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but we're assigned to different battle centers."

"Get your eyes off my card." Bakugo said angrily, "Damn. I was really looking forward to crushing you."

"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets." Present Mic raised his hand as images began to appear on the screen, "There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely." An animated version of the speech hero appeared, walking down a street before jumping up and kicking an image of a robot.

Shinsou's stomach twisted in his gut. Robots. The shadows were unmistakably non-human. His mouth began to go dry. Robots. He couldn't use his quirk against robots. He didn't know how to fight robots. His quirk wasn't physical, it was mental. He shot a nervous glance at Izuku who had laser like focus on the screen, he almost turned back, but then he caught Bakugo looking at him with a predatory leer. Shinsou couldn't help but swallow and look back at the presentation as it wrapped up. "But check it!" Present Mic pointed and Shinsou could swear he was the one being pointed at, "Make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?"

"Excuse me sir, but I have a question." The voice was formal, but at least it drew him from his impending doom. At this point he was struggling to grasp at straws. What could he do against robots? Surely UA had something in mind for students without combat quirks.

"Hit me!"

"On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three." The officious voice stated, "With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful." Shinsou turned his sheet and let the voice fade into the background. Why had he folded it? He could have spotted it. He would have had more time to plan. To come up with something, anything. Motion caught his eye and he looked down at the busybody in the suit as he pointed at him, "Additionally, you two with the unkempt hair." Izuku pointed at himself, and Shinsou jerked to attention, "You've been muttering through the entire presentation. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

Midoriya immediately slapped his hands over his mouth, offering a mumbled apology while Shinsou turned to look at him, "I didn't start mumbling, did I?"

"Yes." Bakugo said bluntly, looking far from amused.

"All right, all right, examinee seven-one-one-one. Thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's kinda no point." Theatrically Present Mic threw out his hand to the top row, "I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the ones topping the charts."

"Thank you very much. Please, continue." And then the distraction was gone, as irritating as it was.

"That's all I got for you today!"

"Wait!" Shinsou found the spotlight on himself. He cringed, "Uh… uh…"

Bakugo glowered at him, "Sit down you idiot."

"Do you have a question?" Present Mic pointed at him and Shinsou managed to grasp at the Japanese language.

"Uh… What- what if two people work together to destroy one?"

Present Mic's finger shot up from pointing at him like a pistol, "Good question. Heroes work together to take down villains all the time." A small flare of hope welled up inside Shinsou, "But today is an assessment to see who can be a hero, so points will only be awarded to the person who disables the faux villain!"

Shinsou fell back down into his seat, his shoulders slumping.

"That's all I got for you today! I'll sign off with a little present, a sample of our school motto! As general Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down: A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes." Shinsou had never felt less prepared to be a hero than at that moment. It was all he could do to keep his head from slamming into the table. "Mm-hm. Now that's a tasty soundbite. You ready to go beyond?" Present Mic continued with his theatrics, "Let's hear a Plus Ultra!" Beside him Izuku was smiling nervously, his trembling hands shaking the paper in his hands.

"Hope you practiced hitting more than just books."

Robots. What was he going to do about robots? Shinsou gnawed on his lip, looking around. Would his quirk be considered an attack? It was like this exam was tailor made to fail him out. No. No, he had to focus. What would Midoriya say? He'd need to focus. He'd need to establish his options. He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He could practically hear Izuku's voice in his head, talking as he flipped through pages of his Hero Analysis for the Future journal. He had options. He could use his quirk, or he could not use his quirk. If he used his quirk there was a chance it would be considered an attack, which could fail him. On the other hand, if he didn't use his quirk he'd be down to punching a metal robot. Shinsou shrugged his shoulders. Quirk it was.

Next he had to find people whose quirks could help him. It took a few seconds, but he looked around with fresh eyes. Those around him were silent, or trying to pump themselves up. Game faces everywhere. A few faces held arrogant expressions. His mental Midoriya was scribbling notes furiously. He'd try to remember those faces. If he could get them to talk to him he might be able to steal some of their time and give himself an opportunity. Anything too destructive wouldn't do. He'd need to figure out how to destroy these things, and he wouldn't get any points for things he didn't finish off. But how finished did something have to be to be considered finished? What if something was only partially disabled? Could he have someone hobble something so he could break it completely? No. Focus. Take one step at a time. He couldn't know exactly how disabled they would need to be to count, but being rendered unable to attack would likely be enough.

"Right let's start!" Shinsou blinked at the sound of Present Mic's voice and looked up at the tower between the stadiums, "Get moving! There are no countdowns in real battles. Run, run, run, listeners!" Shinsou's eyes widened and he jolted from his shock, turning and running, catching up with the herd of applicants rushing through the gates. It was a free for all charge, trying to find robots to pick off. Some applicants broke away, others stayed with the group. Shinsou gnawed on his lip, looking for someone to follow. He'd have to leach off of someone, preferably alone. He saw someone break away to his right and he pivoted to join them, barely avoiding being trampled in the process. The applicant was rushing on ahead of him when one of the one pointers burst out of a wall. Shinsou ground his charge to a halt as the other applicant stumbled, "Holy crap! They're huge!"

"You got any idea how to stop that thing?" Shinsou asked warily, glancing behind him. The end of the alley seemed impossibly far away at this point.

The robot lifted its arms and began to race towards them. The other applicant tensed, then raised his arms, almost like he was blocking even as he threw himself just out of the way. Shinsou's eyes widened as he realized he was the only thing in the faux villain's path. He braced to dodge himself, but then it seemed to stall, swerving and slamming into the wall before it reached him. Shinsou blinked, watching as the robot sparked and smoked. Apparently solid concrete was too much for it to handle smacking into. He stared, and then caught the long strands leading back to his fellow applicant's elbows.

The guy had a toothy grin "That's one point!" Shinsou watched as the strand cut away from his elbow and fell slack, and just like that he was off running. Shinsou had no clue how they'd been able to exert enough momentum to swing that hulking machine, but it was damn impressive, and something damn impressive was something he was in dire need of.

"H-hey! Wait!" He chased after him,

The guy shot a glance over his shoulder, "Sorry dude, I have points-" And then his eyes glazed over and he slowed to a stop. Shinsou grimaced, quickly checking the ruined robot and seizing a chunk of metal to use as a club. "Come on. Let's find another one."

The boy didn't nod, or respond in any other way than following along with him. Shinsou hated it. He couldn't help but shoot glances back, catching the glassy eyes and expressionless face. Whoever he'd ensnared didn't deserve it, and it roiled Shinsou's gut to know he was stealing even precious seconds of the limited time the guy had to get enough points to earn a spot.

They exited the alley and Shinou looked around quickly to find it deserted. There were sounds of destruction in the distance, and a single destroyed two pointer lay at the end of the street. Come on, come on! Where are you bastards?

And for the first time that day his prayers were answered. Another one pointer came out of another alley down the road and spotted him, its body reorienting and its wheel squealing as it charged them. Shinsou let out a breath, "Trap it. Just stop it from moving."

The boy didn't respond verbally, lifting his arms and shooting tape out. The robot tried to dodge, but only missed one strand, the other got stuck around its wheel. The robot shuddered as it lost momentum and control and Shinsou felt his stomach drop as it wobbled, veering towards one of the walls before suddenly catching and slamming into the ground, skidding several feet ahead of them. The boy beside him lowered his arms, and Shinsou grit his teeth, only exhaling as the faux villain tried to push itself upright. He charged, burying his makeshift club into the thing's head, yanking it free and then swinging again for good measure.

The machine jerked, and collapsed and Shinsou breathed out a sigh of relief before looking back at the still figure with him.

The boy had the perfect quirk to assist him. How many others here would have a quirk that could disable one of these robots without destroying it? There couldn't be that many. He could hold him. He could… he could make sure his competitor earned points as well. That could be enough, couldn't it?

He looked at the guy's glassy eyes again and charged off by himself, letting his control slip from the boy. He'd be disoriented for a few more seconds, then he'd be able to get back into this competition. He just prayed that luck held for both of them.

Sero blinked, looking around. How had he gotten here? Had he destroyed the target on the ground? He blinked as he saw someone running away, "H-hey wait! What just happened?"

The figure, he swore he'd seen him before, hadn't he, and waved his free arm, "Good luck!" And then he was around the corner. Sero blinked, then remembered he didn't have time to waste.

"He let him go." Snipe murmured, watching the released student linger for a moment, shaking his head again before racing off.

"Mmm. That tape quirk would have been really useful to him. He certainly picked wisely, and getting a club first was a good idea." Power Loader raised a paddle as one applicant helped another up after a three pointer had sent him rolling.

"True," Vlad King said as stroked his chin with his other hand. He raised his own paddle after watching another entrant pull someone out of the way of another student's wild attack. That would earn them a point, and the other entrant a disqualification. Pity, the reckless kid had had potential, "but if he held him for the rest of the exam both of them would have wound up disqualified."

Power Loader nodded in agreement, "We wouldn't want someone who treats others like tools anyway."

A three pointer came rumbling around a corner and Shinsou winced. There hadn't been anyone in his path. The shard of metal in his hand wasn't going to do squat against something that size. He may as well hurl insults at it, they'd do just as much to fend that thing off. He stepped back as it revved its engine turning with one tread so it could face him. Maybe if he dodged he'd be able to hit a weak spot? Was there even a weak spot he could exploit? It began to move towards him as he struggled to find a solution when he saw some wires pull loose from the back of its head. Almost at once the robot sputtered and died.

"Got it!" The cheery voice came from nowhere. He blinked and quickly looked around, but no one was there.

Shinsou blinked, "What?"

The voice chuckled, "Finished with that one. You better hurry up if you're going to stay in this-." For all its cheeriness the voice was almost teasing before it went silent.

Whoever it was, however, was now firmly under his control. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the robot's back." The voice had lost its cheeriness, as all did when in the fugue state he put people into.

Shinsou hesitated, "I don't see you."

"I'm invisible."

Invisible. Could he use that? She wouldn't be able to distract an enemy for him, and if she went in for the kill she would get the point instead of him. "Can you make others invisible as well?"

"No."

Alright, she would not be useful to him, but she had just taken out the three pointer. "Okay. Good to know. I guess you've been exploiting weak points then? Can you tell me where they are?"

"Yes, I have. Yes, I can."

Silence descended and Shinsou waited a few seconds, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well, aren't you going to tell me?"

"You asked if I could. You have not asked me to tell you." The voice replied in an absolutely infuriating monotone. Damnit. Izuku was always on him for phrasing, he didn't need this right now!

"The heads are the weakspot, especially where they meet the neck. The one pointers have weak joints around the wheels."

"Anything else?"

"They aren't able to see invisible people."

Shinsou's lip curled into a frown. Technically, that was quite a weak spot, for her at least. "Six minutes and two seconds left!" Present Mic's voice boomed and he cringed, looking towards the giant tower in the distance.

"He couldn't have waited the two seconds?!" Shinsou groused and charged off down the street, releasing the invisible girl behind him. "What's next five minutes thirty four seconds left? Two minutes fifty one seconds?"

He turned a corner and entered a battlefield. Dozens of applicants were destroying an even larger amount of faux villains. Shinsou's eyes widened. So many were already destroyed! As he watched one of the two pointers was blown onto its side by someone who controlled wind, but the machine kept moving even though it couldn't right itself. His eyes widened and he ran towards it, lifting his club only to have another student reach it before him and smash its head. He growled, trying to find another opportunity.

"Twenty seven!"

His gut twisted inside him as he jerked to stare at an applicant with a dull complexion and bone white teeth visible without lips to cover them. He reached out and grabbed another one of the robots, his fingers digging into it and then scissoring it in two as if the metal was like butter. Yeah. That'd do. "Twenty seven already? That's impressive!"

The guy turned to him and blinked, "And how many-"

Shinsou rushed to him as the ruined robot smoked, "What'd you just do?" He asked in a harsh whisper, glancing around. Everyone was too busy fighting to even notice that they'd stopped.

"I softened the metal with my quirk. Then I ripped it in half."

"Impressive." Shinsou smiled, "Let's find another one for you to use your quirk on, but don't destroy it. Let me."

The boy nodded and his head jerked to his side. Shinsou blinked as he took off like a shot, wrapping his hands around the leg of a two pointer that was emerging into the pavilion. Shinsou grinned, dashing after him and bringing his makeshift club down on the thing, smearing it's insides with one blow. He yanked his weapon free as the thing collapsed into a smoking heap. Three. From the way others were destroying the robots he hadn't scored nearly enough points yet. Still, he released his newest… helper… and took off again.

"He let go of the new one." Power Loader murmured.

"That makes three, right?" Vlad didn't bother looking at that screen. Everyone seemed to be congregating in the center plaza at this point. It wouldn't be long before the zero pointer was unleased. "He get any points off the new one?"

"Yup. A two pointer." Snipe nodded, then raised his paddle when he saw someone pull another competitor out from under some rubble that the applicant had accidentally rained down upon themselves, "He's not going to make it, still, I appreciate that he's not ruining anyone else's chances."

A three pointer! Shinsou grinned as he ran at it. Time was running out and he didn't have anyone under his control, but the battle seemed to have moved away from him, the field mostly full of ruined robots when his opportunity emerged. Even better, it was facing away from him. He reached it and tossed his club onto it as he clambered onto the rear. Its top began to turn, but he was almost there. He lifted his club above his head.

"Too slow!"

"What?" Shinsou turned to see another applicant firing off a barrage of pellet sized missiles. There were dozens of them, and they were heading for the robot he was standing on! His jaw fell open and he stumbled back a step, "W-wait!" But then all at once they began to slam into it, a series of small explosions expanding in front of him. He was aware that he was lifting his arm up when a bigger explosion rocked the robot and he was thrown bodily into the air.

It was all too confusing. The air was spinning, his head was pounding, and he was falling. A small part of him wondered if this is how his victims felt. And then all at once he was jerked by something around his waist. His body jerked and his fingers brushed across the concrete behind him. His head snapped back, but didn't connect. And then he was on the ground, a figure with a mouth far too wide hovering over him. "Are - alright?" It asked, barely audible over the ringing in his ears. It sounded like gargled rocks. He blinked twice and the face lingered, centering. It was looking at him blankly, it's tongue poked out of its mouth.

He turned his head and vomited. Usually that made things feel better, right? All of the sounds sounded so far away and distant. But everything was spinning and his head was pounding. He clutched his head and cringed, curling into a fetal position. Those thoughts were beyond him though. Everything hurt. He vomited again; at least he thought he did.

He was rolled back over and he flailed, but the face drew back before he could smack it. They were talking again, "Stay awake." He blinked. Right. Awake. He could-he could stay awake. He had a reason to be awake. It was daytime. Right. He blinked, swatting at the air and shaking his head. He felt hands on him, roaming his chest, reaching up under his arms. He groaned as the sky moved. And then he was looking at a warzone. Green metal was everywhere, and people were running. He found himself propped up against something. In the distance stone rained down. That wasn't supposed to happen, was it? He blinked, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.

Vlad was looking hard at the screen as the girl dragged the mind controller to a wall and propped him up. His voice was flat as he raised his paddle, "That is the second competitor that guy has hurt today."

"That does look bad." Snipe murmured, raising his paddle for her as well, "He'll need recovery girl."

"It's a good thing she's staying with him." Power Loader nodded in sympathy, lifting his paddle with the others, "Make sure the zero pointer doesn't approach them too closely. She was able to drag him, but I can't see her carrying him." The others merely nodded.

Time passed slowly. There was rumbling, and the ground shook a fair bit. A hand stayed on his back though. He didn't vomit anymore, which was a good thing, right? The world was still sorta spinny, but not as bad. The figure next to him stayed with him for some time. He wasn't sure how long. Did he have his phone? He reached for pockets, fumbled to get his hands inside, but failed, and the hand on his back gently rubbed it and said something he couldn't make out.

A figure approached, almost as tall as he was seated, he thought. There were more words, which he tried to bat away, but then he felt something on his forehead and he watched the lips of the old woman retract. He blinked, the world ceased spinning and the hand on his back ceased moving. "Wh-what?" He blinked, looking from the small woman to the girl hunched beside him. Reality rushed in and his eyes widened, "The exam!"

The old woman's face took on a pensive look and she shook her head, "I'm sorry, but that ended almost ten minutes ago."

First, just a little omake:

Robots. What was he going to do about robots? Midoriya gnawed on his lip, looking around. He had to focus, had to come up with a plan. He'd need to establish his options. He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. Vaguely he wondered what Hitoshi would say? And behind his eyelids he could picture his friend, looking at him in his mind's eye. His friend blinked. "Wait, you're asking me?" He looked startled, "I-I don't know! I'm pretty sure the real me is asking an imaginary version of you right now!"

Midoriya's head fell into his hands with a groan.

So, yes, stations of canon: Izuku's exam went virtually the same. That's why it's not here.

I thought about adding other interactions. I was going to have Shinsou meet Mineta here, but it actually wound up feeling a lot like the Hagakure meeting (he gets some sticky balls, is unable to throw them, gets vaguely irritated, and has to have Mineta take them all back). The anime felt *very* rushed during this bit, time passed stupidly quickly. I hope this felt sort of like that. You can expect everyone he interacted with (except the guy who blew him up) to pass and reach their canon classes. Fun note: Asui actually got a higher overall score than Bakugo or Midoriya because she wasn't doing poorly in combat before she saved Shinsou's ass. If she hadn't been there Shinsou would have needed Recovery Girl before Midoriya.

Finally, even if he hadn't been exploded to the max Shinsou still wouldn't have passed this. He simply was not earning points fast enough and would have fled the zero pointer like everyone else. I may bring the Zero Pointer again when he talks with Asui. Unfortunately for Shinsou there was virtually no way he could have passed this exam with his quirk. I have to assume that the teachers have records of everyone's quirk (except Midoriya) as it is likely in their application, and the teachers were indeed keeping a closer eye on Shinsou than some others. If he had effectively sabotaged another participant they likely would have been given a general studies option with the option to prove themselves during the sports exam.

Finally, to the guest who commented on all 3 chapters (sadly I can't reply there): Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the story so far.

Next up? Hell Week.