Izuku ran as the starting buzzer sounded overhead.
Fifteen minutes. He had fifteen minutes to put together a plan.
Metal buildings loomed tall around him, windowless walls surrounding him on all side, smooth pipes reaching out towards him as he passed. Doorways hung open that he could tuck into, simple handholds stuck out from the buildings' exterior that he could use to climb. Plans flickered to the forefront of his mind, but he pushed them all aside. Would they give him a brief advantage over the Yuuei students? Yes. But they would also guarantee a fight, and that was the one thing Izuku wanted to avoid more than anything right now.
It would be simple enough to hide in one of the closer buildings and count on his competitors to assume he had gotten as far away from the exit as possible, but what if they didn't? What if they found him straight away and Izuku had to spend thirty minutes fighting at the boundaries, hanging on the edge of having his future ripped out from under him? Aizawa had done a lot for Izuku, had pushed him leagues beyond where he had been before their lessons had started, but Izuku had recognized the students waiting for him outside the field. He remembered the profiles he wrote on them.
Despite the actions that led Aizawa to decide they were no longer fit for the hero course, they had earned their place during the entrance exam for a reason. Their quirks were all the flashy, obviously fit for heroics type of ability that Izuku had spent years wishing for. Squandering their chance to be in the best school in the country hadn't erased the abilities that had gotten them there in the first place. What could Izuku really do in a head on fight against them with such little training under his belt?
Ahead of him the path split, three different paths glinting in the evening light. Izuku didn't pause before taking the path on the left, a slow grin spreading across his face as he ran. Adrenaline raced through his veins with every step. No. If he was going to win this it wouldn't be because of his physical abilities alone. That had never been his strong suit to begin with, had never been the reason Aizawa agreed to train him.
He needed a plan that wouldn't pit him against his competition immediately. Avoiding a fight the entire test wouldn't be possible, but if he could delay it, let the clock run down, put the fight on his terms…Izuku stopped running in a relatively open space. Buildings circled around him, paths splitting off into different directions. Plenty of places to hide, just enough space to fight if it came down to it.
Aizawa had done so much for him, believed in him, trained him, become someone Izuku couldn't imagine not having around him. Whatever Nedzu's intentions for this test were, Izuku wouldn't fail. He couldn't afford to.
The sound of buzzer echoed through the field again. Izuku's fifteen minutes were up. All he could do now was hope that his plan worked.
Bakugou hadn't spoken to Midoriya Inko since before he started graduated from elementary school. There had been a time, hazy and hard to remember as it was, where he had been almost a constant fixture at the Midoriya household. He could remember Deku trying to sneak him into his room when they had both been told it was too late to play, the days where he had simply gone home with his former friend when school ended and not left again until school the next morning. Dinners spent making faces at Midoriya Hisashi from across the table on the rare occasions he was there.
That time had ended so long ago it wasn't worth remembering. Bakugou regretted nothing about the way his friendship with Deku had deteriorated, but somehow that still didn't manage to stop the wave of nostalgia that rose when he stepped up to that same door, unchanged through the years that had passed since he last visited. He didn't want to visit, didn't want to take the time talking to Inko when he had so many other things he needed to be doing, but if anyone would be honest with him about what Aizawa had said it would be her.
He may not look up to her anymore, but he trusted her enough to know she wouldn't lie to him.
Izuku wouldn't be there, Bakugou had made sure of that before he decided to visit. He had heard his classmate muttering something about a test and "Nedzu" although why Deku would be talking about Yuuei's principal in such a negative tone (for him at least) when the entrance exam was still over a year away, Bakugou didn't know. It had a lot of effort to shove down the anger that had risen up once again at the thought of Deku managing to get another foot through the door on his way to becoming a hero, but he had managed it. Barely.
Bakugou had more important things to think about at the moment. He didn't have time to worry about whatever trouble Deku had managed to land himself in. He would get himself out of it or he wouldn't. Either way it didn't concern Bakugou in the slightest.
Still, he hesitated before knocking, his hand stopping just before his knuckles made contact with the smooth wood. He wasn't afraid. That would be ridiculous. Midoriya Inko was like her son in a lot of ways. If Bakugou were asked to describe her, intimidating wouldn't make the list of adjectives he would use to describe her. Gentle, maybe. Plain. Too kind for her own good most days. Nothing that would stop him from achieving what he had come here to do. Refusing to waste another second standing outside the apartment for no reason, Bakugou wrapped sharply on the door and waited for a response.
A voice replied, muffled through the door, and Bakugou stepped back as the seconds ticked by.
"Hello, how can I- "Inko's words cut off abruptly as her eyes lifted to see Bakugou standing in front of her. For a moment they stood there, staring at one another without speaking.
Bakugou shifted, taking a step towards the door again. "Midoriya-"Her surname was all he managed to get out before Inko startled, slamming the door in his face.
Standing in the empty hallway, staring at the door that hadn't reopened, Bakugou wondered absently if coming to see Deku's mother hadn't been a mistake after all.
Igarashi Tetsurou stood with the other first years, watching as the clock counted down the fifteen-minute reprieve Nedzu had granted the middle schooler. He still couldn't believe that this was the test the great principal of Yuuei had come up with. A game of what was essentially hide and seek with a little kid.
Tetsurou snorted. What a joke.
"Problem, Igarashi-san?" Nedzu asked, making his way over to the group of students. Aizawa eyed them from where he stood, but he made no move to talk to his former students, fiddling with the end of one of his scarves as he watched Nedzu move closer.
"Yeah. I do." Tetsurou responded, anger coloring his words as a light wind began to pick up around them.
"Tetsu," Hana said, pulling at his sleeve, but Tetsurou jerked his arm away from his grasp.
"Well then. Go ahead, Placeholder-san," Nedzu said, his grin sending a shiver down Tetsurou's spine. "Please. If you have a problem with this test, feel free to share. This is a learning opportunity, after all."
"The point of this test is to prove we deserve to be in the hero course, isn't it?" Tetsurou demanded. "Then why do you have us fighting a middle schooler? He isn't even in a hero course! I don't care if he's on track to get in on recommendations or not, what will put us up against him prove?"
Nedzu may have been several feet shorter than the first year, but the look in his eyes made Tetsurou feel like he was facing a giant.
"You don't even know young Midoriya's quirk and already you've written him off as not a challenge because he's a few years younger?" Nedzu chuckled. "We may need to tweak that entrance exam after all, Aizawa-sensei, if students lacking such a basic level of common sense can still manage to pass. There are many points to this exam, almost all of which you seem to have missed entirely. I wouldn't waste my time personally attending this trial if there wasn't something of importance for you to learn."
"You-" Tetsurou stuttered, but Nedzu wasn't finished.
"As for Midoriya not being in the hero course, I would like to remind you that at this moment neither are you." Nedzu shrugged, the picture of indifference. "If you would rather not take this test, and accept your movement to the Gen Ed course that is entirely your decision. Either way, I suggest you find some measure of control over your emotions."
"I'm taking the exam."
"Yes, that's what I thought."
Izuku crouched behind the edge of a building, peeking out at the path that lead to the arena's entrance.
"Five minutes, twenty-six. Five minutes, twenty-seven. Five minutes, twenty-eight…" he mumbled low under his breath, but the path remained empty. He couldn't count on it taking the first years as long to reach as position as it did him.
How would they strategize? Izuku wondered as he waited. He knew what he would have done if he had been in their position. Nedzu had said whoever got him across the boundary would be allowed to stay in the hero course, but he had said nothing about them working alone. If Izuku had been faced with trying to capture a single target whose quirk was unknown and he had the option of working with people whose abilities he was well aware of, he wouldn't hesitate. Would these students think of that though?
Izuku couldn't be sure, but he hoped for his sake they didn't. Working his way around one opponent would be hard enough at his current level. If they managed to outnumber his chances of winning would disappear.
Wind whistled through the alley, rattling the loose metal against the buildings. Izuku tensed, eyes trained on the path leading from the entrance. Igarashi Tetsurou rounded the corner moments later, his stormy expression matching his quirk perfectly. Izuku recognized him immediately.
Tetsurou's profile had been one of the more interesting ones from Aizawa's current class 1-A. His quirk gave him the ability to manipulate winds. Basic as far as quirks went, but the simplicity to it gave him so many options. Izuku had spent far too much time on his profile when doing those first homework assignments for Aizawa, it had been strange to finally have a name and a face matched with the ability when his mentor had handed over the students' public files.
The wind user, much to Izuku's relief, didn't seem to see him though, running straight passed his hideout at the building's edge and down the alley in the opposite direction. As much as he wanted to see Tetsurou's quirk in action, Izuku could live with not having to fight him.
Izuku could still hear Tetsurou's quirk shaking the metal, but the howling grew quieter and quieter as he continued to move away from him.
"Six minutes, thirty-two. Six minutes, thirty-three…"
The minutes ticked by, but no one else appeared.
"Ten minutes, sixteen. Ten minutes, sevente-" Izuku's low words cut off in a cough. Too focused on the path ahead of him, he hadn't noticed the seeds that had started to drift in the air around him. Like the wispy seeds from a dandelion, they hung around his head clinging to where they landed on his clothes and skin.
"Good job, guys," a voice said from up the path. "I knew I could count on you!"
A girl, her hair almost the exact same shade of green as Izuku's, stepped into view where Tetsurou had passed only moments ago. Unlike the wind user though, the girl was looking directly at him.
"Aihara Hana," she said with a grin. "It's nice to meet you, Midoriya Izuku. Sorry it had to be under such rotten circumstances."
Izuku's eyes widened, swatting quickly at the seeds that stuck to him.
Hana laughed. "Oh, don't worry about those. Their only job was to find you. Great for searching, not so great for combat. But I see you recognize me." She pouted, placing a hand on her hip. "No doubt Aizawa-sensei shared our files. Doesn't seem fair, if you ask me. We got no such introduction on your quirk, after all."
Crouched behind the building's edge as he was, when Hana decided to attack Izuku would have nowhere to maneuver. She had long range attacks. He didn't, at least not yet. Should he try and run or try and fight?
Slowly, Izuku stepped out into the open space. "Did you ask for my file?" Izuku responded, moving until he stood in front of the building. Each second that passed brought him closer to the test's end. If he could keep her talking, keep wasting time-
"I didn't. So, I guess I can't really complain after all, can I?"
Izuku couldn't understand it. Hana, like Tetsurou, had an amazing quirk. A quirk perfect for heroics. Yet she had been kicked out. Now here she was with the chance to earn her spot back and? She didn't seem that concerned about it. Was that the arrogance in her own skills that Aizawa had complained about or did she actually not care whether or not she passed the test?
If Izuku had been angry before, now he was furious. Sure, Nedzu might have come up with some other test for him before the demonstrations, but at least by then he would have had more time to train. The only reason his future at Yuuei was at stake right now was because of these students. Nedzu had seen the opportunity and taken it, throwing Izuku into something the principal had to have known he was unprepared for. Maybe the point had been to make him angry. Maybe the point had been to push him to his limits to see what he would do, to see how much he could handle when he was in over his head.
"No. I guess you can't."
Hana reached into her pocket, pulling out a small packet. "I really am sorry about this, Midoriya-kun." With a flick of her wrist seeds littered the ground between them. For a moment it seemed as if nothing would happen, but then the ground exploded as huge, thorny vines broke the surface.
He had only a second's glimpse of them before they shot towards him, covering his line of sight in a green wave of thorns. Scrambling back, Izuku threw himself to the side as the vines converged, hitting the ground where he had been standing and spilling out in every direction.
Izuku hissed in pain as he pulled himself quickly to his feet. The leg of his gym pants had been torn, blood staining the fabric red where a thorn had managed to catch him before he got out of the way. What would have happened if he hadn't moved out of the way?
Unfazed by the damage her attack had done, Hana pushed back against another vine, choosing a more precise movement over range.
Once again, Izuku barely had time to dodge as the vine lashed out. There was the sound of screeching metal, and Izuku threw his arms over his head, ducking out of the way just as the pipes that had been sticking out overhead crashed to the ground. Hana's vine had cut straight through them.
"You can't win this fight, Midoriya-kun," Hana said. "I didn't want to hurt you, but I had to make that clear. Come with me now, and I'm sure Nedzu will let you take the entrance exam with everyone else. I might have let Tetsu drag me down, but I deserve to be in the hero course! If anyone is going to pass this test, it's going to be me."
Izuku's mind raced. The crash from the pipes had been loud enough that anyone close by would have had to have heard it. All of the other first years could be on their way to the clearing, and then Izuku would be outnumbered. Even if he could somehow get them fighting each other instead, someone was bound to notice him trying to get away. He couldn't fight them all at once. He couldn't run if they all showed up. Izuku needed to end this fight now and put as much distance between himself and the crash as he could.
His eyes landed on the metal pipe at his feet.
"If I don't pass, this counts as my entrance exam." Izuku said. "I can't try for the hero course."
"You could always try for Gen Ed, move into the hero course that way," she suggested, as if she weren't here fighting to stay out of the Gen Ed course as well. "If your quirk is good enough for Aizawa-sensei to support you on recommendations-"She stopped, her eyes narrowing. "What is your quirk anyway?"
Izuku responded by grabbing one of the fallen pipes and launching it at her head.
Hana knocked the pipe aside easily with one of her vines, but the moment's distraction was all Izuku needed to reach two other pipes that had fallen a short distance away. They weren't eskrima rods, but they would do in a pinch.
"Dragging me back to the boundary isn't going to be that easy, Aihara-san" Izuku said, flipping the pipes in his hands to shift his grip. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
AN: Up Next: Nedzu's test comes to an end, Bakugou faces some hard truths, and Aizawa and Izuku have an important conversation
Also, sorry this chapter is so late. Tropical Storm Irma knocked my power out for over a day, and I just got it back. Next chapter should still be out on Saturday as usual.
Thanks to everyone who commented!